When Myungsoo went home the next morning, the house was, well, silent as usual. But there was this feeling inside him that he doesn’t know what is it in particular but he felt like something was missing. When the maid greeted him, he knew exactly what was missing. It was his wife.

“Where’s Hee Rin?” He asked as he walks towards the dining room, hoping to see her eating breakfast already. But she’s not there.

“She left a while ago, Sir” One of the maids inquired and Myungsoo suddenly remembers that it’s already past 9 in the morning. He nodded with a sigh. He doesn’t know why but he kind of felt sad to not see her first in the morning. Perhaps he just got used of seeing her cheerful face whenever she greets everyone in the house a good morning everyday.

“We will prepare for your breakfast, Sir” The maid says and Myungsoo nods before walking upstairs. He doesn’t have the energy to go to work today.

He recharged his phone battery as soon as he entered his room and plopped on his bed… He really felt tired. This morning, Min Ae fought with him again before he left. She’s been all too bratty again and it makes Myungsoo mad. He’s always the one who would try to understand her yet there were times when he just can’t stand her anymore.

A couple of minutes later, he reached to check his phone for some messages that he wasn’t able to check yesterday. He expects to see tons of missed calls and messages due to the fact that it’s been vibrating every minute yesterday. But when he opened it, he just found 3 new messages which are from his assistant, Taemin, reminding him about his schedules. Other than that, there’s nothing more. There were also 5 missed calls, 4 of them were from Min Ae and the last one makes Myungsoo’s eyes narrow. It’s from Hee Rin’s mom.

It’s been a while since he saw her family and he doesn’t remember contacting them for the past few months except when they had to invite them for a dinner. But that is all and he wonders what makes her mom call him? Either way, he just calls her back to check if something’s the matter.

“I was not able to answer your call yesterday and I’m very sorry” Myungsoo apologized and he heard Mrs. Park laughed heartily, telling him that it doesn’t matter.

“Oh. I just thought you need something and called me” he says with his gentle voice.

“Oh dear, it was nothing. I just want to see how’s the day going with you two” she chuckles and Myungsoo nods even though she can’t see him. “I called Hee Rin but she doesn’t want to celebrate here. She said that it was her first birthday with you so she rejected my invitation” she kindly stated and Myungsoo suddenly froze. *what?!*

“Her birthday?” He asked in confusion and Mrs. Park quieted for a while before saying “Yes. It’s her birthday yesterday” She says in a low voice, sounding as if she wonders if Myungsoo actually knows what she’s talking about.

“You celebrate her birthday together yesterday, right?” She asked, sounding hesitant and Myungsoo has to gulp. A flash of guilt suddenly wash over him and his throat suddenly felt dry. His heart constricted and his mind went blank.

Hee Rin's images suddenly pops in his mind like bubbles and his eyes wandered around the room. Not knowing what to do. It’s her birthday yesterday? That can’t be. He said to himself and realizes how stupid he is. He remembers that Hee Rin borrowed his phone a week before and punches something in it with a wide grin on her face before giving it back to him. And now he realizes that she actually put an alarm in his phone to remind him her birthday and it’s actually the reason why it kept on vibrating yesterday. What was he doing?

“I have to go” Myungsoo murmurs and hangs the phone up. His body felt limp and he couldn’t help but to exhale frustratingly. Scolding himself for not knowing his own wife’s special day.

The maids watch Myungsoo in surprise when they saw him running down the stairs and slipping his coat on at the same time. He looks like he’s in a hurry. “I’m not going to eat here so don’t prepare till later. I’ll be going!” He announced as he dashed out of the mansion.

He quickly started his car’s engine and it roared to life. “You’re in the palace, right?” He asked no one in particular and drove off. He knew he was already too late to celebrate her birthday, but he still goes on and looking forward for her forgiveness.

 Although he was just using Hee Rin, he has to admit that she’s been nothing but a good wife to him. She was doing every single thing that a wife must do and was fulfilling her task in the palace at the same time. She was very responsible and Myungsoo admitted that he admires her for that.

Maybe they will get divorce soon but he doesn’t want Hee Rin to remember him as a dull and effortless husband. Though he was keeping his distance from her and not showing her his husband traits, he still wants her to be happy. Because he realizes that even though Hee Rin will not receive his love, she still deserves to be happy. And he will try his best to do that for her.

“Hyung! Have you seen my wife?” He asked immediately as he steps in the palace to see his brother conversing with his secretary. Woohyun must’ve been shocked to see Myungsoo here at this hour and he narrowed his eyes at him before pointing to the direction leading to the library.

“Thanks!” Myungsoo grinned and run towards the library.

When he pushed open the big doors of the library, he found Ms. Kwon reading something out loud while Hee Rin was walking around with three books over her head. They both turned to look at him in surprise and he saw how Hee Rin’s jaw dropped when he barged in. “L?” She asked in disbelief as she takes the books from her head and sets it on the table.

“Hi” Myungsoo greets and Ms. Kwon gave him a raised brow. “I’m here to get my wife. It’s an emergency” He reasoned and Ms. Kwon glanced at Hee Rin, who just gave her a shrug.

Myungsoo walk towards Hee Rin and holds her wrist. “We’ll get going then” He nonchalantly stated and drags Hee Rin out of the library, not giving Ms. Kwon a chance to agree.

“Where are we going?” hee Rin asked as Myungsoo continues to walk with his hand encircling her wrist. He didn’t answer.

They walk past Woohyun, who just gave them a teasing grin and Hee Rin bade goodbye to him before they completely steps out of the palace. “Get in” Myungsoo ordered as he opened the door of his car. Hee Rin obeyed, as always. He walk round to the other side and gets in to the driver’s side.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He asked and Hee Rin gaped at him while furrowing her brows, not fully understanding what he’s saying. He turned to look at her when he sensed that she’s not answering his question. “Yesterday was your birthday, right?” He asked with his voice low and guilt was written all over his eyes. Hee Rin looks away.

“It was” she mumbles and Myungsoo looks forward and started the engine. He drives the car away from the palace and his eyes never left the road. The atmosphere inside was awkward and silence was getting thicker. Myungsoo would glance at Hee Rin once in a while and saw that she’s just staring out of the window with her gentle face. Although she’s not saying anything, Myungsoo knew that she’s upset.

“Where do you want to go?” He cleared his throat and Hee Rin turned to look at him as she gripped on her seatbelt.

“What do you mean? You’re the one driving, not me” She states and Myungsoo sighs.

“Do you want to eat somewhere? Go to the lotte world? Watch some movie? What?” He prods and Hee Rin bites her lip. She knew he’s just doing this to make it up to her. And although she still feel upset, she can’t help but to smile at his effort. He looks so sincere.

When the car halted to a stop in the warning of the stoplight, Myungsoo turned to look at Hee Rin with his serious yet apologetic look. “So, where do you want to go?” He asked and saw that his wife was just staring at him.

Hee Rin reached to squeeze his hand as she smiles. “I don’t care where we’ll go, just be by my side today” She thoughtfully spoke and Myungsoo looks down at their intertwined hands before looking away and at the same time the stop light turned to green and he speeded up again.

Myungsoo decided to take Hee Rin at one of the most popular restaurant in town for their dinner. He smiled automatically when he saw her amused face and couldn’t help but to miss those times when he always witness that expression of hers. It was amusing for him.

Hee Rin didn’t eat a lot at that night since she was busy complementing every thing in the restaurant. She wouldn’t stop telling Myungsoo about some random things she can think of. Myungsoo doesn’t mind at all and besides, it’s been a while since he talked to her like this… And somehow it felt good to talk to someone again about some random things that don’t stress your mind.

After eating their dinner, they went to the beautiful park just near the river and walk around there for a while. There were some people strolling down too and was enjoying the night. Myungsoo slips his hands in his pocket as he fall into steps beside his wife. He observes her every expression and smiled at the thought of something ridiculous: she’s easy to read. Her face says it all, that even her deepest feeling can be read through those sparkling eyes.

Somehow, Myungsoo doesn’t want to take that smile away from her face even for a second. She was so happy tonight that he can’t just spoil the night. “I’ve heard that there’s a fireworks display later. Come on, let’s find a seat” he grinned and took her hand.

They found some couple sitting on the grass just in front of the silent river while waiting for the fireworks. Myungsoo lead Hee Rin and pulled her to sit beside him on the grass. “This is so exciting” Hee Rin giggles as she scooted closer to him.

“Oh gosh, Hee Young will definitely go crazy if she’s here” Hee Rin remarks while staring up the dark sky. Myungsoo turned to look at her and noticed a faint smile on her lips. He couldn’t help but to soften.

“Chanyeol Oppa will love this too for sure” She added absentmindedly as she hugs her knees to her chest. She sounded sad yet happy at the same time too…

“You miss them, aren’t you?” Myungsoo hesitantly asked and Hee Rin snaps out of her trance and laughed heartily at him.

“No… I-I just…” She stammers just when a loud booming sound intruded the silent night and the people began to cheer. Hee Rin and Myungsoo turned to look at the sky and saw the fireworks begun to paint the dark night sky.

There was a crackling sound as it burn out and leave a trail of bright sparks. It was wonderful to watch. The place was packed, but there’s a buzz of excitement that emanates from the massive crowd, who naturally are all adorned at the different colors of the fireworks display. Even Myungsoo was left awestruck at the sight. He didn’t imagine watching fireworks with bunch of strangers all around and at the side of the river… But he has to admit that at this moment, he feels so good and it’s as if all his problems just flew away and he felt his heart flattering.

“Myungsoo…” Hee Rin calls and Myungsoo turned to look at her. The way she calls his name like that makes him wonder how rare she pronounces that name more than ‘L.’ Her eyes were twinkling as tears begun to welled up in it, but she was smiling at him. “Thank you… Thank you for today” She says, pleased.

Myungsoo realized that those tears were from too much happiness she was feeling right now… He stared at her for a moment before Hee Rin speak again, this time her expression was calm and gentle with that sweet smile lingering on her lips, she muttered “I love you” And Myungsoo in a breath.

He suddenly pulled her for a hug and couldn’t help but to feel happy and sad at the same time. He wants to tell her to not love him anymore and just be happy but when she encircled her arms around his waist protectively, he knew and he felt that what she says means more than anything to her…

For that night, Myungsoo told himself that he must set aside his problems even for tonight and enjoy his wife’s company. Even just for tonight, just let Hee Rin feel valued. Even just for tonight, he must forget that he was just using her.

That night, he was glad to see Hee Rin’s smile and knowing that he put it there… And even just for that night, he became a true husband to her.