Even If It's Not Love

If ‘relationship’ means the link between two people, none of the relationships she’s had so far were as perfect as this. She doesn’t know what will happen after a long time has passed, but the serenity, coziness, and satisfaction of this relationship was unparalleled.

Very often, she was afraid that someone would find out about her happiness and take it away, but she could endure such worries compared to the happiness she was now enjoying. She didn’t want to be deprived of today’s happiness because she was worried about the misfortune that might come.

Yoo-hwa, who had been thinking indifferently about this and that, turned her head as soon as she heard the door open. Woo-hyun was opening the front door and coming inside. Yoo-hwa was quite embarrassed by the fact that she had been so lost in thought that she only noticed when he opened the front door.

“You’re there today, too.”

Woo-hyun, who had put down his bag, sat on the back of the sofa, leaned forward, and smiled lightly at Yoo-hwa who was by the window frame. His languid smile was beautiful, so Yoo-hwa smiled along with him.

“Yeah. Strangely enough, I feel comfortable here.”

“Do you want to switch to a more comfortable chair?”

“No. This height and texture are perfect. You came very early.”

Yoo-hwa was surprised to see the clock on the wall pointing to 5 p.m. He usually came home early because his time to get off work didn’t go past 6:30 p.m., but it was so early that she wondered if he had escaped in the middle of the day.

“My computer broke down so I’m going to work from home.”

“Can the CEO do that?”

Woo-hyun had been forced to take the CEO position a while ago due to the persistent recommendation of the chairman. He was able to escape it for a few months by giving all kinds of excuses, but he couldn’t put it off any longer. When Woo-hyun was telling her this, his expression seemed more regrettable than her own, so she couldn’t even show her disappointment.

“When the computer breaks down, the CEO is no good either. It will be quicker to work from home than to repair it.”

Even though his answer wasn’t funny at all, Yoo-hwa gave a small laugh.

“Wasn’t it frustrating?”

“Not at all.”

Yoo-hwa shook her head lightly.

Because she had the habit of staying at home for a long time, it was awkward for her to go out. She would go out if she had to work, but she wasn’t in a bad enough financial condition to have to work in particular, and Woo-hyun didn’t want that either. Yoo-hwa also didn’t feel like going to work while worrying about Woo-hyun, and it was better to take that time to read books at home and think about all kinds of things as much as she wanted until she got tired of it.

Woo-hyun swept Yoo-hwa’s hair behind her ear. Leaning naturally against his touch, she looked up at him. His eyes were calm and relaxed as he looked at her. She didn’t know what kind of face he made at the company, but Yoo-hwa hoped that no one else would see Woo-hyun like this. She selfishly wanted the tranquility on his face to be hers.

“Good job today, too.”

As Yoo-hwa hid her thoughts and greeted him as usual, Woo-hyun smiled even more deeply.

“Weren’t you bored today?”

Woo-hyun looked down at her, made eye contact, and asked in a low voice.

She once felt that Woo-hyun had become very kind, but she knew it was her illusion when she saw how he dealt with Jun-kyung. Woo-hyun didn’t change at all. However, the way he expressed himself had become softer.

“It was fine. The housekeeping lady comes once every two days, and the piano teacher you got me also comes. And I also go out to the lectures… Now that I’m talking like this, I seem busy. No, I’m actually busy. I have plenty of books to read.”

“I’m glad.”

“And don’t worry about going to work and leaving me here. I knew there would be a time when you would go out and work.”

“…”

“I don’t worry too much anymore either. Things are not as dangerous as before.”

As the organization that Woo-hyun was in established itself as a financial enterprise, he was no longer exposed to dangerous things as he had been before. It became a routine to go to work early in the morning and leave work around the evening like everyone else. She thought it was a lot safer than before.

“Aren’t you hungry?”

Woo-hyun changed the topic.

“Now that you mention it, I am a little hungry.”

“Then let’s prepare something and eat.”

“Yeah. Go wash up.”

Woo-hyun headed for the main room. Sitting on the sofa again, Yoo-hwa looked ahead. The window was clear, as if nothing had been written.

Woo-hyun thought that eating together was important. Instead of focusing on the taste or the quality of the food, he focused on preparing and eating simple food together, at the same time. Knowing enough to understand why Woo-hyun was like that, it became a habit for Yoo-hwa too.

On the table, there were braised pork ribs that the housekeeping lady had made, soybean paste soup that Yoo-hwa had made, and some vegetables. Yoo-hwa, who would normally eat along with Woo-hyun while focusing on the food, looked ahead while holding the spoon and asked in a murmur.

“… What are we going to do?”

“Register our marriage.”