Unexpected Ch 1

“How… can you do this?”

The words burst out of her mouth. It would be strange to act rationally at a time like this, but she found her own reaction to be very strange as well.

“How could you…”

However, ChaYoung’s head was already blank.

Unable to finish her sentence, she felt her heart churn inside her chest. She thought this kind of stuff only happened in third-rate soap operas. But now that she had come face to face with a situation like this, she felt herself lose her mind just like all the overacting actors and actresses.

– Is this Kang ChaYoung-ssi?

She picked up a call from an unfamiliar number. At the time, she never imagined she would soon turn into the main character from a fanfiction that was posted on a community forum.

“Who is this?”

Even though she was busy picking something off the menu, her sixth sense pricked up. She felt a shiver run down her spine as her hand clenched the cell phone. She heard a trembling voice reply.

– I’m the person who is currently dating Kim SeungHoon.

Kim SeungHoon… The same Kim SeungHoon she had been dating for two years? The same man she had shared a text conversation with last night?

For a moment, she had no words to say. Her mouth opened and closed like someone who couldn’t speak. She had just left the office with a group of colleagues for lunch. They asked her if everything was okay as they began to show an interest in her sudden change in behavior.

What should I tell them? That a woman called and said that she was dating my boyfriend?

She sat there with a stunned expression on her face as the voice continued on.

– I’m at the cafe in front of your office. I’m sure you don’t want me to go up, right?

The more she listened, the more she realized that this woman felt a sense of superiority over her. Although it wasn’t appropriate, she couldn’t help but scoff.

The Kim SeungHoon she knew would never be able to cheat on her. But still, she found herself walking over to the cafe.

As soon as she entered the cafe, she called the number. The moment her eyes met with that of a woman’s, she saw the woman’s cell phone vibrate on top of the table.

She looked like she was in her mid-twenties. Although it wasn’t proper to judge someone based on their looks, the woman didn’t have a particularly pretty face.

At first, all she felt was a sense of relief.

She approached the tense woman and furtively took a deep breath. First, she needed to focus on what had caused this ridiculous situation. Only after that could she untangle this misunderstanding.

“I think you’re the one who is misunderstanding the situation, Kim ChaYoung-ssi.”

The woman’s face was calm as she crossed her arms. As the conversation drew on, ChaYoung found herself being the one who was more at a loss.

The Kim SeungHoon that this woman described was completely different from the man she knew. The man was humorous and likeable. Name, age, his office… If she hadn’t confirmed all these things ChaYoung would have thought she was talking about someone else.

The woman sitting across from her seemed to grow even calmer as time wore on.

“I’ll turn a blind eye to what has happened, so please give up on him.”

Look who’s talking. She should have snorted, but she couldn’t. The following words were unbelievable.

“We’re still in the middle of choosing the wedding date because of the venue reservations.”

Now this was going too far. As soon as this thought crossed her mind, the phone on the table began to vibrate. It was the other woman’s phone. The woman checked the incoming message before she slid the phone over to ChaYoung.

She didn’t know what this meant, so the woman gestured to the phone with her eyes, telling her to look. Why do I have to read someone else’s… But her eyes were already reading the words.

「My parents said that H Hotel would be fine, but won’t it be too expensive?」

As soon as she read the message, a scoff burst out of her mouth. This was taking it too far. So this man wasn’t just cheating on her. Kim SeungHoon was secretly preparing to marry? Did he think she was a complete blockhead?

As she was trying to figure out how to clean up this mess, the woman took her cell phone and spoke.

“I also didn’t want it to go this far. But what good would it do for you if I just turned a blind eye? He’ll be a married man soon.”

ChaYoung laughed because she couldn’t believe it. The woman sitting across from her stared at her and let out a sigh.

“You should know when to give up on him. But it looks like you’re a lot more stubborn than I thought.”

After admonishing her, the woman held her chin up as if daring her to talk back. ChaYoung felt that giving her a rebuttal in this ridiculous situation would be laughable. But maybe that’s why she felt like a palace maid scrounging for scraps as the queen looked down on her.

The woman looked her straight in the eyes as she shook her head.

“It doesn’t look like I can say anything more to change your mind.”

Then the woman asked her to come to the man’s studio apartment tomorrow as she got up from her seat.

Hilarious. ChaYoung leaned back in her chair and scoffed.

「I’m sorry for missing your call. I’m still… I’m still working overtime with everyone, including the department deputy.」 

「Sounds rough. Ah, that’s right. Aren’t you going on a business trip tomorrow? When you come back, let’s go out and eat something delicious.」 

「I’ll call you… when I get back.」 

ChaYoung recalled the messages she had shared with SeungHoon last night. He told her that he had a business trip that would last two days and one night starting tomorrow. However, as she stared at the back of the woman confidently walking away, she began to feel strange. Now that she thought about it, the woman had come and said everything she wanted to say while ChaYoung had remained silent like an idiot.

Instead of sitting here, scoffing, should she just call him and see what he had to say? She felt a twinge of regret.

Her mouth was dry. She gulped down her iced tea. As she chewed on the ice, a chill ran down her spine.

She was about to reach for her phone but decided against it. What would she say if she called him? I just met a woman, and she said she’s marrying you?

She shook her head. No, actually, there was nothing she couldn’t do. She could call him and tell him the ridiculous incident that had just occurred. She could whine and complain all she wanted.

But…

She hesitated. She felt as if something was whispering within her heart. It wouldn’t hurt to see. She should go to his studio apartment tomorrow night.

I should ignore it. Or so she thought. She couldn’t focus on work for the rest of the day. Although she didn’t believe this was something to agonize over, she also had an urge to confirm everything with her own eyes.

Just getting through the day felt like hell. She stopped herself from ringing the doorbell and moved her hands towards the lock instead.

Her fingers trembled as she entered the numbers of the passcode.

She swallowed as she quietly opened the door. As soon as she walked inside, she saw a pair of men’s shoes haphazardly discarded next to a pair of women’s heels.

Her heart sank. Her mind went blank. Her vision turned blurry as she slowly began to walk forward.

No way. The last strand of reason snapped when she saw two naked bodies tangled on top of the bed. This can’t be happening. She felt as if she were in a nightmare.

“Aaagh!”

She screamed like a lunatic. It was then that SeungHoon finally turned his head and burst out of the bed. He hurriedly picked up his clothes and put them on. The whole time, his eyes remained on the other woman.

“……”

He carefully covered the woman’s body with a blanket. The woman languidly stared at ChaYoung. No matter how one looked at it, she was the winner.

“Let’s get out for now.”

After having put on his clothes, he grabbed ChaYoung’s hand and dragged her out.

Why should I? The one who should get out is that woman…

She tried to resist him, but as she looked around the apartment, she saw traces of their sexual activities, and she suddenly felt nauseous.

She wasn’t sure how they got out of the building. When she came to, she found herself sitting across from SeungHoon at a cafe.

She had truly never suspected something like this would happen. She wanted to remain calm, but she couldn’t control her emotions. Her clenched fists kept trembling, and her eyes watered.

Don’t cry. If you cry now, you’ll truly become an absolute idiot.

Tensing her eyes, she began to grind her teeth until it felt like they’d shatter. She closed her twitching eyelids and opened them. She looked at the man who was hanging his head in front of her.

Because he had been in such a hurry to get dressed, his sweater was inside-out. It was a brand-name piece of clothing that she had picked out for him as a gift.

She gifted it to him and told him to wear it when he wanted to look nice. To think that he’d wear it for something like this… She smiled bitterly and painfully bit her lip.

“Are your lips stuck together?”

She asked him, and he didn’t give her any excuses. Because she had seen his body tangled up with another woman’s just now, she wouldn’t have believed him if he had told her ‘It’s all a misunderstanding.’ However, she expected him to try to explain himself. That would have been the logical thing to do.

However, he was keeping his mouth shut as if his lips were truly stuck together. As the silence wore on, the one who grew more anxious was actually her.

“Haa…”

After letting out a deep sigh, he finally raised his head. He hesitated when their eyes met, but he eventually opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry.”

His tone of voice sounded too calm for someone who wanted her forgiveness. His voice didn’t hold any emotion. The moment she heard it, she realized this was the end. There weren’t any excuses. Her breaths quickened.

“And?”

She calmed her racing heart and asked him. It was as if she had been struck by lightning, but she was able to hold back the urge to rip out her hair in anger. She wanted to give herself a pat on the back for that.

“Are you really sorry?”

She asked him again when he remained silent. Hilariously, she felt that she would have rather heard a lame excuse from him instead of all this silence.

Seeing as how this stupid thought entered her mind, she realized that the scene she had just witnessed had truly traumatized her.

And yet she was still hoping he would apologize, tell her it was all a mistake. That he wouldn’t do this ever again, so forgive him just this once…

“Whenever you told me you were going on a business trip, I believed you. Whenever you told me you were working overtime, I assumed you were. But…”

“Huuu.”

He swept his hands over his face. He looked upset, but his sigh sounded calm. Her clenched hands kept shaking.

“I… wanted to tell you.”

“Tell me what? That you were having an affair?”

He gazed at her as she snorted. He opened his mouth again.

“It’s not… an affair.”

She felt as if something had snapped in her head. She felt as if her whole body had been plunged into ice. Her lips trembled as she replied.

“If it’s not an affair, then what is it? Love?”

He didn’t answer her, but when their eyes met, she realized that they had reached the point of no return.

“Ha!”

She laughed out loud. She felt as if a sharp blade was piercing into her heart. Unfortunately, the image of his whimpering face as he held her hand, thanking her for going out with him overlapped with his face now. All that time they had spent together was now…

“Two years.”

Although she was the one who blurted it out, she didn’t know why. Was she trying to convince him that the amount of time they had spent together was proportional to the depth of their feelings? She couldn’t believe the scene that was unraveling before her very eyes. She couldn’t accept it. 

“You’re sorry, and that’s it? Why aren’t you giving me an explanation?”

She suppressed the urge to shout. She did her best to keep her voice low as she asked. She already felt like she was losing her mind. She didn’t want to catch anyone’s eyes as that happened.

She did her best to compose herself, but she felt as if blood was leaking out of her heart.

“Because I can’t tell you what you want to hear.”

“What?”

“I’m saying I don’t want to lie.”

When she heard his terribly calm voice, she gasped. He swept his hair back and continued.

“I went on a blind group date as a wingman for a buddy.”

He told her that he said he had a girlfriend, so he refused, but his friend pleaded with him until he gave in and agreed.

He didn’t feel good about leaving her to meet other women, but he was only supposed to be a substitute, so he didn’t think much of it.

“I know. It’s a cowardly excuse.”

He murmured in a gravelly voice. He knew he shouldn’t have gone, but he wanted to try deviating from the standard for once. He had an urge to try something new.

“Maybe I always had a feeling that I wasn’t where I belonged. So when I was there, my words, my behavior… Everything felt more free. As if I’d put on a mask. I felt like I wasn’t myself. I spoke and acted like someone else.”

Therefore, the Kim SeungHoon she knew and the Kim SeungHoon the woman knew were different. ChaYoung finally felt that all the questions she’d had since she’d met the woman were slowly being answered.

As if a dam had burst open, the words flowed out of his lips more easily.

“Whenever I’m with her, everything feels different. The things that wouldn’t matter to you seem to move her, make her feel grateful. And because of that, I felt that I was becoming more confident and easygoing than when I was with you. And the way she looked at me was different, too.”

Far from begging for her forgiveness, it sounded like he was slowly turning the blame for his cheating on her. She couldn’t believe it.

“You’re making it sound like I neglected you. Do you know how much I…”

“Yeah, you did your best. I will forever be thankful for that.”

“You’re thankful for that?”

“That’s why I thought I was making an effort, too. In order to match everything you did, I used all my strength to become the man you wanted me to be.”

“You’re saying you did that for me?”

As she asked in a trembling voice, she came to a realization. At this moment, this man was frantically trying to find a reason to break up with her.

She felt like she could clearly see the end. She wanted him to stop here, but he paid no heed to her and continued on.

“You were like a reigning queen to me. I felt like I was always withering in front of you. Whenever I saw you, I felt like I was suffocating.”

For a man who couldn’t speak at the beginning of this conversation, he was slowly finding his voice. Instead of acknowledging his wrongdoing, he was trying to justify his actions. Seeing him like this, she couldn’t help the scoff that burst out of her lips. She smiled bitterly as she spoke.

“Sounds like you didn’t realize any of this until you found a chance to breathe.”

She was the one who had changed the scruffy, tracksuit-wearing student from head to toe. She was the one who had turned him away from a government job and urged him to pursue a position in a special private sector. She had used all the connections she had to find him an opportunity to do so. It was all through her efforts.

There were people who asked her what she saw in him. However, at the time, she was very tired from working in a competitive workplace. And when she was having a hard time, he would come to her with a pure heart even if she didn’t ask. It could also have been the fact that she was feeling lonely after her grandmother had passed away.

“I’m not saying I’m not grateful for all you’ve done. That’s why it was so hard for me.”

“I don’t think that’s something you should say as someone who was having a grand old time looking for wedding venues.”

When he heard her bitter retort, his eyes widened. It looked like he was wondering how she knew this.

“Seeing as how you’re saying you like H Hotel, it looks like you enjoyed the buffet quite a bit.”

She tried to keep her expression as calm as possible as she crossed her arms.

“But maybe you should consider doing it somewhere else. Don’t just think about how good the food tasted. Looks like you forgot how much it costs. It’s $125 per person, and that doesn’t even include the cost of reserving a banquet hall. Are you sure they can handle it?”

When he felt her hatred turn towards his parents, SeonJae opened his mouth with mixed emotions.

“Please don’t hate them. My mother and father… I already told them we broke up.”

A laugh burst out of ChaYoung’s lips.

“And when were you planning on telling me? Were you planning on telling me when you gave me the wedding invitation and tell me to enjoy a nice meal before leaving?”

He couldn’t tell her. So that’s why the “…” would always linger whenever she texted him. She finally realized why the “…” had bothered her so much.

“Son of a bitch.”

However, who was to blame? She wanted to stab her own foot for liking a person like this in the first place.

She tried to comfort herself. Thankfully, she found out now. What would have happened if she found out after the wedding? However, the wound and shock she had received did not go away.

“How could you do this?”

She wasn’t expecting a burning, eternal love. But she trusted that his heart was honest and true. That’s why she couldn’t even describe the incredible shock she had received today. 

“It wasn’t like I was comfortable the whole time. Whenever I saw you, I felt guilty. The loyalty I had towards the time we had spent together… I was also in pain and had a hard time.”

SeungHoon swept his hand over his face as he spoke.

“Honestly, when we couldn’t see each other, you didn’t seem that upset. You were always calm, cool, and collected.”

The moment she heard his complaint, she realized she didn’t deserve to hear any more. Her damp eyes were now dry. The boiling emotions on her face had cooled.

“Okay, I understand.”

Seeing the way her face had become devoid of emotions so quickly, he laughed dejectedly.

“I always wondered. Looks like you’ve accepted it already.”

As she watched him shake his head, she raised her chin and asked.

“Why? Are you disappointed I’m not clinging onto you?”

“No.”

He closed his mouth for a moment before opening it again.

“It’s so like you.”

The calm voice saying ‘It’s so like you’ clanged in her ears. Her eyes suddenly shook on her otherwise blank face.

“Think about it. The reason why you did your best.”

The reason she did her best? She didn’t know why he was saying this. It was…

She thought she’d be able to answer him confidently. However, in the midst of all the bewilderment, nothing came to mind. She found it surprising that she couldn’t think of an obvious answer.

Seeing that she was lost in thought, he let out a sigh.

“Shall I tell you?”

He glanced at her and continued.

“You didn’t want this relationship to fail. That’s all.”

Biting her lips, she retorted.

“It doesn’t matter what it is. Who would want failure?”

“Yeah, to you, I was just one of the things that ‘didn’t matter’.”

“It looks like you’re looking for an excuse, but it doesn’t change the fact that you’re a bastard who cheated.”

“It looks like it. I feel bad for what I did to you, but I think this was all for the best.”

Ha! She swept back her hair as she scoffed.

“Okay. Good. I lived a clean life, so it looks like the heavens did me a favor. It looks like you were just waiting for me to break up first. You keep on living that way. Just as you said, SeungHoon-ssi, you are now someone who ‘doesn’t matter’.”

She purposefully pretended she wasn’t fazed. With a haughty gaze, she made some biting remarks. However, it wasn’t an accurate portrayal of what was going on inside.

She felt dizzy, but she grit her teeth and glared at SeungHoon. She was doing her best not to collapse.

“I hope we never cross paths again.”

Mustering up the rest of her strength, she clearly declared their end. Blink, blink. SeungHoon merely blinked before opening his mouth.

“I’m sorry for making you end things this way.”

She turned her head away dismissively.

“Sorry.”

He blurted out the apology in a low voice as he stood up. Then he walked away without any regret. As he opened the glass door and exited the cafe, he didn’t once turn around.

“Evil bastard.”

She finally spit out the curse she had been holding in. Her chest shuddered.

If he was just going to turn his back on her, why did he say all that?!

As she turned her eyes back to the glass door, they filled with tears. However, she couldn’t make a sound.

As her emotions began to spill over, she had a harder time regulating her breathing. She bit her trembling lips to the point of pain, but that’s all she could do. While she didn’t have a mirror, she knew that she looked an absolute mess as she tried to hold back her tears.

She was, at the very least, thankful that she hadn’t shown this side of her to him. She roughly wiped her tears away with the back of her hand when…

“Tsk.”

She heard someone clicking their tongue nearby. At first, she didn’t think anything of it. However, she began to feel that someone was openly staring at her. She tried to be inconspicuous, but it looked like she’d caught someone’s attention after all.

Even if they’d noticed her, how could they blatantly ridicule someone’s misfortune? Why couldn’t they have just turned a blind eye? Pursing her lips, ChaYoung whipped her head around.

She vaguely saw that a man was staring at her. Due to the tears blurring her vision, she couldn’t see who it was.

Either way, this man rubbed her the wrong way. She narrowed her eyes and blinked to get rid of the tears.

“……!”

Once her vision returned, she saw the man with clear eyes. For a moment, she thought she was staring at an illusion.

“Ah.”

When she blurted out in surprise, he smiled crookedly as he languidly leaned against the back of his chair. Then he slowly straightened up.

“It’s been a while.”

His curt but rumbling voice flowed into her ears.