Chapter 1: Reasons to become successful

TL: Pineapple

Editor: Isalee

The autumn sun was very warm.

The clouds were floating freely without direction in the clear blue sky.

It was a peaceful day.

It was the type of day where enemies would have a truce just because of the weather.

"The weather is…"

"…Filthy good!"

Woo Hyuk looked at his wife who was standing next to him and swallowed the words he was about to say. The curse words that were about to leave his mouth stayed there as he tightly bit down on his molars.

It would be nice if it rained.

Woo Hyuk looked at his wife's expression as she stared at the autumn sky with a smile…

My wife had a miscarriage 49 days ago.

We lost our baby after 1 year of marriage.

My wife really wanted to have a baby…

My wife, Ye Eun, is an orphan.

She doesn't have any parents, siblings, or relatives at all.

So my wife's dream was to have a family ever since she was very young.

She wanted to become a man's wife and a mother of many children.

It was a simple dream.

When she worked as an employee at a college cafe, Woo Hyuk performed at a nearby theater and often visited the cafe she worked at.

Sometimes I went there with my colleagues or alone, but I wasn't even thinking of marrying Ye Eun then.

Ye Eun was the same.

At first, I was just one of many customers.

One day however, Woo Hyuk came into Ye Eun's mind.

There was an abandoned flower pot on one side of the building wall opposite the cafe.

The shabby pot had a flower that only had its torso left and all the leaves were withered.

One day, a man walked beside the pot. Ye Eun saw the man pour the remaining water from his bottle into the pot.

The man was Woo Hyuk.

He poured bottled water every time he pa.s.sed by the flowerpot.

After seeing that, Ye Eun also watered the pot everytime she thought of it.

Surprisingly, one day, the flower that was seemed to be dead had a beautiful new leaf growing out of it.

Woo Hyuk was also surprised by the sudden turn of events and stared at the flower for a long time. He gave a huge grin and laughed.

Ye Eun was lost after seeing his enchanting smile.

From that point on, whenever she saw Woo Hyuk, her heart would beat rapidly.

Ye Eun was very pretty and she had many male admirers that asked her out. It wasn't surprising for college students would come but high schoolers also came and confessed their love to her also.

Ye Eun didn't even give them a second glance.

Because of her cold att.i.tude towards them, I heard a rumor that she had high standards.

A man's wife, and a mother to children. That was her dream. But Ye Eun was only 25 at the time and didn't even have thoughts about marriage.

She only began thinking of marriage when Woo Hyuk came into her heart. She was curious about who he was.

On the other hand, Woo Hyuk didn't have eyes for Ye Eun at all.

One day, while Woo Hyuk was pouring the remaining water from his bottle into the flowerpot, a beautiful woman came up to him.

"I water the flower pot everyday."

"Oh, is that so?"

Woo Hyuk, who was embarra.s.sed, seemed to be nervous and shyly looked at Ye Eun.

'It's early but where have I seen her before?'

"I work at the cafe."

"Oh, I see."

"My name is Jung Ye Eun."

"Ah, yes."

"Umm…"

"Can I go see the performance?"

"Of course."

Was there a reason why she couldn't go see the show? It was a performance that anyone could come and see.

"Thank you very much!"

Ye Eun stiffly bowed to Woo Hyuk and ran back to the cafe.

That night, after the performance, as Woo Hyuk was leaving, he saw Ye Eun waiting for him in front of the entrance.

After watching the performance, I waited for him outside and even got flowers for him.

Ye Eun handed him the bouquet and Woo Hyuk took it.

"Do you like dumplings?"

Woo Hyuk asked this and Ye Eun nodded, so they went to a nearby dumpling shop, ate, and parted ways.

That was the first date.

After that, the dumpling dates became a frequent thing and she became my girlfriend.

Time pa.s.sed by and they dated for over a year. Woo Hyuk slowly realized how beautiful and wonderful Ye Eun was as a person. Without knowing it, he came to love her very much.

Ye Eun was also the same.

The more she saw Woo Hyuk, the more she thought of him.

He was a man who was serious and very warm at the same time.

She didn't want to let him go, so she made up her mind.

She felt like her heart was going to burst when she said, "I'll cook for you so live with me."

At first Woo Hyuk had no idea what she was talking about.

"I'm proposing to you right now."

Woo Hyuk saw that Ye Eun was extremely serious and was at a loss for words.

Woo Hyuk was 28 years old and the future was hazy. He was an unknown actor and he didn't have an agency behind him.

Woo Hyuk loved Ye Eun but he had no intentions of accepting her proposal.

"I'm not gonna marry you."

Woo Hyuk answered softly as he shook his head seriously.

Ye Eun did not respond back and just looked down as she started to blame herself.

I'm so selfish and greedy. Of course a person like Woo Hyuk oppa would have no intentions on marrying an orphan like me. I knew that there was a possibility of me getting rejected but I didn't know that it would hurt this much.

"Ye Eun ah, why in the world would you want to marry someone like me? Also, we're so young.  I'm only 26 years old."

Ye Eun looked back up at him when he spoke, and a single teardrop fell.

Ye Eun tried to open her mouth to speak, but she felt like if she did, then she would burst into tears. All she could do was nod her head.

Oppa was just someone who was being kind to me. I'm just a poor orphan that only graduated from high school.

It had been a year since that day.

Ye Eun's mind didn't change and her love for Woo Hyuk only grew deeper.

One day, Ye Eun brought Woo Hyuk to the room where she lived, but there wasn't even a single window in her room.

In order to not disturb her neighbors they had to whisper. The room was so small it felt like a small booger.

"Oppa! Take me away from this place!" Ye Eun begged him.

But Ye Eun wasn't dissatisfied with her life in Gos.h.i.+won.

She was happy to come back to her small room after work and although it was as small as a booger, it was as cozy as a coc.o.o.n.

This was a place that she was able to obtain everything on her own and although others might have thought that it small and uncomfortable, she was proud of this place. But she wanted to "catch" Woo Hyuk with sympathy and it worked.

A few days later, Woo Hyuk went back to his parents' house with Ye Eun.

He told them over the phone that he was going to bring the person who he was going to marry.

He truthfully told his parents about her background, that she was only a high school graduate and was currently working at a cafe. Nonetheless, Woo Hyuk's parents warmly accepted her.

"She's so pretty. Where did you find such a beautiful wife?"

A while later, Woo Hyuk's parents began calling Ye Eun their daughter and Ye Eun began calling them mother and father, making her very happy.

She now had a husband, a mother, and a father.

Even though Ye Eun's mother-in-law wanted to get them their own apartment, Ye Eun firmly refused. She couldn't accept such a huge favor from them, knowing their circ.u.mstances.

Instead of a apartment, they got a small multiplex.

Ye Eun, who felt bad for Woo Hyuk, said, "Our house is wide. There are two rooms and there is even a window. Since there is no one living downstairs, our children can jump and play as much as they want." Ye Eun was thinking ahead as she wanted to have a child soon since it was her dream to become a mother.

She became pregnant within a year of marriage and everything was perfect.

However, after four months she had a miscarriage.

Today was the 49th day after their unborn child had left the world.

A lone bird was flying in the sky.

Ye Eun was smiling brightly when she said, "Come back soon. Drive safely."

Did she get over it? Please let it be so.

But Woo Hyuk knew the truth. She was only pretending, hiding her true feelings.

"I'll be back soon."

Woo Hyuk smiled brightly back at his wife, as if he too forgot about it.

He got into a small, 15-year-old car and turned on the engine.

*Kurukurukuruk*

*kulkulkulkulkul*

It barely started up.

He slowly drove out of the narrow alley that was filled with the small multi-family duplexes.

Before turning around the corner, he checked the side view mirror.

His wife was standing in place watching him leave, smiling.

When he turned around the corner, he no longer could see her.

Snot began to come out of his nose.

I have to succeed as an actor! It's the very least I can do for my good wife!

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