Honest Confessions

A Contract Wife
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Song inserted in this chap: You Are My Spring by Sung Si Kyung. (credit to owner)

 

Outside Park Residence…

 

The rain was pouring down on the transparent umbrella Park Shin Hye was holding, down to the side and drenched her arms. Her chest heaved in deep breaths with every slow step she took. She stopped walking forward when she saw the man that was now soaked in the rain, looking at her. Their eyes were locked at each other and neither seemed too shocked to say anything.

“Are you… the pink hairband little girl?

“Yes… I am.”

The sky was dark and they could only see each other through the light of the lamppost. Shin Hye tightened her grip around the handle of the umbrella and continued to gaze deeply into his eyes.

He remembers me. He finally remembers who I was.

Sinking her teeth into her bottom lip, she took a deep breath before breaking their silence.

“What are you doing here?”

 

 

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

Why did I recognize you

Why did I approach you

Now I can’t even leave

Even though I walk away and leave you behind

 All I see is you

 

One day

The hurtful words you said

If we’d never met each other

Would it have been less hard?

You are…

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

 

 

Min Ho held her gaze as he took one step forward, closing the five feet distance between them.

“Are you… the pink hairband little girl?

“Yes… I am.”

After all these months of accusations, with her mother’s hints, with Si Wan’s clarification, he finally understood how she knows so many things about him. She didn’t hire any detective to check on his past. She didn’t come to him with any motive. They met again because of fate. And Hyun Jun was the one who brought them back together. She was her, the beautiful woman with a beautiful heart. No scheming, no motive. It was just a purely beautiful encounter, like how it happened to them fourteen years ago.

“I need to see you.” He said, his eyes never leave her.

 

 

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

You’re crying, you’re holding it in

You’re raising your head, you’re smiling painfully

Your sunset-coloured smile is painting the whole world

 

I miss you, I want to hug you

I want to stay by your side even if it hurts

I want to fall asleep next to you

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

 

 

Shin Hye broke their eye contact and moved her gaze to scan him from top to toe. His hair was wet, dripping with water. The getting-heavier rain drenched his clothes and she could clearly see his nose reddened, his body slightly trembling because of the cold weather.

She sighed deeply and looked in his eyes again. “Go back. It’s raining now. You will get sick.”

Min Ho shook his head. “I want to see you… and I need to talk to you.”

It took him four days to have the courage to come here, to face her. Si Wan was right. He has very serious trust issue and because of that, he hurt her and almost lost her. They need to be honest to each other in order to sustain this relationship. But can he do that? He has a past that caused him unable to be completely honest to her but at the same time, he doesn’t want to lose her. He needs to think a way that both of them could accept and compromise in this marriage. He doesn’t want the same mistake to repeat again.

“It can wait. We can still talk tomorrow.” Shin Hye said, as her expression grew worried. “Go back.”

“No, it couldn’t wait, I couldn’t wait anymore.” He shook his head again. “I’ve waited four days to find the courage, to find the lost memory before I dare to come here. I need to talk now.”

“But it’s very late now. If you continued to stand here like this, you will get sick. Do you want your headache to get worse?” Shin Hye scolded him.

Min Ho took three more steps forward and was now standing in front of her under the umbrella she was holding. Looking at her at such a close distance, he almost couldn’t control himself and pull her into his embrace. But he can’t. He was soaked and he doesn’t want to make her wet as well.

“If you are worried about me, then let’s go back with me. We can talk at home.” He said as he looked deeply into her eyes. “I told you that night. The next time I come here again, I will bring you home with me.”

Shin Hye let out another deep sigh. “There is another two days before the holiday ends. And furthermore, if I go home with you at this hour, I will wake my parents up and disturb them. There are all sleeping now.” She said as her hand reached out naturally and wiped the dripping water away from his face. “Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”

Min Ho shook his head and pouted like a kid. “If you insist to talk tomorrow, then I will wait here until tomorrow. You can go back inside and sleep. Don’t bother me.”

“You…” Shin Hye bit her lip and glared at him. But just when she wanted to scold him again, she realized his jaw was slightly trembling and his skin was freezing under her touch. She moved her hand down to his neck and then to his hand, as her eyes grew wider.

“You are freezing.” She said worriedly as her gaze softened and looked at him with tears welling inside her eyes. “You did this on purpose to force me giving in and soften my heart. If you really want to wait, you can wait in the car but you purposely wait under the rain.” She said as her eyes reddened; her hand moved up and hit his chest softly. “I hate you.”

Min Ho held her hand, pressing it against his chest and looked at her with a slight smile. “Don’t hate me. Just continue to love me. I prefer the version of you loving me.”

Heaving another helpless sigh, Shin Hye knows she was defeated again. Without replying him, she held his hand and pulled him towards her house.

“What are you doing?” Min Ho asked.

“If you want to talk, talk inside my house. I don’t want Hyun Jun to worry about you and blame me for causing his father to fall sick.” Shin Hye said without looking at him.

Min Ho let her pulled her forward and followed obediently from behind. His lips were curled up into a victory smile. He won the first round.

 

---------------------------------------------------------------

 

Shin Hye’s Bedroom…

 

This was the first time Min Ho came into Shin Hye’s room and he was busy glancing around, looking carefully at every details inside the room. Although it was a small room but he felt very comfortable. The wall was painted in white, looking clean and spacious. The queen size bed was placed in the middle, covered with soft blue bed sheet and there were two bedside tables at both side. There was also a dressing table at the corner and an armchair near the window. Everything in her room was simple, well organized and tidy.

When he heard the door opened behind him, he turned around and saw Shin Hye stepped in. She was holding some clothes in her hands, walking towards him.

“These are my brother’s clothes. A t-shirt, a sweat pant and… this are new.” She said, handing him the clothes and also the new underwear that she managed to find in her brother’s room. All the clothes that Min Ho wears at home are all branded and expensive. She doesn’t know he will be comfortable to wear other people’s clothes. “I hope you don’t mind. This is the best I can find.”

Min Ho shook his head as he took the clothes from her. “Where is your brother? Did you wake him up?”

Shin Hye let out a long sigh. “He is not back yet. He doesn’t usually come home so early. Or to be exact, most of the time he didn’t come back at all.”

“I see.” Looking at the expression on her face, he guessed their relationship was not too good or close. A pang of guilt hit his chest in a sudden. They had married for so many months but he didn’t really ask her about her family and try to know more about her. But he is confident that he will know her better from now on. They will have plenty of time to understand each other in the future.

“I…” Just when Min Ho wanted to say something, his sentence was cut off with a loud sneeze.

Shin Hye looked at him with a worried gaze as her hands pushed him softly towards the door. “You are all wet. Quickly go to take a hot shower before you get sick. I don’t have a bathroom in my room. You have to take your shower outside. The towel and all the necessary toiletries are in the bathroom.”

She showed him the bathroom and everything before she turned to look at him. “Be very quiet and don’t wake everyone up.” She warned him.

Min Ho nodded as he pressed his lips tightly together, not to make a sound.

 

After he went inside and closed the door, Shin Hye walked back to her own room when she heard the water sound from the shower. She sat in front of her dressing table for a long time, thinking about everything that just happened. He finally remembers who she was now. He said they need to talk. What does he want to talk to her? Just by thinking about it make her heart raced tremendously.

She looked down, opened the drawer of the dressing table and looked at the small box inside. It was the silver bangle that Se Yeon exchanged with her for her hairband. Since then, the silver bangle has replaced the precious hairband and become a lucky charm to her. Whenever she was happy or sad, she will take the bangle out and looked at it for a long time. And every time she will feel better.

When she met Min Ho again four months ago and decided to marry him, she didn’t bring the bangle along. First, she was afraid that Min Ho might accidentally see it and second, she doesn’t want to bring the past into this marriage. He has forgotten about her and this bangle was not meant for her anyway. But since he already knows everything now, should she return back the bangle to him?

She looked at the box, deep in her thoughts and didn’t realized that Min Ho has done taking his shower and was now standing behind her.

“Are you okay?”

The sudden deep sound of Min Ho’s voice startled Shin Hye and shook her off from her deep thoughts. She quickly closed the drawer and stood up of the stool. Just when she wanted to turn around to face him, Min Ho suddenly lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly from behind. Their eyes were looking at each other through the mirror of the dressing table.

Neither of them dared to move in each other’s warmth. They just stared at each other; trying to look into each other’s soul, understand each other’s mind. Their heavy breathing and heart pounding echoed in their ears.

After what feels like eternity, Min Ho kicked away the stool that was blocking in between them and pressed himself even closer to her. The sound of the stool moving broke the deafening silence and brought them back to their senses.

“What are you doing?” Shin Hye asked softly.

“I have something to give you.” Min Ho replied as his warm breath fanned against her ear.

“What thing?” She asked again, narrowing her gaze.

“Close your eyes.” Min Ho commanded softly.

Shin Hye held his gaze through the mirror for a short moment before she slowly closed her eyes obediently. Feeling his arms loosened around her and pulled away, she breathed softly, waiting patiently for his next instruction.

After a moment, she heard his footsteps and he was coming close to her again. A soft gasp escaped her lips when she felt his hand touched her hair and gently put something on her head. With his arms wrapping around her again, he pressed his hard chest against her back and spoke softly into her ear.

“You can open your eyes now.”

Shin Hye took a deep breath before she slowly opened her eyes. The moment her vision was restored and saw the things he put on her head, tears instantly pool in her eyes and streamed down her cheeks.

 

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

From the very first day

You stepped backwards

From the very first day

I thought of parting

Although I wanted you so much

The things that I couldn’t ignore

The cold world and sad calculations

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

 

With one hand covering to stifle the sob that crawled up the back of , she moved the other hand to touch the pink hairband on her head. It was the same one that Se Yeon took away from her.

“It’s a bit wet because of the rain.” Min Ho said, looking at her through the mirror with a cautious gaze, studying her facial reaction and refreshing his memory at the same time.

It was her. It was definitely her.

He tightened his arms around her as his nose buried into her soft hair. “Looking at you like this now, I slowly recall your face when we first met fourteen years ago. You still look the same. Breathtakingly beautiful like a princess.”

Shin Hye bit her lip and met his gaze through the mirror. “I thought… I was just a faking kind-hearted rich girl to you at that time.” She said bitterly.

Min Ho smiled as he recalled what he said to her that day. He was indeed harsh and rude towards her. “But you wasn’t angry with me and even think about me for the past fourteen years.” He paused and sighed deeply. “You are beautiful but very stupid. How can you still remember an idiot for so long? You should forget about him and make him chase after you like a crazy man.”

Shin Hye gently took the hairband away from her head and looked at it with a slight smile forming on her lips. After so many years, it comes back to her again. Pulling away from his arms and turned around to face him, she looked into his eyes.

“If I don’t remember you, how do you give this back to me? If I don’t remember you, I will not accept your deal and marry you.” She said.

Min Ho held her gaze and felt a pang hit his chest. She was indirectly telling him that marrying him was not all because of the money she needs to help her father. It was because she knows he was the little boy she met fourteen years ago and that was the reason why she married him.

“Where… where did you get this?” Shin Hye asked, lifting the hairband up in her hand.

Min Ho glanced down at the hairband before looking back at her again. “It was with me all this while. I was keeping it with me all these years.”

Shin Hye smiled as she gazed down at the hairband that looked old and slightly yellowish now. It was in the house she stays all these months and she didn’t know about it. “I never thought you are still keeping it. Se Yeon must have loved this hairband very much for you to keep it until now.”

A soft chuckle escaped Min Ho’s lips as he shook his head softly. “It only managed to attract her for three months before she got bored and threw it away completely.” He followed her gaze and looked at the hairband too. “I don’t know why I was still keeping this but at that time, I thought you will come again and I could return it back to you.” He then looked back at her and smiled. “I don’t understand why you girls love this kind of stuff so much. Especially you. This is just a very simple hairband that you could buy it anywhere. Why do you look so happy to see it again now?”

Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath and shook her head. “This might be nothing and meaningless to you but it’s very important to me.”

Min Ho raised his brows in confusion, waiting for her to continue.

“This is something very precious to me.” She continued as she caressed the soft fabric of the hairband. “This hairband was handmade and it was specially made for me. My grandmother gave it to me before she passed away. It was her last present for me before she left.”

Min Ho’s eyes widened and shocked by what she said. So… she was not stingy when she refused to give it to Se Yeon at that time. It was something very important to her that she couldn’t give it to anybody. And without listening to her explanation, he accused her for faking her heart to visit them.

“Why didn’t you come back again? I thought you said you would come again. I waited for you and thought I could give this back to you but you didn’t come.” He asked, as obvious guilt laced in his voice.

Shin Hye’s eyes reddened again. “My mother did planned to go there again but…” She paused and bit her lip. “Eomma was diagnosed with kidney problem and since then, she have to do dialysis. My father didn’t allow her to go out anymore.”

Every question was answered now and the pain that was stinging his heart makes him hard to breathe in a sudden. He is not only an idiot but also a jerk, a total jerk.

 

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

No matter how careful I am and how hard I try
No matter how hard I try to push you away pretending I’m not

I already like you

♩ ♪ ♫ ♩ ♪ ♫

 

Taking a sharp intake of breath, he pulled her into his arms again and hugged her very tightly. “You were right about me. I was arrogant and self-centered. I always believe the version I think about you rather to accept the real you. I accused you, said hurtful words to you… and it wasn’t only now but I have already treated you like that since very long ago.” He inhaled into her sweet scent and closed his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“I didn’t lie. We really hope to bring some happiness to the orphans when we visited your orphanage. I don’t look down on any one of you because even without parents, orphans can be happy too. I just want to show all of you that we are all the same, we can all be friends like normal children.” Shin Hye said before she encircled her arms around his waist, bringing herself closer to him. “I thought you hate me. But… I never thought you would still remember about me.”

Min Ho pulled back slightly to look at her. “What if I don’t? Why didn’t you tell me? If not because your mother hinted me that she knows Sister Annie and asked me to check with Si Wan, I might really forget about you completely. It never once that cross my mind you are the little girl I met in the orphanage.”

“My mother?” Shin Hye was surprised.

“Yes.” He nodded. “She asked to see me on that day you saw me outside your house.”

Shin Hye finally understands how he suddenly finds out that she was the little girl. It was her mother who helped her from behind.

“When did you find out it was me?” Min Ho asked.

Shin Hye looked at him again and took a soft breath. “When you first came to the school for the parent-teacher conference, you seemed very familiar and the way you spoke reminds me about him. I wasn’t too sure at that time but then one day… Hyun Jun showed me the photo of his mother. It was the photo of you and Se Yeon around the age when we first met. Both of you were standing under a huge tree and Se Yeon was wearing this pink hairband in the photo. At that time, I was very sure you are the little boy that I met in Light House Orphanage.”

Min Ho felt like punching himself in the face. It was his son who makes her find out all this. It has nothing to do with any motive he thought she has for coming close to him.

“Then what were you doing alone at the roadside that night?” He doesn’t understand why she was walking in the dark night alone when his car hit her. That accident was the main reason he suspected her and thought she was trying to gain his attraction.

“That night? Which night?” Shin Hye asked in confusion.

“That night before we met in the school. You were walking alone in the middle of the road near my house. My driver hits you and you injured your knee. We even fetch you home that night, remember?” Min Ho explained.

Yes, that night. She didn’t know it was Min Ho until he sent the driver to the school to pick her up to his office. And he thought she purposely waited for him there to make it like she bumped into him.

She heaved a deep sigh, looking at him. “Do you know where Taec Yeon oppa stay?”

Min Ho’s face darkened in an instant the moment Shin Hye said Ok Taec Yeon’s name. She still called him oppa and that word displeased him. But he can’t lose his temper and jeopardize their relationship again because of him.

He shook his head. “No.”

“His parents’ house was just few streets away from where you stay.” She paused and sighed heavily thinking back the fight she had with his mother. “That night… I was having a dinner with his parents but… it didn’t turn well. We got into a fight and I just went off like that. I couldn’t get a taxi

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Onewsanity
#1
Chapter 32: Most of us are here reading this amazing story again. Looking forward to more of your works, Jasey! 💙
Khawahish #2
Chapter 34: I don't even remember that how many times I have this story.........
Athena66
#3
Chapter 35: Jasey its always a re reading tine each year...Still remains my fav
sindhushree
#4
I was feeling bored so ......I am rereading this.....thank you jassey........just remains of the time when I was fangirling about min shin couple.......nice old memories....thank you
tonnettie
#5
Chapter 33: Naming is one of the most thoughtful moment that I always look forward to.
RParkSJ #6
Chapter 34: Wow! Captivating story. I couldn’t stop reading once i started!
I was actually in agony in some of the chapters. Rollercoaster ride.
Thank you very much for this fanfic.
Boss_lady #7
Chapter 34: Daebak.......Ncoohhhhh this is wonderful. Thanks for this awesome piece, I enjoyed every chapter. You are such a good writer, It's just like a drama lol I was reading and imagining Kim tan and cha eun sang. Can't wait for the heirs part 2

Their fan from Nigeria.
Boss_lady #8
Chapter 34: Daebak.......Ncoohhhhh this is wonderful. Thanks for this awesome piece, I enjoyed every chapter. You are such a good writer, It's just like a drama lol I was reading and imagining Kim tan and cha eun sang. Can't wait for the heirs part 2

Their fan from Nigeria.
Iram_89 #9
Chapter 35: Wonderful story... Fell in love instantly with it after a long long time... ?????
liltash85
#10
This story deserves to be reread again. -☺️