CH 51

Yiyoung snatched the tongs from Honghee and put four servings of meat into the stock. Just when she was about to put in another four servings, Sangsu begged her to stop.

“Why do I pretend to be someone I’m not? He’ll accept me regardless. It’s not my fault that my job prevents me from eating properly, is it?” Yiyoung replied. Her phone lay on the table with the notification sound on full volume, ready to leave at a moment’s notice in case she received a call from the ER.

Honghee smiled at Yiyoung softly. “Why don’t you eat first? The rest of us have time, so we can eat after you.”

“Please eat first,” Honghee suggested to Muyeol.

But Yiyoung took the ladle and served everyone. “I had to make it in a hurry, but I guarantee it’s going to be good. Please enjoy.”

Muyeol took the meat from his bowl and gave it to Yiyoung. Sangsu and Honghee smiled, happily watching Muyeol take care of their niece. In their eyes, the couple was meant to be together.

When Yiyoung first told Sangsu she was going to get married to Muyeol, he couldn’t believe it. He had spent all this time worrying about Yiyoung and her workaholic habits, wondering how she would live without anyone by her side to support her. However, she suddenly brought home someone special to her, and it was no ordinary guy either, but the president of her hospital, the heir to the S group.

Sangsu had been particularly intimidated by Muyeol’s background. He was worried for his dear niece, since there was a huge difference in status between Muyeol and Yiyoung.

However, Yiyoung hadn’t seemed too bothered by it. “What about me? There’s nothing wrong with me. I’m smart, my career is great, and I have no one who’ll become a financial liability to me.”

“Yiyoung.”

“You’re not going to become a financial liability, right?”

“You know what I’m worried about.”

“That’s why I‘m telling you, I decided to get married to him because of who he is.”

“But your future in-laws are beyond our status…”

“I’m so busy with work that I won’t even get the time to meet them that often. And I’m sure they’re busy people as well. So please don’t look so sad,” Yiyoung had said, “What’s wrong with you? I’m not being sold to Muyeol’s family, okay?”

With the passing of time, Sangsu’s looks had grown softer, but his face still looked intimidating and tough for someone his age. However, at that time, he looked more like a young boy saddled with worries because of how much he had been fretting over Yiyoung.

And so, Yiyoung had to assign Muyeol with a task. “I told you this before, but you’ll have to pretend to be in love with me in front of Uncle Sangsu.”

“Pretend? What do you mean?” Muyeol asked.

“You have to pretend like you’re madly in love with me so that my uncle and aunt don’t worry. They treat me like their own daughter, so I want to make sure they don’t have anything to be worried about.”

Muyeol had not responded to her back then, so she had been extremely anxious, constantly wondering whether he would comply with her request. But all her worries were for nothing because Muyeol was carrying out the role assigned to him perfectly. He wasn’t speaking much, and he didn’t need to; his actions spoke for him. He kept adding more meat to her bowl, and whenever Yiyoung reached for a dish, he moved it closer to her. However, amongst all his acts of service toward her, he didn’t eat much.

“Are you enjoying your meal?” Sansgu asked Muyeol politely, almost as if he was afraid of offending him.

“He has gastritis, so he can’t eat well,” Yiyoung instantly responded in Muyeol’s stead.

“Oh, no! We should have chosen a better menu…”

“It’s fine. It’s his fault for not taking care of himself.”

Muyeol gave Yiyoung a pointed look. Not only had she pointed out the fact he wasn’t eating properly in front of her family, she had taken it a step further by blaming it on him.

“What? Did I say something wrong?” Yiyoung challenged, “Isn’t it true? At this rate, you’re going to end up with a hole in your stomach. Sure, I’m a doctor, but you shouldn’t rely on that fact too much. We need to take care of our bodies to prevent illnesses.”

“You… you’re being too harsh on him,” Sangsu nervously intervened. He was well-aware of his niece’s blunt personality, but she seemed a little too direct today. Muyeol and Yiyoung might have been friends for a long time, but Sangsu hoped she would still be careful when talking to him.

“That’s fine,” said Muyeol, “It’s what makes her so attractive.”

Yiyoung’s eyes widened. She had not been expecting him to say that.

“You’re right!” Sansgu smiled, relieved by Muyeol’s words.

“By the way, Uncle, we’re not going to have a wedding ceremony. We’re just going to sign the marriage certificate,” Yiyoung announced.

Her declaration shattered the happy mood. Sangsu and Honghee’s faces fell, the two instantly turning to Muyeol for an explanation.

“I don’t want anyone at the hospital to know about the marriage. If they find out I’m married to him, they’ll only look at me with a jaundiced eye,” she continued.

“What do you mean?” asked Sangsu.

“Think about it. I’m competing against the other doctors for the promotion. If the news gets out that I’m the wife of the hospital’s president, all my efforts will be buried. No one will look at my talent or performance. I won’t be Dr. Yoon Yiyoung anymore, just Mr. Muyeol’s wife. They’ll call me cinderella. And if I become the professor in charge of the ER, the staff won’t respect me because they’ll think I got the position through Muyeol’s influence.”

Sangsu was left speechless, especially because he knew Yiyoung was right.

“That’s why, I’m going to keep the marriage under wraps. I won’t allow anyone to judge my abilities based on my husband.” Yiyoung turned to Muyeol with a smile. “That’s fine with you, right?”

“Isn’t it fine to live like everybody else sometimes? We’re not strangers. People might talk about it at first, but it’ll die down eventually,” he replied.