Yeong-joo carefully avoided Hyuk-joo’s cold gaze, and Yeon-ji nodded slowly.
She didn’t forget to make a tender expression as if recalling past memories.
‘Soon, Hyuk-joo oppa will touch this hat and be moved, right?’
Yeon-ji prepared herself to shed tears.
Even shedding a few tears would make the emotion more powerful.
Yeon-ji picked up the hat again and pushed it toward Hyuk-joo to make it more visible. She heard his footsteps approaching the table. Yeon-ji smiled inwardly, waiting for Hyuk-joo’s reaction.
“Did you store it well?”
“It’s precious.”
“Right.”
Hyuk-joo’s voice was unexpectedly calm. There was no sign of emotion.
Instead, he tilted his head to one side, examining the hat as if checking for defects, with a sharp gaze like an inspector inspecting an item. Yeon-ji felt tense at Hyuk-joo’s sharp gaze, as if inspecting the item for any flaws.
Hyuk-joo turned back towards the desk, approached it, and took out a photo from the drawer. It was a picture of a woman in a patient’s gown.
Yeon-ji briefly glanced at the woman in the photo wearing the light blue fluffy hat. When Hyuk-joo handed her the photo, Yeon-ji spoke with a cheerful voice.
“It’s a photo of an old lady.”
Staring at the woman in the photo with a look of longing, Yeon-ji spoke after a moment of silence.
“She always wore this hat.”
In a sad tone as if remembering old memories, Yeon-ji, who had been gazing at the woman in the photo with a look of longing, spoke with a tearful voice and handed the photo to Hyuk-joo again.
Taking the photo, Hyuk-joo looked at the hat on the table and asked again.
“Was it a hat your mother used to wear?”
“Yeah. She always wore this hat because she lost her hair due to cancer treatment.”
“I see.”
Hyuk-joo responded in a dry tone. There was no sign of emotion.
Then he looked at the hat on the table, tilting his head to one side.
“Is this the hat you were talking about?”
“When I was five?”
“Yeah, probably.”
Yeon-ji answered with a smile.
Watching her, who spoke lies without hesitation with a calm expression, Hyuk-joo raised a question.
“When I was five, I bought this hat. Why is the address of the company written here like this?”
Hyuk-joo showed the product label attached inside the hat.
“…….”
The manufacturing company’s address on the label was written in the new address format. It had been only ten years since addresses were changed to the new format.
Momentarily bewildered, Yeon-ji bit her lower lip.
She had only focused on making the hat look worn. She hadn’t thought at all about what was written on the label, trying to make it look authentic.
‘I should have cut it off with scissors.’
The thought that the lie might be exposed because of the label made Yeon-ji’s head complicated.
Did the hat change?
If so, it would be strange not to distinguish the cherished hat from others.
Rolling her eyes, Yeon-ji managed to come up with an excuse.
“I had it repaired not long ago.”
“Repaired?”
“Yeah. The yarn at the corner came loose, and it seemed like the hat would fall apart if I pulled it a little. So, I had it repaired, and they even attached a new label there.”
Feeling that the lie she had made up sounded plausible, Yeon-ji snatched the hat from Hyuk-joo, who was holding it.
‘He won’t suspect anything, right?’
With an uncomfortable feeling for no reason, Yeon-ji began to feel the heat rising in her chest.
When Hyuk-joo showed a completely different reaction than she expected, Yeon-ji decided to step back.
“I thought you would like the hat if I showed it to you, but it seems not at all, right?”
“Do I have to like it?”
“No, it’s not a hat with good memories, but since it was the one Mom used to wear, I thought you would be happy. If I knew you would be so indifferent, I would have kept it to myself.”
Yeon-ji stood up and quickly wiped her nose.
“I was wrong. It’s an item with memories only for me….”
“Yeah, it’s an item with memories only for you.”
“Yeah?”
Looking at Hyuk-joo’s gaze, which scrutinized her with one corner of his mouth twisted, Yeon-ji felt embarrassed.
Because he looked like someone who had completely caught her lie.
‘That’s impossible.’
Suppressing the rising anxious feeling, Yeon-ji was convinced that her lie would never be exposed.
But…
‘What if the child really appeared?’
At the sudden thought, Yeon-ji furrowed her brows. However, she quickly erased such a possibility.
The child had pediatric cancer, so the possibility that the child, like Hyuk-joo’s mother, might not exist in this world was significant.
“Yeon-ji.”
Ignoring Hyuk-joo calling her, Yeon-ji deliberately turned away.
Leaving this place right now with her wounded appearance was better for her future. Then Hyuk-joo would soon come and apologize, feeling sorry.
“I will cherish this hat.”
After finishing her words, just as she was about to walk away, Hyuk-joo grabbed her arm.
Seeing him holding onto her, Yeon-ji let out a relieved sigh inwardly. Luckily.
Of course, Hyuk-joo wouldn’t just let her go like this.
The Villainous Demon Lord Laid an Egg for Her (Female-Dominated)
Several months after transmigrating into a book, Yu Wu found herself facing the demon lord Li You, who could no longer conceal his dragon horns. With one hand on her aching waist and the other gripping a sharp sword, she stared at him.
The demon lord’s eyes were red with fury:
“This is all your doing! Today, I won’t rest until I kill you!”
Yu Wu rubbed her temples. Putting aside the taboo against bloodshed during pregnancy, wasn’t it this very man who willingly walked into her trap that day?!
Warnings:
- Male pregnancy.
- Height ratios are set to mirror typical male-female height proportions.
- Characters include a foot-loving demon lord and an eldest daughter from an immortal family’s concubine lineage.
