Chapter 129
Chapter 129
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 129
Chapter Title: Important Things
-----------------------------------------------------------------
The air in the obstetrics and gynecology waiting room, thick with the mingled scents of disinfectant and a subtle aroma, felt unrealistically serene.
The soft strains of classical music drifting from somewhere seemed designed to lull the anxieties of every visitor into a drowsy calm.
That tranquility belonged solely to Yoon Chaewon, sitting beside me.
There wasn't a trace of shadow on her face—the kind that had lingered when she confessed about her body.
Instead, her expression was clear and radiant, as if it held all the light in the world, while she flipped through a magazine packed with baby products.
Her hand unconsciously, yet oh-so-tenderly, stroked her still-flat lower belly.
She looked like the Madonna herself—sacred, flawless.
Sitting there beside her, I writhed in alienation.
My gaze drifted to the other men in the waiting room.
A man carefully propping a cushion behind his wife's waist.
A man warmly massaging his wife's ankles over and over.
A man pressing his ear gently to his wife's bulging belly, whispering unintelligible baby talk.
Is that what being a 'father' looks like?
I stared blankly at that tender scene, something I'd never reach no matter how much I acted my whole life.
I'd solved everything with money.
I bought info on the forces threatening me, weapons to protect me, even the loyalty of those weapons.
That way, I'd prepared everything to defend my 'kingdom.'
But could I ever mimic that genuine sincerity from those men?
Do they go home and plot to fuck other women like I do—hypocritical bastards?
Or are they truly just like that?
Unable to answer that unknowable question, my face had unconsciously hardened into a cold mask.
A warm touch settled over my hand.
Chaewon's eyes had left the magazine and turned to me.
The world's happiest smile that had lit her face had shifted to anxious eyes worrying over my stiff expression.
She held my hand gently and asked carefully.
"...Aren't you... happy?"
Her uneasy gaze snapped me back to reality.
I couldn't let my darkness invade my sanctuary.
I forced my rigid facial muscles to form a smile.
"Ah... no, I am. Of course I am."
I gripped her hand back and spouted a clumsy excuse.
"It's just... now that it's real, I'm kinda dazed."
"I see... Yeah, when I first got pregnant... I thought the world was ending."
She warmly accepted my awkward excuse.
Watching her, I finally voiced the most fundamental question I'd harbored deep inside for so long.
"Can I ask you one thing?"
At my serious tone, she nodded.
She smiled bittersweetly, as if she already knew what I'd ask.
"Why didn't you give up the baby?"
"...Yeah."
"Honestly..."
She glanced out the window for a moment.
Only after a very long pause did she finally bare her deepest secret to me.
"I even lay down on the operating table."
"...What?"
Her shocking confession left me speechless.
Chaewon buried her face in my shoulder and began whispering her past in the tiniest voice.
"My mom... raised me alone too. Did I tell you?"
"No."
It was the first I'd heard of it.
"I... didn't want to live struggling like she did, even if it killed me. That's what I thought..."
Her voice trembled faintly.
"But when I was actually lying there on the table, about to go through with it... I just couldn't. So... I ran away. From the hospital."
"...Ah."
With a quiet sigh, I pulled her small shoulders even tighter into my embrace.
Beneath the flashy blonde hair and tattoos covering her body lay her true self.
A girl too young, terrified of bearing the world's pains alone and wanting to flee, but who ultimately resolved to overcome it all for her child.
So young,
yet so incredibly strong.
From her, I felt a profound sense of 'relief' unlike anything from any other woman.
The one being who truly understood and accepted all my fucked-up ways and this dirty, ugly world.
The woman I'd chosen as my 'sanctuary.'
That realization finally calmed my dizzy mind.
A long while later, Chaewon lifted her head from my arms, no longer looking anxious.
If anything, her face held a serene relief from unburdening her biggest secret.
She glanced at the waiting room clock, then asked me calmly.
"...Is the district office still open?"
Her sudden question left me blankly checking the time.
2:40 PM.
"Why the district office?"
"To register the marriage."
"........."
Her unexpected words made me stare at her blankly.
Seeing that, Chaewon flashed a mischievous smile for the first time.
"What? Don't want to?"
I let out a hollow laugh at her smile.
Then answered sincerely.
"No. Just didn't expect you to bring it up first."
All the way from the hospital to the car in the parking lot, Chaewon leaned lightly against my arm.
Her face, free of the anxious shadow that had hung over the past few days, brimmed with a serene smile like she owned the world.
Her dedicated bodyguard, '#2', silently opened the rear door for us.
As we climbed in, she took her place in the driver's seat just as quietly.
With a low 'rumble,' the engine purred, and the car smoothly pulled out of the lot.
The scent of fine leather and faint classical music.
In this silent space, perfectly isolated from the world's noise and bustle, I finally faced our new reality.
I looked down at Chaewon, her head on my shoulder, gently stroking her lower belly.
Then voiced a primal curiosity utterly at odds with the peaceful vibe.
"By the way... in early pregnancy, no sex, right? Tsk... Feels like I'd definitely bump into it if we sleep together... Maybe crash with Yura for a while?"
At my question, Chaewon looked up and smiled warmly.
Her eyes held deep consideration—not jealousy or hurt, but understanding of all of me.
"Do that, then... Gotta be careful early on."
She spoke like a wise wife reassuring her horny husband.
'Lover?'
No, that word fell short.
A woman who silently understood my every crazy act, this twisted kingdom, and all its unstable relationships—and even tried to 'manage' them.
Yoon Chaewon.
She was the perfect partner in charge of my 'master bedroom.'
The queen of the master bedroom, Yoon Chaewon.
I pulled her close.
Then glanced absently at the driver's seat.
There sat '#2', gripping the wheel with an utterly emotionless face, not a twitch.
'The one whose pussy wasn't that great, so I only fucked her once during testing and ignored her after.'
Even amid our bizarre, lewd talk, she performed her duty like a well-made machine.
Looking at my 'partner' beside me and my 'tool' up front, I sensed this strange kingdom had finally entered a stable phase.
Satisfied, I tossed a new proposal at the bold woman who'd just suggested marriage registration first.
"After registering... hit a nearby hotel and do it right away?"
"...I said be careful early on."
Chaewon gently scolded me like a wife chiding her immature husband.
I whispered devilishly in her ear.
"Who's gonna fuck your pussy?"
I nodded toward '#2' in the driver's seat.
Only then grasping my intent, the 'lady of the house' in this weird kingdom pondered briefly, then nodded all too casually.
"...Sure, do that."
Chaewon permitted my affair so easily.
Then, as if just remembering something more important, she shot me a glare.
"Oh, and... I told you to watch your mouth."
"Ah, sorry... This habit's hard to break."
She hadn't forgotten my 'fuck' slip in the exam room earlier.
I smiled helplessly at her delicate nagging.
In the rearview mirror, I caught '#2's emotionless eyes—seeing and hearing everything, yet pretending she hadn't.
In the end, we sat side by side on the hard chairs of the district office.
Before me lay a white 'marriage registration form'—something that felt utterly out of place in my life.
I mechanically filled in the personal details with a pen.
Finally, at the 'signature' line, I paused.
Suddenly, Han Yura's bitchy, venomous face flashed in my mind.
"Tsk... Think Yura bitch'll get pissed over this?"
At my quiet mutter, Chaewon looked up from her form.
"Yura?"
"Yeah. That bitch has been throwing fits lately, saying she's the 'first' in our house and I'm only spoiling you."
"Hmm... Doesn't sound like Yura..."
Chaewon tilted her head slightly, genuinely surprised.
"You two not talking much these days?"
"Not that, just..."
Chaewon hesitated, searching for the right word.
"We kinda avoid talking about each other indirectly."
"Hmm... Why?"
"Women's way of jockeying for position, I guess."
She answered matter-of-factly, like it was the most natural law in the world.
Hearing that, I stared at her face for a moment.
Then, without further hesitation, signed my name.
Side by side, we vowed to become each other's spouse.
But the two 'witness' slots at the bottom were blank.
"Ah..."
Only then did I realize that crucial detail.
Chaewon smiled faintly at me.
"Sent Yura a message in the car earlier. She'll be here soon."
"...You're so prepared. Did you look it up ahead?"
"Yeah. One's Yura. The other... over there."
Chaewon nodded toward the district office entrance.
There stood '#2', watching us from a distance for security, giving a light nod our way.
We sat on the hard waiting room chairs, waiting for Yura.
To break the awkward silence, I tossed out a sudden question.
"So, wedding ceremony?"
"Yeah. I want to wear a veil."
She voiced her simple, clear dream.
"Honeymoon?"
"Not busy?"
"Hm... Might be hard to step away this year?"
She nodded understandingly, as if it were obvious.
"Then after the baby, whenever the timing works."
She paused, then added as if remembering.
"Oh, but clear next week."
"Why?"
"I'll handle the wedding prep, but... gotta meet my mom."
"Ah......."
Her words left me speechless for a moment.
'Mother-in-law.'
She was an unknown entity in a whole different league from financial regulators or gang thugs.