The Male Leads Were Stolen By The Extra [EN]: Chapter 152

“Hmm…”

Meanwhile, Eun-yeong entered the ice cream shop, contemplating which flavor was the least sweet.

‘Tan doesn’t like sweet things, so strawberry would be better than chocolate, right?’ she thought.

“Two strawberry, please.”

After making her decision and ordering, the friendly-looking young man at the counter scooped generous portions of ice cream onto cones and handed them over.

She started eating the ice cream while waiting for her change.

“Um… are you tourists?”

“Yes, we’re here for a visit.”

“Ah, yes… um… by any chance…”

He kept stuttering and trailing off, making her wonder what was up. The young man’s face was flushed red as he fidgeted.

He hadn’t given her the change, and he was wringing his hands, his gaze unsteady, his face red. She immediately knew what he was going to ask.

The dress she wore was a simple, comfortable one, not particularly expensive. Moreover, she hadn’t left the villa since arriving, so the rumor that the Grand Duke was at the villa probably hadn’t spread. He likely just thought she was a tourist.

“Do you perhaps have a boyfriend…?”

“I have a husband.”

She replied sharply to the expected question.

“Ah, I see. I’m very sorr…”

“Honey.”

‘Honey?’

Eun-yeong, who had been watching the young man with a face redder than a beet, turned her head.

Tan had entered the shop, walking through the door.

‘Honey,’ he says. ‘Where did he learn such a word? It must have been Ellai,’ she mused.

“Did you buy everything?”

He approached her, wrapped his strong arm around her waist, and asked affectionately.

Puzzled, she realized why he was doing this and smiled, offering him the ice cream.

“This is strawberry. Would you like to try, um…”

Eun-yeong couldn’t finish her sentence.

He lowered his head and licked her lips instead of the ice cream.

“Delicious.”

When he pulled away, he was smiling slyly, as if satisfied. But his eyes, devoid of a smile, were fixed on the young man with a fierce warning.

“Th-that, hic! Sorry…”

“Let’s go.”

Tan grabbed Eun-yeong, holding her close, and pulled her away, leaving behind the young man who was trembling and hiccuping in shock.

“But, the change…!”

Eun-yeong looked back, not having received her change, but Tan ignored her and led her out.

Then, he snapped his fingers.

“Aah! My ice cream!”

A scream, like a cry of despair, echoed from behind them. All the ice cream in the shop had melted.

* * *

A few days later.

Eun-yeong, who had been lying on a sunbed in the garden behind the villa in the late evening, slowly opened her eyes. Tan was lying beneath her.

There were several empty sunbeds, but the two were deliberately lying on one, nestled together.

The reason was simple: Tan didn’t want to be apart from her for even a moment.

Waking up from a nap, she wriggled and lifted her face from his warm chest.

Was he deep in thought?

His eyes were closed, his face tinged with the sunset, as he lay with her head resting on his arm.

He often closed his eyes and seemed lost in thought, so she quietly got up, not wanting to disturb him.

She walked carefully, making no sound, and sat on the low cliff connected to the garden behind the villa.

She dangled her legs, crossed in the air, and looked down.

Swaaash.

The waves of the red sunset sea surged and crashed against the cliff, scattering into white foam.

It was already the last day of their trip.

It didn’t feel like they had done much, but a week had passed quickly.

Time flew by so fast when she was with him. She felt sad with each passing day.

She listened to the sound of the waves crashing like music and slowly focused her gaze on the sandy beach below the cliff.

Quite a few people were strolling along the beach, enjoying the sunset scenery.

Among them, there were some people who particularly caught her eye: a young child standing in the middle, holding hands with their mom and dad, smiling brightly as they walked.

A question arose in her mind.

‘Will there ever be a day like that?’

Tan and her child…

She would suddenly dream of such ordinary moments, but then dismiss them.

Her husband was not an ordinary person.

It would be nice if a blessing came [referring to having a child], but it would be okay even if it didn’t. They were happy enough as they were.

Everything was fine.

Except for one worry…

Her gaze shifted from the child to an elderly couple walking slowly, leaning on each other, their hair white.

“Our times are different.”

Their time was not the same.

Someday, she would age with time and her hair would turn white like that.

That was a natural order, and everyone was equal in that.

But not Tan. Unlike her, who would grow old, he would remain the same.

Even if she died and disappeared someday, he would be left behind.

It was a painful reality for both the one leaving and the one left behind.

Not being able to live the same time as the one you love was a great sadness. If only someone could make their times the same, if only there was a way…

Sadness was reflected in her quietly sunken brown eyes.

Just then, a large, rough hand covered her hand on the ground.

She turned her head and saw Tan sitting next to her.

“The sunset is pretty.”

She smiled weakly, afraid that he would see her true feelings.

But his deepened eyes gazed at her as if he knew everything. He gently brushed her hair back.

“I wish I were the same as you.”

The sincerity, not drowned out by the sound of the waves, resonated in her ears and touched her heart. A bitter smile formed on Tan’s lips.

They were sorry for each other, knowing well that it was an uncontrollable force.

She didn’t want to see such an expression… Eun-yeong held back her tears and rested her head on his arm.

“I love you just the way you are.”

She intertwined her fingers with his between the fingers on the back of his hand.

“I love you for your immature actions, like melting all the ice cream because of jealousy.”

Tan laughed as Eun-yeong giggled, and he leaned his head against hers.

“I’m just… what I regret is that I’ll eventually have white hair and wrinkles, but you’ll stay the same. If only I get old and you’re still so handsome, I’ll always have to be nervous.”

“Should I not go outside the castle and stay by your side?”

“Don’t use me as an excuse. You’re the one who doesn’t want to let me out of the castle.”

“You caught me.”

Tan laughed as if he couldn’t beat her wit. Even that was good.

“If that’s the case, don’t worry. I can do it now.”

At those words, she raised her head, and he had already aged 50 years.

Wrinkles appeared on his once-taut face, and his jet-black hair had turned white.

It was an unfamiliar sight, but Tan’s face remained the same. If he really aged, this is what he would look like.

She traced the wrinkles on his face with her fingers.

“You’re handsome. Even as a grandpa.”

“Hahaha.”

“You’re still my husband.”

Tan, who laughed heartily enough to make the listener feel good, took her hand that was caressing his cheek and kissed each of her fingers.

His eyes, redder than the sunset, gazed intently at his wife with a sinister glint.

“I’ll grant you everything you wish for.”

Even if they couldn’t age together, he could do it a hundred or a thousand times if that’s what she wanted.

The desire to grant the other person’s wishes no matter what. The earnest desire for their time to flow together. The fear that she might not return if she left him.

It was love. With all his heart, with all his sincerity.

“I love you. I love you.”

With a fervent confession that felt like it would burn, the two kissed under the sunset sky.

They sat together for a long time, sharing their breath. It was an exceptionally special and happy honeymoon.

A little while ago.

Tan had no memory of the five minutes he had closed his eyes. He had never experienced this before, and he didn’t even feel her leaving his arms.

It was a little later that he realized it was sleep, that he had slept like a human.

Very slowly, but eventually, his time that had begun to flow would lead him to meet his one and only again.

After enduring a long wait alone, when they met again in the distant future. That was the last wait.

-End of Side Story 1-