In a quiet car, the sound of the air conditioner blowing sounded so noisy accompanied the quiet atmosphere that existed between Jinwoo and Yujin.
Since getting into the car, neither Yujin nor Jinwoo, the two of them have not opened their lips the slightest to greet each other or ask each other how they are. Both of them chose to shut their lips tightly without giving in to their high egos. Although there were many things Yujin wanted to say to Jinwoo, the woman was too lazy to start a conversation. Every now and then she wanted Jinwoo to start it. Just opening it with a question how are you or a greeting that shows if the man cares about her.
But until the seconds passed into minutes, the man did not open his lips to start a conversation with her. Instead, she felt annoyed because she was waiting for something that the cold Lee Jinwoo would not have been able to do.
"You don't want to explain anything to me?"
Yujin asked in a sarcastic tone because she was too emotional with her inner turmoil.
Today there were so many surprises that the man had given her that she felt like a clueless foolish woman when he called her to the stage four hours ago. However, the man next to her did not even turn to look at her at all and only stared at the quiet street in front of him with full concentration.
"All right, how are you?"
Finally Yujin relented. She tried to ask Jinwoo's news first before bombarding the man with important questions about their wedding plans which greatly shocked her. This time Jinwoo glanced at her and answered the question with a short answer. Very short!
"Good."
Yujin felt like pinching Jinwoo's cheek and screaming in front of the man's face if she was annoyed. She is very annoyed at the man who is always cold to her, while she always seems chatty in front of him. What's wrong with answering a question with a long answer? Is that man afraid of being charged a heavy price for every sentence that leaves his lips?
"Then?"
There was no answer from that man. What was heard was her own sigh because she was too irritated by the silence that occurred between them.
"General Lee, can you give me a clear answer? Have you been well in middle east? You look even more muscular now, and you also look cooler than the last time we met. What happened during the job?" Yujin asked emphatically with a voice that she deliberately suppressed like a snake's hiss. If she didn't press it, maybe what came out of her lips was a series of screaming lines that would damage the hearing of the man next to her. Now she desperately needed something to vent her anger!
"What do you really want to ask?"
Yujin felt like banging his head against the windshield next to him now because she was too annoyed by Jinwoo's attitude which looked cute to her. Well... adorable to scratch and hit until the guy was battered and gave up under her power.
"I'm asking about you, General Lee. I miss you. I waited for months with no certainty whether you will return or not, while no one knows how you are. Don't you have a cell phone? You didn't even call your mom or dad to just tell them if you were still alive out there. Don't you even think that I'm worried about you?
"And today you suddenly appeared with an extraordinary surprise. You proposed to me in front of all your father's invited guests. But I don't know whether the proposal was sincere or just a force because you wanted to replace Minwoo's position to marry me." Yujin paused for a moment to catch her gasping breath. Talking to Jinwoo made her lungs instantly constrict and deprived of oxygen. But the great thing was that the man had no sympathy at all for her sad condition.
Annoyed, Yujin pulled out her forefinger and poked Jinwoo's stocky bicep wrapped in a white shirt whose sleeves had been rolled up to the elbows. "I know, you must have felt attached to the promise your mother and father made to my late mother. But honestly I don't want a compulsion. If you really don't love me, don't want to marry me, and because just have to do it, then cancel it. I don't want to torture you with the one-sided love I have."
Yujin suddenly felt that the car she was in was slowing down a little. The man stopped his car at the edge of a closed shop and kissed her. The man was actually kissing her on the lips so that she could only freeze while rolling her eyes wide without having time to reply to the man's slurry on her now loose lips.
"I'll explain later at my house. Now shut up and don't bother me driving."
Yujin was still frozen in place after a few minutes ago the man kissed her without asking. She couldn't believe what Jinwoo was doing to her. The man again stole a kiss from her and made her heart feel like it wanted to jump out of her chest.
Now that they had traveled from the Blue House for a long time, she realized that they were really not heading for her house, but headed for the man's house because they were now on a quiet highway leading outside of Seoul. But then Yujin remembered her father. If Jinwoo was really going to take her to the man's house, then what about her father? Her father must be very worried because she is not coming home tonight.
"My father ... What if my father is looking for me?"
Yujin decided to ask Jinwoo. Even though the man had forbidden her to speak, but her mouth was itching to ask the man. She couldn't lock her lips for a second like what that man was doing. She was used to using her lips to ask questions that were bothering her.
"Your father won't come home tonight. You have business with the president that your father has to settle in Macau."
"So you kidnapped me while my father was away?" Yujin asked in a tone full of accusations.
Jinwoo grinned in annoyance next to her then stretched his hand to the side to turn Yujin's face to face forward.
"Just pay attention to the scene ahead. Don't look at me like that."
"Then answer my question."
Yujin turned to the side again and was immediately blocked by Jinwoo with his hand. The man didn't seem to mess with what he said about Yujin's gaze which made him uncomfortable.
"This time I won't hurt you again, so you don't have to worry. Your father will not be suspicious if you don't come home tonight because I make sure your condition tomorrow will remain the same as your current condition."
"Then what if the servants told my father if I don't come home?"
"I told Hyuki to make up a story to your servant."
"But why do we have to go to your house? Wouldn't it be safer if we talked in my house? "
"Can you shut up. You make me dizzy with your question." Jinwoo said annoyed.
The man was getting impatient with Yujin's irritating chatty attitude. Even though soon they will get married, then what about their life later? Maybe he would often be outside the house to avoid Yujin's nagging and would only really come home when Yujin was fast asleep. It felt like he would not be able to face Yujin's terrible nagging.
"Can I see your face now?"
Yujin asked stupidly while stealing glances at Jinwoo.
The man was seen growling in annoyance as he stepped on the gas pedal hard to show Yujin that he was annoyed with her. But instead of afraid of the speeding action that Jinwoo was doing, Yujin actually looked excited and started playing a rock song that was stomping enough to complement her soaring adrenaline. She then crazily started to open the roof of Jinwoo's convertible and jumped up on her seat to enjoy the cold night air outside.
"What are you doing? Get down! Get off right now from there, Im Yujin!"
Jinwoo hissed warningly at Yujin while pulling Yujin's legs down from his expensive car seat. But instead of obeying the man's order, Yujin turned up the volume even louder so that she didn't have to listen to Jinwoo's noisy voice.
"Im Yujin, if you don't come down right now I'll close the roof and get your head pinched."
Jinwoo didn't seem to mess with his words. He actually pressed the close button to close the roof of his car and made Yujin gasp in surprise until she immediately lowered her head because she was almost caught between the roof of Jinwoo's car that closed.
"Are you crazy? You want to break my neck? "
Yujin stomped her feet in annoyance. Now she has returned to her seat and Jinwoo has also turned off the noisy rock music that almost broke his eardrums.
"Once again you act wild like that, not only will your neck break, all your hands and feet will also break off."
"You said you wouldn't hurt me and return me safely home? Huh bullshit!" Yujin snorted irritated.
She was very annoyed at the man beside her who was too stiff and didn't know how to have fun. Actually, what was that man doing all this time? Has that man also had the beautiful senior high school days?
"By the way, how was your life back in school? People often say that senior high school is the most beautiful time to have fun. Did you also spend your time having fun? Ah... but I'm not sure. Seeing how stiff your demeanor is like now, I'm sure you didn't have any friends and never enjoyed the good times of dating. Huh.... so miss my ex-lover."
Yujin started acting stupid by imagining the faces of her former lovers. Next to her, Jinwoo didn't react at all and just stared straight at the road in front of him. But suddenly the man made a comment that succeeded in silencing Yujin's lips so that Yujin could not move.
"Didn't you go to an all-girls school?"
Yujin undermined her stupidity while turning her face to the side. She was really stupid because she forgot that Lee Jinwoo was Lee Hyuki's best friend. What Hyuki knew, that man would know too. And in the past Lee Hyuki had picked her up several times when the driver suddenly got sick or had sudden family needs. So Lee Hyuki must have told the man that she attended a girls' school and there couldn't be a single creature called a man there. The man must have thought she had a sexual disorder after this.
"So who are your former lovers? We have to open up to each other before we get married."
Yujin didn't even have the brave to face Jinwoo. Her initial intention was to corner Jinwoo, it was herself who was now cornered. The man must have felt satisfied that he had managed to seal her lips in one crushing blow.
"Eee .. That… it wasn't my ex-boyfriend from senior high school, but when he was in junior high school. Now tell me who your ex-lover is."
Yujin tried to dodge it while grinning smugly to herself as she managed to change the topic of their conversation.
"That is not important. Now come down, here we are."
Yujin snorted in annoyance and immediately got out of Jinwoo's comfortable car. She was annoyed at Jinwoo because the man seemed reluctant to share his mysterious past with her. Even though soon they will get married. She didn't know how her household life would be with Jinwoo. Maybe they'll have a happy little family? Or will it end up crying in the middle of the road? She doesn't know.
Jinwoo led Yujin into his lonely house. As they passed the checkpoint, several soldiers with low ranks immediately saluted Jinwoo and Yujin in the typical stiff army style.
Seeing the soldiers, Yujin sneered inwardly. They all looked a lot like Jinwoo who was very stiff and had no sense of humor. No wonder Jinwoo's house looks gloomy than the other houses because it never gets the warm touch from the owner.
-00-
"Sit down."
Jinwoo told Yujin to sit on the white sofa in the main room. The room still looked the same as the last time Yujin came to the house five months ago. Nothing has changed a bit since Jinwoo left. Even Yujin didn't find a speck of dust stuck to the sofa. The guards at Jinwoo's house always made sure that everything in the house was neat and tidy according to Jinwoo's taste.
"So I can ask now?"
"Ask."
Yujin looked impatient to bring out all the questions she had been keeping in her head. There were too many mysteries carried by the man that it felt as if anything concerned with Jinwoo could turn into a mystery. Like her wedding plans with Jinwoo, which was a big mystery for her because she never knew about it.
"Why do we have to talk here? Isn't my house safer? "
"There is CCTV watching our every move there. I can't take a dangerous risk if our conversation turns out to be secretive. "
Jinwoo put a can of juice in front of Yujin and he himself drank the can of beer that he just took from the refrigerator. Yujin took the can of juice, hesitated, staring at Jinwoo, not receiving it.
"You're giving me juice? Seriously, I'm not a kid anymore."
"Drink!" Jinwoo ordered firmly.
The man did not want to hear any protests from Yujin because his head was dizzy now. He felt trapped by his own promise. Now he just realized that marrying Yujin would not be as easy as he thought because it meant he had to protect Yujin at all times. Not to mention that if he gets a mission abroad, he doesn't know what Yujin's fate will be.
"So why do you suddenly want to marry me? What is your real plan?"
"I feel responsible for my family. The only brother I had was unable to fulfill that promise. Whereas I've lived all this time because of them, so I feel like I have to repay their kindness by replacing Minwoo to marry you."
Yujin sighed softly. Actually she didn't want to hear the excuse coming out of Jinwoo's thin lips because she knew the man's reason would be so painful for her. Better to live a beautiful lie than an honesty that tastes bitter.
"There's no love?"
She judged her stupidity for asking such stupid thing to Jinwoo if the answer was very clear buzzing in her brain.
"Nothing. This marriage is not built on love, but on high promise and commitment. So don't ever ask me about love again. I've shown you my dark side, and you must know how I feel. Without love."
"You will be tortured like that. I can find another man who loves me and can protect me. You don't have to fulfill that stupid promise. Besides, my mom won't blame you for all of this because it's not our will either. "
Yujin looks sluggish. She didn't want to force Jinwoo to do something with compulsion because that man would definitely suffer later.
"I will still marry you," said Jinwoo dryly.
Yujin snorted in annoyance at Jinwoo's attitude who always forced her as he pleased.
"And this marriage will be a real marriage," added Jinwoo.
Yujin looked at the man, not understanding. "You mean?"
"Our marriage is not just a marriage. So you still have to carry out your duties as a wife."
"Including having children?"
Instantly Yujin's face flushed red. That woman had imagined so many things in her head that made her shudder in horror and embarrassment at the same time.
"That matter, we'll see," whispered Jinwoo right in front of her face as he leaned his muscular body towards Yujin.
Yujin tried to turn her face back so as not to get too close to Jinwoo because the man's breath tickled her face, which was starting to look nervous.
"Good. Then what again?" Yujin asked while turning her face in another way.
Her face is currently still hot due to the effect of Jinwoo's face being too close to her. That man always knew how to make her blush with all the mysterious side of him.
"This is the most important thing, you must learn martial arts. I can't keep protecting you. From time to time my house will have guests who could harm you, so get ready to undergo rigorous training from tomorrow."
"Starting tomorrow? I have to prepare all the necessities of the wedding."
Jinwoo looked at the woman expressionlessly and began to put forward the second option.
"After we get married, you have to practice martial arts. And this is a must, you must not refuse."
"So I'm going to live here after I get married?"
"Remember, our marriage is not just a fake marriage. So you have to respect me as your husband, including staying here with me."
Yujin gulped nervously. Her eyes immediately circled around the very minimalist area of Jinwoo's house without the touch of the woman's hand. Living in Jinwoo's house would have left her with a lot of work to overhaul the stiff look at the man's house. She made sure this house would be as comfortable as her father's house which she had lived in for twenty-two years of her life.
"Why? You're not used to living without servants?" asked Jinwoo mockingly.
Yujin stared fiercely at Jinwoo who belittled him and replied to the man with the haughty face of her flagship.
"We'll see, General Lee, who can really fit in, you or me."
Jinwoo chose not to continue their conversation. He drank his beer in one gulp and squeezed the can so hard that it crumpled in his hand.
He then chose to leave Yujin to vent all his inner turmoil in his weapon room. Yujin's words were more or less able to affect his mind. He was worried that this woman would drag him into her warm life which he had always avoided so that he would not appear weak in front of his enemies. He needed all the toughness and coldness he had cultivated inside him for a long time. He must be able to strengthen his own defense from now on. Don't let that woman make him weak and vulnerable.