Chapter 5.1

Chapter 5.1

If they had been deeply in love, they might have exchanged sweet words of affection by now. Min-gyu, though gentle with Yeon-ha, had a rough edge that made his attempts at care seem harsher than intended.

Yeon-ha pretended not to hear him and avoided overthinking his words.

The meal continued in silence. Min-gyu barely ate, focusing instead on piling Yeon-ha’s plate high with meat.

“Eat up,” he urged.

“Okay,” Yeon-ha nodded, watching him down another shot of soju. It was clear he wasn’t eating, so she took some meat from her plate and placed it on his. He glanced at her white hand and gave a faint smile.

“Is it good?”

“…Yeah,” she nodded again, feeling a bit embarrassed. It was delicious, melting in her mouth the moment she tasted it. Yeon-ha usually wasn’t a big fan of meat, but she couldn’t get enough of it tonight.

“If you’d eaten well, your bones would have healed faster,” Min-gyu said suddenly, making Yeon-ha awkwardly reach for her drink. Had she been eating too hastily?

“I’m sorry; I should’ve taken better care of you,” he continued in a subdued tone that she couldn’t ignore. She looked at him, wide-eyed.

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, they say eating things like bone broth helps bones heal. I heard it at work,” he said, raising an eyebrow. He mentioned finding a place that made great broth and suggested they go there tomorrow.

“I said I’d look after you, but I haven’t done much,” he added, his voice light but tinged with something deeper. Yeon-ha felt a pang of guilt. Her house was still filled with the supplements and herbal medicines he’d bought, which she had barely touched. She had refused his invitations to eat out so many times that he eventually stopped asking.

“I’m all healed now,” she replied.

“All healed, really,” Yeon-ha replied weakly.

Min-gyu squinted as if he’d heard something nonsensical.

“We still need to keep an eye on it until you have the surgery to remove the pin.”

“…”

Yeon-ha’s appetite vanished. Her gaze fell dejectedly.

The pin in her ankle was scheduled to be removed in a year. It was a necessary surgery, as leaving the metal rod in place risked further injury. Some people, bothered by the foreign object, opted for an earlier removal. It had been about five months since her surgery, so it wasn’t much longer to wait. She knew she had to do it, and she would…

The cold pain that hit her as the anesthesia wore off was etched in her memory like shards. In the shared hospital room, with the buzz of patients and caregivers around, she had drawn the curtain and endured her emotions alone. It wasn’t just the physical pain she was grappling with.

She needed to save up for the surgery costs.

A sudden wave of bitterness hit her. Was that the only burden she had to bear? What if one day Min-gyu abruptly demanded she pay the overdue rent, the living expenses, and the medical bills he had covered? If he changed his mind tomorrow, she would have nowhere to go.

It was a miserable, unavoidable reality. Perhaps she was walking on thin ice.

‘I’m really naive,’ she thought with a hollow laugh. Knowing Min-gyu would find it strange, she couldn’t move. As she sank deeper into her thoughts, he refilled his soju glass and downed it in one gulp, his gaze fixed steadily on her pale face. His tightly closed lips slowly parted.

“You’re always so scared,” he said.

Yeon-ha, who had been staring at the edge of the table, looked up slightly. He forced her to meet his eyes, and a smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be right by your side when they take out the pin. Do you think I’d let you go through that alone?”

He added gruffly, “And you’re such a crybaby.” He shook his head in exaggerated disbelief. Yeon-ha, feeling indignant, immediately retorted.

“I’m not a crybaby.”

“Yes, you are. You cried your eyes out last time, saying it hurt.”

“When?”

“Not long after we started living together. You came to me, asking for a hug, crying your heart out.” He said with a grin.