An Outing
The sensation of him still remaining inside her lingered like an afterglow. Jung Na-yeon never once let go of the hand she held. The wedding ring caught between their fingers was slick with their sweat, yet even that had become part of the feeling. After lying face-down for a long while, she finally turned onto her back. The ceiling swam into a blur. Sweat-damp hair clung to her forehead.
Jung Na-yeon turned her head and looked up at Hyun-soo’s face, offering a weary smile.
“It’s a day off, so it’s fine, but…”
Her words trailed away as she buried her forehead against his chest.
The sound of his heartbeat seemed to pulse right against her ear.
Had she ever felt this way when she pressed her face to her husband’s chest?
Eyes closed, she simply felt it. The woman who moments earlier had coupled like an animal now lay nestled like this, leaning into Hyun-soo’s body heat.
“Don’t go upstairs. Sleep here.”
It sounded like a command, yet affection threaded through her voice. Still gripping his hand, her breathing gradually evened and grew quiet.
“Here?”
“Mm…”
A married woman was about to fall asleep in a stranger’s arms.
“I think I’m getting addicted to this body.”
Jung Na-yeon, who had been drifting off, opened her eyes at Hyun-soo’s whisper.
A hand was cupping her breast as well.
“I was trying to sleep…”
She grumbled, yet no hand pushed him away. After the fierce joining only moments before, her breasts were hypersensitive; every shift of his fingers made her nipples tighten and answer. She slowly exhaled and closed her eyes again.
The instant soft lips brushed her forehead, her body flinched. Hot breath skimmed across her skin and raised goosebumps. The drowsiness that had been claiming her seemed to wake all over again.
“Addiction is… my line to say.”
For two years her body had known no man’s touch. Now she wondered whether she could even sleep without this warmth for a single day. The thought frightened her, yet it also felt good.
“If you keep touching them, they’ll get bigger.”
She muttered something close to nonsense.
“Then I should knead them more, shouldn’t I?”
“You want them even bigger right here?”
“They’re already plenty full. Heh heh…”
She shot him a sidelong glance and rested her head against him once more.
Like this she would sleep in a stranger’s arms on the master-bedroom bed.
It was a house her husband had left empty—a place he visited maybe once or twice a month. That fact felt more convenient than sad.
Jung Na-yeon closed her eyes for a moment, then looked at Hyun-soo again.
“You said you’re buying clothes tomorrow. Want me to come with you?”
Over the meal earlier he had mentioned, almost in passing, that he planned to shop for clothes the next day.
It also meant a married woman was offering to go shopping with her tenant. She knew perfectly well what she was saying, yet she could not stop. She still had not released his hand.
“Would you?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we can grab lunch there too. Shall we take a taxi?”
Nestled against him, Jung Na-yeon gave a soft snort of laughter.
“Taxi fare’s a waste. There’s a Grandeur in the parking lot. We’ll take that.”
“Oh, really?”
“But I haven’t driven it in a while, so it’ll be covered in dust. We’ll wash it tomorrow morning and go.”
His delighted reaction to the news of a car was so cute that she stroked his chest with her fingertips.
“That’s perfect.”
“Look at you. The second I mention a car, your whole face changes.”
The tone was teasing, yet the corners of her mouth had lifted.
“It’s just convenient.”
Hyun-soo answered with a grin.
In truth the last time she had driven the Grandeur was a month ago. Aside from one trip to the department store, there had been no reason to turn the key.
There had been no one to ride with, after all.
“Like you said, let’s eat lunch out. There’s a decent place in the mall food court.”
Breakfast at home, car wash, shopping at the mall, then lunch—the whole itinerary.
It was exactly like a couple’s date course.
A married woman going shopping like this with her tenant was pure madness, yet Jung Na-yeon had melted every scrap of judgment into the heat of his body.
“Let’s eat there.”
His arm settled around her shoulders again.
“But we can’t stick too close. Keep a little distance outside.”
“Aren’t you being overly careful?”
“You never know…”
There was no harm in caution.
“I’ll wake you at seven tomorrow. Sleep in and there’s no breakfast.”
The threat was far too languid to sound real, and the hand she had wrapped around his waist gradually lost its strength.
It had been a very long time since she looked forward to tomorrow.
The next day.
At exactly seven in the morning Jung Na-yeon woke to the alarm. Beside her, Hyun-soo’s face, breathing evenly, was lit by the morning sun.
His sleeping face was so endearing that she stared blankly for a moment before brushing the stray hair from his forehead with her fingertips.
She carefully lifted the blanket, rose, and headed for the bathroom. Looking at herself in the mirror she sighed, yet could not stop the corners of her mouth from rising.
After her shower she came out to the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her hair and opened the refrigerator.
Time to make breakfast.
She cracked eggs into the frying pan, lit the burner under the pot of soybean-paste soup, and hummed under her breath. She could not remember the last time she had hummed in the morning.
Even when her husband was home, mornings had been rushed and they each fended for themselves. Now scooping rice for two felt completely natural.
Breakfast for two sat ready on the table: fried eggs, soybean-paste soup, kimchi, soy-braised beef, and seasoned fish cakes.
Jung Na-yeon untied her apron and glanced toward the master bedroom.
The clock was edging toward seven-thirty.
She stood before the bedroom door and knocked twice.
“Get up. Breakfast’s ready.”
Her voice was calm, yet the way she waited at the door, toes tapping, was pure fluttering anticipation.
She set the parking-lot key on the table and once more ran through the day’s route: car wash first, then the mall, lunch at the food court. While picturing styles that would suit Hyun-soo she remembered coffee and moved again.
Two coffee cups.
The hand that once took out only one now set down two without thinking. Realizing it, she paused, then quietly smiled. Sunlight through the window announced spring’s approach as it filled the kitchen.
“Haaawn… Sleep well?”
Hyun-soo emerged stretching and offered a sleepy greeting.
“Food’s ready, so sit down already.”
He came to himself, took his seat, and began to eat.
“This is really good.”
When he said it was delicious, Jung Na-yeon, mid-spoonful of soup across the table, stopped and let the corners of her mouth lift.
“If you just say ‘delicious’ every day I never have to think about the menu. Tell me specifically what you want tomorrow.”
It sounded like scolding, yet her lips curved upward. Only after she confirmed he had emptied his bowl did she set down her own spoon.
Instead of announcing she would do the dishes, she simply stood at the sink and turned on the water.
While Hyun-soo showered, Jung Na-yeon stood before the master-bedroom closet. Rather than the comfortable clothes she usually wore for errands, her hand reached into the inner section. A light-colored knit and black slacks. She changed twice in front of the mirror and stopped at the third combination.
She even put on light makeup—cushion foundation, brows, a touch of tint on her lips. Even when going out with her husband she had only taken this much care during their dating days or the earliest months of marriage.
Looking at her own face in the mirror, she laughed.
“Ah, that feels refreshing.”
At the sound of Hyun-soo finishing his shower she waited with the car key hooked on one finger.
A moment later.
She looked him up and down as he emerged ready and slightly furrowed her brow.
“You really do need new clothes. How many days have you worn that?”
“I don’t have anything else.”
“Still.”
She clicked her tongue, yet her gaze lingered on the line of his shoulders. Even in worn clothes his build was good. She turned away, took white sneakers from the shoe cabinet, and slipped them on.
Outside, the Grandeur sat in one corner of the parking lot, coated in dust.
Jung Na-yeon pressed the smart key, unlocked the doors, settled into the driver’s seat, and fastened her belt. She glanced at the passenger side with a look that said, buckle up.
“Car wash first. It’d be embarrassing to roll into the mall parking lot looking like this.”
“There was a lot of dust inside too. Like it had been abandoned.”
“You’re not wrong.”
She gave a wry smile.
A month of neglect was the truth.
Adjusting the rearview mirror, she started the engine and eased out of the lot. Morning sunlight flooded the windshield; a ballad drifted from the speakers. Her fingers lightly tapped the beat on the steering wheel in time with the song.
“When we get to the mall, take a look. Tell me what would suit me.”
She hummed while she drove.
“Of course I’ll pick them out. Leaving it to you would be a disaster.”
She glanced at him, voice full of certainty.
After the car wash the Grandeur gleamed as it rolled along the road. The navigation was set for a large mall in the city center. Even while driving, Jung Na-yeon was already assembling outfits in her head that would suit him. Broad shoulders meant regular fit rather than oversized; long legs would look good in slacks; his bright face would pair well with something like khaki.
She parked in the mall garage, pushed her sunglasses up onto her head, and stepped out first.
“Nice weather.”
Hyun-soo climbed from the passenger seat, looked up at the sky, and grinned.
They walked into the building and stood side by side in the elevator. Their reflections appeared in the glass.
Jung Na-yeon bit her lip at the sight.
Do we look like a couple?
Of course she did not say it aloud.
“Second-floor men’s wear first. Going higher just wastes time.”
When the doors opened she strode ahead with the easy confidence of someone who knew exactly where she was going. Hyun-soo followed at a leisurely pace.
The way she naturally took the lead made it clear: when it came to shopping, she was a professional.