Husband Role - Episode 24

[Maybe.]

 

Maybe, in the sense of acknowledging her words.

 

Maybe, meaning he had been waiting.

 

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

 

Eun-seol was so embarrassed that she felt like she was going crazy, feeling her toes curling up.

 

Her hand went to her ring finger for no reason. She ended up fiddling with her innocent ring. It was a thin ring, but somehow it gave her great strength.

 

Just then, the wind chime rang, tinkling.

 

Su-jin saw a customer pushing open the glass door and got up with her heavy body.

 

“Welcome.”

 

Following Su-jin, Eun-seol quickly got up from her seat as well.

 

“Shall I take care of it?” she asked Su-jin, but Su-jin shook her head, saying they were a regular. And she went straight to the customer.

 

“Another errand for your mother?”

 

“You don’t need to ask twice.”

 

Taejo said, looking indifferently at the flowers in the refrigerated showcase.

 

“Are flowers that pretty? Our Madam’s profile picture is always flowers.”

 

“How could a flower be pretty in the eyes of a flower-like youth?”

 

“Are you talking to me?”

 

Taejo asked, pointing at himself.

 

“Who else would I be talking to?”

 

Su-jin retorted cynically.

 

“Youth, my foot. They’re about to hold a ritual at home to get me married off. By the way, when is your due date?”

 

Taejo asked after glancing at Su-jin’s bulging belly.

 

“Next month. Why? Are you going to buy me some baby socks or something?”

 

“I might as well.”

 

It was when he answered with a smirk.

 

“Sister, I think I’ll head out now.”

 

Eun-seol carefully interjected.

 

“Already?”

 

“I have a lot of errands to run. Then, take care.”

 

Taejo’s gaze lingered on Eun-seol, who answered with a bright smile, for a moment.

 

The woman was like a fairy.

 

A petite figure with dark chestnut bobbed hair, and clear eyes that held an elegant light. And her skin was so white.

 

Taejo ended up staring at her a little longer.

 

The comfortable-looking eyelet dress was also white, and the sneakers she was wearing were white as well.

 

She was like a walking… Where had he seen her before?

 

Taejo glanced at the inside of the showcase again.

 

That’s it.

 

“Shall I give you daisies? I think the lisianthus over there would be better for your mother, though.”

 

So, daisies.

 

“Give me daisies.”

 

That’s when it happened. He heard a tinkling sound. When he turned his gaze, the snow-white woman was walking away.

 

Tsk. My type.

 

“I’ll mix it with snowball hydrangeas. To really give it a summer feel.”

 

“Thank… you.”

 

Taejo, who had barely averted his gaze, opened his wallet.

 

 

Seol-gi’s cooking lessons had been going on for several days. Today, they decided to make a side dish.

 

“Oh, did you buy a birthday present?”

 

Seol-gi asked, quickly peeling a potato with a peeler. Eun-seol answered yes.

 

“What did you buy?”

 

Seol-gi asked again, curious.

 

“It’s a secret.”

 

At Eun-seol’s answer, Seol-gi pouted.

 

“…I bought something that can always be carried around, like a ring.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“You’ll see it later.”

 

“I don’t want to see it, I don’t.”

 

Eun-seol showed Seol-gi, who was grumbling, the smooth potato.

 

“Shall we put it in the blender now?”

 

“Then it’ll be ground too finely and there won’t be any texture. You have to grate it on a grater.”

 

Eun-seol, who answered that she understood, took out a mixing bowl and a grater. She put the potato on it and started to rub it.

 

The enthusiastic student’s zeal was good, but it seemed like she was using too much force. Because of this, the stainless-steel bowl was shaking uneasily.

 

“Take it easy, Sister.”

 

Seol-gi said with distrustful eyes.

 

“The faster you prepare the ingredients, the better. I’m actually pretty fast with my hands. Trust me.”

 

Eun-seol replied, showing confidence.

 

“It’s more important not to get hurt than to be fast.”

 

There was concern in Seol-gi’s cold remark.

 

At that, Eun-seol smiled slightly and answered yes, when it happened.

 

With a crash, the mixing bowl and grater fell to the floor.

 

Eun-seol quickly bent down and quickly cleaned up the situation.

 

“It’s really hard to control my strength.”

 

Eun-seol muttered in an embarrassed voice.

 

“Looking at you, I think you’re all thumbs. How did you even think of going to medical school?”

 

“Well, I’m pretty good at simple cooking.”

 

Eun-seol answered, rinsing the mixing bowl in water.

 

To her, ‘simple cooking’ meant instant ramen or foods that didn’t require separate cooking, like salads.

 

Whether it was a misfortune or a blessing, thanks to her lack of skill, she was able to avoid kitchen work even at her uncle’s house. At most, she helped with the dishes. Of course, she did a lot of other miscellaneous housework, though.

 

“Grating potatoes on a grater is also a very simple task.”

 

“…”

 

“I’m seriously curious. Can youcook rice?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Eun-seol answered resolutely. The stickiness of the rice was different every time, but it wasn’t to the point where she burned it.

 

“I think you should just go back to studying. Being a housewife is not for you. ”

 

Seol-gi said, shaking her head.

 

“I’ll learn diligently from you, Miss.”

 

“You’re going to ask me to teach you again?”

 

To Eun-seol, who answered yes, Seol-gi advised with serious eyes.

 

“You have to know when to give up on a path that’s not for you. That’s why I gave up on studying a long time ago.”

 

“Um…”

 

“If you really want to, go to a cooking academy.”

 

“I don’t want to. Why would I go to an academy when I have a golden-handed Miss here? And I want to learn from a teacher who’s good at making things taste good.”

 

“Taste?”

 

“Miss’s food is really, really delicious.”

 

Eun-seol said so with all her heart. At that, Seol-gi, who was embarrassed, sniffed and asked cautiously.

 

“…Really?”

 

“Really.”

 

Kyung-ha looked at the backs of the two people with a happy expression.

 

Due to bad weather, the plane carrying the French oil major was delayed. Instead of waiting in Ulsan, Jung-hyuk headed to Incheon. On the way, he received a call from Eun-seol.

 

‘I think I can go home early today.’

 

After finishing what was more like a report than a report, he picked up the oil major at Incheon Airport. And he finished the meeting in a business room at a nearby hotel. The detailed situation would be decided on Monday in Ulsan after confirming the actual equipment.

 

As soon as he parked in the garage of his family home, a tired sigh escaped his lips.

 

It was a long drive, but he was very tired because it was a busy day where he skipped meals.

 

Jung-hyuk adjusted the angle of the rearview mirror to briefly check if his face was gaunt. And he got out of the car.

 

The night sky, full of dark clouds, was hiding the moon. Perhaps because of that, the night was unusually dark.

 

Relying on the faintly lit lawn lights below, Jung-hyuk crossed the abyss-like garden.

 

Eun-seol flinched at the alarm that a car had arrived. Seol-gi said, “I think Oppa’s here,” and smiled mischievously.

 

Eun-seol felt nervous for no reason.

 

Soon, the front door opened, and Seol-gi shouted loudly.

 

“Happy birthday to you!”

 

Pop, pop, the confetti exploded.

 

Jung-hyuk removed the colorful strings attached to his head and gave a faint smile.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“You’re here.”

 

Eun-seol, wearing a blue party hat, peeked out from behind Seol-gi.

 

Jung-hyuk’s gaze lingered on Eun-seol for a while.

 

Eun-seol felt embarrassed for no reason.

 

The party hat and confetti were all Seol-gi’s ideas, but the fact was that she was secretly excited.

 

“Let’s go inside.”

 

They gathered in the dining room.

 

Il-sung had left on a hot springs trip with his old friends, and Gwang-min, the director of Hocheon Academy, was unable to join them because he was tied up with work.

 

“Father said the judging for the pediatric cancer support campaign contest is a bit late. He has to finish it by today.”

 

Kyung-ha said with a regretful smile.

 

“He’s not a child, why bother with a birthday? He should be working hard on big things.”

 

Seol-gi suddenly interjected.

 

“Do you know how hard we worked for days to prepare Oppa’s birthday meal? So, my birthday present is covered by this?”

 

At that, Jung-hyuk’s gaze was fixed on the table.

 

Various dishes were arranged around the fig cake. Except for the abalone braised ribs, sea bream stew, gujeolpan, japchae, vegetables, and flounder seaweed soup, the rest of the dishes had visuals she had never seen before.

 

“The fusion potato pancake, garlic salad, salmon rolls, and squid gratin are menus I developed.”

 

Seol-gi said with a triumphant face.

 

“Eun-seol made the seaweed soup.”

 

Kyung-ha added.

 

“Ah, only the seaweed soup. Miss did almost everything else.”

 

Eun-seol quickly added. It wasn’t humility, it was the truth. She was mainly in charge of preparing the ingredients or doing the dishes.

 

Even though she was assigned simple tasks, she was clumsy and cut her hands twice.

 

Jung-hyuk lowered his eyes without answering. At the end of his gaze was Eun-seol’s finger, wrapped in a bandage.

 

Eun-seol hurriedly hid her hand under the table.

 

“This time, the assistant wasn’t bad.”

 

Seol-gi said in a tone of admitting it.

 

Jung-hyuk was still silent.

 

Whether it was Eun-seol’s delusion or not, he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

 

It was a surprise that she had worked hard to prepare…

 

“…Try it.”

 

Eun-seol recommended to Jung-hyuk with eyes full of anticipation and anxiety.

 

At that, Eun-seol quietly watched Jung-hyuk, who was picking up his spoon. Her heart was pounding.

 

“…How is it?”

 

“It’s good.”

 

He answered stiffly. There was nothing in his expression, so she couldn’t tell if he was being sincere.

 

Perhaps it was because she had grown up watching people’s expressions a lot since she was young.

 

Eun-seol was disappointed and worried at the same time by Jung-hyuk’s colder-than-expected reaction.

 

What didn’t he like?

 

Or was he just too tired?

 

She barely swallowed her slightly upset heart and picked up her spoon as well.

 

She was sure it tasted good when she tasted it, but now she couldn’t feel what it tasted like.

 

Eun-seol quietly took off her party hat. It was because she felt that her appearance was ridiculous.

 

“Oh, right.”

 

As the meal was coming to an end, Seol-gi picked up a non-alcoholic champagne and continued.

 

“Shall we go to the Hill House tomorrow?”

 

The Hill House in Yangpyeong was Il-sung’s ancestral home. It was a house that was over 100 years old, but about 10 years ago, it was completely remodeled in a way that only the rafters and beams were preserved.

 

Currently, it had become a resting place for the family, and they visited it every summer and winter.

 

“They said it’s going to rain.”

 

Jung-hyuk replied.

 

“The view is amazing when it rains there. I’m going to enjoy the rain all weekend. Do you two want to go together?”

 

Just as Eun-seol was about to answer Seol-gi’s question,

 

“No.”

 

Jung-hyuk answered first. When Seol-gi pouted, Kyung-ha quickly interjected.

 

“You guys must be tired, go on over there.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Jung-hyuk said “Let’s go,” to Eun-seol as if it were natural. Eun-seol greeted Kyung-ha and Seol-gi and silently followed Jung-hyuk’s back.

 

For some reason, Eun-seol felt that he was distant today.

 

Then, Jung-hyuk turned his large body halfway and looked down at Eun-seol.

 

“Shall we go out?”

 

“…Now?”

 

It wasn’t that late, but they were a couple who had never suddenly gone out.

 

Did he have something important to talk about?

 

“Yeah, now.”

 

He answered.

 

“Ah… Then I’ll quickly change my clothes and come out.”

 

“I’ll bring the car.”

 

With those words, Jung-hyuk walked away first.

 

Eun-seol looked at Jung-hyuk’s back for a while and quickly went inside the house.