Ara never thought she would be forced to take on physical labor. Whenever she observed harried waitresses, she felt sorry for them, and fate had so mocked her that she was turned from the person who always bought the most expensive dishes in the restaurant into a part-time waitress. She was fortunate that the boss turned out to be an elderly guy who liked young, attractive women, so he took her on without a problem, without having very high expectations of her.
For the moment, she had to grab on to anything to avoid being a parasite in the Solbin family home.
As she left the restaurant where she was to start her first day tomorrow, she cursed under her breath as the drizzle turned into a downpour. She opened her umbrella and, running in black stilettos on a sidewalk full of puddles, headed toward the bus stop, as the bus was leaving in five minutes.
She could have said it was her lucky day, if it weren't for the fact that some twit drove into a puddle, parking his car next to the sidewalk. Ara let the umbrella out of her hand, feeling the water run off. Indignant, with her mouth open, she looked at the driver, who got out of the car, holding the umbrella in one hand and the phone in the other, from which he did not take his eyes off.
Her blood pressure jumped when she noticed that it was her fake husband!
- You moron! - she shouted, causing him to freak out and drop the phone into a puddle. - You did it on purpose!
Jin measured her with furious eyes as he took the cell phone out of the water. Fortunately, it was waterproof and still worked.
- It's you again, crazy woman.... - He wanted to sneak past her, but she wouldn't let him go. - What do you want? Until our divorce, I don't want any contact with you.
It sometimes happened that Ara was aggressive, but at that moment she could not stand it and grabbed him by the collar of his jacket. He was surprised by her behavior as he dropped his umbrella.
They both stood on the edge of the sidewalk, getting wet to the bone and looking at each other with hatred in their eyes.
- Listen, plastic doll.... - she began, intending to give him a school of life. - I'm not shit for you to douse me with water and try to flush me out of your life. I am not to blame for what happened in Thailand, so have the respect for me that you have for your mother.
- But I have no respect for my mother. She left me when I was seven years old to start a life with a lover ten years younger than her," he replied, taking her hands from his jacket collar. - So...
The young man bent down to reach an umbrella from the sidewalk. He had already managed to sneak through it, and he couldn't show up to the meeting in this condition.
He was about to leave, but was stopped by the girl's words.
- We both don't know what happened that night and why we are legally married, but this mistake ruined my life. My father threw me out of the house, I have nowhere to live, I have nothing to live on. Until we get a divorce, you are my husband and must take responsibility for me.
He turned to face her, looking at her with disbelief in his eyes.
- I'm listening!
- If you don't tell me where you live and take me under your roof, I will report to the police today and tell them that you are finishing me off mentally. And, what's worse, you threw me out of the house without worrying about my fate.
He looked at her with wide-open eyes, reddening with anger up to his ears.
- Are you crazy! - he hollered, scaring the people passing by him. - Is this your plan?
He approached her, measuring her with frantic eyes.
- The drowning razor grasps," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. - What's it going to be? Will you accept me under your roof, sweet husband? - She tried to tickle his chin, but he ducked.
- You are sick. Sick in the head, crazy. - Walking away, he tapped his forehead, letting her know she was to be treated.
Ara pressed her lips together, displeased that this man had a tough character.
- I'll get my way anyway, sucker," she muttered under her breath.
*
Soaked, she sat in the police station, teary-eyed, looking at the young policeman. She tried to arouse his pity by talking nonsense about a man she didn't even know.
- Mr. policeman, tell me, how can he do that? - She pulled her nose, putting a handkerchief to her eyes occasionally. - In this torrential rain, he threw me out of the house, and I have nowhere to go. For the sake of marrying him, I gave up my family, I have no one to turn to for help, and he is exhausting me mentally, and what's worse, he won't let me in the house. He changed the code to the door, claiming that he would bring in a hooker just to forget my face. Is this how you treat your wife?
She saw that the man was looking at her with pitying eyes.
- So that I was still at fault for something.... But he's the one who's out of his mind. He claims that I forcefully dragged him to the altar. How can this be? Please explain to me how a newly married wife can be treated this way? It seems to me that I bored him after a dozen days, and now he is trying to get rid of me from his life. I feel like trash, like crap.
The policeman scratched the back of his neck, being confused by the situation.
- Did you try to call him, explain the situation?
The redhead snorted under her breath.
- Call? - She once again put her handkerchief to her face and burst into feigned tears. - How can I call him if he has changed his phone number and won't give it to me? - She grabbed the man's hand and looked at him with pleading eyes. - I am so scared... I have nowhere to go, I don't know what to do with myself. It scares me to think that because of this bastard I will find myself on the street.
- Please don't worry. I will help you," she said.
As the policeman turned his back on her, Ara smiled under her breath. She never threw words to the wind, so Kim Seokjin could already prepare a corner for her to sleep in.
*
It was the happiest day of Solbin's life. She had already lost hope that she would find a job in her profession, yet yesterday's interview opened the way for her to gain experience.
After receiving a phone call that she had been hired for a secretarial position at the "Jeobag" company, such hunger came over her from happiness that she sat in the refrigerator for ten minutes, eating out all the goodies. She didn't worry about getting fat. She was very thin, and people envied the fact that she could eat whatever she wanted and still maintain her figure.
The girl would have been happy even if she had managed to put on a few pounds because she always told her friend that she dreamed of getting into more shape. She believed that Ara possessed an ideal figure that she could only envy.
- Solbin, don't sit in an open refrigerator, for God's sake. - The gray-haired woman tilted her head, with big eyes, looking at her mother, who entered the kitchen.
The woman laughed, seeing that her daughter was smeared with chocolate around her mouth.
- Are you acting like you're pregnant, or has something good happened that your hormones are buzzing?
The girl closed the refrigerator and licked the chocolate off her lips, being disturbed by her mother's words.
- Pregnant? - She repeated, and her face went pale. After all, she had spent the night with someone she didn't know, she doesn't remember what it was like, and she doesn't remember if they had taken precautions. So, her mother's words might as well have been true.
- Are you all right? - The woman smiled, seeing the embarrassment on Solbin's face.
- Yes, I'm just overeating with happiness because I got a call from "Jeobag" that I got a job.
- That's fantastic! - The woman came up to her and hugged her with joy. - I'm proud of you, Solbin.
The gray-haired woman forced a smile as her mother's words still echoed in her head. She would undoubtedly kill herself if she got pregnant with a stranger, especially now that she had gotten a job.
An unwanted child would undoubtedly mess up her future.
- I think I ate too much because it made me sick," she muttered quietly, then left the kitchen, horrified by her thoughts.
She returned to her room and immediately dialed her friend's number to share her concerns, as well as the news of the job she had acquired. She hoped that Ara had already finished her interview, especially since she had left home three hours ago.
What was her surprise when her friend answered after a few beeps and shouted a single sentence in a whisper:
- Fuck, not now, my life depends on it!
She broke the connection, and Solbin stared at the phone screen for a minute.
- I hope she gets the job legally...
*
Ara strenuously held back an outburst of laughter when she saw Seokjin at the police station, so furious that she could have said he would murder her with his bare hands after leaving the building. He was so filled with anger that his face turned crimson when the commissioner gave him an overview of the situation.
- I don't know what this sick situation is, but the house is mine. This crazy woman will not cross its threshold. She pretended our wedding, and now she is trying to enter my life, completely trying to destroy it for me! - He raised his voice, piercing the girl with frantic eyes. - What she told you everything is a fairy tale!
The redhead burst into feigned tears, again attempting to arouse pity in the policeman.
- Do you see? That's what I was talking about. This brute isn't concerned about my fate. He threw me out on the street, attempting to make everyone believe that I made up our wedding. Tell me: how? How could I do it? It was our joint decision. Before the wedding, he kept saying how much he loved me, and now that I've disowned my family, he's throwing me out on the street. Because he knows that the apartment is his, and I can't do anything to him.
The policeman pierced Seokjin with his eyes, outraged by his behavior.
- Don't you feel the least bit sorry for your wife? I understand that complications arise in every marriage, but you can't throw a woman out on the street without worrying about her fate. Are you a man or a beast?
Jin opened his mouth in indignation.
- Excuse me? - He laughed falsely, unable to believe this circus. - Is this a police station or a marriage counseling center, for fuck's sake!
Ara struggled to hold back her laughter, once again pretending to cry.
- It won't do any good. Please let me sleep one night in the cell. It will be better than sleeping on the street, being pregnant.
- Are you pregnant? - The gaze the policeman aimed at Seokjin gave the redhead hope that he would undoubtedly win over this moron.
The admonition he received from the policeman was a victory for her, as Jin finally relented so as not to come off as a finished bastard. Ara had so tarnished his reputation that he no longer had the strength to defend himself. The entire police station was on her side, believing that it was wrong to treat a wife who was carrying their child under her heart like that. No one believed him that every word that came out of the girl's mouth was a lie, as they stated that no woman could pretend to be wronged so well.
In their eyes, she was a wounded kitten, while he was a hypocritical tiger.
In front of the door of the police station, he stopped and turned to face her. He pointed a finger at her and pressed his lips together to avoid saying too harsh words.
Ara corrected her hair and crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him with victory in her eyes.
- Honey... from now on, we will share an apartment together, if you don't want any more trouble. Provide me with a corner to sleep in, and until the divorce I'll give you peace of mind.
If she were someone, she would have been slapped in the face by now.
- You are the one who should be ashamed of yourself for being a hypocritical woman who is devious and lies at every turn. I'm sure that the wedding was also faked by you in some way, and I will eventually come to the truth. You will regret everything," he warned her as he headed toward the car. She followed him with a cheerful step, texting a friend that she had found a place to sleep so as not to burden her parents. She informed her that she would take her things tomorrow and tell her everything. - If I were you, I'd be on my guard tonight because I'm not controlling my nerves and could inadvertently kill you.
She lifted her face and looked at him as they stood by the car.
- A ruthless murderer? That's pretty sexy," she stated, opening the passenger side door. - I've always dreamed of having a naughty husband.
- Right after my mother, you are the second woman I hate," he replied, taking a seat behind the wheel. Ara took the seat next to him, being amused by the whole situation.
- I thought I'd be walking around strutting after my father threw me out of the house, but living with you can be quite a good pastime.
- You're sick, and I'm going to keep saying that until you're out of my sight," he announced, pressing the gas pedal too hard. - Meeting you is some kind of curse.
The redhead snorted under her breath. She opened the drawer, curious about what he was keeping in the car. What was her surprise when she saw several photos that included him, but in each photo there was a different girl.
- Are these your acquisitions? Do you take a selfie on every date? - Driving the car, he tried to snatch the photos out of her hand, but Ara tore them to pieces and threw them out the open window.
- Knocked you out! - he hollered at her as he pulled over to the side of the road. - What are you doing? What right do you have to touch my things?
- We are married, I am entitled to do so, darling," she said ironically, sending him a kiss. Seokjin closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
- Let's establish something. I let you live with me so that you won't play similar cribs again and ruin my life, but I don't wish you to touch anything without my permission. I won't bat an eye at it, do you understand?
Ara rolled her eyes.
- But you are nervous...
- I bet everyone in your company gets nervous, crazy," he muttered under his breath as he moved on. He already felt like finding himself at home and locking himself in his bedroom, just to get away from this red-headed monster.
For what sins had all this happened to him? That he had just married such a complicated and terrible woman...