Affectionate Obsession - Chapter 56

Yeonhee prepared dinner with bustling movements.

It was almost time for Junhyeok to return.

The dinner table, which would normally have been set with one stew and a few side dishes, was much more abundant today.

It was enough to be called a feast.

Yeonhee turned off the gas stove, the last step being to taste the bubbling stew.

This marked the end of dinner preparations.

“Haa…”

Yeonhee sat down on a dining chair and let out a deep sigh. Her legs, which had been constantly moving to cook, were finally getting their first rest.

She quietly scanned the food laid out on the table.

The variety of dishes was so extensive that even she thought it was excessive.

She had just gone grocery shopping as usual, but with every ingredient she saw, dishes that Junhyeok would like came to mind.

She had just put whatever caught her eye into the cart, without any thought that the quantity would be this much.

“It’s a bit too much for two people to eat. ”

Still, since she’d already made it, it would be fine if they ate it deliciously. If she portioned it out and put it in the refrigerator, she wouldn’t have to worry about side dishes for the next few days.

Yeonhee tried to clear her mind with optimistic thoughts.

After sitting at the dining chair for about five minutes.

The sound of the door lock’s password being entered echoed in the quiet house, and the sensor light, detecting movement, soon illuminated brightly.

Yeonhee rose from her seat almost automatically and walked towards the entrance. Then, she saw Junhyeok entering, looking as neat as when he left for work.

“You’re back?”

Yeonhee asked, smiling brightly at Junhyeok. Then, he would nod with a bewildered expression, only to soon smile back at her.

It was a peace and happiness that had continued for several days.

Since meeting Eunha, Yeonhee had tried to smile brightly every time she met Junhyeok.

Paradoxically, as the thought that their time together was running out grew, she began to wonder what she could do for him.

Come to think of it, it wasn’t as if she hadn’t done anything for him.

Rather, she had done many things for Junhyeok in her own way.

However, she couldn’t be sure if those ‘things she did for him’ were ‘things he wanted.’

She had left his side as if running away for his sake, but he had never seemed to want her to leave.

So, she had probably pondered for quite a long time.

What she could do for him.

And yet, what he truly wanted from her.

The answer that satisfied both conditions didn’t come easily.

Even after pondering the same thought for hours, nothing came to mind.

So, from the moment they first met until now, she brought out and replayed every memory she could recall.

Only after lingering in those memories for a long time could she realize.

What Junhyeok wanted from her was simple: not to leave him, and to smile brightly at him.

It was only those two things.

As soon as she realized this, Yeonhee couldn’t stop the tears welling up.

She felt sorry, and her heart ached with sorrow, because the things he wanted from her, who acted as if he would give her his heart, were so incredibly simple. Her heart ached even more because it felt like she hadn’t properly done the easy things since they met again.

Not leaving him was something she could never do for Junhyeok.

Shin Yeonhee, then and now, was still nothing but an obstacle to Jung Junhyeok.

So, at least while she could stay by his side, she would smile brightly for him.

Even if it felt like she was dying from hardship, she would endure it to the best of her ability for him and pretend to be happy.

Yeonhee made that resolution.

Following the revelation of her birth secret and the matter of Yeonjeong, she thought it would be incredibly difficult to smile at Junhyeok when her heart wasn’t whole anywhere, but it wasn’t as hard as she thought.

As she began to think of the time spent with him as comfortable and accept it fully, smiles came naturally without effort.

It hadn’t been long since she lost Yeonjeong, and yet, by simply deciding to focus only on Junhyeok, she was feeling a happiness she hadn’t felt before.

She was happy, truly happy.

Her time with him couldn’t help but be happy.

Yeonhee was so ecstatically happy to be with Junhyeok that she desperately wished time would stop if possible.

“Why did you make so much?”

Junhyeok, who had changed his clothes and come out while she was lost in thought, looked at the table and asked in surprise.

Yeonhee, snapping back to reality, smiled bashfully and linked her arm with Junhyeok’s.

“I went to the mart to shop at lunchtime, and every dish I saw reminded me of your favorites. So, I prepared them. How is it?”

Yeonhee asked coyly, like a newlywed.

Suddenly, she recalled the question Yeonjeong had asked her on their last day together.

‘How is marriage?’

What had she replied to that?

‘Well, half is good, and the other half.’

‘…’

‘Is a little difficult.’

Yes, that seemed to be it.

Half good, half difficult.

Because she was someone who had to leave someday after that remark. And yet, this man treated her so well. That’s why she had answered it was difficult.

“Why would you even ask something like that? It’s food prepared for me by you, of all people. I already feel full.”

Watching Junhyeok answer with a voice that held no trace of falsehood, Yeonhee recalled Yeonjeong’s question once more.

Though it was something she couldn’t do now, if Yeonjeong were to ask her that question again, she felt she would give a different answer this time.

‘How is marriage?’

‘I’m so happy. I’m so happy I don’t even know how the day passes, Mom.’

If she could have given that answer then, could she have lessened the burden Yeonjeong was carrying just before she left?

Though thinking about it would only bring heartache, Yeonhee felt immensely sorry to Yeonjeong for not being able to do so.

Her apologies were not just for Yeonjeong but for Junhyeok as well.

The thing he wanted from her was so simple, even calling it trivial would be an exaggeration, and she felt sorry that she could only now bring him such happiness.

But because it felt like the days they could be happy together were numbered, she felt sorry for Junhyeok.

She didn’t know why there were so many things to feel sorry about. However, she had belatedly realized that feeling guilty and dejected about what she couldn’t do now would only make those she felt sorry for feel even more sorry.

So, Yeonhee smiled brightly with all her might again today.

“Eat well. I made it all thinking of you.”

Adding words she wouldn’t normally say, generously.

Yeonhee then offered Junhyeok the happiest smile.

“Ha, what? What did you just say?”

Sera, who had become noticeably thinner in the past few days, pressed the phone to her ear, her brow furrowed.

“Where did I go this time?”

Her tone was full of irritation. Her sunken cheeks made the already sensitive Sera look even sharper.

Sera listened intently to the other end of the phone, oblivious to her own appearance.

— You went there, so why are you asking me?

“Ha, don’t twist my words, just answer the question. Where did I go?”

— Are you really losing your mind? The Other Gallery. You went there, didn’t you? What’s wrong with you?

At Jiyeong’s words, Sera bit her lip and squeezed her eyes shut.

Her grip on the phone tightened so much that her hand began to tremble.

“This time. Ha, this time, what did I do that they’re gossiping about?”

She asked again in an irritable tone.

Jiyeong, who was relaying the information, was doing so out of concern, but Sera couldn’t control her emotions.

Her confinement was being extended indefinitely with no end in sight, and her grandmother, Sookhee, who had said she would handle everything, had said nothing to her since that day.

What was she going to handle, and how was the situation unfolding?

It was the same for her parents as it was for Sookhee.

She met her parents and Sookhee at mealtimes, but they ate in silence as if by agreement.

The uncomfortable atmosphere often made her feel nauseous, and she had repeatedly thrown up the little food she managed to eat.

How long did she have to endure this absurd situation?

Sera felt like she was going crazy.

And amidst all this, receiving a call like this, supposedly out of concern, made her feel even more unhinged.

— Director Im recommended a new artist, but you bought a painting by another artist, seemingly to spite him. Director Im seems quite upset. Why did you do that? You put a lot of effort into maintaining a good relationship with Director Im. Ha, I’m not even surprised by this kind of talk anymore. Yoon Sera, get a grip. Your image has already hit rock bottom. How much further do you plan to go?

At Jiyeong’s subsequent words, Sera’s neatly arranged eyelashes began to tremble slightly.

Blood seeped from her tender lips, which she had been biting fiercely, and moisture welled up between her trembling eyelashes.

Sera couldn’t answer.

She had no excuse.

Even she saw that she had done the same things repeatedly.

Suddenly, she remembered what she had said to Shin Yeonhee when they first met.

‘Doesn’t it seem fun? You and I, if we swapped clothes right now and went out, people would think I was Shin Yeonhee and you were Yoon Sera.’

‘…’

‘It’s really strange. How can we look so alike?’

At the time, she had said it without much thought, simply amazed by their identical appearance.

She had never imagined that those words would come back to haunt her like a knife.

— Ha, my situation is a bit difficult these days too. Because I was closest to you before, people are treating me strangely too. I really didn’t want to say this, but no matter how I think about it, I don’t think I can contact you anymore. Why do I have to be treated like this? Honestly, you’ve never really thought of me as a friend.

Sera, who had been listening quietly to Jiyeong’s words, suddenly hung up the phone.

In the end, what Jiyeong wanted to say was that she wouldn’t be in contact anymore, starting today.

There was no need to listen to the words of someone who had already decided to turn their back on her.

Moreover, such words couldn’t possibly register with her right now.

Sera gnawed on her fingernails with an anxious expression.

Then, she found a number she couldn’t forget and made a call.

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