PIA 16

“You’re telling me that now! Even if you smear dung on this old woman’s face, she won’t budge!”

The approaching angry old lady’s momentum was intimidating. I’m going to get hit! Ji-an closed his eyes tightly and lowered his face as soon as he noticed.

Bang! There was a loud noise, but no impact. Slowly opening his squinted eyes, Ji-an looked up to find that Jeong Hee-seo had blocked the blow with his arm. The sound was deafening, but Ji-an was surprised again to see that Jeong Hee-seo didn’t flinch.

“Oh, no… why did you step in like that?”

The grandmother hesitated as if flustered. Jeong Hee-seo snatched the wooden stick from grandmother’s hand and threw it on the sofa. It happened in the blink of an eye, so everyone in the living room held their breath.

Jeong Hee-seo moved closer to Ji-an as Ji-an worried if the arm hit by Grandmother was harmed. Ji-an raised his head as Jeong Hee-seo’s long legs came closer, and the imposing presence of the dominant Alpha was anything but ordinary.

He grabbed Ji-an’s arm and slowly lifted him up.

“Don’t kneel down like that when you’re not even a beggar.”

The distance was too close. Ji-an consciously took a step back and looked down at his grandmother as he spoke.

“Anyway, grandmother, don’t blame Jeong Hee-seo. Everything is my fault, and it is my responsibility.”

Grandmother was taken aback by Ji-an’s shocking comment, believing she had caught Jeong Hee-seo, JM’s eldest son, in her sights. She turned her accusation towards Jeong Hee-seo, twisting her wrinkled lips wickedly.

“CEO Jeong. What on earth is this? You claimed it was your child earlier!”

He’s the General Manager, not the CEO. In the grandmother’s mind, Jeong Hee-seo was already the CEO of JM, and her recessive Omega grandson was the hostess of JM.

The wrath in her eyes was particularly intense, whether it was because of the realization that her sweet imagination had been shattered or the reality that her grandson was ready to destroy everything.

“Well. I’m a little puzzled too.”

Jeong Hee-seo smoothly elevated the corners of his mouth, his eyes flashing a sympathetic grin. Even though he thought Jeong Hee-seo was handsome in this situation, Ji-an made excuses to himself that it was all due to the baby inside his stomach.

Jeong Hee-seo lowered his upper body and brought his lips near to Ji-an’s ear.

“Ji-an-ah, you told me to take responsibility at some point. You even brought a pregnancy test and threatened me.”

The whisper was low and subtle, so Ji-an was the only one who heard it, but he was startled and jerked his body. He grabbed his reddened ear and glared at Jeong Hee-seo.

Unperturbed, Jeong Hee-seo turned towards his grandmother and said, 

“I didn’t know Ji-an was such a responsible person. It seems he’s being stubborn, worried that I might be a burden, Grandmother.”

“No, that’s not it!”

Even though Ji-an shouted and tried to grab his arm, Jeong Hee-seo remained unfazed. Instead, he firmly held Ji-an’s hand that was trying to grab him.

“I’ve done something that made him a bit upset… Seeing Ji-an like this, I’ll tidy up on my end and come back to greet you again.”

Jeong Hee-seo’s firm voice had a power that made people cower. Even the formidable grandmother stepped back and said, “Oh, well, you’ll handle it yourself.”

After greeting the grandmother and his seated mother with a courteous bow, Jeong Hee-seo grabbed Ji-an’s shoulders and turned him around.

Ji-an continued to gasp in disbelief as he was dragged outside.

Was Jeong Hee-seo always this way? He found himself in a dilemma as he contemplated the question at hand. 

In the drama, ‘Jeong Hee-seo’ was a romanticist who not only overlooked cunning schemes but also took responsibility by marrying. After ‘Ji-an’ had a miscarriage, the final villain even began to show obsessive affection…

It was his mistake to think that such Jeong Hee-seo would easily step back.

“I’m sorry.”

As they stepped out into the garden, Ji-an apologized first. Jeong Hee-seo stood there, giving Ji-an a discontented look.

“What are you sorry for? For making a commotion at the hospital and running away? Or for denying the baby as my child right in front of me?”

“Everything. And going back to the very beginning, what got you involved with me… I’m sorry for everything.”

Ji-an reasoned that if he was going to be so unusually responsible, he should definitely refuse him.

“I have no feelings for Jeong Hee-seo-ssi. I’m not someone who thinks we should marry just because of a baby.”

“…”

“Jeong Hee-seo-ssi also has the right to marry someone he likes. Same goes for me. I will take full responsibility for the baby as it is born in my body.”

Jeong Hee-seo burst out laughing.

“How, how are you going to take responsibility, Ji-an-ah?”

“How? It means I’ll give birth and raise the child on my own.”

“You’ll give birth alone? Raise the child alone?”

“What’s so difficult about it? Viewing single parenthood and being unmarried while having a child as something bad is just a prejudice and a wrong bias. Besides, there’s a lot of money in that house.”

Jeong Hee-seo looked at Ji-an and raised his fingers. It seemed like he was counting something.

“How long has it been since you and I spent the night together?”

“…”

“You’re only a month pregnant. Have you forgotten how you turned pale in the bathroom and begged me for pheromones? How are you going to survive the remaining nine months?”

“…”

“Do I look like such a piece of trash that I would leave someone like that alone?”

In response to the unexpected retort, Ji-an closed his mouth like a clam.

Right. Ji-an swallowed the saliva of denial for a fact he couldn’t refute. In fact, the headache that had tormented him until a moment ago, as if stirring up his mind, disappeared completely the moment he entered this house and smelled Jeong Hee-seo’s pheromones.

“My words are right. Seo Ji-an.”

Jeong Hee-seo took a step closer and released strong pheromones. Ji-an shivered as the pheromones traveled down his body like they were alive.  It was such an intense pleasure that it felt refreshing. His stomach trembled, and the inside of his pants instantly became damp.

Jeong Hee-seo embraced the staggering Ji-an. Holding his shoulders firmly, Jeong Hee-seo lowered his head and pressed his lips close to Ji-an’s ear.

“You can’t do it without me.”

Ji-an’s eyes widened. Apart from the surprise, his body responded to him unabashedly, and pheromones gushed out instantly. Jeong Hee-seo smiled and wrinkled his nose in response to Ji-an’s honest statement.

Seeing his confident expression makes Ji-an feel emotional. Ji-an pushed Jeong Hee-seo away forcefully.

“No.”

He shook his head vigorously.

“Pheromones can be treated with medicine. We live in a different era now, and last time, I couldn’t prepare for it properly.”

No matter how much pheromones were needed, marrying and living together just for that was out of the question. Moreover, Ji-an was aware of the inevitable situations that would arise if he married Jeong Hee-seo.

A villain worse than his grandmother lives in Jeong Hee-seo’s house.

He recalled villain Seo Ji-an’s life with his in-laws, which was a hot topic while the drama was airing. Even though Seo Ji-an was a villain, he took on all kinds of servant duties just because he became the daughter-in-law of the family.

Thanks to that, the drama received praise for reversing the trend of the times, and public sentiment sympathized with Seo Ji-an. Even at the scene where Seo Ji-hyuk was framed and disappeared after fighting and breaking up with Jeong Han-joo, there were numerous comments saying that Seo Ji-hyuk was truly afraid of JM’s grandmother and abandoned Jeong Han-joo.

The drama was always accompanied by the tagline, “The glorious revival of the retro-style makjang drama,” which said it all.

Marrying Jeong Hee-seo for pheromone and no love, as well as performing traditional rituals, wearing hanbok, and becoming a dish-washing machine were truly beyond his limit.

Ji-an bit his lip tightly and glared at Jeong Hee-seo.

“And what about me?”

“What about you?”

“You didn’t ask for my opinion. It seems like you suggested living together because of the baby and pheromones…”

Jeong Hee-seo crossed his arms as if to ask Ji-an to continue speaking.

“I have no intention of living with you. I have no feelings for you.”

“Hmm… Must there be feelings?”

Wow. Ji-an widened his eyes. He wondered why on earth he wanted to live with him. He thought Jeong Hee-seo was acting like this because he was interested in him, but it quickly turned into delusion. His face turned bright red with embarrassment.

Why would he make such a fuss, asking to live together when he had no feelings for him?  Why did he make people misunderstand?

Ji-an spoke fiercely in response.

“Of course feelings are important. I can never get married without feelings.”

This time, Jeong Hee-seo widened his eyes. His expression softened as if he found it unexpected and then muttered.

“If you don’t like it, don’t get married.”

Whoa. This is crazy. Jeong Hee-seo was even crazier than he thought. Why does he have such a personality when he’s Han-joo’s older brother? Ji-an wrinkled his face and took a step further away from Jeong Hee-seo.

“You only wanted your baby? You’re really a strange person. Don’t even dream about it.”

When Ji-an shouted with a somewhat enraged voice, Jeong Hee-seo couldn’t help but burst into laughter. After laughing heartily for a while, he even wiped away tears.

Ji-an stood defensively and looked at him for a long time. His  mood gradually hit rock bottom.

“I will not leave my baby to someone I am not married to.”

“Ok, fine. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“What?”

Jeong Hee-seo reached out and gently touched Ji-an’s furrowed brow. He still had a full smile on his face.