The Bad Husband - Chapter 34

Fortunately, there were no sudden outbursts from Seo Woo on the plane. It seemed she was more cautious due to the attention focused on her because of her fame.

However, the problem started after landing at the airport. Many reporters flocked to capture her airport fashion, and the number of fans was also considerable.

South Korea was a country where one could write a third-rate novel just for being on the same plane, so Woo Jin found himself in a situation where he absolutely could not be caught even by a passing camera lens. He had to be extra careful since there had already been a scandal once.

Therefore, Manager Park directly contacted Jung Keun and chose a method for the two to leave at different times.

Manager Park’s strategy worked perfectly. The reporters and fans who had been eagerly waiting for news of the plane’s landing rushed out pressing their shutters when Seo Woo appeared, and only much later did Woo Jin exit the immigration gate with Manager Park.

No one noticed. But because they had to wait until Seo Woo left and the reporters and fans completely disappeared, the two had to spend quite a lot of time at the airport.

During the car ride home from the airport, only one thought occupied Woo Jin’s mind.

Finally, he could see Min Tae Eun!

“Executive Director, we’ve arrived.”

“No need to follow me out.”

“The luggage…”

“I’ll carry it in myself.”

“I see. Then…”

With Manager Park’s polite bow as the last thing he saw, Woo Jin entered the house carrying his luggage.

As he stepped into the entryway, he could sense someone’s presence from the brightly lit lights. But the one who greeted him with surprised eyes was not Tae Eun, but Lady Hong.

“Oh my goodness, Executive Director! We thought you were coming tomorrow…”

“Ah, I came a day early. The schedule ended quickly. But where’s my wife?”

“Oh, Madam just went to her parents’ house a little while ago.”

“Her parents’ house?”

“Yes. She said she’d be back after dinner.”

At Lady Hong’s words, his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Gone to her in-laws? To that place that was as much a hell for her as his family home? He thought there was no way she would have gone there of her own free will. And thinking about the treatment Tae Eun would receive there made bitter bile rise in his throat.

He was glad he had come a day early.

“Executive Director, what would you like prepared for dinner?”

To Lady Hong’s question, Woo Jin answered as he turned around.

“Don’t prepare anything. I’ll eat at my in-laws’.”

* * *

On the way home from the airport, Seo Woo didn’t say a word, but once she got home, her tears finally burst. Even thinking about it again made her feel overwhelmed with sorrow.

Woo Jin didn’t even glance at her. Truly, he had acted like a stranger the entire time on the plane. Being in such a confined space with him while receiving such treatment was harder than she had expected.

Was Woo Jin really trying to cut her out of his life?

“Hic… hic hic.”

As her sobs leaked out, Jung Keun knocked on the door.

“Seo Woo, shall we order your favorite tteokbokki today? With gimbap and fish cakes too.”

He wasn’t the type to suggest late-night snacks first, so he must have been quite concerned about the hurt she had received.

But today, it felt like no amount of late-night snacks could soothe her heart. Besides, she had to be careful with late-night snacks due to a recent bout of gastric spasms.

Seo Woo declined the late-night snack and sank back into her thoughts. Throughout the flight, all her attention had been focused on Woo Jin. When she went to the bathroom, wondering if he might look her way, she rolled her eyes behind her sunglasses, but Woo Jin didn’t give her a single glance.

And that wasn’t all.

Even after the plane landed, even after they each returned home, there wasn’t a single message from him. Usually, he would have at least asked if she was okay, given that she had been sick.

Suddenly, she thought of the lipstick he had bought to give to his wife. Sitting there crying, she took out that lipstick from her bag again. This time, she properly applied the lipstick while looking in the mirror.

It didn’t suit her.

She wiped it off and applied it again.

It still didn’t suit her.

She repeated wiping and applying until her lips were chapped, but no matter what, coral pink and Seo Woo were incompatible. In the end, tears burst forth again.

“Waaah! It doesn’t suit me. It doesn’t suit me! Hic hic…”

Woo Jin’s heart was slipping away like that.

* * *

“Since you haven’t had much appetite lately, I prepared soybean noodle soup for tonight’s dinner. Is that okay?”

No sooner had Ji Eun finished speaking than bowls of soybean noodle soup were set before the four of them, along with small plates of side dishes.

But Tae Eun couldn’t bring herself to pick up her chopsticks. She had a nut allergy, so she couldn’t eat soybean noodle soup made with ground peanuts.

“Wow, this looks delicious. I’ve been craving this since yesterday.”

Beside her, Ji Hoon swallowed his saliva and spoke with an excited expression. Hearing this, it wasn’t hard to guess that today’s menu of soybean noodle soup wasn’t chosen because of lack of appetite, but to cater to the tastes of the precious son.

As her father, Min Kyung Hoon, slurped up a long noodle, Ji Eun and Ji Hoon also picked up their chopsticks.

Not a single family member remembered that she had a nut allergy. Well, perhaps it was to be expected. After all, these people had never shown the slightest interest in her to begin with.

At that moment, as the housekeeper came out, Tae Eun cautiously asked,

“Auntie, did you by any chance add peanuts when grinding the soybeans?”

“Oh my, this soup was bought from the market, so I’m not sure about that. Why? Does it not taste good? It’s supposed to be very rich and delicious since it’s freshly ground.”

“It’s not that…”

“Why is this child being so picky? Just eat it. A woman is useless if she’s a picky eater.”

Ji Eun’s sharp words flew immediately. But this wasn’t about her being picky and not wanting to eat; she literally couldn’t eat it.

“I have a nut allergy…”

“A nut allergy? Hmm… then what should we do? This is all we prepared for dinner tonight. Just try eating it, and if there are peanuts, you can stop eating.”

Ji Eun was spouting nonsense. If she had an allergic reaction, it could be serious. She didn’t even bring her epinephrine injection. In the end, Tae Eun had no choice but to put down her chopsticks. But not a single family member paid any attention to her.

“Oh, right. The coffee franchise Da-on, that’s one of Jangwon Group’s businesses, isn’t it? These days, I see that cafe everywhere I go.”

Min Kyung Hoon opened the conversation while eating his soybean noodle soup.

Cafe Da-on was a business run by her third aunt, Young Sook. She remembered reading about it recently in the files her aunts had handed over. Though it started small, it was performing better than expected and was one of the businesses with promising growth prospects.

But Tae Eun looked at her father, who had brought this up, with unfamiliar eyes. Since when had Min Kyung Hoon been interested in cafes? Usually, Min Kyung Hoon wasn’t even a coffee drinker. So these words must have been spoken with a clear purpose, not just casual conversation.

Tae Eun’s prediction was spot on. Because next to her, Ji Eun opened her mouth with a smile in her eyes.

“That cafe Da-on, can’t you set one up for our Ji Hoon? Ask them to provide some hefty support from headquarters.”

“What?”

“Well, when I saw him at the meeting with the in-laws last time, it seemed a bit much to ask for a job at Jangwon Electronics for our Ji Hoon. He needs to make a living after he graduates, doesn’t he? But then again, with his brother-in-law being Seo Woo Jin of Jangwon Group, it might be a bit embarrassing for him to just enter any ordinary company. If he runs a cafe, he can at least have the title of president while having part-timers do the work.”

It was an extremely difficult request. While Woo Jin was responsible for the core electronics industry of Jangwon Group, the other affiliates were each guarded by Jangwon’s three daughters. Moreover, she wasn’t close enough to Young Sook to make such a request.

Tae Eun painfully parted her lips.

“That might be a bit difficult. I’m newly married, you know. I haven’t become close enough to Third Aunt to make such a request yet.”

“No, Min Tae Eun! Isn’t the third aunt a Jangwon person? I’m not a stranger, I’m your brother. Can’t Jangwon Group do something like that for me?”

Ji Hoon put down his chopsticks with an annoyed expression as he spoke. At that, Ji Eun poked Min Kyung Hoon’s side. It was a strong gesture telling him to say something.

“Ahem… Well. Ji Hoon isn’t asking for much. He’s not asking for a building or anything. We can use your mother’s building for the cafe. I personally looked into the Da-on franchise, and the headquarters’ regulations are too strict and complicated. It takes quite a long time to get approval too.”

Tae Eun raised her dark eyes and silently looked at Min Kyung Hoon. Truly, her father had never once looked at her purely as herself.

Yet the reason she had crawled into this hell she didn’t want to come to was because of the existence of her father. He had ultimately made her this miserable.

“What about other franchises? There are many cafe franchises, aren’t there? And it doesn’t have to be a cafe, if the location is good, other businesses…”

“Oh my, this child really doesn’t know anything. Do you know how many cafe franchises there are these days? If you just open any random one, you might have to close down before even breaking even. And once you close down like that, the commercial area dies too, lowering the value of the property.”

“That’s right. So instead of that, just put in a good word with your aunt for me. Okay?”

Listening to Ji Hoon’s whining voice made her feel like she was going to be sick even though she hadn’t eaten anything. Yet when a satisfactory answer didn’t flow from her, Ji Eun openly showed her displeasure.

“Ha, isn’t this too much? You married into a chaebol family and now you’re acting like you don’t know us? Even though I raised you. Others think we must have received something great because you married into a wealthy family!”

“…”

“Is it enough if only you live well? And you didn’t marry into that family solely because you’re so great. If it weren’t for me, would you even have had the chance for such a marriage meeting? I can’t believe this! I’m so embarrassed I can’t even show my face. What exactly have you done for us since marrying into the Jangwon family? Huh?”

Why say she hasn’t done anything? Despite strong opposition, Woo Jin had still replaced the three family members’ cars with expensive foreign cars, saying that since she had married into the Jangwon family, they should at least boost her status a bit.

And that wasn’t all. She knew that Min Kyung Hoon’s long-cherished dream of entering politics was now slowly progressing. Before the marriage, Woo Jin had even told her not to worry about her family issues at all in the future, saying he would take care of everything.

Yet Ji Eun’s words about her not having done anything for them made her hate her. The more they were given, the more they would want, like pouring water into a bottomless pit. But even more resentful than that was her father, who was sitting there without saying a word.

What was her father like when she was young? She remembered him as quite affectionate when her mother was still alive. And that faint memory had become a small hope that was still making her a fool today.

She shouldn’t have come. What on earth did she expect by coming?

She felt like an outsider among her family. Absolutely unable to blend in.

With a lump in her throat, she reached for the cold water glass on the table. And drank it in one gulp. As the cold water flowed down her throat, her heart, which had been burning with hurt, seemed to calm a little. But just then, the housekeeper came in to announce a visitor.

“There’s a guest…”

“Who?”

Who could it be at this hour when there was no one expected?

The gazes of the three people, excluding Tae Eun, turned towards the dining room entrance. And soon after, Ji Eun was shocked almost to the point of fainting at the sight of the person who strode in.

“Ah, n-no… W-why is son-in-law Seo here? I heard you were on a business trip…”

As the saying goes, a thief is most wary of his own footsteps. Ji Eun, who had been spewing venom just moments ago, felt a chill run down her spine in shock. What if Woo Jin had heard what she said?

“Yes, that’s right. But… I came a day early because I missed Tae Eun.”

Fortunately, seeming not to have heard, Woo Jin good-naturedly took the seat next to Tae Eun. She looked at him with startled rabbit eyes.

“Why, are you surprised too?”

“You said you were coming tomorrow…”

“I told you, didn’t I? That I came a day early because I missed you. But Lady Hong said you went to your parents’ house for dinner, so I came to get a meal too.”

He smiled brightly and lowered his gaze to the bowl in front of her. However, as he looked at the contents of the bowl, he slowly raised his gaze and spoke in a low voice.

“Interesting. You invite her for dinner and…”

“!”

“You serve soybean noodle soup that our Tae Eun can’t eat.”