In Ho stared intently at the coffee cup, from which the aroma was wafting.

The bitter scent of coffee spread all over his mouth.

What a leisurely experience it had been after so long.

Although he was cheered up by this thought, he noticed the silence filling the room and looked straight ahead.

“……”
Su Yeon had been looking uneasy for a while.

He wanted to have the conversation he couldn’t have yesterday seeing the situation, but he couldn’t say a word looking at her expression.

She seemed so surprised just by opening her mouth to speak.

It caused him some dilemma, but he soon made up his mind.

It was an issue that needed to be addressed at some point, it was a necessary conversation.

If Choi Su Yeon and Seo In Ho were not going to divorce and continue their married life.

In Ho had no intention of divorcing Su Yeon.

Therefore, it was right to correct things from now on.

“Um…”
“Uh……”
When In Ho opened his mouth after much contemplation,

At the same time, he heard Su Yeon’s voice.

In Ho looked at Su Yeon with surprise.

Even a brief eye contact had her avoiding it hastily, let alone initiating a conversation.

In Ho made a brief gesture suggesting she should speak first.

But Su Yeon immediately closed her mouth stubbornly with a scared look on her face.

“You had something to say, didn’t you?”
In Ho asked, prodding.

Su Yeon then opened her eyes wide and shook her head.

“No, no. You go first.”
It didn’t seem to be an important point.

In Ho nodded lightly and picked his words inwardly.

“Why didn’t you say anything all this while?”
He asked carefully, lowering his head.

He didn’t know how to face Su Yeon, he couldn’t find the clues or muster up the courage.

He felt sorry for bringing up something that should’ve been asked long ago, and above all, he felt shameless.

He had never dreamed of it.

That Su Yeon was going through such difficult days.

The answer didn’t come back easily.

When he sneakily raised his head, Su Yeon’s face was noticeably complicated.

In Ho felt even heavier.

“……I didn’t have the time.”
After a while, a nonchalant voice came back.

In Ho furrowed his brows.

“I didn’t have the time”, for some reason, that sounded like a lame excuse.

Surely, she was not trying to defend those outrageous actions committed by my mother.

If those words were out of her characteristically foolish kindness, he was going to give her a stern warning.

With those thoughts in mind, he looked straight at Su Yeon.

And at that exact moment, In Ho could be certain that his suspicion was completely wrong.

“Ah……I made it that way.”
A voice filled with emptiness fell from her lips without strength.

In Ho held his breath.

Su Yeon’s face was filled with resignation.

Though she was forcing a smile, her expression was clear.

She seemed too exhausted to even think about trying anything else.

In Ho exhaled heavily, his face full of despair.

It was what he had suspected, but the reality felt harsher once it was blatantly confirmed.

He clenched the coffee cup tightly.

His chest felt heavy. It was as hard as breathing with a heavy rock on his chest.

And his body felt as heavy as if it was about to sink to the ground.

It felt like he was being punished.

It was the price for his past self, who had only avoided the problems that he should’ve dealt with.

“No, it’s my fault. So……that’s why it happened like this.”
At the sudden sound of those words, In Ho’s eyes faced forward.

Su Yeon, who finished her sentence with a trembling voice, seemed like she could cry at any moment.

That made In Ho feel even heavier.

“In the beginning, you were nice to me. You must have felt it too, In Ho. Your mother liked me a lot.”
“Yeah, I only knew that much. She was always kind in front of me. So I couldn’t even imagine it. That she would treat you so badly when I wasn’t around.”

“It wasn’t like that from the beginning. Really, it wasn’t. You treated me really well. Every day was so happy, to the point where it felt like a dream, you really treated me well.”
Su Yeon vehemently denied In Ho’s words.

But the more she did, the more In Ho’s guilt doubled.

Ashamed to keep his head up, his gaze kept falling downwards.

Even raising his head to face her was just full of guilt.

Why was Choi Su Yeon so good to him?

If she had been a little less good, if she had been a woman who could be a little selfish.

Then, he might have been able to feign ignorance to some degree about this guilt that hit him all at once.

That difficult moments like this happen in life.

That they would try harder from now on and do well together.

Despite knowing it was irresponsible, he might have tried to gloss over it.

But facing Su Yeon, who was foolishly kind, he couldn’t do it.

“……When did it start?”
In Ho asked in a voice devoid of life.

Whether his emotions were conveyed, Su Yeon’s eyes trembled pitifully.

“I lied about being adopted and married you…….”
Su Yeon tried to answer bravely.

But her response did not fit the question he had asked, nor did her expression.