A Sleepless Night
He lies sprawled on his bed, clutching his duvet and lost in thought. Perhaps it’s strange. Just beyond that door, in the next room, his ex-wife is sleeping—a woman he lived with, tangled in each other’s bodies, a woman he once thought he loved. Yet, here he is, thinking of someone else.
"I’ve waited long enough... so now, it’s my turn, right?"
The mere fact that she said those words was the start of his shock, and everything since has been a continuous stream of surprises. Honestly, a simple kiss is nothing. He could just dismiss it as her being crazy from the alcohol, but she spoke of things from so long ago—things he barely remembered, things his friends had to remind him of—as if they had happened just yesterday. I’ve waited long enough. Waited for what? What on earth? That, too, was terrifying.
He pulls the duvet over his head, then touches his pillow, then wedges it between his legs, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
"Hey, if it were me, I’d be calling Eunbyul."
"Seriously, man, are you a divorcee with a kid, or are you some kind of sociopath?"
His friends' words echo in his head. And as for the kiss—the one he claims is "nothing"—he finds his imagination running wild. A romance with his secretary? A potential remarriage? It’s a strange feeling. As he thinks, he keeps kicking the duvet away, wondering to himself what on earth he’s thinking about.
'How long has it even been since the divorce...'
'Even a girl like that can change like this once she gets married.'
But then, he slips back into his imagination, turning it over in his mind. First, Eunbyul. He met her today, and while he saw glimpses of her old, clumsy self, in other ways, she seemed even more capable than him. Sharp-eyed, quick-witted—exactly the style he likes. Still, she seems like a kid to him. Even if there’s only a two-year age gap.
'Why do I keep trying to see Eunbyul in a good light? Ugh, this is weird...'
Yet, his thoughts keep drifting in the opposite direction of what he wants. Even though the celebratory dinner was for the new hire, they spent the whole day talking about him, and even then, she didn't look offended; instead, she listened to his words with a look that was both demure and adorable. Every once in a while, a sharp remark would slip out, like a storm in a teacup, but he liked that side of Eunbyul.
Seo Jia—that woman was the exact opposite. When they were dating, she wanted to talk about everything with him, even though he was a bit taciturn, and if she found something fun, she’d send him a dozen KakaoTalk messages, relaying the facts with 100% purity. He’d felt a bit exhausted by it in the beginning, but he thought he’d hidden it well.
On the other hand, there’s the image still stuck in his head: Eunbyul, the freshman, the sophomore. And the gap between that and the working woman Eunbyul is quite large.
'...She has changed, hasn't she?'
Her breasts are smaller than Seo Jia’s, but the buttons of her semi-formal blouse are dangerously close to popping, and the way she wears her skirt reveals her hips. She used to have short hair, but now it reaches past her shoulders, and her makeup skills have improved. Of course, her skittish personality—or, to put it kindly, her fresh, or to put it poorly, noisy way of speaking—still bothers him. But things like that...
'Wait, "things like that"? No, stop.'
He feels embarrassed for trying to see Eunbyul in a good light, his ears turning slightly red as he presses his lips together. Still, having such strange thoughts about his secretary... he thinks it’s wrong. And yet, even as he scolds himself, the thought vanishes, replaced by, '...I’ve never seen a woman who looks so good in a suit.'
'It’s a different feeling... than with Seo Jia.'
'No, was she always that tall? She comes up to my shoulder.'
Honestly, if you put them side by side, Seo Jia would look like a little kid. '170cm...? Maybe?'
'And it’s weird. Why does a girl like that like me? She must have plenty of people chasing after her already. What’s her angle...'
But then he thinks of the past. 'Wait five years or more because of an angle? Does that make sense?'
'...No, maybe she’s been waiting just to get something out of me...'
But he gives up on that thought. If it were true that she hadn't met a single man while waiting for him all this time just to get something, that’s not a gold digger—that’s a horror movie. A horror movie. And so, he falls asleep.
Weather: I think Master has a lover. Or he brought another woman home besides me. His clothes smelled like a woman’s perfume. What do I do? He always promised to love only me, promised to be on my side for the rest of his life. I’ve never seen him talk to another woman, so I don’t know what I should do. If I just act crazy and throw myself at him, he’ll hate me even more, and he doesn't seem to want my cooking anymore. Is she younger than me? Is she prettier? I could treat him better now, but I don't know how to show him. I’ve never thought about Suhyun remarrying, so my head hurts. If Master remarries, I’ll be kicked out, won't I? I even threw away my sleeping pills, but I want to die.
"Daaaad, your daughter is hoooome!"
"Aigoo, why are you coming home so late?"
Even though he’s the type to curse up a storm and drink with all sorts of people outside, the moment he hears his daughter coming through the door, Eunbyul’s father—who was lying down watching TV—jumps to his feet.
"I was in such a good mood todaaay..."
"Byul’s mom, catch her quickly."
He treasures his daughter so much that he feels burdened by the thought of an old man like him touching her, so he calls her mother instead. Eunbyul, who had been doing a face mask in the master bedroom, comes out and grabs the doorknob, drunk.
"Unnie, you're home?"
"Unnie is hoooome!"
"...She’s not even a girl who drinks well..."
"Maybe something good happened."
Eunbyul’s father chuckles, watching Eunbyul being helped inside, and sits on the sofa. Before Eunbyul goes into her room, she stops while her mother and her younger sister, Eun Seol, are holding her arms, and looks at her father.
"Dad!"
"...? Yeah, daughter. There’s a hangover cure in the fridge, want it?"
"Thank you!"
Her father, who was hurrying toward the fridge, stops in his tracks. Hearing his daughter, whom he raised like a precious gem, say "thank you," his eyes well up. He slowly approaches her, but because she is so precious, he can’t bring himself to hug her; he just reaches behind her back and pats her gently. That was her father.
"Ugh, you raise a kid well, and they only say thank you when you give them a gift."
"Really... really, thank you..."
"...?"
Her mother and sister look back and forth between Eunbyul and her father, looking puzzled. Then, her father pulls his arm away, tells her to hurry into her room, and opens the hangover cure bottle he’d brought, handing it to her. After she drinks it all, she says,
"I’m crying because I’m so happy... Dad, thank you so much..."
"Yeah. Go do well."
By the time she was face-down in her room, asleep, her mother had taken off her mask, washed her face, and was lying in bed next to her husband. She looked deep in thought for a long time before asking,
"Honey, why are you the only one who knows? Tell me, too."
"Tell you what."
"What did you do to make her keep saying thank you? Did you file a gift tax report?"
"Has our daughter ever thanked me for money?"
"...?"
"I gave her a gift. A gift. A really big one."
Her mother stares at her husband without a word. Then, her father looks up and asks,
"Dear."
"Yes?"
"If Eunbyul said she was going to marry a man who’s divorced, what would you do?"
"W-what are you talking about! Ugh, no. You can’t clap with one hand."
"Sometimes, things happen that you can’t understand."
Her father continues to make her mother curious with his cryptic words.
"Then who do you want Byul to marry?"
"Ugh, well, someone tall... someone with a good personality and ability, not just money..."
"Anything else?"
"Actually, you know that school senior she used to like so much?"
"Han Suhyun?"
"Yeah, yeah, that’s him. He seemed like the best guy. But he got married early... You know, Mr. Seongmin, you’ve met him too. Back when he was on leave and used to drive Byul and Seol to university."
"That’s right."
Didn't you say you hated divorced men...?
"They looked so good together. I saw them from the car, and they looked just like a couple."
"The gift is General Manager Han."
"....?"
"I asked Juwon to make Byul General Manager Han’s secretary."
Her mother narrows her eyes, her eyes widening slightly.
"What were you thinking? No, that man is married..."
"He was married."
"...?"
Low and quiet, as if telling a secret, her father said,
"...It looks like he got a divorce, too."
"...!"
"You can clap with one hand sometimes. It happens. ...We’ll talk tomorrow."