Embedded Files
Psst! We're moving!
Kang-joon looked at Sehee, who couldn’t answer, with an even more serious expression.
“You might think it’s uninspired, but I wanted the proposal to be simple.” He then carefully added that he didn’t want his sincerity to be overshadowed by a lavish event. He just wanted to quietly convey his true feelings like this.
And it was true. Thanks to the proposal lacking extravagant fanfare, Kang-joon’s sincerity shone brilliantly.
They say if you cry and then laugh, a horn will grow on your bottom. Though slightly worried about that, Sehee smiled and said,
“This was the wish you were going to ask for after 24 hours?”
“This is a proposal, and the wish is separate. Are you really going to grant both?”
“I can grant ten wishes, you know?”
Just say the word. At Sehee’s earnest gaze, Kang-joon narrowed his eyes. It was a look that weighed whether or not to make his wish now.
As she stared intently into his eyes, Kang-joon gave a wry smile and said, “If nothing unexpected happens, let’s go register our marriage tomorrow.”
Despite his wry smile and calm tone, Sehee felt it deeply.
Just like me, there’s a tiny, unshakeable speck of anxiety in your heart, an earnestness that doesn’t know what to do, fearing I might change my mind again.
Now it was her turn.
It was time to make that tiny speck hidden deep in Kang-joon’s heart disappear and fulfill his earnest desire.
If I can give you certainty, if I can convey my sincerity, what can’t I do?
“Nothing unexpected tomorrow.”
Sehee shyly replied and hugged Kang-joon tightly around the neck.
She sweetly whispered to the man who was handsome from his face down to his ears.
She would marry him and register their marriage. She would do anything he wanted.
________________________________________
Early in the morning, Chairman Yoo summoned Young-guk to the main residence.
‘Step down from the Vice Chairman position and take on the role of Managing Director at Inno Planning. Even if you just handle advertisements for Inno affiliates, it will run smoothly, so you won’t have to do much.’
It was like a bolt from the blue. To hand over the Vice Chairman position to his younger brother and take on a mediocre advertising company, and not even as president, but as managing director?
Young-guk knelt before Chairman Yoo and begged profusely. He argued that if not the Vice Chairman position, he should at least take on the CEO position of Inno Planning to save face.
But instead, a furious rebuke came down.
‘What kind of incompetent fool who can’t even manage his own wife wants to be a company CEO?! When I think about how your wife almost ruined our relationship with Hanshin, kicking you out wouldn’t even be enough!’
Chairman Yoo, panting roughly, looked as if he was about to throw his cup but then waved his hand vehemently.
‘That position is also being maintained because of the Hanshin family’s daughter-in-law, so understand that and get out!’
Knowing his father’s personality, Young-guk had no choice but to retreat.
He returned home and spent two days agonizing, but no clear solution came to mind.
After three days, Young-guk left his house and headed straight for Inno Fashion.
The only golden lifeline he had left.
The articles pouring out from the media outlets all week couldn’t spare Young-guk either.
After thoroughly dissecting Madam Jo, the next target was Young-guk.
Not only was his past completely exposed, but his incompetence as Vice Chairman was also thoroughly revealed.
Thanks to that, Young-guk’s image had plummeted.
Irresponsible father, horrible husband, human garbage beyond recycling, incompetent Vice Chairman, and so on.
In particular, the public was condemning Young-guk for tacitly condoning his legal wife tormenting his daughter, born of his own mistake, without taking even minimal responsibility.
Perhaps because of this, the secretaries’ gazes were unkind as they watched Young-guk sit in the CEO’s office lobby, waiting for Sehee.
“What did he ever do for the CEO to have the nerve to come here?”
“Because he’s shameless, that’s why he did such terrible things.”
“Our CEO is too kind, isn’t she? To even meet a father like that.”
Whether they were whispering or deliberately letting him hear, the criticism from the secretary team clearly reached his ears.
His pride was wounded, and he was angry, but Young-guk had no choice but to pretend not to hear.
How long did he sit on the lobby sofa, feigning blindness and deafness?
The elevator doors opened, and finally, his golden lifeline appeared.
“Sehee!”
Even seeing Young-guk, Sehee didn’t express displeasure, but she didn’t welcome him either.
“Two warm teas, please.”
Sehee gave instructions to the secretary team, then opened the door to her office and said to Young-guk, “Come in.”
As soon as he sat on the office sofa, Young-guk spoke urgently, his expression anxious.
“Your aunt, I truly didn’t know she would do such a thing even in the hospital. You know, don’t you? That I would never do anything to harm you. Huh?”
“I know, you’d never do anything to harm me.”
The moment Young-guk was about to let out a sigh of relief, Sehee slowly continued,
“Instead, you probably stood by and watched when harm was done to me, rather than stopping it.”
“...”
“Isn’t that right? That’s your specialty, Yoo Young-guk. Neglect, passive observation, indifference. Turning a blind eye.”
His surprise lasted only a moment before Young-guk switched to a cringing, shameless mode.
“Sehee, I did everything wrong. I regret mismanaging my wife a hundred, a thousand times over. But Sehee, you can’t abandon your father too. What will the baby in your womb see and learn?”
Upon receiving the secretary team’s report that Young-guk had even come to the company, Sehee told them to make him wait.
She was simply curious. What kind of expression Yoo Young-guk would wear, what he would say.
But as Sehee expected, Young-guk hadn’t come to apologize or reflect on his past misdeeds.
He had simply come to beg, hoping to survive somehow on his own. This proved that hopeless individuals couldn’t be reformed.
“Then what do you wish for me to do?”
“I have some shame, so I don’t ask for the Vice Chairman position. But to save face, shouldn’t I take on the CEO position? Not in an unlisted company like Inno Planning.”
“...”
“The whole of Korea knows I’m your father. At first, they might pity you and take your side, but how long do you think that will last? Eventually, you’ll also be treated the same, ‘like father, like daughter.’ I’m saying this for you, who will become the Hanshin family’s daughter-in-law, not for me.”
Sehee barely managed to suppress a laugh at Young-guk’s shamelessness. As she stared at him, Young-guk quickly continued, “I’m already thinking of divorcing your aunt immediately! So...?”
“Don’t divorce her.”
Unable to bear any more shamelessness, Sehee calmly interrupted Young-guk’s words.
To Young-guk, who looked at her as if he didn’t understand, Sehee gave a bright smile.
“You two are the most perfectly matched couple in the world; you absolutely shouldn’t break up.”
Why would I let you divorce? For whose benefit?
Right now, you two are the couple who hate each other the most in the world.
Live as a couple for the rest of your lives, burning with hatred and anger towards each other until you die.
I’ll be watching you live unhappily forever, so why would I?
“You two should live as a couple forever. That’s the price for securing the Managing Director position at Inno Planning, you know.”
“Price...?”
“Given Chairman Yoo’s personality, why wouldn’t he have disowned a useless son? Of course, if you fail to manage your wife properly again, you’ll have to give up that position too.”
She didn’t need to add the last part, but even the foolish Young-guk understood perfectly this time. It was the final warning: if he wanted to keep that position, he had to live as a married couple forever and manage his wife well.
“This is the last consideration I can give you. So please leave now.”
Suddenly, Young-guk knelt at Sehee’s feet as she rose from the sofa.
He looked up with tear-filled eyes, clasping his hands together and begging profusely.
“Sehee! Please don’t do this, okay? How many times do I have to tell you, I didn’t neglect you, I just had no choice but to watch over you! If I showed you even a little concern, it was obvious Young-hee would torment you more, so how could I have taken care of you?”
Sehee looked down at Young-guk and asked resentfully,
“My aunt tormented me in every way possible, she just didn’t hit me. And you still just stood by and watched?”
“I didn’t hit you, as you said. I thought it was enough not to lay a hand on you, and that was the best I could do at the time. And what could I have done? Your aunt held all the economic power.”
Sehee snorted disdainfully at Young-guk, who had an utterly aggrieved expression.
“From the first time I met my aunt when I was nine years old until now, she hit me every time we met. If you had watched me even a little, you wouldn’t have known. Did you really watch over me?”
At Sehee’s rebuttal, the color drained from Young-guk’s face.
If you’re going to lie, do it properly. Who are you trying to fool so sloppily?
“Please leave now. And don’t ever come back.”
Thump. Young-guk, looking distraught, slumped to the floor and began to stubbornly resist.
“I will absolutely not leave like this! Parents might abandon their children, but children do not abandon their parents! This is an act that will be punished by heaven!”
Sehee turned away, ignoring Young-guk, and picked up the phone to call the security team.
After some time, with a knock, two burly security guards entered.
Sehee spoke, looking with icy eyes at Young-guk, who was sitting on the floor, stubbornly resisting.
“Drag him out right now, and if he causes any more trouble, call the police.”
Ultimately, Young-guk was dragged away and banished by the security guards.
Forever from Sehee’s life, not just from the office.
________________________________________
Late at night, at the end of the day.
Sehee sat beside Kang-joon on the terrace bench again today, quietly recounting the day’s events. Her last meeting with Young-guk, which had left her with bitterness instead of triumph.
As always, Kang-joon played the role of a quiet listener, with a serious expression. Like the bamboo forest where the hatmaker shouted, “The king’s ears are donkey ears.”
Sehee herself was second to none in being quiet, but at some point, she had become a chatterbox only with Kang-joon.
Whenever she looked at his consistently gentle dark eyes, she couldn’t help but reveal the words she had kept inside.
At first, he enchanted her captivatingly, and now he enchants people as if casting a spell.
The real enchantress seemed to be Kang-joon, not her. Because Kang-joon kept drawing out another Joo Sehee within her, one she didn’t even know existed.
The talkative Joo Sehee, the spoiled Joo Sehee, the grumbling Joo Sehee. No matter what side of her she showed, he looked at her lovingly, so what side couldn’t she show?
It’s always the same, your love for me is too excessive.
But now, Sehee was happy, far from feeling overwhelmed by Kang-joon’s excessive love.
“Mother brought wedding plans A and B. She told me to choose one.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Hmm, mainly the wedding venue and the number of guests?”
The conclusion was a subtle difference between opulent or even more opulent, grand or even grander.
The moment Sehee made her decision, wedding preparations, starting with printing invitations, would proceed smoothly.
She wanted to say it was too much and felt like a burden, but she couldn’t bring herself to.
She felt sorry for Yeon-sook, who cherished her like a true daughter, saying that Pré was her dowry and she only needed to show up. Yeon-sook, who was taking care of the wedding preparations, seemed so excited.
Kang-joon, reading her mind, calmly said, “It seems you’re not happy with either Plan A or B, Sehee.”
She tried to deny it, but Sehee decided to be honest.
Because it was Kang-joon, not anyone else.
“To be honest, I think it’s too much. I’m still scared and a little...like that.”
Nothing in this world is perfect; it’s just close to perfect.
Kang-joon had managed the situation as close to perfectly as possible, but it still wasn’t 100%. Most people supported Sehee, but there were still quite a few who condemned her.
The unchanging truth: a younger sister who loved her twin sister’s husband and even had a child with him.
And the daughter born to that younger sister had also taken away her twin sister’s daughter’s husband.
“I’m worried that my existence will become a weakness and a flaw for you and Pré.”
“That won’t happen. Even if it did, I wouldn’t let it.”
When Sehee occasionally felt afraid like this, Kang-joon was always consistent.
He would fully embody his unique confidence and arrogance, then instill faith in Sehee.
Trust me, I will protect you and our child. I’ll grant you anything you wish, so all you have to do is live happily within my fence.
“Do you want a simple, ordinary wedding?”
“It’s too late for that already.”
Changing her mind now would be unfair to Yeon-sook.
This was all due to her underestimating the scale of the Hanshin family, which was a top-tier chaebol family.
She truly hadn’t expected them to propose having 5,000 guests and broadcasting the wedding live on all public television channels.
The only thing she liked was the plan to donate all the congratulatory money.
“Do you really think it’s too late?”
At Kang-joon’s words, spoken with a relaxed smile, Sehee looked anxious.
“You’re not thinking of telling Mother to completely scrap the wedding preparations, are you?”
“Why not?”
Kang-joon replied calmly, as if it didn’t matter, and Sehee was aghast.
“Don’t do that. Then I really won’t be able to face Mother. It’s like repaying kindness with enmity!”
“I promise I’ll overturn the wedding plans without upsetting Mother even a little.”
How on earth?
Kang-joon lightly kissed Sehee’s straight forehead, which asked with her eyes, and whispered in a teasing voice.
Why worry when we have Pré as our free pass and shield?
Google Sites
Report abuse