Husband Role - Episode 47

Bong-cheol’s funeral, with wreaths lined up from the mortuary to the building entrance, was bustling with many mourners.

Eun-seol, wearing a black mourning dress with a white ribbon pin, was in charge of organizing the guests’ shoes with an empty face.

She didn’t want to deal with anyone right now. It was because she had no emotions left to spare for others.

Besides, most of the mourners were people she had nothing to do with anyway.

Dae-hyuk, the chief mourner, was walking around with a bottle of alcohol as if it were some kind of opportunity.

He had greeted guests himself in the morning, but now he had left the mortuary to his third younger brother, who had come from the United States, on the pretext that his knees were not good.

Eun-seol found Dae-hyuk disgusting.

But even the feeling of disgust was just dust in the face of sorrow and emptiness.

Eun-seol’s position, standing between the wide, cold hallway and the entrance filled with black shoes, was ambiguous as always.

“Don’t you even have tears? You heartless bitch.”

So-hee, who had returned with a red nose as if she had cried a lot, glared at Eun-seol and passed by.

Eun-seol was just dazed.

She realized that there was sorrow in the world that could not be shaken off with tears.

And she looked at the mourners. After a brief moment of consolation, people soon laughed and raised their glasses. It was almost a relief that they didn’t shout “Cheers.”

“Seol-ah.”

Someone called Eun-seol, who had been staring at a table. It was her parents-in-law.

“Mother, Father, you’re here.”

Eun-seol greeted her parents-in-law with a pale smile.

“Where’s Grandfather?”

“He’s outside with your aunt for a while. He seems to be very upset.”

It was when she answered softly, “Yes…” that Kyung-ha touched Eun-seol’s forehead.

“You still seem to have a fever.”

“I’m just a little dizzy. I’m okay.”

“Have you eaten? You’ll collapse too if you keep this up.”

Gwang-min, who was next to her, chimed in.

“Let’s eat with us.”

Then Dae-hyuk approached. Dae-hyuk greeted Kyung-ha and Gwang-min with his characteristic hearty laugh.

“Thank you for coming all this way. Was the traffic bad? It turns out that the traffic jam around here is terrible. I knew it, I should have held it in a quieter place.”

Despite his affability, Kyung-ha offered words of comfort with a sad smile.

“How heartbroken you must be.”

“A disloyal son has no right to be heartbroken.”

Gwang-min added in encouragement.

“Is that so, haha. Then come on in.”

Kyung-ha squeezed Eun-seol’s hand once and entered the mortuary.

Eun-seol organized the shoes with shoe tongs, but she crouched down and organized her parents-in-law’s shoes by hand. She just wanted to.

And then she guarded the entrance again like a scarecrow.

She hoped that Jung-hyuk, who had briefly left his post, would return soon, taking in the smells, voices, and faces of the guests.

It was only when she was by her husband’s side that she felt like her feet were on the ground.

Eun-seol found herself thinking of herself even during mourning as disgusting as Dae-hyuk.

________________________________________

The mortuary, where most of the mourners had left, was filled with the voices of the remaining family members. The family members, who had gathered together for the first time in a long time for Bong-cheol’s funeral, exchanged news with each other as if they had achieved a long-awaited family reunion. The passing glasses of alcohol were even friendly.

The one who shed the most tears at this funeral was none other than Hee-sook. She had been sincere to Bong-cheol more than anyone else. The collateral family members, who did not know Hee-sook’s hard work well, often gossiped as they pleased.

That was okay.

“…Disgusting.”

Min-seo, who had been slinking closer, sneered as she looked at the mortuary.

Eun-seol, who had been stroking Hee-sook’s thin back, turned her head.

“What are you going to do if you look at me? Am I wrong?”

Min-seo put a green soju bottle down on the low table with a thud and continued.

“That auntie, fuck, didn’t she sleep with Grandpa? Anyone would think she’s his wife. It makes me want to throw up. How much did she get?”

Eun-seol, who had approached, slapped Min-seo’s cheek with a blank face.

Slap—!

At the same time, Min-seo fell over and the bottle fell to the stone floor.

Clang—!

As a sharp cracking sound was heard, the family’s attention was instantly focused on Min-seo and Eun-seol.

“If you hadn’t… left the door open, Grandpa wouldn’t have been hurt, he wouldn’t have gone to the nursing home, and… and…”

It was when Eun-seol barely managed to say that much, gritting her teeth.

“If you’re going to go there, the real cause is you.”

Min-seo picked up a green shard and stood up. And she smiled bitterly, aiming it at Eun-seol.

“If you hadn’t stolen Jung-hyuk Teacher in the first place, would we have fought so bitterly like enemies?”

Eun-seol’s brow slowly narrowed.

“If you go back, it’s all your fault. Isn’t it? When have I ever gone to Grandpa’s house? Have I ever bought that damn Melona?”

Min-seo shouted with eyes full of venom.

“This time too, fuck! I went there, stuffing myself, to please you!”

It was an unexpected story.

“If you had just accepted my mom’s apology back then, would things have turned out this way—! Huh?!”

“…It’s sophistry.”

It was when Eun-seol barely retorted.

“Don’t talk about sophistry. Birds of a feather flock together. Is that why you’re protecting that auntie? Huh?”

Min-seo continued to press on, agitated.

“Why did you crawl into our house in the first place!! You scratched people’s insides all your life, and then you finally took my man!!”

Then she brandished the glass shard. The sharp fragment was quickly swung in front of Eun-seol’s eyes.

The family members who had surrounded the two by now asked what was going on and tried to stop Min-seo, but no one was proactive.

It was because there was no one anywhere to actively defend the ugly duckling.

Eun-seol had to protect herself.

“If your family hadn’t harassed me, I wouldn’t have even thought about marriage.”

Min-seo rushed at Eun-seol, who was barely resisting. At the same time as saying it’s all your fault! she raised the shard high.

“Who’s your man.”

Jung-hyuk, who grabbed it with a voice dripping with coldness, rebuked. From his palm, where the glass was embedded, bright red blood began to flow like thin roots.

“J, Jung-hyuk!”

So-hee, who came late, trembled, not knowing what to do. Dae-hyuk, who had been sleeping in the break room drunk, also rushed out at someone’s call.

“I, I don’t know what’s going on but it’s a good thing. I had something important to say, I did.”

Dae-hyuk said to Jung-hyuk in a slightly dazed tone, still not fully awake from the alcohol.

So-hee shouted, “More than that…!” and asked for help from the people around her.

Someone among the relatives quickly brought a first aid kit.

So-hee held it and approached Jung-hyuk with a flustered face.

Jung-hyuk pushed away So-hee, who was hovering around, at once.

From behind, Eun-seol, who had turned pale, barely grabbed Jung-hyuk ‘s elbow.

He didn’t budge at all.

Her husband was just like a mountain.

From the beginning, he was just standing there like a solid door that blocked all kinds of storms.

“There was a board meeting, so I had to leave my seat.”

Jung-hyuk ‘s voice, saying that, was as calm as frozen river water. It was a voice that no one could read emotions from. That was the same for his wife, Eun-seol.

She went over and wrapped Jung-hyuk ‘s injured hand with a tissue. She felt like she had to remove the glass quickly. Like an idiot, her mouth wouldn’t open and only her hands trembled.

“T… that can happen, haha. But that hand…”

Dae-hyuk belatedly pretended to know about the injured hand, but in fact, he was on edge at the mention of ‘board meeting’.

“I’m not excusing my absence. Just.”

Jung-hyuk held Eun-seol’s hand tightly with his uninjured hand.

“I’m just sorry that I couldn’t be by my wife’s side.”

“Ah… I know how you feel, Jung-hyuk, you’re a loving husband, haha.”

Dae-hyuk didn’t even know what he was babbling about. Judging from the situation, the injury seemed to be related to his family again.

His head became complicated and his insides burned black.

If there weren’t people around, he felt like he wanted to grab Jung-hyuk ‘s legs and beg.

Please save me.

Please cover up the medical accident.

If you do that just once, I’ll really live like a dead mouse.

“Still, because she’s my wife’s blood relative…”

Jung-hyuk opened his mouth in a calm voice.

Dae-hyuk and his family stared intently at his slowly moving mouth.

“I was worried about it in my own way and repeatedly warned you.”

His sharp eyes flickered slightly. Since he was a man who didn’t have much change in expression, the unknowing smile made everyone nervous at once.

It was when Dae-hyuk swallowed his breath.

“I’m grateful that you’ve completely removed even a shred of room for doubt.”

Dae-hyuk understood Jung-hyuk ‘s words at once. That was the same for So-hee.

The couple stared at Jung-hyuk with equally pale faces.

It was when Jung-hyuk also looked over Dae-hyuk, So-hee, and even Min-seo in turn.

Dae-hyuk opened his mouth with a face that had instantly lost its intoxication.

“J… Jung-hyuk. No, Director Yoon. Think about it again. Even considering the deep and deep ties of our blood relatives.”

“Ah.”

Blood relatives.

He lowered his deep eyes halfway and murmured coldly. Then he looked at Dae-hyuk again with bright eyes. The sharp gaze pierced Dae-hyuk ‘s retina as it was.

“I remember repeatedly warning you out of consideration.”

And he tilted his head slightly to the side and continued.

“We’ve done enough for each other.”

All of you.

“Let’s just end it.”

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