What has been continuously filling our relationship, in fact, is not the indifferent distance that separates us but this love that makes us overcome that distance in a single breath.
I wanted to tell Jun, who didn’t know any waiting method other than waiting, that the end of his wait will surely come. The end of all your waiting will surely be spring. In the future, in the end of your waiting, there will be spring, and I will be there.
I will meet Jun soon. My heart was pounding.
Saturday late evening, a time when the air, once bathed in sunlight, slightly loosens its grip, allowing the body to surrender to the wind. So, in the air, the lingering warmth of the sun and the gentle rustle of the wind are felt together in the early summer evening.
I stood quietly, looking at that house. The house where I first met Jun, in the spring of my twenties.
Over the years, protecting itself from rain and sunlight, the exterior had become damp and crispy repeatedly, making the surface rough like tree bark. Nevertheless, around sunset, perhaps because of that, the colors of various jokes somewhat harmoniously gathered and gave a subtle sense of unity.
From a little distance, a faint light emanates from Jun’s living room. It must be the light coming from the lamp Jun left on.
Thinking that soon I would also be able to enter that warm space Jun was alone in, my heart swelled with joy.
Ah, I’m a bit nervous…
Right now, Jun is probably unaware that I’ve reserved a flight for Sunday morning, telling him it was due to business piled up beforehand, just to surprise him.
Thinking that you would be by the living room window where the light was spilling out, no matter how much I tried to take a deep breath and calm myself by tapping my chest, it didn’t work well.
In this employed stillness, the sounds of cicadas were intermittently heard. I, who couldn’t readily move towards the building, didn’t know if I had gathered to watch when I would finally lift my foot.
I tightened the handle of the small suitcase in my hand. I moved my steps towards the inner front door of the house.
The distance between Jun and me is getting narrower. Step by step, slowly. Little by little.
The slow steps gathered, and before I knew it, I had reached the front of the door. It was the same place where I stood when I first came here to meet Jun after nine years.
Suddenly, a month ago, the day I stood here and couldn’t press the bell, just rolling my feet anxiously, my weak appearance that day came to mind. A timid me, who couldn’t look at Jun’s figure, who had opened the door wide, for a long time and kept lowering my gaze.
But there was one difference between that day and today.
That is, beyond this door, you, who will now warmly and generously offer me your embrace as soon as you discover me. Instead of words with thorny defenses trying to hide my pain, now you will only whisper love to me.
I pressed the bell. The bell sound echoed throughout the quiet house, reaching the outside.
Even after the bell rang, the house, which had remained quiet, soon began to hear footsteps. The distant footsteps gradually approached the direction of the door.
If I had narrowed the maximum distance to Jun by now, it was time for Jun to come to me. I waited for the moment when the door opened, feeling the faint ripple in my chest.
Tick-tock. As the door opened, creating a long gap that had blocked the space between Jun and me.
I was waiting for that gap to widen even more, but the door swung open in an instant without giving me a chance to wait. Jun’s body appeared through the door crack, prompting me to lift my head reflexively to see his face. In the end, I couldn’t see Jun’s face properly.
Caught in the impatient force that urgently grabbed my wrist and hurriedly pulled me into his arms, I ended up embracing Jun’s chest just like that. My entire body was enveloped in a warm sensation in an instant.
“You, haa…”
Jun, flustered, couldn’t properly continue his words and just exhaled deeply. The embrace I was in rapidly throbbed.
I had missed your face so much. Trying to slightly lower my body by exerting force on my head, I said, “Wait a moment. Haru, please, let’s stay like this for a while.”
Jun’s voice was so desperate. I couldn’t add anything more. I buried my face in Jun’s chest again and shook my head slightly.
As if someone who thought that waiting and waiting might never return came back, making me relieved like a person who had barely received comfort. Jun buried his face in my shoulder, lightly kissed my cheek, and then pulled me even deeper into his embrace.
“You said you’d come tomorrow.”
Jun’s voice, which had sagged, gently descended over my head.
“Yeah.”
“Then who is the one in this embrace right now?”
“Me, Haru.”
Already knowing everything but answering the question honestly, I chuckled at Jun’s amused laughter.
“Iharu, you’re good at lying. You’ve been deceiving me so well.”
“No, I just wanted to surprise you. I wanted to see you in a way you like more.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
Maybe he was angry. Just as I was about to check his expression by raising my head, Jun’s words sparkled and fell like a shining star.
“This emotion right now, I can’t possibly like you more than this.”
“…”
Unable to find an appropriate response to Jun’s words shining like a star, I hesitated and mumbled.
“So why did you lie? There was no need for that. Anytime, anywhere, I only need you. I can give you all the emotions I have.”
“Ah…”
My excuse that I just wanted to surprise him lost all meaning and felt like it was falling apart.
“So be prepared. I won’t let you out of my arms today.”
I laughed. Was that such a powerful statement? I whispered to Jun quietly.
“Yeah, Jun. That’s fine. Since I lied, it can’t be helped. Please never let me go from your embrace.” I tightly wrapped my arms around Jun’s waist, digging even deeper into his chest. Jun laughed lightly, as if he couldn’t believe it.
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
Link to read
