Once Love Begins - Chapter 5. Part 1
Chapter 5. Part 1
“Hey, slow down.”
“It’s okay; I’ve only had three bites.”
It was the last day of the festival. She was cleaning up after the show. She was so relieved that the performance had gone well. It’s a club tradition that only third-year students perform at the festival, so this was her last year on stage.
She regretted that she should have done a little better, but she also thought that she should enjoy the last time.
“But why didn’t your husband come to watch?”
“They didn’t know I was married, so I didn’t let him come.”
With alcohol, lies come easy. Even she laughed awkwardly, unaccustomed to being such a good liar.
“You could just say he’s your boyfriend.”
“That’s right.” She hadn’t thought of that.
“No, when is he going to buy me a meal?” she asked, the corner of her mouth twitching.
She had less than one drink, and she was feeling slurred.
“He’ll buy it when he’s not busy.”
She doesn’t know when he’s done being busy. No, she doesn’t. She’s been avoiding him ever since, but he’s not avoiding her.
“…….”
Besides, it seemed like yesterday was a lonely day. She smiled a crumbly smile and took a swig of her beer.
“Ha Yeon-woo?”
“Oh, hello.”
It was the senior who had promised to buy her something delicious. She always got away with some ridiculous lie.
“Finally, I see you. I thought I never saw you because you were always busy.”
She slowly closed her eyes and opened them to see him. The corner of her mouth lifted.
Hana and Jae-ho fought off male classmates and juniors who didn’t know she was married and kept asking her to drink, but she must have gotten drunk after downing 500 CC of beer.
She felt sorry for them, but why did she keep laughing? She shook her head and pressed her cheeks together with her palms to stop laughing, but it was of no use.
“You look like you’re in a good mood.”
She knows the name of the senior who is sitting in front of her and looking at her quizzically. Kim Joo-chan.
She rolls his name around in her mouth.
No, it doesn’t feel like this.
“Huh.”
She likes a name that drips like steel, and there is no better name than Cha Kang-jae. A senior is talking in front of her, but she can’t hear him.
He’s talking to the person next to him for a while, and when he sees her smiling, he pokes her in the side.
“Hey, Ha-yeon-woo, can’t you get your head out of your arse?”
She giggled again at the funny things he said. The senior’s hot look stuck to her face.
“Senior, I’m sorry, but she’s a little drunk, and I think I need to take her home.”
“Do you want me to give her a lift?”
“No, we’ll take her home.”
“Okay. Then drive her home safely.”
Jae-ho and Hana, whom she knew well enough to be both funny and stubborn when drunk, stood up with their arms crossed on either side of her.
She was almost dragged out of the bar by the two of them, as if under arrest.
“I’d love to hang out more.”
“A married woman should think about going home sooner rather than later.”
Pushing through the fog of intoxication, not bruises, she had to crumple into a taxi. She didn’t want to go back to an empty house.
Her friend sulked condescendingly when she said she wanted to hang out more.
“I’ll get off halfway. My boyfriend wants to see me,” Hana said.
“Yeah. I’ll walk her home,” Jae-ho replied.
Hana got off on the way home. She’ll let them stay a little longer.
They’re not mom and dad, and they interfere, but she doesn’t mind. Thinking of them makes her nostalgic.
She doesn’t remember much about her parents because they died when she was so young, but she always gets a lump in her throat when she thinks about them.
It feels like a stone is weighing her down. She didn’t want to go into a house where no one was home, so she got off the bus some distance away.
Jae-ho, who was walking beside her in sync with her slow pace, let out a sigh. When she turned to look at him, he looked worried.
“Is it okay to be out so late? Did you tell your husband you’d be back home late?” Jae-ho said.
“It’s a festival,” Yeon-woo replied.
“You haven’t looked at your phone once. Are you okay?” Jae-ho asked.
“He wouldn’t care if he knew,” Yeon-woo responded.
“What?”
“He wouldn’t care if I came home or not.”
She smiled bitterly and tucked a strand of windblown hair behind her ear.
“What?”
When she saw Jae-ho narrow his eyes, she realized she had blurted out,
“…it’s nothing.”
“You’re now…….”
“Thanks for the ride.”
After walking for a while, she felt like she was sobering up.
“Be safe.”
Jae-ho started to say something, then closed his mouth.
“Go inside and call me.”
“Yeah.”
She waved to Jae-ho, who was standing still, waiting for her to enter, and walked into the villa. As expected, no one is home.
She knew it, but she couldn’t hide her bitterness. She didn’t want to go into her room, and she couldn’t be bothered to remove her make-up. She lay down on the sofa and curled up.
She didn’t even switch on the light tonight.
She was in a place that was so quiet it hurt her ears, and it was strange to be in a house where the only sound was her breathing.
She squeezed her eyes shut, hoping to get to sleep before the drunkenness wore off.
* * *
When she awoke to a rustling sound, it was already morning. A blanket was draped over her as she lay sleeping on the couch.
Did he cover her? She must have been too drunk to hear him come in. Unnecessarily, she blushed.
‘Where is he?’ Yeon-woo thought
‘He wasn’t here when I got to school,’ her helper replied.
Feeling sick to her stomach, she proceeded to eat her meal, followed by a shower and some time rolling around in bed. Hana called her, and they talked for a while.
She attempted to call Jae-ho, but he didn’t answer. Lying back down, she was on the verge of falling asleep when her phone rang. Glancing at the screen, she saw it was her mother-in-law.
Startled, she jumped out of bed, cleared her throat, and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
-“Yeon-woo, please come home.”
“Now?”
-“Yes. Are you busy?”
“No, I’ll be right there.”
-“Okay, thank you.”
Her voice, as sweet as her face, reassured Yeon-woo. It had been a long time since her in-laws had called her, and she realized that they had been busy lately. Despite this, she decided to leave.
Her mother-in-law is a wonderful person. Although she still has a challenging relationship with her father-in-law, interacting with her mother-in-law is not difficult because she has known her since childhood.
When she got her first period, she went to her mother-in-law in tears.
At the wedding, she said, “I’m glad you married our son. I don’t think there’s a woman who can love Kang-jae as much as you, Yeon-woo, because he’s always lacked love.”
Even after they got married, she often called her, cooked her favorite side dishes, and gave her clothes, bowls, and overwhelming gifts.
She doesn’t know the details of her mother’s embrace, but she wonders if this is what it would be like if her mother were still alive.
Today, she still had a broken upper leg on the table, but it was only her favorite food. She ate and ate until her stomach was bursting because she knew that her mother-in-law had cooked it herself without even asking her.
“Is it good?”
“Yes, my mom’s cooking is the best.”
“I’ll wrap it up for you when we go, but if you want more, let me know. Okay?”
“Okay.”
She looks at her lovingly, and her heart warms. At the same time, her heart sinks at the thought of betraying such a good person.
After they ate, they shared the hobby of flower arranging. They strolled through her garden, chatting about her college life and her career in the band.
She felt like a real mom. Leaning against her, she rubbed her cheek against her shoulder, and her mother-in-law stroked her hair as if it were something beautiful.
“Is Kang-jae giving you a hard time?”
“What? Why do you ask?”
She blinked rapidly, wondering if her mom knew something. Anxiety made her swallow dryly, and her mother-in-law patted her on the back.
“He’s so blunt; I’m afraid he’ll make it hard for you.” She breathed a sigh of relief.
“Don’t worry. Even though he’s blunt, he’s really good.”
“Really?”
She grinned at her mother-in-law, putting on all the acting skills she could muster. The look of relief on her face was evident as her expression relaxed slightly.
She felt bad that she had worried everyone around her, including her grandfather and her mother-in-law.
“He brought me a gift for our anniversary, too.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
She couldn’t help but lie, seeing her mother-in-law’s excitement. She knew she shouldn’t, but she wanted to make her believe that he and she were doing well.
“And yesterday, he brought me macarons and flowers.”
“…Did he?”
Her mother-in-law’s expression hardened slightly.
When she realized that she had told a ridiculous lie, she stroked her hair with a warm hand.
Her conscience pricked at the sight of her kind smile, and she couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.
Her shoulders slumped as she remembered her mother-in-law’s unhappy face all the way home. She picked up her mobile phone, knowing she had to tell him she’d been to the in-laws.
Her palms were sweating as the beeping got longer. She rubbed her palms roughly against her thighs.
-“Hello,” a low voice said, my heart pounding.
“It’s me.”
-“I know.”
“Are you running late today?”
-“…Why.”
“No, I just… I have something to talk to you about.”
He was silent for a moment. She wondered if she should have called someone who was so busy.
-“I’m on a business trip.”
“What?” He said he was on a business trip.
“Uh, since when?” She didn’t even know he’d been on a business trip. She bit her lip.
“You said you had something to tell me, so hurry up.”
“Oh, never mind, it’s nothing.”
Her mother-in-law had heard about his business trip. That’s why she looked at her so hurt, she thought, her eyes glazing over.
She could hear a woman’s voice on the other end of the line calling for him, and now she’s not surprised, but she’s heartbroken.
-” Okay”
Her mother-in-law had heard about his business trip. That’s why she looked at her so hurt, she thought, her eyes glazing over.
She could hear a woman’s voice on the other end of the line calling for him, and now she’s not surprised, but she’s heartbroken.
She shouldn’t have pretended to be loved by him. She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, feeling so ashamed. What would her mother-in-law think of her lying daughter-in-law?
How would she see him in the future? She felt so pathetic for herself.
Ha. Tough.
“Oh, it’s really hard, and it hurts.”
“Hmph……..”
She sobbed, covering her head with the duvet. For the first time since they got married, she cried out loud.
She could put up with his girlfriend’s problems, his sleepovers, anything, but this time, she couldn’t hold it in.
She cried and cried and cried.
Translator
