TKFT 10

Chapter 10

“From now on, let’s eat together at home. Starting with dinner tonight.”

“Pardon?”

They had never eaten together at home before.

Yugeon left for work earlier than Jian, and came home later.
On weekends, Yugeon woke at dawn while Jian got up late in the morning. Their daily rhythms were completely different.

So they had never shared a meal at home—what brought this on all of a sudden…?

Yugeon cleared his throat again and turned his gaze toward the window as if pretending indifference.

“The doctor said I should make sure Ms. Eun Jian is eating properly. So I’m going to see whether you’re actually eating well. We can’t have another awkward incident like this.”

Ah, so that was it.

After what had happened, he seemed worried about their contract as well.

He must have realized he needed to keep a closer eye on her health.

“Who else would do that if not the husband? It’d be awkward for the housekeeper to nag a grown adult to eat more and sit there watching.”

He added one more comment. For some reason, the word husband seemed especially emphasized again.

Am I just amplifying what I want to hear?

Jian mocked herself, thinking she must be seriously hopeless.

“So from now on, we’ll eat breakfast together too, and you’ll wait until I get off work for dinner. I’ll leave work on time from now on.”

“Oh, ah… yes. I understand.”

With her reply, silence returned.

Jian’s wandering gaze drifted toward the car window.

Whether it’s surveillance or whatever… it’ll be the first time Yugeon and I eat together at home…

She had thought it would be nothing more than a gloomy birthday.

Yet such a trivial event was enough to lift her spirits. She felt almost foolish for being so simple.

Still, she couldn’t wipe the smile spreading across her lips.

That evening, just as it was nearing dinnertime.

A message arrived on Jian’s phone.

Sitting on the living room sofa waiting for Yugeon, she stared blankly at the text.

Something unexpected came up at work, so I’ll be a little late. Eat first.

At the disappointing message, her shoulders drooped.

“I was looking forward to it…”

He didn’t know it was her birthday, but she had planned to treat their first dinner together at home as her own private birthday gift.

Sighing in disappointment, Jian ended up eating dinner alone.

She barely tasted the food as she forced it down and returned to the living room when suddenly the wall pad chimed.

“Oh my, who could that be? I don’t recognize this person.”

The housekeeper murmured curiously, and Jian stood up to check.

The moment she saw the screen, her eyes widened.

“D-Dad?”

Jian opened the gate for him through the wall pad and hurried to the entrance.

“Dad! What brings you here all of a sudden?”

As her sturdy father Pilbeom stepped inside, the spacious foyer suddenly felt narrow. He was that large.

With his expressionless face that could seem intimidating, most people would be frightened—as if facing a mob boss.

But to Jian, he was simply her beloved father. Especially today of all days, she was even happier to see him.

“I was passing by and got bored, so I thought I’d stop in.”

Though he said that, she knew better than anyone that he must have made time out of his busy schedule because he wanted to see her.

About an hour earlier, he had texted, ‘It’s your birthday—will you be home for dinner?’ Now she realized that had been part of this surprise visit.

“Can I come in for a bit?”

“Of course! Come in.”

Father and daughter sat together on the living room sofa, and at Pilbeom’s request, the housekeeper brought him a glass of cold water.

“Something kept bumping into my foot on the way here, so I picked it up. Open it.”

After draining the water in one gulp, Pilbeom casually handed her a paper bag. That was just how he spoke.

In the past, he had been even more difficult to approach, and young Jian hadn’t understood his roundabout expressions. But after her mother passed away, Pilbeom began trying, in his own awkward way, to express his love more often.

And now, with years of living together, Jian understood him perfectly.

“Oh really? I wonder what my dad picked up for me this time?”

Interpreting his words through her own filter as ‘I carefully chose and bought this for my one and only daughter,’ she eagerly opened the bag.

“Ah! This is—!”

Her eyes sparkled as she pulled out the item.

It was the newest handbag from her favorite brand.

It had been released in black and camel, and this one was black.

“H-How did you get this? I heard it sold out nationwide as soon as it was released!”

She had planned to buy it with the money she’d saved from working plus this month’s salary. She could have sold the stocks Pilbeom had gifted her, but she didn’t want to use her father’s gift for personal indulgence.

Unfortunately, it had sold out before payday.

The camel color she liked even more had sold out first.

The black had sold out just hours later.

“Did it?”

“Yes! They said there won’t even be a restock in Korea… Thank you so much, Dad! I’m so happy!”

Jian hugged the bag and exclaimed in delight.

Pilbeom’s nostrils flared slightly and the corners of his lips twitched upward—a sign he was immensely proud and pleased.

In truth, he had sent someone to line up at the store’s opening to buy it. He had originally tried to get the camel color, thinking it would suit Jian better, but it was already gone.

The black had been sold to the person right in front of his proxy. He ended up offering double the price to buy it from that customer.

Seeing how happy his daughter was made all that effort worthwhile.

“But… it’s your birthday dinner. Are you alone? Where’s that guy—no, Cha Yugeon?”

Pilbeom glanced around the house as he asked.

Jian’s heart sank.

Why did he only notice now?

She knew why her father had come.

Of course he genuinely wanted to see her and give her a birthday gift. She didn’t doubt that.

But there was another purpose too.

To see how her married life with Yugeon was going. To check whether Yugeon was doing well as her husband.

He had chosen her birthday as the perfect opportunity.

“Uh, Y-Yugeon… something unavoidable came up at work, so he’ll be a little late. We were originally going to have a cozy dinner at home, just the two of us. I’m a bit disappointed too, but since it’s important work, there’s nothing we can do…”

She explained calmly.

One of Pilbeom’s eyebrows rose sharply.

If it’s his wife’s birthday, he should hurry home on time.

That seemed to be what he was thinking.

“W-Work comes first, right? Several people’s livelihoods depend on him! You know that too, Dad.”

“Hmm…”

He rumbled low in his throat.

As a businessman himself, Pilbeom seemed to reluctantly concede—I don’t like it, but I understand.

“Fine. Did you at least get a birthday present?”

“A-A present…! H-He said he’ll give it to me in person when he gets here!”

If she lied and said she’d received one, he might ask to see it.

At her answer that she hadn’t received it yet, his brow furrowed more deeply.

Her heart dropped.

“H-He probably prepared something surprising again, right? Yugeon loves surprising me and moving me.”

The lie grew bigger, and something pricked painfully in her chest.

“Really?”

“Yes! He’s so thoughtful of me it makes my heart ache.”

She desperately embellished Yugeon’s image.

So her father wouldn’t dislike him. So he wouldn’t worry about her.

She intended to reassure him completely and send him home quickly.

She was grateful he had come with such a hard-to-get present, but if he insisted on waiting and actually met Yugeon, that would be a disaster.

Yugeon didn’t even know it was her birthday.

“Hmm, have you at least fulfilled your wish of eating tteokbokki with Cha Yugeon?”

“Uh, yes! Of course! That wish came true a long time ago. We eat it together often as a late-night snack.”

“Hahaha.” Jian smiled with her eyes as she continued lying.

Ugh, my heart’s pounding from all this lying. I need to get Dad home soon…

As she anxiously fabricated praise for Yugeon—

Suddenly, the wall pad chimed with a vehicle arrival notification.

“Is someone here? Cha Yugeon?”

Jian walked over to check.

It really was Yugeon’s car pulling in.

Her mouth fell open.

Emergency.

It was an emergency.