Chapter 5
The moment her mother went to the kitchen to get more rice, leaving the large dining table spread out in the living room behind, Jisoo lowered her voice and reprimanded Jaegyeom.
“Yoon Jaegyeom. What are you doing?”
“What does it look like? I’m eating.”
“No, stop joking around.”
“Your mother-in-law’s cooking is no joke. Would it be too much if I asked her to pack some food for me?”
Jisoo let out a deep sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Fine. Let him eat first…
Yeah. The moment he’s finished eating, we’ll leave.
Come to think of it, she couldn’t believe how fortunate it was that she’d vaguely told her mother over the phone that she would explain everything about her boyfriend when they met.
The only thing that had changed in what her mother knew was that Kim Youngbaek had become Yoon Jaegyeom.
It was a little unfortunate that her mother liked Jaegyeom so much, but there was nothing she could do about it.
After the meal, fruit and juice were placed on the table.
Almost as if she’d been waiting for Jaegyeom to finish eating, her mother smiled at the two of them and began asking questions.
“By the way… How could you keep him a secret for six years? Even though it’s far away, it would have been so nice if you’d brought him home earlier so I could see him more often.”
Jisoo thought the conversation she’d been expecting had finally begun.
But Jaegyeom casually destroyed that expectation.
“Mother-in-law, actually, we haven’t been dating for six years. I was the only one who liked her. And I’ve liked her for much longer than six years.”
“Oh my goodness, is that so? Oh dear, I didn’t know.”
Her mother naturally began telling him about what had happened recently.
“I had a mild stroke. Thankfully, I lost consciousness while I was with some people from the neighborhood, so they were able to get me to the hospital right away. I recovered quickly, and there are hardly any aftereffects, but after going through something like that, I became so worried about Jisoo being left alone if I died.”
“Mom. Why are you telling him that?”
“Of course Jaegyeom needs to know!”
Holding Jaegyeom’s hand, her mother honestly opened up about what she had been thinking.
“So I told Jisoo that I wanted to see her get married soon. Then she suddenly confessed that she had a boyfriend. And apparently, the man also wanted to hurry up and get married.”
“Ah, yes.”
“Oh dear. I’ve been talking too much.”
After that, the topic of conversation naturally shifted to their families.
Yoon Jaegyeom explained everything politely and in an even tone.
His mother had passed away a long time ago.
His family situation was complicated.
His father was living with another woman.
His confessions were brief and dry, as though he were talking about someone else’s life.
“That’s why… I couldn’t bring myself to approach Jisoo courageously. But I’m so glad that I finally met her like this and got to greet you. If you oppose us… I’ll treat both Jisoo and you well until you give us your permission.”
Tears welled up in her mother’s eyes.
“How heartbroken your mother must have been when she closed her eyes, leaving behind such a fine son.”
Her mother became emotional from the perspective of Jaegyeom’s late mother.
She went on to say that no one could choose their parents.
It was also her way of saying that a complicated family background wasn’t a reason to oppose a marriage.
But regardless of whether she understood Jaegyeom’s circumstances, her mother still had practical concerns.
“But what is your relationship like with your stepmother? I’m worried that our Jisoo might not be loved after she marries into your family…”
“I’d like to tell you that we’re on good terms, but we hardly see each other.”
“……”
“I can guarantee that Jisoo won’t have to suffer because of any entanglements with my family other than me.”
At that, her mother couldn’t smile.
No matter how much she liked Jaegyeom and how trustworthy he seemed, he was still a stranger she had met for the first time today.
Naturally, she couldn’t simply take the word of a man like that when he promised that Jisoo would never have to suffer because of her in-laws.
The conversation gradually fell into a lull.
Jisoo knew it was time for her to step in.
“Mom. We have to go now.”
“Huh? Go? Where?”
As Jisoo quickly stood up, Jaegyeom picked up on the cue and added,
“There’s something urgent at Jisoo’s company, so she says she has to go to work tomorrow. She has to be at work early, so I think we should leave now.”
“But I even put new bedding in Jisoo’s old room… And what about breakfast tomorrow? I can’t possibly eat all that food by myself.”
Her mother hurried into the kitchen, saying that she would pack everything up for them to take.
Jisoo quickly followed her.
The smile had disappeared from her mother’s face, but her expression wasn’t particularly bad as she transferred the food into containers.
Since this relationship wouldn’t continue anyway, Jisoo didn’t intend to add anything.
“I packed this part for you to take when you went back up, but I’m glad I packed it in advance. If you were going to leave in such a hurry, you should have told me sooner.”
“Then what’s this?”
Containers larger than the ones her mother had initially said were for Jisoo began stacking up like a tower.
“This is braised short ribs, and this is the kimchi I just made. Goodness, I’m so flustered. Jaegyeom seemed to eat the side dishes well earlier, so I should pack some stir-fried anchovies and soy-braised beef, too, right?”
“Mom, no. Stop.”
“Stop what? Don’t you feel sorry seeing him eat home-cooked food so well? He must be starving for a proper home-cooked meal. Oh, my heart aches.”
Her mother looked at Jisoo and lowered her voice so that Jaegyeom outside wouldn’t hear.
“Mom trusts you.”
“Huh?”
“Who cares what Jaegyeom’s family is like and all that? Once you get married, it’s the two of you living together. When you brought him here saying you were going to marry him, it was because you’d decided to live well with him from now on, wasn’t it? Our daughter is so smart and capable.”
Jisoo couldn’t agree.
The truth was that Youngbaek’s family had been pressuring her into marriage, wielding words like weapons:
You’ve been dating for six years, so now you have to get married.
You may still think you’re young, but my son is at the age when he should be getting married.
And then, after being shocked by her mother’s collapse, Jisoo had impulsively made the decision.
If she really were the “smart and capable Lim Jisoo” her mother believed her to be, she wouldn’t have created a situation like today’s in the first place.
“……Mom, I’m sorry.”
She was sorry for being such a disappointing daughter.
And she was sorry that, even now, she was making a man she barely knew pretend to be her future son-in-law.
“What are you sorry for? Talk to Mom more about Jaegyeom later.”
“No. What is there to talk about later?”
“You can’t leave that man outside all by himself like that. Even if he doesn’t say anything, I feel like he must have grown up lonely. Treat him well from now on.”
Jisoo couldn’t bring herself to promise.
She didn’t want to lie anymore.
But before she could say anything, her mother pushed her gently from behind and sent her out of the kitchen.
Jaegyeom took the paper bags packed so full of side dishes that they looked ready to burst and greeted her mother politely.
When he thanked her and said he would enjoy the food, a smile spread across her mother’s face again.
“Our Jisoo… I know my sudden collapse is what brought up this talk of marriage, but I never intended to marry her off so young. If I was ever going to send her away, I wanted her to go to an ordinary family and receive ordinary love.
“So when Jaegyeom told me earlier that his family situation was complicated, my heart honestly sank. But…”
“Yes, Mother-in-law. Please speak freely.”
“Since Jisoo says she likes you, I’ll try to like you, too.”
“I’ll make sure none of the things you’re worried about ever happen.”
The summer night in the countryside was unusually black.
Jisoo hugged her mother tightly one more time, promised that they would see each other during Chuseok, and then got into Jaegyeom’s car.
She had been about to scold him for introducing himself as Yoon Jaegyeom instead of saying he was Kim Youngbaek.
But she swallowed the words.
Instead, she simply conveyed what was in her heart.
“Thank you. You worked hard.”
“Why do you keep thanking me for everything?”
She thought his face looked particularly handsome as he concentrated on driving.
When he seemed to notice her gaze and smiled at her, she hurriedly looked away.
The clock set into the car’s luxurious dashboard showed that it would soon be nine.
The last train from Gyechon to Seoul usually departed at around 9:30.
Naturally, Jisoo expected the car to head toward Gyechon Station.
Instead, it retraced the road they’d come from.
“Huh? This isn’t the road to Gyechon Station.”
“You left your phone at my house.”
Come to think of it, she didn’t have her phone.
She had definitely talked to her mother before leaving earlier, and then…
Ah.
She must have put it down for a moment while tying Jaegyeom’s tie and accidentally left it there.
If they stopped by Jaegyeom’s house, she would miss the train.
But she couldn’t go without her phone, either.
No—should she just go without it?
The shorter the deliberation, the better.
Jisoo quickly made up her mind.
“Then we’ll go to your house, I’ll grab my phone, and we can leave.”
“Where are you going after that?”
“I’ll call a taxi and go into town first.”
“And then?”
There were only three places to stay in Gyechon-eup:
Gyechon Motel, Gyechonjang, and Gyechon Muintel.
Her options were seriously limited.
That was why he was asking.
There was a military base nearby, so the town was always lively on weekends.
In the distance, the house where she had spent some time with him earlier came into view.
Jisoo’s grip tightened slightly around her seat belt.
Was it tension rather than strength?
Perhaps she had a feeling about what Jaegyeom was going to say.
Or perhaps she was looking forward to hearing it.
“There probably aren’t any vacant rooms in town because it’s the weekend.”
“……”
“Stay the night.”
