Seoha tightly grasped Taekyung’s clothing. Taekyung embraced Seoha, who did not resist, tightly.
He barely embraced her again.
For the past five years, he couldn’t forget her.
The warm and soft touch of Seoha brought back memories for Taekyung.
“Don’t run away. No matter what happens, I’ll protect you. You, Minjun, and Dad too.”
Taekyung’s voice was poignant. Even if he tried to leave, the place to return to was Seoha.
Taekyung cupped Seoha’s cheeks.
“Your cheeks are frozen. Let’s talk in the car. There’s something I need to discuss.”
Taekyung, wrapping Seoha, took her away in the car.
Seoha obediently followed him. Taekyung and Seoha sat side by side in the car.
Inside the car, the piano music Seoha liked played, and the warm air from the heater made the atmosphere warm.
Taekyung spoke first.
“I had an interview with a reporter today. I should have discussed it with you beforehand, sorry for not doing so.”
“An interview?”
“Yeah. It’s my fault. I should have cut off my relationship with Jinyu and made it clear.”
“…Am I a hindrance between you two?”
Taekyung burst into laughter as if he couldn’t believe Seoha’s question.
“Hindrance? What hindrance? Jinyu is the one who interfered between you and me.”
“Oppa and Senior Yuna got engaged five years ago. There were rumors already… and the photo.”
“It seems like there were rumors circulating among the adults as if it were a strategic marriage. But I’ve never approved of such marriages or engagements. There was only you for me.”
“But Senior Yuna kept saying as if she would marry you.”
“I should have prevented that. I’m sorry. It’s my fault. But a photo?”
Seoha wanted to believe Taekyung, but how should she understand the identity of the photo that still couldn’t be erased?
How should she deal with the betrayal she felt at that time?
Seoha hesitated with the unerasable scars even as she wanted Taekyung.
“That, the photo of Oppa and Senior Yuna being together at a hotel.”
“And it reached you?”
“I received it directly from Senior Yuna.”
Taekyung rubbed his forehead against the steering wheel. Then, he let out a deep sigh.
He knew very well what kind of photo it was. Taekyung had received that photo too.
He never imagined that Jinyu would send that photo to Seoha, tearing the two of them apart.
Taekyung carefully and earnestly explained to Seoha to somehow convey his true feelings.
“In truth, it may sound like an excuse, but there was nothing between Jinyu and me. I, too, was momentarily deceived by that photo.”
Seoha tightly shut her lips. She turned her head to look out the car window. She thought she had forgotten, but she couldn’t.
“The incident at that time. I’ll explain everything. So, just look at me. Turn your head.”
“…”
“Alright. Just listen to my story.”
Taekyung calmly continued without forcing Seoha to look at him.
“You suddenly disappeared, and I called you several times. Finally, during a connected call, I heard an unfamiliar man’s voice. When I asked who he was, he claimed to have a deep connection with you, saying we had a relationship. I couldn’t believe it, so I called you again afterward, but you never answered.”
Taekyung still felt a sharp knife in his heart when he recalled that time. Unconsciously, he bit down on his lower lip, and the lingering taste of bitter blood remained. The despair of that time seemed to rush back.
“I spent those days intoxicated. I was drunk even on that day at Jung-hu’s bar. There, I met Yuna. I had drunk so much that my memories were blurry. When I came to my senses, Jinyu had left after leaving an incomprehensible note. And probably, she sent me the same photo that you received.”
Taekyung grabbed a bottle of water in the car and drank it down in big gulps, his throat parched.
Seeing Seoha silently watching him, Taekyung continued.
“I told Yuna that we had slept together. At first, I didn’t care if it wasn’t you; I said, ‘Let it be as it is,’ feeling like there was no meaning to life. But something was odd.”
Taekyung furrowed his brow, forcibly bringing up a difficult story. These were memories he would rather keep hidden.
“No matter how drunk I was, I didn’t do anything like that. Even when I tried to piece together the sporadic memories, there was nothing. And the photo of a test kit that Jinyu claimed was for pregnancy, along with ultrasound photos, was fake. They were pictures circulating on the internet. Jinyu had never been pregnant, but she used that to threaten me.”
Thinking back to those days, Taekyung’s face became heavy with self-blame.
“In retrospect, I was so foolish and dense. If I could, I’d like to beat that version of myself to death. Really.”
“Oppa…”
“It’s truly infuriating. Not to anyone else but my foolish self. I should have actively looked for you. I shouldn’t have believed the words of a man whose identity I didn’t even know. I wouldn’t have accepted Yuna’s shallow promise to connect with me. I’m sorry. I was so foolish.”
Male lead is a Destined Young Husband (Female-dominant)
One-sentence summary: Wife-master, listen to my explanation!
Li Ruantang, a young lady from a prestigious family, stumbled and fell. When she woke up, she saw a noble and beautiful young man sitting by her bedside, wiping away tears.
The young master had slightly reddened eyes, and his every move exuded charm.
The sight made Li Ruantang’s eyes hot and her heart flutter. After all, she had made a bet with the young master Meng from the neighboring family. If she couldn’t marry a husband before the end of the year, she would have to admit defeat and give up the jade she had worked so hard to obtain.
Outside the window, the flowers were in full bloom.
Rather than losing the bet, the jade, and her face, Li Ruantang calculated that it would be better to seek marriage with the young master in front of her, killing three birds with one stone.
…
Meng Jun never thought that an accident during a spring outing would lead to them rolling down a cliff and into a river, yet still survive.
Now they were trapped in an unknown village, and Meng Jun had overheard that the family who had rescued them had their own intentions.
After all, it was Li Ruantang who had lost her mind and sought marriage first. He was only trying to protect himself!
Glancing at Li Ruantang, who was listing her own merits, the young husband’s voice softened, and he blushed as he lied, “W-wife-master, Wife-master, don’t you remember me?”
The young husband’s voice was clear and handsome, coaxing Li Ruantang’s heart to be soft and sweet, and she spared no effort to protect him.
It wasn’t until they returned to the capital that Li Ruantang suddenly remembered.
When they had fallen off the cliff, in order not to implicate Wei Yunruo, whom he secretly admired, the young husband had instead pulled her, who was slightly farther away, down the cliff with him…
Short summary by Yuushi L: Initially, the male lead (ML) liked another girl, while the female lead (FL) liked the ML. Both fell off a cliff. The FL temporarily lost her memory, and the ML, fearing others might take advantage of him, claimed FL was his wife while they were staying in a village. Later, when they returned home, the FL regained her memories and remembered that the ML liked someone else, so she kept her distance from him. However, during their time living together in the countryside, the ML’s view of the FL had completely changed. From this point, his pursuit of the FL begins.
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