Chapter 134: Beginners’ Romance (2)
After talking with Kim Si-woo, the next day at lunchtime, Lee Hae-soo called her home.
“Hello?”
—Hey… daughter. What’s up? Mom’s a little busy right now.
“Um… is it okay if I come home this Saturday?”
—Huh? Sure.
“I’m bringing my boyfriend.”
—Boyfriend? Hae-soo, you got a boyfriend? Is he a lawyer?
“No… he’s not a lawyer.”
—Really? Then bring him over. I’m hanging up now, okay? Mom’s busy.
“Ah… okay.”
At the mention of being busy, Lee Hae-soo quickly ended the call.
She knew her mother wasn’t actually busy.
Every time she had called first in the past, her mother had never once not been busy.
“Sigh… Was it a mistake to ask for help?”
Lee Hae-soo began to worry that Kim Si-woo might be even more disappointed after meeting her family.
When Saturday arrived, Kim Si-woo dressed up in a suit for the first time in a while, visited a Su-ji’s shop for makeup and hair, and went to pick up Lee Hae-soo.
Lee Hae-soo was still working at the law firm even on a Saturday.
When Kim Si-woo arrived at Blue Law Firm, he took the familiar elevator up, knocked on the door of Lee Hae-soo’s office, and she came running out.
“Oppa.”
“You’re working on a Saturday? Must be tough.”
“No, just a little in the morning.”
“You worked hard.”
Lee Hae-soo took Kim Si-woo’s hand with a happy smile, and the male lawyer colleagues who saw it quickly turned their heads away.
Meanwhile, the female lawyer colleagues looked at her with envy.
“Wow… everything he’s wearing must cost a fortune…”
“And his face is pretty nice too?”
“How the hell did she snag him? Wait… did Hae-soo buy all that? She gets a ton of incentives.”
The jealousy from the women who recognized his clothes and watch grew more intense.
Of course, Kim Si-woo, who overheard the gossip, didn’t stay quiet.
“Excuse me.”
“Yes?”
The female lawyer who had been gossiping looked flustered when Kim Si-woo suddenly spoke to her.
“All of this I bought with my own money… and uh… I have more money than Hae-soo.”
“Ah… yes.”
“I’m not asking for an apology. Just… please don’t spread weird rumors behind our backs. You’re all educated people, aren’t you?”
At Kim Si-woo’s words, the atmosphere turned icy, and instantly the gossiping female lawyer became the new target of everyone’s whispers.
Her face flushed red from the changed mood.
But her eyes weren’t filled with shame or regret—they burned with anger toward Lee Hae-soo and Kim Si-woo.
In the end, as Kim Si-woo led Lee Hae-soo out, he whispered into her ear.
“Bury it before it gets worse. It’s not a lie. If you’re curious, keep going. I’ll show you what a real witch hunt looks like.”
After Kim Si-woo’s whisper ended and the two disappeared, the gossiping female lawyer let out an angry shout.
“Why did you do that?”
“What?”
Once they were outside and in the car, Lee Hae-soo asked about what had just happened.
“I’m fine with it… but now people are going to talk about you too.”
“Hey, as long as they don’t say it to our faces, it doesn’t matter. But that woman made sure everyone heard. That’s what pissed me off. And how could I just stand there while my girlfriend gets trashed? I have to protect you.”
“…”
“Hey… don’t cry.”
When the mood turned strange again, Kim Si-woo quickly held Lee Hae-soo’s face.
“You can’t cry. Think about where we’re going right now. Unless you want to make me look like the bad boyfriend who made his girlfriend cry, stop right now.”
“Mmm.”
Lee Hae-soo barely held back her tears and forced a smile.
“By the way, aren’t you crying too much lately? Am I a bad boyfriend?”
“No. You’re a good boyfriend, Oppa.”
Hearing her firm answer, Kim Si-woo couldn’t help but let his mouth twitch into a grin at how cute she was.
“Anyway, this is the right address, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“Then let’s go.”
He drove to an apartment in Paju, Gyeonggi-do—Lee Hae-soo’s family home.
After taking the elevator and arriving at the door, Lee Hae-soo rang the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
A stranger opened the door.
“Huh?”
“Who are you?”
“This is our house… Who are you?”
At Lee Hae-soo’s response—asking the homeowner who they were—the owner looked flustered and explained that they had moved in.
“Huh? Oh… then that person must have been the previous owner? We’ve been living here for a year now…”
“I’m sorry.”
Kim Si-woo quickly apologized on behalf of the stunned Lee Hae-soo, who was still trying to process the situation.
“Hae-soo-ya?”
Lee Hae-soo was shocked that her family had moved without telling her.
They hadn’t even informed her about the move at all.
“Oppa… just a moment.”
“Okay.”
Lee Hae-soo stepped aside to a quiet spot and called her mother on her smartphone.
“Mom?”
—Hey, daughter. What’s up?
“Did you guys move?”
—Huh? Oh! Right. Yeah, we moved. The new place is…
“Why didn’t you tell me!”
For the first time in her life, Lee Hae-soo raised her voice at her mother.
—H-Hae-soo-ya? Are you… yelling at Mom right now?
“Why didn’t you tell me! Remember how I said I was coming today with my boyfriend?”
—Of… of course I remember that.
Hearing her mother stammer, Lee Hae-soo bowed her head, realizing her mother hadn’t even remembered the visit.
“So where’s the new house?”
—Here? Ilsan. I’ll send you the address.
“Okay.”
Click.
Lee Hae-soo coldly ended the call, checked the address her mother sent, and walked back to Kim Si-woo.
“It’s fine. Things like this happen.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Let’s go quickly. They’re probably waiting.”
Even in this situation, Kim Si-woo was worried that her mother might be preparing lunch and waiting for them. Seeing that made Lee Hae-soo feel unbearably ashamed.
The person involved had completely forgotten they were even coming.
“Sigh…”
The shame was so overwhelming that she couldn’t even look Kim Si-woo in the eyes.
After driving to the new address in Ilsan and parking, Kim Si-woo spoke to Lee Hae-soo before they headed up to the apartment.
“Hae-soo-ya.”
“Yeah?”
“How about we have dinner just the two of us tonight?”
Looking into Kim Si-woo’s worried eyes, Lee Hae-soo barely held back her tears and answered.
“Yeah!”
On the way up to the apartment.
Kim Si-woo was carrying several gift bags.
Lee Hae-soo had insisted he didn’t need to buy anything, but Kim Si-woo had bought individual gifts for her mother and siblings so they would like him, resulting in quite a few bags.
“Seriously… I told you not to buy anything.”
“But it’s our first meeting. I have to bring gifts…”
“You could’ve just gotten a fruit basket.”
“What if they don’t like me then?”
“Don’t worry. If that happens, I’ll never come back here again.”
Lee Hae-soo spoke resolutely, as if she had steeled herself.
When they arrived at the door, Lee Hae-soo rang the doorbell.
Ding-dong.
The voice she had only ever heard through the phone answered.
“Oh, you’re here?”
“Yeah.”
Lee Hae-soo answered curtly. Her mother gave Kim Si-woo a quick once-over before speaking.
“Is this Hae-soo’s boyfriend next to you?”
“Yes, Mother. Hello, I’m Kim Si-woo, Hae-soo’s boyfriend.”
“Ah, really? Come in, come in—both of you, hurry inside.”
“Thank you.”
As Kim Si-woo greeted politely and stepped inside, Lee Hae-soo’s mother shouted toward the rooms.
“Everyone, come out and say hello! Your older sister and her boyfriend are here.”
—Ugh, why!
Irritated shouts came from inside the rooms. Soon after, two high-school-aged boys in sloppy clothes emerged from one room, followed by a middle-school-aged boy and a girl from another, and finally an elementary-school-aged boy.
“Hello.”
“Ah… hi.”
“Hello.”
“Yeah, hey.”
The high-school-aged siblings gave half-hearted greetings and went back to their rooms. The middle-school boy and elementary boy followed suit with equally careless hellos.
Only the younger sister stayed in the living room to help their mother prepare the meal.
“Well… there’s nothing fancy, but eat up quickly.”
Lee Hae-soo had been barely holding it together because of Kim Si-woo, but seeing the truly bare-bones table in front of her made her mood plummet even further.
“No meat? Seriously? My boyfriend comes over for the first time, and this is what you serve?”
“What? Meat for lunch? And you show up at 2 p.m. and expect lunch?”
At Lee Hae-soo’s sharp words, her mother snapped back, and just as a fight was about to erupt, Kim Si-woo quickly stepped in to mediate.
“It’s fine. This is more than enough—a real feast. Thank you for the meal, Mother.”
“I’m not eating.”
“Do whatever you want.”
In the end, when Lee Hae-soo said she wouldn’t eat, her mother took her bowl away.
Kim Si-woo forced himself to finish the meal in the suffocating atmosphere.
“Thank you for the meal.”
“Yeah.”
After Lee Hae-soo’s younger sister cleared the table, her mother began interrogating Kim Si-woo in earnest.
“So, now that we’ve eaten, shall we talk a bit?”
“Ah, yes!”
“What do you do? Our Hae-soo is a lawyer.”
“Ah… I’m a writer.”
“A writer? Like, someone who writes books?”
“Yes.”
At the word “writer,” Lee Hae-soo’s mother’s face twisted horribly.
“A writer? That doesn’t pay well, does it?”
“I make enough not to starve, at least.”
“No, our Hae-soo is a successful lawyer—she shouldn’t just ‘not starve.’ You need to provide well and take good care of her.”
“Ah… yes.”
At this moment, Lee Hae-soo felt utterly humiliated.
She had considered quitting law to support Kim Si-woo if needed, but the reality was that Kim Si-woo earned far more than enough—he didn’t need her to take care of him.
“Mom, stop it. We’re not even getting married yet. I’m dating him because I like him!”
“What? Look at how you’re talking to your mother. Parents always see these things more clearly.”
“Please… just stop.”
“Hae-soo, stay out of this for a minute. So, young man, what can you do for Hae-soo?”
“Uh… I can give her happiness.”
“Are you joking with me right now? Happiness? Does happiness put food on the table? Do you know how hard I worked to raise Hae-soo? I can’t stand the thought of her hands getting dirty.”
At her mother’s words, something inside Lee Hae-soo snapped.
‘Do you know how hard you worked to raise me? Oh, I know… I know far too well. We worried about tomorrow’s meals every single day. Even before I started elementary school. I hated being hungry so much that I begged to go to boarding school, but then Mom got a new boyfriend, had more kids, and I had to leave the dorm to take care of my suddenly newborn siblings. Actually… I know Dad didn’t really die. He just ran away. Mom was so awful—so selfish and only caring about herself—that he couldn’t take it anymore…’
Twenty-five years of suppressed emotions surged up and overflowed.
“Oppa.”
“Yeah?”
“Don’t give them the gifts.”
“Huh?”
Not only Kim Si-woo but also her mother looked stunned at the sudden demand not to give the gifts.
“What do you mean don’t give them? Your boyfriend brought them for us.”
Bang!
Lee Hae-soo slammed her small hand down hard on the table.
“Mom. Call all the kids out here.”
“Huh?”
“Hae-soo-ya, let’s calm down first.”
“Oppa… I’m sorry. Mom. Call everyone out. Before I break everything…”
The size of the emotions Lee Hae-soo had been suppressing was far greater than anyone realized. Even Kim Si-woo’s attempts to stop her couldn’t halt her now.
“Huh? Uh…”
Her mother, sensing the unusual atmosphere, stood up and called the kids to the living room, but one of the high-school boys shouted from his room that he was in the middle of a game and refused to come out.
“Sigh…”
Lee Hae-soo stood up, walked into the room, and pressed the power button on the computer, turning it off completely.
“Fuck! What the hell are you doing?!”
Slap!
As the high-school brother jumped up yelling after his computer shut down, Lee Hae-soo slapped him hard across the face.
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TL Note:
This novel is now translated and finished at Chapter 176
If you’d like to continue right away, the remaining chapters are available on My Patreon Premium tier and Plus Tier, but if you want to read my other 5 translated novels, join the Premium Tier
Link: https://www.patreon.com/cw/Vritratls
For this novel specifically, check the collection under “Genius Writer”
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