“……Father.”
Yuri made eye contact with Congressman Chae and spoke softly.
“Do you know why Mr. Jeho and Minwoo are so hostile to each other?”
Congressman Chae’s brow furrowed at the unexpected question.
“You should ask them directly rather than me. I can only guess, nothing’s certain. Is that why you came to see me so early in the morning?”
“That’s part of it……”
After a moment of silence, Yuri carefully opened her mouth again.
“I’ve been thinking for days. Why you wanted to get rid of Minwoo so badly. At first I thought it was because of me……”
Congressman Chae listened silently to Yuri’s words without changing his expression.
“The more I think about it, it seems it wasn’t because of me, but because of Yuri. If Yuri didn’t like Minwoo, I don’t think you would have cared whether Minwoo bugged the officetel or not. Right?”
“Hmm.”
Instead of answering the question, Congressman Chae turned his head towards the garden.
But that action was likely a silent confirmation that her guess was correct. If not, he would have denied it immediately. As expected, a gruff voice flowed from Congressman Chae’s mouth.
“Why are you suddenly asking that?”
“No particular reason. I’m just curious what kind of existence I am to you, Father.”
“What nonsense is that? What do you mean, what kind of existence?”
Just then, the door opened and Lady An walked out onto the terrace carrying a tray. After setting down coffee cups in front of the two, she asked Yuri with a smile.
“Yuri, will you stay for breakfast?”
“Is that alright?”
“What are you saying? Of course. I’ll prepare it soon.”
As Lady An went back inside, Yuri carefully picked up the coffee cup she had left with both hands.
“You know, sometimes I think like this. ‘What if I never knew anything till the end?’ If so, both you and I would have hurt each other less……”
Though she didn’t express it precisely, Congressman Chae could understand what Yuri meant. If they had lived without knowing about the affair and the fact that Yuri was an illegitimate child, the father-daughter relationship wouldn’t have become this twisted.
Before Yuri found out about the affair, the two had quite a good relationship. That’s why Yuri was able to endure the tough election campaign without much complaint.
“Well. There are no eternal secrets in this world….. No matter how thoroughly you try to hide it, you might have found out someday.”
Congressman Chae brought the coffee cup to his mouth with a complicated expression.
“Soon, there will be serious discussions about the presidential candidate within the party. I guess I’ll have to send Yuri abroad before that.”
Whenever an election approached, Congressman Chae would send Yuri overseas under the pretext of language training or short-term study abroad.
This time, since it involved the presidential candidate, Yuri’s stay abroad seemed likely to be a bit longer. It might even be several years, not just a year or two.
“Besides that, Father. Apart from the election issue……”
Yuri, who was about to retort, closed her mouth for a moment when she met Congressman Chae’s cold gaze.
Suddenly, she wondered what use this conversation was. In Congressman Chae’s mind, the election would always take priority over family.
“No. Never mind.”
What was even more frustrating was that Yuri herself couldn’t say that family took priority over everything else. Just as they didn’t accept her as family, had she ever treated family with affection?
Ha, how did it come to this?
Yuri lamented softly as she took a sip of coffee.
The coffee seeping into her mouth felt more bitter than usual, but that must be due to her mood.
[This is the timeline separator]Despite the very early hour, the walking path was bustling with nearby residents out for their weekend exercise.
Jeho ran silently with his hood pulled down. Just ten years ago, his father and grandfather were by his side for every morning exercise. The three generations would talk about this and that, walking and running, sharing small family affections.
But now it’s all just faded memories, and he was alone.
The family’s scattering wasn’t anyone’s fault. But not coming back together was because of someone stuck in their stubbornness.
Perhaps the three generations would never walk together looking in the same direction again. It was bitter, but now it was a reality that had to be humbly accepted.
“Huff, huff.”
At the end of the trail, Jeho stopped in front of the octagonal pavilion at the mountain summit.
“Did you run all the way up here without stopping again? You’re amazing as always.”
As he bent over catching his breath, a familiar voice was heard above his head. Lowering his hood and looking up, Woo Gyeol grinned and handed him the water bottle he was holding.
“Huff, huff, did you take the bus again this time?”
As Jeho asked, breathing heavily, Woo Gyeol smiled broadly as if asking why he was asking such an obvious question.
“Yeah. I took the first bus.”
“Whew.”
Jeho exhaled deeply, opened the water bottle cap and gulped down the water. A moment later, closing the cap of the half-empty bottle, he asked briefly.
“What about Minwoo?”
“It seems he hurriedly fled out of France for now. Looks like he can’t stay in one place for long and keeps moving.”
“The local police?”
“There’s no notable movement yet. The only witness is still in a coma, and besides, there’s no solid evidence for arrest yet.”
Even if there was evidence, since he had already left France, forced repatriation would only be possible when Minwoo stayed in a country with an extradition treaty. But even so, how long could he keep running away?
“Anyway, it’s amazing. He must have sealed people’s mouths so well, no one knows yet. They think Minwoo is just not coming to work after taking a vacation.”
“He won’t be able to hold out for long. It’ll leak to the press soon.”
As Jeho was opening the water bottle to drink again, Woo Gyeol snapped his fingers as if he remembered something.
“Oh right. And you know, the secret ledger. The one Director Yoon told us about before. I think that story has reached the ears of Director Kwon.”
“Are you sure?”
To Jeho’s question, Woo Gyeol nodded his head vigorously. Then soon shook his head.
“Well, that’s true, but with Minwoo in this state now, would he care about such things?”
“If I know my uncle, he’ll be more concerned about the secret ledger. That’s a matter of his own neck on the line.”
“This regular board meeting is going to be quite interesting.”
Jeho brought the water bottle to his mouth with a smirk.
After parting with Woo Gyeol and returning home, Jeho first headed to the guest room where Yuri was staying.
He thought she would still be sleeping, but the bed was already empty. Looking for her as he left the bedroom, a note placed on the kitchen island table caught his eye.
“I clearly said yesterday we’d go to the officetel together to bring her things.”
Jeho muttered to himself, fiddling with the paper. Seeing that she wrote she’d be back in the afternoon, it meant she had some business to attend to alone before then.
After staring at the note Yuri left for a long time, Jeho turned around and headed to the study. He walked straight to the bookshelf and opened the safe. Then he took out the ledger placed under the wooden box and brought it to the desk.
Sitting down, he began to slowly turn the pages one by one, seriously examining the numbers written in the ledger.
[This is the timeline separator]“I made plenty of cucumber salad. I’ll put it in the fridge, so take it with you when you leave later.”
As Yuri got up after finishing breakfast, Lady An showed her containers filled with side dishes. She had packed various side dishes in containers besides the cucumber salad.
“You don’t have to pack so much. Yuri likes cucumber salad, right?”
“Don’t worry about Yuri. I can make it for her anytime.”
As it was the weekend, Yuri hadn’t come downstairs to eat breakfast together, perhaps sleeping in. Since talking about Minwoo’s issue a few days ago, Yuri hadn’t had a chance to talk with Yuri yet.
Yuri went upstairs with the thought of seeing Yuri for a moment. When she knocked and opened the door, she saw Yuri busy organizing her room.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, elder sister. I was packing in advance. I have to leave here soon, right?”
At first, Yuri was excited about going abroad.
But at some point, as if she had learned the real reason why she had to go abroad, she would pack reluctantly with a gloomy face. However, she never showed any signs of discomfort to their faces.
Just as Yuri silently participated in the election campaign, Yuri silently packed her bags and went abroad.
“I’m sorry, elder sister.”
Yuri stopped what she was doing and quietly embraced Yuri, who had approached her side.
“It’s okay. What are you sorry for? It’s not like you came between Minwoo and me……”
“Not that.”
“Huh?”
“Elder sister, you know what I’m talking about now, don’t you?”
Yuri loosened her embrace and stepped back, staring at Yuri. Yuri was momentarily speechless and couldn’t say anything. Until now, the two had never openly discussed their birth.
She thought Yuri obviously knew that Lady An was her birth mother, but she didn’t have the courage to ask.
“……Yuri.”
“I’m sorry, elder sister. If I had a choice, I would never have been born.”
“When did you find out?”
It was a simple question, but a dark shadow fell over Yuri’s face. It seemed painful just to recall that time.
“Before Mother passed away, she gave me a letter. She told me to open it when I entered college, but I opened it right away when I got home after the funeral.”
Now she understands. At that time, Yuri was uncontrollably rebellious. She thought it was because she was struggling with her mother’s death, but it was because she was shocked to learn the secret of her birth.
“You must have had a hard time alone. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Elder sister, I have some shame too. How could I tell you that?”
Yuri rubbed her reddened eyes with the back of her hand and continued speaking.
“I was young, but I knew everything I needed to know. I felt so sorry for Mother who passed away. Of course, I felt sorry for you too, elder sister.”
She had never thought about it. That her younger sister might have gone through quite a difficult time in her own way.
It wasn’t just her who was hurting. Although what happened afterwards was regrettable, Yuri probably couldn’t have changed the situation much either.
“But why are you telling me this now?”
“Actually, when you found out everything, and had that big fight with Father because of it, I was going to tell you then. But I didn’t have the courage. I was afraid I might lose you forever if I did.”
Maybe her sister’s words were true. If she had confessed then, she would have been angry, asking why she had been hiding it so perfectly all this time. At that time, Yuri was trying to cut ties with her family.
“As time went on, I found myself hiding more and more from you, elder sister. Liking Minwoo oppa but not being able to show it. Even when you said you were going to have a political marriage with Minwoo oppa. But elder sister, I don’t want to do that anymore. I’m too tired. I think it’s better to face things head-on rather than pushing them back.”
When Yuri remained silent, Yuri, perhaps misunderstanding that she was upset, quietly embraced Yuri again.
“Elder sister, please don’t hate me too much.”
It had been her sister’s habit since childhood. Whenever Yuri seemed angry, Yuri would approach her side and embrace her.
“Hate you? Why would I hate you?”
Yuri patted her sister’s back with an awkward expression.
She doesn’t hate her. She can’t say she loves her sister terribly like when they were young, but at least she doesn’t hate her. Also, she didn’t want to hurt her sister.
If possible, she wanted to protect her as much as she could.
After leaving the main house, Yuri headed to the officetel. While packing her things, she thought seriously.
If the affair became known, who would suffer the most damage?
Honestly, she wasn’t very concerned about the disadvantages that would be inflicted on Congressman Chae. Her father would find a way to survive in the political world somehow. Lady An must have been prepared for everything when she committed adultery.
The person who would be most severely affected by this incident was her sister Yuri. Yuri’s life would change 180 degrees.
Then what would happen to Kwon Jeho?
It seems it would be no more than a setback to his plans.
Anyway, since Minwoo had been driven overseas, he wouldn’t suffer much loss even if he was pushed back a bit in the successor competition.
“Ha.”
She laughed at herself for worrying about others first rather than herself while saying she would take revenge.
That’s why you’re always getting pushed around.
Chae Yuri, take care of yourself first, yourself!
But what exactly would be the way to take care of herself?
Sadly, she couldn’t think of a clear answer.
__________
My Clingy Little Husband (Female-dominant)
One-line summary: The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
Introduction:
One day, Lu Yuner’s soul transmigrates into a female-dominant world. She enters the Imperial Academy and takes up the position of a doctoral instructor, teaching classes and grading schoolwork.
One day, she encounters the young prince Su Qingwan secretly skipping class from the male academy.
As a result, Su Qingwan is punished.
From then on, Su Qingwan sees Lu Yuner as a “thorn in his side”.
But before long, this “thorn” becomes the person he cherishes most, and he goes to great lengths to win Lu Yuner’s affection.
Mini scene 1:
One day, the sun is high in the sky but Su Qingwan still hasn’t gotten up for class.
Servant Xiaoyuan: “Young prince, it’s time for class. You’ll be late otherwise.”
Su Qingwan says arrogantly: “I’m not going. I am the esteemed prince, my status is so noble, why should I suffer this hardship? Besides, isn’t learning all this just to please women? Hmph, they’re not worthy!”
Mini scene 2:
After Su Qingwan falls for someone, he completely changes. He no longer skips class and diligently learns how to be a good husband and father. But he discovers that Sister Yuner is always surrounded by admirers.
Drunk and overcome with jealousy one day, he clings to Lu Yuner, crying beautifully like a pear blossom in the rain.
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan likes Sister Yuner.”
Lu Yuner: “Young prince, you’re drunk.”
Su Qingwan: “Qingwan isn’t drunk. Qingwan likes Sister Yuner, likes you so much, likes you to bits…” Before he can finish, Lu Yuner’s eyes flash with emotion and she leans in closer.
[Reading Guide]
1. The female lead is gentle, gracious, humble and polite but not weak. The male lead is initially an arrogant, noble, love-deprived brat, later a cute, clingy, scheming little jealous one.
2. 1v1, a bit torturous in the beginning but definitely sweet later on.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
