That Night's Circumstance (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 15
In Ho silently stared at the hospital room ceiling, beginning to tint with the first light of dawn.
After their brief exchange, Soo Yeon had turned her back and lain still, showing not even the slightest movement since.
Thus, for the first time in a very long while, In Ho could reflect on Soo Yeon without any interruptions.
Just by turning his head slightly, he could see her back.
Each time he took in that sight, his chest grew heavy with emotion.
Thinking about how much silent pain she must have endured during all that time he never knew about made it feel as if a dense stone had settled right in the center of his chest.
Above the empty air, the face of Soo Yeon—one he’d seen countless times—floated into view.
“It’s okay. I’m…”
“…”
“I’m really okay.”
Soo Yeon, looking as if she might burst into tears at any moment, had always insisted she was fine, as if it were a habit.
“Huh.”
In Ho let out a soft sigh and once again fixed his gaze on Soo Yeon’s back.
Still, not even the faintest sign of movement.
It was as though she’d fallen into a deep sleep.
Was she wandering safely through her dreams right now?
Though it had already been an hour since they’d turned off the lights and lain down, he couldn’t be sure.
For some time now, Soo Yeon had been suffering from severe insomnia.
Even though he knew this, he’d never once asked if she was alright.
It might sound like an excuse, but truthfully, he himself had been growing more exhausted day by day, leaving him with no energy to properly care for her.
Thinking back, it hadn’t always been this way.
Although theirs had been an arranged marriage, their daily life had undeniably been filled with small, ordinary happinesses—no different from any typical marriage.
And that had been possible solely because Soo Yeon had been such a wonderful wife.
She always did her utmost to support me, her husband.
She diligently managed the household and worked tirelessly to win the affection of my parents—her in-laws—never neglecting even the subtlest acts of thoughtful care for my sake.
Thanks to her, I could focus even more intently on my acting career and enjoyed great success in every project I undertook.
While that success was partly due to my own efforts, it was a result I never could have achieved without Soo Yeon.
There was simply no way I could fail to respect her or treat her sincerely.
Though our marriage had begun without love, Soo Yeon had steadily taken root in In Ho’s heart.
He liked Soo Yeon.
He couldn’t pinpoint exactly when it started, but he found her beautiful—always willing to go to any lengths for me—and her shy smile whenever she looked at me utterly endearing.
The quiet moments we spent together became precious to him, and with each passing day, his feelings for Soo Yeon only deepened.
That is, until that incident happened.
“In Ho, did you know about this too?”
“Know what?”
“They say our baby is adopted. Hah… of course not. How could you possibly have known? I didn’t even know myself.”
My mother, who had unexpectedly called me out to lunch, wasted no time after we sat down before revealing this completely new piece of information about Soo Yeon.
To say I felt absolutely nothing upon hearing that would be a lie. It wasn’t so much betrayal as it was a certain shock.
Not because she was adopted—but because she’d never told me, making me feel as if she’d hidden the truth from me throughout our entire marriage.
But even that feeling didn’t last long.
I began to think that perhaps being adopted was a painful secret she never wanted exposed.
Moreover, even if she was the adopted daughter of Tae Shin Group, that didn’t invalidate the genuine affection she’d shown me throughout our marriage.
Once I came to this realization, the shock quickly faded, along with even the slightest ripple of resentment.
To In Ho, Soo Yeon remained the same kind, lovely wife—the unchanged Choi Soo Yeon.
But she wasn’t the same.
Whether it was because she thought I’d discovered her secret, she started changing gradually—though he couldn’t say exactly from which day.
The first sign of this change came when she suddenly dismissed the housekeeper who had been helping with chores.
“Why did you fire the housekeeper all of a sudden?”
“I just… felt a bit uncomfortable.”
When I asked about this abrupt decision, Soo Yeon gave no particular reason.
Though puzzled, I didn’t press her further—
because even that single question had made her look deeply uneasy.
Still, I worried about her firing the housekeeper without having any backup plan.
Our newlywed home was far too big for just two people, and managing all the housework alone was obviously overwhelming.
Still, for the first few days, I respected her wishes and left things as they were.
But by the end of the week, In Ho was certain.
He had to rehire help, no matter what.
Not only was Soo Yeon, who had always been slender, growing visibly thinner, but her face had lost so much weight I barely recognized her.
He held Soo Yeon firmly and spoke earnestly,
“It’s too much for you alone. Let’s hire help again.”
But each time, Soo Yeon would offer a faint smile while firmly refusing.
“…I’m really okay.”
I can handle it all by myself.
It was impossible to believe.
She looked anything but alright—and yet insisted she was fine.
But he couldn’t push her further.
Whenever she said that, she seemed to be putting forth her best effort just to appear well.
Her expression clearly conveyed she no longer wished to discuss the matter—and repeating the same conversation felt almost unfair.
That was why.
He stopped urging her.
He figured that if things became truly unbearable, she’d bring up hiring a new housekeeper herself.
But even when her body started aching from exhaustion due to the overwhelming chores, she never once mentioned rehiring help.
Eventually, unable to stand it any longer, he secretly called his mother, asking if she could send Aunt Yeong Cheon—the housekeeper who looked after their family home in Seongbuk-dong—to help at their new place.
If she felt uncomfortable with strangers, surely Aunt Yeong Cheon would be acceptable.
But a few days later, a different, unfamiliar middle-aged woman showed up at their home instead of Aunt Yeong Cheon.
He immediately called his mother, only to be told this was something arranged in consultation with Soo Yeon.
Hanging up, he went straight to find Soo Yeon.
“You’re okay with the new housekeeper?”
“…Of course. It’s fine. I was managing on my own, but did you worry a lot?”
Even as she said this, Soo Yeon still didn’t look alright.
Yet again, she was doing her best to pretend everything was fine.
It was truly strange, but he let it go.
She still clearly showed no desire to prolong any conversation about household help.
But Soo Yeon’s odd behavior didn’t stop there.
“You rest this time—I’ll go to the family gathering alone. You look really unwell.”
Since she’d been too sick to move all day, he decided to attend their prearranged dinner with his parents alone to spare her.
But Soo Yeon insisted on getting up from bed.
And what had she said again?
“No, it’s fine. I can go.”
Yes, even then, she’d said she was fine.
And her “I’m fine” kept coming, again and again.
“Is something going on with you lately? You never used to, but now you keep bringing up pregnancy. Now that I think about it, you also seem increasingly down.”
After noticing she only asked for intimacy around ovulation days and kept mentioning wanting a child every time she returned from grueling shoots, he cautiously asked.
He worried she might be feeling pressured about pregnancy behind his back.
But again, her reply was the same.
“…No, I just didn’t sleep well last night, that’s all. I’m fine—my health is perfectly okay. Besides, today’s ovulation day, so…”
How could anything possibly be “fine”?
She looked absolutely unwell—and yet kept saying she was alright.
That was when it began.
Every “I’m fine” from Soo Yeon started piling up in In Ho’s heart.
What had started as a small, circular pouch gradually swelled larger and larger, until it completely filled his chest.
In Ho no longer wanted to hear Soo Yeon say she was fine.
It was just one phrase he didn’t want to hear anymore—but with it, the distance between them kept growing.
As that gap spiraled out of control, Soo Yeon’s fixation on pregnancy showed no sign of fading.
Pregnancy made In Ho sick to his stomach, and he no longer wanted to see Soo Yeon obsess over it.
In the blink of an eye, a once-affectionate couple had become more distant than strangers.
That was why In Ho never realized—
That Soo Yeon, already naturally quiet, was gradually losing her voice, and that her once-shy emotional expressions were drying up completely.
He never even imagined that behind it all lay his own mother’s unforgivable contempt and violent abuse.
“…Huh.”
In Ho let out a heavy sigh.
Even if he hadn’t known what she’d gone through, his heart remained tangled with guilt—it wouldn’t magically become okay.
He couldn’t rationalize it away by saying he simply didn’t know.
Did he truly not know?
No. That wasn’t it.
He hadn’t been unaware—he just hadn’t wanted to know.
He’d thought it better to stay indifferent than risk ruining things further with conversations that revolved only around pregnancy.
What could Soo Yeon possibly have said to someone like him?
At that thought, In Ho found himself unable to breathe properly.
He’d blamed every single problem on Soo Yeon.
Though it was an arranged marriage, their life together hadn’t been bad at all—yet he’d convinced himself she was solely responsible for ruining it.
But that wasn’t true.
Perhaps Soo Yeon had been sending signals all along, in her own way.
In all those moments he’d only ever found puzzling.
The sudden dismissal of the housekeeper, forcing herself to meet her in-laws despite running a high fever, and even her compulsive mentions of having a child—something she’d never brought up before marriage.
Every single one of those moments had been signals she’d been sending him.
“Your mother is tormenting me too much.”
“Your mother is making things unbearable for me.”
“Our marriage has become so painful—I don’t think I can endure it any longer.”
My wife, foolishly kind to a fault, couldn’t bring herself to say those words—terrified her husband might get hurt.
Instead, she’d pleaded and signaled through repeated assurances of “I’m fine”—and only now did he finally understand.
In Ho took a deep breath.
But no matter how deeply he inhaled, the suffocating weight in his chest wouldn’t lift.
“Haah.”
Another heavy sigh escaped through his clenched teeth.
Suddenly, a thought struck him.
Maybe this sudden calamity—waking up to find himself in a different body—was punishment for failing to care for the wife he’d promised to spend his life with.
“…Then maybe I should just accept this punishment.”
In Ho murmured softly, gazing blankly at Soo Yeon’s back.
For a long time, she lay perfectly still, her back turned toward him—as if it perfectly mirrored the state of her heart.
It seemed filled with so much resentment she never wanted to show her face to him again.
His chest tightened.
That was why.
Slowly, In Ho rose from the sofa and moved closer to Soo Yeon.
Though shameless, he desperately wanted to see his wife.
If he didn’t look at her now, he feared he might never get the chance again.
Yet he could only stand there, staring at her back, unable to move.
It felt as if he’d never once honored her wishes.
And even this furtive glance, against her will, might itself be another betrayal of his wife.
So In Ho simply stood there for a long while.
How much time passed?
Suddenly, the man who hadn’t moved a muscle slowly reached out his hand.
Then, carefully, he gently took his sleeping wife’s hand.
Only for a brief moment.
Quickly letting go, In Ho stared at Soo Yeon for a long time before whispering softly,
“…I’m sorry.”
This was the only way he could convey the apology too shameful to speak aloud.
Male lead is a Divorced Husband
She said to him: “Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change it!”
Liu Changning transmigrated into a female cannon fodder character in a female-dominant novel.
After reading the first half of the novel’s plot, the first thing she did upon transmigration was to divorce the Pan Jinlian-style male protagonist she had just married.
She indulged herself, pretending to be ugly and poor.
But as time passed, the way that man looked at her became more and more unusual…
Liu Changning was dumbfounded: Tell me, what makes you like me? I’ll change!
――
This lifetime, Pei Yuanshao was rejected by the same woman twice!
The first time, she drove him away. Forced by the situation, he endured the waves of anger in his heart, yielding and humbling himself.
That person lay slanted on a rocking chair, her sallow face emotionless: “If you don’t want a divorce, go cook!”
Pei Yuanshao’s face was dark and gloomy: “You!”
The second time, after the crisis in Jinling City was resolved, the new emperor sent someone to pick him up. He turned around, stammering: “I… I have to go. If you keep me…”
That person lay on the kang bed, her back to him, as if she had long anticipated this day, crisp and clear: “Goodbye!”
Pei Yuanshao was so angry his fingers trembled: “You… you!”
The mission of family and country made him restrain himself, averting his eyes and turning to leave this broken household.
Two years later, they met again. Seeing her ethereal face, his body shook like a sieve.
“She was originally a ‘she’!”
At the Qionglin Banquet, the top scholar of the imperial examination, a talented person with exceptional speech and conduct, all the unmarried young gentlemen from aristocratic families looked at her with shy and timid eyes.
The peerless imperial official Pei Yuanshao felt the anger in his heart erupt. He pointed at the woman surrounded by the crowd at the Qionglin Banquet, his thin lips slightly curled: “Little sister, I wants that person to be the wife-master of my Mingde Prince Manor.”
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