Chapter 4
“Ah, Do Ook, my love,” Sun Ha called out, hastening her steps to catch up with her husband, whose long strides had left her trailing behind. With a quick yet graceful gesture, she intercepted him, bringing him to a stop.
“Allow me a moment to freshen up,” Do Ook said as he entered the bedroom, promptly removing his necktie and shirt.
In the clear light of the room, Sun Ha averted her eyes, feeling a blush rise to her cheeks.
“Do you plan to be this way forever? It has been three years; you should be accustomed to it,” Do Ook’s tone changed, his emotions held in check. He cast a deep frown her way, as if suppressing something, and then swiftly looked away with a sigh, undoing his belt with urgency.
Her shoulders trembled as she sensed his irritation. Perhaps he thought she was being coquettish once again. She had heard that most men appreciated women who were assertive and alluring in bed, and maybe he was no exception. However, she couldn’t help feeling self-conscious every time she laid eyes on his bare form.
Caught in uncertainty, Sun Ha stood still, not knowing what to say. Do Ook marched ahead, heading to the en suite bathroom without giving her a chance to catch up. Although he had appeared relaxed when he entered the house, his demeanor grew increasingly impatient, as if fleeing from something, a curious change that puzzled her.
The door clicked shut, followed by the sound of running water.
Checking the time, she realized it was almost eleven. He must have been irritated after spending the entire day outside the house, especially with the added inconvenience of rain during his journey back. Perhaps it would be better to wait until after his shower to enjoy the birthday cake together.
Not long after, Do Ook emerged from the bathroom, thick steam trailing behind him.
Sun Ha was sitting at the foot of the bed when he appeared, wearing only a single towel wrapped around his waist. He caught her off guard as he approached and passionately pressed his lips against hers before she could react.
“Wait, Do Ook, please hold on…”
Ignoring her plea, Do Ook continued to passionately kiss her, his hand firmly gripping her chin to open her mouth for his eager tongue. He tilted his head, allowing his tongue to explore her mouth more deeply.
“Mph,” Sun Ha managed to utter as his tongue intruded with intensity, leaving her breathless. Her eyes instinctively closed, but she forced them open and pushed him away for a moment. “Wait… I need to say something…”
“Is it truly more important than what we’re doing right now?” Do Ook asked with an annoyed expression.
He laid Sun Ha on the bed, his eyes fixed on her as he removed her nightdress. He seemed genuinely displeased by her habitual refusal of his advances. “To me, making love is significant enough to forgo sleep.”
“…”
“If it isn’t a matter of utmost importance, you can tell me after we’ve satisfied ourselves.”
He leaned in, sensually licking her earlobe, unaware of the change in Sun Ha’s gaze. Although her body responded to his caresses, her lips tightened with a lewd expression.
She couldn’t fathom how he prioritized sex over her birthday celebration. If she were to halt this intimacy now and ask for a simple “happy birthday,” he might glare at her in annoyance instead.
Today, Do Ook was being rougher than usual. While he wasn’t typically gentle in bed, he usually relished in foreplay as much as penetration, ensuring that she was thoroughly aroused and vocal. Today, however, he showed little interest in subtle caresses.
His impatience was evident, driven solely by his own desires, with no concern for intimacy. The woman beneath him felt suffocated and miserable.
Once she was wet enough, he quickly thrust himself inside her, as if there would be dire consequences if he delayed any further. As he entered her forcefully, Sun Ha closed her tear-filled eyes in resignation.
It was some time before Do Ook released his grip on Sun Ha. The midnight hour had long passed, and the clock on the wall continued ticking away into the night.
She lay on her side, gazing at the soft orange glow from the nightstand lamp, sensing movement on the other side of the bed. She felt Do Ook draw near, his powerful arms encircling her hips, their naked bodies still radiating warmth from their recent climax.
“Didn’t you mention there was something you wanted to tell me?”
Only after these passionate moments would they share moments of ordinary closeness like this.
In the early days of their relationship, Do Ook would promptly get up after lovemaking to clean up in the shower. However, one day, he surprised her by holding her close “just because,” not for sex. In that moment, Sun Ha’s heart raced as if it might burst from her chest. She couldn’t sleep at all that night, wondering if his hug meant he had finally fallen for her too. But soon enough, she realized that his gaze and actions remained unchanged, as if that embrace held no significance. He would only approach her for sex and nothing more. No quick kisses or holding hands outside the bedroom.
She guessed that his embrace was merely a consequence of their shared intimacy, a sign of comfort rather than affection. No deeper meaning lay behind it.
“…It’s nothing.”
“I’m asking about that ‘nothing’ you mentioned.”
Sun Ha had a faint smile on her face, enjoying his warmth on her back. “I forgot.”
Half asleep, Do Ook let out a short chuckle. He mumbled to himself, “Looks like it really was nothing.”
Having sated his curiosity more easily than he expected, Do Ook let go of her hips and settled back into a more comfortable sleeping position, closing his drowsy eyes. As he was a busy man without much time for rest, it seemed that he was quick to go to sleep. It didn’t take long before he was still, breathing at a steady pace.
Sun Ha pulled her blanket up to her neck as if she was trying to hide her sticky body. Her breast and nipples were still sore from his tenacious licking and sucking, and her lower half was still warm and tingling after his merciless attention as if it remembered the intense climax he had released in her.
Her physical relationship with Do Ook was such that he turned her into a completely different person. Sun Ha would always let herself be embraced by him, her body shivering as she utterly enjoyed every single moment without reservation. However, when their intense lovemaking was finally over, a tidal wave of loneliness washed over her heart. Those bitter feelings were particularly strong today, never letting go.
It’d been the first time since her mother’s death that Sun Ha could’ve celebrated her birthday with a family member. She hadn’t been able to spend her last two birthdays with him since he’d had business trips that had coincided with the dates. Back then, she hadn’t even bothered being hopeful that he’d be able to spend her birthday with her.
The reason why, after years of living together, it was so difficult for her to bring up that it was her birthday was that she had thrown away the chance to mention it in the years before. Two of her birthdays had already passed completely ignored, so she felt it would be weird if she were to suddenly bring it up now.
A birthday spent together with family…
He might laugh at her way of thinking, but after the marriage registration had been completed, Sun Ha had considered Choi Do Ook as her real husband and part of her family. However, even though she was lying this close to him in bed, her feelings of loneliness continued running through her mind.
Sun Ha shut her wavering eyes tightly to hide them away. However, unlike Do Ook who went to sleep right away, she tossed and turned all night long.
***
After buying some groceries for dinner and stepping into the warm home, Sun Ha felt her frozen body slowly begin to thaw.
The winds outside were powerful and vicious as if to prove that winter had begun. It had become much colder outside. On top of that, the sun had set, so even though she’d been mindful of the cold and had worn thick clothes, Sun Ha had still found herself buffeted by the strong winds and unable to keep her freezing eyes open properly. Even though she’d been told by Do Ook multiple times to send people out to pick up groceries for her, Sun Ha kept going herself.
She let out a sigh of relief as she set the completely filled grocery bags down on the floor next to the table. Her hands were bright red as if they’d been cooked, from holding the bags. Rubbing her hands together for warmth, she headed to the cupboards to take a teacup and pour herself some hot water from the water dispenser.
A trickle of hot water filled the cup two-thirds of the way. Sun Ha planned to make it into warm tea right away to warm up her body quicker, but her hands, still too numb to move properly, suddenly slipped and the teacup fell onto the floor.
Shatter!
The sound of the teacup breaking completely filled the quiet house. Sun Ha froze for a moment at the loud sound. She stared down at the messed-up marble floor with a stunned expression. The cup was in pieces everywhere, and the water was creating a large pool on the floor.
“I’m such an idiot…” Sun Ha blamed herself as she crouched down.
Do Ook would be home soon, so there was no time for her to dawdle like this. She needed to quickly clean up the broken cup and prepare dinner.
“Ah!”
It was probably because of the urgency she was feeling that Sun Ha cut her finger and palm while trying to hurriedly clean up the pieces of glass. She pulled out a small piece of glass that had dug itself inside of her hand, her breathing becoming subdued.
Not only had she broken a cup, but she’d also cut her hand.
An ominous feeling that had started to fill her mind bothered her more than the cut on her hand. When she was very young she would sometimes drop a cup or dish onto the floor because of her carelessness, but after becoming an adult this had rarely happened. But seeing as she had not only broken a cup but cut herself as well, an instinctual, ominous feeling came over her.
As if to incite her worried mind even more, the house phone suddenly started to ring loudly. There were only two people who called the home line instead of a cell. They were Chairman Choi, Do Ook’s grandfather, and Cheong Yang Daek, a long-time housekeeper for the family.
In any case, Sun Ha had already planned to visit Chairman Choi’s house the next day. After retiring, he had a lot more free time and was rather lonely. Every time she visited him, he would tell her not to bother coming out so far to meet him, but she would always see him smiling after seeing her again. She’d also heard from Cheong Yang Daek that Chairman Choi preferred meeting his grandson’s young and sprightly wife much more than his actual grandson, who was much too heartless.
Sun Ha learned how to play Go from Chairman Choi, and he would show her the orchids he worked hard to grow. Sun Ha also helped him with his calligraphy by mixing the ink for him, and she would listen with interest to all of his childhood stories, which would easily last an hour once he got started.
While learning how to cook from Cheong Yang Daek, Sun Ha also realized that Choi Do Ook and his grandfather shared similar tastes in food, even though they didn’t get along with each other at all.