episode_0249

“…Gasp. H-huh, gasp.”

Baek Ayun looked at Cheon Sehee with trembling eyes. More precisely, she looked at the tiny creature Cheon Sehee held in her arms.

Fearing she might hurt the child if she touched it wrongly, she couldn’t bring herself to reach out, only gazing at it with bright, glistening eyes.

Cheon Sehee looked at her with a warm gaze that seemed to understand everything, then offered the child.

“Would you like to hold them once?”

“…!”

And Baek Ayun’s body stiffened rigidly. She jerked her head up as if she had received an unbelievable, hard-to-accept offer.

But Cheon Sehee merely calmly handed the child to her.

“…Ah, ah.”

Baek Ayun extended her trembling arms and carefully held the child in her embrace.

The moment she felt that warm embrace with her entire body… all her worries evaporated and flew away.

Her concern about applying too much force, and her feeling of inadequacy that she dared to touch the child, both vanished.

Looking at the child sleeping soundly, breathing softly, rendered all such thoughts meaningless.

“Ahhh.”

She simply wore a soft smile, her expression utterly enraptured.

Baek Ayun was certain that at this moment, she was the happiest person in the world.

“…Ayun Sunbae is being unfair.”

“Hogging them, how sneaky.”

Seeun and Kanzaki glared at her with eyes filled with intense envy and jealousy, but…

Baek Ayun had completely forgotten the existence of the two of them.

So what if they were jealous? Would those brats really push her away?

Even if they tried to fight her with force, she could easily put them down.

For now, at least for now, she didn’t want anyone to disturb her time with this child.

“You two can hold them too.”

“Ah.”

It was simply that her dream was shattered by Cheon Sehee.

Baek Ayun’s expression was one of losing the world.

Conversely, Seeun and Kanzaki brightened and scurried closer, and Baek Ayun had no choice but to hand over the child.

Inwardly, she felt like spitting blood, but what could she do? This child was not hers to monopolize from the start.

Rather, being able to participate in childcare, even in this way, was a consideration in itself.

Baek Ayun glanced enviously at the child held by the two girls, then cautiously asked Cheon Sehee.

“Um, Manroe-nim…”

“If you’re okay with it, could you call me Mother-nim?”

“…! Yes, yes, Mother-nim.”

At Cheon Sehee’s gentle request, Baek Ayun nodded several times with a bright face.

It was as if she had come one step closer to her long-cherished dream of a plural marriage.

Of course, Cheon Sehee didn’t have the authority to decide Lee Hyunjin’s relationships with others, but her status as the first mother-in-law was at least powerful.

Baek Ayun naturally lowered her posture and whispered in an extremely polite tone.

“Is Soyul-ssi feeling a bit better? Is she perhaps still struggling a lot, or…”

Given the subject matter, she couldn’t help but be cautious.

Four days had already passed since Cheon Soyul had her first child.

After their first meeting at the Korean University Hospital, they had waited several days for the mother and child to stabilize, and only now could they meet them.

Today, Baek Ayun, who had boldly skipped class to visit the Cheon family mansion in Seoul, couldn’t help but worry about her best friend’s condition.

Although she hadn’t experienced it herself, she had heard that childbirth naturally involves extreme pain.

Baek Ayun waited anxiously for Cheon Sehee’s answer, and just as Cheon Sehee was about to speak to reassure her.

With a light click, the door opened, and two people appeared.

The two people they had been waiting for so long: Lee Hyunjin and Cheon Soyul.

Everyone in the room flinched in surprise and turned to look at them. Baek Ayun, with wide eyes, scurried forward until she stood in front of them.

And then, she rushed towards Lee Hyunjin, who had opened his arms as if expecting her—

“Soyul-ssi…!”

“Huh?”

But instead, she bypassed him and immediately threw herself into Cheon Soyul’s arms.

A soft thud echoed between the two girls as their bodies met.

Despite the sudden hug, Cheon Soyul skillfully embraced Baek Ayun.

Even as she blinked, she gently stroked Baek Ayun’s gray hair.

“What, did you miss me that much?”

“…I was worried about you!”

“Me? I’m fine. Perfectly alright.”

Patting Baek Ayun, who was rubbing her forehead against her chest as if acting cute, Cheon Soyul glanced sideways with a hint of a sneer.

“Though our dear husband might be a little embarrassed.”

“…Ahem.”

Lee Hyunjin, who had opened his arms, expecting her to naturally embrace him, let out a cough.

To think Baek Ayun would bypass even him and go straight to Cheon Soyul first.

It was an unexpected turn of events, but naturally, there was no problem. As Cheon Soyul said, it was just a little embarrassing.

“Well, uh. Seeun and Rie, it’s good you came. You must have had a tough journey.”

Lee Hyunjin quickly changed the subject and approached Seeun and Kanzaki.

It was, of course, a blatant attempt to cover his embarrassment, but…

“Sunbaee.”

“Ack.”

Seeun, as if taking even that as an opportunity, hugged him with sharply glinting eyes.

Seeun almost leapt into Lee Hyunjin, clinging to him.

She looked at Baek Ayun behind her with a subtle eye-smile, specifically resting her chin on Lee Hyunjin’s shoulder.

“That’s too much, Sunbae. No matter how busy you were with preparing for childbirth, couldn’t you have sent a text message now and then?”

“…Ah, um. Well.”

“I was desperate every night because I missed you so, so much, Sunbae…”

With her alluring eyes shimmering strangely, Seeun blew a small breath into Lee Hyunjin’s ear.

“It seems you didn’t miss me, Sunbae. Even after you asked me to be your second wife.”

“…! Hey, hey!”

And with that, she dropped a bombshell. Lee Hyunjin, startled, tried to pull her away, but it was already impossible to recover.

The atmosphere in the room instantly turned cold, and the first to move in the heavy silence was Cheon Sehee.

“…I’ll step out for a moment.”

Having received the child back via Kanzaki, she exited the room with a knowing expression.

And the one who very naturally took her place of honor was, of course, Cheon Soyul.

Thud!

Burying herself comfortably into the sofa, she propped her chin and smiled sweetly.

“Come to think of it, you all haven’t quite sorted out your relationships yet, have you?”

She was also the only one in the room who maintained an air of composure.

At her quiet remark, not only Lee Hyunjin but also the other three girls stiffened.

“Just so you know… The reason there was no contact for ten months wasn’t necessarily because I was controlling Lee Hyunjin, okay?”

“…Mm.”

“Rather, that guy voluntarily cut off contact with other women.”

Lee Hyunjin scratched the back of his head sheepishly, and Cheon Soyul nodded with satisfaction.

This was because she had secretly viewed Lee Hyunjin’s conduct in a rather positive light.

From the day she became pregnant, he had almost completely cut off external contact, and naturally suppressed his desires.

To put it bluntly, yes. He had controlled his own sexual desires and refrained from physical intimacy.

Even when he unavoidably met other women, he returned before midnight…

He even refused when she, out of concern, offered to help him satisfy his desires first.

‘…Seriously, playing the devoted husband now won’t get him anything.’

Cheon Soyul idly covered the corner of her mouth with her sleeve. If she didn’t, an unnecessarily loose smile might spread across her face.

Although her words were prim, Lee Hyunjin’s behavior for these ten months was 99% perfect.

Even the remaining 1% was the part where he coldly refused her offer to help him with her hand.

In fact, for almost a year, Lee Hyunjin had been a flawless man.

That’s why Cheon Soyul was thinking it might be time to show a little mercy.

Childbirth had proceeded without issues. The child was also brought to the main family home and was being cared for without any lack.

If so, wouldn’t it be okay to loosen the leash a bit at this point?

Just in time, too… since three classmates had come to visit.

‘…But Rachel isn’t here.’

Cheon Soyul blinked for a moment, realizing late that one person was missing.

Soon, she decided it didn’t really matter. It was just a matter of who arrived sooner or later, after all.

In any case, at this moment, Cheon Soyul had perfectly seized control of the atmosphere in the room.

All four individuals, including Lee Hyunjin, were observing her, who sat in the place of honor.

She twitched the corner of her mouth alluringly once, then slowly nodded.

“Everyone.”

And then she said something as if it were nothing.

“Shall we all sleep in the same bed tonight?”

That night, those words that implied the ‘four’ of them would squeeze their husband dry.

Baek Ayun, Seeun, and Kanzaki’s eyes instantly turned fierce.

“…Ah.”

Lee Hyunjin’s face turned ashen.

He foresaw his future.