Once Love Begins - Chapter 1. Part 1

Chapter 1. Part 1

“So, how’s business?” Yeon-woo asked.

“Good. Thanks for your concern,” Kang-jae replied.

A cold sweat broke out on her back, even though the air conditioner in the room was blowing.

“Kang-Jae, don’t you think the company is doing well because you’re capable? The person leading the company shouldn’t be too humble,” Grandpa said.

“Yes. I’ll keep that in mind,” Kang-jae responded.

She glanced at him as he answered strongly. He was handsome, like a chiseled statue. It was a manly face that she never tired of looking at.

“So you’ve decided not to have children?” Grandpa asked.

She stared in surprise at the sudden mention of children. Her jet-black eyes flickered.

“If you do, when? I’m too old now, and I have a short time to live in this world. You’ve been married for two years already. How come you haven’t had one?”

“Grandpa!” she says, raising her voice slightly, and he furrows his brow and smiles at her in understanding.

She asked him many times not to bring up children in front of him, but lately, he’s been talking about it a lot.

“I didn’t say anything I couldn’t say. Okay, okay, let’s eat.”

She dropped her trembling hands to her knees and clenched her fists. She wanted to grab something, but there was nothing to grab.

“You’re going to sleep in tonight, right?” Yeon-woo asked.

She glanced over at him, realizing she hadn’t mentioned it before. He ate his rice with an expressionless face, then set his chopsticks down next to his bowl. That alone made her nervous, and she swallowed dryly.

“Of course,” he replied, his throat tightening in response.

The corner of his mouth curled up, and he reached out and patted the back of her hand. She almost dodged his hand. She lowered her eyes, unable to look at him.

“I’m working hard, so I’m sure there’s good news.”

He’s lying like it’s not a big deal, and she, a terrible liar, just hangs her head like a sinner. They hadn’t even kissed, let alone had s*x.

“Yeah, I’m looking forward to it.”

She avoided looking at him as his voice rose in anticipation. She pretended to eat, stuffing the rice into her tiny mouth and chewing hard. It was difficult to swallow, so she washed it down with water. The sweat beaded not only on her back but also on her forehead.

Sitting in her living room, she ate fruit after a heavy meal. Her mouth watered at the sight of the peaches, which she usually preferred over rice due to their taste.

Her grandfather had instructed Mrs. Kim to prepare the food for her to eat at her convenience. As she ate, the corners of her mouth, which had been tense until then, relaxed a bit.

“Oops!”

“Are you okay?”

She stabbed the peach with her fork. Then, she brought it to her mouth but accidentally dropped it on her thigh. While he was talking to her grandpa, he quickly grabbed a tissue, picked up the peach, and casually wiped her dirty thighs.

The nape of her neck feels warm. As he looks at her with a smile, she thanks him affectionately for placing it in front of her.

“I go up first.”

“…Okay.”

She replied and forced a smile as he patted her shoulder, asking her to go up first. She felt disappointed in herself for lying to her grandfather, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth because of her greed.

When the word greed was mentioned, her eyes narrowed. She smiled at him—a smile she never showed when they were alone, but one she showed easily in front of her grandfather. Then, she turned and ran up the stairs.

Upon reaching the second floor, she spent an extended time bathing. Whenever she felt troubled, she would fill the tub with hot water and soak in it. She noticed that she had been spending more time bathing lately, but she couldn’t give it up. The act of soaking made her feel like she was in a place that was just for her, and she felt relaxed, and her stress melted away.

After drying her hair, she walked out of the bathroom. However, she noticed that he had not returned yet. While applying lotion at the vanity, she felt dizzy and wondered if she had spent too much time in the bathroom. He is still being held by his grandfather.

She told him not to. However, when he gets home, he won’t let him go. She sighs because he usually starts playing Go for two or three hours.

Grandpa likes to play Go with him. He said that the only person who can compete with him is Kang Jae. When she imagined him sitting down and playing Go, she felt a sense of frustration.

She sympathized with him when he arrived home early in the morning. She wondered, ‘He must be very tired, so why doesn’t he just come upstairs? However, she felt even more sorry for him because she knew her grandpa wouldn’t allow him to leave.

She heard the door open. The sound made her turn her head. He stood there, his face worn with exhaustion. Their eyes met briefly, but he looked away first.

She turned and applied lotion to her skin. His eyes were devoid of emotion for a moment, and she felt a burning sensation on her lips. Once they were alone, he resumed his usual expression. That was his true look. Cold, hard steel.

She still hears his sweet whispers in her ear, but when they’re alone, he remains silent. They have been a couple for two years.

She heard him take off his watch and place it on the table. She knew what was coming without even looking. Then, she heard him take off his shirt, followed by heavy footsteps. Her mouth went dry as the cold, heavy footsteps, similar to his, grew closer and closer.

She involuntarily stiffened her shoulders as he passed by. The sound of the door closing made her shoulders sag. He hadn’t even bothered to pay attention to her, and he was doing his own thing, oblivious to her presence.

She smiled as if she were about to burst. She soon heard the water in the bathroom running. She realized that this was the cost of marrying a man who did not love her. She stood there with her head down for a few moments, frustrated at the thought of being alone with him, before moving to the balcony.

The view of the garden from the second-floor balcony was a work of art. Her parents died suddenly when she was three years old, and she went to live with her grandfather. This was her favorite place—the second-floor balcony.

When she got married, she decided to stay there for a year and renovate the entire second floor. Her grandfather wanted to change the balcony and the garden, but she refused. She didn’t want to alter the place that held so many memories.

Seated on a chair on the balcony, she looked up at the night sky. Despite it being summer, the air felt cool without a breeze. Propping her knees up, she leaned her forehead against them.

She has liked him since childhood. Her parents passed away tragically when she was only three years old, and she went to live with her grandfather. Kang-Jae was eleven years old at the time, and she cannot remember their first meeting.

She doesn’t know exactly when she started following him, who lived next door. According to the adults, she followed him even before he was out of diapers. She remembers being around 6. She didn’t even know it was love at the time. Sometimes, she was chasing him instead of her dad; sometimes, she was chasing her mom; and sometimes, she was chasing her friends.

Ever since she was a little girl, there has been nothing else on her mind. She stopped looking at anyone else, never having liked anyone else. At first, he didn’t bother her. He didn’t furrow his brow or give her a cold stare when she told him she was missing a front tooth, that she was going to marry him, and that she loved him with a pronunciation she couldn’t quite get right.

He just laughed and let his hair fall out. Then, when he was in high school, she found out he had a girlfriend and went on a rampage. In third grade, her feelings came first. She was so selfish. She was young, stupid, and reckless.

On their date, she appeared before him, lay on the floor, and cried. She will always remember the way he glared at her in front of his girlfriend and friends. After that, he avoided her, and even when they crossed paths, he looked at her as if she were a bug.

How she wishes she could have given up on him then. She was so impatient with him that she showed up in front of him a few times, and each time he got angry. Then he went to the army and later studied abroad.

She thought she had forgotten about him as the years went by, but then he showed up in front of her as a high school student. He had returned from studying abroad and had become a complete man. Her heart skipped a beat, and she spent a lot of time thinking about him.

The only difference was that she couldn’t get out of his way. There was nothing she could do when she saw him laughing on the phone with a friend or calling a girl by her first name affectionately.

Then, in the summer of her 20th year, her grandfather collapsed and was facing surgery. As she cried and cried, her grandfather brought up the subject of marriage. He said he was worried that the surgery could go wrong and that she would be mistreated by relatives she didn’t recognize, so he told her to do the right thing and marry someone she liked.  

She exclaimed, “What sort of marriage is this?” and abruptly fell silent. His face flashed in her memory, but she shook off the recollection. She believed she could shield him on her own. Upon learning of his collapse, even unfamiliar relatives appeared at the hospital.

Initially feigning concern, they revealed their true intentions when she confronted them. It was at that moment that she comprehended her grandfather’s message; he sought to safeguard her.

She followed his instructions to pursue her interests and never learned anything about the company. Her grandfather, who had been strict with her father, lived with regret every day after losing him suddenly.

She remembered him hugging her, shaking and crying as he whispered, “If only I hadn’t been so angry that day…”

He was more than a parent to me. Despite his busy schedule, he consistently attended parent-teacher meetings and sports events. Forgetting his role as the chairman of a large company, he even purchased a house for his granddaughter.

He expressed his commitment to safeguarding her future as his granddaughter, emphasizing the need for someone to shield her from adversity. It was during this moment that she recalled him, remembering him in a way she shouldn’t have.