CHAPTER 43

“What do you mean you’re still not done with it..? The construction’s going to start next month, and we won’t be able to start it until there are still residents living in there..! I already gave you much time to do it, and you can’t even do a simple task of chasing them away…!”

Dara almost jumped from the shouting voice of her husband… as soon as she got out from the changing room Jiyong’s angry voice welcomed her… the same voice that she usually hear from him back then, the voice that was so different from how he sounded earlier as he whispered sweet nothings to her during their intimate time inside the shower.

He was talking with someone over the phone… and it’s clear on his face that he does not like what he’s hearing over the line… he’s already dressed with his usual business attire… less his coat and the still not done buttons of his shirt… clearly he’s distracted to even fix himself.



But as soon as he saw her… the rage on his face slowly calmed and a slight smile formed on his lips as he looked at her from head to toe… Dara smiled back, played on the hem of her shirt before she saw him walked towards her, bringing with him his tie.

“Arasso… I’ll go there myself… wait for me”

The anger in his voice was all gone as his eyes fixed on hers. He pulled his phone away from his face before hanging up on the other line.



She shyly looked away when he’s just a foot away from her… cheeks would blush whenever their activity from earlier would brush her mind…



Another smile formed on his lips upon seeing it… he walked closer to her and trapped her body between his arms as he leaned over the cabinet behind her and placed his phone over it… Dara bit on her lower lip… her heart just won’t stop from beating out loud, and her husband’s sudden affection towards her doesn’t help her to calm her nerves down.



Jiyong closed his eyes for a second as soon as he smelled her scent… didn’t forget to place a gentle peck on the side of her head before he reached for her hands.

“Put this on for me please”




He told her, talking about the tie on her hands… Dara looked up to him innocently… and he chuckled on how her lips pouted at what he said, with that he leaned down to her and placed another peck on her lips… his poor wife could only gasp, blush and blink her eyes for a couple of times as she look down for a bit before she started to reach around his neck to put on his tie.

“Did you tell Ms. Lee that you’ll be late? Sorry about earlier”



He whispered… hand reached to caress her cheek, as if he still hasn’t had enough to touch her… he knows he’d been forcing himself to her since last night… but if that’s the only way he could express how he feels, no matter what she thinks of him… he’ll still do what he feels like… because everything becomes all right when it comes to loving her.

“It’s okay… I already called her and she said she’s still doing something, so she would probably be late as well… by the way, who are… you talking with earlier?”

She hesitated to ask him… voice trailing off and gaze immediately darted away from his when she saw him raised a brow… he smiled, his finger tapped the tip of her nose to catch her attention back which she immediately complied.

“That was just someone from work… we just had some problems and I guess I need to go there myself to fix it…”

She just nodded at him…rested her hands on his chest as soon as she finished fixing his tie… about to pull herself away from their close distance… Jiyong’s arm wrapped around her frame… putting her still on her place… pulling her even closer against him…

“Jiyong… I thought you still need to…-“

She shyly told him… kept her hands between them… his other hand held hers on his chest before his gaze landed on the necklace she was wearing.

“They can wait… by the way… I always see you wearing this… what’s the key for…?”

He reached for the key on her necklace and Dara’s hand immediately came to catch his even before he could examine it further… placing it inside the shirt she’s wearing… she looked up and saw the curious expression on her husband’s face.

“It’s nothing… oppa gave this to me back then, it just meant nothing…”

She lied… but enough to put a tinge of jealousy on her husband after hearing her talking about her brother-in-law…

“Seunghyun-ssi…?”

He asked… earning an eager nod from her… for a while he just looked at her… never he did gave her anything… just a wedding ring which was even decided upon by his parents…bitterness, just what he needed to add more to the jealous feeling inside him…

“What’s wrong…?”

Her voice snapped him back from his trance… he immediately turned his gaze back to her and gave her back a smile… letting the thoughts be brushed away, he lifted his hand and reached for the loose strands of her hair… tucking it behind her ear, didn’t let the chance pass to caress her cheek with his thumb… before freeing her from his hug…

“I’ll drop you off to your meeting place…”

He said as he turned around to get his coat on the bed… she immediately followed to help him wear it… he looked over his shoulder and smiled at her…



“No Jiyong… I’ll just ask Mr. Lee to drop me off… your employees are probably waiting for you now…”



As soon as he wore his coat, he sighed… he really wanted to spend the whole day with her... never he had felt this disappointed before… he turned around to look at her with a blank expression on his face like he used to… and upon seeing it, Dara immediately went worried… it’s probably about the phone call earlier… she thought…

“Are you really okay…?”

He scanned her face for a while… making her more uncomfortable with the sudden silence from him… she was about to speak, about to tell him, he might be late with his appointment when he cut her off with his words…



“Call me if you need something arasso…” she could only nod… he reached for her hand and pulled her closer to him…

“I’ll try to go home early…” his voice trailing off as he pulled her much closer to him… she just nodded once again… looking away as their distance grew smaller with him continuously pulling her to him…



“Do you love me…?”



It came out to him as a sudden… probably just a slip out of his tongue because he was too engrossed on waiting for her to at least say those words to him… and just as he expected in her… he saw how she was surprised with his statement… lips parted and eyes locked with him for a while…he could only let out a slight bitter smile and without waiting for any words to come out from her… he suddenly leaned down and planted a soft peck on her lips… her eyes widen at first… why does he keep on catching her off guard… after a while, her eyes slowly closed, just letting herself fall for the overflowing bliss he’s showering over her… Jiyong held her with both of his hands… and upon seeing her closed her eyes… he smiled between their kiss before slowly closing his eyes as well…

For a while they stayed like that… lost in their own world once again… letting the time pass… both heart beats that were even beyond its capacity… indulging themselves from their newly found love… at least for him…




--


“You’ve been smiling since I arrived… did something good happen while I was away…?”



Cl’s words woke me up from my trance… I just realized I had been dreaming awake since I left the house… how can I not if my mind was filled with nothing but the thoughts of Jiyong and my heart won’t stop from beating so fast whenever I would once again feel the warmth of his kisses against my skin… everything was just so fast and as if it was all still like a dream… I could only be dazed and replay everything in my mind over and over again…



“You know what Cl… I don’t know if it was too fast, rather if this is really happening to me now… I’m just… I’m just so happy right now…”



I heard her chuckled… wouldn’t blame her to it because it’s probably her first time seeing me acting so giddy over such a thing…



“Well… that’s good to know that you’re happy… but it would be better to know the reason behind it…”



I took a sip on my tea before tucking in a loose strand of hair behind my ear… couldn’t help but to crept out another smile as I turned back to her.



“Jiyong… Jiyong said he loves me…”

And just what I expected… the smile on my lips went wider upon seeing her obvious surprised expression.



“He did what…? Really…?”



She almost forgot that were not the only people inside the restaurant as her voice slightly went loud… I could only nod at her words… took another sip of my drink as I listened to her who seemed to be still in a state of shock with my news… who wouldn’t be…?



The man who knew nothing but to hurt me… said the sickest words he could throw at me… stabbed my heart over and over again… was also now the same man who told me how beautiful I am… said the loveliest words that could ever flutter my heart… and now the same man who’s drowning me in a deep trance together with the rejoicing beats inside my heart…

“If that’s the case… I’m so happy for you Dara-ah… just in time he should realize how precious you should be to him… what… what did you say to him..?”



She asked in anticipation… and with her words… I was made into a stop… the smile on my face slowly faltered as realization came to me…



Cl probably noticed the sudden change in me as I felt her hand covering mine… I looked up to her and saw the clear worry in her face…

“Why…? You haven’t told him how you feel yet…? What’s wrong…? Is it because of her…?”



And that added more to the blandness I feel inside… everything sunk in to me as reality shouted its voice inside my head… how could I forget about ‘her’…? I was to engaged in the bliss of this selfish act that I forgot about the other party that was involved… and it was probably one of the reasons why I can’t make myself say to Jiyong the selfish words I had been feeling for him even before he had realized what I am to him… how can I be happy, if the guilt inside me was pushing me to think that I stole Jiyong from ‘her’…



“I’ll fix everything…”

And his words started to rang inside my head… believing in his words would be enough right…?



“Dara-ah…”

Cl’s voice brought me back again from my deep thoughts… I saw her smiled to me as she let go of my hand…



“You’re not doing anything wrong… he’s your husband… so if there’s someone that needs to back-off, it shouldn’t be you…”



I was a bit startled by her words… but knowing her strong personality, I could only smile at it… eventually let out a sigh… why do I keep on making things hard for everyone around me…?



“Arasso…? So stop worrying about everything… what matters is that you two love each other right… so you better tell him what you feel Dara-ah…”

I could only bit my lower lip… heard her teased me about it and blushed a bit from what she said for even thinking about it, made me already shy inside…



“What about you…? Why were you absent the whole week by the way…?”



And this time… it was my turn to see the forming redness on her cheeks… I was a bit surprised by it… first time seeing her in such state and it drew me more to curiosity when she all went silent…



“Are you okay..?” I asked her… only to see her extended her arm towards me… I looked at her in curiosity until my gaze landed on her hand… my eyes widen upon seeing a diamond ring on one of her fingers…



“Omo… you’re-…”

“I’m engaged… and I’ll be marrying him next month…”



She cut me off… I was expecting a gloomy feeling from her words… expecting her to be feeling so down just by the mention of it… but seeing her now blushing by it… something good probably happened…



“I guess he’s not a jerk that I think he was…”

And upon listening to her, I couldn’t help but to smile… good thing she found a nice guy to marry… if only Jiyong and I started in good terms… I wouldn’t be bothered each day to tell him how I feel…



I continuously watched her... she was far from the girl who I as with drinking her worries away for she looked so happy and excited about her wedding… what kind of guy is she marrying for making her giddy this way…? I’m so happy for her, but couldn’t help but to feel a little bit sad because Cl won’t be around the school for the whole semester… I’ll miss her… and now… I’m stuck with Youngbae… that cold snobbish guy…


--


“I’m about to go home as well… oh really..? Okay… I’ll wait for you… take care on your way here…”



Another smile crept on her lips and it didn’t escape her friend’s eyes to see it… and as soon as Dara hanged up the phone… a gasp escaped from her as Cl pulled her into a tight hug… soon, all she could do was to smile and wrap her arms around her friend as well…



“I wish you happiness Dara-ah… I’ll miss you” Cl whispered… Dara tightened her hug around her...



“I wish the same for you… and I’ll miss you too Chaerin-ah…”


--


“So… I better go now… they are still waiting for me… look forward for my invitation arasso…!”



Cl waved good bye as soon as she got inside her waiting car… Dara waved back and watched as her friend go… a sigh of relief escaped from her and still the smile on her face didn’t falter a bit…



After a while another familiar car came and sopped in front of her… she doesn’t need to know who was inside for she’s sure it’s her husband… and just as she thought… as soon as the window of the car was brought down, Jiyong’s smiling face welcomed her…



“Did you wait long…?”

He asked and all she could do was to shake her head no before opening the door and sat herself beside him… he asked her about her meeting with Cl and she gladly told him about her upcoming marriage… after that silence immediately surrounded them… with him watching her at the side of his eyes… with her doing the same thing… and when she couldn’t take it anymore, she turned to look at him… didn’t escape her eyes to see the weariness in it… and couldn’t help but to worry that with just a short time he was gone to his work… he’s looking weary like that already…



“Jiyong-ah… are you-..”

“Where do you-..”

They both talked in unison and both stopped to let the other spoke… Jiyong glanced at her a bit and crept out a slight smile to let her speak first…



“You look tired…” was the only thing she could tell him… and with that, another smile curved on the side of his lips…



“Yes I am… actually my head hurts right now…”

Dara’s eyes widen a bit… and upon seeing it, he chuckled… he immediately lifted his hand to reach for her face… caressed her chin for a while before going back to driving…



“Where do you want to go for dinner…?”



He asked instead… she continuously looked at him in worry and when she thought of something, a smile finally curved on her lips…



“Do you want me to cook for you instead…? It would be more tiring for you if we would go to somewhere else…”



He looked at her curiously… while she just continuously looked at him with that smile on her face and surely whenever he would see it, a skip in his heart would always tickle his insides…



“You know how to cook…?”

Dara pouted a bit with his question… suddenly realized what she just told him… thinking that she only knows how to cook one food… she could only bit on her lower lip.



“Ah… well I cooked when I was still in abroad… but well… I guess we should just better ask the maids to cook for us… I just don’t want you to tire yourself more...”



She heard him chuckle before seeing him turn to the road back to their house…



“Cook for me when we get back…”



He simply said without looking at her… she could only smile and slowly look away and when she did, he glanced at her a bit… a smile formed on his lips once again before turning back to the road…


--


She excitedly got out from the car and immediately made her way towards their kitchen… trailing behind her the maids that were all surprised to see them together but more surprised to see their young lady all hyped up… just last night they were hearing them quarrelling again but then this morning they were together… its almost lunch that they came out from their room… the maids could only talk to each other about their own conclusions about what happened… and now seeing them together again… could just make them all feel giddy inside for the two…



Jiyong watched her as she sped of inside their house… could only smile to himself as he gave his things to their maid and tiredly walked his way inside… it seemed like handling their business was making him tired each day… dealing with people with different perspective as his added more to that stress…



He followed her to the kitchen… saw her already wearing an apron with the maids all around her helping her as she started preparing for what she’s planning to cook…



He could only sigh in contentment and made his way upstairs to change clothes… tiredly dropped himself on the bed and instantly closed his eyes…

“If your father’s here… he wouldn’t like the way you handle things… you rush things to be done immediately...”



“You’re really too young for this…”

“If you would keep up to your attitude… and be pressured at such small things… how can you handle the whole company all by yourself…?”

Another sigh escaped from him as he massaged his forehead… pulling himself up, his hands came to his face and for a while he stayed like that to calm himself…



‘Why do you keep on messing up Jiyong…?’ he asked himself… only to be answered by those statements that kept on repeating inside his head.




--


Dara was still in all smile as she flipped her infamous kimchi pancake on the pan… she told the maids that she could handle it herself and so… they all left her alone, with some of them peeking at how she’s doing through the entrance of the kitchen…



Then suddenly… a pair of arms slowly wrapped around her waist… almost made her jump not until he placed his head over her shoulder to keep her down…



“Jiyong what are doing…?”

She whisperingly asked… immediately put the cooked pancake on the plate she was holding and placed it on the counter… her hands quickly held on to his arms to pull it away from her while trying to look behind her… shy to be caught by their maids… but he held her tight… even closing his eyes… he snuggled his face on the crook of her neck and smelled her scent…



“Jiyong the maids…”



She bit her lower lip as she continuously mumbled… and just as she expected… their maids were all crowded on the entrance of the kitchen…all eyes were wide open upon seeing the scene in front of them… that was better than seeing them the last time with Dara’s niece…



Jiyong looked over his shoulder… saw their nosy maids all watching them… but instead of letting go… he turned back to her… a smirk formed on the side of his lips before he leaned down and placed a kiss on her neck as she titled her head a bit to the side, still trying to look over her shoulder to see if people were watching them…

Dara’s eyes widen with his sudden move… the hold on his arms went tighter as she could only blush from it… she’s just not completely used by his affections… and upon feeling her sudden silence… he smiled… before he pulled one of his arms off her and reached to slice a piece on her pancake…



“So… what do we have for dinner…?



Dara snapped back from her trance as she saw her husband got a piece of her pancake… she followed his hand as he ate it… still holding on to her with his other arm, he got another one and ate it again in silence… Dara just watched him with her round eyes, anticipating for his feedback… remembering someone with her husband’s silence…

“How is it…?”

She finally asked… Jiyong pursed his lips as he looked down at her…



“Whatever it is… it’s delicious…”

He innocently told her… she was stilled for a second before she broke out a chuckle… he doesn’t even know what a kinchi pancake is… she was about to pull herself out from his hug to prepare their plates but he pulled her back.



“Stay…” he simply said… reached for the pancake once again and this time, brought it in front of her face… she looked up to him with her brow slightly raised… he pushed the pancake to her mouth telling her to open it which she eventually complied… he smiled at her before slicing another one… with him still holding her close against his body…

“We can just eat dinner here… I’m actually comfortable just by being like this…”



Dara managed to look over her shoulder and saw the maids who hurriedly hid upon seeing her saw them… she immediately turned her gaze back and blushed… bit on her lower lip again as her hands reached for the fabric of the apron she’s wearing and played with it…



Jiyong placed the chopsticks down on the plate and reached for the side of her face and caressed it as he peeked down on her…



“What’s wrong…?” he said with a chuckle… clearly knowing why she’s being like that…



“They are watching…” She mumbled, continuously played with her apron… she tilted her head to the side to avoid his touch for it just adds more to the blush on her face…

“And so…? What’s wrong… we’re married…”



He always use that reason… she thought, but couldn’t help but to blush some more whenever she would hear him acknowledging that…

“Can you just not think of others for a while…?”



She slowly shifted her gaze to the side… her hands already stopped from playing with her apron as he caught one of her hands and wrapped it again around her waist… his other hand came to her face once again, caressing it with much gentle…

“I know you’re probably feeling uncomfortable with all these… and I guess all my trying makes you more uncomfortable… but let it be then… I just… I just want to do this…”



He dropped his other hand only to get her other free hand and wrapped it around her with his arm just like what he did earlier… he leaned down and placed his head again on her shoulder as he squeezed her body tight against his…Dara’s lips parted, gasped upon the tightness of his hold and moreover because of the wild beatings inside her chest again…



“I’ve already wasted so much time… so please let me do this now that I can…”



She looked further to her side to see his face…with his eyes closed… he hugged her tight… just by her warmth all the worries in him was all long gone… and with that, a smile slowly formed on her lips as her eyes fluttered with much love as she watched his peaceful face…



For a while… they stayed like that… her pancake was already forgotten… not that she still cares… gasps and a bunch of teary eyes were watching them from behind… with smiles on their faces they decided to leave the young couple alone… enough proof that their prayers were now all granted…

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