“In middle school.”
“Me?”
“No, when I was in middle school. I happened to overhear what my mother, no, Yoon Kyungsook, and my mother were saying.”
“…”
“I thought you didn’t know that fact. My mother and Yoon Kyungsook thought the same.”
Arin’s body trembled violently at the tremendous truth.
“Did you know when we got married?”
Jaehyuk nodded instead of answering her question.
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“…That’s.”
As he hesitated, she pressed him.
“Could it be that the person who used to be my mother took money from Ban Jaehyuk using that as an excuse?”
He nodded.
“Could it be that Samoni said that?”
Jaehyuk looked down at Arin with a sad expression.
“Ha.”
Her hand that had been holding him slid down.
“Don’t think about deceiving me anymore.”
“Your mother… wouldn’t reveal the truth about your biological parents, so she told me to keep the secret, asking only to bear a child.”
“…”
“Later, I found out that your mother wanted to keep you by her side because of your horoscope. At that time, I didn’t know, so I thought you were manipulating my feelings. Like you liked me, I liked you, so I thought our hearts were connected. But when I heard that you were marrying me for money, I got angry, so I treated you even more harshly.”
“That’s absurd.”
It was despairing. Everything she knew was different.
“So, to protect Ban Jaehyuk from getting hurt, you kept the secret?”
“…Arin.”
“Ha. That’s ridiculous! It’s absurd! How did people know such a thing when I didn’t? They all acted selfishly, thinking I didn’t know, shushing each other.”
“If I had known that you knew……”
Arin stared at Jaehyuk with all her might.
He recalled what Ji Yoon had said when she came to find him a while ago.
[Although it’s off-topic, I have a question. Did Chairman truly love Arin?] [Should I answer?] [Yes. Depending on the Chairman’s answer, my words will change.] [To me, Arin is the first and last woman.] [I already know that Arin is not the biological child of Ms. Yoon Kyungsook and Mr. Choi Chulsoo.] [Why are you telling me such an important thing?]Ji Yoon said.
[Chairman’s feelings are the same as Arin’s. Even if Arin denies it, I think his feelings won’t change.] […….] [I hope Arin is happy now that the two have come back enough. If, Chairman, you have any hesitation related to hiding your feelings about Arin’s parents, don’t hesitate.]“Sorry.”
Jaehyuk hugged Arin again.
“I tried to protect you, but I ended up hurting you.”
In the end, she cried in his arms. Jaehyuk held Arin tighter without saying a word.
How much time had passed?
Arin, who had lost her strength, pulled away from Jaehyuk’s embrace and sat on the bench in front of the convenience store. He brought warm coffee and lukewarm soy milk to her.
“Drink.”
After pouring everything out, she felt a loss of will to fight. She felt empty and futile. However, strangely, at the same time, she felt like something that had been tightly blocked had opened up.
“Thank you.”
Her heart fluttered with the warmth in her hands.
“Why on earth did it come to this?”
Love was said to be about timing. However, their timing was always off.
“I’m hungry. There seemed to be a lot of delicious food.”
“Shall we go eat?”
“No. It’s too late now.”
Arin felt strange.
The relationship between Ban Jaehyuk and Choi Arin was closer to a master-servant relationship entwined in a kind of contract.
It had always been her who was cautious, not him. But now, the situation had completely changed.
The one being cautious was no longer her but him.
She turned her head, enveloped in subtle emotions. Her eyes caught the sparkling night view across the Han River.
“Earlier, Manager Min said he had something to discuss, so I went out for a moment. I thought it would be okay to finish quickly and come back, but it seems he was busy talking to people.”
“…I see.”
“I didn’t think it would take so long. Actually, I thought it would be fine to finish quickly and come back.”
No, it wasn’t really long. In terms of time, maybe around twenty minutes?
“It didn’t seem like it took that long… I didn’t expect him to find me during that time.”
Male lead reborn without memories — but he still falls for her.
The person he finds displeasing in this life turns out to be his cherished wife-master in previous life…
Xie Zhi and Fang Xianxing who had known each other for less than three days through a blind date sat in the same car in front of the civil affairs bureau. They had a disagreement and failed to get married.
Xie Zhi immediately took out his phone, slid through his contacts, and randomly selected the next marriage candidate.
The woman snatched his phone and hung up. Looking at his phone wallpaper, she awkwardly changed the subject: “An ancient painting, eh? It looks pretty good, it’s just that the person in the painting looks a bit like me.”
When he heard this, he sarcastically mocked her for being so delusional, completely unaware that, the person in front of him was the reincarnation of Wen Ru, the famous prime minister of Yuan Shun whom he most admired…
The female CEO who doesn’t want to get married with a divorce agreement in hand × The male archaeological researcher who will only get married if he’s sure he can get divorced
