Chapter 11
“[First, try tempting him. Let’s sleep together in bed.]” On the other end of the phone, Chaeyoung casually advised Sua, who had poured out her worries.
“Are you crazy? How can you say such a thing?”
Although Sua had spent a night with Hyun-oh before, the memory of the first night was so distant. Their relationship was also distant.
With her introverted personality, Sua couldn’t imagine saying such a thing.
“Then, pretend to be asleep and snuggle up. If you don’t mind, guys are all bound to come over. They’re all beasts, after all.”
With a laugh, Chaeyoung hung up the phone.
As per Chaeyoung’s advice, Sua pretended to sleep on the sofa. She usually had a strict routine, falling into a deep sleep by midnight, but now time seemed to drag on too slowly as she thought about seducing Hyun-oh.
Thump thump.
The sound of her heart beating resonated intensely. How long had she waited? When Hyun-oh finally came home, Sua followed Chaeyoung’s advice and approached him.
Hot and firm.
His body, which her fingers touched, was so firm. Pretending to be asleep, she clumsily moved her fingers, but intense heat emanated from his body.
Suck.
Their lips met, and she timidly pushed her trembling tongue between his half-opened lips. It tangled with his rough tongue, and she delved deeper inside.
She was afraid he might push her away, but fortunately, Hyun-oh gently embraced her. When Sua’s breath reached the tip of her chin, their lips slowly parted.
“Haa.”
As her breath became ragged, Sua closed her eyes in embarrassment at her own boldness. Still looking at Sua’s closed eyes, Hyun-oh tenderly brushed her lips, now sensitive from the kiss.
“Han Sua.”
“…Hmm?”
“Are you dreaming right now?”
“…Um.”
Still not fully awake, Sua murmured. At her words, Hyun-oh chuckled.
Yeah, Han Sua, you wouldn’t be like this sober.”
And he gently stroked Sua’s hair before lying back on the sofa. He pulled up the blanket to cover her body.
They are drifting apart. If they continue like this, today’s courage will become meaningless. As he started to move away from his seat, Sua hurriedly grabbed his wrist. His thick, firm wrist filled her hand completely. His pulsating heartbeat flowed through her fingertips.
“I’ve noticed. So let’s continue.”
At his sudden turn, Hyun-oh looked back. Sua blushed and whispered, “We’ve been apart for too long. We don’t even share the same room.”
“If we keep this up, people might not think we’re a couple. What would others think?” She blushed even more. Hyun-oh chuckled softly at Sua’s embarrassment, contrary to her expectations of his reaction to the phrase ‘people might not think we’re a couple.’
“Hmm… How long has it been since we’ve been apart?” His sigh filled the spacious living room, reaching Sua’s chest like a gust of wind. It was definitely not a positive response. Sua’s grip on his wrist weakened.
He muttered to himself as if thinking aloud, “Is the situation getting worse? Did my father even instruct me on this?”
“What? No, it’s not like that.”
Suddenly, why is father’s story coming up here? Sua looked bewildered. Upon seeing her expression, Hyun-oh gently pushed her away. Despite their affectionate gestures, a coldness hung between them.
“You’re quite something. I cried because I didn’t want you, and yet you’re playing these games.”
“When did I—”
Before Sua could finish, he brushed off her hand as if he didn’t want to hear it.
“Our marriage has already been established. Whether you want it or not. So there’s no need for this charade.”
While the affectionate man expressed it as “whether you want it or not,” it sounded to Sua like he didn’t want it himself but the marriage had already been established.
Surely, it can’t be. He must just be busy. That’s why we’re drifting apart like this. I’ve always believed that. But unexpectedly, a question popped out of Sua’s mouth.
“Do you hate doing this? Do you hate me?”
Even though the magnitude of my feelings might be different from yours, I never imagined it would be different enough to reject even this kind of contact.
“[If you don’t mind, guys are all bound to come over.]”
Chaeyoung’s words. But to push away even a brief kiss like this, he must have truly despised himself. As Hyun-oh’s eyes, which had been elsewhere, met hers at Sua’s question, they quickly turned cold, contrasting the gentle curves she had revealed for tonight.
“…”
Without saying a word in response to her question, the man stared at her for a long time, briefly brushing his gaze over Sua’s face, now tired of waiting, before turning away and heading to the guest room he always used.
Only the cold air settled in the living room. Sua was left alone in that space.
Peaceful time passed.
Or rather, what appeared to be peaceful time passed. It was a perfect married life that would be envied by others, but Sua was completely abandoned by Hyun-oh.
Three months into their marriage, Sua’s birthday arrived. As always, Hyun-oh was absent, away on a long business trip to China. Feeling sorry for not being there, he had arranged a fancy restaurant reservation for Sua’s family and sent his secretary to bring a beautiful necklace.
Upon seeing the necklace, Sua’s sister Jisoo’s eyes lit up.
“Wow, my brother-in-law picked out such a pretty gift.”
Simple yet elegant, the necklace adorned with blue emeralds caught her eye.
“Unnie, this is amazing. You married well. At first, I was worried because he seemed emotionless. Cold and stiff. Handsome, yes, but…”
Even Jisoo, who initially worried about Sua’s life because she was only twenty-five, saying it seemed like a strategic marriage, even she spoke as if they were a close and loving couple. At least from the outside.
But no one knew.
How Sua’s heart rotted away next to Hyun-oh.
Sometimes, Sua would sit at home and fiddle with the necklace around her neck. It was a beautiful and expensive gift, but there was no trace of Hyun-oh’s affection in it.
“Surely, Mr. Hyun-oh didn’t even know it was my birthday.”
The secretary arranged it, and the necklace was undoubtedly chosen by the secretary.
After Sua’s clumsy seduction attempt, Hyun-oh didn’t come home even more. They didn’t even eat together.
I shouldn’t have tempted him for nothing.
If I hadn’t tempted him, I might have mistaken Hyun-oh’s absence at home as just being busy. But now, there was no excuse left. When alone in the empty house, Sua couldn’t help but remember the night she had tempted him, feeling a sharp pain in her chest as she recalled Hyun-oh’s hand slipping away from hers.
She had thought that marriage meant the end of everything. She had thought she could live happily with him. But reality was different. Since the first night, he hadn’t even touched her, but instead avoided her. Was this what they called a show marriage? People in the conglomerate world might have been indifferent to it, but it wasn’t easy for Sua. Because she loved him. She had hoped to become a real couple with Hyun-oh, not just on paper. He had been so passionate on their first night.
What did I do wrong? While every moment of contact with him had been good for her, maybe he had felt as stiff as a log. Perhaps he was too nervous because it was his first time. If only I had known, I would have learned how to seduce a man somewhere. I would have dated and become sophisticated. If not, maybe another woman appeared. In the conglomerate world, it wasn’t uncommon for husbands to have mistresses while leaving their wives alone, even after strategic marriages. At the school Sua attended, there was even a child born out of wedlock between the chairman of a major company and his mistress.
Such negative thoughts filled her mind.
Sigh… Let’s not think about it. With that thought in mind, as she stood up from her seat, her phone rang. But now, there was no hope that it was a call from Hyun-oh. He had sent a text saying he would be late for dinner, and he hadn’t answered the phone. Sua also picked up her phone with a troubled expression. When she held it in her hand, the name “Mom” appeared.
It was already late, around 11 p.m. It was unusual for her to receive a call from home at such a late hour. A bad feeling. As she hurriedly answered the phone, her mother’s voice mixed with sobs came through.
“Sua! What… What should I do, huhuhu.”
Startled by her mother’s crying, Sua gripped the phone tightly.
“Mom, what’s wrong? Are you hurt? Why all of a sudden?”
But her mother couldn’t speak for a long time, just sobbing, before finally whispering.
“Father, father collapsed…”
The despairing voice dropped to the floor.
