THE SECOND CHANCE

THE SECOND CHANCE

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THE SECOND CHANCE LECTURE

Chapter 1: "You're An Unrelated Person" ∼4,600 words

The lecture hall smelled like chalk dust and old textbooks.

Han Soo-jin’s heart was pounding so loud she was sure the 200 students in Seoul National University’s Hall B could hear it.

Three years.

It had been three years since she last saw him like this. Standing at a podium. Black suit. Glasses sliding down the bridge of his nose. Hair perfectly neat. Voice calm, cold, and distant like he was reading from a textbook written in ice.

Professor Ethan Kang.

Her husband.

No. Not "her" husband. Not publicly. Not yet.

In this life, they had been married for exactly 11 days. A secret marriage. A marriage she had begged for. A marriage she had refused to make public because she thought... she thought he didn’t love her.

And now she was about to ruin everything by showing up to his first lecture of the semester unannounced.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Soo-jin clutched her bag tighter. She was wearing the beige trench coat he bought her last winter. The one he said made her look "professional." She had cried that night because he remembered her size. He never said anything else. He never said "I love you."

That’s why in her past life she left him.

The phone in her pocket buzzed.

She forgot to silence it.

The sound cut through the professor’s voice like a knife.

"Professor Kang, could you please explain the derivative of—"

Ring. Ring. Ring.

200 heads turned.

Ethan’s lecture stopped mid-sentence. His eyes, sharp and black behind those thin glasses, swept across the room. Landed on her.

For one second, Soo-jin saw nothing in them. No recognition. No warmth. Just... annoyance. Like she was a student who didn’t belong.

"Excuse me," his voice was flat. Professional. "Whoever’s phone that is, please leave. Now."

Her face burned.

She fumbled for the phone. Dropped it. Picked it up. Silenced it.

The whole hall was watching. Whispering.

She wanted to sink into the floor.

She stood up. "I’m sorry, Professor. I—"

"Leave," he cut her off. "You’re disrupting class."

The words hit her like a slap.

Leave.

Disrupting class.

Like she was an outsider. A stranger.

Something snapped in her chest. Three years of regret. Of dying in his arms and never telling him she knew. Of watching him refuse to leave her side even as she died.

She lifted her chin. Tears pricked her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Not here. Not in front of him. Not like this.

"Professor Kang," she said, voice shaking but loud enough for the mic to catch. "Does a wife count as an unrelated person?"

The hall went dead silent.

Ethan froze. His hand, which had been gripping the podium, went white at the knuckles.

His eyes widened just a fraction behind his glasses.

"...What did you say?" His voice was barely above a whisper now.

Soo-jin smiled. It was watery and sad and angry all at once. "I said. I’m your wife. So tell me. Am I unrelated?"

She turned and walked out.

She didn’t look back. Because if she did, she would cry. And she had cried enough in her last life.

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3 Years Ago. Her Past Life.

They had been married for 3 years.

3 years of separate bedrooms. 3 years of "Professor Kang" at work and "Ethan" at home who barely spoke to her. 3 years of her thinking he married her out of obligation. Her family’s company was going bankrupt. His family helped. That was the deal.

She filed for divorce on their 3rd anniversary.

He signed the papers without a word.

She thought that proved it. He didn’t care.

She moved on. Met Kang Tae-won. Handsome. Charming. Told her she was beautiful every day.

Until the accident.

The car crash. Rain. Screaming. Metal.

Tae-won was in the passenger seat. When the car flipped, he unbuckled himself first. She reached for his hand, bleeding, crying his name.

He looked at her. Hesitated. Then ran.

Ran out of the car. Ran away.

She was trapped. Gasoline smell. Fire starting.

That’s when the door was ripped open.

Ethan.

No glasses. Hair messy. Blood on his shirt that wasn’t his.

"Soo-jin!"

He reached in. Cut her seatbelt. Pulled her out as the car exploded behind them.

She was dying. She could feel it. Internal bleeding. Too late.

He held her on the wet asphalt. Took off his glasses. Threw them aside.

"Don’t sleep," he begged. "Stay with me. Please."

"Why did you come?" she whispered. "We’re divorced."

"I never stopped loving you," he said. Voice breaking. "I should have told you. I should have confessed. I was scared. I thought if I said it, you’d leave. So I stayed quiet. And I lost you."

She died in his arms.

The last thing she saw was him, refusing to let go of her hand, even as the paramedics pulled him away.

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Present. 11 Days After Their Re-Marriage.

Soo-jin woke up gasping in her car outside the university.

Reborn.

She was reborn. Three years earlier. Right after they got married.

She had 3 years this time. 3 years to make him believe her. 3 years to say "I love you" first. 3 years to fix the regrets.

She got out of the car. Straightened her trench coat. Wiped her eyes.

If he was going to pretend she was unrelated in public, then she would make it impossible for him to pretend in private.

She walked back into the building. Past the whispers. Past the students staring at their phones.

#ProfessorKangWife was already trending on the campus forum.

She didn’t care.

After class, she waited outside his lecture hall.

When he came out, he looked tired. Older. The cold mask was back on.

"Professor Kang," she said.

He stopped. Didn’t look at her. "Miss Han. You shouldn’t have done that."

"Han Soo-jin," she corrected. "Your wife. And I had to. Because in my last life, I died thinking you hated me."

His head snapped toward her. "What?"

She smiled. "Nothing. Do you have another class?"

"...Yes. At 3."

"Then I’ll go home first." She turned to leave, then paused. "Oh. And Ethan? Thank you for the coat. It’s warm."

She walked away before he could answer.

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8:47pm. Their Apartment. Gangnam.

She hadn’t eaten.

She was sitting at the kitchen table when the door opened.

Ethan walked in, loosening his tie. He stopped when he saw her. Then saw the empty table.

"You haven’t eaten," he said. Not a question.

"I was waiting for you," she replied honestly.

Something flickered in his eyes.

He went to the kitchen. Rolled up his sleeves.

20 minutes later, there was jjigae, pan-fried mackerel, seasoned spinach, and rice. All her favorites.

He set it down. Sat across from her.

"You cook?" she asked, surprised. In her past life he never cooked. They ordered delivery.

"I learned," he said quietly. "

She took a bite. It was perfect. "It’s delicious."

He didn’t answer. But she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. Almost a smile.

They ate in silence. But it wasn’t cold silence. It was... careful silence.

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11:30pm. Master Bedroom.

Soo-jin woke up screaming.

Nightmare. The car. The fire. Tae-won running.

The door burst open.

Ethan was there in black pajamas, hair disheveled, eyes wide with panic. "Soo-jin!"

She was shaking. She launched herself at him and hugged him. "Don’t leave. Please don’t leave me."

He froze for half a second. Then his arms came around her. Solid. Warm.

"I’m here," he murmured into her hair. "I’m not going anywhere."

She cried into his chest until she was exhausted.

When she pulled back, her eyes were red. "Can we... can we stop sleeping in separate rooms?"

His jaw tightened. "Soo-jin—"

"Please," she whispered. "I’m scared alone."

He stared at her for a long time. Then, without a word, he picked her up. Carried her to the bed. Laid her down. Covered her with the blanket.

Then he pulled a chair to the side of the bed and sat.

She frowned. "Aren’t you...?"

"I’ll stay here," he said. "Sleep."

She closed her eyes. But tears slipped out anyway.

A tissue appeared, dabbing at the corner of her eye. Gentle.

She opened her eyes. He was looking at her with an expression she had never seen before. Tenderness. Pity. Love?

"Sleep," he said again.

She did.

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Next Day. Coffee Shop With Friends.

"Unnie, you’re crazy!" Cha Eun-ji slammed her coffee down. "You told 200 students you’re his wife?!"

Jung Seo-yeon was grinning. "And he froze! Oh my god, Professor Ice King actually looked shocked."

Soo-jin sighed. "I need to break the ice with him. He still thinks I don’t like him."

"Then pretend to be sick," Eun-ji said. "Make him come get you. Men are simple. They panic when women are weak."

Soo-jin hesitated. Then nodded.

That night, she drank two glasses of soju. Called him.

"Ethan-oppa... I don’t feel good..."

10 minutes later he was at her friend’s apartment.

He picked her up without asking. Carried her to his car. All the way home, she kept her face buried in his neck, calling him "honey" over and over.

He didn’t say anything. But his ears were red. And his arms were tight around her.

As he laid her on their bed, she smiled to herself.

This time, she wouldn’t let him go.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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Writed by Omahcbeauty

Chapter 1 DONE: