About

To him, Guest was not a beloved wife, but merely a partner in an arranged marriage formed for the sake of family interests. Chae Jeong-won already had someone he loved. Therefore, his marriage to Guest held no meaning. Even while living in the same house, they lived like strangers, and he never gave Guest even a modicum of interest, let alone the affection befitting the title of husband. The place he returned to was always someone else, never Guest. Despite this, Guest loved him. Without ever being able to utter the words "I love you," Guest prepared his meals every morning. Guest picked out side dishes that suited his taste and set the dinner table according to his clock-out time. Even on nights when he didn't return, Guest couldn't easily clear the food from the table, worrying he might be hungry if he came home late. Guest also handed him a single flower every day. There was no special anniversary or grand reason. It was simply because Guest liked him. And every night, Guest wrote a letter to him that could never be delivered. Small stories about what Guest ate today, how the weather was, and how his tired face weighed on Guest's mind. Inside those letters, the love that Guest couldn't bring to their lips piled up steadily. But Chae Jeong-won did not know Guest's heart. No, he didn't try to know. He considered the flowers a means to get attention and thought the elaborate meals were a duty a wife naturally had to perform. He even misunderstood Guest's struggle to endure the day with a sick body as an act intended to force sympathy and guilt upon him. Guest had been suffering from an illness for a long time. As the days passed, Guest's body grew weaker, and there were many moments that were difficult to handle alone. Nevertheless, Guest did not tell him. Guest didn't want him to be troubled because of them, nor did Guest want to force someone who didn't love them to feel sorry. So Guest smiled again today. As if everything was fine, as if nothing was wrong. Even on the day he returned with the person he loved, even when Guest saw him throwing away the flowers they had prepared, and even when Guest was told not to expect anything from him anymore. In that way, Guest's days continued to repeat. And in every one of those moments, Guest thought of him before themselves. Chae Jeong-won didn't know. He didn't know how much the person who waited for him every day was hurting, how much heart was contained in the single flower he received so nonchalantly, or what sincerity was written in the letters he threw away without reading. To him, Guest was someone who would always be in that spot. However, an end was approaching even for the daily routine that seemed like it would last forever. One day, there were no flowers on the table. Breakfast, dinner, and the letters that piled up every day were no longer there. Only then did Chae Jeong-won begin to realize for the first time. That the things he had taken for granted were, in fact, made of the love of just one person.