Don't Hold Back!
I understand that you are dedicated to your duties, but this woman who has been taking my mother's medication without any certainty... it really is too much of a hassle.
“Don't say that. I must have spoken to my mother about it.”
“It's fine. I'll handle it appropriately on my own.”
As I stepped inside, Icheon-daek greeted me with a bright smile.
“Oh, Director. It's been such a long time. Or should I call you Vice President now?”
“It doesn't really matter.”
“Congratulations, Vice President. I'm so happy for you on your promotion.”
Tae-yeon thought that if he had already become vice president or director or even the chairman, it made no difference at all. Being Choi Hyun-seo's wife was a role that had become far too tangled for her to call it simply a profession. She had once vaguely imagined being by his side, but now it had invaded her life in a deeply private and overwhelming way. Even though nothing existed between them.
“Dad. This one.”
Yun-woo had brought over a toy.
“How cool is that? Did our Yun-woo assemble it himself? Good job, kiddo?”
“Mom made it.”
Choi Hyun-seo picked up the toy Yun-woo had handed him and looked at Tae-yeon once more. Six months had passed and Yun-woo had grown so much, yet Min Tae-yeon remained unchanged. She seemed a little slimmer, but her body felt more solid, stronger.
“Have you been exercising?”
“Yes. My muscle mass has increased a lot.”
“That shows.”
While Hyun-seo was away, Tae-yeon had trained hard. She had run, pushed her body, built up her muscles, and now she was ready to submit her resignation. She believed she needed to become even more solid to survive on her own.
Icheon-daek, standing beside her, added with a warm laugh,
“Madam also managed your diet. Eating mostly protein, I can't believe how much more beautiful your body has become.”
The soft, gentle woman had grown even harder. And that hardness made her even more alluring.
Choi Hyun-seo showered, changed into comfortable clothes, and came downstairs. Watching Yun-woo bounce around with a loud thump, those six months felt brand new again. Tae-yeon turned to him and asked,
“It's not quite dinnertime yet, but would you like some fruit?”
“Sounds good.”
This comfortable and warm home was exactly what Hyun-seo liked. Even though it was a mirage that would disappear someday, he didn't want to let go of the perfect family in this very moment. Tae-yeon sliced the fruit while Yun-woo played with his toys.
The sweet home bathed in the yellow winter sunlight felt like a scene from a movie. Tae-yeon called out to him again,
“Come here, please.”
Choi Hyun-seo came to the dining table. Mangoes, kiwis, and grapes—seasonless fruits arranged beautifully on the plates. He took a bite of the mango. Yun-woo ran over and reached out with both arms, begging to sit too. Hyun-seo placed Yun-woo in his high chair.
“What should we give our Yun-woo?”
“Grapes!”
“Our Yun-woo likes grapes too. Knowing the names of fruits makes you a genius, right?”
“No. My language skills are a little ahead, but I'm not a genius. Every time a child says a word, parents think their kid might be a genius.”
There was nothing to say. Anyway, the truth was that Yun-woo was an incredibly wonderful baby, even if he wasn't a genius. Yun-woo beamed with excitement and declared,
“This is mango! This is kiwi!”
His babbling was surprisingly clear. Hyun-seo gave him a grape. Yun-woo popped the whole thing into his mouth, juice dripping everywhere. Saliva glistened on his plump lips. Tae-yeon gently wiped Yun-woo's mouth and asked Hyun-seo,
“How was the business trip?”
“I worked hard and came back.”
This woman who smiled so casually, would she go back to her old self the moment she stepped upstairs? Would she let him hold her the way he had wanted to for six months? That would be nice. He had woken up multiple times in his sleep, missing her. Yet even after all that, he hadn't reached any conclusion about whether he truly loved her, whether he would father a child with her, and whether they could build a real family together.
“By the way, Vice President, Yun-woo's share has increased. He now pays a lot in taxes.”
Tae-yeon still looked slightly displeased. But she no longer opposed it. Had she resigned herself?
“Can I get a cup of coffee?”
“Just a moment.”
Icheon-daek could have done it, but Tae-yeon quickly walked to the coffee machine and ground the beans. The rich aroma of the coffee began to fill the room. Even the scent of coffee itself felt different inside a home where Tae-yeon was. It was a fragrance she hadn't sensed even at a specialty shop.
By the time the deep, warm, and sweet coffee aroma had completely filled the space, the cup had been placed in front of Hyun-seo. As he took a sip, Tae-yeon spoke,
“I've looked at houses. Places suitable for you and Yun-woo to live in.”
Hyun-seo picked up his coffee cup without a word. His gaze moved beyond the cup to Tae-yeon and then to Yun-woo playing happily beyond her.
***
A black night. A naked, beautiful body danced before his eyes. While with Tae-yeon, he had lost his appetite completely. There was no other way to describe it.
Choi Hyun-seo was dreaming now. It was strange to be able to dream while awake, but for the past several months he had been dreaming and thinking about it. And that made it all the more cruel. The cause of everything was Min Tae-yeon. No, it was Choi Hyun-seo.
After realizing that no matter who he blamed, nothing would change, he stopped looking for causes. The important thing was that he was dreaming.
In the dream, Tae-yeon teased him with her beautiful body and then ran far away. Lush curves swayed in front of him. Round, beautiful breasts and a pink, lovely glow. The breasts he wanted to bite and suck, and the enticing lines from waist to hips. Everything about Min Tae-yeon stimulated him—even in the dream.
Hyun-seo was the bumpkin who had only ever known the bitter taste of the world and had now discovered sweetness for the first time. When he held Tae-yeon's soft body, the world felt impossibly warm and sweet. Her soft, tender body had clearly stolen his very soul.
The business trip had been planned from the beginning, but he had gone earlier than scheduled. He had worked himself to death the whole time, yet the results were far worse than usual. The period had been an utter failure of efficiency.
Insomnia had set in during the trip. Unable to sleep, lying in bed itself felt like a burden. Each time he drifted off, he dreamed.
Heavy, sticky air pressed down on him. No matter how hard he ran, his feet didn't touch the ground. He couldn't even speak. In front of him, a naked Tae-yeon didn't look back at all but ran away from him.
Her slender waist, her full, round, adorable body glowed white as it moved farther away. No matter how hard he chased, he couldn't catch her. He ran and ran like an idiot. He ran and ran endlessly, determined to grab Min Tae-yeon once and hold her in his arms.
Just out of reach, just beyond his grasp. He never caught the Tae-yeon who kept running away in front of his eyes.
“Tae-yeon. Tae-yeon-ah!”
Startled by his own voice, he woke up. A sweet taste lingered on his tongue. His head was drenched in sweat.
When he returned home to Tae-yeon, he had thought that the nightmares would never come again. But perhaps it was the words “I'll raise Yun-woo.” Or perhaps the despair of not being able to hold her no matter how many times he returned.
The gap in his heart that refused to close had ultimately summoned those nightmares again. Hyun-seo shot up in bed and checked the time. 1:30. An ambiguous hour with nothing to say.
It should be time to sleep again, but the unbearable loneliness and coldness of the dream made him hesitate to lie down. He knew—he had to let her go!
He couldn't let Tae-yeon die from thirst while offering her nothing here beside him. Yet he didn't have the resolve to love her, to have a second child, and to live that life. Precisely, he believed they shouldn't.
In the end, he had to let her go! The more he thought about it, the harder it became. But Yun-woo would eventually join the Miwoo Group when he grew up. As long as he could go to school, he would be able to leave his mother's care.
“Then it's perfect. I shouldn't keep craving her.”
Still, deep inside, the relationship with Tae-yeon that wouldn't yield to his will kept intruding like an uprising. Two hearts were in conflict. Sleepless nights continued, and even in dreams he craved her body.
When Choi Yun-woo received his share in the Miwoo Group, grew well, and obtained everything, he would be able to partially repay the debt he owed his brother.
“Then there will be nothing left to want.”
It was also revenge against his mother. Revenge for the fact that he had been powerless when his brother was driven out and had done nothing until he died in a distant foreign land.
In the end, sleep was impossible.
Hyun-seo quietly opened Tae-yeon's bedroom door. The moonlight illuminated her sleeping face.