Yesterday was an emotional day for the both of them. Things related to the miscarriage were considered as a taboo topic. Every time Gary tried to talk about it, Jihyo would cut him off before he could even complete what he wanted to say but yesterday, it was different.
In the process of trying to carry a proper conversation, they ended up arguing and things that were kept in their heart and not meant to be heard by the other party were said.
Jihyo sat in front of the dressing table and stared at her reflection in the mirror. Her eyes were still slightly swollen from all the crying. The image of Gary and her standing an inch apart from one another flashed across her mind.
"Maybe someone out there will fulfill that need of yours."
She didn't know why she said that to him. She clearly didn't mean it that way. She wasn't thinking straight. It just happened the moment she let her emotions get a better of her and when she saw his taken aback expression and the disappointment in his eyes, she regretted it. She let out a sigh and shake the thoughts away and put on her makeup.
Suddenly, she heard a loud crash and the sound of glass breaking coming from outside. She put down her lipstick and went to take a look.
"Yeobo?" Jihyo called as she walked through the living room to the kitchen. "What happened?"
"I broke something. Don't come in." He said as he picked up the shattered pieces of glass, taking care not to cut himself, and placed them in a plastic container.
Jihyo stood at the entrance and watched him as he clear the mess.
When he was done, he covered the container before disposing it into the bin.
As he walked back to the same spot where the glass broke, he suddenly felt a sharp pain under his left foot. He hobbled to the counter and placed his palm against it for support, as he grabbed his foot and lifted it up to see what was causing the pain. He grunted when he saw a piece of glass shard stuck in his foot.He didn't realise that he had stepped on it when he stood up.
"What's wrong? Did you injured yourself?" Jihyo pushed herself off the wall and hurried over to him. As she got closer, she noticed the trail of blood droplets on the floor from the bin to where Gary is standing.
She looked down and saw the condition of his foot. The area where his foot got pierced were covered in blood. "Are you able to walk to the couch?" She asked, her eyes filled with concern. Gary nodded. He took one step with his right foot, and another step with only the toes of his left foot touching the floor. Jihyo held his arm and slowly walked him to the couch, and sat him down.
She brought out a first aid kit from the drawer and sat down next to him. He sat with his back leaning against the arm rest, his right leg bent and his left leg extended and resting on her thighs. She tore opened a sterile gauze pad and wiped the tweezer.
"This is going to hurt," she warned him. Her hand trembled as she move the tweezer closer to the wound.
She bit down on one side of her lower lip and moved the tip of the tweezer in. He flinched when the cold metal made contact with the raw open wound. She drew her hand back instantly and looked at him. A pain expression on her face that mirrored his. She wasn't sure if she could continue. She was afraid that she was causing him more pain than easing it.
"Just pull it out in one quick move." He held her hand and reassured her that it will be alright. She hesitated before nodding her head and took a deep breath.
She brought the tweezer close to the wound once again and angled it, carefully grasping the shard. She glanced at him for his reaction. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was tightly clutching on to the cushion in his hands.
With one quick pull, she yanked the shard out from his foot. He lifted up the cushion, pressed it to his face and let out a groan.
"I thought you're going to warn me before pulling it out." He said, voice muffled by the cushion.
"It won't make any difference." She replied and put the blood-covered shard on a gauze pad on the table, then took a few more gauze and applied pressure to his wound to stem the bleeding.
He brought down the cushion to reveal a slight frown on his face. "But you're not the one injured."
"Then you should have been more careful when you walk." She replaced the blood-soaked gauze with a clean piece, then bandaged his foot and attached a metal clip at the end of the bandage.
She packed the things into the box and wrapped the glass shard with some tissues before throwing it away. She walked past the dining table to the living room, and spotted a paper bag on the table which she didn't before. "What is this?" She lifted the bag and looked at Gary.
There was a little smirk on his face. He got himself off the couch and hobbled over to her. "From today onwards, Kang Gary's food service will resume!" He said, sounding rather proud about it.
"Kang Gary's food service? What are you up to now?" There was a look of amuse on her face.
"Remember the time when you fell and injured your wrist, and I prepared a lunchbox for you the next day?" She nodded.
"Starting from today, I'm going to prepare daily lunchboxes for you to bring to the office. You're skipping meals way too often and I'm not going to allow that to continue. For dinner, we will either eat out or have home-cooked meals."
She gazed at him as he speaks, wondering what she had done in her past life to deserve someone like him. "Why are you doing this suddenly?" She asked.
"Why? You don't like it?" He asked, instead of answering her question. She sensed a tiny bit of disappointment in his voice, and immediately felt guilty for asking him that question.
"It's not that.." She mumbled. She averted her gaze as though to collect her thoughts and then looked back at him. "Ever since that accident happened, I haven't been treating you like how a wife should. I pushed you away, shut you out of my life for a period of time and even shouted at you. Like yesterday. But you still treat me the same way as how you always do as though nothing had happened.."
"Because I don't see them as something bad," he cut her off.
Her forehead puckered in a confused frown.
"As long as it means I get to talk to you, and see you slowly opening up to me again, it was never once a bad thing. We may not be as close as how we used to be but those arguments that we had, I felt that they helped to pull us closer instead of causing us to drift. It feels like I'm getting to know you once again."
Hearing his heartfelt words, she turned away for an instant to wipe away the tears that were threatening to fall, and turned back to him. She needed to change the topic before she gets too emotional and start crying buckets of tears - that's the last thing that she want him to see.
"So what did you make?" Her eyes shifted from his face to the paper bag. She lifted the box out of the bag, onto the table and unclipped the locks.
"Chicken galbi samgak kimbap," he replied.
"Two kimbaps.. Just nice for the both of us," she turned to him and said.
"Both of us? It's meant for you to bring to the office."
She shook her head and said, "you're injured and I can't leave you alone."
"But what about your work?"
"Pabo. You're more important." She smiled and ruffled his hair, and for a moment he felt the old familiar feelings rushed over him.
He couldn't hide the smile on his face. "So, kimbap for lunch and then," he paused, rubbed his chin, thinking. "Let's watch a movie, or maybe two. What movie do you want to watch? I can download it and then played it on our TV."
She gave him an amused look. "You're really enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Nothing beats having you by my side." He said. His smile widened, making his cheekbones appear more prominent.
