episode_0056

“How was it?”

After finishing my business and coming out of the restroom, I came face to face with an old man who seemed lost with a face that I couldn’t understand.

Was he waiting for me to come out? Even though I had spoken to him before entering, it didn’t seem to matter much to be standing hesitantly in front of the door like this…

Although I felt pleased inwardly, seeing the old man looking so anxious made me want to play a prank on him, as he had been like a fortress lately, impervious to jokes.

“Phew… Sir, what should we do now?”

Suppressing the laughter that was about to burst out, I sighed heavily and hesitated, but the old man’s face turned pale, his pupils dilating in shock.

I thought he had changed recently, but it seems like his true nature remains the same. He really is our old man who needs to be a bit clueless like this.

“W-wait… Did it really work in one go?”

“Considering how powerful that one shot was, didn’t you have a rough idea? And if you were prepared to do it live, you should have been prepared for this outcome as well.”

“Actually, I didn’t really plan to do it at that time… I only did it live because you said you wanted to. So…”

“Yeah, I definitely said that. But you should have been prepared for this outcome long before, right?”

“You… are something else…”

With a confident face, as I said that, the old man looked bewildered and just stared at me blankly.

We stared into each other’s eyes for a while, but the old man suddenly withdrew his stiff face and then, as if determined, he tightly embraced me with a resolute expression.

Why is he hugging me at this timing!? I don’t particularly mind, but if my face is pressed against his firm chest, I can’t breathe! It’s uncomfortable!

“To be honest, I wanted to spend some more time alone with you.”

“What are you talking about now? Anyway, since it’s already done, you have to take full responsibility till the end. Got it?”

“Don’t worry about that. Even though I may not be the best, I will definitely take responsibility for you and the baby in your belly…?”

Suddenly, the old man’s gaze towards me shifted to the pregnancy test kit clenched in my hand.

Then, before finishing his sentence, the old man snatched the pregnancy test kit and immediately began to look grim.

Oh no, did he find out~ This is going to be awkward…

“If my eyes are not deceiving me, it looks like there’s only one line drawn here instead of two. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, you saw correctly.”

Nodding in response to the old man’s inquiry.

“Is that so? So, even though you only got one line, you deceived me as if you got two lines?”

“D-deceived~ It’s just a joke, it’s just a joke.”

As I laughed and clapped my hands, the old man, who had been frowning, let out a sigh.

“It’s just a joke… Yeah, just a joke…”

As he finished speaking, it seemed like a dark aura was surrounding the old man.

Feeling the uneasy atmosphere, I desperately tried to get away from the old man, but in an instant, my body was lifted up and I became like a burden on the old man’s shoulders.

“Um, sir?”

Terrified, I asked, but the old man remained silent, carrying my body and slowly walking towards the living room.

Unable to resist due to being firmly restrained as if not tolerating any struggling, I obediently entrusted my body without even dreaming of resisting.

If he’s going to be angry, I wish he would at least say something, I thought as I sighed, and before I knew it, we had arrived at our destination, and my body slowly descended to the ground.

However, what touched the floor of the living room was not a foot, but a knee, and on top of that, the strange posture of being draped over the man’s legs on the sofa.

“Why am I in this strange position… huh!?”

— Smack!

As I tried to raise my head, a sharp sound accompanied by a strong impact from the back of my head sent a small scream escaping.

“Ouch, it hurts! Why all of a sudden… ow!”

“Do you think I’ll just let this weird prank slide?! This time, I won’t let it go!”

With a furrowed brow, the man began to strike my head even harder with his palm.

— Smack! Smack! Smack!

“Ugh, ugh, ugh, ugh!”

Trying to endure the pain with clenched lips was futile.

Feeling a sense of shame as if disciplining a child, I thought I had become accustomed to the pain, but suddenly, an unknown sensation, like flashes of light, overwhelmed me.

And just as I thought I had become accustomed to the pain, I felt a sensation that was indescribable in words.

“Stay still!”

— Thud!

“Ughhh!?”

When my body was immobilized, a stronger blow to the back of my head caused me to involuntarily cry out.

Clearly, something was wrong with my body.

With each touch of the man’s hand on my head, a shocking impact spread throughout my body, making my head white with pain.

I no longer felt any pain. All I could feel was a sensation that was beyond words.

“I’m, I’m sorry, I’m so–! Ugh, I mean, please stop now… ugh!”

Trying to hold onto my sanity in the midst of the strange sensation, I pleaded, but the man, consumed by anger, continued to punish me without mercy, driving me further into madness.

As my vision began to blur, I realized for the first time the true terror of the man.

And

— Smack!

“Ahhhh–!!”

At this moment, the sensation that was driving me insane was not pain.

*

It was a horrific experience.

Although I was clearly the one who was at fault, could anyone be driven to this extent in anger? Seriously, I almost opened my eyes to something new with just a slight mistake, didn’t I? Oh, it hurts…

And if only two lines had come out, would I have hidden the fact until the end?

Even though I had adapted to the body of Ju Eun-hye, as a man with a sense of self as Han Eun-seok, it was problematic for me to have a child with the man.

In other words, it was no different from doing something terrible to the man.

Although I felt a little disappointed, I wished that the man had a proper wife other than me, the woman he was with now.

If not, I could be his wife, but as long as there was a contract, that would be impossible.

I was nothing more than a superficial wife as written in the contract.

Still, I would make sure he took responsibility for what he had done.

“Sigh~ I can’t focus today…”

Perhaps because of what happened in the morning, or maybe because my mind was preoccupied, I couldn’t concentrate on studying.

Even if I sat at my desk rolling my pencil, the lost concentration showed no sign of returning.

Ah, at times like this, hitting the punching machine at the arcade is a relief. But I don’t want to go out in the summer…

“…But how can you let me use your body as I please and not even show your face once?”

As I was fooling around, suddenly that guy came to mind, clutching the desk mirror and frowning at his reflection… No, it was actually my current appearance that was revealed.

Come to think of it, everything that has happened so far has been a mess.

From being hit by a truck and ending up in this body of Ju Eunhye, to adapting so quickly to this life as a woman, to acting as if I had been manipulated into believing I was Ju Eunhye, and even to that guy I met again pleading with tears for me to live.

“I’m going out, so don’t cause any accidents and take care of the house.”

For a moment, lost in thoughts of that guy, I saw the middle-aged man on the other side of the half-open door finishing up his preparations to go out, putting on a watch on his wrist.

But seriously, talking as if he’s keeping the morning incident in mind, telling me not to cause any accidents? Does he think I’m a child!

I wanted to express my dissatisfaction right away, but since I’ve done a lot of wrong to this person, it’s probably better to let it go quietly for now.

Plus, if I get hit on the butt again, I might really go crazy.

“Why are you dressed up to go out? Well, have a good time… Wait, it’s almost dinner time, where are you going? What’s going on?”

Opening the door and poking my head out, the man smiled casually and patted my head.

“It’s nothing to worry about, so don’t fret. Maybe you should eat dinner early since you might be back late. Got it?”

“Okay, got it. Just let me know if you’re going to be really late.”

Leaving with a simple “Got it,” the man stepped out of the entrance, and I endured the dull pain in my buttocks as I sat at the desk, once again rolling the sharpener.