Unhealthy - Chapter 19

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

Chapter 19. The Uncle and the College Girl

Taejun finally realized how Hae-yeong was interpreting this situation.

A breath mixed with bitter laughter burst out between his lips.

Taejun leaned forward from where he had been resting against the sofa back, moving close to Hae-yeong’s face. As the distance narrowed, his reflection planted in her mysterious eyes became even clearer.

“Well, let’s say sleeping together was one thing. But the proposal, that was… something I needed to settle things with Ms. Seo I-jeong.”

“Ridiculous. Even if you were going to misunderstand, I didn’t expect it to be in such a way.”

Taejun used the exact word “ridiculous” as he burst into a hollow laugh.

He was dumbfounded that his sincere feelings had been read as merely a tool to break off an arranged marriage.

Rather than displeasure at having his sincerity insulted, Taejun felt greater displeasure at Hae-yeong’s twisted way of thinking that defined herself by her utility value right in front of him.

“What misunderstanding.”

“Why does a princess with high self-esteem who was raised preciously act like a kid with no confidence or sense of self in the wrong places?”

“…”

“If I looked like a shameless bastard who would use a fragile girl like you, who wouldn’t even make a decent shield, to break off a marriage deal, just how much trash was I all this time.”

Taejun’s low voice made the surrounding air sink heavily.

Hae-yeong kept her mouth tightly shut and just quietly listened to his voice scolding her reproachfully.

Rather than looking wronged, her face showed discomfort with the label of “fragile girl” that he had spat out.

“That’s not what I meant.”

“If that’s not what you meant, then?”

“The premise itself of putting Je-won Group’s Gi Taejun and Korea University student Ahn Hae-yeong on the same level is strange to begin with.”

Hae-yeong’s voice was tinged with deep resignation.

According to her words, it sounded as if he was someone who should never reach her, or someone who would inevitably grow distant someday.

Taejun silently observed Hae-yeong, who was wearing his clothes and sitting on his sofa, yet constantly trying to escape beyond an invisible line.

“What, you don’t like me because I’m an uncle?”

Though Taejun deliberately asked in a light tone, Hae-yeong’s returning gaze was calmly unwavering.

Soon her lips parted and terribly realistic sentences that he had never heard before flowed out.

“…Right now I’m staying at the Hannam-dong house because I have utility value, but I know that when my usefulness runs out someday, I’ll be discarded at any time.”

Taejun silently watched Hae-yeong speak these unbelievable words and decided to hear her out to the end.

The cold sense of reality contained in her clear eyes seemed to pierce sharply at a corner of his heart somehow.

The child he wanted to protect. No, the child he had brought into his consideration for his own peace of mind was anticipating not a beautiful or shining ending, but the most miserable end.

“So.”

“Anyway, even if I ask oppa various questions, he won’t tell me anything, and I… need time to get out of the elder’s interest.”

Taejun had wondered why Hae-yeong, even after facing the enormous truth last night, wasn’t curious about the hidden details. Honestly, he had simply concluded she was childishly trying to avoid reality.

However, Taejun was actually a bit surprised by Hae-yeong’s attitude of calling herself someone who would be discarded when her usefulness ran out, trying to prepare in advance for a situation that would be resolved.

The child he thought had grown up beautifully like a flower in full bloom in a greenhouse was already learning how to be abandoned by someone and becoming strong on her own.

That strength came to Taejun more painfully and coldly than any rejection.

“I didn’t say it to tease you, and it’s not something I blurted out randomly to avoid the situation.”

Taejun began to peel away Hae-yeong’s stubborn walls layer by layer with his low, sunken voice.

“…Then, all the more reason you shouldn’t say such things.”

Hae-yeong’s retort was still sharp, but she couldn’t hide her wavering eyes.

“We proved sufficiently by rolling around all night that it wasn’t impulsive sex while intoxicated by the mood.”

To Hae-yeong who kept denying it, Taejun continued speaking as if calmly explaining.

“We both felt it and it was good. Do you agree?”

At Taejun’s direct question, Hae-yeong’s face heated up hotly again.

After hesitating for a long time, unable to overcome Taejun’s gaze that persistently demanded an answer, she nodded slightly instead of answering.

“And we plan to kiss and have sex when our eyes meet in the future too.”

“Th-that’s—”

“Am I wrong?”

When Hae-yeong tried to retort in confusion, Taejun mercilessly cut off her words.

His arrogant eyes rested on Hae-yeong’s lips as if daring her to refute him if there was anything wrong.

“N-nothing’s wrong.”

In the end, Hae-yeong hung her head low like a criminal.

Taejun slowly lifted Hae-yeong’s chin to make her look directly into his eyes.

As if he had never intended to give her any escape route from the beginning, he whispered low in Hae-yeong’s ear.

“Then I’m your best option.”

“…”

“There’s no second choice. So, choose me.”

It was a declaration, not a proposal.

Taejun carefully savored the turmoil and irresistible submission reflected in Hae-yeong’s eyes.

Those eyes that were more piercing for being transparent, more brilliant for being blue, were mysterious and clear, making him want to break and ruin them.

In this hell that he himself had created, the only choice Hae-yeong could make was Gi Taejun alone.

***

It was around Sunday evening when they returned to the family home together with Taejun.

Even though they had coordinated their stories beforehand and a perfect alibi was already prepared, she couldn’t help feeling nervous from the moment they entered the front gate.

Fortunately, there were no sharp eyes watching her return.

In case there might be watching eyes, she cleanly separated from Taejun on the first floor.

Taejun, having returned home, climbed the stairs with his usual cold and chilly face, with no trace of how he had been at the Second House.

Hae-yeong felt intimidated by his completely changed appearance, wondering if this was really the same man who had desired and indulged in her body just a few hours ago.

Her well-laundered, fluffy clothes felt somehow uncomfortable, and she only wanted to change quickly.

Hae-yeong, who had been quietly walking on tiptoe toward her room, was startled and stepped back when she saw a shadow standing firmly in front of her door.

“What, you scared me.”

Only after confirming that the owner of the shadow was Jae-jun did Hae-yeong belatedly calm her startled heart.

Jae-jun approached Hae-yeong closely with his characteristic smirking smile.

“I heard you went on a honeymoon with Gi Taejun.”

At Jae-jun’s playfully thrown words, Hae-yeong’s steps toward her room momentarily faltered.

Hae-yeong showed a bewildered expression, sensing Jae-jun following her into her room.

“Wh-what are you talking about. I went to Cheongsan for an assignment.”

“So suddenly without preparation?”

When he asked back as if he didn’t believe it, Hae-yeong carefully chose words that Jae-jun wouldn’t suspect.

“I suddenly had an assignment that required a report, and since Taejun oppa said he had free time, I asked him for a favor.”

“When was it that you felt uncomfortable just seeing Gi Taejun’s face.”

Jae-jun’s gaze swept over every corner of Hae-yeong’s face as if examining it.

It was the look of a predator trying to catch a lie.

At Jae-jun’s unfamiliar face, different from usual, Hae-yeong even pressed down on her lower lip to avoid being caught with her lips trembling slightly.

“It’s because I want to write a good report. Separate from personal feelings, it’s good if I can get a good grade.”

“So? How was accompanying Gi Taejun?”

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