Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 73
“…Huh?”
After a brief silence, Mrs. Lim awkwardly pulled the corners of her mouth. Her confusion was evident in her tilted head.
Yeon-woo was also quite startled and could only let out a groan. While it was common for people to unknowingly offer food to someone with an allergy, it was rare for someone to assume a person had an allergy. The situation felt strangely contrived.
‘Well, it’s not like I didn’t have any allergies before…’
When he was very young, although he didn’t remember it himself, he heard that he had suffered after eating crustaceans. But there was no way she could have said that with his past in mind, not knowing him. Fortunately, the allergy disappeared naturally as he grew up, which he found out after getting tested at the hospital as an adult.
‘Allergies can disappear after having them, and appear after not having them.’
Yeon-woo, who had been lost in thought, turned his body at the sound of footsteps behind him. Ki-won was standing there after finishing his conversation. As soon as their eyes met, the man gently narrowed his eyes.
“There you are.”
“Ah, hyung.”
Yeon-woo pulled Ki-won next to him, thinking it was a good opportunity. He thought they could greet her together now.
“What were you talking about?”
Ki-won naturally put his hand on the other side of Yeon-woo’s waist. Was this the beginning of their newlywed act? Yeon-woo naturally leaned against Ki-won to make their usual physical contact seem natural.
“Allergies. Your mother mistakenly thought I had a crustacean allergy.”
“Ah…”
Ki-won let out a small exclamation, nodding his head at Yeon-woo’s words. He seemed to understand the situation.
“That’s strange. I’m sure…”
“Mother.”
Ki-won interrupted Mrs. Lim, who was still muttering as if she had doubts.
“Huh?”
Mrs. Lim, who had been lost in thought while rubbing her chin, raised her eyebrows at her son’s call.
“It’s your sister’s partner who has the crustacean allergy.”
“…Was that it?”
“Yes, there’s no way Yeon-woo would have an allergy.”
Listening to their conversation, Yeon-woo’s mind raced. As he thought, she seemed to have confused him with someone else. After all, there was no way his mother-in-law would know about an allergy he had as a child. Yeon-woo calmly started to speak so that Mrs. Lim wouldn’t feel embarrassed.
“What a coincidence! I also had a crustacean allergy when I was young.”
Having had a similar experience, he nodded his head spontaneously, understanding how troublesome and inconvenient allergies could be.
Until middle school, Yeon-woo was terrified of even the smell of seafood, not just crustaceans. His biological father said it was because he had suffered for a while after unknowingly eating crustaceans when he was very young, and the trauma was deeply ingrained in his body. His father’s voice seemed to echo again as if he were saying it in a take-it-or-leave-it manner.
Surprisingly, as he grew up, his constitution changed, and even when seafood was right in front of him, he felt nothing. When he got tested at the hospital again, he was told that his allergy had disappeared.
“But it disappeared as I grew up. That person must be really uncomfortable.”
If it was Ki-won’s sister, it would be Kwon Yeon-jung, who managed the overseas branch of Yeonsung Group. So she had a lover. Yeon-woo’s eyes lit up at the interesting story he learned through the short conversation. Hearing stories about the family made him feel genuinely happy, as if he had really become a recognized member.
“Oh my… Was that so?”
The end of Mrs. Lim’s words wavered ambiguously. Her eyes were also directed at Ki-won, not Yeon-woo, and for some reason, it felt like she was being careful. Was she worried because she had mistaken him? Yeon-woo looked up at Ki-won and poked his side.
“Hyung, let’s go to the living room now. The staff must feel burdened.”
“Shall we?”
It wasn’t just a casual remark. As the family gathered, the employees’ gazes turned towards them, pretending not to, and their hands slowed down. When Yeon-woo was about to lead Ki-won out, he heard Mrs. Lim’s voice from behind. It seemed that she had resumed reviewing the side dishes, which had briefly stopped with Yeon-woo’s appearance.
***
About thirty minutes later, when the meal preparations were finished, Ki-won’s father and sister, who had not yet arrived, returned. As they ate together and chatted, Yeon-woo’s shyness noticeably decreased. With a much more comfortable complexion, he took a big spoonful of the remaining rice, and Ki-won handed him a glass of water.
“Drink.”
“Thank you.”
As he naturally received the water Ki-won handed him and drank it, he began to feel gazes from the front. His parents were looking at him with a satisfied face.
“You two look good together.”
“Yes, come by the house and eat whenever you have time. It feels like we have one more son in our family, and it’s nice.”
It seemed that in his parents’ eyes, the two of them looked like a newlywed couple. Having fulfilled his task, Yeon-woo could feel both a sense of pride and relief.
Small conversations went back and forth briefly, and silence kept returning, when it happened.
“Kwon Ki-won.”
Kwon Yeon-jung, who had been drinking coffee after eating the in-flight meal on the plane, spoke up.
“I’ve been curious, what’s that on your forehead?”
Yeon-jung put down the cup she was holding and stared intently at Ki-won’s forehead as she spoke. It seemed she hadn’t heard the news of the accident yet since she was overseas. Everyone’s gaze turned to Ki-won at once.
“Car accident.”
“Ah.”
At Ki-won’s concise answer, Yeon-jung, who had resolved her curiosity, made a meaningless sound. Yeon-woo’s expectation that a more persistent barrage of questions would follow was instantly diverted. The indifferent Yeon-jung waved her hand and lightly retorted that he should be more careful.
The conversation was cut off in an instant. Yeon-woo was so surprised that the concern ended so simply that his eyes widened. Were siblings originally like this? As an only child, Yeon-woo found this flow of conversation simply fascinating.
Yeon-jung’s eyes, which had been directed at Ki-won, moved to the side and met Yeon-woo’s. The moment their eyes met, awkwardness poured out. Unlike Yeon-woo, Yeon-jung was cool.
“By the way, is it okay if I call you Yeon-woo casually? I couldn’t attend the wedding because it was a busy season for me. I’m sorry about that.”
“Of course, please feel free to call me casually. I heard you were busy too! I heard you couldn’t return to Korea because there was a problem with the ongoing project and you had to solve it.”
Yeon-woo responded positively when she said she would use casual speech this time. Yeon-woo felt a little burdened by Yeon-jung’s persistent gaze. Why was she looking at him like that? Yeon-woo rubbed his innocent cheek, wondering if something had gotten on his face.
Ki-won was the first to notice Yeon-woo’s discomfort. Ki-won quietly stared at her the way Yeon-jung was looking at Yeon-woo.
“Kids, if you have something to say, say it out loud.”
Mrs. Lim finally put down her spoon at the subtle discomfort felt in the still space. Yeon-woo’s head gradually lowered towards his rice bowl. Yes, please say it.
“No, I still can’t believe Kwon Ki-won brought his own marriage partner. I thought he had no intention of getting married, but he was hiding a young and pretty lover. Who would have known?”
And he even ended up marrying that lover, Kwon Yeon-jung slowly savored her own words. She seemed to find it amazing even after reconsidering it.
Yeon-woo smiled softly, pretending not to hear the part about “I thought he had no intention of getting married – he was hiding a lover.” Yeon-jung seemed to be implying a lot in what she was saying.
In other words, (arranged) marriage, I thought he had no intention of getting married (but it turns out) he was hiding a lover. (I understood why he didn’t want to get married.)
He nodded his head, interpreting it roughly in this sense. Still, it was fortunate that the Kwon family didn’t dislike him even though he wasn’t an arranged marriage partner.
“I thought Yeon-woo had gotten pregnant before marriage or something? It’s no different from introducing her to the family and getting married right away. What was the rush?”
“You… So when are you going to get married?”
His parents sighed softly with a worried look on their faces.
“Ah, I heard about your partner too! I also had a crustacean allergy, so I felt a sense of rapport.”
Yeon-woo chimed in, thinking this was his chance when a topic he knew came up. He made an effort on his part, fearing that he might appear passive if he only nodded his head or gave short answers.
Yeon-jung’s reaction to Yeon-woo’s question was ambiguous. He thought she would chatter about her lover, but she slowly put down the teacup she was holding and showed an ambiguous look. She looked like someone who didn’t understand what Yeon-woo had said.
“Why…?”
Yeon-woo slowly opened his mouth, thinking he had misspoken in the momentarily chilly atmosphere. Yeon-jung tried to answer, but her voice was swallowed up by Ki-won’s.
“She says they broke up.”
“Oh… I’m sorry.”
At Ki-won’s words, Yeon-jung’s face became even more inscrutable. Seeing her tilted head, she also seemed like someone who didn’t understand the conversation at all. What, did her partner do something terribly wrong and they broke up? If she was trying to treat him as someone who never existed in her life, her reaction was understandable.