episode_0048

Returning to Seoul, I immediately hailed a taxi and headed towards Ma Yeon-seo’s house.

♥ [ Come home. I’ll be waiting. ]

Given the circumstances, she quietly cleared her schedule and waited for me.

It seemed like she noticed my unusual determination.

…I was sure she knew.

“Welcome back. How was your trip?”

As soon as we arrived at the house, she came bustling out to greet me at the entrance, casually exchanging greetings.

Not only that, she even hugged me tightly and acted cute.

“…I missed you.”

Her completely unexpected response made me feel like I had landed in a different world for a moment.

*

Heavy silence filled the tranquil study.

“……”

“……”

I gazed intently at Ma Yeon-seo, who was sipping cool tea on the opposite sofa.

She still had a thick poker face despite being caught red-handed in her outrageous act.

How could she be so shameless even after committing such a huge deed?

I was too shocked to come up with any words now.

“Yeon-seo.”

“Yeah?”

She glanced up from her tea as I called her name.

“…You planned a secret wedding behind my back.”

“That’s right.”

Ma Yeon-seo easily admitted to her own wrongdoing.

All the anticipation I had felt on the way here turned into disappointment.

‘…Stay calm.’

Struggling to contain my anger, I took a deep breath and spoke again.

“Why did you do that?”

Setting down her teacup, she briefly met my gaze before leaving a concise answer.

“Because I want to marry you.”

A straightforward response that cut off any further discussion.

“What I’m asking is, why did you hide it from me and proceed with it?”

“Because I thought you might try to stop me.”

Deliberately doing something she knew would upset me emotionally.

Thinking this way gave me a bit of peace of mind.

“…Even though you knew I would react negatively when I found out?”

Were you prepared for the consequences of being caught deceiving me?

Ma Yeon-seo calmly responded to my question.

“Yes.”

She was fully prepared for everything.

“……”

Exhaling deeply, I tried to calmly press her for answers.

“You said you wouldn’t pull stunts like this anymore.”

“……”

“But how come you’re acting like this not even a month later?”

“……”

“Continuously doing this, how do you expect me to like you? How can I trust and care for you? Huh?”

Avoiding my gaze, Ma Yeon-seo remained silent, showing no particular reaction.

Instead, her indifferent gaze made me slightly anxious.

“…Cancel all the reservations you made today.”

“……”

“…And let’s take some time apart.”

After making a suggestive statement, Ma Yeon-seo finally met my eyes.

Her indifferent gaze showed no signs of wavering.

She was not one to be swayed by such provocations.

“…There’s a vacant room in the guesthouse.”

“…What?”

“If you want to be separated from me, then use the guesthouse.”

Despite her mistake, Ma Yeon-seo maintained a stiff attitude.

She still seemed to think she held the upper hand.

‘She hasn’t come to her senses.’

In human relationships, it’s common for the unsatisfied party to retreat.

Unlike Hanryeowon, Ma Yeon-seo didn’t seem to have much regret.

Therefore, she confidently demanded something more.

“…Empty the room by today, understand that.”

“Yu Chan-ah.”

“If you’ve done wrong, at least show some sign of remorse, Ma Yeon-seo.”

“……”

“I have my limits too. I don’t want to deal with this kind of situation with you anymore. I’ve made efforts too, you know.”

Suppressing my anger, I stood up with a stern expression.

“Don’t contact me until I reach out to you.”

As I turned to leave, intending to slam the door behind me…

“Kang Yu-chan.”

Ma Yeon-seo grabbed my ankle with a helpless tone.

“Before you go, there’s something I need to give you.”

“…What?”

She rose from her seat and approached the desk, pulling out a thick envelope from the drawer.

Advancing closer with a cold expression, she briskly extended it towards me.

“I won’t stop you from leaving, just take this and go.”

“….”

Accepting the envelope in silence, I nervously checked its contents, half expecting it to contain evidence of her pregnancy…

‘Huh?’

Inside the envelope was nothing but a stack of documents.

‘…What is this?’

Glancing at Mayeonseo, I cautiously retrieved the papers and read the title written on the top page.

[ Kang Yoochan Project ]

To my surprise, my name was written there.

“…What’s this?”

“It’s something taken from the Association.”

Mayeonseo, with an almost mocking gaze, crossed her arms and subtly explained, “Just so you know, it’s not that I suspect you, but rather that the Association’s actions raised suspicions, so I took this.”

I couldn’t make sense of what she was saying.

“Read it.”

“….”

Without further questions, I slowly flipped through the report.

‘…Huh?’

Soon enough, I could understand the significance of my name written at the top of the report.

The document contained detailed information about ‘me.’

[ Kim Yoonjung: From Eumseong, Chungcheongbuk-do. Elementary school… ]

Starting from details about my mother that even I wasn’t aware of.

[ Age 5: History of multiple hospital visits due to unexplained ‘magical fever.’ Symptoms disappeared suddenly afterwards. ]

Even old information that I barely remembered.

[ Presumed to have been under prolonged mental control before and after adolescence, rapidly becoming close to Mayeonseo. ]

It even included information related to Mayeonseo.

‘What…’

Page by page, a chill ran down my spine.

“…What is this?”

Mayeonseo gestured towards the report as if urging me to continue reading.

Swallowing hard, I continued flipping through the report…

“!”

Finally, I could grasp the insane implications of this report.

[ During awakening examination, central magic stone destroyed. ]

[ Based on this, subsequent analysis of harvested magic waves revealed a match with the European Union’s Primordial Stone. ]

Primordial Stone.

Something unexpectedly linked to me.

‘Primordial Stone… Me?’

According to the report, the Association had concluded that I had a very close relationship with the Primordial Stone.

[ Due to concerns about potential talent leakage, immediate implementation of Association-affiliated plans. ]

[ Simultaneous implementation of Kang Yoochan Association-affiliated and Mayeonseo-affiliated plans. ]

Thus, they began secretly executing plans to detain me.

Conveniently benefiting Mayeonseo as well.

The core forces of the Association to fulfill all these plans were none other than…

[ Former lover and ex-fiancé, Han Lyewon. ]

Han Lyewon.

‘What…’

Filled with deep resentment towards Mayeonseo, Han Lyewon actively participated in the schemes, as stated in the report.

[ Information provided by: Han Lyewon ]

To the extent of divulging most information about me to the Association.

[ Attempted mental manipulation using guilt over infidelity. ]

Based on this, people from the Association started devising strategies to control me.

[ Intentionally avoiding contact to induce impatience. Success thereafter. ]

[ Emphasizing anger and sadness to highlight guilt. Success thereafter. ]

My mind went blank, cold sweat trickling down.

[ Sharing a bed during a business trip to accelerate the relationship. Failure thereafter. ]

It was all clearly lies.

[ Detected plans for Mayeonseo’s wedding. Utilized to strengthen future ties. ]

[ Attempted ovulation induction magic ritual to control pregnancy timing, but failed to share a bed. ]

[ Scheduled for a reattempt in the third examination. ]

It had to be done.

*

Lately, Han Lyewon found happiness in each passing day.

Of course, Kang Yoochan was at the center of it all.

Certainly, he was less happy than when they were about to get married without any hindrance…

But compared to the hellish days stemming from Mayeonseo recently, he was undeniably happier.

Especially satisfying was the fact that he had given his ex-girlfriend a hard time.

“Ah, I miss Yoochan.”

It was a moment when Ryeowon was yearning for Yoochan and leisurely waiting to finish work.

Umm—. Umm—.

Suddenly, a messenger alert popped up in the corner of the monitor.

It was a message from Yoochan’s infidelity phone.

X [ Are you busy right now? ]

X [ Can we talk for a moment? ]

He said he had returned to Gangneung and entered the house.

Seemingly unable to wait, he seemed to want to hear her voice.

“Yeah. Can’t live without me, huh?”

Ryeowon secretly checked the message without indicating that she had read it and let out a quiet chuckle.

Recently, there had been a somewhat uncomfortable reaction from Yoochan regarding their marriage with Mayeon.

Sure enough, since then, the contact frequency had started to decrease strangely….

This time, after taking a breather in Gangneung, he seemed to have come to his senses.

As someone who was practically his real owner, Ryeowon couldn’t hold back her laughter.

Me [ Are you outside? ]

Me [ I’m in the middle of something right now, so give me about 10 minutes, and I’ll call you. ]

With Ryeowon’s workload lightening due to being assigned to Kang Yoochan, she deliberately delayed time by pretending to be busy.

Then, exactly at 7 minutes, she made the call.

Intentionally calling earlier than scheduled to show that she was concerned about him.

“Hello?”

[ …Hello. ]

Yoochan, who answered the call before the ringtone even finished, seemed to have a lower voice than usual for some reason.

It indicated either a temporary condition or a bad mood.

“At training camp?”

Ryeowon deliberately changed the subject and checked on Yoochan’s state.

[ …Yeah. ]

A short response came back through the speaker.

The tone wasn’t particularly good.

“Why does your voice sound so weak…? Did that person bother you again?”

[ …No. Just, worked out too hard, that’s all. ]

Ryeowon didn’t believe Yoochan’s words.

However, she didn’t press further.

There was no point in forcing questions, and anyway, he would spill the beans soon enough.

“Exercise is good, but take care of yourself first!”

[ …Thanks. ]

“Hehe. But why did you suddenly call?”

Eventually, Ryeowon asked Yoochan why he had called.

And then.

[ …I have something to ask you. ]

“What is it?”

A somewhat serious voice came through the speaker.

[ Do you… have something to tell me? ]

“…!”

At that moment, Ryeowon’s face showed signs of turmoil.