Postponing Divorce (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 16

Chae Yoon was startled once by Jae Oh’s voice and twice by the absurd way he addressed her, so she stiffly turned her head to look at him.

Jae Oh met Chae Yoon’s eyes and approached her side without taking his gaze off her. It was as if he couldn’t see the man standing right next to her.

In contrast, only when Chae Yoon saw Jae Oh drawing closer did reality finally sink in.

Her large eyes blinked rapidly. In that time, her shocked mind slowly regained its place, making Jae Oh’s figure in her vision even clearer.

“Excuse me, who are you?”

The unfamiliar man made his presence known.

Jae Oh’s gaze, which had been fixed on Chae Yoon, shifted toward the man.

Because of the height difference, Jae Oh looked slightly down at him, his eyes filled with an icy chill.

“And who the hell are you?”

The man answered as if he’d been waiting for it.

“Ah, I was sharing a table with this lady and we were just about to leave together…”

Hearing the words coming out of the man’s mouth, Chae Yoon freaked out.

“Excuse me? Why are you saying it like that?”

As she snapped back, the man’s gaze fell on Chae Yoon.

Her round eyes, now completely free of the anxiety from moments ago.

Finding that look rather cute, Jae Oh smiled faintly, but then an icy voice rushed in like an attack.

“Hey.”

At the murderous tone that sounded like a blade drawn sharp and blue, the man’s eyes moved.

Finally, the stranger took his eyes off Chae Yoon, and Jae Oh glared at the man as if to pierce right through him and spoke.

“Didn’t you hear me just call her ‘honey’?”

A frigid gaze swept over the man’s appearance.

“Your ears don’t seem blocked…”

His eyes were ferocious, as if asking how he dared say such things in front of him.

Yet the man didn’t care at all.

“Ah, so you’re the soon-to-be ex-husband.”

And he even said that, causing Jae Oh’s face to harden coldly.

Chae Yoon, still seated in her chair, looked at the man with horrified eyes, but right now the most important thing was Jae Oh’s state.

Chae Yoon hurriedly moved her eyes to check on Jae Oh.

Sure enough, he was staring at the man as if he might cause a scene any second.

‘What do I do.’

The moment Chae Yoon recognized the serious atmosphere and swallowed dryly, Jae Oh’s steps moved toward the man.

Seeing this, Chae Yoon shot up from her seat.

She urgently approached Jae Oh, looked up at him, and said,

“Oppa. Let’s go.”

Even with the suggestion to leave, Jae Oh didn’t budge.

Having no choice, Chae Yoon grabbed his arm and urged him.

“Oppa. Stop paying attention to pointless things and let’s just go.”

The eyes that had seemed unresponsive to anything finally moved.

Feeling the gaze that had been piercing the man now turn to her, Chae Yoon seized the moment and gripped his arm even tighter. The way she held it almost looked like she was hugging his arm, but Chae Yoon had no time to care about what she was doing.

All she could think about was leaving this place quickly, so her large eyes filled with desperation.

“Let’s go. Please.”

With a pleading voice and pitiful gaze, the eyes that had been wavering with anger slowly regained calm.

The arm she was practically clinging to was the same. When she first grabbed it, the arm muscles had been so tense not even a needle could fit, yet now they had loosened considerably.

Even through his thick coat, she could feel that firmness before, but now it was much more relaxed.

This seemed to reflect Jae Oh’s emotions, so Chae Yoon let out a shallow breath of relief and said,

“Let’s go.”

If they left like this, it would be perfect.

That was definitely the case, but then the arm she was holding suddenly slipped away.

Realizing her mistake, Chae Yoon hurriedly opened her mouth.

“Oppa. Don’t…!”

She had meant to stop him from confronting the man.

“!”

But she certainly hadn’t meant for him to suddenly pick her up like a princess, so Chae Yoon could only stare at Jae Oh in stunned silence.

“W-What are you doing right now?”

Chae Yoon was so flustered she even stammered, while Jae Oh’s face was the picture of calm.

Jae Oh gazed at Chae Yoon’s wide, round eyes with leisurely ones.

After meeting her dazed large eyes, he explained why he had lifted her.

“You can’t walk properly when you’re drunk.”

His voice was so nonchalant it was almost infuriating.

[You fell over because you couldn’t walk last time, and now you say you’ll walk fine.]

The memory surfaced vividly, making Chae Yoon’s face flush red, but the murmurs of the people around them overwhelmed her embarrassment.

Too mortified to see anything, Chae Yoon glared hard and said,

“I only had a little today, and I’m not drunk, so put me down right now.”

“Yeah. You said that last time too.”

So he didn’t believe her this time either.

Chae Yoon’s eyes grew even fiercer.

“I only had two glasses of wine.”

“Really?”

Seeing his expression that seemed to say “so what,” Chae Yoon instinctively knew.

No matter what she said right now, this man wasn’t going to listen to her request.

‘No way. I can’t leave like this. Absolutely not.’

Her eyes looking at Jae Oh became urgent.

“Oppa. I’m really not drunk. So please, just put me down.”

She whispered almost in tears, gritting her teeth, but the reply was enough to make her want to flip her clothes inside out.

“Yeah. When we get home.”

Home?

‘You’re going to carry me like this all the way home?’

That was ridiculous.

“Are you crazy? Put me down. Now.”

“…”

“Oppa. O…”

Chae Yoon, who had just used the firmest voice of her life, couldn’t continue. He had started walking.

Feeling everyone’s eyes suddenly focus on her and Jae Oh, Chae Yoon didn’t know where to look.

‘What do I do. What do I do!’

Rolling her eyes in panic inside, Chae Yoon eventually pressed her head tightly against Jae Oh’s chest and hid her face with her bag.

‘What kind of mess is this…’

The face hidden behind the bag turned into a crying expression.

While Chae Yoon’s mind was in turmoil, Jae Oh felt her pressing even closer and momentarily stopped walking.

Then, as if thinking of something, he slightly turned his body and looked at the man who had been beside Chae Yoon.

The man who met Jae Oh’s eyes gave an awkward smile and shrugged.

Jae Oh carefully studied the man’s face as if engraving it in his memory, then shifted his gaze to the wine glass in front of where Chae Yoon had been sitting.

After lightly scanning the transparent glass, Jae Oh only resumed walking after feeling Chae Yoon fidgeting.

Meanwhile, sensing Jae Oh stop, Chae Yoon peeked out from the bag hoping he might put her down and tried to check his reaction.

But his feet started moving again, and feeling that, Chae Yoon quickly hid her face behind the bag once more.

‘I’m really going crazy.’

He’s not actually going to carry me all the way home like this, right? Why is this man acting like this? Does the word “embarrassing” not exist in Han Jae Oh’s head? Was this man always this kind of personality? All sorts of thoughts swirled as he stopped walking again.

Thinking he was finally putting her down, Chae Yoon lowered the bag that had been covering her face.

“Why are you suddenly doing this…”

Her eyes met exactly with one of the people glancing at her and Jae Oh as they passed.

Startled, Chae Yoon stopped mid-sentence and hid behind the bag again.

Seeing Chae Yoon frantically lifting and lowering the bag by herself, Jae Oh let out a soft laugh and adjusted his hold on her.

From the sudden motion of being lifted and settled again, Chae Yoon’s head bumped against Jae Oh’s chest.

Unintentionally resting her head on his chest once more, Chae Yoon squeezed her eyes shut.

The stimulating scent of his cologne gently wafted into her nose.

If she could, she wanted to shoot up into the sky, but that was impossible.

Biting her lip hard, Chae Yoon prayed for time to pass quickly.

Beneath the high wall, Jae Oh’s car came to a stop.

The moment the car stopped, the passenger door flew open. The person who came out was Chae Yoon.

Practically bouncing out, Chae Yoon ran toward the gate as if sprinting.

Looking exactly like she was fleeing, Chae Yoon reached the gate, frantically pressing the intercom while muttering,

“Open, open, please open quickly.”

As if reading her mind, the gate opened right away.

Chae Yoon squeezed through the slowly opening gap and ran straight ahead.

Moving her legs quickly, she dashed through the garden, past the front door, up the stairs, all the way to her room, out of breath, and locked the door the moment she entered.

“Haa, haa, haa…”

Rough breaths kept bursting out.

Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it would explode.

Chae Yoon placed a hand on her chest and calmed her ragged breathing with deep breaths.

‘Calm down, calm down.’

She repeated it to herself, but her chaotic heart refused to settle easily.

The reason Chae Yoon’s heart was racing like this wasn’t just from running.

30 minutes ago.

Having been carried in Jae Oh’s arms all the way to the restaurant lobby, Chae Yoon was practically out of her mind.

‘Han Jae Oh has really gone crazy.’

Chae Yoon thought no word other than “crazy” could describe the current Jae Oh.

Contrary to her expectation that he would put her down once they left the restaurant, he carried her into the elevator and was still holding her even now while waiting for the valet car.

She hadn’t failed to ask him to put her down. Before the elevator, she had begged desperately, and right after getting out, she had threatened (not really a threat) that she would scream if he didn’t.

And to all of it, he had answered like this.

[Last time I let you go alone because you said that, you almost fell.]

Even when she said it wasn’t the case now, it didn’t work at all.

Moreover, his strength was insane; no matter how much she tensed her heavy body to make him put her down, he showed no sign of difficulty.

By this point, Chae Yoon had to give up asking him for anything.

Once she reached resignation, the only thought that came was “Why has Han Jae Oh suddenly gone crazy?”

When her exhausted mind from the prolonged battle could only think simply, Jae Oh’s car appeared.

Her round eyes sparkled with the expectation that she could finally escape this humiliating pose.

Chae Yoon jerked her head up to look at Jae Oh and said,

“Oppa, the car is he…”

Her excited words stopped midway.

It was because Jae Oh’s gaze completely filled her vision.

Flustered by Jae Oh staring at her so intensely, Chae Yoon quickly lowered her eyes.

‘Why is he looking at me with those eyes.’

She didn’t know the reason, but the brief eye contact felt overwhelming, so without looking at him, Chae Yoon spoke softly.

“The car is here, so put me down now.”

“…”

Even if she spoke softly, it wasn’t quiet enough not to be heard. Yet when Jae Oh showed no reaction, Chae Yoon’s brows narrowed.

What on earth would make him listen.

She thought his stubbornness was truly impressive and was about to say something when—

“Divorce.”

A low voice rang heavily.

At the pleasant timbre, Chae Yoon looked at him as if entranced.

Then Jae Oh deeply intertwined his gaze with hers and added,

“Do we really have to?”

Eyes that seemed to linger with regret.

Facing those eyes thick with some emotion, Chae Yoon’s heart went thud and pounded fiercely.