Chapter 158: A Beginning in a Strange Place [R-18]

The bathroom was filled with steam.

The sound of the shower gradually faded, until only the quiet sound of two people breathing filled the space.

Seojin was breathing softly, held in Rio’s arms in the bathtub. Leaning against his chest, she traced the surface of his skin as it broke through the water.

“So tomorrow… we’re really leaving?”

At her question, Rio swept back his wet hair and answered.

“Yeah.”

Her eyebrows twitched. It felt like ages ago that they’d prepared for the visa interview, rehearsing answers to expected questions as if pressing a button, all to secure her spousal visa.

Without another word, she buried the back of her head deeper into his chest. Rio, holding his wife, smiled and caressed her.

“Scared?”

“A little… I’m most worried about not being able to speak English.”

“You’ll pick it up quickly once we’re living there.”

Despite her worries—she’d never been one for studying—Rio simply soothed her.

Seojin was the type to be too embarrassed to speak unless she was certain the sentence was perfect, which didn’t make her the ideal language learner. But there was nothing for it but to throw her in at the deep end.

Seojin nodded, sensing that she would have to learn tenaciously, one way or another, just to get by.

“Yeah… Still, the rest is okay. This was my choice… and you said you’d never leave me alone and that we’d have… a fun life together.”

“Of course. You’re my wife. And I’m your husband.”

There was a reason they had rushed to register their marriage without a ceremony, despite their long relationship.

It was for the spousal visa Seojin could receive as the wife of an American citizen.

A wedding in Korea would have only drawn tiring public attention anyway, and what they needed was a life together, not empty formalities. It didn’t matter.

Whenever Seojin grew accustomed to life there, a grand wedding in California could be held at any time.

“…I’m counting on you, darling.”

Instead of looking at his face, Seojin tapped the back of his hand and spoke with a hint of shyness. Rio buried his lips in the nape of her neck.

“Haha, it’s a bit early for that.”

Though the couple planned to completely liquidate their life in Korea and settle in a distant land, they didn’t go on a separate honeymoon.

Every day was a farewell to the familiar and a preparation for the new. And with Rio’s temperament, if there was anywhere Seojin wanted to go, he would take her at any time, without any restrictions.

He caressed her side, pressing his lips against her again.

“My lovely, shy girl. My beautiful center.”

If Seojin was his center, Rio was her compass.

A whimsical but strong man who could always pull her out of the depths she couldn’t escape on her own and take her anywhere.

She knew this, but lacking his expansive way with words, Seojin could only blush, burying her face between her knees to hide from the weight of his gaze.

Right up until the day before, she had been preparing for their departure while fully receiving his affection, and the day of the flight arrived faster than she’d expected.

It was Seojin’s first time on a plane.

Her first time traveling to a faraway country, her first time emigrating.

Though she was always grateful, saying a brief goodbye to her parents—whom she had seen more often and grown closer to in the last five years than in her entire life before—felt less like a normal farewell and more like tearing away a piece of her life.

Her lips felt dry, but she told herself it was okay because she was going with him, that it had to be now or never. Swallowing her words, she waved and squeezed Rio’s hand tightly.

His hand was heavy and cool, but it held hers firmly. As the owner of that hand kissed her, her steps toward the gate became a clear farewell to this place and, for Seojin, a new beginning.

The flight was nearly twelve hours long.

The two sat side-by-side in first-class seats, losing track of time high above the sky, enjoying a day more leisurely than any on the ground.

He had told her that flights were always boring, but Seojin stared for a long time at the sunlight spreading red through the window, over a landscape of layered clouds.

When the view became familiar, they watched a movie Rio had chosen.

There were no subtitles, but she leaned her head on his shoulder, laughing occasionally at the slapstick humor, and drank whatever he ordered in addition to the timely in-flight meals.

When she was sleepy, she rubbed her eyes and slept as much as she wanted.

“I think… this is what a real trip is like.”

As she whispered, Rio reached out and gently brushed her ear.

“I guess so—seeing the Kang Seojin who was so scared of planes this excited, this must be a real trip.”

Seojin playfully swatted at him as he teased her with a small chuckle for all the time she had put it off.

She even visited the bar, a place she never imagined would be on a plane.

They sipped champagne slowly, looking out the window, together in the sky somewhere above the world.

Before long, an announcement chimed. The immigration screening, which happened not long after she’d woken up, was a rather bewildering experience for Seojin.

Although she was with Rio, her visa issue required separate confirmation. As she passed through the immigration booth with a tense face, she felt a cold sweat gathering on her knuckles.

In the end, however, there were no problems.

Thanks to Rio having prepared all the documents in advance, a few words of explanation in English were all it took. Soon, a stamp thudded onto a page in Seojin’s passport.

And so she set foot on this new land for the first time.

A pickup driver who was already waiting at the airport greeted them with a calm demeanor. Surrounded by even more foreigners than on the plane, the reality of it washed over Seojin. “I’m really here.”

By the time the car exited the highway, the scenery revealed outside the window was breathtakingly beautiful.

The farther they got from the city, the more winding the roads became, and with every crest of a hill, the ocean’s horizon came into view.

The sun was setting.

The red glow of the sunset spreading across the sea cast a soft light on the house at the top of the hill.

Finally, they arrived—their first home in a strange country.

There was a house next door, so it wasn’t the kind of isolated mansion she might have imagined far beyond a gate, but it possessed a peace and leisure that was hard to imagine in their homes in Seoul or Gangwon Province.

Here, with a mountain range at its back and the vast ocean spread out before them. It felt as if she could smell the salt from the sea.

Inside, the living room’s glass walls opened up to a sweeping view of the landscape and the sky.

Seojin could only stand there and gaze out the window.

“…Wow.”

A gasp of admiration escaped her, as if her breath had been stolen.

“Is this… really our house?”

At her question, Rio, who had come to embrace her from behind, answered with a smile.

“Do you like it?”

Instead of answering, Seojin nodded repeatedly and gently squeezed his hand.

She was beginning to realize that the emotion she felt now was closer to anticipation than fear.

“We’re going to see your mother… tomorrow, right?”

The voice that finally spoke posed a question Rio hadn’t really considered.

He seemed to ponder it for a moment, then a uniquely mischievous smile spread across his face as he looked down at Seojin.

So pretty.

“That was the plan. But we’re busy… should I tell her to hold on for a while?”

“Darling…?”

What does that mean— As Seojin lifted her head, Rio caught her chin and kissed her.

A short kiss.

But before their lips even parted, his hand left her chin and traveled down, slipping under the hem of her T-shirt to her waist.

“It will only strengthen her sense of mystery about her daughter-in-law.”

“We don’t need that—I haven’t even showered properly since the plane… Let’s shower first…”

Seeing him ready to press further, she mumbled in embarrassment, but Rio, as expected, paid her no mind and pushed his hand inside her shirt.

The heel of his hand lightly lifted the cup of her bra, and instead of words, he rubbed her nipple with his thumb.

“It just turns me on.”

Seojin instinctively sucked in a breath.

This man was planning to inhale his fill of her scent again.

Rio’s hand moved past the bra cup he’d only lifted and swept across her entire breast under the shirt.

Though she wasn’t wet, Seojin’s nipple was already hard and responsive to his touch. He let out a low breath and whispered.

“Somehow, this feels like a honeymoon…”

Even though this was now their home.

“Hah…”

Seojin let out a sigh mixed with embarrassment and excitement. But her own hands were already wrapping around his arm.

“I didn’t think you’d be like this before we even finished looking around the house.”

“What’s wrong with that? I like this, marking my territory.”

As Seojin grumbled softly, Rio, with his hand still inside her shirt, lightly flicked the side of her left breast with his fingers.

“Babe, look at me.”

Then he raised both his hands to the side, freeing her.

“Why…?”

Seojin pursed her lips as she turned around. Rio met her gaze with playful eyes, then leaned down and lightly licked her lips.

“Good girl.”

He then slid one arm under her thighs and supported her back with the other, lifting her up to face him, like a koala.

“Wha—?!”

A startled cry escaped her, but he simply strode toward the bedroom with Seojin in his arms.

He sat on the edge of the bed, still holding her, then slowly laid her down with a smile.

“Still, for my precious wife, our first time should be in a bed.”

A handsome dimple creased his cheek. It was a soft, bright smile that seemed utterly out of place in this situation.

Seojin shook her head in disbelief at his consideration, then broke into a laugh, a dimple of her own appearing.

“Really… I just can’t figure you out.”

“It’s no fun if you figure everything out.”

Rio laughed with her and left a kiss on her forehead.

The hem of her shirt was hiked up, his hand spreading warmth over her bare skin.

The desire and affection, understood with just a look, was a privilege they hadn’t had before, one that belonged only to them, now.

“Ah…!”

A strange country, a strange bed.

But the passionate sex with the husband she loved, no different from the day before, was what truly confirmed that this place was their new home.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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