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“I have something for you, too.”
His voice was restrained by the feeling of fluid swaying just below his throat—such an abnormal physical reaction toward his wife, the woman he’d give the world to at the drop of a hat. The strong repulsion filled him with guilt.
But Kwon Chae-woo gritted his teeth and acted like nothing was wrong. He wondered if the recent adjustment to work life could have taken this big a toll on his health without him even noticing. There was no other reason for him to feel such aversion, as if he were breaking out in hives.
He did not allow himself to be consumed by his baffling current state, instead clinging tightly to his long-held affection toward her.
“Chae-woo, what is this?”
“A present.”
He pulled himself together and managed to take something out of his pocket. He opened the palm of his hand to reveal a small wood carving. Upon receiving the gift, Lee-yeon’s eyes widened.
“Wow!”
The carving was of a flower, each petal blooming vividly. As Kwon Chae-woo studied Lee-yeon’s reaction, he tucked his arms into his armpits and pressed his lips together. He was rather abashed of his work.
The more closely Lee-yeon examined the pretty carving, the more she noticed its sloppy parts, and each time she found another flaw, her heart fluttered.
“Did you… make this?”
“Sorry I couldn’t give you anything nicer.”
Lee-yeon’s lips parted slightly and she lowered her eyes back to the flower in her hand.
“…you said you’d never give me flowers.”
As she spoke in a choked voice, a slight movement began at the corners of his lips, and then subsided. His smiles had seemed especially brief today, but the words that followed made those sorts of trivial thoughts all flutter away.
“That’s why I carved it into a tree. So, it’ll never wither.”
She became unusually shy to make eye contact with him. Lee-yeon fondly ran her hand over the carving that had clearly not been easy to make.
“But Chae-woo, how did you dye it?”
Lee-yeon pointed to the flower petals, which had been lightly tinged with a bright red.
“It’s blood.”
“…what?”
She pricked up her ears, thinking she had misheard.
“I hurt myself while carving and some blood got on it.”
He pressed the ends of his eyebrows and avoided her gaze. Lee-yeon rushed to open his palm, and saw scars were spread across his already rough skin.
“You said they were animal scratches!”
“Because they don’t look much different.”
“It was really only that? There isn’t anything else you’re hiding?”
Kwon Chae-woo gestured with his eyes to the blood-stained petals.
“Uh… would it scare you if I said about half of that was intentional?”
“…yes. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”
Lee-yeon wrapped the precious wood carving in her hands and pulled it toward her heart. The two remained for some time there, in front of the now branchless and ungraceful, but newly healed sacred tree.
* * *
“Chae-woo, are you asleep?”
After washing up late, Lee-yeon slightly rocked the man who seemed to have fallen asleep waiting for her.
My evaluation is over now—all I have to do is shut my eyes and spit it out. Lee-yeon wanted to get things straight quickly, before she lost all her courage.
I really wanted to say it today…
“Chae-woo, don’t fall asleep yet. We said we would talk today.”
He swept his eyes and relaxed his throat. His already weakened voice soon crumbled into a moan. Lee-yeon became worried when she saw his fatigue and covered him with a blanket.
“Alright, let’s just sleep for now and talk tomorrow.”
She lifted the other side of the blanket and slid in next to him. If things were normal, he would have opened his arms and held her tightly, sensing her warmth like a ghost. Fast asleep, he simply lay there and breathed, as if he couldn’t care less whether or not Lee-yeon had come to bed. Lee-yeon spread his arms, settled into the gap, and hugged his waist tightly. Only then did her heart feel warm and at home.
‘First of all, I’ll explain how we met…’
As she thought through what she’d say tomorrow, her eyes began to close.
The sound of the bugs in the grass floating in through the window, Chae-woo’s comforting scent, his firm yet wide chest, the smell of two people permeating the room, the weight taking up half the bed, the absence of fear despite the presence of another in the dark.
As she basked in each of these things, her whole body became listless and calm.
‘I’m sorry, in advance. I might end up hurting you tomorrow…’
Lee-yeon’s spirit slowly sank down, down, down.
***
Brrrrring! Brrrrring!
The alarm that begins each day rang out loudly.
Lee-yeon frowned and burrowed into his chest. Usually, the alarm would ring once, then twice, and at exactly the third ring, Kwon Chae-woo would toss and turn as he shut it off.
Then there would be silence again, and he would squeeze Lee-yeon in a hug, press his lips on the tender nape of her neck, and grumble and groan, not wanting to get out of bed. That’s how the two begin their mornings.
Brrrrring! Brrrrring! Brrrrring!
But today was a bit different.
“…Chae-woo.”
Lee-yeon whined, getting closer to his face and pushing him more and more. But the man who was usually extremely sensitive to sounds was utterly silent today.
Something was off. Lee-yeon got chills and became suddenly alert. Her eyes popped open all on their own, without a poke or prod from anyone.
As expected, the first thing she saw was Kwon Chae-woo, breathing evenly with his eyes closed. Lee-yeon turned the alarm off herself and took in her surroundings, which seemed particularly heavy today.
Sure enough, the sky was full of dark clouds, as if rainy season were about to begin early.
“Chae-woo… wake up. We’ll be late.”
“….”
“Kwon Chae-woo!”
“….”
Lee-yeon shook his shoulders, but he didn’t budge. His eyelids, closed tight as window shutters, didn’t quiver in the slightest. Not even his forehead flinched. Lee-yeon knew it was a ridiculous thought, but it seemed like somewhere in her body had instantly become frozen cold. Her hands were shaking.
“Chae-woo… Kwon Chae-woo!”