One Missed Call | ✓

CHAPTER SIX [PART 2]

"Goo Junhoe-sshi, you are becoming the husband of Park Chaeyoung-sshi. Do you promise to love and respect her, protect her, in joyful times and hard times, in sickness and in health?"

"Yes."

"Park Chaeyoung-sshi, you are becoming the wife of Goo Junhoe-sshi. Do you promise to love and respect him, protect him, in joyful times and hard times, in sickness and in health?"

"Yes."

As the two lovely couple exchanged their vows, it took Jisoo to her own wedding day, back when everything was so innocent and perfect at the same time.

"Kim Jiwon, you are the better half of my life. You will be the bringer of joy in the house, the reason behind my smiles, and everything in between. You will be the father of our future children, and just like what I've seen with our friends' children, I know you'll love them, just as much as I know I'll love them with all my heart. I cannot ask for more. You are everything to me. There will be no promises made. Just the thought that our love exists will be enough."

Those times made her recall how much of a fool she was for thinking that love was only needed to survive. Marriage wasn't about creating the perfect fairytale. As she grew wiser, she realized it was about the journey.

Jisoo looked at the man beside her. Jiwon's eyes held an unknown intensity as he watched the affair. Maybe he was lost in his own thoughts as well. Stuck in the past, playing in reverse.

It hurt. It would always hurt. Maybe love wasn't enough to numb the pain. Maybe it wasn't the answer to every mysteries in life. It certainly wasn't the only answer to forgive and to forget.

However, at the back of her mind, she knew something else.

There will be no other man you'll love like this. And even among the countless pain and suffering, you know he will be the only one living inside your heart.

Maybe love wasn't the answer to everything. But for now, maybe it was.

-6-

"Where are we going?" Jiwon found the strength to ask after a long silence settling between them.

"You'll see," was Jisoo's brief reply.

He uneasily looked at his wife behind the wheel. He opened his mouth to say something but quickly shut it tight.

Finding it useless, he settled on looking out of the window. The tall, enormous buildings faded into sceneries of greens, the three lane roads into one. The surroundings settled into a quaint, peaceful one, away from the hustle and bustle of the city, away from the people moving as if time was chasing after them. The soft hum of the engine and the occasional whizz of cars passing by were the only things considered as sound. Jisoo didn't even bother to turn the radio on. It left an unsettling thick silence, as if a knife could cut through it.

Jiwon closed his eyes for a moment to let them rest. The tight clasp of the tie around his neck suffocated him so he brought his thumb and index finger at the knot to tug it down a little.

When he opened his eyes, he wondered if he was out long enough since he couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. Jiwon adjusted his sitting position at the sight of the familiar neighborhood. No one prepared him for this.

Both of their dreams were built in this little town. He remembered how they came here full of exuberance, only to leave with crushed hearts.

"Jisoo," he muttered, almost out of breath.

She didn't say anything to explain herself.

The car turned into their old street, the sidewalk full of low and run-down bungalow houses that seemed to be glued to each other. Numerous electricity wires hung low on top of them. Laundries and colorful drums were positioned in front of their doorsteps. Some of the neighborhood ahjummas gathered in a low table making kimchi in big bowls, probably gossiping and laughing among themselves.