I'll Only Love You After You Take a Bath

Morning came too soon for Do-yun, and there was already someone at the door. His wife, In-hye, would've gotten up to check who it was, but she had left the house just the night before after they had a serious quarrel about his coming late from work and not spending enough time with her. He knew he should have apologised, but he was so stressed out at the moment, and had gotten must at her instead. Then he went to a bar and met a younger girl who was also going through relationship problems. He couldn't even remember her name anymore. Weirdly enough, he couldn't remember anything more about the night. Shrugging, he staggered to the door to see who it was.

"Do-yun, I'm sorry, alright" she said when he opened the door. It was In-hye and she looked tired and sleep-deprived when he opened the door. Her usually flawless face had eyebags and her eyes looked like they had gotten dimmer.

Do-yun didn't respond at first. He just stared at her, unmoving. In-hye got worried. "Do-yun, come on, I said I'm sorry, okay? I apologize for starting the argument last night"

"I don't accept your apology" was his reply.

"Fine, what do you want me to do for you to accept it" she asked, her eyes pleading. Do-yun skin his head. "It's not your fault. I get where you're coming from. I shouldn't have gotten upset over nothing"

Do-yun and In-hye had been best friends since they met at the University where he was studying psychotherapy and she was an economics. They got married immediately she graduated because he had graduated three years prior to that. Ever since he knew her, she had always apologised whenever something went wrong, even when she wasn't the one at fault, one reason Do-yun loved her dearly. And he wasn't going to accept her apology when they both knew she had done nothing wrong.

She smiled at him, jabbing him in the stomach. "Oh, so you knew it was your fault, huh. Besides, you reek of alcohol, did you drink?" she asked, humour in her voice.

Do-yun pulled her to himself his lips almost touching hers. "I was devastated when you left. I didn't know what to do anymore, so I decided to have a drink" He somehow managed to get her to lock eyes with him as he said so. "You're a therapist, you of all people should know that alcohol doesn't help" she pointed out, her fingers playing on his shirtless body. It was only when get fingers made contact with his bare chest that he realized he was in nothing but his underwear.

"I know, but I can't help it when you're not here with me"

He tried to kiss her, but she moved her face away. "Nope. You're two things—drunk and smelly. Go wash up first, then I'll consider you" she shoved him back gently, giving herself enough room to walk into the living room.

Do-yun followed her eagerly like a lost puppy, his arm going around her. He tried to place kisses on her earlobe and neck because he knew that was the spot that got her aroused, but she swatted his face away with a magazine.

"Shower first, Hun" she reminded him. He groaned in annoyance. He knew he wasn't going to get what he wanted not when she had her mother-mode on. "Fine, I'll take a shower, but after that..."

"Yes, I'll do whatever you want. I'll make breakfast while you're washing." She went into the kitchen and started opening cupboards, getting out the pan and some ingredients for whatever she was making.

He tiptoed quietly to where she stood and, not making a sound, placed a peck on her lips quickly before she could react. But it earned him a hit on the head with a spatula.

"Ow ow ow ow"

"Bathroom. NOW" she tried to sound as menacing as possible, but he still noticed the pink tint on her cheeks.

"Alright." He took six steps towards the bedroom, then paused. "I love you!" In-hye ignored him, mixing furiously. But he was sure she had heard him and was purposely ignoring him. "Honey, won't you say 'I love you' back? Don't you love me?"

"I'll only love you after you take a bath" she replied, not even bothering to turn around.

Do-yun laughed openly, walking backwards to the room. In-hye... he loved that woman. She was everything he could ask for, and he was really thankful she still put up with him despite everything.

He undressed, tossing his shorts on their bed and walking to the bathroom.

What the heck happened last night? he couldn't help but ask himself. He turned on the water, waiting for it to heat up and then turned towards the mirror. He had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something and he disliked that feeling.

After a few thoughtful minutes,realisation hit him, causing a cold chill to run down his spine. The girl, they came back to his house after he had invited her over and then...he had cheated on In-hye. With a girl way younger than him--he wasn't old, he was thirty, but he was sure he had at least ten years on her--who was still a virgin--at least she had been before that night. He stood there for what seemed like hours, but was just five minutes, beating himself up mentally with the sound of In-hye in the kitchen playing as a background noise. .

I can't stand here forever he thought, turning on the shower all the way to cold. He felt like he needed to wash the sin off himself before he could meet In-hye. Wash the sin off myself. Ah, I'll just go to the priest today and make a confession he concluded. But he was going to make sure he made no such mistakes anymore. And he had to tell In-hye, although not immediately, he'd give it about a week or two.