After Three Years

“After three years, the first thing out of your mouth is that you came for a matchmaking meeting? With me, of all people?”

“Yes.”

“What matchmaking is a kid like you doing?”

Do-heon still could not believe this absurd situation. He looked around again, but the woman from the photograph was nowhere to be seen. Only Hye-won stood before him, her expression resolute.

“I’m an adult. I came here knowing full well this is a meeting with marriage as its purpose.”

Resentment flared at the way he treated her like a child, so Hye-won emphasized her adulthood. She knew that the student she had once been would never suddenly appear as a woman in his eyes, yet all she could think was that she had to marry him somehow. She tried her hardest to look grown-up.

But in his eyes she still seemed like that seventeen-year-old student.

“You’re ready to get married right this minute, aren’t you?”

He sat down across from her with a faintly hollow look on his face.

“If you’ll have me, I’ll go.”

“You’ve grown a lot. Now you’re saying all sorts of things.”

Do-heon stared at her as if he could not believe his ears.

“Do your parents know you’re out doing this?”

“I came of my own free will. I’m old enough to decide my own life.”

“You’re only twenty.”

“I’m an adult.”

If her father had not been forcing the marriage with Jae-mun, Hye-won would never have come to a place like this either.

If this marriage goes wrong, you’ll die by my hand.

The memory of Jin-sang’s ruthless push for the marriage with Jae-mun rose up, and anxiety seized her just as Do-heon’s voice cut through.

“Your own free will? That disappoints me even more. You’re not the Han Hye-won I knew.”

“Teacher, I heard you have to get married too. Couldn’t you just marry me? Back in school you said you had no intention of ever marrying. That you’d live free, doing whatever you wanted for the rest of your life. I heard you even came back early because of marriage. If it’s a marriage that doesn’t need love—if marriage itself is the only goal—then please do it with me. I need to get married too.”

Hye-won met his eyes, which looked even colder when he was silent, and spoke as if challenging them.

“Why do you need to get married?”

The voice that had first laughed in disbelief grew even drier.

“I know I don’t measure up in your eyes. As a marriage partner I’m lacking, of course.”

“You and I aren’t the kind of people who discuss things like this. Especially not after three years.”

Deciding there was nothing more worth hearing, Do-heon stood before she had even finished speaking. His face said he had wasted his time on something pointless.

“It wouldn’t be a marriage where you lose out, Teacher. You could still do everything you want.”

She had expected rejection, but she had never imagined he would stand up less than five minutes after walking in. Hye-won looked up at him in panic. The thought that she could not let him leave like this made her heart race with urgency.

“You think I’d do something like that with you?”

Do-heon looked straight into both of her eyes as he spoke.

“Teacher, you have to get married anyway—”

“Anyway or not, I won’t do it with you.”

“Why not?”

“You think I’d marry a kid?”

“I’m not a kid. Today I came as the woman Han Hye-won, not the student Han Hye-won. You used to say prejudice is a bad thing, Teacher. Can’t you just see me as a woman you met for the first time today?”

“And what exactly can you do with me?”

Do-heon shot back with a mocking edge at her bold words.

“I’ll do anything. I can do it. Just tell me what kind of wife you—no, what kind of wife Mr. Jeong Do-heon wants.”

“The kind of wife I want, huh.”

Something about her words seemed to intrigue him; a glint flickered in his eyes for a moment. It almost looked like expectation.

“Can you have sex with me?”

“What?”

The blunt, unexpected words made Hye-won’s eyes waver in shock. It was a remark that clashed completely with the upright image of Do-heon she knew.

She knew he was saying it on purpose to put her in a difficult spot, yet the sight of his unmoving black eyes turned her mind blank.

What was she supposed to say?

And why was her heart pounding like this?

It was beating far too fast to blame on the sudden rush of his cologne.

“Why is your face turning red, Ms. Han Hye-won?”

He lifted one corner of his mouth and called her name as if teasing her.

While Hye-won kept swallowing dryly, the look Do-heon fixed on her was mischievous.

“What, is it embarrassing to hear? Is the age gap too much for you to handle?”

“N-no.”

Hye-won tried to act nonchalant, but she could not hide her expression. Her face still burned hot enough to feel the heat.

She had never imagined she would end up talking about something like this with Do-heon, and she had no idea how to respond.

“Why are you avoiding my eyes?”

“Wh-what?”

Without meaning to, Hye-won had pictured kissing and having sex with Do-heon, and she startled again as if he had caught her at it.

“Your ears are red too. And you still claim you’re not a kid?”

Do-heon was driving home once more that a matchmaking meeting was no place for her.

“I—I can do it. I will.”

“Do what?”

“What?”

Now she jumped at every word he spoke. Looking into his eyes, she could not bring herself to say the word “sex.”

“Listen carefully, Ms. Han Hye-won.”

Do-heon continued in a firm voice, as if telling her to pay attention.

“Do you understand what kind of place a matchmaking meeting is now? Marriage is reality, and it’s far too raw for a twenty-year-old young lady to handle. Get up. Enough.”

“Teacher.”

“As if I’d ever do that kind of thing with you.”

Do-heon shoved his hands into his pockets and urged her to stand.

“I told you I can.”

“For a reunion after three years, today was pretty shocking. You must see me as some bastard who sleeps with his students.”

“That’s not—”

“Go try kissing someone first. Don’t turn red over every little thing.”

Do-heon cut the flow so she could not attach any more words.

“Teacher!”

“Never show up at a place like this again. You might run into a real bastard.”

Standing by the window where the afternoon sunlight poured in, Do-heon gazed down at the forest of buildings for a long while before lowering the blinds.

He had skipped lunch after diving straight into the materials sent from America the moment he arrived at work. Now he was finally catching his breath with coffee and a sandwich.

Suddenly he remembered Hye-won’s hand gripping her coffee cup so tightly.

“Mr. Jeong Do-heon, huh.”

That was how she had addressed him. It sounded as unfamiliar as hearing his own name spoken aloud.

Those trembling eyes of Hye-won’s as she carefully attached “Mr.” to the end of his name, trying to act like an adult.

Today I came as the woman Han Hye-won, not the student Han Hye-won. Can’t you just see me as a woman you met for the first time today?

She had already become a woman. It was not simply because she had taken off the school uniform.

She was pretty enough that any man would want to make a move—no, she had a unique presence that went beyond that.

The short hair that had once framed her face now fell over her shoulders.

Those large, gentle eyes and the moist gaze that looked ready to spill tears at any moment.

Even the full curve of her chest that drew the eye as if the buttons might burst at any second.

If she had not been his student, it was the kind of face that would make a man want to become a bastard at least once.

And what exactly can you do with me?

Can you have sex with me?

Knowing full well how stubborn Hye-won could be, he had deliberately thrown out those shameless words. She was not the type to turn back if he only half-hearted it.

He had needed to make it crystal clear that a place like this was still not for her.

Fearless as she was—what would she do if she ran into real bastards?

I—I can do it. I will.

Those large eyes of hers, trembling precariously, and her two cheeks still flushed red with heat that had not yet cooled.

That faintly shaking voice.

When he recalled Hye-won’s face—eyes frozen stiff yet still refusing to give up—a quiet laugh escaped him.

His first school. His last student.

The Hye-won who remained in his memory was an ordinary girl who dreamed of becoming a painter.

She had never learned to draw, she said, yet she insisted she would become a painter no matter what.

Sometimes he still remembered her sitting by the classroom window, sunlight on her face as she sketched.

Those eyes that sparkled especially bright whenever she spoke of her dream, the soft scratch of her pencil filling a white sketchbook.

What had become of that dream?

Knowing her tenacious spirit, he had thought she might already be living it—or at least he had hoped she would.

He had never expected to meet her again like this. And wearing makeup and clothes that did not suit her age, at that.

Why had a girl who was only twenty come to a matchmaking meeting?

I need to get married too.

The desperate look on her face would not leave his mind.

Ten days had already passed, yet every free moment it slipped in and scattered his thoughts.

If they had not met that way, he could at least have shared a warm meal with her. Leaving her behind with tears welling in her eyes had weighed on him ever since.

Do-heon pressed the key phone that connected to the secretary’s office.

“Have you looked into the matter I asked about earlier?”