Chapter 081: Fate’s Decision

Yumi took a deep breath, stepped over Jihoon’s body, and then made her way to the bathroom.

As she closed the bathroom door, she deliberately slammed it shut with all her might.

“Bang…”

It sounded as if the whole doorframe might shake loose.

The reason for her actions became clear in the next scene.

Startled awake by the thunderous slam, Jihoon stirred groggily.

Opening his eyes, he saw Yumi’s door already open.

He scrambled up in panic, shaking his head in confusion, wondering when he’d fallen asleep…

After entering the bathroom, Yumi relieved herself.

Then, staring at her own haggard reflection in the mirror, she began her routine.

Yumi began her morning routine.

Though everything appeared normal, her exhaustion and sorrow were palpable.

After waking, Jihoon initially intended to retreat to his own bedroom.

Yet upon reaching his door, he turned back involuntarily and slowly knelt before the bathroom entrance.

After finishing her routine, Yumi opened the bathroom door and stepped out.

The moment she opened it, she saw Jihoon kneeling there. Yet her expression remained utterly unruffled.

She merely gave him a fleeting glance before walking past him toward the kitchen.

Seeing Yumi’s gaze and expression, fear and anxiety washed over Jihoon’s face.

Her attitude toward him was utterly that of a stranger… nothing could be more heartbreaking.

“Mom, I’m sorry. I was wrong… Please forgive me, okay?”

Yumi’s cold expression made Jihoon feel deeply hurt.

He knelt on the floor, repeatedly kowtowing to her while begging for her forgiveness.

At this moment, I no longer believed Jihoon would genuinely admit his mistake.

I couldn’t fathom this kid’s true intentions—whether his emotions were genuine or feigned—it was impossible to tell.

Yumi said nothing, merely preparing breakfast despite her exhaustion.

Breakfast was usually something quick, so she finished in no time.

She placed it on the table—just one portion, but clearly not for herself.

Yumi was a kind soul.

Even though she hated Jihoon now, she still didn’t want him to go hungry.

After all, she had always treated him like her own son.

“Mom, say something! I know I was wrong. Please forgive me?”

Seeing Yumi ignore her, Jihoon resorted to his old tactic of playing the victim.

“You don’t need to beg for my forgiveness, because I can’t even forgive myself. What you should be thinking about now is whether he will forgive you, and whether he will forgive me.”

Yumi finally spoke, her voice hoarse.

She remained turned away from Jihoon as she uttered these words.

“Mom, are you going to tell Dad?”

Jihoon’s voice trembled.

Only now did he think to call me Dad? Where the hell were you before?

“I can’t hide this from him. I betrayed him. You’re still young, you don’t understand what a woman’s chastity means, nor what truly matters between husband and wife. When he returns, I don’t know what fate awaits you and me. So don’t beg me, beg him instead when the time comes.”

Previously, Yumi always referred to me as ‘your father…’

But this time, she used ‘him’ instead. It seemed she was distancing herself from Jihoon, as if she no longer wanted to acknowledge him as her son.

“Bang…”

Yumi slammed the door shut after speaking, retreating to her room and leaving only breakfast for Jihoon.

Hearing her words, Jihoon was utterly dumbfounded.

Now stripped of his usual self-control, he regressed to the timid vulnerability of a child, trembling with fear.

He knew full well what would happen if I returned home enraged—he’d likely be kicked out.

“Mom, please, don’t tell Dad. If he finds out, I’ll probably be kicked out. I don’t want to be homeless again. I’m sorry, I really am…”

Jihoon wailed, pounding on Yumi’s door from outside.

Unfortunately, Yumi had locked herself in after returning to her room.

Jihoon knelt outside the door, uttering those pitiful words.

Some of them might have been sincere, while others were likely part of his ploy to win sympathy.

But Yumi was, after all, a kind woman.

Though silent in her bedroom, hearing Jihoon’s sobs and pitiful pleas, she couldn’t help but weep.

Perhaps she cried for herself, for Jihoon, and for her own husband.

Jihoon cried out for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, exhausted, he sat down at Yumi’s door.

Occasionally, a word or two would escape him, only for silence to settle once more after he finished speaking.

As noon approached, Yumi glanced at the clock and prepared to leave and make lunch for Jihoon.

When she opened the door and stepped out, she saw Jihoon stuffing himself with the breakfast she had made.

His mouth was stuffed full, eating the morning meal only now.

The young man was still growing—it seemed he had truly starved.

“Mom…”

Jihoon mumbled with his mouth full as he spotted Yumi.

He scrambled over, but when he tried to throw himself into her arms, she dodged him.

Yumi prepared lunch without a word, placed it on the table, and after using the bathroom, returned to the bedroom.

She hadn’t spoken a single sentence to Jihoon the entire time.

Though Yumi was cold toward him, once back in the bedroom, a pang of pity washed over her.

After all, the bond formed with Jihoon over these past months had left an indelible mark on her heart.

She truly regarded Jihoon as her own child.

Seeing him devour his lunch ravenously, starved as he was, and hearing his tearful pleas outside the door, Yumi finally had to cover her ears.

She couldn’t bear to let those words, which only made her heart grow more fragile, reach her ears.

That day was Saturday.

As usual, Yumi prepared dinner for Jihoon that evening.

Yet Jihoon refused to eat either lunch or dinner, locking himself in the bedroom instead.

The entire day passed like this.

By ten o’clock at night, Yumi rose from bed and picked up her phone.

Yumi hadn’t slept all day either.

It had been 24 hours since she last closed her eyes.

She’d kept her eyes open, thinking, especially after hearing Jihoon’s cries.

Her face had been filled with hesitation and struggle.

Judging by Yumi’s current state, it seemed Jihoon’s actions today had affected her.

Would Yumi waver?

Was she picking up her phone to call me and confess?

“Husband, if your phone is turned off, I’ll confess everything when you return. But if this call connects and we can speak, I won’t tell you anything… I’ll leave it up to fate.”

Yumi murmured these words into the phone before dialing the number.

It seemed that Jihoon’s desperate, tearful plea had indeed shaken her resolve.

Yumi had just been considering whether to confess to me.

If I were in her shoes, I’d be torn too.

If she didn’t confess, everything could be swept under the rug.

I’d remain blissfully unaware, like a fool, and life at home would continue as usual.

But if she confessed, I might reject her, harbor resentment, or even do something reckless and irrational.

There was a real chance this family could fall apart.

After much deliberation, Yumi seemed to decide to leave everything to fate.

Though she knew my chances of turning on my phone during this business trip were slim, the odds of my phone being on were slim.

Yet she increased the probability of her confession and decreased the chance of concealment.

This indirectly revealed that Yumi wanted me to know everything—she didn’t intend to hide it from me, no matter the consequences.

After all, deep down, she didn’t want me to remain ignorant, to be kept in the dark.

After all, the odds of my phone being on were slim, while the odds of it being off were high.

That meant the odds of concealment were low, and the odds of confrontation were high.

“I understand. I’m too wrapped up in your love, too familiar with your care. We can’t be apart. Is missing you comfort or sorrow?”

Before Yumi could dial the number, her phone rang unexpectedly.

Her ringtone was Karen Mok’s “Suddenly,” the song I sang when I proposed to her.

She’d kept it as her ringtone all this time.

Yumi froze.

At this critical moment, her phone was ringing.

And when she saw the caller ID, she couldn’t believe it—it was me.

She held the phone, then held it up to her eyes, checking and rechecking.

For over half a month, Yumi had called me every night, only to get messages saying my phone was turned off or out of service.

And now, after making that fateful decision, this was happening.

“Hello… honey?”

Just as Yumi was examining the screen, she accidentally pressed the answer button.

My voice came through the phone.

Yumi quickly pressed the phone to her ear to speak with me.

I remember her voice sounding heavy then, and she started crying after just a few words.

At the time, I thought she was either missing me terribly or worrying too much about me—after all, this business trip was extremely dangerous.

Though some possibilities crossed my mind, my trust in Yumi had long since pushed them to the back of my mind.

Her voice was filled with longing and worry for me, but she made no mention of her time with Jihoon.

When I brought up Jihoon myself, she only gave standard replies.

That was the moment I’d seized to escape the black kiln and hide the footage I’d secretly filmed.

I’d only had half an hour to open the safe.

I turned on my phone and called Yumi myself.

If I hadn’t watched the video, I’d never have known this call concealed so much.

I recalled every detail of that conversation, though so much time had passed that most of it had faded.

At the time, I saw nothing unusual—perhaps because my heart was filled with longing for Yumi, or maybe I was moved by her sobbing voice—I failed to notice anything amiss.

During that call, I was deeply touched.

Trapped in the black brick kiln, cut off from the world and never seeing daylight, During that period, I felt like Robinson Crusoe, utterly lonely.

I longed to have a volleyball as a friend to confide in every day, just like Robinson did. So, for various reasons that day, I failed to notice any clues.

But looking back now, Yumi seemed excessively sad and distressed on the phone.

After hanging up, Yumi set her phone down and began crying again.

It was a cry that seemed to blend with laughter… a cry where she wanted to laugh but only tears came, a painfully bitter laughter.

She resolved to let fate decide everything… if the call connected, she’d conceal the truth.

Yet at that very moment, my call came through, as if timed to this critical juncture.

Wasn’t this fate compelling her to hide everything from me?

Coincidence?

A huge coincidence?

Could it truly be divine intervention?

Yumi looked extremely unwilling.

Though deep down she didn’t want me to know, fate had made the choice for her… to conceal everything.

Yet the thought of her husband working so hard outside while she betrayed him, then returning only to keep him in the dark, turning him into a clueless, cuckolded fool…

The thought filled her with unbearable pain.

That’s why she found herself caught in this utterly complex emotion…laughing while crying.