Crossing the Line in Married Life - Chapter 38

Two days have passed since that tumultuous event.

Given that it was an extraordinary family, I expected meeting his relatives would be unusual, but with the sudden appearance of his former fiancée, the gathering turned into a battlefield with flying blood.

In fact, I’m not sure if the word ‘war’ is appropriate to use.

A fight requires both sides to clash, but yesterday, Tae Sung clearly attacked his ex-fiancée one-sidedly, and she just silently endured the pain.

‘Do Yi Young, was it? She looked much more delicate and kind than I had imagined…’

Ji Wan’s expression visibly darkened as she recalled Yi Young.

She had felt uncomfortable before when Hwa Young suddenly barged into the house and told her about the dramatic breakup, but after seeing the actual person involved, a sense of guilt was unavoidable.

Of course, she knew Tae Sung didn’t want a political marriage with Yi Young and staged a dramatic scene to prevent it.

‘Still… no matter what, it seems Yi Young was sincere. Even if he disliked her, wasn’t it too much to threaten her by showing a knife?’

Since accidentally witnessing Yi Young crying pitifully like a child, that thought wouldn’t leave Ji Wan’s mind.

But she couldn’t speak openly to Tae Sung about it.

Since that day, Tae Sung’s mood had been noticeably down, making it difficult to even engage in casual conversation, let alone talk about Yi Young.

“What are you thinking about so deeply?”

Tae Sung, who had been catching up on work in his room before bed, came out to the living room and asked.

Ji Wan, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa, shook her head lightly and answered.

“Just thinking.”

“I’m curious about what you’re thinking.”

“There’s a lot I’m curious about. It’s about work, so don’t worry about it.”

Hearing Ji Wan’s words, Tae Sung shrugged and put water in the coffee pot.

Ji Wan found herself unconsciously observing his behavior.

He’s not initiating playful banter or saying embarrassing things like before, so he still seems off…

“Want some herbal tea? I found some in the cupboard.”

But seeing him take care of her first like this, it seems he might be regaining some of his usual condition.

“I’ll have a cup, please. They say drinking tea before bed is good for sleep.”

Ji Wan deliberately accepted his offer, as she hadn’t had many chances to talk face-to-face with Tae Sung lately.

Tae Sung opened the cupboard with familiarity and took out two herbal tea bags that even Ji Wan had forgotten about.

“Oh, it really feels like Tae Sung’s home now. I’m not sure if this is something to marvel at or seriously consider.”

Ji Wan said, watching him.

Tae Sung’s lips curved up slightly, and soon he brought two cups of steeped herbal tea to the sofa.

“I’m living comfortably thanks to you.”

“To hear you say ‘thanks to me’ when I’ve tried so hard to make you uncomfortable.”

“Did you?”

“Yes. It’s just that it had no effect on you at all. You’re the type whose shamelessness reaches the sky.”

As Ji Wan received the teacup and gave a playful jab, Tae Sung let out a small laugh.

It’s not as energetic as usual, but at least he’s responding like this.

Ji Wan threw out an everyday topic to keep this momentum going.

“How’s work? Wasn’t there a mountain of tasks waiting for you when you returned?”

“It was terrible.”

“So that’s why you come home late every day. Even past dinnertime.”

“To say it’s because of that… I usually leave work around that time anyway.”

At this point, he would normally have made a flirtatious joke like ‘You must have been waiting for me a lot.’

But seeing the conversation progress so normally, it seems he’s still in a subdued state.

Ji Wan took a sip of the warm herbal tea, pondering what topic to bring up next.

That’s when.

“How about… we leave this house?”

Tae Sung threw out an unexpected suggestion to move.

Ji Wan, who had nowhere else to stay besides here, asked as if to say ‘What are you talking about?’

“Why so suddenly? Leave? To where?”

“For now, to my house. Though it’s a publicly known address, if it’s the same here, I think a place with better security would be good.”

“Really? Are you serious?”

“We’ll stay there for a while, and if needed, I plan to look for a better place.”

Seeing him speak in a serious voice without a hint of humor, this was clearly sincere.

This shelter where she had lived with her father for a long time since childhood.

Although it was an old apartment, leaving here would require too big a decision for Ji Wan.

“I can’t go. No, I won’t go.”

Ji Wan said with a firm expression.

Tae Sung’s eyes hardened for a moment.

Still, Ji Wan looked straight into those eyes and drove the point home once more.

“According to the plan, we should have been divorced long ago. And now you want me to change where I live too? Don’t you think this is too much, even for you?”

Her tone became a bit pushy, but she thought it was for the better.

Although she had been swayed lately, in the end, he was no different from a stranger to Ji Wan.

The important thing in our relationship is not maintaining a good relationship, but reaching a clean conclusion where neither party loses and both win.

That’s why Ji Wan absolutely could not yield on this issue.

“You really won’t do it?”

Tae Sung asked.

Ji Wan answered decisively with a firm expression.

“If you come at me like this, I’ll have no choice but to rush the contract termination.”

“Contract termination?”

“Divorce.”

The divorce talk that hadn’t been brought up for a while started again.

She hadn’t mentioned it because it didn’t seem like the right timing for divorce, but she deliberately brought up the word to show how adamant she was.

Still, knowing his situation, she was planning to withdraw it again if he just didn’t touch the house issue, but…

“…”

After silently looking into Ji Wan’s eyes for a moment, Tae Sung let out a short sigh and answered.

“Alright, let’s do that.”

Ji Wan’s eyes widened at these unexpected words from his mouth.

“What…? Do you really mean that?”

Ji Wan’s voice trembled as she asked, but his voice that soon followed was calm and plain.

“I mean it. Let’s divorce.”

So it felt somewhat cold.

Enough to make Ji Wan’s heart ache for a moment, even though she had wished for divorce so much from two weeks before the contract ended.

* * *

Let’s divorce.

Yes, that’s exactly what he said.

Joo Tae Sung, who would pretend not to hear and avoid eye contact even at the mere mention of divorce while staying in this house, ended things without a shred of lingering attachment.

Although Ji Wan had longed for divorce so much, this sudden change in attitude was hard to accept.

So as she just met Tae Sung’s eyes, he spoke once more as if to give a definitive answer.

‘I’ll prepare the divorce papers. Fill them out as is and hand them over to me.’

Until she heard those words, Ji Wan thought it might not be his true intentions.

Since he was a man who specialized in doing things his own way, she had assumed this time too he was making a strong move to get his way.

But the next morning, the dining table that was always set with appetizing meals was empty, and Tae Sung, who always greeted Ji Wan from the same spot, had already left the house.

The situation was the same the following morning, and in the evening, Tae Sung didn’t even come home.

And on the third morning.

Finally, something was placed on the empty dining table, but it was divorce papers with only Tae Sung’s personal information filled out and a contract termination agreement signaling the end of this marriage.

The moment she received it, emotions that were difficult to define began to flow into Ji Wan’s heart like a tide.

She thought she would feel relieved to finally be getting divorced, but most of the emotions were uncomfortable, leaving her bewildered at herself.

And now, having trudged to work holding those divorce papers she had received like that.

“Sigh… Joo Tae Sung… You really confuse people until the end.”

Ji Wan was in such a conflicted state that she couldn’t focus even in front of the mountain of work piled up.

She finally received the papers she had wanted so much, but she didn’t know why everything felt so complicated and difficult.

Watching her, Director Jang Dae Chul approached Ji Wan, sipping his mixed coffee.

“My, my, what could have our star reporter Lee Ji Wan looking so gloomy?”

“Ah, senior…”

“Don’t sigh. It’ll upset those who’ve had their stories stolen.”

It was Director Jang being sarcastic since losing the article about Joo Tae Sung.

Ji Wan was in no mood to deal with him, but since she couldn’t avoid it, she put on a fake smile and said,

“What brings you all the way to this humble place from your lofty perch, senior?”

Her tone ended up being sarcastic due to her terrible mood.

The director, glaring at Ji Wan with a displeased expression, delivered his business in a voice dripping with spite.

“Congratulations. The chief editor has assigned this in-depth interview with Joo Tae Sung to reporter Lee Ji Wan.”

“…What?”

“Why are you pretending to be surprised now? Didn’t Joo Tae Sung say back then that he’d give you an in-depth interview too?”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

Landing an in-depth interview with a socially prominent figure would be extremely helpful for Ji Wan’s career.

However, the problem was her relationship with Joo Tae Sung.

Of all times, they were in the middle of a cold war facing divorce, so there was no way she could propose an interview.

To begin with, that interview was promised with the meaning of delaying the divorce and trying to overcome this crisis together as much as possible.

After pondering, Ji Wan said in a heavy voice,

“I don’t think it will work. The in-depth interview with Joo Tae Sung.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You can do it instead of me, senior.”

“Ha, Joo Tae Sung said it has to be you, no one else.”

“It’s probably not the case now. The in-depth interview wasn’t just a promise with me, but also with the newspaper…”

At her sudden statement, deep furrows appeared between Director Jang Dae Chul’s brows.

“Do you think what you’re saying makes any sense?”

“But…”

“No buts or excuses. He’s a prosecutor we’ve been trying to connect with several times before because he’s only been involved in high-profile cases. But he’s never once associated with the press. He absolutely refused to talk about the cases or himself.”

“Yes, I heard that…”

“And now this person says he’ll only do an in-depth interview with you. And it’s about a huge case and related to his own story.”

“…”

“Do you think this is something you can just brush off?”

It was in the form of a question, but it was absolutely not a question.

The director’s eyes flashed for a moment, warning that if she didn’t answer properly here, she wouldn’t be able to avoid big trouble.

Ji Wan trembled like a mouse trapped in a maze, unable to do this or that.

“You must. Get. The Joo Tae Sung. Interview.”

The director speaking to her with anger in each word was almost threatening.

Unable to find a way out of this situation, Ji Wan could only swallow dryly with a completely stiff face.