An Instinctive Proposal (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 24
“CEO Ki Tae Han, this is Jeon Il Soo.”
The voice drifting through the phone was low and sharp.
Jeon Il Soo—he was Ki Tae Wook’s man.
Having grown up under Chairwoman Gi’s patronage since childhood, Jeon Il Soo also managed the Tae Sung owner family, and during that time, he had developed a rift with Tae Han.
Sung Won, who had watched the two men constantly clash, had once clicked his tongue and called it a meeting of fire and fire.
“What’s this about?”
Tae Han asked, turning the steering wheel he’d momentarily stopped holding.
“There’s an owner family gathering at the car owner’s place today, which will also double as Vice Chairman Ki Tae Wook’s birthday party—you’re aware of that, right?”
“So what?”
“Will you be attending?”
The decisive reason for their conflict lay in Tae Han’s careless attitude toward family gatherings and Jeon Il Soo’s forceful obsession with making him attend.
“Do I need to report it to you?”
Familiar with Tae Han’s icy retort, a low chuckle came through the speaker.
“It’s not a report—I’m just asking for your word.”
“Why should I? And it’s not like I’m some toddler who needs a birthday party.”
Damn, how childish.
Tae Han clicked his tongue in exasperation, muttering under his breath, but Jeon Il Soo didn’t let it pass.
“Isn’t seeing each other face-to-face at events like this what family affection is all about?”
“Affection? That’s rich.”
“Chairwoman Gi also very much wishes to see CEO Ki Tae Han.”
“So what do you expect me to do about it?”
“I’ll take that as a yes, then.”
Swallowing a sigh, Tae Han rubbed his temple and spoke.
“From now on, please route all communication through Director Kim. Starting today, I won’t be taking any calls from you, Mr. Jeon.”
After bluntly ending the call, Tae Han closed his eyes tightly only once the car stopped at a red light.
A sigh escaped him.
Whenever family matters came up, his nerves inevitably stood on edge.
***
The next morning.
Having eaten her fill of bossam with dried radish and naengmyeon, Yeon Woo woke up refreshed from a deeper sleep than usual.
Perhaps because she’d thoroughly enjoyed delicious food, her skin even seemed to glow.
‘Looks like she doesn’t get morning sickness from meat?’
After washing up, Yeon Woo sat at her vanity and turned her head this way and that in front of the mirror, lost in thought.
Even though she’d taken the same anti-nausea medicine, the scent of packed lunches made her feel queasy, but meat didn’t.
Moreover, hadn’t she even eaten kimchi jjigae with rice back in Jeju?
“You like meat just like your mom, huh?”
She chuckled softly and stroked her lower belly.
Patting lotion gently onto her face, Yeon Woo murmured as if speaking to her baby.
“By the way, our little one—we need to give you a name now.”
She’d already considered several temporary names and even shortlisted a few favorites on her own.
“How about ‘Tteun Tteun,’ so you’ll grow up strong and healthy?”
Tteun Tteun.
“Our Tteun Tteun.”
Saying the name out loud made her feel even more attached to it.
Without further hesitation, Yeon Woo stood up, opened her maternity notebook, picked up a pen, and wrote the name inside.
[Tteun Tteun]It finally felt as if she and her baby had truly become one.
“Just be born strong—in body and in spirit.”
That was all Yeon Woo wished for.
***
“Hello.”
Yeon Woo greeted cheerfully as she arrived at work.
Though she’d only been away for two days, stepping into the office felt like returning after a long absence.
“Oh, good morning!”
Her teammates welcomed her warmly, then asked with curious faces,
“Heard there was quite an incident in Jeju.”
“What incident?”
Though her colleagues couldn’t possibly know about what happened with Tae Han, Yeon Woo flushed and widened her eyes. The employee at the neighboring desk continued,
“Didn’t your tire blow out and you had to call roadside assistance? That’s what Director Kim said.”
“Oh, right.”
The incident with Tae Han had been so intense that Yeon Woo had completely forgotten about the tire trouble.
“Yeah, but it was handled well.”
She nodded with an awkward smile.
Her coworkers then exchanged glances, as if finding it strange that everything had resolved so smoothly.
“It’s surprising the CEO didn’t get angry. Has his personality changed?”
Yeon Woo looked puzzled. Even if Tae Han was meticulous to a fault, she didn’t think he was the type of owner to reprimand staff over something like that.
“Did he used to get angry before?”
“We don’t know personally, but apparently, in the past, you were lucky just not to get fired. They say he never let even the tiniest mistake slide.”
So that’s how it used to be.
Come to think of it, Yeon Woo actually didn’t know what Tae Han had done before becoming CEO of BioLogics.
She’d only heard he’d briefly held an executive managing director position at headquarters as the chairwoman’s second grandson—but even then, he rarely came to the office, which reportedly fueled extreme curiosity among employees.
Rumors had even spread that he used to be in a gang and had a big scar on his face.
Now she could confidently say Tae Han wasn’t a bad person, but she was still curious about what kind of man he’d been before.
And why he hadn’t come to work back then.
“I heard it too—Team Leader Sung from the Vice Chairman’s office said he’s practically been reborn.”
The Vice Chairman’s office was where Tae Han’s older brother, Ki Tae Wook, worked.
“Was the CEO really that intense?”
Though she couldn’t fully picture how extreme he’d been, it wasn’t entirely unimaginable—
after all, even now, Tae Han was meticulous about assigning clear responsibilities for every step of his work.
“Well, being reborn is great and all, but aside from that—hasn’t the CEO always been a bit softer toward you, Assistant Manager Seo?”
Suddenly, all eyes turned to Yeon Woo.
“Why do you say that? He’s considerate to others too.”
“No, it’s different. I don’t mean he openly favors you or anything—it’s just… kind of strange.”
Yeon Woo couldn’t deny it anymore.
Truthfully, she’d wondered the same thing: why did Tae Han treat her specially from the very beginning?
“There’s no employee here I didn’t personally hire.”
But he’d clearly said those words when they first met at the training center.
Thinking back on it, that meant he hadn’t treated her specially from the start at all.
Yeon Woo just shook her head with an awkward smile, admitting she didn’t know.
After exchanging words of encouragement for the day, her coworkers returned to their desks, and Yeon Woo logged into the company intranet.
Two days’ worth of emails had piled up.
Before she knew it, lunchtime arrived as she worked through her tasks frantically.
She hadn’t run into Tae Han all morning—and judging by Sung Won’s absence too, he was probably out on errands.
“Assistant Manager Seo, let’s go grab lunch.”
Moments later, someone tapped on Yeon Woo’s cubicle partition.
It was Ji Hyun, a senior colleague who usually ate with her. Only three years older, Ji Hyun was Yeon Woo’s closest coworker and direct superior.
“Yeah, let’s go.”
Yeon Woo left the office with Ji Hyun.
Not seeing Tae Han all day only made her think of him more.
Maybe she should’ve at least texted him that she enjoyed the bossam yesterday.
‘Nah, it’s fine—I already thanked him for the meal.’
Unhappy with herself for overthinking even trivial things, Yeon Woo shook her head.
“By the way, after lunch, I’m meeting Deputy Lim from the Support Team for coffee—want to join? Some other female colleagues are coming too.”
“What’s the occasion?”
“The pregnancy announcement.”
Yeon Woo momentarily froze, stopping in her tracks.
But Ji Hyun, delivering the news, grinned happily.
“After all that struggle with IVF, it’s such wonderful news! Some close coworkers even pooled money together for a gift.”
“That really is something to celebrate.”
Though Yeon Woo wasn’t particularly close to Deputy Lim, she knew the woman had suffered from infertility for a long time.
She’d also heard Lim had been hospitalized several times, her health weakened from constantly shuttling between work and the clinic.
“Should we prepare a small gift too, then?”
Hearing that Lim finally had the baby she’d longed for, Yeon Woo genuinely wanted to congratulate her—
partly out of shared empathy as a fellow expectant mother.
“Really? I wanted to, but I wasn’t sure I’d have time to shop. What should we get?”
“How about a set of scones and madeleines? I think Deputy Lim likes baked goods.”
If morning sickness was bad, mild-smelling scones might even help.
“Oh, that’s perfect! They can be frozen for later, so they’ll make great snacks. Great idea!”
As Ji Hyun gave her a thumbs-up, Yeon Woo offered a deliberately modest smile.
“Let’s hurry through lunch and head to the department store.”
“Okay.”
Just as she replied, the elevator arrived.
Stepping into the crowded space, Yeon Woo secretly bit her lip as Ji Hyun wasn’t looking.
***
After work, Yeon Woo headed to the place where she’d arranged to meet Gyu Bin.
Standing at the crosswalk, waiting to cross the street, her face looked unusually tired.
She hadn’t eaten much lunch—the moment she’d entered the cafeteria, the smell of food had made her stomach queasy.
She’d deliberately chosen spicy pork ssambap but ended up leaving more than half uneaten, barely satisfying her hunger with the scones she’d bought along with Deputy Lim’s gift.
Still, if it meant her baby could grow up healthy, she could endure far worse.
Yet her heart felt heavy.
“Thank you all so much!”
Deputy Lim, whom they’d met for lunch, looked truly happy.
Proudly announcing her pregnancy and receiving everyone’s congratulations, she positively sparkled.
Yeon Woo had sincerely congratulated her, but couldn’t help but feel complicated.
Pregnancy was supposed to be met with joy and celebration—but what about our Tteun Tteun?
For the first time, she felt guilty toward her baby.
“I’ll do things my way.”
Yeon Woo stood gazing at the red light across the street, lost in thought.
Tae Han had said he’d put her resignation on hold, but either way, she had to leave before her pregnancy started showing.
Maternity leave wouldn’t help—once her coworkers found out she was pregnant, it would be awkward.
Honk.
While lost in thought over what to do next, Yeon Woo suddenly heard a car horn.
Looking up, she saw a familiar sedan pull up right in front of her.
Squinting in disbelief, she watched as the rear window slowly rolled down to reveal Tae Han’s face.
“What are you doing here?”
Though they’d only been apart a day, it felt oddly unfamiliar, as if they hadn’t seen each other in weeks.
“I’m heading home.”
For some reason, Tae Han’s eyes looked especially dark today.
“Isn’t home the opposite direction?”
“I have plans.”
Tae Han simply stared at her silently.
She’d just been thinking about her baby, so his gaze felt overwhelming—but she reassured herself it would only be a moment until the light changed.
“Oh? Yeon Woo?”
Suddenly, Gyu Bin’s voice came from behind her.
Startled, Yeon Woo turned around—just in time to see a middle-aged woman beside Gyu Bin open her arms wide.
“Oh my! If it isn’t our Yeon Woo!”
“Auntie!”
It was Gyu Bin’s mother.
The two women, delighted by their unexpected reunion, immediately rushed into each other’s arms for a warm hug.
Watching this, Tae Han’s eyebrows twitched unpleasantly.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
aah, serim really messed up.
claimed to know everything but in reality know nothing.
allergic reaction could be really dangerous.