Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 55

The sound of the door lock disengaging echoed clearly.

Junhyeok immediately opened the front door and stepped inside without hesitation.

Normally, he would have contacted Yeonhee multiple times before leaving work, but today, he suppressed even that, respecting her wish to sleep.

Just a few phone calls missed, yet enduring a day without Yeonhee felt indescribably suffocating and difficult.

He didn’t know how long he had waited for this moment.

A time when he could be by Yeonhee’s side without any restrictions.

A complete time he could spend with Yeonhee, undisturbed by anything.

Junhyeok untied his tie and headed straight for the bedroom. But before he could enter, his legs stopped abruptly.

It was because of a voice from the living room, which he hadn’t expected.

“Junhyeok.”

Junhyeok turned his head to find the source of the sound.

Then, an unbelievable figure was etched deep into his eyes.

“…Yeonhee.”

It was Yeonhee.

Just that morning, there wasn’t a trace of color on her face, but unbelievably, Yeonhee was dressed up, looking dazzlingly beautiful.

Junhyeok, with a half-dazed expression, took slow steps toward Yeonhee.

“You’re early?”

A very easy question was asked, but Junhyeok couldn’t answer.

Yeonhee’s sudden change was bewildering. Because of that, his lips wouldn’t move as he willed.

He wondered what change of heart she had undergone in his absence; Yeonhee looked as if she had shed all her sorrow from lost love.

He thought if that made sense, but then again, if Yeonhee was okay, what was the problem?

“Yeah. I was worried about you.”

Junhyeok’s heart was complicated, but he replied as if nothing was wrong. Yeonhee then smiled brightly like a child.

“Am I a child? What could you be so worried about?”

It was an insignificant reply.

Yeonhee’s voice also stayed well within the bounds of everyday conversation.

Yet, that trivial, insignificant answer struck Junhyeok’s heart heavily.

Moreover, it made his entire body feel like it was being sucked into a swamp.

“…Just.”

Junhyeok spoke his answer with a dull, clouded gaze, looking somewhere.

“Still, I was worried.”

As he answered, Junhyeok held his breath.

An indescribable fear instantly began to surge.

As if unaware of his inner turmoil, Yeonhee’s eyes crinkled even further.

“You haven’t eaten dinner, right? Actually, I was sleeping, so I couldn’t prepare dinner. So, I was thinking…”

Yeonhee said hesitantly, with a rather troubled expression.

She looked so lovely that if it weren’t for the fear that had suddenly bloomed in his heart, he felt like he would have rushed over and kissed her.

But he couldn’t.

Seeing her so lovely, he wished that no words would come from her lips, which were quivering.

“Shall we date?”

It was the words he had always wanted and wished for.

Yet, Junhyeok couldn’t smile with peace of mind.

He had a premonition that the moment he had always feared was suddenly right before him.

“Wow, look at that, Junhyeok. It’s pretty, right?”

Yeonhee pointed somewhere with a bright smile, her face as clear as a child’s.

Junhyeok followed Yeonhee’s finger and nodded.

“It is. It would suit you well. Shall I buy it for you?”

What Yeonhee pointed to was a hairpin with pretty cubic zirconia stones.

Even at a glance, it was a design that would suit Yeonhee very well.

Yeonhee took her time. Then, she nodded.

“Yes, I want that.”

It was an answer unlike Yeonhee. But Junhyeok showed no reaction and bought her the hairpin.

It wasn’t an expensive item, costing less than ten thousand won, yet Yeonhee couldn’t stop smiling for a long time, looking at the pin in her hand.

Her appearance was both cute and lovely.

If he could keep seeing this, he felt like he could buy her a hundred such pins.

But Junhyeok couldn’t focus at all on the happiness he felt after so long.

It was the small moments with Yeonhee that he had so longed for.

They ate a delicious dinner together, and then, holding takeout coffees in each hand, they walked side-by-side, their hands clasped without a single gap.

It was a date that felt like something from ten years ago.

He had missed this so much, yet while on this date he had longed for, Junhyeok felt a strange sense of unease rather than fulfillment.

Yeonhee was not someone who asked for things to be bought for her. Even if she wanted something, she wouldn’t show it, lest it burden him.

This Yeonhee, for the second time, had asked him to buy her something.

The first was a necklace, and the second was the pin now in Yeonhee’s hand.

Junhyeok shifted his gaze from straight ahead to Yeonhee.

He saw Yeonhee, who was still looking at the pin preciously as they walked.

That image overlapped with the time he bought her the necklace at the department store.

It could be that she genuinely wanted it, or perhaps she cherished it because he bought it for her.

But he couldn’t shake off the ominous feeling that the past event was about to repeat itself.

“You seem to really like it.”

Junhyeok murmured softly. Yeonhee, who had been half-lost in thought, finally looked up and at Junhyeok.

“Yes. It’s pretty.”

“If I had known you liked things like this, I would have bought them for you sooner. I could buy you a hundred.”

“What would you do with a hundred of these?”

Yeonhee laughed very brightly at his words.

Junhyeok couldn’t take his eyes off Yeonhee.

It felt like winning the lottery.

Otherwise, there was no way he could see Shin Yeonhee smiling so much.

He loved her for this face, and this face was etched in his heart, making him unable to forget her for over ten years.

He loved this untainted, unique bright smile of Yeonhee’s so much that he felt he couldn’t live without Shin Yeonhee his entire life.

That feeling had never changed from the moment he first met Yeonhee until now.

That was why he had become so persistent, and that was why, even if he had to give up everything, he wanted to protect her smile.

Junhyeok was utterly confused.

He wanted to ask Yeonhee.

What are you thinking right now?

If, by any chance, she was smiling like this while thinking of leaving him, just like last time.

“You can wear one each day.”

“A hundred? One for a hundred days?”

His casually spoken words were met with a naive reply.

A childlike smile still lingered on Yeonhee’s lips.

Junhyeok stared at her appearance and then, with a slightly heavy tone, spoke.

“If you want them, I can buy you things like this for the rest of your life.”

With that, he turned his gaze straight ahead.

He didn’t want her to see the true meaning hidden in his words.

He hoped Yeonhee would take it as a casual remark, thrown out without any particular meaning.

Only then would he receive a reply that reflected her thoughts.

The reply came soon.

Still in a voice full of pure innocence.

“Will you buy me anything I want?”

“Yes. Anything at all.”

“Do you know that could be a very dangerous statement? What if what I want is incredibly expensive?”

It doesn’t matter. As long as I can see you smiling beautifully like today, by my side, I can buy you anything, no matter how expensive.

Junhyeok wanted to say that. But he couldn’t bring himself to.

Hidden within all the words he conveyed to her was the meaning, ‘So please, stay by my side for a long, long time.’

If she found even the slightest burden in those words, he would have thought she was already planning to leave him again, without a second thought.

But fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, no shadow other than her innocent demeanor could be found in Yeonhee.

Junhyeok reassured himself that he could continue to be with Yeonhee like this for a while longer, repeating the thought to himself and calming his heart.

However, his heart, seething with anxiety, could not be easily soothed.

The comfort that Yeonhee wouldn’t leave his side was always preceded by the qualifier ‘for now,’ not ‘forever.’

“I’ll just have to work harder. Until I can buy you anything you want.”

Does Yeonhee know?

That his answers to her always contained the nuance of ‘no end’?

He didn’t even have to carefully choose his words; it was always instinctive.

Everything he said to Yeonhee was based on the premise that his time with her would be eternal.

He couldn’t even imagine it.

How could there be an end for Shin Yeonhee and Jung Junhyeok?

Even while being together like this, he was going crazy with longing.

How could he possibly let Yeonhee go?

Junhyeok’s sigh rose to the back of his throat, but he forced it down and shoved Yeonhee’s tightly held hand into his coat pocket.

Her hand was growing cold in the chilly wind.

He wanted to protect anything that belonged to Yeonhee.

Even if it was her invisible warmth.

Junhyeok quickened his pace.

It was time to return to ‘our’ home, the home where Yeonhee and he lived together.

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