All Chapters of The Freeloader in My Home: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

After staring at the electronic door lock for a couple of seconds, my fiancée, Tamara Jackson, actually broke into a smile."Alright. The man of the house has spoken," she declared.She then lowered her head to rummage through the bottom rack of the shoe cabinet for a pair of my house slippers, which she tossed by my feet."Change your shoes first. Aren't your feet hurting from running around hunting for construction materials all day today?" she asked.She almost sounded too natural.She remembered a lot of things about me—from my shoe size and the location of my stomach medicine to the fact that I liked my yogurt unsweetened.However, despite having all my preferences in mind, she had invited another man into our marital home.Ian had hung his head and was already reaching for his suitcase.He said, "If Shane's not happy with this, I'll just go back to my hotel. I just wanted to give him a surprise and would rather not make things awkward for everyone."Tamara reached out to

The next morning, Tamara knocked on my door with breakfast.As soon as I opened the door, she looked down at my feet and asked, "Were you wearing those leather shoes again yesterday?"She crouched without waiting for my reply.As expected, the skin around my heel had been rubbed raw.She frowned as she tore open the packaging of a band-aid and carefully applied it to my heel."How many years has it been already? Even now, you're still tormenting yourself with that pair of shoes," she complained.I looked down at her and asked, "When did you come back?"She paused before replying, "Just before 3:00 am.""Didn't you tell me you'd only take half an hour?""He was puking his guts out and later developed a fever."She looked up as she spoke and, seeing my sour expression, immediately added with a smile, "Fine. It was my bad. How long do you want to hold me in your arms today? Is half an hour enough for you? If not, I'll throw in extra hugging time on the house."I pulled my foot

Tamara waited outside my house for an entire night.She was still knocking on the door at 2:00 am.Once in a while, she would call out something through the door."Open up for a bit. I won't go in. I just want to say a few things."You have a weak stomach, so don't go to bed on an empty stomach."I placed the candied nuts by the door. Remember not to eat them once they've gone past the expiration date."She finally stopped pounding on the door by 4:00 am, but she sent me a message instead."Alright. Throw your tantrum. Call off the wedding if you like. We'll just host it again once you've calmed down."I stared at her message for a long time.Even now, she was under the impression that I was just throwing a fit.The next morning, I canceled the reservations for our wedding ceremony, honeymoon hotel stay, and photography session.Tamara rushed to find me at the entrance of my company building at noon.Her eyes were bloodshot, but the first thing she asked me was, "Have you e

Melody fixed up the wall.She dug up all my childhood photos and redrew every height marker covered by white paint by referring to their positions in the photos.She sent me a photo over the weekend alongside a message that read, "I didn't dare try to replicate Dad's handwriting."I gazed at the photo for a long time before replying with a simple okay.That night, she sent me another message. "I found the enamel bowl that Dad used to use."I eventually decided to go back for a visit.My room looked much like how it used to be, and Ian's belongings had been cleared out.The bedsheets had been swapped back, and my photo album was back on the desk.A series of newly drawn pencil marks were lined up neatly on the wall, but somehow, it looked even more artificial than before.Melody, who was standing behind me, asked tentatively, "Does it still look like it used to?"I didn't reply.She was the first to hang her head and say, "I know it doesn't."There was a pot of chicken noodl

On the day originally set aside for the wedding, I invited a few colleagues over for a barbecue party.Melody didn't show up, and neither did Derek.I hadn't invited them.I'd already taken the wedding garlands off the walls.I also hung up a picture of the sea I'd taken during vacation on the wall where the wedding portrait was supposed to go.My colleagues raised their glasses in cheer. "Happy housewarming, Shane!"I smiled and clinked glasses with them. "Thank you."Just then, the doorbell rang.I assumed it was our takeout that had arrived, but I opened the door to the sight of Tamara.She was wearing a white mermaid gown.I'd helped her pick it out half a year ago after she'd tried on various dresses.She'd complained that it was too tight around the waist, upon which I jokingly told her, "Is getting married to me that miserable an affair to you?"She tilted her head back to kiss me and replied, "I'd willingly let the dress crush my bones if it meant I got to marry you