The Perfect Wife

Chapter 33

It was pouring.

The people who had come to mourn the dead were silent. Their cold, hardened faces merely looked down at the ground. They didn’t say a word.

Wearing a black suit, Jungkook looked pale. He stood at the very front and looked down. Behind him, Jeon MoonHyuk looked anxious for some reason. The heavy monsoon rains drenched everyone’s expensive shoes, but nobody outwardly complained.

Time passed. Jungkook calmly performed his duties. No matter what storm was brewing inside, right now, he was HyunJin’s successor. The guests approached him and gave him the typical words of comfort, but he continued to solemnly listen attentively.

Finally, the funeral ended, and all the guests got in their black cars and left. The rain began to fall harder, and a heavy atmosphere pressed down all around them.

In this gray world, Jungkook was left alone with his father.

Holding an umbrella, Jungkook coldly watched as the workmen began to shovel the wet dirt on top of the coffin.

Why did you do it?

So many questions began to go through his mind, but one question was absolutely clear.

Just why did you do it?

Why did you give up Kang Yina’s whereabouts to Min DaeYup?

Why did you do such a thing?

Why did you do such a horrible thing?

The dead didn’t speak. It was better that way. Suffering and chaos was a burden left for the living. Having dumped all of his responsibilities onto those left behind, his father had broken free of the chains that bound him and escaped.

Jungkook couldn’t forgive him.

He grit his teeth.

More than any other time in his life, he felt an incredible hatred for his father.

Suddenly, Jungkook heard a sound behind him. On a hunch, he turned around. He saw Lisa standing there, holding a black umbrella. She must have been suffering all this time. She had lost weight. As soon as he saw her gaunt face, Jungkook felt something rise up inside him. He clenched the umbrella handle in his hand.

Lisa didn’t say a word.

Cliché condolences or etiquette were pointless. Lisa merely looked at Jungkook’s face and at President Jeon’s coffin that was covered in wet dirt. Her face was so pale, so hard, that Jungkook could barely stand it.

They stood like that for a long time. The rain continued to pour down. The raindrops flowed down the umbrella and dripped onto the grave.

Jungkook suddenly remembered the first day he had met her. He had been worried that she would fall for him. They were contract marriage partners, not Romeo and Juliet.

A faint smile spread across his lips. He shouldn’t have thought that way. Fate worked in mysterious ways. No one knew what twists and turns would come their way.

He could still vividly remember her pale face as she sat gracefully in front of the backdrop of magnolia blossoms. He remembered how she had walked towards him as a bride at their wedding. How she had been sitting in front of the wisteria flowers that night as if she were an illusion.

Jungkook didn’t realize that he had slowly been falling in love this whole time.

He didn’t know how sly love could be. How cruel.

Once you fell, it was incredibly difficult to get back up. No matter how much suffering and pain it caused, you couldn’t throw it away. He knew this now.