Breaking Matchmaking - Chapter 12
Startled by the loud noise, Young Ja rushed out to the living room.
Curtain rods rolling on the floor, torn sofa fabric, an overturned large basin with red pepper paste flowing in front of it.
Approaching the kitchen at the sound of more glass breaking, she found many dishes shattered in a mess.
“What, what… What is this now!”
Seeing even her old plates she brought when she got married broken in half, Young Ja trembled as she looked at Chae Won standing there with an innocent face.
“Hey, what are you doing right now!”
“I wasn’t feeling well since this morning, and I have no strength in my hands at all. I think I’m just not in good condition today.”
Young Ja exclaimed in exasperation at Chae Won’s expression of concern for her own health, touching her forehead, rather than being flustered by the situation she had caused.
“Hey! Are you crazy? Do you know how expensive these dishes are? Huh?”
Chae Won, who had been very worried about herself, soon relaxed her expression and looked at Young Ja.
“Mother, aren’t you worried that I have so little strength in my hands? Are the dishes more important than people?”
Young Ja’s astonished lips couldn’t close.
“Oh my, oh my, this girl must really be crazy!”
Woof woof! Woof woof! The dog’s barking from the bathroom was unusually loud.
With Jenny’s groaning added to it, the startled Young Ja headed towards the bathroom following the sound.
“You, you, you, what are you doing now!”
Jenny, who was stepping on the blanket in the bathtub with her feet, lifted her head abruptly.
“Mom!”
“What, what are you doing in there now!”
“Well, sister… She said if I do this, she’ll lend me her clothes for next week’s hotel vacation.”
“Oh my, oh my, oh my, crazy. Oh my! Oh my!”
Chae Won approached with an expression still very concerned about her own body.
Young Ja, sensing her presence, glared at Chae Won as if to kill her.
“Are you crazy? How dare you make our Jenny do this! She’s lived without getting a single drop of water on her!”
“Living without getting a single drop of water on you is dirty, Mother.”
“Hey!”
Chae Won, taking her hand off her forehead, gestured to Jenny as if telling her to finish what she was doing and said,
“The young lady is about to get married too, so she needs to know the duties of a daughter-in-law. She needs to study in advance.”
“Hey! Are you and her the same?”
“What’s different?”
Chae Won gave a gentle smile as she looked at the trembling Young Ja.
“What’s this, why is it so noisy?”
At that moment, Jae Min, who was entering through the front door, sauntered over.
Chae Won turned around and went to the sofa to pick up her bag.
“I’ll be going now. I don’t seem to be in good condition.”
Chae Won coughed as she looked at the dog hair floating in the air.
“Then, I’ll see you next weekend.”
Chae Won, who bid farewell with a fragile expression, headed for the front door, and Jae Min hurriedly chased after her, not wanting to miss her.
“Where are you going!”
“I’m not feeling well today, so let’s see each other next week.”
“No, you can’t go. Today, we need to finish our talk properly before you leave!”
When Jae Min grabbed Chae Won’s arm strongly, she looked at the wrist he was holding with a cold expression.
“It’s going to break.”
Jae Min hurriedly let go of her hand, seeing her expression that suggested nothing would work if he didn’t release her.
“Are you satisfied now?”
Chae Won, who carefully caressed her own arm, slowly raised her eyes.
“If you really want to talk… I think I can spare about the time it takes to have a coffee outside.”
Jae Min, who needed to finalize the divorce while hiding his affair, spoke in a more subdued voice.
“Alright, then come out.”
As Jae Min went ahead, Chae Won looked at his back.
She wondered if the shirt sticking to him due to sweat was because of the woman he had just talked to on the phone, or because of Hee Joo who threatened to leave like this.
Thinking that regardless of who caused this sweat, there wouldn’t be many days left for it to dry, Chae Won slowly followed him out.
*
‘If you don’t bring proper results by today, I’ll meet your wife myself!’
Jae Min blew cigarette smoke into the air, recalling his recent phone conversation with Ro Na.
As her pregnancy progressed, Ro Na became more sensitive, and Hee Joo was stubbornly refusing to separate even if he offered to divide the assets.
“This is really driving me crazy.”
Although it was probably said in anger, if Ro Na really appeared before Hee Joo, a divorce that could be solved simply would become complicated in an instant.
Ro Na was underestimating Hee Joo, remembering her as a gentle bear when they had alumni gatherings at home a few times, but no matter how naive Hee Joo might be, she wouldn’t easily divorce after knowing about an affair.
Above all, as a lawyer, he knew better that a contested divorce is complicated and can be a long battle taking up to 2-3 years, so it’s best to aim for an uncontested divorce if possible.
“I must settle this today.”
Determined not to wait another week like this, Jae Min stubbed out his cigarette with his shoe.
As Jae Min entered the cafe and looked around, his gaze soon fixed on Chae Won.
“Oh, here too. I’m sorry! I should have watched where I was going.”
“It’s okay.”
A woman bending down to pick up cosmetics next to the table, and a man with a strong personality bowing apologetically.
Jae Min’s gaze was fixed on the two of them.
“Excuse me…”
Although he had picked up all the items and apologized, so he should just leave now, the man looked at Chae Won and prolonged his words.
“Could I possibly get your contact information? You’re really my type…”
Jae Min’s eyebrows, which had been watching indifferently, suddenly contorted.
“Oh, do you perhaps have a boyfriend?”
Jae Min’s gaze immediately turned to Chae Won’s lips.
She brushed back her long, fine hair and said with a small smile,
“No.”
Jae Min, dumbfounded, let out an exasperated breath as he watched, then walked over with quick steps.
“No boyfriend, but…”
“Honey!”
At Jae Min’s voice, Chae Won turned her head, then looked back at the man in front of her, at Sung Min, as if seeing him for the first time.
“As you can see, I have a husband.”
As Chae Won made it clear, Jae Min, who was about to argue, finally straightened his shoulders and looked at the man with displeasure.
Sung Min’s eyebrows twitched with displeasure at Chae Won’s unusually fragile demeanor, but fortunately, Jae Min didn’t notice.
“Ah, I’m sorry. I apologize!”
After scrutinizing Jae Min closely, Sung Min pretended to be flustered as Chae Won had instructed and hurriedly left the cafe.
After confirming that the guy had completely disappeared, Jae Min’s head finally turned back to Chae Won.
He was about to say something about how she should behave as a married woman, but she smiled with her eyes and said,
“I’ll have a warm latte.”
Watching Chae Won move to a seat by the window as if telling him to go order, Jae Min blinked several times.
It was always his wife’s role to order and bring the coffee.
After confirming that Chae Won had taken a seat by the window, Jae Min reluctantly headed to the counter, then turned back again.
“What the…”
There were several glances from men sticking to her.
Although she had changed her makeup and style unlike usual, was it really enough to glance at her like this?
Turning his gaze back to Chae Won, Jae Min stared at her with a blank expression as if drawn in, then quickly came to his senses.
“You’re really determined to hold onto me, aren’t you? Do you think I’ll fall for this?”
Jae Min, who moistened his lower lip with his tongue as if displeased, sat down in the chair in front of Chae Won after ordering.
“Did you order?”
The long eyelashes facing the window rose haughtily.
She had always been fair-skinned, but today she seemed even more porcelain-like.
Jae Min’s gaze, which had flowed down her white neckline, reached Chae Won’s shoulder.
Was she always this thin? She seems to have lost some weight compared to before.
“Hey.”
Jae Min, who had been looking at her, soon spoke in a displeased voice.
“Cover your shoulder. Your cardigan is slipping down, and your shoulder is all visible!”
“Hey.”
With Chae Won’s low voice, Jae Min’s eyes widened.
“Don’t say that.”
“…Huh?”
“Since I have a beautiful name given by my parents, don’t erase my precious name with the word ‘hey’ in front of me again. At that time, I really…”
“…”
“I won’t tolerate it.”
Jae Min, who had been staring at Chae Won with a blank expression, soon cleared his throat and turned his head.
“Ahem, alright, relax. I really came to talk to you seriously today.”
Chae Won leaned back comfortably against the backrest.
“Hee Joo, what do I have to do for you to divorce?”
“Do you dislike me that much?”
“We’re just not compatible!”
“Let’s try to work it out.”
“We’ve tried enough, what more is there to work out? I’m saying this because it’s not working out. And I’m going through a slump and have no feelings for you at all!”
Chae Won turned her head towards the window as if listening to a boring story and said,
“It could be a temporary feeling. Maybe by being apart like this as a weekend couple, we’ll realize how precious we are to each other.”
“We’ve already been apart, and I have no feelings!”
Chae Won, who had crossed her legs, leaned towards the table.
“So you’re saying that even if I meet another man, even if I give my contact information to a man like earlier, you wouldn’t feel anything?”
Jae Min’s answer was a bit delayed as it sounded like she was saying she would meet another man.
“…Well, you should meet someone after we divorce.”
“I didn’t know you had no feelings for me at all.”
Chae Won lowered her gaze with a noticeably sunken expression.
Jae Min silently watched Chae Won, who seemed to be about to decide to divorce right away, as her thoughts deepened.
With a deep sigh, Chae Won, showing her delicate jawline, turned her gaze back to the window.
The atmosphere suggested she might give up soon.
Chae Won’s fragile atmosphere, which evoked a protective instinct, suddenly reminded Jae Min of the first moment he met her.
It was a time when he liked everything about her, who was kind and gentle.
“I understand. I’ll think about it seriously too.”
Hearing her ask for time to consider, Jae Min nodded reluctantly.
Unlike the past days when she had stubbornly refused, this much seemed to show an end in sight.
Jae Min looked at Chae Won’s profile for a long time as she rested her chin on the table, thinking.
“But you know.”
“Yeah?”
“Do you dislike me that much?”
Given the atmosphere that seemed to show an end in sight, facing those doe-like eyes again somehow made it difficult to say yes.
Seeing Chae Won’s expression sink again as if in despair, Jae Min’s lips moved with an expression difficult to untangle.
“No, it’s not like that.”
“And also.”
“Yeah?”
“What happened to my warm coffee?”
Jae Min, who looked at the counter with a blank expression, quickly got up when his eyes met Chae Won’s again.
“I’ll, I’ll go get it.”
“Hurry.”
Jae Min, who had hurriedly gone to fetch the coffee, suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“…Is she going to cry all night again today?”
Jae Min, who knew his tearful wife well, turned his head to look at her.
As she leaned back in her chair and brushed her hair, she exuded a haughty atmosphere rather than any hint of tears.
“Her style change really makes a different atmosphere…”
While appreciating his wife’s different atmosphere, Jae Min’s eyes met hers, and he hurriedly rushed to get the coffee.
*
After changing clothes at home, Chae Won drove out and arrived at Restaurant Venezia.
Chae Won, who took off her sunglasses as she got out, first looked at her watch on her wrist.
“You’re early today.”
Chae Won, startled, turned her head towards the sound, and saw Yoo Gun closing the driver’s side door after just getting out of his car.
Chae Won looked Yoo Gun up and down in his suit without a tie, then raised her eyes to meet his gaze again.
More accurately, she should have met his gaze, since he had come close and stood face to face with her.
“I like that our date locations are always predictable. Watch a movie, eat, have tea. Today’s concept seems to be having a romantic dinner?”
“Contrary to expectations, it seems we’ll have to go to an unpredictable place soon.”
This man really dresses well.
It might be because he has such good physique that anything he wears seems to suit him well.
Chae Won, who had been examining the harmony of the shirt that exuded sexiness without being excessive and the perfectly fitting jacket, asked in a nonchalant voice.
“Where is that?”
“A hotel.”
“Ah, ho…?”
Chae Won, who had taken her eyes off Yoo Gun’s clothes, straightened her neck and met his eyes.
She had been thinking about fashion just now, and then recalled his cousin’s fashion that had made her shake her head recently, so she must have misheard.
“Did you just mention your cousin’s name?”
When Yoo Gun closed his lips for a moment after the question, Chae Won smiled apologetically.
“Ah, I must have misheard. I was thinking of something else… I’m so absent-minded these days. I’m not usually like this, even when I’m not feeling well, my mind is always clear and definite. But lately, maybe because I’m worried about my sister’s situation, I’m definitely different from before.”
“Kim Chae Won.”
Chae Won nodded her head a couple of times as if trying to clear her mind.
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Let’s spend just one night together soon.”
Chae Won’s smiling lips immediately dropped.
Yoo Gun was as nonchalant as if he had said ‘Let’s have a meal sometime’, and Chae Won stood frozen as if broken, her lips barely moving.
Silence fell as they looked at each other.
Then, Chae Won’s single exclamation finally burst out.
“…What?”
Although she asked again, not believing what she had heard, there was no hesitation or wavering in Yoo Gun’s eyes as he faced her.
Male lead fell into her trap — and shattered when she walked away
This is also on my reread list!
This one is a slow burn, but when it burns, it burns hard.
Definitely worth a read, y’all!
The story follows a thousand-year-old seductive spirit who, on a bet, sets out to charm the male lead—a once-promising but unfortunate cultivator.
But just when she succeeds in making him fall for her, she heartlessly leaves, driving him to madness.
Determined to find her at all costs, he captures her, keeping her by his side no matter what, even if she hates him.
I love this kind of trope—I enjoy watching the male lead suffer in agony.
The ending drags a bit with unnecessary filler, but that’s fine.
As long as I enjoy the beginning, I’m good.
Intro
As an enchantress, Su Heng possesses captivating eyes and charming beauty, easily manipulating the joys and sorrows of living beings at her fingertips.
But to enchant a god, making him taste the bitterness of love’s separation, long-lasting resentment, unattainable desires, and inability to let go…
Do you dare?
Su Heng assists a divine lord in his cultivation, aiming to make him experience all the sufferings of love, so that he can attain the Great Dao.
Only after being chased down from the heavens by the divine lord, confined and completely possessed by him, does she realize how successful she has been.
The once gentle and polite youth has transformed into someone she no longer recognizes.
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