You arrived at the house, all the lights were off.
Is he even home?
Everything was quiet, the only sound you heard was the crickets' chirps.
Carefully, you opened the front gate & crossed the lawn to get into the house.
You walked in quietly from the back door through the kitchen & saw the small table lamp in the living room was on.
Taehyung was sitting alone on the couch, his head was lowered & you could hear his sniffs.
"Taehyung ah?" You gently called out his name.
He quickly hid the thing he was holding in his hands behind him & wiped away his tears upon hearing your voice.
"Y-you're home?" He turned around & smiled at you, but his eyes were swollen & his nose was red.
"Yes. Sorry, I didn't know that it was your birthday. Kang jibsa called me earlier & told me about it." You avoided mentioning the elephant in the room, him crying over something you didn't know.
"Oh, she did? It's no big deal, it's just like any other day. Did you enjoy the movie?"
"Yeah, I did. Btw, have you eaten?"
"I have." But his stomach betrayed him & let out a loud rumble causing both of you to laugh.
"Wait here, I'll cook something up for you." You smiled at him & walked to the kitchen.
"Let me help you.." He began to rise from his seat, but you pointed a finger at him telling him to stop.
"Uh uh, just sit there birthday boy. Dinner will be ready soon."
"Taehyung ah, come here. Dinner's ready." You called out to him while taking off your apron.
"Thanks." He said as he sat down at the dining table. Then suddenly, he froze.
Staring at the miyeok guk (seaweed soup) you prepared for him, his eyes went blank & his smile disappeared from his face.
"W-what's wrong? You don't like miyeok guk?" His abrupt change of expression worried you.
" Ah. No. It's just- I haven't had this since I was 8." He forced out a faint smile, but you knew something was bothering him.
"Oh ok, I'll bring this to the back & cook something else for you then."
Your hand were already on the pot handles when he grabbed your wrist & stopped you.
"It's ok. Sit down, eat with me." Even though he pretended that nothing was wrong, you noticed a slight quiver in his voice.
"Ok then." You pulled out a chair & sat down across him.
Silently, you poured one bowl of soup for him & another one for yourself.
He took his spoon & scooped a spoonful of soup. He stared at it for a few seconds before exhaling deeply & putting the spoon in his mouth.
The moment the soup hit his tongue, his eyes glistened with tears & a drop fell into the bowl of soup.
Horrified, you immediately stood up & took the pot of soup back to the kitchen. This time he didn't stop you. When you went back to the dining room, he was already gone.
"Shit, what did I do?" You cursed at yourself.
The next day you woke up very early, because you couldn't sleep, wondering what made him cry over a bowl of soup. You didn't dare to walk out of your room, thinking that Taehyung might not want to see you after last night's incident, so you just stayed in your room. Some time around noon, a text came in & it was from Jin.
You felt guilty for concealing the truth from Jin, especially since he was being so nice to you.
He deserves to know before things get out of hand.
You were thinking of how to tell Jin about your marriage to Taehyung when you heard a faint knock on your door.
"Y-yes?" You opened the door & were met by Taehyung, who was already looking handsome in pinstriped suits.
"Get ready. We need to go somewhere." His face was deadpan.
"Where?" You asked in confusion.
"You'll see."
The sound of roaring engines filled the silence during your ride to wherever Taehyung was taking you. You kept stealing glances at him, but he seemed to not notice & focused his vision on the road ahead.
"You were confused, weren't you?" He suddenly asked when you were quietly staring at him.
"Huh? Oh. Uhmm.." You immediately turned your head away while trying to think of a suitable answer.
"Do you want to know why?" He asked flatly.
"Well.. If you feel like telling me then yes, but if you don't, I won't ask about it."
"I have never eaten miyeok guk since I was 8 because that was the year my parents got divorced. My mom chose to leave me & my dad for some guy she met at a party. Such a cliché, right? I begged her to stay, but she didn't care. All she cared about was herself. She used to be the one who cooked miyeok guk every year for my birthday & ever since she left us, I refused to eat it because it would only awaken my painful memory. Yesterday was the first time I ate it in 15 years & yours tasted exactly like my mom's." He scoffed.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't- I'm sorry." You covered your mouth with your hand in shock.
"It's alright. You didn't know. She made me lose my belief in marriage, so I didn't plan on getting married, especially at such young age. That was why I was so mad when my dad forced me to marry you. Why would people get married when they'd just betray & hurt each other?"
Your heart clenched at his words. You felt like you had betrayed him by having a "date" with Jin behind his back, although Taehyung might not actually care since you were not exactly in a traditional marriage.
I need to tell Jin right away about my marriage to Taehyung.
"We're here." Taehyung said as he turned off the car engine & opened the door.
Your jaw dropped staring at the luxurious building in front of you & instantly felt self-conscious with your casual outfit.
"W-what are we doing here?" You asked him as you followed him into the boutique.
"To buy you some decent clothes." He said without turning his head.
All the store assistants rushed to his side & bowed at him as soon as they saw him walking in.
He snapped his fingers & pointed at you with his thumb. A few female assistants immediately approached you & escorted you to the dressing room.
"W-wait. Wait a second." You got away from them & scooted to Taehyung.
"Hey, I can't afford these clothes. If you think my clothes are too ugly, I'll go buy new ones at other stores where I can actually pay for them without having to sell my kidneys." You whispered to him.
He dismissed you with a wave of his hand without looking up from his phone & the shopping assistants ushered you back to the dressing rooms.
"Kim Taehyung!" You called out to him but he pretended that he didn't hear it.
They made you tried on countless outfits, from casual T-shirts & pants to formal evening gown. The ones Taehyung approved were piled on one side, while the ones he didn't were piled on the other side.
So far, the rejected pile was a lot higher than the approved one & you actually felt thankful for that.
"Miss, I think he'll like this one." The assistant was putting on a black evening gown on you when she excitedly exclaimed.
"This? Isn't it too revealing? I'm too chubby for this type of dress." You looked at yourself in the mirror & only saw the negative things about your body.
"No, you're not. You're curvy. Trust me, he'll like this one. Let me help you style it." She smiled at you as she put your hair up in a tight bun.
Taehyung looked up from the magazine he was reading when you walked in front of him.
You noticed his eyes opened slightly wider although he didn't say a word for a few seconds.
"Sir? How do you like this one?" The assistant asked him.
"Hm? Oh, yeah this is good. I guess we found it. Good job everyone. Please wrap this dress & that pile over there & send them to my address." He rose from his seat & walked to the front.
What? How do I pay for all these?
You hurriedly asked the assistant to help you take the dress off & checked the price tag.
7.5 million won?! That's equal to my salary for 5 months!
Terrified, you immediately ran out of the dressing room to find Taehyung who was standing near the counter.
"Stop right there!" You yelled at the lady who was packing the clothings into garment bags, startling everyone.
"I'm really sorry for the trouble, but I'm not buying any of these. Sorry for wasting your time." You frantically said.
"They've all been paid for Miss." She kindly smiled at you.
"Huh?" You looked at her in confusion, then at Taehyung, who only raised his brow at you.
"Come on, let's go." He walked out the store & you followed suit.
"Hey wait. Did you- did you pay for those? I thought you said you wouldn't spend any money on me?"
"We need to go to an event next week & I don't want to be seen with you wearing such frumpy clothes, so I need to dress you up." He nonchalantly said.
"B-but.."
"Shh. I don't want to talk about this anymore. I'm tired, let's go home." He opened the car door & got in.
Taehyung was quiet all the way until you reached home. Gone was the smiling Taehyung that you caught a glimpse of yesterday morning & you kinda missed that. You regretted cooking that miyeok guk so much, even though it truly wasn't your fault. Your mom told you that his mom passed away when he was little, so the truth really surprised you.
"도련님, 사모님, welcome back." Kang jibsa greeted both of you when you entered the house.
"Oh, you're back. How's your eommoni?" You asked.
"She's fine now, my younger sister is taking care of her. Thank you for your concern." She bowed at you.
"Kang jibsa, I'm tired. Please bring dinner to my room later." Taehyung said impassively before walking to his room & closing the door behind him.
"사모님, did something happen?" She asked you in confusion.
"I- I cooked miyeok guk for him last night."
"What? Ommo, no wonder he is in such a bad mood. Didn't you know that his mom-"
"Yes yes, I know it now after he told me. My mom said that his mom passed away, I didn't know that she actually divorced his dad for another guy."
"Shhhhh.. not so loud." She said as she put her forefinger in front of her lips.
"You know what really happened? His mother moved out of the house on his birthday. 우리 도련니 (Our young master) held onto her legs, crying & begging for her not to leave, but she wouldn't listen & kept walking while dragging him on her feet. In the end, his father caught him, forced him back into the house & locked him inside his room so that he wouldn't run out looking for his mother again. I pitied him & brought him some miyeok guk, but he cried & threw the bowl on the wall. Ever since that day, he stopped eating it."
"Omg, that's terrible." Your guilt intensified after hearing the complete story.
"That was why I didn't want him to spend his birthday alone, because I knew he would be reminded of all those bad memories. I should've told you about the miyeok guk beforehand, I'm so sorry for my carelessness." She looked like she was about to cry.
"No no Kang jibsa, it was completely my fault & I'll try my best to mend his wound, so please help me ok?" Now, you were determined more than ever to make him smile again.