episode_0078

My eyes widened at the man’s words.

I couldn’t even begin to guess why he was saying such things.

Our connection, from the start, was a fake one.

Since that moment… everything has been fake since I died and became a favor to him.

“W-what are you saying, sir? If someone hears this, they might misunderstand…”

So, the words the man just said don’t mean what I think they do.

His expression was so serious that it was confusing, but after writing a contract to keep our boundaries, there’s no way he would suddenly say something like this, right?

Maybe it’s just because today is my birthday, and he was just joking to lift my spirits.

…Well, we did cross a line once.

“It’s not a misunderstanding, Eunhye.”

The man who said that doesn’t change his expression and stands up from his seat.

He approaches me.

Step by step, he slowly approaches me.

When I raise my head to meet his gaze, he stands in front of me with a serious look, as if he has made a decision.

“Eunhye, listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”

“Y-yes?”

“I don’t want you to be my fake wife anymore… just a mere decoration.”

As he kneels on his left knee and bows slowly, I am left speechless, just staring at him.

Thump, thump, thump.

I hear a faint sound. A warm, fuzzy feeling spreads from deep within my chest throughout my body.

Why… why am I feeling so nervous?

“Eunhye, I’ll say it clearly now. I… like you. Maybe I’ve liked you for a long time… maybe since we first started living together.”

I couldn’t say anything in response to his determined voice, just quietly listening. My gaze is fixed on his hand tucked into his shirt pocket.

“So… I want to be with you—”

“Are you really okay with this?”

Without any warning, I interrupt his words, and his movement to take something out of his pocket stops.

“It’s not too late to reconsider. You’re tall, handsome, kind, from a good family, and have a good body, right? Even if it’s not me, you’ll be popular with women. I can’t do anything other than rely on you, have a strange personality, and not know anything. So, someone better than me—”

“For me, there’s no woman better than you in this world.”

This time, he interrupts me with a smile. A gentle, unruffled smile.

“Just being together is enjoyable and gives me strength. Even when you show weakness, act like a fool, you’ve always been by my side to comfort and encourage me.”

“Sir…”

“So, don’t belittle yourself like that. If you want to rely on me, you can always rely on me…”

As I feel my chest tightening from listening to him continue speaking, I can’t bear to look into his serious eyes any longer. I close my eyes tightly and bow my head.

If I open my eyes now, everything might change.

The relationship I’ve built with him so far might change completely.

But as I bite my lip tightly to suppress this fear, suddenly his left wrist is grabbed and pushed forward towards me.

As I reflexively raise my eyelids slowly, this time I feel a cold sensation on my fingers.

“Ah…”

Raising my eyelids, I noticed something wedged on the ring finger of my left hand. Realizing it was a gold ring with a colorless gem in the center, I was taken aback.

“Will you marry me officially?”

As those words hit me, I felt my breath catch, and the chaotic thoughts in my head quieted down as if it were a lie.

I stared blankly at the ring on his ring finger, tears streaming down my face uncontrollably. No matter how hard I tried to wipe them away, they kept flowing.

The tears blurred my vision, making it impossible to see his expression.

“Can you accept my heart?”

Gathering my senses at his next words, I leaned towards him and threw myself into his arms with all my might.

Caught off guard by my unexpected action, he couldn’t react in time and ended up falling to the ground with a short groan, leaning against it.

“Hyeh?”

Pressing down on his fallen shoulders, I met his gaze. I noticed tiny droplets falling from my eyes into his.

“Do you need to ask… me? I… I like you too, so why bother asking? Did you think I would reject you? We kiss every day, and we’ve done more than that, so why would I reject you now?”

Neither my words nor my tears stopped. Looking into his wide-eyed face, I began to pull out all the sincerity I had buried in my heart.

“So… I will. I will become your wife—”

Before I could say the words “I will,” I was grabbed by a strong force. Coming to my senses, I could see his face in front of me, realizing that he was stealing my lips.

My body felt hot. My heart raced. My breathing became erratic.

Relaxing, I released the grip on his shoulders and hugged him tightly, wrapping my arms around his neck.

Feeling his heartbeat against my chest, my body grew warmer.

After we finally broke apart, still drenched in the aftermath of the kiss, we stared at each other in a daze.

“Um… Hyeh.”

“Huh…?”

“Should we stop now? Everyone is watching…”

“…!!”

Startled by his words, I raised my head and looked around. Eventually, I noticed that not only the guests but also the staff were all looking at us with warm gazes.

“Y-yes…”

After clearing the table and touching the ring on my ring finger, I weakly nodded.

Hurriedly tidying up, we left the restaurant with the packed cake and headed to the hotel located in the same building.

***

Arriving at the hotel room we had reserved in silence, we were greeted by a luxurious suite, a stark contrast to the motels we had stayed in before.

But we didn’t have time to admire the structure and decorations.

After putting down our luggage and placing the cake on the table with a mirror, we held hands and rushed into the bedroom.

In the cozy atmosphere, he gazed at me with loving eyes, wordlessly embracing me and demanding a kiss.

*smack*

Our tongues intertwined, creating a messy sound that echoed in our ears, but we didn’t care and passionately mixed our saliva together.

Lost in the kiss, Seonwoo aggressively tangled his tongue with mine. With all my might, I pushed him onto the bed, smiling as I looked down at him with a deep gaze.

“I said no to anything explicit… but I’ll make an exception today. It’s a special day.”

Upon hearing that, Seonwoo started to chuckle softly.

But as I lifted my skirt to reveal my underwear, his expression quickly changed to one of shock.

“Oh… you’re wearing… extraordinary underwear today…”

“…You like this kind of thing, don’t you?”

After several trial and error attempts, I realized that this style of underwear greatly interested him. While most of my chest was covered, the design of the bottoms was almost indistinguishable from a thong, quite provocative in nature.

“A straightforward man, huh, hehe.”

Unintentionally, I blurted out that he was cute as he caused my pupils to dilate. Smirking with his lips covered, he struck a cool pose.

What should I say? Perhaps due to the many events that had occurred, I couldn’t seem to calm down.

From receiving birthday wishes to being proposed to by someone I truly love… so much had happened in just one day.

Especially the discomfort I felt in my ring finger when moving my left hand…

As someone who never wore jewelry, it was a sensation that couldn’t help but bother me.

I wonder if receiving such extravagant gifts for my birthday was too much… Oh, right.

“Seonwoo, I’ll just quickly check the mirror and be right back!”

After briefly excusing myself to Seonwoo, I approached the mirror again, taking out a piece of cake from the box and placing it in front of the mirror. Placing two long candles on the cake, I looked at my reflection in the mirror and whispered softly.

“Happy birthday to you too, Eunhye. I love you. My sister.”