Chapter 165: Side Story – The Beautiful Eastern Bride (7) [R-18]

Seojin blinked at his words.

How could he have possibly?

Then, a slow smile spread across her lips as she glanced down at her phone.

“…Ah…”

It seemed the phone, which had been missing while she slept, had been in his possession.

She let out a small laugh.

The joy that escaped her lips was flawlessly clear. Seojin gazed at the bouquet, steeped in the love of two men, then lifted her head to look at Aiden.

“They’re so beautiful, Aiden.”

Her eyes curved gently, her smile warm.

“Thank you for the gift.”

With that, Seojin buried her face in the flowers, but her smile bloomed so brightly it couldn’t be hidden.

However, that smile was merely gratitude for something pretty, a harmless expression of distance containing nothing more.

In that moment, Aiden realized.

She didn’t know why or how the flowers had come to be here.

Which meant the smile she was showing him was one orchestrated by Rio’s words.

The feelings he had wanted to give her had been intercepted and redefined as ‘a gift I helped with’ before they could even arrive.

It was no longer ‘Aiden’s heartfelt sincerity.’ To Seojin, it was just one part of a day where she received pretty flowers.

For a moment, Aiden was blinded by that smile.

Watching her beauty as she reached out to brush a petal, he ignored the reality that she was settled so naturally in Rio’s arms.

I fell for that smile… and got it all wrong, all by myself.

He finally recognized the opportunity that would never be his, and a painful smile touched his lips.

The shadow of Rio, sitting beside Seojin, was overwhelmingly darker and closer than his own. In the end, the sincerity he had tried to offer Seojin had been devoured whole by Rio.

“It was nothing.”

He fell silent and lowered his head.

He had delivered the flowers, and he had received her thanks. There was nowhere else for this to go.

After the lesson ended, as Seojin was packing up her notebook and pen, she sensed Aiden hesitating.

He avoided her gaze, rubbing the back of his neck with one hand as he began to speak.

“Seojin.”

Seojin looked up. The sunlight, half-escaping the shade of the parasol, settled softly on her cheek.

“There’s… something I need to tell you.”

Her eyes widened as she looked at him.

“Yes?”

Aiden glanced at Seojin, who was waiting for him to continue, and slowly set down the textbook in his hand.

Then, he met her eyes properly and said, “I’m… truly sorry to say this, but could we end our lessons here?”

Seojin’s expression froze at the unexpected words. She wondered if she had done something rude.

Was asking him to teach me slang, even when I was mad, too much like a delinquent student?

“Thank you for following along so diligently all this time. I mean it.”

But he continued speaking while she was lost in thought.

“Thanks to you, I had a good time as well… Um, it’s nothing else, really. I’m going on a trip.”

“A trip.”

She felt a little relieved, but she couldn’t help the wave of disappointment that followed. If he was quitting this job, he would probably quit his milk delivery route too, which meant she wouldn’t see her pleasant morning friend anymore.

“When do you think you’ll be back?”

Aiden, finding a small measure of comfort in her disappointed expression, managed a calm smile.

“I’m not sure. For a while… I won’t be going too far, but I thought it might be nice to just walk around somewhere alone, live without any thoughts for a bit. I want to try it.”

Seojin listened quietly, her lips pressed together.

She felt a pang of regret, wondering if she was the only one who had valued this friendship, but she knew she had to respect the young man’s time and his decision.

She nodded slowly and said, “Okay. I hope you have a wonderful time.”

Instead of showing her disappointment at losing one of her few friends, it was the most appropriate and polite encouragement she could offer.

Aiden took one last look around the house’s yard.

The languid sunlight, the beautiful scenery, and her.

He was leaving on a trip to put distance between himself and all of this that was not his. He had hidden his feelings, but in the end, that was his entire confession.

After shaking hands with Aiden instead of sharing an unfamiliar farewell hug, he turned and walked out of the yard. Seojin quietly watched him go.

She was certain that whatever trial Aiden was facing now, he was the kind of person who could overcome it.

He was still young, kind to everyone, and diligent. All she could ever wish for him was that good fortune would follow him.

So, in a small voice, Seojin called out to his retreating back.

“Aiden.”

He stopped.

Without turning his head, he listened quietly.

Seojin closed her eyes for a moment, then spoke with a gentle smile.

“Wherever you go… I hope luck will be with you. Thank you for teaching someone as lacking as me, teacher.”

They were words he hadn’t expected, and they were the most sincere farewell she could give.

*

A few days after Aiden left, Seojin’s life became more monotonous, and she was passing the time as leisurely as ever.

Luckily, Rio had some free time, so they had spread a mat on the lawn instead of sitting under the parasol. As they lay there talking, she suddenly brought up Aiden.

“Rio. My first English teacher, Aiden. He seemed like such a sincere and good kid, don’t you think?”

“Hmm, so suddenly?”

“Yeah. I just thought of him. I was his age when I first met you, but he was so different. Delivering milk in the morning and tutoring, too. Isn’t he admirable?”

Though she knew nothing of his family situation, Seojin seemed to be projecting her own impoverished past onto him.

Wrapped around the finger of her husband, six years her senior, she remained completely oblivious to the crush the boy six years her junior had harbored for her until just recently.

Rio listened in silence, picturing the boy’s neat face.

“It’s a shame he left so suddenly. I don’t know if tipping is a thing for tutoring fees, but I should have given him something extra for his hard work…”

“He said he’s going on a trip. He’ll probably use the money he earned teaching you.”

The milk delivery route wouldn’t have paid more than a few dollars. Rio set his glass down beside him.

“So, speaking of which, how about we go on a trip this weekend?”

Seojin turned her head.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I can’t just stand by and watch my wife feel lonely after losing a friend.”

Seojin burst out laughing at his playful words.

“Okay. You’d better take responsibility for me.”

To her, he was just that: a fond memory.

Having made a pleasant promise, the couple began to pack up before the sun grew any stronger.

Rio stood up first, picking up the fragile glasses and heading for the door.

Seojin picked up the mat and followed absently behind him, when her eyes fell on the bouquet sitting on the bench.

The ranunculus, left there for days.

Some of the buds were still alive. Having no spare vase, she’d had no choice but to leave them there. She was just thinking that today, she really had to move them into a mug or something.

But Rio’s hand, which she thought had already gone inside, brushed past the bouquet that had caught her eye.

Thump.

He tapped the flowers lightly, and the ranunculus tumbled pitifully from the bench onto the grass.

Though it seemed careless, the movement was far too intentional.

“—Hmph.”

The wife, having watched his pique, which he performed with a flick of his eyebrows, said nothing about the gifted bouquet. Nor did she pick it up.

Because with that obsessive look in his eyes, he had made it clear: as long as Rio was here, those flowers could not enter this house.

After putting the dishes away, Rio wrapped an arm around Seojin’s shoulders and said, “I’ll get you a good new English teacher. Since we’ll be living here, it’s probably better to have a more formal way of speaking than what a kid would teach you, right?”

Seojin tilted her head slightly.

“Am I going to be summoned somewhere again?”

“Who knows. But the English you’re using lately is a little… casual.”

For a moment, Seojin thought of her lessons with Aiden, the fill-in-the-blank questions he had worked so hard to create, and her own clumsy pronunciation.

“But I worked hard to learn what I know now.”

“I know, I know.”

As she sulked a little, Rio raised a hand and stroked her hair.

Resting his chin on her head, he pulled his phone from his pocket and showed her a photo.

It was the profile of a white man in a neat suit, complete with a tie and dress shoes, who looked like a diplomat or a lawyer.

“A former consultant. He specializes in teaching business conversation to the upper class. He’s discreet and knows how to handle wives of your particular style.”

Seojin nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

If he had already looked into it and decided, there was no reason for her to refuse. While she was fine as long as she could get by in daily life, she never knew when he might need a partner who fit his status.

“But if he’s someone like this… won’t he laugh at me for being worse than he expects?”

“Don’t worry. You think I’d let anyone look down on you?”

Seojin, who had asked because she felt she was a far cry from a ‘madam,’ smiled quietly at his answer.

“Sheesh…”

His gaze never leaving the nape of her neck, Rio said, “So, my love, don’t be too heartbroken that your friend is gone. In the end, I’ll always be the one left by your side.”

While walls were being built in place of a fence, the flowers withered on the lawn.

His feelings were left behind, beautiful, but no longer called a flower.

Pushed aside by a love already so firmly established, a person’s first love would often end just like this.

Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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