Chapter 19

“Eek! Who’s there?!”

For a moment, Seoha’s mind went completely blank, and she couldn’t answer.

In that brief instant, all sorts of thoughts flashed through her mind before disappearing just as quickly.

“What? Can’t you hear me? I asked who you are.”

Only then did Seoha manage to speak, her voice filled with confusion. Her heart was still pounding wildly.

“This is Han Junhyuk’s house, isn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

Of course it was. There was no way it could be anywhere else. Junhyuk himself had unlocked the door for her.

Perhaps irritated by the way Seoha kept starting to speak and then stopping, the woman snapped sharply.

“Excuse me, are you ignoring me right now? I’m talking to you, so at least look at me… Wait. You can’t see me, can you?”

Seoha could feel the woman waving her hand back and forth right in front of her face.

In the end, unable to come up with a proper explanation, Seoha stepped forward and revealed herself directly to the rude woman.

“I’m Han Junhyuk’s wife.”

The woman let out a derisive snort at Seoha’s introduction and grumbled incredulously.

“She must be crazy. Han Junhyuk, of all people, getting married? If you’re going to lie, at least put some effort into it…”

“Excuse me.”

“No, isn’t that obvious? What could Han Junhyuk possibly be lacking that he’d marry a disabled person? Are you some kind of stalker?”

Every time the woman shouted, Seoha caught a faint smell of alcohol.

Her face twisted at the woman’s endless lack of common sense, and she asked coldly,

“Are you really close enough to Han Junhyuk to treat me this rudely?”

“I’m standing here in his house, aren’t I? What more proof do you need? We ate together, slept together, and lived together. Isn’t that game over?”

It was true that Junhyuk had become the lifeline Seoha was clinging to.

But she had never expected that lifeline to drag her into a situation this unpleasant.

And because of that, the first emotion that surged through her was resentment toward Junhyuk himself.

Perhaps the woman noticed Seoha’s complexion repeatedly turning pale and then flushed as she struggled to contain herself. Her voice lowered as she offered a seemingly well-meaning warning.

“If you know the door lock password to this house, then I can guess what your relationship is. Fine. You’re both adults. Things like that happen. But isn’t pretending to be his wife a little too pathetic? Han Junhyuk is absolutely not an easy man. I’m just telling you this so you don’t get hurt for no reason.”

The situation was already absurd enough simply because Seoha had come face-to-face with another woman involved with a married man.

But as everything Junhyuk had said and done to her until now came rushing through her mind one after another, Seoha felt increasingly sick inside.

So this is an everyday occurrence for a man like him.

It left a bitter taste in her mouth to think that this might have been why he had so casually brought up living together on the very first day they met.

Perhaps it was nothing more than a worn-out, overused routine.

Enough. We were only in a relationship where we took what we needed from each other anyway. There’s no reason for me to be shaken by this.

Seoha had no immunity to situations like this, but she desperately tried to calm herself.

Yet no matter how many times she repeated those words in her head, there was nothing she could do about her body, which had gone stiff as a log.

Then—

The sound of the front door opening cut through the room.

For the first time, the woman who had been speaking so confidently and triumphantly let her voice tremble.

“Uh, J-Junhyuk oppa…?!”

The fear in her voice was completely different from the bold attitude she had displayed while interrogating Seoha.

“W-Why are you here, oppa…?”

Junhyuk didn’t even let her finish.

His voice cut through hers, cold as ice.

“Is it a problem that I came into my own house?”

“No… I-I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what? Is it a problem that you’re in my house?”

Under Junhyuk’s accusing tone, the woman began stammering and babbling incoherently.

Only then did Seoha realize that the woman who had been arguing with her moments ago was completely drunk.

Now she understood the source of the alcohol drifting through the air.

“Ha… Seriously, you…”

Just as Junhyuk was about to swear, the woman hurriedly interrupted him.

Her attitude suddenly changed, and she began begging.

“Oppa, I’m sorry. I was wrong. So please, just give me one chance. Okay?”

A thud sounded, as though the woman had dropped down onto the floor.

Seeing her behave completely differently from how she had treated Seoha, Seoha was bewildered.

She could think of only one possibility.

Is she someone he’s seeing, or someone he’s already broken up with?

Since this was an arranged marriage, Seoha had considered the possibility that he might have someone he was dating.

But she had never imagined that she would actually come face-to-face with that person like this.

Just imagining such a situation had been unbearable.

After all, the man himself probably wouldn’t want the woman he loved to meet the person he had been forced into a meaningless arranged marriage with.

Besides, judging by the contract he had presented to her today, she hadn’t thought he had another woman.

But apparently, she had been completely mistaken.

It’s so frustrating not being able to see.

She had endured and held herself together until now, but for the first time, Seoha felt irritated by the fact that she couldn’t see.

Then Junhyuk’s voice turned sharp.

“Are you leaving or not?”

“Oppa, I’ll explain everything. I was actually going to tell you everything anyway.”

“I told you to get out. Or do you want me to drag you out myself?”

“…Why are you only being so cold to me!? What, will something happen if you cut me some slack? Will your legs break? Or your neck?”

“Hah. You reek of alcohol… You’re making a complete spectacle of yourself.”

Junhyuk’s sharpened voice sank into an icy chill.

Perhaps realizing that her current strategy wasn’t working, the woman changed tactics and began making pitiful, dying groans.

She had already apologized and even begged him to spare her, which made Seoha’s heart sink.

She had never once imagined that she would become entangled in someone else’s romantic dispute.

Even if that someone happened to be her husband.

Perhaps believing that the plan she had carefully prepared for freedom and escape was going smoothly had been nothing more than a foolish dream.

Suddenly, anxiety spread through Seoha’s heart like flames catching fire.

Then Junhyuk spoke to her firmly.

“You go into the inner room.”

“Wait… Is it really okay for me to stay here instead of that woman?”

Seoha quietly asked because this wasn’t something she could simply pretend hadn’t happened.

She didn’t think there was any reason for her to care, yet strangely, something inside her was beginning to boil.

Instead of answering her question, Junhyuk forcibly dragged the woman outside.

Her shrill screams gradually faded into the distance.

Then, all of a sudden, the door slammed shut.

Seoha’s shoulders jerked at the loud noise.

Before she even realized he had approached, Junhyuk suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him.

Seoha tried to pull away from him when he naturally took her hand, but it was useless.

Junhyuk intertwined their fingers, making sure she couldn’t escape him, and whispered slowly into her ear.

“Of course you can stay.”

“……”

“The ink on our marriage registration probably hasn’t even dried yet, and you’ve already forgotten. You’re my wife.”

Amid the chaos filling her mind, Seoha’s palm grew damp with sweat where their hands were clasped together.

“Oppa! Hey! Han Junhyuk! Don’t do this. Open the door, please? Huh? Pleeease!”

The woman’s noisy voice could be heard from far away.

It seemed Junhyuk had really left her outside and simply shut the door.

Faced with his merciless response, Seoha didn’t know whether she should laugh or cry.

In the end, she was the one who finally parted her tightly sealed lips.

“Is she your girlfriend…?”

The moment Seoha finished speaking, Junhyuk tugged sharply on her hand and asked in an irritated voice,

“Girlfriend?”

Seoha stumbled forward and ended up pressed against him.

Even so, she didn’t back down and added,

“Whether she’s your girlfriend or your ex-girlfriend. That’s clearly what this situation looks like.”

“Whether she’s my girlfriend or not, why are you standing there so stiffly?”

Trying not to breathe in the citrus scent that kept disturbing her thoughts, Seoha opened her eyes wide and asked,

“Even if this is only a contract marriage, I just came face-to-face with my husband’s lover. Please show me at least a minimum amount of courtesy. And if my reaction made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry.”

Something surged up from deep within her.

Seoha couldn’t tell whether it was because Han Junhyuk had pushed her into a situation she wanted to avoid, or because she herself was being shaken by his words.

“Fine. Let’s say she is my girlfriend. What are you going to do about it?”

At his shameless response, Seoha barely managed to clear her mind and answered as calmly as she could.

“Nothing. Now that I think about it, whether you have a girlfriend or not has nothing to do with me.”

“After all that, I was actually curious what you’d say. And that’s all you’ve got?”

“It’s nothing more than a meaningless arranged marriage, and I overstepped my bounds. Let’s not waste our energy over something like this.”

Even in such an abnormal situation, Seoha was relieved that she had managed to speak relatively firmly.

Even if she was the one being dragged along by circumstances, she had to be able to voice at least this much.

She couldn’t let the fragile spark of hope she had managed to hold onto be extinguished over something like this.

What mattered now wasn’t her relationship with him.

What mattered was putting the plan she had been preparing for so long into action.

“Well, aren’t I grateful.”

The person who should have been upset was Seoha, yet Junhyuk seemed even more displeased than she was.

It left her speechless.

The woman was still banging on the door outside, making a huge commotion.

Junhyuk muttered ominously,

“Why are there so many people these days saying they’re sorry? Fuck, it’s pissing me off.”

A harsh curse slipped from Junhyuk’s lips.

Seoha had been about to say a few more things, but she swallowed them back without a word.