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Chapter 04
She pushed Seo Tae-joo away with both hands.
“…The baby doesn’t even have eyes, a nose, or a mouth yet.”
Yeo Jae-kyung answered coldly on purpose. But Seo Tae-joo didn’t back off. To begin with, his body was like some immovable boulder—he didn’t budge at all.
“Since we’re talking about it, let me appeal to you. Wouldn’t that baby—who doesn’t even have eyes, a nose, or a mouth yet—be sad if Mom and Dad divorced before they were even born?”
But Yeo Jae-kyung wasn’t someone who would be swayed by emotional manipulation.
“I’ll teach the child that their parents’ divorce has nothing to do with them, and I’ll raise them with enough love to grow strong. So it doesn’t matter.”
“……”
Seo Tae-joo let out a deep sigh.
…What an impossibly sharp woman.
She had probably already mapped out their unborn child’s entire life plan from A to Z in her head.
Normally, he would’ve found that side of her sexy enough to want to kiss her. But at this moment, he wanted to send that stubbornness of hers away on a business trip.
“Are you really going to do this?”
When nothing worked, Seo Tae-joo finally looked at her with resentment. Yeo Jae-kyung closed her eyes, shutting out his gaze.
It was truly a battle between an unstoppable spear and an unbreakable shield.
The fragile tension between them stretched tighter and tighter. Neither side seemed willing to retreat. Up until now, the fight seemed to favor Yeo Jae-kyung.
Then, a sound rang out that instantly reversed the balance between them.
Smack—
Feeling lips against hers, Yeo Jae-kyung’s eyes flew open in disbelief.
“What are you doing right—!”
But the attack continued.
Smack. Smack, smack.
Seo Tae-joo’s kisses were less like kisses and more like headbutts with his lips.
Startled, Yeo Jae-kyung hurriedly covered her mouth with her hand. But Seo Tae-joo’s arms were faster. In an instant, she was overpowered by his strength, and her eyes widened.
“W-What are you doing?”
“What am I doing? I kissed my wife, who’s carrying my child.”
His shameless expression practically said:
Yeah. So what?
Yeo Jae-kyung stared at him blankly.
In an instant, the atmosphere flipped.
Taking advantage of her dazed state, Seo Tae-joo’s lips landed on hers again. This time it wasn’t a peck but something deeper.
“Mmh…”
Everything happened in a flash.
The solid arm wrapped around her waist made her body melt against him out of habit. At the same time, his tongue pushed into her mouth.
Her tongue, caught off guard, retreated in surprise, but he drew it back toward him. Her stiffened body immediately tangled with the warmth and softness of his.
“Mmm…”
Yeo Jae-kyung felt all strength leave her body, like someone being completely disarmed.
The familiar scent of her husband’s skin filled her nose, and her body heated up against her will.
She wasn’t some Pavlovian dog that drooled at the sound of a bell…
She had done far more with this man than this. Night after night, they had rolled around in bed as though they were one body.
And yet, her body reacted as if this were her first kiss.
Their tongues tangled together, exchanging warmth and breath. Every time he tilted his head to deepen the angle, he caught and restrained her struggling arms.
At one point, he pulled away slightly and murmured an order.
“Hold onto me or cling to me. Properly.”
His voice was low enough to send shivers over the rim of her ear.
“…Hng!”
Yeo Jae-kyung opened her eyes without realizing it and froze when she saw her husband’s dark gaze fixed directly on her. Startled, she squeezed her eyes shut again and wrapped her arms around his neck as instructed.
…This had always been the problem.
Yeo Jae-kyung had always been helplessly weak against Seo Tae-joo.
He always found her softest, most vulnerable spots and took control before she could do anything.
Even if the hallway was secluded, there were crowds gathered just beyond the wall.
Yet when she came back to her senses, Yeo Jae-kyung realized she was already kissing Seo Tae-joo desperately.
“Haah… s-stop…!”
It was when Seo Tae-joo buried his lips deep against her neck, sucking gently. Her senses blurred. His urgency was stronger than usual, and Yeo Jae-kyung had to pound his shoulder with her fists.
But he only stopped after invading her mouth again and again.
When their lips finally separated, a silver thread of saliva stretched between them.
Huff… huff…
As she caught her breath, Seo Tae-joo’s heated gaze flickered inches away from her.
Yeo Jae-kyung’s heart dropped heavily.
Just meeting those eyes made her lower abdomen—where his child now grew—tighten strangely.
“Seriously, Yeo Jae-kyung. Back then and now, you’re so pretty… but you never listen.”
His low voice brushed over her skin like electricity.
Her body swayed slightly, and Seo Tae-joo caught her immediately.
Then he spoke firmly, as if driving a nail into place.
“Anyway, divorce is not happening. Know why?”
“……”
Yeo Jae-kyung glared at him with reddened eyes.
But his unwavering gaze made hers tremble.
Her full lips, still wet from his kiss, glistened.
“Because from now on, I’m planning to use every method possible.”
“……”
“To stop our divorce.”
“……”
“I’m never letting you go, Yeo Jae-kyung.”
She looked up at him, overwhelmed by emotions she couldn’t tell were despair or hope.
At the man staring down at her with complete confidence.
“Prepare yourself.”
Her eyes shook endlessly.
Until now, she had always thought poor Seo Tae-joo had gotten caught in her web—that he’d only been used in this marriage for her revenge.
For the first time, Yeo Jae-kyung wondered if the opposite might be true.
…Maybe she was the one who had gotten caught by him.
“I already said everything I needed to say. So…”
“By the way—the hospital.”
Yeo Jae-kyung, about to pull her hand free, froze.
Seo Tae-joo stopped her and asked in a serious voice:
“The hospital… did you go?”
“What hospital?”
Looking frustrated, Seo Tae-joo loosened his tie.
“You said you’re pregnant. Obstetrics. Ultrasound or something. You must’ve gone.”
“Ah.”
Yeo Jae-kyung cleared her throat.
“If you’re asking whether the pregnancy is real—yes. I went. They confirmed it’s 100% pregnancy. If you need proof, I can send the ultrasound photo. Technology’s impressive these days—you can send it directly by message…”
“No. Not that.”
Seo Tae-joo put a hand on his waist impatiently.
“I’m asking if you and the baby are healthy.”
His eyes were serious.
“Ah…”
For a moment, Yeo Jae-kyung couldn’t speak.
“…They said we’re healthy.”
Only then did a relieved sigh escape Seo Tae-joo.
“But when exactly… uh…”
He opened his mouth to ask something, then closed it again awkwardly.
His flustered gestures cut through the air.
“I mean… when did the baby… uh… in your stomach…”
Watching him, Yeo Jae-kyung narrowed her eyes.
“Are you asking when implantation happened?”
“Ahem!”
Seo Tae-joo coughed into his fist and nodded.
Implantation…
How could she say such a clinical word so casually?
Seriously, Yeo Jae-kyung never changed—always blunt enough to embarrass people.
With a sigh, she answered:
“…They said four weeks.”
“I knew it.”
As though a specific memory came to mind, Seo Tae-joo covered his face with one hand.
“Four weeks means… during the Tokyo business trip… haah…”
Four weeks ago, there had indeed been a rare occasion when the married couple’s business trips overlapped.
“…I shouldn’t have gone to your room that night.”
At his sigh, Yeo Jae-kyung’s expression turned cold immediately.
“Don’t worry, Seo Tae-joo. We both made mistakes, but what’s done is done. I’m not going to push responsibility onto you.”
His eyes sharpened instantly.
“Since you brought that up…”
Seo Tae-joo stepped toward her.
Yeo Jae-kyung’s eyes widened slightly as she faced his broad chest.
“I’d actually really like that responsibility pushed onto me.”
“What?”
“Push it onto me. All of it.”
His voice grew firmer.
“To me—the father of the baby.”
Yeo Jae-kyung stared at him in disbelief.
Their gazes remained locked. Neither backed down.
With a sigh, Seo Tae-joo said:
“Even if our marriage started as a business arrangement, I think we did everything normal couples do.”
“What are you…”
“Dating. Fighting. Misunderstanding each other. Sleeping together. Making up. Didn’t we do all that?”
At the part about sleeping together and making up, Yeo Jae-kyung’s cheeks flushed deeper.
“…So what are you trying to say?”
She raised her chin proudly.
Seo Tae-joo answered with force:
“I can’t end this marriage.”
Her expression immediately became I knew you’d say that.
“Haah… Let’s talk later. Right now—”
“No. We talk now.”
Seo Tae-joo gripped both her shoulders.
“Wasn’t you the one who started this arranged marriage first?”
The moment he said that, Yeo Jae-kyung stopped breathing.
“S-Seo Tae-joo…”
For an instant, she felt like only the two of them existed in the vast hallway.
Because of the fierce look in her husband’s eyes fixed solely on her.
“When you needed it, you married me. And now you thought divorcing me would be easy? Especially now that there’s a child? Did I really look that easy to you?”
His grip tightened.
“You know, if you break contracts like this at work, people curse you out. And this is marriage. You think you can cut off something this important just because of your personal feelings?”
“Then what else should influence divorce if not personal feelings?”
“Yeo Jae-kyung. I’m being very serious right now.”
Their faces were now so close a single hand could barely fit between them.
Their noses nearly touched.
Yeo Jae-kyung still looked confused.
“After five years, you use me up and then decide to throw me away—no, throw away your husband?”
But now Seo Tae-joo looked desperate.
Yeo Jae-kyung bit her lip lightly.
Seo Tae-joo… desperate? The great Seo Tae-joo? Impossible…
Yet his next question stole her breath.
“You dared play with me? Huh, Yeo Jae-kyung?”
His voice dropped.
“Use me and throw me away?”
