Husband Role - Episode 39

Su-jin had a baby. A beautiful daughter. Eun-seol was happier than anyone. She was happy about the baby’s birth, but more than anything, she was overjoyed that Su-jin was safe.

So, she searched the internet for the most popular baby gifts and went to visit her at the hospital.

“You should have just bought some onesies, instead of this heavy thing.”

Su-jin said, her face swollen.

Eun-seol smiled, replying that a cloth picture book wasn’t heavy.

She added that Tae-hoon would have bought everything else meticulously, so it was an unavoidable choice.

“Thank you, Eun-seol.”

Then, Su-jin encouraged her to see the baby. The real baby was as small as an arm. She was so small that it was amazing she was even alive.

After leaving the hospital, Tae-hoon asked Eun-seol for a favor.

“Her water broke so suddenly that I rushed out in a panic. I don’t mind the shop being messy, but I’m worried customers will be surprised that it’s closed.”

“Should I write a sign saying that it’s temporarily closed due to childbirth?”

“Yes, please. I can’t leave Su-jin’s side. I’m always grateful to you, Eun-seol.”

Eun-seol replied that it was no trouble. And she headed straight to <Flower Shower>.

But once she entered the shop, she felt like just putting up a sign wasn’t enough. The workbench was a mess, as if it had been bombed.

Eun-seol turned on the air conditioner and started cleaning the shop. She felt like just doing her labor for her would be another gift for Su-jin right now.

But the fresh flowers displayed in the showcase caught her eye. If she left them like that, they would all die.

As she was pondering, she heard the sound of the wind chime. It was a customer. Eun-seol involuntarily greeted him in a loud voice.

“Welcome—!”

It was because she was eager to sell even one bouquet.

“Oh, where’s the owner? Did she go to have a baby?”

It was a regular customer.

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Did you see her?”

Taejo asked abruptly.

“Yes, this morning. She gave birth two days ago.”

“Ah, so it’ll be closed for a while.”

“I think so.”

Taejo hmmmed and looked inside the showcase. Then he asked another question.

“Are you working here part-time in the meantime?”

“No. I can’t handle the detailed work. I was just going to clean up the shop today and leave.”

“What about those flowers?”

“…That’s what I’m worried about.”

Eun-seol replied with a gloomy face.

“Flowers can be delivered by courier, right?”

“Ah, yes, yes.”

Eun-seol quickly went behind the counter and looked for a courier business card. Then she smiled and asked, “What kind of flowers would you like?”

“Give me all of them.”

“Excuse me…?”

“I said, give me all the flowers in there.”

“Ah…”

Eun-seol glanced at the showcase with a dazed look.

“All of them—?”

It was the amount that had been brought from the early morning market two days ago, enough to sell for several days.

“Can the recipient addresses be different?”

He asked back instead of answering.

Eun-seol naturally replied that it was fine.

Taejo soon gave her the addresses. One was the name of a company building, and the other seemed to be his home address.

Eun-seol had just come around half the counter when it happened.

“Just wrap them roughly in plastic.”

Taejo said.

“But…”

“I want to send them quickly.”

He said firmly again. Eun-seol reluctantly agreed. In fact, it was difficult to wrap everything by herself because of the large quantity.

“Thanks to you, the flowers are saved. Thank you.”

Eun-seol replied as she received his credit card a little later. Taejo smiled and said, “No problem.”

“So, I’ll only take half the price of the flowers.”

“Won’t you get scolded by the owner later?”

“She’ll say I did a good job.”

“Just take it all. It’s okay.”

Taejo said casually, sipping the iced coffee Eun-seol had given him.

Taejo kindly added the reason to her, who was at a loss and hesitating.

“Please tell the owner.”

He put down the glass and continued.

“That it’s a baby gift.”

Eun-seol smiled brightly, as if she had received a gift herself.

He couldn’t possibly take time off on Friday. Jung-hyuk was working day and night on the resumed project and was on his way to Seoul.

With such a tight schedule, it would actually be better to be in Ulsan. But he didn’t want to.

He heard that Eun-seol was temporarily at the shop, filling in for her friend who was on maternity leave. So, he headed there too.

As Jung-hyuk neared his destination, his eyes narrowed.

A white truck with a ‘Quick Service’ sticker was parked in front of the shop. The man standing in front of it was saying something to Eun-seol and waving his hand.

It was almost a view of his back, but anyone could tell that he was a well-built man. Judging by the man’s trembling shoulders, he seemed to be laughing while joking around.

As soon as Jung-hyuk parked the car, he slightly lowered the window.

“Thank you so much, I’ll be sure to tell the owner.”

Eun-seol said with a bright smile. Seeing her smiling at the customer like sunshine, Jung-hyuk felt a strange pang in his heart.

“Make sure to pass it on with a lot of love.”

The man replied smoothly. Then Eun-seol smiled again.

For a moment, Jung-hyuk felt like his insides were being scratched raw.

For that reason, he quietly rolled up the window. Then, he slightly reclined the seat, closed his eyes deeply, and crossed his arms.

A little later, he heard the sound of the truck engine fading away.

When he opened his eyes again, he could see the back of the departing customer.

The customer casually waved his hand at Eun-seol.

Jung-hyuk frowned without realizing it.

The two men and women seemed to be closer than necessary.

Jung-hyuk got out of the car and strode towards Eun-seol.

“Oh? How come?”

Eun-seol, wearing an apron, asked with wide eyes.

“Did you have a part-time job today?”

Jung-hyuk retorted with a twisted face without realizing it.

Then, Eun-seol tilted her head for a moment and opened her lips a beat later, saying no.

“Um…”

And she pointed to the poster.

[Closed for a few days due to childbirth. 010-XXXX-XXXX.]

“I came to put that up.”

“But something amazing happened,” Eun-seol said, slipping her arm into Jung-hyuk’s. Eun-seol seemed to be in a very good mood.

“What is it?”

He asked cynically.

“A customer bought all the remaining flowers. He’s a regular, and he must be very close to the owner. He said it was a baby gift.”

“That’s a ‘big deal’.”

Jung-hyuk replied with a soulless face.

“But Jung-hyuk, you don’t seem to be in good condition today?”

Looking down at Eun-seol, who was tilting her head with a worried face, Jung-hyuk cleared his throat once.

“Are you almost ready?”

“I’ll just take off my apron. Oh, and just hold this for a second.”

Eun-seol smiled as she handed Jung-hyuk her cell phone and wallet, etc., which she had taken out of her kangaroo pocket.

“I’ll wait in front.”

“Okay.”

Eun-seol entered the shop with a beaming smile. She turned off the air conditioner and carefully checked the window locks before calling Tae-hoon. And she told him the news that she had sold all the flowers.

—You just had to lock the door, but you did a great job, Eun-seol. Su-jin is breastfeeding right now, so I’ll tell her later. Thank you for your hard work, really.

Eun-seol finished the short call with a proud heart. Soon, she locked the number-coded glass door.

When she turned around, she saw Jung-hyuk’s car parked right in front of the shop.

Eun-seol quickly got into the passenger seat. At that moment, an alert sounded that a text message had arrived.

[[Wed Sender] [KK Bank] 08/16 13:58 883721** Kwon Tae-hoon Electronic Financial Deposit 200,000 Balance 2,034,273]

She gasped without realizing it. Su-jin’s husband, Tae-hoon, had deposited 200,000 won into Eun-seol’s account. It was an unexpected reward, and the amount was large.

Then, Jung-hyuk, who was turning the steering wheel, glanced at her.

“What’s wrong?”

“…Nothing.”

Jung-hyuk’s brow furrowed slightly.

“What is it, tell me.”

“Ah, really, it’s nothing.”

But he didn’t let go of his suspicious expression.

He just silently stared at Eun-seol’s face, who was anxiously licking her red, plump lips.

“Hoo…”

A sigh that he hadn’t even realized escaped through his teeth.

It wasn’t intentional, but nevertheless, Eun-seol was indifferent.

She just seemed busy repeatedly typing and deleting on her cell phone. She was being very careful.

A little later, it had been quite a while since they had started the car, but she was still holding her cell phone. She seemed to be constantly exchanging messages with someone.

For some reason, Jung-hyuk suddenly felt annoyed.

“Was that man earlier a close customer?”

He finally blurted it out. Jung-hyuk immediately felt something similar to regret, but he didn’t try to gloss it over.

“…Who?”

Eun-seol asked back, still glued to her cell phone.

“I’m talking about the man who was standing in front of the truck.”

He said one more time.

“Ah… He’s the regular I mentioned earlier.”

At the soulless answer, Jung-hyuk heard a cracking sound in his head.

Jung-hyuk immediately turned on the right turn signal and roughly changed lanes.

Loud horns sounded in a chain reaction from behind.

Only then did Eun-seol raise her head like a meerkat and start looking around.

Jung-hyuk, who had half-parked the car on the sidewalk, pressed the hazard light button. And he looked sharply at Eun-seol.

Eun-seol stared back at Jung-hyuk with wide eyes, as if she didn’t know anything.

Jung-hyuk silently held out his hand.

Eun-seol blinked her eyes for a moment, then handed over the device with the screen turned off.

Very meticulous.

Jung-hyuk looked down at the keyring attached to the cell phone with a displeased face. It was the same toy that Eun-seol had bought him as a birthday present. But hers was in the shape of a bride.

Jung-hyuk separated the groom toy attached to his car key. And he exchanged it with Eun-seol’s.

Now he had a mini-bride, and she had a mini-groom.

“This is right, isn’t it?”

He asked back in a sharp voice. Eun-seol was momentarily dazed, then smiled innocently, saying, “This is good too.”

She was so annoyingly pretty.

Sunlight streamed into the hospital director’s office like sharp tips of spears.

“Using the corporate card at an entertainment establishment. Do you have any sense?”

Dae-hyuk, who had been summoned unexpectedly, remained silent.

At first, he had denied it outright, but because of the perfect rebuttal data, as if someone had prepared it with a purpose, he was at a loss for words.

So, Dae-hyuk lowered his head, unlike him.

“…I’m sorry.”

An unswallowable fire raged inside.

“Is ‘I’m sorry’ all you have to say? Huh?”

But the auditor only pressed him with an unrelenting face.

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