After Story 10
She opened her eyes when she felt her left elbow touch something while moving. There was a head underneath her chin. She quietly looked at the spiraling hair before raising her finger. She moved her finger according to that spiral before tapping Maru on the head once and leaving the bed. He didn’t budge, as though he was pretty tired, even though he would’ve opened his eyes early in the morning to go out on a morning jog if it was the previous life.
She put her hand below the duvet. She could feel his chubby stomach. He groaned and turned around.
“Get some more sleep,” she whispered before leaving the room. It finally felt like her home. It put her at ease that someone who should be here was here.
She went to open the veranda door for ventilation before closing it again. A wave of heat wafted over, and it was hot enough to make her sweat during that brief moment. She turned on the AC since people’s lives were more important than electricity bills. She also opened the door to the bedroom. Maru, who was in bed, still pulled the duvet over his body as though he didn’t know how hot it was.
She thought about waking him up to eat breakfast together before stopping. Cooking food just for herself was boring, so she ate a banana and some yogurt. She turned on the TV and watched the morning drama before was.h.i.+ng the dishes that she didn’t wash after cooking seafood stew yesterday.
Her head turned automatically when she heard the lines from the drama. Last time, it was a couple of siblings who had parted when they were young, and now it was half-brothers with the same mother. No way — she cursed how improbable that was, but that was also the charm of morning dramas. She could easily deduce the context without looking at the screen, so it was perfect for a housewife.
After was.h.i.+ng the dishes, she brewed some coffee. She started focusing on the drama for real. The chairman of a large cosmetics company fell over in a heart attack, and suddenly, a woman claiming to be in an affair with the chairman suddenly appeared and started turning the whole household into a huge mess.
Even variety TV shows were more docile compared to this. There was an incident every other minute.
She put down her cup and watched the drama before standing up when the chairman’s lover came out. The woman in the drama said a line. She interpreted the line she heard in the drama and uttered it, “The chairman prepared it for me, I say!”
Characteristic of morning dramas, the actress’ actions were rather muted. Haneul put in some action though. She acted by herself in front of the TV as though she was shooting a monodrama.
Then she stopped. She stood in a daze until the drama was almost over. Something left her grasp. It was a sensation that lifted her heels and made her lips twitch. She knew what this emotion was; it was one that shook her body before disappearing.
It was the desire of the actress Han Haneul, no, Han Gaeul.
She slapped her cheeks lightly with her palms and then smiled brightly and stretched her arms out as though nothing happened.
That’s right, it’s all in the past. It’s completely over.
She switched channels. Putting on the news instead of the drama made her calm down. Her senses wavering in the past had now completely settled down in reality. She was an ordinary twenty-two-year-old college girl, not an actress anymore.
She put on her earbuds and turned on some music in order to clear up her head. The newscaster’s voice could be heard intermittently through the lyrics. She waved her body lightly according to the beat. When she listened to a few songs, she felt refreshed as though she just woke up in the morning.
She checked the time. It was 10 now.
“Honey, Gaeul’s dad. Why don’t you wake up now?” she said toward the bedroom. The lump of duvet inside wriggled before turning still again.
“What time is it?”
“Past ten.”
“Already?”
He, who was tossing around between the bed and the duvet, slowly held out his hand. Haneul grabbed his hand and pulled it. He, who was obediently being dragged up by her like a potato being dragged out of the ground, suddenly smiled before pulling her with strength.
She put strength into her right foot and held still. “Why don’t you stop your nonsense and get up?”
She pinched his arm. He suddenly made a fuss, saying that it hurt.
“Are you going to sleep more?” she asked. If he was really tired, she was planning to let him sleep longer.
“There’s something I want to talk about. Come next to me for a sec.” He made room next to him on the bed. For serious-sounding words, his face was filled with mischief.
She looked at him for a while before sitting down on the bed, like she was unable to win against him. He pulled her shoulders. She lay down and they ultimately ended up in the same position as when she woke up in the morning.
“It feels like it’s been a really long time. My memories are vivid, but feeling it with my body is something else,” he whispered into her ear. It was ticklish, but she wanted to keep letting him do it.
She couldn’t help it, they had not given up on each other across the innumerable number of opportunities and an extremely long time. They were long past being bored of each other. In fact, it felt new every single time. Although she thought she knew everything about him, parts of him that she didn’t know kept catching her eye. Every part of him was lovely.
His hands wrapped around her neck. Due to her young, sensitive body, her body heated up quite soon. Before she could even say that they should eat breakfast, he entered her. Well, breakfast can come later, right?
At that moment, her phone, which she placed on the cabinet next to the bed, started vibrating. He looked at her, signaling her not to take it. She wanted to do the same, but the vibrations did not stop.
She picked up the phone. “h.e.l.lo?”
-My girl. You don’t have a s.h.i.+ft today, do you?
It was her mother.
“Yeah, I don’t have any work on the weekends. Have you had breakfast, mom?”
-I have. Are you at home right now?
“Yeah.”
-Mom will be there soon so let’s have lunch together. You said you’d come on the weekend, but I thought it’d be better to visit you instead. I’ll give you side dishes and make some more.
“Okay. It’s hot, so take your time.” She put down her phone.
Maru, who was lying on her lap, sat up. “Mother-in-law’s coming?”
“Yeah. She says she’s bringing some side dishes.”
“Looks like I should wash my face then.”
“And your hair too. No matter how comfortable you are around my mom, you know that you have to be respectful, right?”
“Now that I think about it, I was always quite close to her.”
“Thanks to that, I had a hard time because no one was on my side.”
She slapped Maru’s b.u.t.tcheek as he got up from the bed. While he went to the bathroom, she cleaned up the duvet. It was a pity that things ended when it was getting good, but they had plenty of time.
It was when she tapped on the pillow to puff it back up again, “Honey!”
Everything felt so natural and obvious that she forgot. He seemed to be the same as he rushed out of the bathroom. There was shaving foam around his chin that dripped down.
“Is she coming now?”
“Yes!”
“I can’t say h.e.l.lo to her now, can I?”
“Can you even call that a question?”
Even though they were clearly a married couple, and they had even seen their kid numerous times, they couldn’t tell their respective parents about it right now. The reality of it was quite ridiculous but also rather troubling considering that her mother would come at any moment.
Her mother in this life was an upright woman. Not only that, they lived near each other. It was less than ten stops away by bus. Considering her personality, it was likely that she called on her way out of her house.
He quickly rushed into the bathroom. Meanwhile, Haneul collected Maru’s clothes and placed them in front of the bathroom. As for the male hygiene products they bought during their shopping yesterday, she gathered them all up and slapped them beneath the closet.
If she, as the daughter, was liberal and cheerful and had experienced introducing her boyfriend to her mother before, she would’ve tried to introduce him but….
“No, wait. Han Haneul, get yourself together.”
If she went to visit the twenty-two-year-old Gaeul to give her some food, and a random man came out with a smile, Haneul would immediately take out the umbrella from the umbrella stand and call her crazy. Even the most liberal parents would not be able to endure that. That was the same for her calm mother.
“Hun, I’ll go outside for now. Mom will be here by bus.”
She changed clothes and left the house. Although the sun was scorching, she couldn’t feel the heat. Her mind was solely focused on the bus stop. Just then, a bus came by the bus stop in front of the residential area. No, it can’t be.
“Why are you out here?”
It can’t be my a.s.s. She smiled and approached her mother. She came with food in both hands.
“Of course I’m here to pick you up. But why did you bring so much?”
“This is the first time my girl said she misses home food, so I put in some effort.”
The cold daughter had called her first and acted cute, so she was probably overjoyed. As someone who raised a daughter of her own, she could understand that feeling. However, the timing wasn’t good. With every single step they took, she felt a clock ticking in her head.
He should’ve left by now, right? They won’t meet at the door, right? He’s not at home, right? — she had forgotten to bring her phone because she was in such a hurry. She decided to drag out the time for as long as possible.
“Mom, should we eat some meat today? Let’s buy some pork belly at the butcher’s.”
“I knew you’d say that, so mom brought some jeyuk-bokkeum.”
“I-I also want to eat j.a.pchae too.”
“What a coincidence, I brought some j.a.pchae too.”
She was infallible. She uneasily walked up to her side.
“Haneul,” her mother said, her voice quite serious.
“Yeah?”
“There aren’t any problems, are there?”
Her mother tried to hide her seriousness with an innocent smile, but Haneul could instantly tell how worried she was.f?ℯℯ?e???νel. co?
She stopped walking. Was it that bad? It seemed that giving her an affectionate call as a daughter who had left the house worried her. She could see why her mother hurriedly visited in the morning.
She smiled and hooked arms with her, “Mom, I was such a bad girl, wasn’t I?”
“What are you saying?” Her mother made an awkward expression.
“I’ll do better from now on. I won’t act spoiled anymore either. I’ve changed. I’m going to go traveling with you, and also chat with you. I won’t do it if you don’t want to though.”
“I’d love to.”
Her mother’s eyes moved around busily as though trying to read her true intentions. Haneul did not avoid her eyes. They looked at each other for a while. Her mother’s slightly wrinkled eyes curved into a smile.
“You’ve grown, my girl.”
She probably couldn’t understand everything, but she must have at least realized that what her daughter said was not a lie. She must have seen her daughter’s eyes tens of thousands of times while changing her diapers alone, so she would’ve seen what Haneul’s eyes were saying, just like how Haneul also did so when she looked at Gaeul.
The relations.h.i.+p she wanted to straighten out the most had recovered to an extent. She rejoiced from the depths of her heart and walked with her mother.
It was when they arrived in front of the house she was living in. Maru, donning a deep-pressed hat, rushed out of the entrance. She inwardly sighed in relief. In any case, it was great that they didn’t come across each other.
“Haneul.”
“What?”
“That boy just now. You don’t know him, do you?”
“I don’t.”
“He lowered his head like some kind of criminal when he met eyes with me.”
Her mother turned around. She looked at Maru’s back as she disappeared into the distance.
“Mom might be overly worried, but you should be careful when you walk around at night. This place is too dark. Should I file a complaint to install some lights?”
“You’re being too paranoid.”
Sorry mom, that boy just now is your son-in-law — she smiled awkwardly and opened the door. Her mother went inside and had a look at the living room first.
“You’re quite clean.”
“Of course I am.”
Her mother’s gaze suddenly stopped. She followed her eyes.
An empty bottle of soju and four cans of beer. She had forgotten to throw them out after was.h.i.+ng the dishes.
“L-let’s put this inside the fridge first.”
Her mother pretended to be oblivious. She smiled awkwardly and clenched her fist before loosening it again.