By Zephyria 
===
As they left the cafe, a pitch-black car was waiting in front of the door. After giving some instructions to the driver who had stepped out, Cha Se-jin opened the passenger door for him. Eun-won gave a slight nod of greeting and climbed into the car. As Eun-won tried to close the door himself, Cha Se-jin closed it for him and walked around to the driver’s seat.
“Your address?”
“Ah… my address? Uh… oh, I’m sorry… I know where it is if I see it, but I don’t really know the address…”
“I think it was close to my place. I’ll head in that general direction, so tell me when you see it.”
“Okay….”
Resting his hand on his bag and fidgeting aimlessly, Eun-won looked out the window. He had hoped they could share some small talk on the way home, but now that they were in a space narrower than the cafe, he had no idea what to say. It was even more so because Cha Se-jin had been the one to initiate every conversation they’d had so far. Starting a conversation himself felt too awkward and daunting.
“Ah, send me your timetable.”
“My timetable?”
“Yeah. I need to know when you finish so I can time our meetings.”
Seeing Eun-won sink into thought over why he felt the need to coordinate their meetings to such an extent, Cha Se-jin tapped the steering wheel with his fingertips.
“We have to prepare for the wedding.”
“Ah… yes, I’ll send it now.”
Entering his timetable app, Eun-won captured a screenshot of the color-coded schedule and opened his messenger. Seeing the name ‘Husband’ appearing above his small list of friends, Eun-won entered the chat window and sent the image.
“I sent it.”
“Mm, good boy.”
Reaching over to the passenger seat, Cha Se-jin stroked Eun-won’s hair. The way the soft strands slipped through his fingers was exactly his taste.
“Darling.”
“Yes?”
“You didn’t change the name I saved you as, did you?”
Recalling the saved name ‘Husband’ he had seen moments ago, Eun-won let out a small breath.
“No… I haven’t changed it yet.”
“Yet? So you’re thinking about changing it?”
“…Yes….”
As Eun-won admitted his intention to change it in a compliant tone, Cha Se-jin let out a laugh mixed with a breath, then quickly wiped the smile away and spoke in a mock-serious voice.
“No.”
“…….”
“We’re getting married anyway, so why change it? You are my husband, after all.”
“……It’s just awkward every time I see it….”
“Then see me more often so it’s not awkward.”
“…Yes….”
Feeling that further arguing would be futile, Eun-won gave up easily and nodded slowly.
“You don’t stubbornly insist on useless things, do you, Darling? I like that. You only tire yourself out by being stubborn.”
“…Uh… but why have you been calling me ‘Darling’ for a while now….”
“Do you hate being called Darling?”
“…It’s not that I hate it… I’ve just never heard it before….”
“You’ll get used to it as you hear it more. Oh, what are you going to call me? Darling? Honey?”
“…Pardon…?”
Looking at Cha Se-jin with an expression that said this was absurd, Eun-won shifted his gaze back to the window. It felt strange enough being called ‘Darling,’ but to go a step further and call him ‘Honey’… Just imagining it made him feel like he would die of embarrassment.
“…I’ll think about that too.”
“My Darling has a lot to think about.”
Throughout the ride home, Eun-won remained flustered and surprised by Cha Se-jin’s unabashed remarks until they arrived. Though he knew he shouldn’t, Eun-won looked at the front gate—the sight of which had made him feel suffocated for the past few days—and stepped out of the car.
“Thank you for driving me home….”
Bending his upper body to match the height of the sliding passenger window, Eun-won greeted Cha Se-jin in the driver’s seat.
“You already cried all the tears you needed to earlier, so don’t cry once you go inside. Your crying is too erotic; you can’t just cry anywhere.”
“Yes… please drive safely….”
“Yeah. I’ll call you.”
With a smirk and a goodbye, Cha Se-jin drove away. Eun-won watched the rear of the disappearing car, then took a deep breath as he looked at the closed gate.
“…….”
When he had left the house in the morning, his heart had been filled with an indescribable emotion that felt stifling and bleak, but it wasn’t quite that bad now.
Perhaps because everything had been swept away when he cried like a fool earlier, he could breathe and his vision was clear. After taking a deep breath, Eun-won returned the greeting of the employee at the entrance. The employee offered to call a car for him, but Eun-won declined. He simply wanted to walk home and organize his thoughts.
As he passed through the second entrance and crossed the well-maintained garden, he called his father once more. The announcement played that the power was still off.
He searched for news articles again, but no new reports had been posted. Thinking it was a relief, Eun-won entered the house, where Butler Kang greeted him.
“Welcome back, Young Master. You’ve returned earlier than usual today.”
“Yes… Oh, how is the Madam? Has she eaten?”
“Yes, she had a bit of porridge, and then she meditated, perhaps because her mind was troubled, and went to her room a short while ago.”
“I see….”
Passing by Butler Kang, Eun-won set his bag on the living room sofa and stood before the Madam’s room. The coldness he had faced when he entered this room in the morning was still vivid, making him a bit nervous, but knowing that the news he brought would be good for her, he gathered his courage and knocked.
At the sound of her telling him to come in, he opened the door to find the Madam sitting against the bed, reading a book. Taking a small breath, Eun-won approached and stood a short distance away.
“If you’ve arrived, why come here? You should have just gone upstairs.”
“……The person I met last time… I told him I would marry him… and I’ve come back from that.”
“What?”
“…I’ll marry him. I think it’s for the best….”
Before Eun-won could even finish his sentence, the Madam stood up and threw her arms around him in a tight embrace. Feeling conflicted by the sound of sobbing coming from her chest, Eun-won silently looked down at the crown of the Madam’s head, which was shorter than his own.
“Eun-won, thank you… thank you so much. I knew you would do this. Because you are kind, and because you think of your father more than anyone, I knew you would eventually do it. Thank you, and I’m sorry. How much you must have suffered in your heart….”
“…It’s okay. You two must have suffered more because of me….”
“I’m truly so grateful. You saved your father. I was so upset that I said such harsh words… I’m so sorry, my son. You know I didn’t mean them, right? I was so scared that something would happen to your father that I wasn’t in my right mind. You understand, don’t you?”
“…Yes.”
The Madam, who had been stroking Eun-won’s back while repeatedly thanking him, pulled away and wiped the tears that had drenched her face with her hand.
“This won’t do. We must find your father immediately. I’ll tell the secretaries to check the villa. The manager says he hasn’t come, but… he might have been told not to say anything. Your father will be so happy when he hears this news. Oh, right. You met Executive Director Cha? Did you contact him?”
“Yes….”
“My goodness, Eun-won. How did you think of such a wonderful idea? What did Executive Director Cha say? He agreed, didn’t he?”
“Yes… we didn’t get into detailed discussions, but I first told him that I would marry him….”
“Yes, that’s enough. The adults will take care of everything now. You don’t have to worry about a thing. You did the right thing. You can go to a house much better than this one and live comfortably, doing everything you want. And Executive Director Cha will change once you’re married. You did so well. You’re such a commendable and brave son.”
A house better than this one. A life where he could do everything he wanted. Those were not the reasons Eun-won had made this decision. Not once, not even once, had such things entered his decision-making process.
He simply didn’t want to cause any more pain to his father and the Madam, who had accepted him as family. That was why none of the things the Madam was saying—claiming he had done the right thing—touched his heart.
“Oh dear, you’ve gotten so thin over the last few days. You were already thin, but now you’re even thinner. This won’t do. Mommy will make you something delicious. Go upstairs and get some rest.”
“But it’ll be hard for you….”
“No, Mommy is fine. My son made such a big decision for the sake of his mom and dad; how could this be hard?”
The sight of her being so different from the morning was unfamiliar, but he felt relieved that he wouldn’t have to face a cold reaction anymore. Led away by the Madam, Eun-won climbed the stairs, leaving behind her kind, laughter-filled voice telling him to rest while she brought up some snacks.
Perhaps because he had committed such a huge act and cried so much, Eun-won fell fast asleep as soon as he reached his room. He woke up to the sound of a gentle, soothing voice. Opening his eyes, he saw the Madam stroking his hair. Startled, Eun-won quickly sat up.
“You must have been so exhausted to sleep so soundly, oblivious to the world. I came to give you snacks, but you were already asleep, so I let you sleep deeply. But I didn’t think it was right for you to sleep without eating. It’s almost 8 o’clock.”
It seemed he had slept for several hours, perhaps because the tension had finally broken. Eun-won struggled to shake off his grogginess as he got out of bed.
“Let’s go down and have dinner.”
“Yes….”
As he was about to leave the room with the Madam, he heard the sound of someone hurriedly climbing the stairs. When he opened the door, Butler Kang, looking both happy and surprised, shouted in excitement.