Living with an Ex-Husband - Chapter 12. Turn Back
Chapter 12: Turn Back
By the time Lee Joon finished his call and returned to the kitchen, the coffee and chestnut bread had already gone cold.
“Give me some fresh coffee,” he said briefly.
With a blunt request, Lee Joon extended his mug toward Eunchae.
The question lingered on the tip of Eunchae’s tongue—*‘Who was that? Who is Alice?’*—but she stayed silent, accepting the mug without a word.
The memory of the voice she had heard before echoed in her mind:
*‘Joon! You need to come quickly!’*
As she poured the coffee, the woman’s voice she had heard before echoed in her ears like a persistent ringing, making Eunchae anxious all over again.
They say a woman’s intuition is sharp, and Eunchae was now sure that the woman Lee Joon had just spoken to was the same one whose voice she had heard earlier that day.
“Lee Joon, there’s something I’m curious about.”
Eunchae’s anxiety finally pushed her to speak up. As she handed him the mug, she didn’t just offer him coffee—she also offered a question.
“What is it?” he replied.
Eunchae’s serious expression made Lee Joon’s cold gaze harden. His cold reaction made her hesitate before she even spoke.
Their eyes locked, searching each other in tense silence. It was Lee Joon who finally broke the stillness.
“Why ask if you’re not going to say anything?” he prompted, his tone edged with impatience.
Pressed by Lee Joon, Eunchae finally brought up another issue that she had almost forgotten.
“About your father’s company… I was wondering about the technology leak. Has it been resolved?”
This was an important matter as well. Lee Joon had been coming home late and seemed so exhausted that she hadn’t wanted to burden him with questions.
Moreover, Lee Joon’s nerves seemed so on edge that Eunchae often found herself tiptoeing around him, too focused on gauging his mood to bring up much else.
As a result, they began to talk less and less, confining themselves to the most important matters.
“Oh, that?”
Lee Joon responded while rubbing his forehead with his thumb, his straight eyebrows twitching noticeably. His displeased reaction made Eunchae feel as if a weight of tension was pressing down on her shoulders.
“Father has decided to cover two-thirds of the investment amount so far.”
“What? Two-thirds?” she asked, her voice filled with surprise.
Eunchae’s eyes widened in shock. With her family’s current financial situation, covering such an amount seemed nearly impossible. Her father had already sold off significant assets, including real estate, to invest in other technology developments.
How could they possibly manage to bear such a large financial burden?
‘Could it be that my father is overextending himself to avoid causing trouble with my in-laws?’
Worry and doubt weighed heavily on Eunchae’s face.
The decision to invest in the technology had been discussed the year they got married, and the official contract was signed at the end of that year.
Even though the investment was made under Tae Mujin’s decision, Mrs. Kang would seize every opportunity to torment Eunchae about it.
‘Your family is making a good profit by selling off their daughter. But what have you done for our family? You can’t even have a child, and you can’t properly support your husband. Every time I see you, I get so angry and frustrated that my blood pressure spikes! It’s like looking at a household budget full of nothing but deficits!’
It was unimaginable how Mrs. Kang could say such cruel things. Every time she did, Eunchae’s entire body trembled with humiliation. In the beginning, Eunchae’s temper got the best of her, and she tried to stand up for herself a few times. But that only made Mrs. Kang torment her even more viciously.
Once, Mrs. Kang even called Eunchae’s mother over right in front of her, berating her with harsh words, demanding to know how she had raised such a daughter.
Despite the extreme rudeness and crossing the line, Mrs. Hwang could only bow her head and apologize.
Fortunately, when Tae Moo-jin heard about the incident, he rushed over and sternly reprimanded Mrs. Kang, even bowing in apology to Mrs. Hwang.
When Chairman Tae later found out about what had happened, he also scolded his wife severely, going so far as to sleep in a separate room for a while out of anger.
After enduring this turmoil, Eunchae finally decided to accept the situation. She spent a long time practicing letting Mrs. Kang’s words go in one ear and out the other.
The situation was somewhat better when Lee Joon was around. Even though he was cold and distant, he would step in to stop Mrs. Kang if she went too far.
However, Mrs. Kang usually chose to act out when Chairman Tae and Lee Joon were not around, leaving Eunchae to bear the brunt of it on her own.
It was only later that Lee Joon would hear about it from the staff or pick up on what had happened through Eunchae’s expression and mood.
But even then, he didn’t take any significant action. If he was present, he might intervene, but once something had passed, he didn’t bother addressing it. Instead, he would simply tell Eunchae to endure it.
“He said he’s going to sell the building in Bangbae-dong and the land in Bundang,” Lee Joon explained as he sipped his coffee.
Eunchae stared at him quietly, realizing that he might have picked up on her thoughts from her expression.
‘He never seems to read what I feel, but he can pinpoint things like this with accuracy.’
Feeling a pang of sadness at their constant distance, Eunchae forced a bitter smile.
“It still won’t be enough,” she replied quietly.
When Eunchae raised her concern, gripping her mug tightly, Lee Joon elaborated.
“They’ve agreed to cover the remaining amount by transferring some company shares.”
“Shares… too?”
Eunchae pressed her lips together and slowly set the cup down, trying to process the implications of what he had just said.
“Then… how much of Geumyoung Electronics’ shares will they own? Will it be enough to protect management control?”
“Yoon Eunchae.”
Thud! Lee Joon set his mug down on the kitchen island with a dull thud, the sound echoing in the kitchen. Startled, Eunchae flinched and drew her shoulders in.
“Stop worrying about things that don’t concern you and focus on what you need to do.”
“What?” she responded, her voice small and uncertain.
Eunchae blinked, stunned by his harsh words.
“It’s the company I’ll have to take on myself anyway. No amount of worrying from you is going to change that.”
His harsh words crushed the fragile remnants of her self-esteem and pride that she had been desperately holding onto.
*The company I have to take on myself,* she repeated in her mind, feeling utterly dismissed.
That phrase from Lee Joon brought back the bitter words of Mrs. Kang:
*A household budget full of nothing but deficits.*
“Sigh…” Eunchae let out a heavy breath, feeling the weight of it all pressing down on her.
Eunchae let out a bitter laugh, unable to contain her sense of humiliation, causing Lee Joon’s brow to furrow sharply.
“Just like your mother… You are alike in this way.”
“What?” he replied, surprised and irritated by her remark.
Eunchae’s sarcastic tone deepened the lines of irritation on Lee Joon’s forehead.
“What do you mean by that?”
Eunchae chose to ignore his question, partly because of her anger and resentment towards him, but also because she didn’t want to make an already ruined morning even worse.
“It’s nothing. If you’re done eating, get ready for work.”
As Eunchae gave him a cold glance and turned away, Lee Joon grabbed her arm and pulled her back.
“Lee Joon…!” she exclaimed, startled by his sudden action.
When Lee Joon pushed Eunchae against the kitchen island, trapping her within his arms, her eyelids trembled with shock.
“I thought I told you not to avoid me or reject my touch,” he said arrogantly, his words infuriating Eunchae. Her gaze hardened, sharp with anger.
“You were the one who was out of line, Lee Joon. Why do you have to speak so harshly? Just like your mother.”
“So that’s what you meant…”
Lee Joon’s mouth twisted into a wry smile as his gaze turned cold. Realizing her mistake, Eunchae bit her tongue. She knew that despite being his biological mother, Lee Joon was suspicious of Mrs. Kang and found her difficult to deal with – or more accurately, he simply ignored her.
Eunchae believed Lee Joon’s strained relationship with Mrs. Kang was due to her difficult personality. No matter how much she was his mother, her excessive behavior and mood swings would be hard for anyone to handle.
Perhaps that’s why Lee Joon was so bothered by being compared to his mother. On the rare occasions when Eunchae had seen his reaction, it was almost one of disgust.
Because of this, she usually avoided mentioning any similarities between Lee Joon and Mrs. Kang in front of him. But today, her emotions got the better of her, leading to this slip-up.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said—”
Before she could finish, Lee Joon suddenly wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close. Stunned, Eunchae fell silent, her eyes meeting his. His gaze, now almost ashen in color, bore intensely into hers.
“I didn’t realize you thought of me that way. But then again, where would that blood go? Like mother, like son.”
“No… no, Lee Joon, I misspoke…!”
Her frantic apology was cut off as Lee Joon tilted his head and pressed his lips against hers.
“Mmph…!” she gasped, her words swallowed by the kiss.
Lee Joon’s tongue roughly invaded her parted lips, the kiss aggressive and consuming, as if he was punishing her. It wasn’t just her lips—his forceful kiss seemed intent on devouring her whole.
At first, Eunchae resisted, but soon she found herself wrapping her arms around his neck, her tongue responding to his. She could taste the bitter hint of coffee on his tongue.
Their tongues intertwined more deeply, and their bodies pressed closer together. As Lee Joon moved his hips, applying pressure to her lower body, Eunchae instinctively stood on her toes, a soft moan escaping her lips.
The urgent, desperate kiss gradually slowed, becoming more languid and sensual.
Eunchae’s upper body arched gracefully, and she let out a languid moan, fully absorbed in the moment.
“Oh… Lee Joon…”
Eunchae let out a moan that was almost a sob, her arms flailing slightly. Amid her movements, the mug slipped from the counter and crashed to the floor.
Smash! The sound of the breaking mug echoed through the kitchen, but neither of them paid any attention. They were too absorbed in the only form of communication that seemed to truly connect them—their physical intimacy.
“Turn around.”
At Lee Joon’s command, as he lowered his pants and underwear, Eunchae, breathing heavily, did as she was told. Moments later, Lee Joon entered her with forceful precision.
A sharp cry escaped Eunchae’s lips, filling the kitchen with the raw sounds of their movements and the mingled moans of pleasure.
As Lee Joon increased his pace and pushed forward, hot breaths and heavy moans escaped from between his lips.
With a sharp cry, Eunchae accepted Lee Joon’s forceful push. Tears welled up at the corners of her eyes and she began to cry softly. Her trembling fingers scratched the surface of the kitchen island. Her fingernails turned white and the bones in her hands became more visible.
Her body was out of control, moving wildly on its own. A mix of electric thrill and a dull pain surged through her entire body like she had been shocked.
“Yoon Eunchae…!”
Lee Joon called out Eunchae’s name through clenched teeth, then immediately stopped moving and trembled. After the climax, a silence fell over them. Lee Joon pulled away from Eunchae.
“Do you know what I’ve been going through lately? I’m already tired and my mind is a mess, even without you adding to it. Can’t you just be satisfied with what I give you?”
As Lee Joon scolded her while helping her get dressed, Eunchae’s tear-stained eyes wavered, not knowing where to look.