The Beginning of Change 3
The pounding in my chest grew louder. What if… no, it couldn’t be.
The woman those men outside the pub had been talking about—was it really my wife? The clothes they’d described matched exactly what Yu-jin was wearing right now. My breath started coming faster, shallower, until a few moments later it steadied again and I forced myself to think clearly.
Yu-jin would never do something like that.
I prided myself on knowing my wife better than anyone. The conclusion came quickly. Yu-jin had never been the type to enjoy drinking much. Aside from unavoidable work dinners when she was still at the company, or times with family, or dates with me, she almost never went to a bar alone. And more than that, she was incredibly conservative. The very idea of anything promiscuous was foreign to her. Even in her wildest youth, the only time she’d ever set foot in a club was during freshman year of college when her friends had dragged her there a couple of times. She was the kind of woman who actively avoided places like emotional bars or pubs where she might come into contact with the opposite sex.
Yeah. Even if she really did go to a pub, I know her personality…
Because I trusted my wife completely, I decided not to entertain any more dirty thoughts. I lay down beside her and fell asleep.
Tuesday evening
“Haa… traffic was especially bad on the way home today.”
After another exhausting day at the office, I was on my way back with some of Yu-jin’s favorite snacks—tteokbokki, sundae, and a few other fried bites—packed up to go. For some reason the roads were more congested than usual, so I arrived near our apartment a little later than normal.
The crosswalk at the main entrance to the apartment complex was red, so I waited for the light and glanced out the window.
“Huh? Did a new gym open?”
There were three commercial buildings inside our apartment complex. The largest one sat right by the main gate. Since our building was farther from the entrance, Yu-jin and I rarely visited that particular shopping area. We usually just drove past it on the way home, so I’d never paid much attention to what shops were inside. But now I could see quite a few new stores had moved in. The one that caught my eye was an enormous gym that took up an entire floor.
Maybe I should check it out with Yu-jin sometime…
The defense company I worked for was well-known, and the benefits were excellent. One of those perks was an on-site gym that any employee could use for free. It was large, well-equipped, and even had trainers on staff who offered free personal training sessions. After I first joined, I used to go there during my lunch break whenever I had time. The gym had workout clothes and showers, so I didn’t need to bring anything from home. It was convenient enough that I could exercise and still freshen up before heading back to my desk.
But the past few months had been insanely busy. I simply hadn’t had the time to work out. Of course I could have gone after work, but I hated staying at the office late, and with a beautiful wife waiting for me at home, all I wanted was to get back as quickly as possible. Still, the idea of using the new gym right in front of our apartment crossed my mind—until I remembered we already had a free one at work. Paying extra didn’t seem worth it, so I put the thought on hold.
The light changed. I stepped on the gas and headed straight home.
Late that night, at home
“Oppa, what’s all this~? Tteokbokki, sundae, and even some fried stuff!”
Yu-jin opened the plastic bag in my hand and burst into bright laughter as she quickly began setting the table. Seeing her so happy made me glad I’d bought it. I went into the bedroom to change out of my work clothes and came back to the kitchen. In that short time, she had already finished arranging everything perfectly.
“Oppa, why did you suddenly buy all this street food?”
“I just remembered how much you like tteokbokki, so I picked some up on the way.”
“I was actually craving it too. Perfect timing~ Let’s eat, oppa.”
“Yeah.”
We decided to make a simple dinner of the snacks and each cracked open a small can of beer. While we were eating, the events of last night came back to me. I decided it was time to ask Yu-jin about it.
“Yu-jin, did you meet up with Ha-jeong yesterday?”
“Yeah, it went well. It felt so good seeing her after so long. We talked a ton and ate a lot of delicious food.”
“Really? You just talked and ate?”
“Oh! After dinner, Ha-jeong suggested we check out a pub. Remember that barbecue place in the city center we went to before? There’s a pub right across from it. That’s where we went.”
“A pub?”
My mind went completely blank at her answer. I’d hoped it wasn’t true, but she really had gone to a pub yesterday. My head spun. I pressed her with questions.
“So you actually went inside the pub?”
“Yeah. Ha-jeong said when she lived in Australia she went to clubs and pubs almost every day. But after coming back to Korea, she’s been too busy with work and felt weird going alone, so she hasn’t been in forever. She kept begging me to go with her while I was there. I don’t really like those kinds of places, so I turned her down at first. But she looked at me with such desperate eyes that I eventually gave in and went for her sake.”
“I see… What was it like? Did anything happen?”
“What could happen? It was just a bar, honestly. Nothing special.”
“Still, those places usually have a young, emotional vibe. Lots of young people, tons of pick-up attempts…”
I deliberately used the word hunting as I asked. Yu-jin thought for a moment, then her face lit up like she’d remembered something. She looked at me.
“Oh! Now that you mention it, we were sitting at a table with some highballs and light snacks, just chatting, when two guys who looked like college students came over and started talking to us.”
“Really? What did they say?”
“The usual stuff guys say when they’re trying to pick someone up. ‘You two are so pretty, can we join you?’ That kind of thing. I was about to turn them down, but Ha-jeong whispered that it had been a while since anything fun happened and asked me to play along for a bit. So we ended up letting them sit with us.”
“And then?”
“After they sat down, they offered to buy us drinks. They asked if we’d ever tried expensive liquor and said they’d treat us. I said it was fine, but Ha-jeong kept insisting we should try something fancy. I eventually agreed. It must have been really strong—some kind of whiskey. After just one glass, my head went completely fuzzy. Even Ha-jeong, who can usually hold her liquor, looked drunk after her third small glass.”
“Wow, it must have been really high proof. If Ha-jeong was like that, you must have been completely wasted after the first drink, right?”
“Apparently so. According to Ha-jeong, right after my first glass my tongue started slurring and I was totally out of it. She said she was shocked. She’s had plenty of whiskey before, but she’d never seen one hit someone that fast. Anyway, I don’t remember much after that. She told me I got so drunk I basically passed out. She had no choice but to end the night, call you, and take a taxi to bring me home.”
Listening to her story, I let out a silent sigh of relief that nothing had happened yesterday. At the same time, though, a strange sense of disappointment lingered. I wasn’t even sure what I was disappointed about.
“Must have been fun for you, Yu-jin. Seeing your friend after so long and drinking with young guys.”
“What? Oppa, are you jealous?”
“Of course I’m jealous. I know better than anyone how pretty you are. And you were even wearing that miniskirt you never usually wear.”
“Ah… I just got so excited about seeing my friend after such a long time that I wanted to dress up a little more than usual. That’s why I wore the miniskirt you bought me.”
“You already have such beautiful legs, and then you wore a miniskirt on top of that… I bet the guys were drooling, huh?”
“Just like you said, one of the guys told me my legs were super sexy. It was kind of gross coming from someone who looked like a kid. So I told them I was actually a married woman. At first they were surprised, but then they said they didn’t believe it. They told me I had the face of someone who definitely wasn’t married. Hehe.”
“Aigoo, so you liked being treated like an unmarried young woman?”
“It did feel good. It means they still see me as a young woman, right?”
“Yu-jin, if you walked down the street alone right now, everyone would think you were a college student.”
“Hmph, why are you being like this all of a sudden, oppa? It’s not like you’re getting anything out of it.”
“No, I’m serious. You still look really young. You’re prettier than most actual young women.”
“Okay, okay~ Oppa. Stop trying to butter me up. We’re done eating, right? I’ll clean up.”
While Yu-jin cleared the table, I went into the bathroom to shower. I washed up quickly and came back out to the living room. She had already finished cleaning and was tying up a large trash bag.
“You taking that out?”
“Yeah. Trash has been piling up, so I’m throwing it away.”
“Give it here. I was going to step out for a cigarette anyway. I’ll take it down with me.”
“Thanks, oppa. And try to cut back on the smoking. Quitting would be even better.”
“I know. I’ve actually been thinking about smoking less lately. Anyway, I’ll be back.”
“See you soon, oppa.”
With the trash bag in one hand, I stepped out the front door…