Divorce in Bed Chapter 2

He let out an extremely faint sigh.

“I don’t have time to play house with kids.”

Without hesitation, Dowon turned around again. This time, it really felt like he was going to slip away.

“A-ah, no!”

Yeohwi cried out desperately.

“Again! I’ll do it again. This time… I can do it well.”

“That’s enough.”

Dowon lightly pushed Yeohwi’s shoulder, turning him back toward the bed. That was the absolute limit of the consideration he could offer.

“Acting cute won’t change anything. Just go to sleep.”

“Really? Am I cute?”

“…”

“Wa-was I… cute…?”

“You keep pushing it. You brat.”

Judging that any further civilized conversation was a hindrance, Dowon criticized him scathingly.

“Are you that starved for attention?”

“What…?”

“Because you’re a complete orphan, because you lost all your blood relatives and grew up alone with no one to lean on—is that why you lunged without even looking at who was in front of you?”

“…”

“Did you think that just because of one measly marriage, everything was yours and I would become your person?”

Having poured out everything he wanted to say, he turned away heartlessly, opened the bedroom door, and left.

The sound of the door slamming shut echoed.

Beside Seong Yeohwi, only the chilly air filling the room remained.

‧₊˚🍊༉‧₊˚.

By the time the shimmering light of dawn faintly seeped through the thick curtains of the bedroom, Seong Yeohwi suddenly woke up.

Last night, when he had been thrown alone onto this massive king-sized bed after hearing those insulting words that pierced like a dagger, he was certain he would spend the night wide awake. Out of indignation and resentment, and because of the anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place.

But what do you know?

Contrary to his expectations, Yeohwi had fallen into a deep sleep, buried in the expensive, high-end premium mattress.

“…I slept well.”

His body felt incredibly refreshed.

He let out a hollow laugh at the absurdity of it.

As he shifted his large shoulders and pushed himself up from the very center of the bed he had monopolized, the duvet that had wrapped his body slid down smoothly. The morning sun poked warmly through the gap in the curtains, and a beam of light illuminated Yeohwi’s face.

Waking up just now, Yeohwi seemed as though he would smell like the cozy scent of fabric softener from laundry well-dried in the sun.

His disheveled brown curly hair floated softly like dandelion seeds, and his cheeks, which had been pressed against the fluffy pillow, were flushed red. His clean nape and thick chest were revealed through his loosely fastened robe. Limbs built with muscle. He was unmistakably a warm, large dog that had slept well and just woken up.

“Uwaaaah.”

Yeohwi stretched his whole body out.

After a night’s sleep, the cold air of last night, Dowon’s vitriol that had flown like a slap to the cheek, and the humiliation of his clumsy first kiss all felt like they were no big deal.

Okay. Sure. Let’s accept it.

I’m a brat, and he’s an adult.

‘Right… Dowon-ssi, Dowon hyung… mmm, Woni hyung…’

He tried out embarrassing titles to himself before shaking his head vigorously.

‘Well, there’s no way the world would have left a man that handsome, capable, and incredibly cool—really freaking cool—alone.’

Yeohwi recalled those chilly, dry eyes.

A sense of boredom as if he were exhausted by everything. Surely, he must have lived a tiring life due to all sorts of people clinging to him until now.

‘So a clumsy kid like me, a brat… whew…’

A sigh escaped involuntarily, but even if it was sad, he had to admit what needed to be admitted.

‘There’s no way an amateur like me would catch his eye. It can’t be helped. I’d be the same way if I were him.’

But the strange thing was, even after hearing such harsh words and being perfectly rejected, he didn’t dislike the man. Rather…

‘I like him too much.’

Why was that? Last night, those eyes without light, that icy touch, and that cold voice kept lingering in his head.

The moment he repeatedly retraced his past memories, the last things the man had said flashed through his mind.

‘Are you that starved for attention?’

‘Did you think that just because of one measly marriage, everything was yours and I would become your person?’

Yeohwi’s crystal-clear light brown eyes settled calmly. His focus blurred as if he were looking somewhere far away. Various thoughts that had surfaced circled around him. The vitality slowly drained from his face.

Just then, a polite knock was heard from outside the door.

“Young master, are you awake?”

The voice of the elderly housekeeper followed.

“Breakfast is ready.”

“Ah, yes! I’ll be there in a second!”

Yeohwi dashed to the bathroom, washed his face with cold water, and opened the suitcase he had brought when he moved in to hurriedly pull on some clothes.

He tried to get ready as fast as possible, but it seemed he was still late.

The food laid out on the massive dining table was truly at the level of a hotel breakfast.

Freshly baked croissants and baguettes, smoked salmon and avocado, scrambled eggs with truffle oil. Finally, even a crystal bowl filled with fresh fruit. It was all made with expensive, healthy ingredients.

And Dowon had already taken up one side of that table.

He looked different from how he had appeared in the bedroom.

An Italian three-piece suit. Dressed flawlessly down to the dark-colored vest, he looked like an intellectual executive one might see on the cover of a business magazine.

Unlike his damp hair last night, today his black hair was styled back without a single strand out of place, and on the cuffs of his perfectly ironed shirt, ornaments crafted from white gold brilliantly reflected the light from the dining lamp.

Yeohwi swallowed hard without realizing it.

Then, with a creak, he pulled out a chair and cautiously sat in the seat opposite Dowon.

He glanced at him to gauge the mood, but Dowon didn’t even care that Yeohwi had arrived; he only slowly tilted his coffee cup.

He watched as those long fingers gripped the handle of the slender cup and brought it slowly to his lips.

He seemed like a cold, stoic, and difficult-to-approach adult. Yet, a strange sense of fatigue could be felt from that face.

Is he very busy with work?

The silence was suffocating.

Yeohwi bravely opened his mouth to break the awkwardness.

“Did you… sleep well?”

There was no reply.

Dowon didn’t even look at Yeohwi. He merely lowered his long, monolid eyes and sipped his coffee.

‘Right. He probably means don’t do anything unnecessary.’

He felt a bit awkward. However, Seong Yeohwi had no intention of quitting and giving up here.

It was fine even if no one was listening. While tearing the bread in front of him with his hands, he began to mutter to himself, talking about the conclusion he had reached after his own deliberations.

“I thought about it.”

“…”

“I think you’re right.”

“…”

“I think I am starved—for attention.”

Dowon’s straight black eyebrows furrowed very briefly, just for a passing second, before returning to their original shape. Yeohwi continued speaking while chewing a piece of bread studded with olives.

“Because I was lonely, because it’s true I’ve lived a lonely life. I think the desire to get married quickly, start a family, and become stable was subconsciously there. Everyone else has a family, so I wanted to, too…”

Feeling like his throat was tightening, he took a sip of the warm soup.

“You know, that kind of thing? Like a harmonious household? A couple that grows old together? Anyway, I guess I had a fantasy. So, that’s why, it’s only natural for me to act like this. When I ended up marrying Dowon-ssi, even though it was an arranged marriage, I was happy thinking I could finally have a family of my own.”

Yeohwi put down his spoon and looked straight into Dowon’s eyes for the first time.

“Now, no matter what anyone says, hyung is… Do… Dowon-ssi is my husband… and wanting to be all lovey-dovey with my husband isn’t a bad thing. There’s nothing wrong with it.”

Clack.

Dowon set down the coffee cup he was holding with an audible sound.

Those jet-black eyes without light looked at Yeohwi just as they had last night. Rather than being filled with contempt or anger, it was a gaze as if he were looking at a whining child.

“Madam Park.”

At Dowon’s call, the housekeeper who had been standing at the kitchen entrance immediately approached.

“Yes, Director.”

“I’ll be late today. Don’t prepare dinner.”

“Understood. Have a safe trip.”

Dowon, who had only had a single cup of coffee, merely made a show of wiping his mouth with a napkin and stood up from his seat.

The housekeeper bowed her head in a practiced greeting. Yeohwi, flustered, stood up along with him.

“Are you leaving already? You haven’t eaten anything at all…”

As if it were natural, Dowon completely erased and ignored Yeohwi’s existence and headed toward the entrance.

Yeohwi followed behind him without realizing it.

“Uh, have a safe day!”

His voice, seeing him off loudly, echoed through the long, empty hallway that looked like an art gallery. Dowon didn’t turn back once and silently put on his shoes.

Thud.

Only the unkind sound of the front door closing returned as an answer.