Actress Kang Eun-bi revealed the heartbreaking reason she has delayed filing their legal marriage registration despite being pregnant — finally opening up about the deep wounds she's been carrying alone.
Appearing on tvN's variety show Kim Chang-ok Show 4, which aired on the 13th, Kang Eun-bi spoke candidly about the very real issues she and her husband, Byeon Jun-pil, are facing as a couple. She shared that she was 12 weeks pregnant at the time of recording and said, "Instead of morning sickness, my appetite has increased." But as the conversation went on, the heavy emotional burden she's held inside began to surface.
Byeon Jun-pil admitted, "I don't really understand my wife's feelings. She shows almost no aegyo, and it still feels like we're being careful around each other," adding, "I wanted us to be legally married, but I felt frustrated because we haven't registered yet." In response, Kang Eun-bi carefully opened up about the reason she hadn't been able to say out loud.
Recalling the past, she said, "After my first variety appearance, the cutesy side of me was highlighted, and I gained an unlikable image. My name even trended in real-time search alongside curses." The wave of related searches and hateful comments that followed left scars that didn't fade easily. Her confession — "If I act even a little cute, I worry my husband might also see me as unlikeable" — revealed a long-held defense mechanism.
The decisive reason she hesitated to register their marriage was the malicious comments directed at her husband. "Because of the projects I've done, I saw comments like, 'He's marrying a worthless woman,' and 'It's pitiful he's marrying someone who should be delisted,'" she said. "If we registered our marriage, I felt like I'd be dragging Jun-pil's life down." It's also why, even while dating, she repeatedly told him, "You can run away anytime," and, "I'll be fine on my own."
That anxiety didn't completely disappear after marriage and pregnancy. "Even after we got married, I still felt that way," she admitted. "But in the end, the only reason I could hold on was because of Jun-pil," she added, expressing gratitude. Hearing his wife's full story for the first time, Byeon Jun-pil said, "I think I finally understand now," and apologized.
Meanwhile, Kang Eun-bi married her Seoul Institute of the Arts classmate Byeon Jun-pil in April last year after 17 years of dating. Five months later, in September, they announced their pregnancy.