WAK 07

Chapter 7

“Why does the conversation jump around like that?”

She frowned and glared.

> “Wouldn’t it be more fun to watch my own child grow up than look at pictures of other people’s kids?”

“Ugh, seriously…”

She blew air through her lips at her forehead.

She wanted to snap at him to stop saying nonsense, but her head felt strangely dizzy.

Her gaze fell to the black cola with bubbles rising.

Could it have alcohol in it? Why did it feel so dizzy?

> “You froze your eggs because you plan to have a child someday, right?”

Hana’s eyes widened in surprise.

> “How did you know that?”

Not now, but she had saved healthy eggs, thinking about giving birth in the future. She remembered friends shaking their heads and calling her ridiculous when she actually did it.

> “Think carefully if there’s anyone around with a loose tongue.”

The first person who came to mind was her college friend, **Yoonhee**.

A kind person but a bit of a chatterbox. Hana grimaced at the thought.

> “I can tell you thought of someone just by your expression.”

When meeting friends, they usually talked about anything.

Although Hana openly said she wanted to have children despite being against marriage, only her closest friends knew she had frozen eggs. **Yoonhee** probably said, “This is really a secret, only you know,” and then gossiped.

> “Okay. Now I get it. I understand why you came to see me.”

She smiled politely, putting on a lawyer’s professional face.

> “Even if we share the same thoughts, having a child together is impossible.”

She said firmly.

> “I’ll give you all my information, like when donating sperm. No lies at all.”

Hana sighed and shook her head.

> “That’s not the problem.”

“So what is?”

Hana gave a dry laugh and spoke slowly.

> “Since when did I say I wanted to receive sperm?”

**Jeonghan** froze for the first time.

> “What do you mean?”

> “I said I wouldn’t marry, but I never said I wouldn’t date.”

“……What?”

> “If I have a child, it would naturally be with a man I love, sharing emotional connection…”

**Jeonghan** cut her off.

> “I didn’t expect someone to think so strictly.”

She emphasized “senior” sharply, drawing a line.

He looked slightly irritated but leaned forward.

> “Why bother with all this…”

Hana interrupted him.

> “No, it’s not bothersome at all.”

He leaned back with a long, tired gaze.

> “I thought you wouldn’t have time to work.”

> “True, but if the right person appears, time can always be divided.”

He sipped champagne bitterly. Hana smiled and drank her cola.

> “Don’t you drink at all?”

> “I have work.”

Hana habitually hid her inability to drink. As a lawyer, entertaining clients sometimes required alcohol, but drinking none was a minor disadvantage. She had become skilled at secretly refilling her glass with water.

> “It’s already past ten?”

He refilled his empty glass with champagne.

> “Lawyers don’t care about day or night. Work piles up, we do it.”

He downed the second glass immediately. Hana looked surprised.

> “It’s my favorite champagne.”

“Lucky you,” she said.

He poured a third glass. If she had drunk as much, she’d probably have fainted.

> “How did you become a lawyer?”

> “Through law school.”

> “Did you always want to be one?”

She shook her head.

> “No way. If I did, I would have majored in law from the start.”

> “I thought about it in freshman year.”

Hana bit her lip briefly.

> “After graduating in four years, what would I do to survive?”

> “You thought early.”

> “I had no inheritance.”

Their circumstances were very different.

> “Sorry, I wasn’t mocking you, just explaining my situation.”

> “Continue.”

> “Working for a big company is fine, but risky. At my age, they might force early retirement.”

He nodded.

> “I thought I’d get a certificate. A job I can do safely and steadily if I work hard.”

> “Lawyer? You could’ve been a judge or prosecutor.”

> “I didn’t want public office. I preferred money over power.”

He laughed and finished the third glass. Hana noticed the two glasses in front of her—different drinks, same bubbling effect.

> ‘Are they really that good?’

She wondered, watching the champagne.

> “How’s it feel?”

> “Lawyer? Perfect fit for me.”

> “Really?”

> “I wish I’d just majored in law from the start.”

> “Business degree could help at work though?”

> “I’m a divorce lawyer, remember? Not corporate law.”

He laughed loudly.

> “You’re picky, huh?”

> “Something like that.”

As they talked, the earlier tension vanished. She leaned comfortably on the table, arms stretched.

> “How about you, senior? Is your job a good fit?”

A hint of subtle mockery.

> “Fortunately, I’m satisfied.”

> “If not, that would be strange.”

She would never have struggled so hard if born rich.

> “Your words sounded sharp. Did I misread?”

> “Oh! Could you tell?”

She hid her thoughts with a hand over her mouth, smiling.

Hana sipped her cola, the bubbles slightly gone but still refreshing.

> “Talking to me, how is it?”

> “More fun than I expected.”

> “What did you think at first?”

> “Uncomfortable… and…”

> “And?”

> “Nervous?”

> “You were nervous?”

> “You’re a bit intimidating, and we weren’t close in school.”

They only knew each other existed in class.

The conversation paused. The comfortable atmosphere vanished.

> “Not eating?”

Hana pointed to the remaining oysters.

> “Champagne goes well with oysters.”

> “Really?”

> “It brings out their flavor, even if it smells fishy.”

> “Good to know.”

> “I ordered them, but champagne alone is enough.”

He drank, the conversation stopped again. He had led the conversation until now, but now sipped silently. Hana couldn’t read his mind.

Her eyes fell on the photo **Jeonghan** left on the table.

> ‘Right, the photo! That’s why I came.’

She reached forward and took it. **Jeonghan** let her.

Her eyes widened, waves of excitement like a storm.

> “Wow…!”

The boy in the photo was even cuter than she imagined.

> “Seeing him… doesn’t your heart flutter?”

She smiled widely, staring at the photo. He chuckled, sipping champagne.

> “How can… he be this cute?”

She thought **Ara** was the cutest, but this child was even more unreal.

Hana, absorbed, picked up her cola and drank, not noticing it wasn’t her usual glass.

> “Ugh!”

She realized too late—she had taken **champagne** instead!

> “What did you do?”

She jumped up.

> “Oh no!”

Her face burned instantly.