Husband Role - Episode 6

[No.]

As Eun-seol sent the reply, a quick response came back.

[Keep Saturday evening free this week.]

Like the last time, it seemed he was talking about having time to get to know each other. Eun-seol replied, “Yes,” and then sent another message.

[I know it’s presumptuous, but could you pick me up?]

[Of course.]

At the immediate reply, Eun-seol unconsciously smiled faintly. Her lips stung, but she didn’t feel much pain. Saturday. Waiting for that day, she steeled her resolve.

For a week, Eun-seol had to spend her time shrinking away. She left the house as soon as she opened her eyes and didn’t return until after midnight.

Most of the daytime hours were spent at the flower shop run by a close older sister.

The owner, Su-jin, seemed curious, but thankfully, she didn’t ask much. She just said it was nice to have someone to talk to.

Then, around Thursday, she ran into So-hee once.

She was just instructing Mrs. Ma, “Get rid of that thing.”

Since Min-seo was quiet for once, she didn’t seem to want to stir up trouble.

It seemed that Uncle Mok Dae-hyuk didn’t know about the current situation. If he had known, he wouldn’t have been silent with his fiery temper.

High schooler Jun-seo was busy dating and uninterested in household matters.

However, last night, he ran into her while parking his motorcycle, and all he did was sneer,

“I heard you really smacked Mok Min-seo in the back of the head? Lee Eun-seol, you got some fight in you. Huh?”

And then came the long-awaited Saturday.

“Haa…”

Looking at herself in the table mirror, Eun-seol sighed softly.

The scratch under her eye was pretty well hidden by wearing a deep-brimmed cap, but her split lip was clearly visible, which worried her.

Eun-seol left the room, thinking of an excuse for her injury.

“Where are you sneaking off to again?”

Mrs. Ma, who had come down after preparing the family’s meal, asked fiercely. Eun-seol didn’t answer and passed her. Mrs. Ma, enraged, grabbed Eun-seol’s arm.

“The teacher is waiting,”

Eun-seol continued, pulling Mrs. Ma’s arm away.

“He’s in front of the house right now.”

Just then, the screen of Eun-seol’s phone, which she was holding in her hand, lit up. The caller was Jung-hyuk. Seeing that, Mrs. Ma hesitated and stepped back, criticizing.

“…You brazen thing.”

She had expected to run into someone from the family if she was unlucky. Just like now.

That’s why she had asked Jung-hyuk to pick her up. She felt sorry for using him, but she might not have been able to leave otherwise.

Eun-seol turned her back on Mrs. Ma, who was squinting at her.

She came out to the garage and went around the building halfway to the other side. Jung-hyuk, who found Eun-seol coming from the sloping alley instead of the main gate, narrowed his brow.

“Ah…”

He really was waiting…

Eun-seol felt embarrassed for no reason.

“I just went to the convenience store for a bit,”

She said as an excuse, pressing down on the brim of her cap. Jung-hyuk opened the passenger door without a word. It must have been a habit.

But it was completely unfamiliar to Eun-seol. She felt an unbearable tickling in her heart and said a small “Thank you…”

“No need to say thank you for everything,”

Jung-hyuk said bluntly.

Strangely, Eun-seol seemed to find her age only when she was in front of Jung-hyuk. Being with him made her feel like some order was being properly established, and that led to a sense of relief.

Perhaps that’s why the tension she had been feeling for the past few days quickly eased.

As she got into the car, Jung-hyuk’s scent strongly enveloped her. Even the black sedan was like another Jung-hyuk.

The unfamiliar coziness was too much for Eun-seol.

“Let’s go,”

Jung-hyuk, sitting in the driver’s seat, smoothly started the car. The car, which smoothly exited the familiar alley, was soon quietly speeding along the black, shining road.

Silence. And the silence settled down.

Eun-seol thought, looking at the rapidly receding night view. That a moment of escape like this would come before long.

At that time…

Eun-seol carefully turned to Jung-hyuk.

In the darkness, his profile, focused on driving, was smooth and without any excess. One hand on the steering wheel was very large and masculine.

Before turning a corner, his eyes first checked the direction he was going to enter, and when the traffic light turned orange, he slowed down early.

Jung-hyuk’s appearance was beautiful in the silence.

The teacher is really cool.

“Teacher,”

Eun-seol called him as if possessed. Jung-hyuk, who was stopped at a light, had his features more clearly revealed by the taillights of the car in front.

“Yeah,”

At his answer, the light changed. As the red light disappeared, the car was instantly filled with darkness. The soft light of the dashboard barely illuminated Jung-hyuk’s expressionless face.

“If… if another woman catches your eye, it’s okay to meet her.”

It was greedy to try to possess such a wonderful man with a fake marriage.

In the first place, that wasn’t what Eun-seol wanted.

She dragged him in to get out of the mire. She felt a little sorry about that. So Eun-seol also wanted to leave something corresponding to that open to him.

She wouldn’t be greedy, so she told him to do what he wanted if there was something he wanted.

Because that’s fair.

“So, you really don’t need to worry about me…”

“That won’t happen.”

Jung-hyuk’s voice, cutting off Eun-seol’s words, was consistently serious.

The place they arrived at was a high-rise hotel lounge bar. Perhaps because of the low lighting, the interior was elegant and luxurious. The softly playing piano music further enhanced the space’s class.

Eun-seol couldn’t help but peek around.

But the place didn’t seem unfamiliar to Jung-hyuk. He was naturally guided to a room by the staff.

Eun-seol, following him into the room, secretly admired it.

The night view of Namsan Mountain came into view through the large window, and a crystal floor candle stood on the marble table. It was a sophisticated space that also had a certain coziness.

“I couldn’t think of a quiet place,”

Jung-hyuk said in a tone that felt responsible for the choice of location.

“It’s a very wonderful place,”

Eun-seol replied. She meant it.

She had heard that there had been a surprising personnel change from Saudi Arabia to Ulsan. He must have been fighting a war-like workload all week, so he wouldn’t have had the leeway to look for a place for a date, not a date.

Nevertheless, seeing Jung-hyuk seeming sorry for not being able to pay attention made Eun-seol feel very grateful. It had been so long since someone had cared about her preferences that she had forgotten when it was.

“I’m glad if it’s okay,”

Jung-hyuk’s typically blunt answer came back.

“I’ll order,”

And he left the room.

It seemed like she could just press the call bell, but Eun-seol didn’t know anything about nightlife, so she quietly stayed in her seat.

But even by the time the drinks that Jung-hyuk seemed to have ordered were served, he himself was nowhere to be seen.

It was strange. Eun-seol fiddled with her phone, waiting for him to come back soon. After about 20 minutes had passed, she was overcome with belated worry.

Could something have happened?

Just as Eun-seol hurriedly unlocked her phone, the door opened. It was Jung-hyuk.

“I’m a little late,”

Jung-hyuk, whose forehead was slightly damp with sweat, strode towards Eun-seol instead of the opposite side.

A phone, a smart key, and ointment and bandages were placed on the table.

It was when Eun-seol scanned them with her eyes. Jung-hyuk slightly raised the cap of her hat and frowned.

“Ah…”

As Eun-seol turned her head in embarrassment, he gently grabbed her chin and made her look at him.

Eun-seol frowned.

“How did you get hurt?”

“I fell.”

He looked at her with an expression of disbelief.

“On your face?”

At Jung-hyuk’s question, Eun-seol bit her lip. He didn’t ask any further. He just applied ointment to her eye area. After even putting a bandage on it himself, he started applying medicine to her lips again.

It was too close a distance where they could feel each other’s breath.

It was a scent that she was now a little used to, but even so, Eun-seol couldn’t get used to it.

Eun-seol barely remembered what kind of person Jung-hyuk was.

He was a teacher who suddenly broke down her walls with unexpected delicacy.

She hadn’t recognized it when she was a student, but now she clearly recognized it and was conscious of it.

“Ah.”

A groan flowed from Eun-seol’s teeth at the rising pain.

Then his touch became even more delicate. It was slow and precise, as if he were treating her like a soft feather.

Eun-seol’s heart felt like it was about to burst.

Instead of tightly closing her eyes, she held her breath.

Every single cell in her body seemed to awaken to Jung-hyuk’s gaze and touch.

Her senses were as sharp as a hedgehog, but her heart was melting away.

“It’s over,”

His sculpted face moved away, and he said.

“…Did you go to buy this?”

Eun-seol barely asked.

“It would have been nice if there was a hydrocolloid bandage. They didn’t have it at the convenience store.”

He answered casually, moving to the opposite seat. Eun-seol didn’t know how to react. She didn’t even know when Jung-hyuk had seen her injury.

Then she remembered. What her grandfather had taught her.

“…Thank you.”

He had said that she could just say that.

She had forgotten for a moment because she had lived for a long time without anything to be grateful for.

“Dinner?”

Jung-hyuk asked a question instead of answering. It wasn’t the time to ask about a meal. He probably remembered the last meeting and was asking to check on her.

“…I ate.”

He didn’t answer.

“I really did this time.”

She said one more time. Soon he nodded to mean he understood.

A moment of silence.

A brief awkwardness followed.

Eun-seol was seized with the feeling that she had to do something.

Her eyes naturally went to the table. Eun-seol picked up the tongs stuck in the ice bucket. It was the moment she picked up a piece of ice.

Jung-hyuk grabbed Eun-seol’s hand and stopped her.

“I didn’t bring you here to do things like this.”

“Ah…”

“Can you even drink alcohol?”

She shook her head.

Jung-hyuk calmly took Eun-seol’s tongs and put them back in the bucket. Then he pressed the call bell. A staff member came in quickly.

“Please bring a glass of orange juice.”

He ordered in a monotone voice. Eun-seol realized it was for her and quickly waved her hand.

“Ah…! I’m okay.”

“Then milk?”

Eun-seol blushed at Jung-hyuk’s question. It was because he still seemed to see her as a young student.

She’s twenty-two, an adult.

Eun-seol softly clenched her fists and opened her lips passively.

“…I want to try drinking alcohol.”

“Make it milk.”

But she was summarily rejected.

Support