Chapter 85: The Weight of Lies and a Foolish Smile

His brazen lies extinguished any desire I had to speak with him further. He wasn’t worth the effort.

The betrayal, proportional to my trust, was too profound. I no longer wished to share the same space with him—not for a minute, not even for a second.

“Why are you doing this?”

As I threw off the blanket and moved to leave the bed, he caught my arm. Seeing his utterly bewildered expression, I let out a low laugh.

“Why am I doing this?”

I flung my arm, dislodging his hand. Descending from the bed, I attempted to leave the room, but he blocked my path once more.

“Move.”

“Don’t just try to avoid this; let’s talk first—”

“Then don’t lie!”

My barely suppressed rage finally erupted. Startled by my sudden raised voice, he widened his eyes.

“You don’t know Jung Hee-soo? Then why do you have his contact information?”

His trembling eyes confessed the truth, yet his lips remained sealed. Just like that, he squandered the opportunity I had given him, with lies and silence.

Had he only been honest, I might have been hurt, but it wouldn’t have been this agonizing. I wouldn’t have been driven to doubt even his declarations of love.

“Yoo Seo-jin, please calm down. I’ll explain everything. I can explain everything, so—”

“What new lie are you going to deceive me with this time?”

“It’s not a lie….”

He couldn’t continue. With no further conversation to be had, I wished he would simply move, yet he stubbornly guarded the doorway without uttering a word.

“We only exchanged contact information for work.”

A long moment passed before he finally spoke. “For work,” he claimed—a conveniently facile excuse. What possible ‘work’ could an executive from Daejin Group and a job seeker like Jung Hee-soo have to exchange contact details for?

There was a limit to how much he could belittle me. This pathetic lie was enough to make me lose all affection. Then again, it had always been this way; Han Jung-woo had always treated Yoo Seo-jin as an ignorant fool, oblivious to the ways of the world.

“Move.”

“Yoo Seo-jin, I—”

“I said, move.”

Recognizing my final warning, he reluctantly cleared the way. Leaving him behind, I exited the room and immediately went to the adjacent one, retrieving the suitcase I had stored in the corner.

The only possessions I had to pack were the clothes I’d brought earlier, but with my noticeably swollen belly, they no longer fit and were essentially disposable. After all, even the clothes I was currently wearing had been bought by Han Jung-woo.

It was ironic that after staying here for quite some time, there was nothing to put into this small suitcase. Ultimately, I realized once more that this place was not where I belonged.

As I closed the empty suitcase and stood, I noticed the room was filled with items. It seemed he had gathered all the baby supplies he’d excitedly bought last time into this room.

‘There’s so much.’

If I were to leave this house now, would all these things be discarded? I had a strange urge to stop him when he was so excitedly shopping; perhaps it was a premonition of today’s events.

I emotionlessly scanned the unopened items before opening the door. As I descended the stairs, carrying the empty suitcase, I heard a clamorous sound from beside me.

My gaze naturally turned, and I saw him rushing towards me. Noticing the suitcase in my hand a moment too late, his face crumpled as if the world had ended.

As I attempted to continue down the stairs, he followed and snatched the suitcase from me. Unable to control his strength, the empty suitcase was flung lightly, tumbling down the steps.

The suitcase, now split in two, seemed to perfectly reflect the state of our relationship. Shattered and fractured into disarray by his lies—that was us.

“What are you doing—”

“Yoo Seo-jin, have you ever been truly honest with me?”

He demanded, gripping my shoulder. When I retorted that he was the one who lied and questioned why he was trying to shift the blame onto me, his lips twisted into a sneer. He was mocking my words.

“Never, have you?”

A surge of anger churned within me at his infuriating remark. Though I longed to unleash a torrent of curses, I forced myself to hold back, expressing my feelings instead with a weary, mirthless laugh.

“Let’s stop.”

“Stop what? We haven’t even started.”

I yearned to break free from his persistent grip, but I couldn’t overpower him. Ultimately, I gave up trying to push him away, seething quietly to myself.

“If you have anything to say, say it all now.”

‘Consider it the last time,’ I murmured under my breath. Hearing my quiet addition, he didn’t bother to conceal his displeasure. Repeating the word ‘last’ to himself, he let out a deep sigh.

“I never intended to end things, yet you’re unilaterally deciding to.”

“Didn’t you say you’d respect my choices?”

“That was after the child is born.”

A silent battle of wills ensued, neither of us yielding. As we glared at each other with resentment, he was the first to look away. Covering his painfully contorted face with his hand, he spoke.

“I don’t know what you’re worried about, Yoo Seo-jin, but Jung Hee-soo and I are nothing to each other. And there will be no such relationship in the future.”

He asserted it, but I remained skeptical. I wanted to just tell him the truth. That this was a world within a drama, and he and Jung Hee-soo were its protagonists.

‘He’d think I was crazy.’

Han Jung-woo was a realist; there was no way he would believe my words. Indeed, who would believe it? That I was not truly Yoo Seo-jin but Yoo Joon-hee, and that he was merely a role played by Seon Woo-jung, the man I loved.

“I told you countless times from the start. The person I love is—”

He stopped mid-sentence and lowered his hand. The corners of his lips, forming a faint smile, trembled visibly. Though no tears fell, he was weeping.

“I simply don’t know how.”

“……”

“How can I keep you?”

Mumbling to himself, he seemed like a lost child. It was as if he was pleading with me to help him find his way.

Yet, regrettably, I was merely another lost soul. A foolish person, simply wandering without knowing where to go.

In that sense, we seemed quite alike. Both Han Jung-woo and I were lost, so in the end, we were simply wandering together.

I pushed away his hand gripping my arm. His widely shaking eyes held a shock as if the world had ended. I spoke to him, on the verge of collapsing.

I told him we needed some time apart.

“…How long?”

“Not very long, I imagine.”

Only a few months remained until the baby’s birth. Our relationship needed to reach a conclusion within that timeframe, so the period for deliberation would not be extensive.

Perhaps within that time, he might develop a deeper relationship with Jung Hee-soo and leave me. Yet, even that, I had now decided to let go of.

Whether it flowed according to fate, or defied it.

“You stay here. I’ll leave instead.”

“It’s your house, Han Jung-woo.”

“It doesn’t matter; you stay here, Yoo Seo-jin.”

I couldn’t simply reject him as he pleaded with me, murmuring “Please.” When I reluctantly nodded, he smiled with a look of relief. It was a truly foolish smile.

****

A short while later, he packed only a few simple belongings and left the house. After some time passed, I descended to the first floor, confirming that he had indeed gone.

Sitting on the sofa, I gazed at the empty living room. A laugh escaped me at the absurd situation: the owner had left, and a guest now occupied the house.

His insistence that I remain in the house was so he could keep me somewhere he could see me.

After all, there were security guards stationed around the perimeter and housekeepers who assisted with chores, so I wouldn’t be alone.

Even without that, he might have simply decided it was better for him to leave than to send a pregnant me out.

‘He cleaned up the suitcase.’

The broken suitcase, which had tumbled down the stairs, was gone, cleaned up without a single fragment remaining.

With all traces of our argument meticulously removed, it felt like any ordinary evening. An evening where he hadn’t yet returned from work, and I waited for him, just like always.

‘How long will it take?’

I had promised that the period of deliberation wouldn’t be long. Thus, I intended to make a decision as quickly as possible.

Whether to leave, or to bury everything and stay.

He claimed I had a choice, but that wasn’t true. All choices ultimately belonged to him.

I could only remain here as long as his heart stayed with me. If his feelings departed, then I, too, would have to leave.

*Zing*. A small vibration resonated. I pulled out my phone, and the name of the only person saved there appeared on the screen.

Han Jung-woo [Don’t think about anything today; just rest well.]

He was the one who had left the house, yet he was worrying about me. A small scoff escaped me, growing into a full-blown laugh. Lying on the sofa, I laughed for a long time before turning my phone back on and sending him a reply.

[You too.]

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