The Bad Husband - Chapter 3
Unintentionally meeting the man at the restaurant entrance and entering together, Tae Eun couldn’t relax even while sitting by the window with the best view.
Last night, after hearing about the arranged meeting for the first time, she also searched about Seo Woo Jin in her own way. There were countless financial articles about him, but she couldn’t find any photos. The only recent photo was a dark paparazzi shot from a scandal article with top star Park Seo Woo some time ago.
Of course, even in the dark photo, she could instantly tell how handsome he was, but seeing him in person, he was even more impressive.
Especially his long, single-lidded eyes uniquely drew attention. A leisurely composure could be felt from his deep eyes. It made him look quite arrogant, and that arrogance suited him very well.
In a word, he was a man with an aura beyond just being handsome.
“Were you trying to run away?”
“No. That’s not it.”
“Liar. I saw it all.”
Even without smiling at all, the man’s appearance where the gaze strangely lingered stirred a tingling emotion in her heart.
Right, with these looks and this level of wealth, it’s no wonder he had a scandal with top star Park Seo Woo.
Though that scandal from a month ago that rocked the world ended as a misunderstanding between friends, Tae Eun didn’t think it was completely baseless as it was already his second scandal with Park Seo Woo.
“What would you like to order?”
“Are you hungry?”
“It depends on the situation, Min Tae Eun.”
“Actually… my stomach is a bit upset.”
“Why? At the thought of meeting me?”
“No. That’s not it…”
“I don’t mind. Then shall we have tea or coffee?”
Due to the burden of this meeting, Tae Eun hadn’t eaten anything all day, but she declined a meal. Since marriage was out of the question anyway, if she ate with him, she felt like she would get indigestion from that too.
Her mind was solely focused on wanting to end this meeting and leave quickly. So the two ordered green tea and coffee.
After ordering, the man’s gaze turned to her. Even though it was just a look, Tae Eun tightly clasped her hands on her lap at the feeling of her skin shriveling up.
It felt like the blood was drying up from the tension. The moment she hoped he would say something, a question struck.
“Have we perhaps met somewhere before?”
“Pardon?”
The question was so unexpected that Tae Eun raised her jet-black eyes to meet his gaze. Beneath his thick brows, her greatly shaken eyes met his unperturbed ones.
“No. This is… our first meeting. I guess I just have a common face.”
“No, that’s not what I meant. Your eyes just seemed familiar.”
As he said that while intently looking at her eyes, she blushed for no reason. Just then, the tea they ordered arrived, and Tae Eun lowered her gaze, but the heat that rose once didn’t seem like it would easily go away.
She was breathless. Even without meeting his gaze, she could feel with her whole body that he was looking at her. It felt like his gaze was piercing through her skin. Unable to bear that pressure, Tae Eun raised her eyes to look at him.
Unlike her still shaking eyes, his dark eyes just calmly met hers without any agitation.
It was an indifferent gaze.
No, an uncaring gaze.
She wasn’t hurt from the beginning as she had no expectations for this meeting anyway. No, from the start, they were two people who could never mix. A man who would become the next leader of Jang Won, the top domestic company, and her.
Although her father was a renowned lawyer, he was incomparable to the man’s family. They were two people who couldn’t be compared from the beginning. Still, she thought it was purely luck that she could come to this meeting. And that luck ended right here.
So was there any need to drag this out longer?
Watching the man lower his gaze and bring the coffee cup to his lips after looking at each other for a while, Tae Eun mustered up courage to speak.
“If you don’t like me, you can just leave. I also don’t intend to waste Seo Woo Jin’s time…”
“Who said that? That I don’t like you.”
“Pardon?”
“Do I seem like such a generous person in your eyes, Min Tae Eun? Enough to leisurely sip coffee while facing a woman I don’t like.”
At the unexpected words, Tae Eun’s mouth fell slightly open.
As if finding that reaction interesting, he put down the coffee cup and whispered.
In a low, secretive voice that only she could hear.
“Let’s do it, get married.”
For a moment, Tae Eun felt like the green tea she was gently sipping got stuck in her throat. She turned her head and coughed, and only then did a faint smile appear on the man’s lips.
“You seem quite surprised.”
“Huk, huk… Yes. Quite a lot. I didn’t expect to hear this kind of talk as soon as I arrived.”
She was very flustered by the completely unexpected situation. The man showed a smile at her shaking eyes, but Tae Eun couldn’t smile at all.
“Why… Why do you want to marry me?”
“If I say because you’re pretty, would you believe it?”
The composure to return a question with a question.
It felt like a word play and hurt her feelings. She was going back and forth between heaven and hell at his words, yet he was just making jokes. Especially coming from a man who had met Park Seo Woo, it felt even more like a joke. He was likely a man who had met countless pretty women.
“See. You wouldn’t believe it anyway.”
“Then Seo Woo Jin… has many other options to choose from besides me. Someone from a much better family with better conditions.”
“That only applies to men who incompetently leech off women.”
He lightly deflected the question she struggled to ask.
It meant he had no need for support from her family. Her mouth fell slightly open at his overflowing confidence. But it was also a strangely persuasive argument.
Right. What would Seo Woo Jin lack to need help from her family? Jang Won Group was one of the companies rewriting the history of Korea.
But it was a bad sign for Tae Eun. She had come to this meeting expecting to be rejected, and that’s how it should have been. She had a fatal flaw that prevented her from marrying this man anyway, and the only way to end this meeting well without revealing that flaw was the man’s natural rejection.
That’s right. Despite the unfavorable marriage meeting results, for her to even breathe at home, the rejection had to be entirely the man’s role.
But the man was coolly saying let’s get married.
“I’d like to rush the marriage as much as possible.”
He even wanted to rush it as much as possible.
She couldn’t think of any suitable excuse to change his mind. Tae Eun lowered her head and stubbornly bit her lip. Even without looking, she could feel the man’s gaze lingering on her face.
Should she bring up that story after all?
It wasn’t easy as a woman to talk about, and her stomach felt tightly blocked as if she had indigestion despite not having eaten. But it seemed this was the only way to change the man’s mind and get rejected.
So Tae Eun revealed her flaw.
“Actually, I… may not be able to have children.”
“……”
“I was diagnosed with infertility some time ago.”
She felt like her whole body was being stripped naked from the shame. Even though she hadn’t committed a crime, she wanted to sink into the ground.
The man must have changed his mind with this much. It was probably just a momentary whim that would pass like the wind.
She revealed even her flaw in order to change the man’s mind, but he said something unexpected.
“It’s fine. I… have no intention of having children anyway.”
He even whispered it so only she could hear.
Tae Eun’s shocked gaze remained on him. She thought she misheard, but judging by his expression, she definitely hadn’t misheard.
He says he doesn’t want children. These days, there are many couples who don’t want children, so it’s not surprising, but it’s a different story if it’s Seo Woo Jin, the successor of Jang Won Group. Would his family really agree with his words?
“Is that just Woo Jin’s own thought? Or do your family members think the same way?”
“It’s my life that I’m living. I absolutely hate anyone interfering, even if it’s family.”
His answer was clear. But Tae Eun couldn’t easily accept this situation. When she didn’t answer and bit her lip, thinking it was hesitation, he opened his mouth again.
“I heard your maternal grandmother is very ill. Seeing her condition, it seems quite serious.”
As soon as grandmother was mentioned, her innocent eyes that had been at a loss abruptly tensed up.
Her sharpened gaze directly stared at Woo Jin’s eyes. As if he had touched something that shouldn’t be touched.
“Now you finally look me in the eye. Have you gained the will to have a conversation?”
“Woo Jin, you’re… a bad person. Using someone else’s Achilles heel as a weapon.”
“I’m not using it as a weapon. I’m saying I can help you.”
“……”
“I also thoroughly studied Min Tae Eun’s family history before coming. And that you’re in quite a difficult situation because of your grandmother. If you just marry me, such things won’t happen anymore. I’ll take responsibility for not only your grandmother but you as well.”
Her hands placed on her lap clenched so tightly the white bones could be seen. His tone was so distasteful it made her guts churn, but the underlying meaning was fatally undeniable.
Just the fact that she could escape from under the shadow of her father and stepmother, and moreover, not having to worry about grandmother anymore was like a dream to her.
Furthermore, this man, she strangely trusted him.
At least she was shaken by the inexplicable belief that he would keep his word even if the sky fell.
But even so, she couldn’t quite grasp his inner motive for choosing her. And so easily and quickly at that.
She needed to discern the man’s intentions. Her life had already been sufficiently tumbled and battered into rags. Moreover, marriage was said to be a second life, and she was determined not to tumble that life into a gutter as well.
“Still, I can’t understand. It would be better to take time and think it over slowly…”
As Tae Eun spoke hesitantly, he adjusted his posture and quietly called her name.
“Min Tae Eun.”
“Yes.”
Even though she wasn’t forced, she automatically answered his call. It felt like an incomprehensible pressure was weighing down on her.
Woo Jin’s leisurely gaze landed on her extremely tense face. Tae Eun trembled at that gaze as if she was stripped bare.
How could he evoke such emotions with just a gaze?
He was a man with a truly overbearing yet inescapable, strange charm.
But soon his voice settling by her ear made her regain a sense of reality.
“I’m not saying let’s be in love, Min Tae Eun. I’m saying let’s get married.”
“…Pardon?”
Suddenly, goosebumps rose on her arms. It felt like she was seeing a different side of him that had been obscured by his strange charm.
Marriage without love.
My goodness.
Only now could she clearly read this man’s intentions.
His goal wasn’t a loving wife, but an obedient wife.
*
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Something seems a bit off about this world.
Wang Zhao thought as she watched a pregnant man walking towards her…
Intro
Female lead finds herself in a world where the men who possess the ability to bear children.
As she navigates this unfamiliar reality, she is caught off guard by the sudden appearance of her boyfriend, who reveals that he is pregnant.
Is this truly her boyfriend?
Why can’t she recall any details about their time together?
She begins to doubt whether the child her boyfriend is carrying is even hers.
Is there a hidden reason behind her amnesia, or could it be a side effect of her sudden arrival in this strange new world?
Just when it seems the protagonist’s life couldn’t become any more entangled, her ex-boyfriend makes an unexpected appearance, raising questions about the protagonist’s past.
__________
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