Husband Role - Episode 1

The sun was already high in the sky, but the basement room was dark and damp. However, Eun-seol didn’t care and finished her makeup.

 

Today, she was going to propose.

 

Because of that, a determined look even lingered on her youthful face in the mirror.

 

“I can do it.”

 

Eun-seol murmured quietly. Her heart felt like it would burst just thinking about it. But she had nowhere else to go. This was her last chance, and she had to seize it.

 

“…I have to.”

 

Eun-seol was just about to get up after muttering that. The door burst open. Min-seo, with a cold gaze, scanned Eun-seol up and down.

 

“Are you going to a blind date or something?”

 

Min-seo was Eun-seol’s cousin, the same age as her. And she was the eldest daughter of this house.

 

“…What’s wrong?”

 

Eun-seol asked Min-seo with a wary look.

 

“Have you seen my rose gold necklace with the V pendant? The one I wear often.”

 

“I haven’t seen it.”

 

Eun-seol had a bad feeling, but she answered in as calm a voice as possible.

 

At that, Min-seo asked back, “Really?” in an agreeing tone. But her expression was close to disbelief.

 

It was when Eun-seol, reading that, looked at Min-seo with an unpleasant look.

 

“Pretty clothes.”

 

Min-seo, who had taken a step closer, murmured that and snatched at the front of Eun-seol’s blouse. It happened in an instant.

 

“!”

 

Min-seo’s cold gaze went down between Eun-seol’s breasts.

 

“You didn’t do it yourself.”

 

“What are you doing—!”

 

Eun-seol, shaking off the rude hand, glared at Min-seo with a flushed face. It was insulting. She could never get used to this treatment.

 

“I thought an old habit dies hard.”

 

“I never did that.”

 

“Everyone at Hocheon High knows that Lee Eun-seol has bad hands, what’s so new about it.”

 

That’s what you framed me for.

 

Eun-seol pursed her lips. She didn’t have the time to argue with Min-seo right now, but it was always she who suffered when she fought with the siblings of this house. She had been a freeloader for five years. She didn’t want to waste her energy on a losing battle with a predictable outcome.

 

“Let’s see.”

 

Min-seo, turning around, roughly opened Eun-seol’s plastic drawers.

 

The underwear in the first drawer fell to the floor. The next drawer, and the next, Min-seo was rummaging through and making a mess.

 

Eun-seol felt humiliated, but she clenched the leather strap of her handbag tightly and bit back her anger.

 

Don’t get swept away. Don’t get swept away. Don’t get swept away.

 

She steeled herself with self-hypnosis several times. She knew that an emotional response was what Mok Min-seo wanted.

 

“Then look carefully. I’m busy.”

 

Eun-seol said in as emotionless a tone as possible. She wanted to show that she hadn’t suffered any internal damage.

 

But that seemed to have touched Min-seo’s nerves.

 

Min-seo, striding closer, grabbed Eun-seol’s hair from behind.

 

“—!”

 

And she pulled her arm down, making Eun-seol lift her chin.

 

Eun-seol was humiliated, but she had no choice but to endure it.

 

She couldn’t make a fuss in the house.

 

She needed patience for the sake of the future.

 

On the contrary, Min-seo’s grip tightened.

 

Min-seo, who was a little taller, stared down at Eun-seol, who frowned.

 

“The outcast of Hocheon High has grown up a lot?”

 

“…Let go.”

 

“Let go? That’s an order?”

 

Mok Min-seo smiled coldly. Eun-seol didn’t answer. She felt like she was going to cry out of anger, but she glared and endured.

 

“You have to ask politely. Then I might generously let it go.”

 

Min-seo had always been displeased with Eun-seol. The existence that was lower in the hierarchy than her family, employees, and two dogs was Lee Eun-seol.

 

And yet, she acted like a lotus flower blooming alone on the dirty water, which was very annoying. Also, the typical victim’s eyes. Also, the attitude of being flawless.

 

Whenever Eun-seol did that, Min-seo’s mood fell into the mud. At the same time, it felt like an unpurified stench was vibrating from the filth she had covered herself with.

 

“You’re so consistent.”

 

Eun-seol, reading Min-seo’s words, looked up at Min-seo with calm eyes.

 

“…Do you want me to grovel?”

 

“Can you even do that?”

 

It was then. The cell phone rang and took over the small room. It was Min-seo’s. Min-seo, who had been hesitating, let go of Eun-seol’s hair and answered the phone.

 

“Uh, what? A celebration party? What.”

 

Eun-seol took the opportunity to open the door. Min-seo’s voice, who was on the phone, gradually faded away.

 

“Marriage is easy. Jung-hyuk is back. What are you saying? Why are you making more of a fuss? Then you should call your future husband by his name, not ‘Teacher’ all the time?”

 

Eun-seol, hurrying her steps, said inwardly.

 

I’m sorry, but I’m going to have that marriage.

 

 

Eun-seol, who arrived at the meeting place first, was lost in thought.

 

The reason she was trying to steal Mok Min-seo’s arranged marriage partner was by no means because of petty revenge. Mok Min-seo could not exert even the slightest influence on her life. That was too much of a privilege.

 

However, for Eun-seol, marriage was the only way out.

 

It was a difficult decision. It was a bold promise. But Eun-seol couldn’t be calm.

 

She pressed down on her throbbing chest and turned her gaze. Outside the wide-open folding doors, a perfect spring had settled. It was Gangnam on the weekend, full of pedestrians enjoying the warm temperature.

 

A little later, a tall man, as if he had one more head than the people, caught her eye. Eun-seol flinched without realizing it.

 

Yoon Jung-hyuk.

 

He was Eun-seol’s former homeroom teacher and had long been mentioned as Mok Min-seo’s arranged marriage partner.

 

It was after Eun-seol graduated from high school that she learned that Jung-hyuk was not an ordinary teacher but the eldest son of a private school foundation family.

 

After that, she heard that he had resigned from his teaching position immediately.

 

Eun-seol still didn’t know why Jung-hyuk had been a teacher.

 

It was just that many things surrounding him felt like a huge wall, so she couldn’t continue the relationship between teacher and student.

 

Even though he was the only adult who had protected her.

 

She saw him, handsome, entering the cafe.

 

Jung-hyuk, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit and neatly combed hair, was a little familiar and terribly unfamiliar.

 

“……”

 

“……!”

 

Jung-hyuk’s eyes met hers.

 

It wasn’t a close distance, but Eun-seol froze instantly.

 

On the contrary, Jung-hyuk’s expression was indifferent and his stride was unhesitating.

 

That moment passed slowly.

 

Everything except Yoon Jung-hyuk stopped, and only he had vitality.

 

Eun-seol’s pounding heart felt like it would pop out of her mouth. Feeling the muscles in her whole body stiffen, she bit the inside of her lip without realizing it.

 

When Jung-hyuk got completely close, Eun-seol stood up.

 

“Thank you for coming, Teacher.”

 

Eun-seol greeted him politely.

 

Jung-hyuk, standing face to face, was like a huge mountain. His height of 190cm was more than just sturdy, it was overwhelming. She had to tilt her head back a lot to see Jung-hyuk’s face properly.

 

His black and cold eyes were sunken as if tired. On the contrary, his straight nose made the shadows on his face look deeper. Perhaps because of his tightly closed lips, his cold impression was doubled. It was so chilling that it was creepy.

 

Eun-seol was overwhelmed without realizing it.

 

“It’s been a while.”

 

Soon, Jung-hyuk replied in an overbearing voice. And he pointed to a chair, meaning to sit down. At that moment, a heavy woody scent captivated Eun-seol.

 

Jung-hyuk, sitting in a straight posture, was flawless. Like a solid rock.

 

Eun-seol, who had been dazed for a moment, quickly came to her senses and sat down.

 

“I didn’t know you would call.”

 

Jung-hyuk said, looking at Eun-seol carefully.

 

Eun-seol was embarrassed by the intense gaze and lowered her eyes.

 

Somehow, being in front of him felt like she had returned to her immature days.

 

“You’ve grown up a lot.”

 

The low exclamation moistened Eun-seol’s ears. It was unexpected. The homeroom teacher, who had been a stickler for principles, had become the epitome of an adult man.

 

He was not the person she remembered. As a result, the psychological distance widened even further.

 

“You’re wearing makeup too.”

 

The low voice that scratched the air dug deep into Eun-seol’s heart. Her heart was pounding and a strange feeling flooded in like a tide. Eun-seol felt her neck getting hot and clenched her fists tightly.

 

“But.”

 

Jung-hyuk, who had been staring at it, said again.

 

“I made you my junior, but you’re on leave.”

 

Eun-seol’s eyes widened. She didn’t know that Jung-hyuk had heard about her.

 

“There were circumstances……”

 

Eun-seol murmured softly. Jung-hyuk nodded readily. He didn’t ask the reason like before. He wasn’t her homeroom teacher anymore.

 

“So, what’s the matter?”

 

Jung-hyuk asked, glancing at his watch once. He seemed busy.

 

Eun-seol’s courage seemed to sink to the ground at once. But she had to say it.

 

“I……”

 

She barely stared at Jung-hyuk and moved her lips.

 

“I want you to marry me.”

 

There was no answer. Eun-seol, who had become anxious, added.

 

“If you have to have an arranged marriage anyway, I’ll be more comfortable than Mok Min-seo.”

 

“Do you even know what marriage is?”

 

Jung-hyuk asked coldly.

 

“Yes, I know. I’m confident that I’ll do my best.”

 

“I have to do all sorts of things with you. Are you confident in that too?”

 

He asked again and again. Eun-seol was embarrassed. She had come to this place after drawing many situations in her head in advance, but she had never imagined this development.

 

Jung-hyuk, without changing his expression, added to her, who was speechless.

 

“I’m asking if you can sleep with me, your homeroom teacher.”

 

Eun-seol’s face turned red at the explicit words. Then, there was a sound of clicking his tongue.

 

“You don’t even know what’s what.”

 

And Eun-seol called out to Jung-hyuk, who was getting up coldly.