I’m Pregnant with My Friend’s Child - Chapter 3.1

Lee Jin, who had fallen asleep, was gently laid flat, and Woo Jae carefully pulled a blanket over her. He softly caressed her tear-streaked face with his large hand. Watching her cry made him feel like he couldn’t breathe, as though part of his heart was being torn apart.

He didn’t fully understand the reason behind her tears, but he knew one thing for sure—her excuse about period pain was a lie.
Woo Jae had been the one who encouraged Lee Jin to quit her job at the public corporation right after college and pursue law school.

Back then, she had been a contract worker at the company but missed out on becoming a full-time employee because of a “parachute hire”—someone with connections to the chairman. To make things worse, she was transferred to a remote location, leaving her feeling defeated. Woo Jae, seeing her frustration, had brought her law school entrance exam prep materials and suggested she leave the miserable job and pursue something better.

After some hesitation, Lee Jin made the leap, prepared for the exam, and, just as Woo Jae had predicted, was accepted into law school. Through hard work, she eventually became a lawyer.

Though Woo Jae could offer her advice as a friend, he couldn’t share in her pain fully, and it hurt him to see her hold everything in. Watching her cry herself to sleep, knowing he would have to leave by morning—it all made him keenly aware of the limits of just being her friend.

That’s why he let his feelings take over. He had hoped that by using her drunken state as an excuse, he could get a little closer to her.

Holding her in his arms that night had felt like winning the world, but now even Woo Jae, who was usually so sure of himself, began to feel afraid. He feared that she might never see him as a friend again, and the thought of losing even that terrified him.

Lee Jin was on his mind day and night. He knew she wasn’t looking for a serious relationship, but he had selfishly pushed her.

He didn’t want to lose her, even if it meant watching her be with someone else and silently suffering through it. But the idea of never seeing her again? That was a reality he couldn’t bear to imagine.

“I love you, Lee Jin,” he whispered softly as he stepped out of her apartment, his voice barely audible.

It was a confession he repeated to himself, a habit that had become ingrained in his heart.

“I love you… Lee Jin.”

The next morning, Lee Jin woke up and immediately took another pregnancy test. The result was the same—two lines.
Condoms. Failure rates.

She randomly searched these terms online, her heart sinking as she realized how high the failure rates actually were. What had seemed like casual, carefree sex now felt like a reckless decision. It wasn’t just regret—it was the heavy burden of reality crashing down on her.

Still, with tears in her eyes, Lee Jin sat in the living room, crying for 30 minutes straight before turning off her alarm and wiping her face. She headed to the bathroom, moving mechanically.

The worst part was how busy her schedule was—she didn’t even have time to visit a gynecologist. Yet she knew she needed to make a decision soon if she wasn’t going to keep the baby.
Although pregnancy tests are usually accurate, if she wasn’t planning to keep the child, she had to act quickly.

But there wasn’t enough time—not even for a doctor’s visit to confirm the pregnancy. The real irony was that, despite being a lawyer well-versed in debates around abortion and women’s rights, she didn’t even have the time to address her own situation properly.

Though she had vacation days by law, no intern lawyer at Taejung Law Firm would dare use them. Even if she did manage to take a day off, it would likely mean working through weekends and late nights just to catch up.

She figured that waiting a couple of weeks wouldn’t make much of a difference and decided to focus on her job for now while giving herself time to think.

Sitting at the dining table, she tried to eat the porridge Woo Jae had left for her, but the nausea was overwhelming. Still, the thought that it might be the last time she could accept his kindness pushed her to finish half the bowl, though she ended up throwing it up afterward.

She slipped on her flats, unlocked the door with the new code Woo Jae had set, and stepped outside. His presence was still everywhere, even in the small details like the door lock.
The emotional rollercoaster caused by her hormonal changes was overwhelming. She held back tears as she walked to the office, wondering why something as simple as a door code could make her so emotional.

That morning, Lee Jin sat at her desk, working mechanically through the pile of documents in front of her.
Just when it seemed like she might finish early, news came that her team, which had supported Partner Attorney Kang Ju-taek in winning a high-stakes land restitution lawsuit, would receive a large incentive bonus. A celebration dinner was being organized for the whole team.

“Attorney, the CEO is going to stop by the dinner, so we should head out soon,” said Kim So-jin from the litigation team.

Lee Jin had planned to skip the event, but with the CEO attending, it was an important opportunity to make an impression. In a firm with over 400 lawyers, meeting the CEO wasn’t something that happened often. Plus, if she didn’t show up, other interns might take credit for her contributions to the case.

Determined, she stood up, ready to head out. She and Kim So-jin left together for the dinner.

A massive tuna, large enough to rival her own body size, was being dismembered in front of Lee Jin, and any remaining trace of her appetite vanished.

Of all the possible choices, tonight’s company dinner featured fresh tuna sashimi that had arrived from Incheon earlier that day. Normally, Lee Jin couldn’t resist sashimi, but watching the tuna being butchered by the chef drained whatever hunger she had left.

Besides, she vaguely remembered hearing that raw fish wasn’t good for pregnant women.

Though she hadn’t yet decided whether to keep the baby, the sight of the tuna on her plate brought on another wave of nausea.

Lee Jin glanced around, wondering when the CEO would arrive, but after 30 minutes, the only people gathered around a visibly tipsy Attorney Kang Ju-taek were two associate attorneys, three intern lawyers, and two staff members from the litigation team—all part of the group that had prepared for the recent case.
She sat as far away from the bottles of alcohol as possible, nervously biting her lip.

“Attorney Seo, would it be okay if I poured you a drink?” asked Kim Jae-min, an intern lawyer who had joined the firm at the same time as her. Lee Jin, distracted by her worries about Kang Ju-taek, absentmindedly shook her head.

“No, thank you.”

“Oh, I see. You’re not a fan of alcohol.”

“Yeah.”
Meanwhile, her gaze shifted to see Woo Jae shaking hands with Attorney Kang.

“Our Attorney Cha! Thank you for coming to celebrate with us,” Kang said, beaming.

“Congratulations, Attorney Kang.”

“I owe some of this success to you for passing the case along.”
“Don’t mention it,” Woo Jae replied casually.
Lee Jin’s brow furrowed. She suddenly remembered that the land restitution lawsuit had originally been handled by Woo Jae, not Kang Ju-taek.

Why had Woo Jae handed off such a lucrative case to Kang, one that came with a hefty incentive bonus? And why had he taken on the tedious, unpaid consulting work from CEO Lee Do-jun’s company in exchange?

Woo Jae finished the drink Kang had poured him and then walked directly over to where Lee Jin and Jae-min were sitting. He stopped in front of Jae-min.
“Attorney Cha! What brings you here?” Lee Jin asked, her voice laced with surprise.
“I heard from Manager Choi in the litigation team. I came to congratulate Attorney Kang,” Woo Jae replied, though his eyes were fixed on Jae-min. Flustered, Jae-min quickly stood up and bowed.

“Hello! I’m intern lawyer Kim Jae-min.”

Woo Jae gave a brief nod before calmly taking Jae-min’s seat, as if it had been reserved for him.

With nowhere else to go, Jae-min grabbed his glass and scurried off to another spot.

“Aren’t you busy?” Lee Jin asked, maintaining formal speech out of habit. Without answering, Woo Jae drained the alcohol from her glass in one go and then refilled it with water.

Not stopping there, Woo Jae placed three empty glasses in front of him and proceeded to fill each one with water as well. Lee Jin silently watched his actions.

“I couldn’t leave you alone if I wanted to,” he muttered, his eyebrow twitching slightly. Picking up her untouched sashimi, he summoned the chef to bring soup instead.

Her heart skipped a beat.

The way he was taking care of her—drinking her alcohol, removing the sashimi—made her feel uneasy.

Could he have figured it out?

Woo Jae had never been one to fall for her lies, which only made her more anxious. It felt as if he already knew she was pregnant, carefully removing every potential hazard from her vicinity.

“Ugh, now even interns are hitting on you,” Woo Jae muttered under his breath, grabbing Lee Jin’s plate of sashimi and moving it in front of him.

“Why are you… taking my sashimi?” she asked, feeling guilty.
Woo Jae stared at her intently, his gaze piercing as if he knew everything, causing her heart to race.

Unable to bear the intensity, she looked away first. As he ate the sashimi, he said, “You’ve been feeling unwell. Do you really want to make things worse by eating raw fish? I understand why you’re here, but you should take care of yourself first.”
His words likely referred to her recent stomach issues, but the way he spoke made her blush, as if he knew more than he let on.
Something was off about Woo Jae today. Usually, Lee Jin or their friend Seon-hwa had to beg him to join for drinks, but here he was, pouring his own glass without hesitation.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“What is it?”

“I thought it was bad when you put up a wall against every guy who liked you. It felt like a knife in my chest. But watching you with other men… I think I prefer the wall.”

Lee Jin’s heart ached at the sight of Woo Jae’s shadowed expression. How could she even begin to tell him that she was pregnant with his child but was thinking about not keeping it?
“God, you’re so beautiful it pisses me off. And it pisses me off even more that everyone else sees it too,” Woo Jae added, his voice laced with frustration.

Her face flushed with heat, and Lee Jin instinctively scanned the room to see if anyone had overheard his words. It was then that her eyes met those of CEO Hwang Tae-kyun, who was sharing drinks with Attorney Kang Ju-taek.

Her heart started pounding. She had to make a strong impression in the short time they had to exchange pleasantries.
“Oh, look who it is! Attorney Cha, you’re here too!” the CEO said with a grin.

“Yes, sir. Good evening,” Woo Jae replied.

CEO Hwang didn’t sit down, signaling that his stay would be brief—no more than 30 seconds, tops.

“How’s the work treating you, Attorney Seo?” the CEO asked.
The fact that the CEO remembered her name was a good sign. With so many lawyers at Taejung Law Firm, having the CEO recall the name of an intern lawyer was remarkable in itself.

“Yes, I’ve been fortunate to be assigned to fulfilling cases since joining Taejung. Every day feels rewarding,” Lee Jin replied, seizing the opportunity for a little self-promotion despite how slightly over-the-top it felt.

CEO Hwang Tae-kyun laughed heartily and picked up a bottle of soju.

“Good to hear! Here, have a drink.”