Chapter 437: That’s right... I... have a husband.
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 437: That’s right... I... have a husband.
Thump, thump, thump.
Kang Ha-yoon felt her heart pounding wildly.
That wasn't all.
Her breathing quickened, and her face began to flush a deep crimson.
'This... child... likes me?'
Sun-woo’s words—that he liked her—had pierced deep into her heart.
'No! That can't be!'
She immediately began to shake her head from side to side.
The thought seemed impossible.
Surely, he meant he liked her as a senior of the Murim, or as a fellow martial artist.
Logically, anything else made no sense.
He was a young man who had everything: a level of martial arts prowess so high he was called the future Greatest Under Heaven despite not even being at the age of thirty, handsome features, a solid physique, and even a witty way of speaking.
Why would such a man like a married woman like her?
And a middle-aged woman who had aged as much as she had, at that.
It was absurd.
'Right, I must be mistaken! That has to be it!'
"Whew."
She took a deep breath.
She intended to calm her racing heart.
"Whew... Whew..."
After several deep breaths, she felt her wild pulse settle to some degree.
Constantly telling herself it must be a misunderstanding while breathing deeply seemed to have helped.
"......Young Master... didn't I tell you?"
Kang Ha-yoon spoke, her eyes trembling as she looked at Sun-woo.
"......That kind of joke isn't good. No matter how old a woman is, hearing something like that from a charming man like you... she can't help but misunderstand."
Kang Ha-yoon wore a troubled expression as she continued.
"She might start wondering if this man is actually interested in her. So please, refrain from such talk..... It feels more like you're mocking me."
She looked at Sun-woo with a trace of sadness in her eyes.
"I am not mocking you."
Sun-woo replied in a calm, steady tone.
"If you're not mocking me, then what is it? Are you saying you actually like a middle-aged woman who's past her prime?"
Kang Ha-yoon’s brow furrowed deeply.
".......I do like you."
Sun-woo nodded as he spoke.
"Didn't I tell you? Stop teasing me. I'm starting to get truly upset."
Kang Ha-yoon looked at Sun-woo with a stern, serious face.
"Why do you think I'm teasing you?"
Sun-woo asked, looking as if he genuinely didn't understand.
Setting aside personal preferences, she was a sufficiently attractive and beautiful woman.
Though she was middle-aged, her skin was clear and firm without a single wrinkle, making her look like she was in her late twenties at the very most.
Furthermore, her voluptuous breasts, generous hips, and wide pelvis emphasized her femininity, making her charms stand out even more.
So why on earth was she disparaging herself like this?
He couldn't understand it.
"I have no choice but to think you're teasing. You are a great man, Young Master Jang."
She continued with a bitter expression.
"Me?"
"Yes. You are the greatest of the Rising Stars, possessing martial arts so profound you're called the future Greatest Under Heaven before even reaching thirty. How could I believe that such a man likes a wretched woman who has been abandoned even by her own husband?"
She looked at Sun-woo with sorrowful eyes.
"That is not true."
Sun-woo spoke with a firm expression.
"What isn't true?"
"You... are not wretched, Hall Master."
Sun-woo looked at her with an incredibly serious gaze.
"You are still beautiful, and you are still charming. Just as you were twenty years ago, and just as you are now."
Sun-woo spoke from the heart.
She was still beautiful.
Whether it was the version of her he had seen in illustrations from twenty years ago or her current, older self, there was little difference.
No, if anything, her current appearance—imbued with a sense of maturity and voluptuousness—was even more beautiful.
Beautiful enough to make his heart flutter.
".............Liar."
She denied his words.
He was giving her an incredibly earnest look, but she harbored too much self-doubt to believe him.
Being neglected for decades by her husband, Lee Jae-won, had caused her to lose all faith in her own beauty.
"It's all a lie!"
She raised her voice, her eyes welling with tears.
She was certain he was lying.
She thought to herself: It must all be a lie.
Was she not the woman whose own husband—the man who swore to love her most in the world—had turned away from because of her enlarged breasts and hips, and her aging face?
So how could the greatest of the Rising Stars say he liked her?
It was impossible to believe.
"You didn't even see me twenty years ago! So what do you know to say such things? Please, stop! Even a joke is infuriating when it goes too far!"
She glared at Sun-woo with eyes full of resentment, her voice rising.
Hostility toward Sun-woo began to swell within her.
Hostility toward the man who reminded her of the fact that she was abandoned by her husband.
Toward the man who made her loathe herself all over again.
Toward the man who was making her so sad.
"..........."
Sun-woo looked at Kang Ha-yoon with sad eyes.
He could feel the resentment packed into her words.
He had already heard from Joo So-yang that Lee Jae-won was neglecting his wives and having affairs.
But it seemed that neglect was far more severe than he had imagined.
To think that such a spirited, charming, and beautiful woman was weeping in the depths of self-hatred.
Sun-woo thought to himself.
He wanted to comfort her.
To this woman living through sorrowful days trapped in self-loathing.
To his favorite heroine.
He wanted to be her strength.
Sshhh.
Sun-woo slowly rose from his seat.
Then, he walked toward her.
Step.
Reaching her, Sun-woo reached down and took Kang Ha-yoon’s hand—a hand so slender and delicate it perfectly suited the phrase 'slender white jade hands.'
He slowly lifted it and pressed it against his heart.
"Wha... what are you doing!"
Startled by Sun-woo’s sudden action, Kang Ha-yoon’s eyes widened as she let out a shocked cry.
What on earth was he doing all of a sudden?
"Shhh."
Sun-woo placed a finger to his lips, signaling for her to be quiet.
"Could you just focus on your fingertips for a moment without saying anything?"
He then looked at Kang Ha-yoon with an intensely serious gaze.
"............."
Hearing his words, Kang Ha-yoon fell silent, her lips pressed tight.
She wanted to protest, but she was overwhelmed by his incredibly solemn aura and ended up following his request.
She kept her mouth shut and began to focus on her fingertips.
Wondering what this man’s intention could possibly be.
Thump.
'Huh?'
At that moment, she felt a significant vibration at her fingertips.
Thump.
A moment later, she felt it again.
This time, the vibration was even larger and clearer.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Soon, an even more violent pulsation began to travel through her fingertips.
It was beating.
His heart.
Incredibly fiercely.
"Hall Master.... No.... Ha-yoon Sojeo."
Sun-woo finally spoke, calling her name.
Not as a Hall Master, but as the individual, Kang Ha-yoon.
"My feelings are sincere."
Sun-woo met her eyes with a grave expression.
"I think you were beautiful then, and you are beautiful now... No... I think you are much more beautiful exactly as you are now."
"............."
"Though I never met you twenty years ago..... I can say this with certainty."
Sun-woo spoke, his gaze burning with intensity.
"Even if I could bring your twenty-year-old self here to this very spot, I would still say that you, as you are now, are far more beautiful."
"............"
"Do not disparage yourself, Ha-yoon Sojeo. You are a woman more beautiful than anyone else."
".........."
Kang Ha-yoon slowly raised her eyes to look at Sun-woo.
Sun-woo’s face was flushed.
And seeing him like that, Kang Ha-yoon could feel it instinctively.
The fact that Sun-woo’s words were the truth.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Suddenly, her own heart began to race wildly.
The moment she realized his words were sincere, the fluttering emotions she had suppressed with logic came rushing in like a tidal wave.
Her heart fluttered.
She hadn't felt this way since she was dating Lee Jae-won in the past.
Her heart beat faster, and her breath grew shallow.
Her entire body began to flush, and her eyes grew hazy and unfocused.
Her hostility toward him began to shift past favor and into affection.
'I shouldn't do this!'
Feeling the changes in her body, she thought to herself.
She shouldn't do this.
She shouldn't feel this way.
Was she not a married woman with a husband?
So how could she feel affection welling up for a young man so much younger than herself?
She couldn't.
This was wrong.
She hurriedly tried to calm her heart.
She felt that if she let this continue, she wouldn't be able to handle the consequences later.
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
But it was no use.
Her heart, already set ablaze, would not easily settle down.
"Am I..."
Kang Ha-yoon spoke, looking at Sun-woo with hazy, unfocused eyes.
"Really that beautiful?"
"Yes, very much so."
Sun-woo answered instantly, without a shred of hesitation.
"Am I... that charming?"
"Of course."
"Is it true?"
She asked again, as if desperate for confirmation.
"The heart beating right now is the proof."
Sun-woo spoke with a captivating smile.
"How does the sound of my heart feel?"
"It's... so... loud... It's big... and it's echoing... so much."
"Why do you think that is?"
"......Is it because of me?"
She asked, looking at Sun-woo with a seductive gaze.
"That's right..... What kind of man wouldn't have a racing heart when the woman he admires and likes has her hand on his chest?"
"Haa...... I see."
Kang Ha-yoon replied, her face flushed deep red as she looked at Sun-woo.
"Can you feel my sincerity now?"
"Yes..... I can feel it.... Very much so.."
Kang Ha-yoon spoke with an incredibly enchanting smile.
Seeing this, Sun-woo also smiled faintly.
He felt good knowing that his sincerity had reached her.
Then, he slowly pulled her hand away.
"....Ah."
A small gasp escaped her lips.
When her hand left his firm, heavy chest, she felt a sense of emptiness in her palm.
"I'm glad."
Sun-woo continued with a bright laugh.
"I felt quite wronged. I was speaking from the heart, but you kept calling it a lie."
"......I'm sorry... It's not that I didn't believe you, Young Master."
Hearing Sun-woo’s words, Kang Ha-yoon continued with a look of clear apology.
"It's just that it was so sudden.... and... well... I'm... a married woman... with a husband...."
"There's no need to apologize. It was my fault for saying such things to a Hall Master who already has a husband in the first place."
Sun-woo spoke in a calm tone.
Chill.
In an instant, a coldness began to settle over Kang Ha-yoon’s flushed face.
Because she had been reminded of the fact she had forgotten.
The existence of her husband, Lee Jae-won.
"......That's right..... I... have a... husband."
Kang Ha-yoon stammered, her expression turning flustered.
"Yes, it's a shame. If you didn't have a husband, I would have proposed to you immediately.. Hahaha."
Sun-woo let out an awkward laugh.
"Hahahaha..... Haha..... Hahahaha."
Hearing Sun-woo’s laughter, Kang Ha-yoon laughed along with him.
Of course, it was an incredibly awkward laugh, entirely different from her usual one.
'Fool! Idiot!'
She began to blame herself.
Calling herself a fool and an idiot.
What kind of vain thoughts was she having when she had a husband?
She was a married woman.
She was in a position where she had no choice but to ignore the goodwill of other men.
So how could she let her heart flutter and fall into delusions like an unattached maiden?
She resented herself.
She resented herself for losing sight of reality and harboring feelings for that man.
And she resented him.
The existence of her husband, Lee Jae-won.
If he didn't exist.
If she hadn't met him.
If she hadn't married him.
Would Sun-woo’s attitude have been different?
The thought crossed her mind: Would he have loved me?
She felt a wave of depression surging within her.
The existence of Lee Jae-won felt like a pair of shackles.
"I'm happy. Being able to open my heart like this."
".......Yes.... I'm happy too."
Kang Ha-yoon replied with a strained expression.
There was so much she wanted to say, but she couldn't let the words out.
The moment she spoke them, she would become an unfaithful woman.
Kang Ha-yoon’s complexion began to darken.
She was surely feeling the sorrow of crashing against the insurmountable wall of reality.