PHUW 146

Choi Jieon’s gaze fell on Haeri.

“It’s still before you’ve even decided whether to meet or not.”

Jeong Mok, picking at his side dishes without appetite, added,

“She’s still your birth mother. If it were me, I’d want to see whether she really went off and is living well after abandoning her child.”

“Watch your mouth.”

Jeong Mok glared at her. With his large build and sharp features, that was usually enough to make people shrink back. But Choi Jieon was unfazed.

“Why? Did I say anything wrong?”

“Darling, I think you slipped up this time.”

Just like before, Baek Seunghyeon jabbed her in the side while glancing nervously at Jeong Mok. Apparently in that household, the brakes were installed in the ribs.

“Really? If you say so, then I must have. Sorry.”

Choi Jieon, who normally ignored everything anyone said, accepted Baek Seunghyeon’s words without a question, then turned to Haeri and apologized.

“Hahaha.”

Haeri laughed awkwardly. And he became certain. Baek Seunghyeon was the future.

“But, I’m curious about something.”

Baek Seunghyeon spoke carefully.

“Are you two getting married? Is that even possible in Korea?”

“Ah.”

Jeong Mok let out a short sound before he could stop himself. Haeri did the same. It was only after hearing Baek Seunghyeon’s words that he realized what the feeling he had felt all along had been.

Finding his mother, something he had never even imagined, was one thing. But why had it so naturally become in-laws, mother-in-law, and formal meetings? Where had it all gone wrong?

“It’s difficult under domestic law.”

Hyung? That’s what you’re focused on? Haeri looked at the man beside him with a completely unfamiliar stare.

“Korean law isn’t the only law. You can do it in the U.S.”

“Domestic law hasn’t caught up yet, so it can’t be helped.”

The Chairwoman offered the solution, and the Professor backed it up.

“No, I mean. Are they even… that kind of relationship to begin with?”

“Plenty of people only propose after the formal family meeting and setting the wedding date.”

Choi Jieon answered.

“No, darling, that’s not what he meant.”

At that moment, the only one Haeri could rely on was Baek Seunghyeon. At least he grasped Haeri’s position properly. His eyes, checking on Haeri, were filled with sympathy.

“What are you so curious about? Do you have some reason to object?”

Even if you got it wrong, getting it this wrong took national-team-level talent. Jeong Mok looked at Baek Seunghyeon as if he were some kind of meddler, his eyes cold. Baek Seunghyeon flinched and turned at once to his reliable wife for help. The most diligent eater at the table, Choi Jieon, set down her heavy brass chopsticks with a smack.

“Vice Chairman Jeong, do you have something to say to my husband?”

The air turned instantly tense.

“Darling. Don’t you start too. Jeong Mok-ssi, sorry.”

Baek Seunghyeon waved his hands in a panic, breaking up the two.

“What I meant wasn’t that. It’s just that Haeri’s expression looked like he hadn’t expected any of this at all. I was talking about family events like a meeting of families, not necessarily an engagement or wedding.”

“No need to worry. That’s already settled. Haeri agreed.”

“Wh-what? When?”

This time it was Haeri’s turn to blurt out a near-scream of a response.

The mood at the table shifted at once. Every single person seated around the table turned their eyes to Haeri, everyone except him. Even the Chairwoman, who had calmly watched her children’s petty squabbles before, now looked at him.

Jeong Mok’s gaze on him was unlike any Haeri had ever seen. What was it, shock and terror stew? Betrayal and confusion hotpot? His eyes blinked repeatedly, trembling with uncertainty about whether to laugh or cry, while his mouth twisted into an awkward smile.

“When? It was just the other day. Don’t you remember?”

“Uh, well… I don’t really.”

When was that, exactly? Haeri had no memory at all. But Jeong Mok was different. Tears began to gather in his hollow eyes, already looking like a man whose world had collapsed.

“H… Haeri?”

He even stammered. Why are you crying? You’re making it look like I did something wrong! I never once brought up marriage! Why are you making me out to be the villain here! Stop! Stop! Inside he was ranting in chaos, but outside he forced a sweaty smile.

“There must be some misunderstanding. Hyung, let’s talk later, just the two of us…”

“What, so the person concerned doesn’t want it, but Jeong Mok went and banged the drum and played the janggu all on his own? No wonder.”

Choi Jieon’s confirmation made Jeong Mok finally let his tears fall.

Hey! He’s a grown man, crying without shame, and instead of stopping him, why are you mocking him? My hyung could have just been mistaken!

Haeri raged silently, keeping it all inside. This was enemy territory, after all, with the final boss Chairwoman right there.

“D-don’t cry. Why are you crying?”

Haeri hurriedly wiped Jeong Mok’s tears. He did feel pity and guilt, but more than that he felt embarrassment. Normally, wouldn’t a grown man storm out to hide his tears? Why was he sitting there crying like a child?

“Please don’t cry, okay?”

“Why are you making a grown man cry?”

The Professor scolded Choi Jieon and pointed at the napkins. When Haeri handed one over, Jeong Mok silently accepted it and wiped his eyes. Then, as if nothing had happened, he calmly apologized.

“Sorry. There seems to have been a miscommunication.”

His polite demeanor showed no intention of ending the meal. Was he really going to keep eating after crying? In a way, it was impressive. For Haeri, whose appetite had vanished to the point his stomach acid felt dry, everyone at the table was frightening in their own way. Except Baek Seunghyeon.

“No one’s perfect. And nothing is as difficult as one’s private life. Crying over people is just part of living.”

Unexpectedly, the Chairwoman comforted Jeong Mok.

“Once he decides someone is the one, he stakes his life. That’s the family trait.”

After making him cry, now she was siding with him. Choi Jieon chimed in.

“Vice Chairman Jeong may be unusual, but he isn’t the type to make things up. If he thought so, there must have been something.”

Jeong Mok didn’t deny it.

“So, what was it? We can hear it, can’t we?”

Haeri was curious too.

“You told me to take responsibility for life. And I said I would.”

He had no memory of it at all.

“Ha.”

Jeong Mok looked up at the ceiling and let out a long sigh, as if holding back more tears. Then he pulled out his phone and showed something. It was a contract he had written before their first night together.

“I even had it notarized through a law firm. It’s been legally binding for a while now. So, aside from the ceremony, you and I are bound in responsibility to each other under the law.”

“That’s what this meant?”

“That’s how I meant it.”

His expression darkened further.

“Let me see.”

Choi Jieon reached out. Jeong Mok showed her the screen, stretching his arm. She skimmed quickly, then sat back down and gave her verdict in a single word.

“Insurance.”

The Professor and the Chairwoman, who had been watching with interest, both asked her what she meant. In truth, they wanted to look at the contract themselves, but pride kept them back.

“It says if they break up, Haeri gets the house and Jeong Mok covers his living expenses. Only Haeri has the right to declare the breakup, and once he does, Jeong Mok must leave the house immediately. The rest is the usual promises of treating him well.”

“That’s the same as the prenup you gave me, isn’t it?”

Baek Seunghyeon dropped a bombshell. Prenup? Excuse me?

“The terms and wording are a little different, but essentially, yes.”

Choi Jieon confirmed. All eyes at the table turned on Haeri.

“Marriage isn’t just a contract. Nowadays people even write things like this jokingly between lovers.”

The Chairwoman spoke.

“But has the relationship that people usually call marriage been established? In other words, can this contract be considered a prenup?”

“I judged it could.”

Haeri wasn’t the only one who didn’t understand the meaning of their exchange.

“What do you mean?”

Baek Seunghyeon asked, and Choi Jieon answered.

“Whether they did it.”

“Did what?”

“Consummated.”

“Oh, then?”

“It means those two have.”

Ugh.

Haeri’s face turned tomato red. If a tomato farmer had seen it, he would have said, “That one’s perfectly ripe,” and plucked him straight away.

The Chairwoman’s blunt gaze, and the Professor’s as well, both fixed not on Jeong Mok but on Haeri.

“Even if dating is casual these days, and people meet and part easily, there are families that don’t share that attitude.”

Which meant Hyeonsan was not such a family.

“So you did everything, signed contracts, and now claim it wasn’t serious? That you were just playing around?”

Is she talking to me? Haeri looked around in panic. Everyone’s eyes were still on him. Even Jeong Mok was watching him with a deeply hurt expression. So it really was directed at him.

“Haeri, you’re not what I expected. My cousin may be unusual, but he’s not someone who falls short.”

“It, it’s not like that.”

At Choi Jieon’s subtle rebuke, Haeri jumped in protest. The mood was turning strange, and Jeong Mok stayed silent, lips sealed.

“If it’s not that, then you’re saying you do intend to take responsibility?”

“Of course I do!”

He blurted it out in a hurry at the Chairwoman’s cold question.

“Good. Then we’ll arrange the family meeting and set the date within this month.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Why was it turning out like this?