Impossible Romance - Chapter 48

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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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48.

“But you know this too, don’t you? Our Seok-ha—you can’t have him.”
“….”
Han Seon-young’s voice was crisp and clear, striking directly into my ears and piercing my chest. For a moment, my heart trembled as though my breath had been stolen away.
“I went out of my way to call you to the Gallery last time and explained everything. I said I understand you playing around with Seok-ha. But don’t even think about the position of lady of the house. You remember that, right?”
“…Yes.”
I answered quietly, unable to deny having heard what was said.
“And I’ve been arranging blind dates with women for you, but Seok-ha refuses to go. I understand, but that’s connected to the Company too. It’s business. Is it because of you, perhaps?”
Han Seon-young was always confident and forthright with Jun-hee alone. She had to be careful with her father-in-law because he wielded power, and her husband showed no interest in her words. With her cherished son, she chose her words carefully lest something go awry.
“What do you mean? It’s not because of me.”
Jun-hee answered honestly. Kwon Seok-ha had confessed his love to me, but he wasn’t the sort to let such feelings ruin business.
Yet I couldn’t stand confidently before Han Seon-young. Intoxicated by his confession, I too had forgotten reality and drifted through these days suspended in air.
When I thought about it, I’d been so foolish.
“If it’s not because of you, then arrange Seok-ha’s blind dates and make them happen. Manage the schedule and organize it. You still have the list I gave you before, right?”
“Yes.”
Jun-hee nodded. That list of blind dates was carefully tucked away in the drawer beneath my desk.
“Can you do it again? Coordinate both sides and convince Seok-ha to go through with it?”
“….”
I couldn’t bring myself to answer. Just this morning, he was a man I’d shared love with. Yet when asked to take the initiative and orchestrate his marriage, my lips wouldn’t open easily.
“Is it difficult to answer?”
Sparks seemed ready to fly from Han Seon-young’s eyes.
“Could you give me time to think about it?”
I mustered courage I’d never shown before Han Seon-young and barely managed to speak. Knowing the heart of Kwon Seok-ha who loves me, I couldn’t find the courage to encourage him toward blind dates.
‘Is it arrogance about myself? Or excessive faith in him?’
Such thoughts flickered past, but still I needed time. It was also a courtesy to the passionate love that had swept in like a storm.
My first love, which I’d quietly severed long ago, had finally returned as fruit. And now it had bloomed fully, seething with intensity—I didn’t want it to crumble at a few words from Han Seon-young.
“Ha. You really are shameless.”
Han Seon-young let out a scornful laugh and looked at Jun-hee with contempt in her gaze.
“I’m sorry. I’m not saying I’ll marry him. I’m only asking for time to organize my thoughts. The heart doesn’t move as we will it to, does it?”
My lips trembled as I made excuses. Tears pooled at the corners of my eyes, threatening to spill, and I clenched my teeth to barely hold them back.
“My heart is the same way. I’d like to accept you too, but it doesn’t move as I will it to. Do you know why?”
Han Seon-young turned my own words back to me. Her gaze remained sharp, but she’d moved closer and took my hand.
Startled, I shrank back, and she gently patted the back of my hand.
“I need an in-law who can guide my son. That doesn’t mean money alone. Actually, money is fine even without it. We have plenty of money ourselves.”
My pupils wavered slightly as I looked at Han Seon-young. I sensed what she was about to say, and my chest already ached.
“I’m sorry to say this, but I hate that my in-law is a Villa manager. My friends’ sons have in-laws who are either conglomerates or ministers, politicians. Even vice-ministers are considered a step down in that world. But at our house? Someone we employed as staff becoming my in-law? I can’t accept that.”
“….”
“Jun-hee, I’m sorry. You can curse me for being materialistic. But I can’t do this.”
For her son’s sake, apologizing to Jun-hee was nothing at all.
Jun-hee couldn’t say a word. Having lived with a family that was already burdensome to herself, she understood all too well how they appeared in others’ eyes.
As I lowered my head in silence, I caught sight of Han Seon-young’s delicate hand holding mine. It was starkly different from my mother’s rough, weathered hands—hands marked by years of labor.
Of course, that wasn’t something to be ashamed of. I took pride in my hardworking father. But the weight my mother and older brother placed upon me came flooding back.
Han Seon-young, with her sharp intuition and keen perception, couldn’t possibly be unaware of this. I found it agonizing to endure this moment where my entire family, myself included, was being treated as a burden.
“Is that all? Look at Seok-ha’s Cousin alone—a man with no talent who did nothing but idle around, and now that he married well, he’s about to inherit the company. He’s attracted a whopping 300 billion won investment. But can you do that for Seok-ha? Do you really have to shackle our Seok-ha like this?”
Finally, tears welled up in my eyes and spilled down my cheeks.
That dream of loving Kwon Seok-ha and bearing fruit with him was, after all, nothing but a summer night’s dangerous play with fire.
“If that cousin inherits the Seonjin Group and our Seok-ha becomes president of a small subsidiary, stammering before him—I absolutely cannot bear to see that. Jun-hee, I’m really asking you. Should I kneel before you?”
Han Seon-young’s body moved as if she were about to drop to her knees immediately.
“I’ll break up with him! Please don’t do this.”
I stopped Han Seon-young and spoke. I couldn’t bear to witness that. How much must she despise me for that dignified Han Seon-young to even consider kneeling? That realization struck me far more devastatingly.
Only then did relief wash across Han Seon-young’s face. Yet, still anxious, she asked as if making a vow.
“You’ll promise, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
I answered through tears.
The reality of my family and me being treated like insects was heartbreaking, but I couldn’t bring myself to resent Han Seon-young. This was reality, and she had simply shown it to me.
I was merely paying the price today for turning away from that reality and living in a dream. In a manner both cruel and sorrowful.
“Seok-ha, you know how perceptive you are, right? I’m not telling you to pack your things and leave today. Once the wedding is settled, then you leave. You understand my request, don’t you?”
Han Seon-young meticulously picked through my defenses like extracting fish bones until the very end. For her son, who would stop at nothing for Jun-hee’s sake, she was even kindly informing me of when I should depart.
“….”
With eyes brimming with tears, I looked at Han Seon-young.
I couldn’t understand how she could say such things to me. Should I endure her opposing the marriage while asking me to keep her son from straying?
But I had no choice.
“If you just do this much, I’ll take responsibility for your younger brother to the end. We’re almost there now, aren’t we? The surgery went well, and we just need to get through a few more years safely. That’s just a moment.”
Han Seon-young whispered in a gentle tone.
The whip that had been lashing me painfully transformed into a carrot dangling before my eyes. It was a carrot I could never eat, yet I nodded nonetheless.
“Thank you. Jun-hee, I won’t forget you. Once Seok-ha is married, I’ll find you a really good match. I guarantee that too. Then you’ll be walking a path of flowers. Understood?”
Even after receiving my answer, Han Seon-young seemed uneasy and fidgeted, producing yet another carrot.
“Yes, yes. I understand, so… please stop now.”
I spoke without lifting my tear-stained face.
Though I appeared pitiful, Han Seon-young felt no sympathy. What mattered to her was that I kept my promise.
“Understood. And eat this. It’s for you, not Seok-ha.”
Han Seon-young pressed a beautifully wrapped box of cookies into my hands. As I received it almost reflexively, I saw a small pill beneath it. Realizing what it was, my receiving hand trembled violently.
“I’m leaving. Contact me if anything comes up.”
Han Seon-young finished saying everything she had to say and rose from her seat. Her departing figure looked remarkably relieved.
I heard the entrance door close in the distance. My ears felt muffled, as if everything were vacuum-sealed. It all felt too surreal. Meeting Han Seon-young felt like a dream.
But my tears wouldn’t stop flowing. My heart ached as if it were being torn apart, and I wept in agony. Yet even as I cried, afraid Seok-ha might come, I hid myself in my room to cry.
Seeing myself walk toward my room while crying made me feel so pathetic that I wept again, bitterly.

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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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