After the Vows

chapter 1

The second Jeong-hyeok opened the door to the house, his wife was already at the foyer, dressed in her work clothes but covered with an apron. He did a double take, because his wife didn't cook. Her upper-crust upbringing meant fresh-cooked gourmet meals by in-home cooks. 

Jeong-hyeok was high on alert. After a long session with a student who came to him during his office hours about his poorly written term paper, he didn't have the mental capacity to absorb more surprises. But she was absolutely radiant. Hair pulled into a bun hung loose from its ball, giving her a look of disarray he loved. The top white buttons were unhooked, and her pantsuits had a tiny stain by her right thigh. Her hands balled together in excitement, her expression lighted with anticipation.

What had she been up to?

"Se-ri," he said slowly. "Have you been in the kitchen?"

He really hoped not. As much as he loved her for trying, none of her dishes stuck. And he really didn't want to go to the hospital again.

"Hmm?" She looked at her apron. "Oh, no. Of course not. I was painting!"

Jeong-hyeok raised a single brow and finally stepped into the house. He shut the door and let her take his briefcase.

"Painting, is it?" he remarked. "Like still life or landscape?" Se-ri didn't have much of a hand in the artistic world, either.

She shook her head again. "Nope again. I painted one of our spare rooms."

Se-ri helped him take off his coat and hung it in the closet by the door. Afterward, she hooked an arm around his as they walked into the kitchen. Something was up. Every time a big idea cooked up in her mind, she was much more touchy in an attempt to get him on board.

He took out a glass from the cupboard and poured in cold water. Se-ri's round eyes were blossoming at him, like she was waiting for him to ask for more.

"I'm listening," he said. "Why were you painting one of the spare rooms? Did you want to remodel?"

She nodded. "Yes, well, sort of. I have plans to move things around to set up for..."

"To set up for?" Jeong-hyeok raised the glass to his mouth.

"For a nursery!" she finally exclaimed as the cold liquid rushed down his throat and into pipes where it shouldn't go.

He coughed, water spilling uncontrollably. Through his tear-soaked eyes, he set the glass down and patted his breast bone. Se-ri gasped and rushed over to help.

"Crap. Are you okay?" she rubbed his back. "I know this is a surprise."

As he eventually recovered, Jeong-hyeok faced her with clouded confusion, unsure if he heard her right the first time. 

"Nursery? Like for a small child?" he asked.

Her beautiful mouth dragged into a wide smile as she nodded vigorously. "Yes! For a baby! Our baby..."

He froze. "What? Are you telling me you're..."

She laughed. "No, not yet at least. It's what I want to talk to you about. Trying for a baby."

The sentence took a bit to reach him, but he also needed time to understand it all. This was more than sudden as Se-ri had always spoken about being apart from the people around her, calling the common domestic life a "prison of the mind and soul".

"Se-ri, we talked about this. You talked about this. Before we got married, before I even proposed, you made it clear that I had to be okay with you not wanting children," he reminded her. "You wanted to focus on your career. What changed?"