A Marriage with an Expiry (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 4
“What’s with that outfit?”
“Oh, this? Ji Woo gave it to me as a gift…”
So Ri was slightly flustered by his remark.
Was it really that strange?
She suddenly regretted deeply having come out looking like this.
Why had she just walked out without thinking?
Her neck felt so hot that the spring night breeze didn’t feel cold at all—in fact, it felt refreshingly cool.
She turned to look at him, about to ask, “Is it really that odd?”—but he spoke first.
“Ji Woo?”
“She’s asleep.”
“Passed out drunk all by herself after drinking heavily?”
Disapproval tinged his voice.
“Not heavily…”
“Then?”
His eyes locked onto hers, as if asking, “Did you drink it all yourself?”
“No. I didn’t drink much either. Just… one glass.”
She couldn’t bring herself to lie to him—the same person who’d made her lemonade with his own hands so her wound wouldn’t get worse.
His gaze lingered on her face for quite a while, probably trying to figure out why her cheeks were so flushed.
But the real reason her face had suddenly turned red was mostly out of embarrassment.
Unable to hide her face from Hyun Woo, who couldn’t possibly know that, So Ri lowered her head.
“Doesn’t seem like just one glass.”
Hearing his voice drop behind her, So Ri murmured softly,
“Maybe two glasses that felt like one?”
She gave an awkward, crinkled-eyed smile.
“You two really don’t listen.”
He suppressed a chuckle and wordlessly looked toward the moon bright above the wall.
Perhaps because of the quiet night, his breathing sounded unusually loud to her.
“Are you really worried about Ji Woo?”
“No.”
Despite his answer, So Ri knew well just how much he cared about his younger sister Ji Woo. Just earlier, he’d been watching Ji Woo’s bruised eyes for a long while.
“Lately, she’s gotten a lot busier with broadcasts—she must be exhausted.”
“It’s work she loves, yet she complains too much.”
Even someone who always seemed cheerful and lively wasn’t immune to getting hurt.
Ji Woo occasionally confided in So Ri about things beyond her control.
With no other way to relieve stress these days, Ji Woo had been drinking more frequently.
As her popularity grew, so did the number of people watching her—far more than the increase in her workload.
So Ri, having grown up with an actress mother, knew better than anyone that behind the glamour of a celebrity’s life lay a constant battle with loneliness and emptiness.
“Not to mention the recent scandal—it’s been really tough on her emotionally.”
“Don’t you pick up that bad habit of using alcohol to cope with stress.”
“Yes.”
He clicked his tongue once, expressing his complicated feelings.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t congratulated you yet.”
Startled by the sudden subject change, So Ri’s eyes widened.
“I’m not even sure if it’s something worth celebrating.”
He seemed to be referring to her residency acceptance.
So Ri glanced sideways at Hyun Woo, who was still gazing into empty space.
Maybe because of the moonlight pooling beneath his thick eyebrows and the slight sway of his bangs in the breeze—
his usually cold face looked unusually gentle.
“Still… I’d like to receive your congratulations.”
More than anyone else’s—Seo Hyun Woo’s.
Somehow, if she received his congratulations too, today would feel perfectly complete.
All the unexpected events of the day replayed through her mind like a film reel.
The warmth of his hands gently holding hers as he struggled to stop her bleeding.
The rare sight of him cooking, which she’d been able to admire freely.
The tense dinner, where she’d struggled to hide her fluttering feelings.
The burst of tangy fragrance on her tongue.
And then—
“Congratulations.”
“…Thank you.”
Now that she’d received his well-wishes, today would surely become one of the most special days of her life.
She felt as though all the hardships of med school and internship had been repaid in full by this single day.
“It’s only the beginning of a difficult journey…”
After a long while of stubbornly facing forward, he finally turned his head toward her.
His eyes, smooth like polished walnut, gleamed sharply under the moonlight.
Was it just her imagination, or did he seem worried about her?
So Ri bit down hard on her trembling lip and answered before he could speak again.
“I’m ready. I’ll work hard—no, I’ll do well.”
How long had she longed for the moment they’d work together at the same hospital?
With this feeling in her heart, she believed she could endure any hardship that came her way at the hospital.
At her determined response, he dipped his chin and let out a brief, quiet laugh through his nose.
“I’ll be looking forward to it—Dr. Yoo So Ri’s performance.”
He’d been standing with both hands tucked in his pockets, but now he turned halfway toward her and said,
“Exercise, and eat well. Hospital life isn’t something you can handle on average stamina alone.”
“Yes,” So Ri replied.
Her heart tickled as though a feather had lodged somewhere inside.
Already tipsy and softened by alcohol, just that single offhand remark from him was enough to inflate her like a balloon.
“I’ll head in first.”
“Wait—Hyun Woo Oppa!”
So Ri called out impulsively as she stared blankly at his broad back turning away.
Was it the alcohol, or his encouragement?
Her heart felt so full it might float away into the sky if no one held it down.
“Was I really that strange-looking?”
As if her words would burst out otherwise, her mouth acted before her brain could stop it.
What was this? Did she want to hear he thought she was pretty? Or that she looked okay? But regret came too late—her words had already reached him.
He turned halfway toward her at her call and looked at her with indifferent eyes.
Up close, his gaze was entirely different—cool like dawn covered in frost.
She’d spoken without thinking—
Instantly, So Ri’s lips went dry.
A sudden gust of wind fluttered the hem of her skirt.
Startled, So Ri grabbed at it—and one shoulder of her cardigan slipped down.
Hyun Woo’s brows furrowed as he watched, his gaze growing even colder at the edge.
The brief silence stretched unbearably long. So Ri nervously licked her parched lips.
Then, in that moment—
“You’re pretty.”
“Huh…?”
Was it because she’d questioned him? He immediately strode right up to her.
So Ri’s eyes widened in surprise.
He reached out his long arm toward her.
“I said you’re pretty.”
“…”
Despite her initial shock, his touch was refreshingly plain—he merely pulled up her slipped cardigan.
“But it’s not something you’d wear at the hospital.”
His low, fog-like voice clearly meant, “Don’t wear it.”
Yet to So Ri’s ears, it sounded only sweet.
Because he wasn’t the type to say empty flattery—and he’d clearly called her pretty.
“You’ll catch a chill—go inside now.”
He turned and walked away like that.
So Ri’s heart swelled so much it felt like it had turned into a hot-air balloon, ready to float off into the sky and drift all night.
His voice, saying she was pretty, echoed in her ears all night long.
***
A few days before her first day at Imperial Hospital.
So Ri was at Seo Han Hospital, waiting after a quick blood test.
Normally, blood test results came back within thirty minutes or so.
“Did I really need to do this…?”
The growing wait began to feel like a waste of time.
This unexpected checkup happened because of Ji Woo’s nagging last week.
“Seriously, how does your blood not clot? I saw Oppa’s handkerchief and nearly died of shock. He said you should get a blood test.”
“It’s nothing. You’re overreacting. Don’t worry.”
That day, So Ri had thought her poor clotting was just because Hyun Woo had suddenly appeared, making her heart race and slowing her healing.
There couldn’t possibly be any other reason.
“Anyway, just go to the hospital. Think of it as a health check before becoming a resident. Seriously! If you don’t go, I won’t hang out with you anymore.”
“You’re so childish. Fine, fine.”
Ever since she was young, nosebleeds rarely stopped quickly for her—she’d always assumed it was just her constitution.
During internship, she’d often gotten nosebleeds too, but since others had the same issue, she hadn’t paid much attention.
Still, maybe she’d been neglecting her health too much? The thought vaguely crossed her mind.
“Ms. Yoo So Ri, please come this way.”
“Yes.”
Her results must have finally come in.
Though she’d recently been an intern—practicing as a doctor—at this very hospital, being called in now as a patient made her oddly nervous.
“Dr. Yoo So Ri… long time no see.”
“Yes, Dr. Park. How have you been?”
“Heard you’re transferring to Imperial Hospital?”
“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”
She scratched her head awkwardly.
Park Ji Woong from the Hematology-Oncology Department.
So Ri watched his name tag—“Fellow, Year 1”—and waited for him to speak.
Behind his glasses, Ji Woong’s eyes darted back and forth across the monitor.
But for some reason, Ji Woong’s expression looked grim.
“Hmm…”
In the silence, So Ri swallowed hard.
She guessed it might be something common among women—like anemia? Nothing serious, yet she started getting needlessly anxious.
Growing impatient with worry, So Ri spoke first.
“Um, Doctor…?”
“You said you usually have trouble with clotting? Did it happen recently too?”
Her eyes immediately dropped to the cut on her finger resting on her knee.
“Yes, I got a small cut. It took longer than usual to stop bleeding.”
“Right… I see. Hm…”
“Why are you acting like this? You’re staring so intensely—I’m getting nervous. Just tell me already.”
But in an instant, So Ri read the troubled look in Ji Woong’s eyes.
A bad feeling crept over her.
“Do you have any family or guardians here?”
“Guardians?”
At the word “guardians,” her mother’s face immediately came to mind.
Her mother, Yoo Su Hyang—a natural-born actress to the bone—was indeed her legal guardian.
But her mother, even more girlish than her daughter, remained naively innocent and unaware of the ways of the world.
From experience, when doctors asked for a guardian, it usually meant serious trouble.
Though technically her guardian, her emotionally fragile mother couldn’t handle this—So Ri knew it was better if she heard it herself.
“So it’s really serious, isn’t it? Am I… do I have leukemia? Just tell me honestly.”
“…It seems so.”
“What?”
“Leukemia.”
“Ha… that’s… impossible.”
It was so absurd it made her laugh.
“For now, your platelet count is abnormally low, and your white blood cell count has risen sharply…”
Ji Woong stated his findings flatly, leaving So Ri too shocked to speak.
“To confirm the exact diagnosis, we need a bone marrow test first—but with your current platelet levels, even that procedure is risky. You’ll need to be admitted for a day or two and prepare for a blood transfusion. When can you come in?”
“…”
Blood transfusion? Bone marrow test? The words washed over her ears without meaning.
Could she really have leukemia?
Her sense of reality dulled instantly.
She felt dazed, as if hearing someone else’s diagnosis.
Seeing her expression, Ji Woong tried to reassure her gently.
“You know, Dr. Yoo—you’re well aware that many patients today have excellent prognoses.”
Her unfocused eyes stared blankly ahead as she replied dryly,
“I know. If treatment responds well, recovery can happen in three months. If it doesn’t, you can die in just one. Without any treatment, you’d live at most a year—sometimes only six months.”
“Don’t lose hope yet. Let’s start with the transfusion and get that bone marrow biopsy done quickly, okay?”
“Yes, Doctor. I’ll come back soon.”
So Ri stood up and left the exam room, struggling to hide her shattered composure.
After settling payment at the front desk, she walked out of the hospital and began wandering aimlessly.
She’d always lived with the sole purpose of becoming a doctor to heal patients—never once imagining she herself might fall seriously ill.
No sound around her registered through her numb ears.
Her mind went completely blank.
Then, suddenly stopping in her tracks, she tilted her head back and stared vacantly at the sky.
Tears silently welled up and streamed down her pale cheeks.
“Does this even make sense?”
Me—with leukemia?
It’s a lie, right?
After how hard I’ve worked?
After studying so diligently to become a good doctor?
Just as I was getting excited about a new beginning?
Never even having experienced love like other people?
No—love wasn’t even the point.
“I never even got to properly say I liked someone.”
She didn’t know why Hyun Woo’s face popped into her mind at that exact moment.
But So Ri felt deeply, unfairly wronged.
“This must all be a dream.”
When the male lead is punished by carrying the female lead’s child and having periods like a woman
“I’ve given birth to two children for you, yet you still think about him.
Was I nothing but his substitute to you from beginning to end?”
Synopsis:
Meng Huan, a scumbag who has dated countless girlfriends, transmigrates to a female-dominated country.
Day 1: Whether it’s female dominance or not doesn’t matter. The beauties here are passionate and amorous. Isn’t it easier to date them than in modern times?
Day 2: After a night, Meng Huan discovers the differences in the female-dominated world. Men here actually have chastity locks and menstrual cycles. This hinders his ability to perform, damn it!
Day 3: What’s wrong with sleeping around? I don’t want you to marry me. I’m meant to be a playboy. I don’t care about male virtues… What? You want to drown me in a pig cage? Marry, I’ll marry!
Day N: Meng Huan inexplicably vomits and receives the shocking news of his life… He’s pregnant.
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MANGA DISCUSSION
1 Comment
Chapter Comments (21)
See i know he is completely and utterly in love with her
Why is sori’s mom at hospital is she sick too?
Girl please finish that transfusion ur life is in danger
Inline Comments (1)
She couldn't recall a single word she'd just said.
Oh I will tell you..you said some pretty harsh things🥲
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Bannedbaddie
Girl how do you have constant nose bleeds and not go check it out atleast once