Janggu wiped away the surprised emotions and explained to Juyeon what had happened. Then, Juyeon, pretending to know, asked.
Who? Eldest daughter, Genesis?
“No. Second daughter, Jianne.”
…Call the public health center teacher. I’m coming since you’re going.
Blurry consciousness awakened in Jianne, and she forced her eyes open at the unfamiliar feeling on her forearm.
In her thin view, a white ceiling and a square light were visible, and when she raised her arm, a syringe was stuck in it.
Soon, an excited woman’s voice was heard in her ear.
“Hey! Dahyun’s dad. She opened her eyes.”
Janggu, who was on the phone in the yard, heard Eunji’s response, telling him to leave Jianne alone, and pressed the end button with a bewildered expression.
As Jianne raised her upper body diagonally, a long tube connected to the nutrient bag rattled down. She looked at the nutrient connected to her arm and apologized as she detached her parched lips.
“I’m sorry. I came suddenly last night … I’m sorry.”
The moment I saw Jaeyoon’s sneakers, my mind collapsed rapidly, and tears flowed uncontrollably to the point where I couldn’t handle it. In the midst of crying and stopping repeatedly, a vague memory came back.
After hanging up the phone and entering the house, Janggu opened his mouth as if there was nothing unusual.
“I was surprised when I heard you were holding a portrait exhibition, but there’s nothing to be sorry about. I was already thinking that anyone could come. Since it was Jaeyoon’s last house, family should take care of the relics.”
Janggu’s wife, Juyeon, got up and said.
“Even if nutrients are injected, the stomach needs to be warmed up. Let’s eat something. If you missed her so much, you should have come that night. If Ms. Jaeyoon had seen you, she wouldn’t have aged.”
“This person. In front of my child.”
When Jaeyoon’s name came up, Janggu reproached Juyeon in a low voice.
Though she hurriedly covered her mouth, Juyeon couldn’t erase the sight of Jianne, who was hugging Jaeyoon’s sneakers and collapsed.
“I’ll eat by myself. …Aunt.”
Jianne hesitated to address her and then called Juyeon “aunt” and half-raised herself.
At that moment, Janggu restrained her.
“Just lie down. If you move recklessly with that body, you’ll collapse again. …No need to be self-conscious.”
Unable to lie down again, Jianne looked around the house while sitting awkwardly.
The living room, which was made of wooden panels, and the old window frames were all replaced with new ones. There were no traces of the wallpaper or furniture from when Grandma lived.
As Jianne’s gaze turned, her eyes were fixed on a large frame on the living room wall. The big frame that seemed to contain a family photo was completely empty.
She stared at the empty frame for a long time with a faint look.
Janggu turned his gaze away and opened his mouth as he looked at the empty frame.
“He wanted to fill that. After taking a family photo, he seemed to ask about it. When I first came down here, I wondered why the rush with the construction. I hired twice as many workers and worked day and night on the construction. So, how can the body not be strained?”
“Dad was sick, and I didn’t know.”
Jianne spoke, tearing off the piece of gauze that had stuck to her hand.
‘Dad wanted to take a family photo to put in that frame.’
As she thought about Jaeyoon, who had prepared for death alone by taking her own portrait photo and adjusting the funeral, a weeping feeling welled up in her chest.
Trying to forcibly swallow as if something was stuck in her throat, she couldn’t do it.
At that moment, Juyeon put a small table with freshly made white porridge and kimchi in front of her. Holding a spoon, Juyeon opened her mouth.
“You may not have an appetite, but eat. I know how sad it was because my mother-in-law passed away from cancer. Although it’s tough now, it will get better over time.”
“Thank you.”
Janggu and Juyeon looked at her side by side. The words telling her to eat were conveyed in their eyes.
Jianne had no appetite, but she reluctantly put a spoonful of porridge into her mouth. As she forced herself to chew and swallow the rice grains that rolled separately like grains of sand, her stomach quickly warmed.
“It’s delicious.”
“It must taste good. Even though it’s plain porridge. Still, it’s better than an empty stomach. …I couldn’t eat either while Mother was undergoing cancer treatment. Felt like committing a sin.”
“…Yes.”
Jianne, lying on the hospital bed, felt choked up as she recalled Jaeyoon’s emaciated body.
Dad couldn’t eat either. Did he not want to show that appearance to the family?
Thoughts about Jaeyoon, intertwined with each grain, felt like her own fault, and the sorrow didn’t easily subside.
As Jianne emptied the bowl and regained strength, Janggu and Juyeon left. Due to the busy strawberry house work, their steps were unavoidably heavy on the way back.
Since Jianne came to the house where her father lived, they didn’t tell her to leave in a hurry.
She opened the yard and window facing it, sat there, and stared blankly at the old tree next to the front door.
The only trace of her grandmother left in this house was the old apricot tree. Even that was not lush because Jaeyoon had pruned it.
Two spindly trees were newly planted next to it.
As Jianne weakly stood up and entered the bathroom, she saw four toothbrushes neatly arranged side by side. The blue one was hers, the pink one was Jaenis’s, the purple one was Eunji’s, and the green one was Dad’s.
Did they possibly bring in other belongings?
Entering the kitchen, Jianne opened the sink. Each compartment had a set of dishes for the four family members and other belongings neatly arranged.
Opening the wardrobe in the bedroom, she found new bedding and new clothes.
When Jianne was about to leave to look at another room, she noticed a small note on a small table. As she turned over the brown cover, a note filled with familiar handwriting rolled out, densely packed with notes.
[If our family could all live together like Ha Jun’s house, which Jianne wanted to try….]Without reading a single line, Jianne’s vision blurred. Despite the buzzing vibration of the phone, she couldn’t even think about answering it due to the bursting tears.
“Dad. Can we all gather in the living room like Ha Jun’s house and sleep?”
“Of course. We can do that. Dad will definitely make it happen.”
The voice of young Jianne, who envied the weekend scenery of Ha Jun’s house, and Dad’s promise to make it happen echoed in the now grown-up Jianne’s ears.
Cold Male Lead Became My Clingy Husband (Female-Dominant)
Feng Bai Su transmigrated into a matriarchal novel, becoming the sister of the female protagonist and the Seventh Princess of the Feng Ling Kingdom.
After working herself to death in her previous life, finally reincarnating as a princess, she only wanted to be a lazy fish who could eat, sleep, and play.
Until she met the male protagonist from the book, Wei Jing Mo, and he took a liking to her!
Wei Jing Mo is the top young man in Feng Ling City, talented in both appearance and ability, from a prestigious family, with a cold and otherworldly appearance, a figure like the bright moon in the hearts of noble ladies. It was thought that only the most powerful and talented noble lady in Feng Ling City would be worthy of such a brilliant young man. Who knew that this young gentleman would secretly admire the infamous Seventh Princess?
Short scene 1:
Feng Bai Su looked at the young man crying like a pear blossom in the rain before her, and couldn’t help but doubt her life.
Wasn’t the male lead described as a cold and otherworldly figure in the book?
Then who was this poor little thing crying with swollen red eyes and tear-stained face?
Short scene 2:
Wei Jing Mo stared intently at Feng Bai Su who was about to go out, wanting to say, “Be careful on the road.”
Before he could speak, Feng Bai Su suddenly bent down and bit his cheek.
Her peach blossom eyes were full of disdain: “Tsk! You’re so clingy!”
Wei Jing Mo: “…”
A talented fox spirit female lead with a flirtatious appearance but actually abstinent VS A cold-looking but actually naive and clingy little jealous male lead
