[2] The Substitute Wife

CHAPTER 211

"Mr. Jeon, Miss Bae, we're here." The driver was relieved to have reason to break the growing tension in the car. The girl pouted when she heard they had arrived, and she pushed the door open without looking at Jeon Jungkook. She walked fast and angrily to the house with a cake in her hand.

Jeon Jungkook sat in the back seat without moving, as the driver unbuckled his seatbelt and got out of the car. He passed Jeon Jungkook's door and continued walking to the trunk, where he retrieved a folding wheelchair, opened it, and pushed it to his door before opening it.

"Mr. Jeon, be careful." The driver helped him get out of the car and held onto him until he got him into the wheelchair. "Mr. Jeon, please don't mind what Miss Bae said. She just has a bad temper. She actually cares and worries about you."

Jeon Jungkook looked up and gave the driver a gentle smile. "I know. I'm fine. It's pretty late now. You can go home."

"Let me push you into the house first," the driver said.

"No, thank you. I can do it myself." Jeon Jungkook smiled at the driver again.

"Okay. See you later, Mr. Jeon." The driver did not continue arguing with Jeon Jungkook and returned to the car. Once he'd driven away, Jeon Jungkook rolled himself toward the front door. As he almost got there, the door was pushed open, and his cousin walked out angrily. She walked around his wheelchair, grabbed its handles, and began to push him inside. Jeon Jungkook looked up at her angry face and asked, "Are you mad at me?"

His cousin's expression remained cold as she carefully pushed his wheelchair without saying a word. Jeon Jungkook smiled with his eyes and asked her, "Yerim, I know you want the best for me, but you must know that I am ensuring the best for her."

Yerim's expression softened a bit, but she still pressed her lips together without responding.

"I've told you that it would be pointless for me to bother her when I'm still in a wheelchair and can't freely move. Even if she does find out that I saved her—and it touches her to the point of having feelings about me—I would still be her burden. I wouldn't be able to help her with any household chores, and I wouldn't be able to physically lift her when she's sick... If we were to have a kid, I couldn't even help with the baby..."

Jeon Jungkook looked down to cover his moistening eyes. After a while, he smiled and continued. "If I were with her, I would be her burden. I love her, and that is why I cannot do that to her. Besides, Yerim, I was not nice to her at one time. I don't feel bad that I am in this wheelchair because of her."

Yerim's eyes became red. She obviously was not mad at Jeon Jungkook anymore. "Bro Jungkook, your legs are only temporarily paralyzed. You're not a burden. We're going to help you get back on your feet again. Didn't the doctor say you have a chance of walking again? And even if you didn't, you're as desirable as anyone... Many women are asking about you..."

"I am aware of these women who want to be with me, but before I was injured there was no other woman I would have ever been with except her." Jeon Jungkook looked down for a few moments before looking back up at Yerim and smiling. "Promise me that you will not contact her and interrupt her life. Just do it for me, okay?"

A tear emerged from the corner of Yerim's eye. She would never forget how terrible Jeon Jungkook had looked when he'd been sent to the hospital. He had looked almost dead. Neither would she forget how scared she had felt when the doctor had stated that the chance he could be saved had been slim. And she would never forget having seen and heard him calling out "Lisa" when he had been in a coma. From the moment he had opened his eyes, he had not cared that he might never walk again; his singular concern had been about her. "Is Lisa alright?" he had asked first when he'd come out of his coma.