Chapter 208.2

Chapter 208.2

Enduring his weight on her, Seoryeong stared blankly at the ceiling. When she was young, she had once vowed that if something precious ever left her, she would chase it down and bring it back, keep it by her side no matter what. But the problem came after that.

What would happen afterward was a road she had never walked before. She could no longer pretend to be the patient, graceful wife who swallowed her rough feelings in silence.

Yet if she monitored his every move, suffocating him under her suspicion, she knew she would eventually become the real patient. The thought made her frown in frustration.

“I don’t have any reason to stay in the NIS anymore,” Lee Wooshin said suddenly, raising his arm and lifting his head.

“There’s nothing left for me to chase or find except Han Seoryeong. What I wanted most is right in front of me, so why would I go to work? I’m too busy looking at you. I don’t even notice time passing.”

“….”

“I just need to heal and take off this bandage safely.”

“That’s good news then.”

Don’t smile, Han Seoryeong. She pressed her lips together.

Still, seeing the defeated look on his face, she thought maybe she could keep him beside her for life. The guilt he couldn’t shake off was written clearly on his face, and that satisfied her somehow. She deliberately kept her expression stern. Don’t let it show.

“If you can’t trust me, you can stalk me and wiretap me in secret. Check the smell on my coat every night, interrogate me, cross-examine me. Want me to clone my phone for you?”

“I’m not that pathetic.”

“Then do whatever it takes and find your peace.”

“No!”

“You can even attach a camera to my button and watch me from the bedroom.”

“Th–that’s… no!”

“Either way, everything will go the way you want. So-”

He cupped her trembling cheek and met her eyes.

“As long as you don’t give up on me until the end, that’s all I ask. Just promise me that.”

“….”

“Don’t bottle things up alone, don’t pull away, and don’t stay quiet. Everyone already knows Han Seoryeong’s got a fiery temper, and no one knows it better than me. So don’t assume I’ll freak out. If you ever pull a gun, the bastard you’ll be aiming at is me.”

What do you mean everyone knows? She glared at him, her eyes wide in indignation.

“Don’t hold back. Be mean.”

Lee Wooshin pinched her small nose playfully before letting go.

“I’m saying, love me until I can’t breathe.”

Her face turned red as a beet. All the raw, shameful parts of herself she’d wanted to hide had been completely exposed, and the strength drained out of her body.

Could something like this really be called love? The thought barely formed before his kisses rained down across her face, leaving her too dizzy to think.

“S… stop that!”

Still, one thing became clear. If she couldn’t change who her parents were, if this fate was truly inevitable, maybe she was grateful for Joo Seolheon’s decision after all.

For choosing Lee Wooshin, of all people, and sending him to her. For letting her live an ordinary life as his wife.

Rather than being dragged away to some unknown place, at least she could live as Kim Hyun’s wife. She was thankful for that. Grateful. Oh, and for letting her meet her husband again… No, that part needed more practice before she could say it aloud.

Then, something hard brushed between her legs. Seoryeong’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“The medicine’s worn off by now…”

“So?”

“What?”

“What does the medicine wearing off have to do with me getting hard when I see Han Seoryeong in the morning?”

“….”

“I don’t know what it was, but that expression just now, it was sexy.”

He pressed his lips to the side of her head again and closed his eyes. Even though his body was aroused, the way he touched her, holding her close and stroking her gently wasn’t lustful.

Lying together, their bodies aligned as they faced the same direction, they talked quietly for a long time.

Ah, I got caught by Grandpa at the lake, he said once, and she laughed. The warmth of his scent made her heart pound over and over.

She cried at parts of his story, and their lips met more than once. When her sobs grew too heavy, her nose brushed against his firm chest again. Every time she heard about choices made by Joo Seolheon and Rigay, her whole body tensed.

Lee Wooshin whispered I love you again and again, so she wouldn’t feel alone.

‘Han Seoryeong, I love you. I can’t live without you. You’re my only family.’

Then Seoryeong opened the eyes she’d kept tightly shut and clung to that tender gaze watching her so closely. His love, as always, was the kind of strength that lifted her up; steady, rooted, and unshakable.

Thank you…

A short, quiet prayer of gratitude, though even she wasn’t sure to whom it was meant for.