Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 67

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#67

Inside the car heading up to Seoul.
Beom Jin grimaced quietly as he took in the gridlocked highway.
The anxious way his fingers drummed against the steering wheel spoke volumes of his unease.
For two days straight, buried in the mountains handling the aftermath, he’d had no way to contact Soo Yi.
Then, finally descending from the mountain and checking his Mobile Phone.
His heart had lurched.
There was nothing from Soo Yi.
Not a single call.
Out of sheer desperation, he’d even tried calling the house—but no one had answered.
A chill of foreboding crawling up his spine drove him to leave the cleanup to his subordinates and drive toward Seoul alone.
His mind kept replaying their last conversation over and over.

— I was in the shower. I had some documents to review, so I was in the study first, then went straight to bathe.
— I suppose I’ve just had a lot on my mind lately. I’m a little tired.
— Take your time. Finish everything you need to finish, then come back.

Her schedule was always punishing.
And with frequent meetings with Dok Go Hyung Jun besides, he’d had no choice but to take her words about being exhausted at face value.
But what if that wasn’t it.
His eyes darkened.

“When I get back, there’s something I need to tell you.”
— …
“Promise you’ll listen to me. Promise you will.”
— … All right.

The hollow tone of her reply gnawed at him, but he’d let it pass.
Whether she felt affection for him or not, Soo Yi was conscientious and driven—she would never abandon her post before the contract was through.
So why wouldn’t this terrible premonition leave him alone?
He’d tried calling repeatedly on the drive up, but her voice never came through.
The moment Beom Jin arrived in Seoul and saw the dark, unlit windows of their house, his heart sank.
After parking in the garage, he rushed inside and was met with a cold, oppressive silence.
There was no trace of human warmth in the strangely alien air—he immediately made for the bedroom, breathing hard.
“An Soo Yi.”
Silence answered him.
He searched the dressing room, but her belongings were still there.
“…”
Yet his heart continued to race with unease.
Seized by a sense of dread, he moved toward Soo Yi’s study.
He forced down the breath catching in his throat, switched on the light, and there on the neat desk sat something solitary and stark.
The moment he saw it.
His eyes flew wide, pupils dilating and trembling like they’d lost all moorings.
It was the Wedding Ring she always wore—their Wedding Ring.
“…”
With each step toward the desk, the ground seemed to give way beneath him.
His trembling hand picked up Soo Yi’s ring and clenched it tight.
His eyes, still shaking, swept anxiously across her study.
Everything remained as it was.
Except for one thing—the Potted Plant that had sat by the window was gone.
That single Potted Plant, the gift from the Seon family—directors of the Funeral Service—was all Soo Yi had taken from this house.
As if to say she would take nothing that connected her to him.
Not her clothes, not her bags, not her shoes, and perhaps—not even the memories we built together.
In that empty study, he felt her intention with crystalline clarity.
He turned roughly and headed back to the garage.
His destination was the old neighborhood in Unyoung District.
The place where they had wept and laughed, where they had spent time together.
Where there stood a house whose door they would open for each other without thought.
To that place—where Soo Yi thought of as home.
At the deepest recess of the residential alley, before a sleek, sophisticated house in deep gray tones and an adjacent modest white cottage, his car came to a harsh stop.
Just as he’d expected, soft light spilled from the windows of Soo Yi’s house.
Bang—!
He slammed the car door shut and strode up to her house, pressing the doorbell.
“An Soo Yi.”
Someone was clearly inside, yet no answer came.
He pressed the bell again, pounding roughly on the door with his fist.
“Soo Yi, open the door for me.”
After a moment, the door cautiously opened from within.
The moment Soo Yi appeared in the widening gap, Beom Jin yanked the door open and pulled her deeply into his arms.
“Ha…”
Only then, as if he could finally breathe, did he bury his face in her slender neck and exhale heavily.
“Why are you here, sweetheart.”
“…”
“Did you not want to be alone at home? Tell me. You scared me.”
Soo Yi, still motionless in his embrace, quietly opened her mouth.
“You’re early. I thought it would take four days.”
“I finished as fast as I could. I missed you.”
Beom Jin, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, met her eyes and spoke.
“Let’s go to our house now.”
At those words, her eyes deepened.
She drew in a large breath, then slowly exhaled, releasing the weight that had gathered inside her.
“My home is here.”
“…”
“Did the chairman not tell you anything?”
What do you mean?
At his questioning look, Soo Yi let out a small sigh.
“Just go back for now. You must be exhausted from your trip—go rest. And then later—”
“Go where? My wife is here,”
At the word wife, she flinched for just a moment.
Then Soo Yi spoke.
“Beom Jin.”
This time it was he who wavered.
Something was wrong.
Every time she called his name like this, his chest would flutter and race with warmth.
But now his heart felt stung, hardened into something cold and brittle.
“Let’s end our contract here.”
And finally his heart stopped altogether.
“I don’t want to do this anymore. Being husband and wife with you.”
“…”
“The details—”
“I love you.”
Soo Yi’s eyes widened.
“I love you, An Soo Yi. From the moment we met until now, there has never been a time I didn’t love you.”
“What are you—”
“I told you I had something to say. You promised you’d listen.”
Soo Yi’s lips trembled.
His sudden confession had frozen her mind.
“Do you really think I’m the kind of man who would marry some woman I didn’t even like, speaking of contracts?”
“That’s… you said you wanted to escape the life your family was dictating for you—”
“I ran away from that house when I was a minor with no strength and nothing to my name. You think someone like that would obey them now?”
Beom Jin’s large hand cradled her face.
“I loved you. I wanted to be by your side, to become your family.”
“Dok Go—”
“Because I love you.”
Soo Yi’s lips parted soundlessly.
But she couldn’t find any words.
“If I approached you carelessly, you would have only grown distant. I was trapped in the belief that an eternal bond could exist only between friends.”
Beom Jin’s eyes darkened with desperate longing and sorrow.
“I wanted to lift the Curse that was binding you. That’s why I waited. For you to choose me.”
He had hoped she would come to him of her own will, rather than having him force open her door.
But while he held his breath and waited.
She had slowly drifted away.
For reasons he never understood.
“I love you, An Soo Yi. I love you.”
Beom Jin drew the ring from his pocket and slipped it onto the fourth finger of her left hand.
“Become my real wife. I want to be by your side for life, forever, until death.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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