True Marriage After Divorce - Chapter 2
Arin’s small fists placed on her knees started to tremble.
She quickly wiped away her tears and raised her head. As she looked up, her eyes met his as he was shaking off the water from his wet hair. Her sunken heart started to beat rapidly.
His narrow and long eyes without double eyelids, tall nose, and sharp jawline surrounding his thin lips were like a sculpture crafted by God.
‘Except for the existence of Choi A Rin…… everything elder brother has is a luxury item.’
She always felt shabby and miserable next to him. Arin bit her lower lip hard as emotions swelled up inside her.
“Did you cry?”
He asked, having closed the distance between them at some point.
Arin turned her head away from Jae Hyuk, who was staring intently at her face.
Don’t forget it’s because of sympathy. He doesn’t love you.
She clenched her fists tightly at the reality she could no longer turn away from.
The person she had loved for half her life. Once a fresh first love, and at some point, a deep love she cherished more than her own life.
And now, someone she had to let go.
So she shouldn’t expect or delude herself any longer.
Arin composed her expression and turned her head. He was still looking at her.
“……No.”
“Really? You didn’t cry?”
“Yes.”
His eyes seemed to not believe her words, but it didn’t matter.
‘Today is the last day with elder brother anyway. Now it’s all useless…….’
Arin tried to force a smile. Jae Hyuk’s observant gaze was still directed at her, but she pretended not to notice, took off the cardigan she was wearing, and lay down on the bed.
After lying on the bed, Arin forced another smile at Jae Hyuk as if nothing was wrong, trying not to hide the turmoil in her heart.
“I’m really okay.”
Jae Hyuk scrutinized Arin’s expression for a while longer, then took off the bathrobe he was wearing and got on the bed.
“Okay. If you say so.”
Jae Hyuk spoke with an inscrutable expression.
Instead of answering, she slightly raised her head so his arm could go under her neck. Soon, his thick arm, built from regular exercise, supported her neck.
She knew it was an absurd self-rationalization.
She could have handed him the divorce papers as soon as he came out. But she wanted to indulge in one last selfish desire.
Perhaps it might hurt every time she recalls it in the future……
‘It’s the last time.’
Arin hoped Jae Hyuk would regret it after seeing the traces she left behind. Even though she knew he would never regret it, she felt she had to think that way to feel a little less miserable as she left.
The distance closed, and soon a warm sensation touched her lips.
The warmth conveyed through the touched skin was so comforting. The scent of white musk mixed with Jae Hyuk’s body odor that had come inside lingered. As his long fingers brushed her waist, it tingled as if electricity had passed through.
Her love for him, though it was just a stubborn attachment to things that had never been hers, was the one and only love of Choi A Rin’s life.
Now she had to let go of all these feelings.
‘Goodbye, my love.’
Arin closed her eyes tightly, feeling like tears would fall.
[This is the timeline separator]After everything was over as usual, Jae Hyuk quickly got up as if he had been waiting and headed to the bathroom. Arin’s gaze fell on Jae Hyuk’s body, where firm muscles had settled from consistent exercise.
Jae Hyuk was a man who had everything.
He was capable and also from a good family. When someone is from a good family, they tend to become lazy, but he was a man who had diligence as well.
‘That’s why I felt even more miserable. Because every moment, I had to realize that no matter how hard I tried, I could never reach elder brother.’
Did he notice her gaze?
Jae Hyuk stopped walking towards the bathroom, turned around, and approached Arin.
He reached out and caressed her cheek.
Arin’s heart fluttered at Jae Hyuk’s touch on her cheek.
She tried countless times not to mistake his small acts of kindness for love. However, those efforts always turned into bubbles, and all that returned were wounds in her heart.
“I’m going out for a bit. Don’t wait up.”
Arin raised her head. She looked at Jae Hyuk silently.
Where was he going this late at night?
Was it for work? Or was he going to meet that woman?
Her mood plummeted.
She felt stupid for being curious about his whereabouts when she was about to get a divorce.
As she bit her innocent lower lip hard, she spat out different words instead of what she wanted to ask.
“Can we… talk for a moment?”
Instead of answering Arin’s words, Jae Hyuk looked at his watch.
“Wait. I’ll wash up, change clothes, and come back.”
As Jae Hyuk left the room, Arin picked up the cardigan that had fallen beside the bed.
The place she headed to after getting up was the vanity drawer.
[Divorce Agreement.]“……Let’s get a divorce. Let’s end this.”
It was a line she had practiced countless times. Yet, her heart still ached every time she uttered it out loud.
Arin looked down at the document she had taken out from the drawer and groaned the words she had to say. Her thin voice gradually became wet.
After a while, the sound of the door opening was heard.
Arin, who had quickly wiped away her tears, turned her head. Jae Hyuk, perfectly dressed in a suit, approached her.
“What did you want to say?”
His tall height of 190cm, broad shoulders, and sturdy physique made the luxury suit stand out even more, and his fair and clean skin, distinct features, and sharp jawline exuded a cold and urban atmosphere.
From the beginning, it was a place she had greedily desired even though it wasn’t hers, so she had to let go of it now.
Arin clenched her fists tightly, composing her expression.
“Jae Hyuk.”
“Yeah.”
“Did you hear anything from lady?”
To Arin, Jae Hyuk was always ‘elder brother’. But after marriage, she couldn’t call him ‘elder brother’. Lady Jung didn’t allow her to call her ‘mother’ or him ‘elder brother’.
“No.”
After a short answer, Jae Hyuk put on his cufflinks. Arin noticed lady Jung’s intention in his eyes that showed he knew nothing.
‘She’s making me take the lead. She probably thinks it’s okay for me to be hated a little since I’m leaving anyway…….’
To her, lady Jung was the most vicious mother-in-law, but on the contrary, she was a woman who would do anything for her son.
In front of her son Jae Hyuk, she always showed the image of a kind and generous mother-in-law, but when he was not around, her attitude changed completely.
Her fists trembled finely.
She didn’t want to be hated anymore, but she had no choice.
She bit her lower lip hard and held out the document she had placed on the table in front of Jae Hyuk.
“Let’s end this, us.”
Was it the effect of practicing hundreds of times in front of the mirror? The actual performance was a success.
The voice saying ‘end’ was calm and composed.
“……What?”
His hand, which was fiddling with the cufflinks, stopped.
“What is this?”
Instead of answering, Arin gestured for him to take it and check. Jae Hyuk’s eyes turned cold as he took the document.
“I’ve already filled it out. The rest…… you just need to fill it out and submit it.”
After a short silence, he opened his mouth.
“Who is it? Is it mother? Is it your mother?”
A sharp voice flowed out.
The face that had hardened fiercely in an instant, his piercing eyes seemed to demand an explanation of the whole story.
But Arin did not avoid Jae Hyuk’s gaze.
“No, it’s my decision.”
“Choi A Rin.”
Jae Hyuk grabbed Arin’s shoulders.
“I want to live comfortably.”
“……What?”
“Why all of a sudden?”
“It’s not sudden. I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”
“……”
“This position is too much for me to handle. I hate it when everything I do becomes the talk of people’s mouths.”
Jae Hyuk looked at Arin with a blank expression as if he had been hit on the back of his head.
“I don’t like being tormented by the child issue either.”
Although Arin’s eyes appeared composed on the outside, her heart was shattered.
‘I wanted elder brother not to do that even if the whole world turned away from me and cursed at me. I wanted you not to look at me with indifferent and cold eyes. The more my so-called family kept asking you for money, the more I couldn’t raise my head.’
That’s why.
She wanted to let go of everything. She no longer wanted to cling to a life that didn’t improve no matter how hard she tried.
“I’ll talk to mother about it again. Don’t worry about the child issue.”
Jae Hyuk crumpled the divorce papers and threw them on the floor. Arin’s gaze fell on the pieces of paper discarded on the floor.
“No, don’t do that.”
On days when she clashed with Jae Hyuk, lady Jung would cunningly and thoroughly trample on her in places where he could never notice.
Except for Hyun Yu Jung, whom he had assigned as her executive secretary, no one in the family was on her side.
Arin picked up the divorce papers Jae Hyuk had thrown away. She straightened the crumpled papers and handed them to him.
“I want a divorce. My decision won’t change.”
At Arin’s words, Jae Hyuk looked at her with a dumbfounded expression.
Jae Hyuk was undoubtedly her one and only love and the savior of her life that had fallen into the abyss.
She vaguely knew that it was impossible to meet a man she would love more than Jae Hyuk in the past, present, or future.
“You endured well all this time, so why are you doing this?”
“……”
“Is it because mother said she would drag you to the infertility hospital?”
No, it’s not a problem that can be explained so simply. I’m telling you it’s all over.
I guess you really had no interest in me.
The last string of feelings she had been foolishly holding onto for Jae Hyuk slipped away.
Arin spoke with a nonchalant face.
“No. I already went there.”
“What? You went?”
“Yes. I got all the results, and Dr. Kim said it would be difficult. So.”
“Choi A Rin.”
She thought it only happened in morning dramas.
A marriage with an ulterior motive, being ignored and mistreated by in-laws, the tyranny of the mother-in-law.
She thought it was all exaggerated in dramas. For her, it was all reality.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about it?”
How could I tell you?
You think if I go to you, who treats me like I’m invisible, and say that lady is dragging me to the hospital, what would you say?
Why are you telling me about such things?
The words she couldn’t say out loud lingered in her mouth.
Right. She had once hoped for such words from him.
‘Could it be that elder brother is developing feelings for me? Could it be that he’s starting to like me even a little?’
[Jae Hyuk has had a girl he’s liked since he was young. You’ve probably heard of it too.]‘If lady hadn’t told me that, I would have completely misunderstood.’
When she was very young, she couldn’t forget the image of him holding out a yellow flower to her and saying they should get married when they grew up. She almost had expectations for him.
[Don’t make things complicated. Just stay put.]Jae Hyuk would often say it like a habit. Even though she knew, the expectations she had were always shattered.
Just like now.
“Divorce is not an option.”
“Jae Hyuk.”
Jae Hyuk moved his lips as if to say something, then turned his head away.
“Don’t talk in extremes.”
Arin didn’t understand Jae Hyuk’s behavior.
Why on earth?
Wasn’t divorce what he wanted?
Male lead is reincarnated to save his wife
I’ve also read this one twice already. The female lead is kinda soft and gets embarrassed easily—not really my type, but the plot is definitely worth reading. Hurry up and read it, y’all!
Intro
When Shen Yuan encountered Su Jin again in his previous life, she had already become the Prime Minister of the current dynasty. As for him, the former top young master of the capital, he had long since fallen into the abyss, becoming a singer on a pleasure boat.
After a song ended, he was redeemed and sent to the Su Residence.
Su Jin respected and cherished him, gave him a roof over his head, and bestowed him with warmth. Shen Yuan fell deeper and deeper, but before he could express his feelings, Su Jin passed away.
Shen Yuan died to follow her in death, but instead, he returned to when he was fifteen years old.
At that time, he was not yet engaged, and Su Jin was just a poor scholar.
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth, casting aside all his pride, and thought of ways to coax and entice her every day.
The colder and more indifferent Su Jin was towards him, the more proactive Shen Yuan became.
He was not afraid of being mocked by the world, only wanting to marry his Wife-master early, to hold her hand and never let go for a lifetime.
[Note: This story will not specifically point out the male lead’s reincarnation time point; it’s all in the details. Whenever you feel that the male lead is acting strangely, he has most likely been reincarnated.]
[Touch the gear icon in the bottom right corner of the screen to move to the next chapter if you want.]
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