The Hong family dinner was, for once, not a somber affair. The air crackled with a different kind of tension, one that was part anticipation, part disbelief. The family was gathered, but their usual polite silence was replaced by a series of furtive glances directed at Hae-in and Hyun-woo. Hae-in was determined to maintain her composure, her face a cool, impassive mask, but she could feel the heat of her mother's and brother's bewildered stares. Hyun-woo, however, was as calm and collected as ever, a small, triumphant smile playing on his lips.
The quiet standoff was finally broken by the one person who wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Hong Beom-ja, with a glint of pure mischief in her eyes, cleared her throat and smiled at the table.
"So," she began, her voice a theatrical whisper that everyone could hear, "I hear we have some new actors in the family."
Seon-hwa looked at her sister with a frustrated glare, a silent command for her to stop. But Beom-ja just ignored her, her gaze fixed on the two newest players in her favorite drama.
"That scene in the car today… it was straight out of a romance drama," Beom-ja said, a delighted chuckle escaping her. "The car stopping, the pulling in… the stolen kiss. Oh, it was a masterpiece!"
Hae-in's facade of composure was cracking. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked down at her plate, a familiar, mortified blush creeping up her neck. She had thought the family would be shocked, but not that her aunt would so brazenly, so enthusiastically, announce it to everyone.
"And that wasn't even the best scene," Beom-ja continued, her voice full of a conspiratorial delight. She turned her attention to Hyun-woo. "I saw the picture, Hyun-woo-yah. The one in the office. The way my Hae-in-ah claimed you... It was beautiful. You looked like a wild animal that had just been tamed."
Hyun-woo's smile widened, a clear sign that he was enjoying every second of this.
He looked at Beom-ja, his eyes filled with an amused admiration. "Thank you, Auntie. I was doing my best to live up to her expectations." He then looked at Hae-in, a silent, triumphant smirk on his face. "My wife has a very strong sense of what belongs to her."
Hae-in shot him a withering look, a silent plea for him to stop, but he just ignored her.
Beom-ja's laughter filled the room. "Oh, she does. She does. Nothing comes between a Hong woman and what she wants."
Hyun-woo, seeing an opportunity to get her flustered and take the upper hand, decided to join forces with Beom-ja. He leaned forward, his voice a low, theatrical whisper. "Auntie, I have a question. What am I supposed to do if she just… pounces on me? What do I do when my beautiful wife is so consumed with her desire for me?" He looked at Hae-in, his eyes twinkling with a devious mischief.
The question was so brazen, so direct, that Hae-in's jaw dropped. He was no longer just a player; he was a co-director in this little drama. The thought of him talking about her "desire" so casually, so openly, in front of her entire family was both mortifying and, to her own absolute shock, a little bit thrilling.
Beom-ja's eyes lit up. This was her kind of conversation. "You just surrender, Hyun-woo-yah," she said with a grand, knowing gesture. "You just give in. A Hong woman's desire is a force of nature. You can't fight it. You just let it happen. It's a good thing, a very good thing."
Hyun-woo looked at Beom-ja with an expression of feigned innocence. "Oh. So, I don't run?"
"Run?!" Beom-ja scoffed, her voice filled with a profound indignation. "Where would you run? There is no escaping a Hong woman when she wants something."
The entire table was now silent, the Hong family watching the scene unfold with a stunned mixture of shock and disbelief. Seon-hwa's face was a mask of furious indignation. Her daughter, the cold, unapproachable queen, was being openly flirted with, praised, and teased by her husband, and she was doing nothing to stop it. She was even… laughing.
Hae-in, despite her mortification, couldn't help but let a small, genuine smile escape her lips. She looked at Hyun-woo, then at her aunt, and a wave of something akin to affection washed over her. He had done it again. He had taken a situation that would have been a public shaming and turned it into a moment of shared humor and intimacy. He was not just defending her; he was openly celebrating her, and he was using her own family's quirks to do it.
The teasing continued, with Hyun-woo and Beom-ja playing off each other like a well-rehearsed comedy duo. They spoke of the office rumors, of her 'violent' kiss, and of his apparent surrender to her desires, all with a dramatic flair that made the entire situation seem less like a scandal and more like a charming love story.
As the dinner finally came to an end, Hae-in knew that her relationship with her husband was irrevocably changed. The cold silence was gone, replaced by a warm, playful intimacy. They had faced their past, their pain, and their family, and they had come out stronger. He was no longer just her husband; he was her partner, her accomplice, her co-star in the most dramatic, heartwarming story of their lives.