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5. The Heart Breaks“Seonha, over here!”
Before Seonha, who had opened the café door with its clear bell chime, could even move her gaze, a delighted voice flew lightly to her ears. Seonha walked over with a gentle smile.
“Why is it so hard to see your face? I’m telling you, we have to meet a lot while there are no kids.”
Daae shot a sharp look at Seonha’s pale face. Seonha obediently lowered her eyes like a culprit, then soon burst into laughter.
“You haven’t ordered yet, right? I’ll go order.”
Before even sitting down, Seonha took her wallet from her handbag and headed to the counter. She ordered one five-grain latte and one Americano, paid, and was told they would bring them to the table.
As soon as she returned to the table, took off her coat, and sat down, Daae looked her over with keen eyes.
“Why does it feel like you’ve lost even more weight?”
“Really? I haven’t even been dieting.”
Seonha shrugged and smiled brightly.
“That wasn’t a compliment, you know? You barely had any flesh on you to begin with, so what are you going to do if you lose more? You married into that amazing chaebol family, so it’s not like you’re starving. Hm?”
Daae was a childhood friend who had lived in the same neighborhood as Seonha since they were young and had grown up with her. Their family circumstances had both been difficult, so they had relied on each other a great deal.
Daae, who had met her current husband at the company she started working for right after graduating high school, had laughed with her gums showing when Seonha first told her she would be marrying Choi Dowook of Seongil Department Store, saying, “I knew you’d marry the best out of all of us.” Everyone else would worry first, she said, so wouldn’t it be nice if at least one person threw all that aside and congratulated her first?
Daae had been right. The few acquaintances around her had all looked at her with anxious eyes, certain that her future would be unhappy. Since it had been such an unequal marriage, Seonha could understand their feelings well enough.
“Don’t tell me your husband is still wearing you out? It’s a little awkward to call you newlyweds now.”
As soon as the café employee set the drinks down on the table and left, Daae asked with a sly look in her eyes.
“Are you going to say strange things in broad daylight?”
“I only saw him briefly at the wedding, but your husband really was something. His face was one thing, but that height, those broad shoulders, that wide chest without an ounce of fat. I heard he’s even gone viral online a few times as the perfect man who has it all. That perfect body countless women want to be held by, and our Yu Seonha gets to, every single day……”
“Min Daae! Are you not going to stop?”
At Daae, who shamelessly and blatantly continued as if it were nothing, Seonha put on the stern face of a teacher scolding a student. Of course, it was a threat that had no effect at all on a close childhood friend she had known since she was little.
“How is it? Is he good to you? He had the face of someone who’d definitely be good in bed.”
At the persistent question, as if she would not stop unless she got an answer, a hollow laugh escaped Seonha. Whenever they met, she always struggled so hard to bring up this sort of suggestive topic. It was not that she had changed after marriage; she had always been this kind of friend, so Seonha was not uncomfortable.
“My husband has some age on him, you know. His stamina is a little lacking, but still, should I say it’s admirable that he tries, or pitiful? I can feel that he’s trying to love me and hold me with care, so even if he’s not great in bed, I can’t complain.”
“……
You can feel that he loves you? In what way?”
“Mm, for example, while we’re doing it, he keeps looking into my eyes and telling me I’m pretty and that he loves me, and even after it’s over, he always hugs me and kisses my forehead. Things like that? Is that too small?”
Though Daae was the type to speak bluntly about the act itself, she seemed rather embarrassed by talk like this, and scratched at her forehead. Seonha, with a faint smile, looked at her friend’s face, which shone brightly from being filled with love.
“No, it’s not small at all.”
In truth, I’m envious.
Had Dowook treated her preciously when they had relations? He was always rough, and explicit to the point of making her feel ashamed. He had never once kissed her on the forehead. She had never experienced him holding her tightly after sex, either.
Sex with him was only sticky and lewd. It was not that she disliked it. Rather, in those moments, she would become aroused as she felt more intensely than ever that she was a woman. But when the sex ended and she saw his back turned away from her, emptiness would surge in like a wave.
If it was only desire, then to him, she was not the one and only person he could not do without. She was merely a trivial, insignificant sex partner who could be replaced by anyone—that was all. Whenever she thought that, she grew impatient and her confidence faltered.
But if the version of herself from early in the marriage had heard this worry, she would certainly have thought it was a spoiled complaint. After being more or less cast aside by her husband on their honeymoon, she had not even shared the same bed with him for about six months. Back then, shamelessly, she had counted the days until she would spend a night with him.*Their honeymoon destination was Bali.
Even as they unpacked in the luxurious pool villa of a famous resort, Seonha could not completely close her mouth at the wonder of everything that entered her eyes. The exotic scenery was so new that she forgot her nervousness and became utterly excited.
“Wow, it’s beautiful.”
Stepping toward the floor-to-ceiling window, Seonha could not take her eyes off the beautiful, refreshing beach that filled her view. A scene she had only seen on TV was spread out right before her.
Afraid that Dowook beside her might find her embarrassing, she tried not to act too countrified, but when she was left alone in her own room, she could not hide the sparkle in her eyes. It was her first time leaving the country, so it was only natural.
From what she had heard from the guide, there was a place nearby famous as a sunset point, but he would not be interested at all.
Recalling how he had not slept a wink on the plane and had only worked, she was almost certain. The moment she suggested going somewhere to sightsee, he would surely reveal without restraint an expression of deep regret that said, I never should have made a contract with this woman.
“Still, we came all the way here. It’d be a shame to only work……”
After briefly unpacking, Seonha wondered whether she should wash up in the bathroom attached to her room. They had not yet gone through any proper schedule, so her body felt light, but perhaps because of mental fatigue, she strongly wanted to wash first and rest.
She also wanted to leisurely soak in the spa bathtub she had just admired. But she was worried that her body would relax too much and she might fall asleep. It would soon be time for dinner, so the timing was awkward to enjoy it at ease.‘Should I ask first?’No matter how much her husband had shown himself to be a workaholic the entire way here, he was still human, so he would eat. She could not bring herself to say something so tactless as asking him to go out and have fun, but they had, at least in name, come here as newlyweds, so of course they would eat together.
She left the room to ask him when he planned to have dinner. Dowook’s room was across from hers. When she had learned that they would be using separate rooms, she had felt slightly disappointed, yet also strangely relieved.
In truth, after finishing the contract at the café as if she had been possessed by something, her heart had belatedly begun to pound. Only once it had become a situation she could not take back did she realize she had done something enormous.
It was true that she had fallen for a man named Choi Dowook at first sight, and it was also clear that she was drawn to him with an odd intensity. Still, marriage was not something one should decide so easily. Even if it was a marriage based on a contract.
How long could feelings last when one liked someone without knowing them well, drawn only by their atmosphere or appearance? If they cooled as easily as they had flared up, what then?
The worries and concerns she should have thought about and sorted out in advance came to her mind one step late, but in truth, something else was tugging at her nerves.
Perhaps because he had been silently urging her right in front of her, or perhaps because she truly had not been in her right mind then, the contents of the contract had not entered her eyes properly. But afterward, when she focused and read it again, there was a part that made her eyes widen.「As this is a marriage by contract, each party may freely meet members of the opposite sex according to their own needs. However, care must be taken so that it does not draw media attention or become known to Party A’s grandfather.」‘Why on earth is there something like this? Members of the opposite sex…….’She could not understand his thinking. To declare so brazenly that he could have an affair at any time.
In truth, since this marriage itself was only a contract, it was hard to consider it an affair, but she hated it. The idea of him meeting another woman.
When she thought about it, it was almost as if, from the start, she had blurted out that she would marry him because she did not want to see another woman become his wife.
No matter how much it was a contract marriage, if he was going to meet another woman, should he not have married that woman in the first place?‘Could he possibly have a mistress his family won’t allow?’She immediately shook her head at the absurd assumption. She, too, had conditions that most families would avoid, and yet she had received permission far too easily.
On the day she first went to greet him, Chairman Choi had scrutinized her from head to toe with eyes sharpened like blades. Knowing that her circumstances could never satisfy such an impressive elder, she had been extremely tense, but the moment Dowook, who was beside her, said he wanted the wedding to be held within March, Chairman Choi’s eyes changed. In an instant, he withdrew his suspicion and beamed, saying he would choose an auspicious date.
Only after some time had passed did Seonha learn that Chairman Choi had not been displeased with her then; he had been trying to determine whether she was another woman Dowook had brought along as a trick to deceive him. Just how persistent had the battle of nerves between grandfather and grandson been over the matter of marriage, for him to be that suspicious?
Even if she set aside for the moment that issue of “free infidelity” that had thrown her into a whirlpool of confusion, another question arose.‘……
Marital relations?’In this contract marriage, he seemed to place more meaning on the word contract, but for her, the word marriage was far larger.
Even if it was a contract, were they not husband and wife now? What would happen to the bed, something that could not be omitted between spouses? No matter how carefully she looked through the contract, there was no mention of it.
Was it because it was not even worth bringing up?
Well, though it was not exact, the marriage period was expected to be about a year. It would also be strange to suddenly insert sex into a dry, contractual relationship.
Seonha also admitted that she liked him, but if she were told she had to fall straight into his arms from today on, her body would flinch backward. They still did not know each other well.
However, she absolutely did not want to see him going around holding other women while he was her husband.
She had never expected a healthy adult man who had just turned thirty, and one who seemed extremely popular with women at that, to remain abstinent for a year. Gyeongmin, whom she had dated before, had also constantly preached to her about how important sex was to men.
Dowook, who said and did whatever he wanted without hesitation, probably would not hold back his sexual desire, either. Nor would he feel any need to.
If such a man absolutely had to hold a woman, then rather than someone else, he could with her, bound to him under the name of husband and wife……‘Yu Seonha, what shamelessly improper thought are you having?’Seonha blushed alone where she stood.‘He hasn’t even thought of offering, and here you are! No, it’s not as if I particularly want it, but…… I really don’t know.’She fanned herself with her hand to cool her heated face. If only to stop these useless thoughts, she had to go to him quickly.
She knocked lightly in front of his door, but no answer came. She knocked again so the sound would be a little clearer. Still, there was no response at all.
She had not sensed that he had gone out for a moment or anything. Had he perhaps fallen asleep? If so, should she wake him, or leave him to sleep longer?
After hesitating, Seonha opened the door slightly. If he had fallen into a deep sleep, she was thinking she would postpone dinner a bit until he woke, even if she got a little hungry.
“Huh?”
The bed was empty. Puzzled, Seonha stepped through the door she had opened only halfway. He was nowhere to be seen in the room.
Had he gone out without saying anything?
It was then. He opened the well-soundproofed bathroom door and appeared. With only a towel wrapped around his waist, his body bare. The moment she saw him, Seonha hurriedly turned around, her face turning redder than before by an incomparable degree.
“I-I…… knocked, but I couldn’t hear anything…… So, um…… I-I’m sorry……”
Her voice shook comically. It was embarrassing, but it was a reaction she could not help. It was the first time she had witnessed a man’s naked body.
“Get out.”
A voice gone cold flowed into her ears and pierced straight through her heart.
“Don’t ever come in as you please without my permission again.”
At that low, icy voice, incomparable to his usual tone, Seonha barely managed to move her rigid body and stiffly took a step. The moment she reached behind her and closed the door, she had to let out the breath she had been holding.*Even now, thinking back on how she had buttoned things wrong from the very first day of their honeymoon made her sad. After she made that mistake that day, he did not let go of his anger for quite some time.
As if barging into his room without permission had not been enough, she had seen him unclothed just after he had washed, so she had nothing to say for herself. It was all her fault.
But throughout their honeymoon, they had not gone out together, let alone had a proper conversation. He was so cold to her that tears nearly sprang to her eyes.
It wasn’t as though she had committed a sin worthy of death, enough to be ignored as if she didn’t exist……
Because he was sharper and colder than necessary, the guilt she had felt gradually turned into hurt and sorrow.
When they returned from their trip and arrived at their newlywed home, her resolve to make up for her mistake surged with confidence, but that was only her wish.
In the first year after their marriage, he was extremely busy. It was the period when Seongil Department Store recorded the lowest operating profit among the big three companies for the first time.
He spent very little time at home, and it seemed he poured nearly every waking hour into company work. As if that were not enough, even when he came home, he shut himself in the study and showed no intention of coming out.
No matter how she thought about it, it did not feel as if they were living together. The only thing that had changed was that her narrow single room had become a grand, spacious house; she still felt as though she were living alone. No, if anything, the emptiness and loneliness had grown worse.
If they kept seeing each other’s faces and built up conversations, affection might begin to grow.
Her worries about sharing a bed became meaningless, for she had never even lain in the same bed with him. Because Cheongyang-daek, Chairman Choi’s spy who was not quite a spy, occasionally came to the house and carefully observed how the newlyweds were living, they could not have separate bedrooms. But Dowook had brought a wide sofa that could serve as a bed into the study, and it seemed he slept there in snatches before going to work.
About six months after they married, Seonha came up with one fairly plausible guess. That perhaps he was a sexual minority.
The moment she considered that possibility, everything made sense. The reason Chairman Choi had welcomed her without question even though, objectively, her conditions were lacking. The reason he had married her despite clearly hinting that he would see someone else, to the point of including a clause about “freedom to have affairs.”
Could it be because the person he intended to see, or was already seeing, was a man he could not marry? Perhaps that was why he felt repulsed by the idea of sharing a bed with her.
But when she looked over the contract again, it clearly specified “the opposite sex.” If he truly were homosexual, he would not have written it that way.
She was plunged back into confusion, but her sense of relief was far stronger than her frustration. If she had married him in order to hold on to a man who had no possibility of liking her even if the sky split in two, she might have lost strength in her legs and collapsed on the spot.
Because he avoided her so openly, she became even more anxious in the opposite way. Even if their eyes merely brushed inside the house, she felt as though her body were heating up. Perhaps it was because this was her first time living with an adult man—and, on top of that, a man she liked—that she became overly conscious of him.
However, her burning frustration was resolved not long afterward. One day, drunk, he desired her body.
Seonha was terribly surprised and flustered, but before long she accepted him. Because she knew that day was the day he had lost his family all at once.
In truth, even if it had been a day of no significance, she likely would not have been able to push him away; but because she knew what kind of day it was, she could reject him even less.
From then on, Dowook no longer slept in the study.*As Seonha entered the department store entrance, her shoulder collided with that of a woman passing by her. Seonha, who had been organizing in her head the things she needed to buy, was startled and grabbed one shoulder as she turned to look at the other person. The woman, who had likewise stopped, met her eyes at the same time.
“Oh my, Yu Seonha?”
The woman smoothed out the frown on her face and asked in a high voice.
“You remember me, don’t you? We met at Dowook’s wedding.”
The woman, adorned in flashy and expensive luxury goods, possessed a beauty so outstanding that she was difficult to forget even after a brief glance. She had a beautiful face one would believe belonged to a celebrity.
Seonha remembered her as well. It was partly because of her striking appearance, but more than anything, the sharp look in her eyes from the wedding day vividly returned the moment they met again.
Without even knowing each other, the woman had gone out of her way to enter the bridal waiting room, said that she and Dowook had known each other for a very long time, and asked her to take good care of him, enunciating each word. She had not bothered to hide her jealousy and hostility. She’s a woman who likes him. Seonha’s intuition had told her immediately.
The reason the woman, who had tried every possible way to sour the bride’s mood as she wore her wedding dress, had been unpleasant was not because Seonha had been angered by her rudeness, but because the thought that she suited him very well had jabbed at her heart.
The woman, who had introduced herself as someone who would soon inherit a clothing company, shone with confidence. Seonha knew that the environment surrounding her and the qualifications she possessed were on a level that could not even be compared with her own, and she naturally pictured Dowook standing together with her. A painting of a pair that suited each other extraordinarily well.
Though Seonha could not help feeling intimidated by her appearance, she also took comfort in the fact that he had chosen her, not that woman, even if it was only a contract.
“……
You’re Cha Yuju, right?”
At the calm question, Yuju faintly twisted her lips, which were painted with dark lipstick.
“So you do remember. Have you been well all this time? Ah…… I was in France until just recently, and I heard about the chairman late, so I couldn’t attend the funeral.”
Yuju made an obviously sorrowful expression.
“He truly adored me like a granddaughter…… I felt so terribly sorry.”
Seonha’s eyes darkened.
Whenever she thought of Chairman Choi, her heart still felt heavy. The thought that everything had ended without her ever asking forgiveness for the sin she had committed chilled the nape of her neck. It had been an act of deceiving someone, so how had she decided to do such a thing so lightly?
Even as she blamed herself, it was ridiculous that if she went back to that time when they had sat facing each other in the café, she was not confident she would flatly reject Dowook’s proposal. Because she had come to like him far more deeply than she had then.
“Come to think of it, Dowook came to Italy on a business trip recently.”
At the words Yuju let slip in a subtle tone, Seonha knew that was precisely what she intended, yet her expression still stiffened.
“We met briefly then.”
“…….”
“Dowook’s schedule was so tightly packed, it was such a shame he couldn’t make time at leisure.”
As she said, he must have been busy. Usually, when he arrived at a business trip destination, they exchanged at least one phone call, but when he was getting through a murderous schedule, he seemed to forget even to contact her. She had guessed this time, when there had been no contact at all, had been the same, yet she had been unable to shake off her loneliness. But now she was saying he had met Cha Yuju.
If he, who did not even have time to call, had met someone separately during his busy schedule, did that mean the other person was very important?
“You’ll be divorcing Dowook soon, won’t you?”
Yuju trampled on Seonha’s heart, which was filled with agitation, with a force strong enough to make it lose its shape.
“……
Pardon?”
“When I heard Dowook was getting married, I was so surprised. But after I heard the explanation that it was a marriage he had no choice but to enter because of his grandfather, one he even had to spend money on, I thought, of course.”
Seonha’s gaze wavered aimlessly. How did she know that? It was the content of a contract they had agreed must never be revealed to anyone. Then how?
Had Dowook told her? If he had told her something so important…… was she truly in a deep relationship with him?
The corners of Yuju’s mouth curved softly as she confirmed Seonha’s pale face.
“It was nice to see you after so long. Since your contract with Dowook is over now, we probably won’t ever have a reason to see each other again.”
Yuju smiled brightly and walked away with sharp clicks in her high heels. Unlike Yuju, who moved farther away, Seonha stood there for a long while as if her feet were nailed to the spot.*After placing the divorce papers on the kitchen table, Seonha merely stared blankly at them for a long time without moving at all. With quiet eyes lowered, she hesitated before barely managing to pick up a pen.
The reason she had decided to bring up the end of the contract to Dowook first was not only because of Yuju, whom she had met today.
Ever since Chairman Choi passed away, whenever her eyes met Dowook’s, her chest had churned. Was he about to bring up “that talk” now? When would he bring up the end of the contract? If today passed, then tomorrow. If tomorrow passed, then the next day. Uneasiness continued to circle her. Not a single day did her heart feel at ease.
How long did she have to live like this? How long could she endure in this way? She was reaching her limit.
When he came home from work looking even a little low in spirits or wearing a hard, expressionless face, she would wonder if today was the day, unable even to breathe comfortably, and her heart flinched every time his lips parted. She could not even ask first, afraid that he might have forgotten about the contract and that she would end up making him remember.
It was an unbearably foolish thing to do. Today, she had only finally realized it. No matter how she struggled, nothing would change.
Beside the divorce papers sat a small gift-wrapped box. It had not been long since Chairman Choi passed away, so she did not mean to have a party, but she wanted to give him at least a Christmas present. She did not know whether she would be able to spend that day with him, but she thought it might be the last Christmas she would spend by his side.
As Seonha filled out the papers with trembling hands, she stopped moving. Because her vision had blurred with tears, she had ended up writing the wrong thing. Seonha wiped away with the back of her hand the tears that looked as if they would fall at any moment.
“Next time…….”
Making the excuse that she had made a mistake so there was no helping it, she set down the pen from her strengthless hand.
Though she knew it was foolish, she still wanted to put it off. It was not because she could not give up a man named Choi Dowook. She had now clearly realized that he saw her as nothing more than a simple sex partner.
There was a saying that three seconds were enough to fall in love, but for her, it had been a full three years. She had fallen for him in three seconds, and even after spending three years, she had failed to win his heart. There were things that could not be done no matter how hard one tried, and gaining his love was one of those things for her. It was a truth she could not turn away from, and she had accepted it enough.
All that remained was a modest desire. Only until this Christmas, which would be the last. The moment the contract ended, she would no longer be able to see him anywhere, a man from a world different from hers, so she wanted to be greedy only until then.
However, this wish of hers was not fulfilled either.
Christmas.
Dowook left a brief message saying he could not come home. Seonha did not sleep a wink and met dawn with her eyes open. Even though she knew he was not coming.*She had a dream.
She brought up the contract to him, who was smiling a rare smile, as if he were in an exceptionally good mood. Just as she was about to say that she did not want to part like this, his face suddenly hardened, as though he had briefly forgotten and only now remembered, and he immediately brought over the divorce papers.
Even after waking from the dream, Seonha still felt her heart cold. With a dry smile, she lowered her head.
A bucket list.
She had truly wanted to experience real love. Not a light first crush, but the first man who had made her feel love. How happy would she be if she could be loved by him? That greed had been the beginning.
Marriage with him. She had dreamed that she might become happy, but she had not. Her loneliness had grown even deeper than when she had lived alone with feelings for someone who would never look back at her. It was a love that made her happy because he was beside her, and painful by just as much.
Now she wanted to stop. She had been greedy beyond her station, and she had suffered greatly for it, so now she wanted to end it without regret.
Blinded by the thought that she wanted to fulfill her love, she had deceived not only Chairman Choi but Dowook as well.
Now, without putting it off any longer, carrying out the contract as he had planned was the best thing she could do for him. Leaving cleanly, without honestly confessing emotions he would find unnecessary or troubling him with demands, was the last consideration she, who had deceived him all this time, could offer him.*
Do-uk came home late from work, took a quick shower, and shut himself straight away in the study. Since returning from his business trip, he had not held her.
Was it a coincidence that, ever since meeting Cha Yuju on that trip, he had stopped sharing a bed with her as he had in the early days of their marriage? Or… The questions she could not ask outright, swallowing them down alone, painfully tightened around her heart.
Seonha forced her thoughts away and knocked on the study door. When she quietly pushed the door open and stepped inside, she saw Do-uk seated at his desk, busy looking over all sorts of documents spread out messily before him.
“Drink this while you work.”
Seonha set a teacup of warm brewed tea on the desk.
“And I have something to say…”
Holding the documents she had layered beneath the tray in her other hand, she murmured in a faint voice.
“If it isn’t urgent, later. I’m a little busy right now.”
He spoke without even looking her way, quickly flipping through statistical data.
“It won’t take long.”
Seonha took a deep breath and set the divorce papers down where they would reach his eyes. Only then did his gaze fall to the place in front of her hand.
“It’ll be a full month soon, and you seemed busy with work, so I prepared them first. You just need to fill in the blanks.”
“……”
“We can file the papers whenever it’s convenient for you. If news of the divorce comes out right after the chairman’s passing, people may talk… so I’ll match your circumstances. I’m fine anytime. But for now, I’ll leave the house before January 7, just as we agreed in the contract. I came in with almost nothing, so leaving won’t be difficult either, and I’ll start looking for a place to live…”
“Wait.”
Do-uk cut her off like a blade. Then he raised the eyes that had not once met hers since she entered. His gaze, fixed on Seonha, flickered frighteningly.
“What are you talking about right now… contract?”
Do-uk, who had been muttering lowly, suddenly twisted his expression. So he remembered now. As expected, he must have forgotten.
It was a little unexpected, but she understood. Chairman Choi had passed so suddenly, and he must have been out of his mind under the weight of even heavier company responsibilities.
If she had not brought it up first, could she have held on by his side a little longer? The fact that she immediately thought such a thing was simply laughable.
“I thought you were too distracted to pay attention to it. I’m sorry for taking your time. It said within thirty days, so I thought I should mention it in advance if we were going to keep that deadline.”
At her calm recitation, the crease between Do-uk’s brows deepened even further. As he chewed over her words to understand their meaning, he soon let out a hollow sigh.
“I thought you’d been drooping ever since Grandfather passed, but you were just managing your expression. And I didn’t even know… Ha. So you’ve been counting the days, waiting for the thirty days to pass? Secretly, by yourself, without saying a word to me? You’re a remarkably precise person. You could run the business in my place.”
At the strangely sarcastic flow of his words, Seonha’s eyes widened. Was he angry because she had interrupted him while he was concentrating on work?
His irritable tone made her wonder if she should have waited longer after all, but lately he had stopped coming to the bedroom again and slept in the study, so it was difficult to tell when his work ended. She had had no choice.
“So January 7 means… you’re saying you’ll leave here within ten days? You said you haven’t even found a house yet. What kind of nonsense is that?”
“I’ll take care of that myself.”
Her tone was not sharply edged. It was the same quiet, gentle manner as always, with her clear voice that was pleasant to hear. Yet the air around her, as if she were drawing a deep line that said he no longer needed to concern himself, was unmistakable.
The corner of the divorce papers in Do-uk’s grip crumpled silently. Tilting his head slightly, he shot her a displeased look.
Outwardly, she appeared soft-spoken and delicate, but seeing how she had ultimately made him take on the habit of eating breakfast despite his stubborn refusal, and how she waited for him to come home every time without sleeping, it was clear she was quite obstinate.
Even when they had first met, the way her gaze had seemed to tremble faintly yet remained straight, and the way she continued saying what she had to say without yielding to his cold atmosphere—one that most people could not even bring themselves to speak to—had been enough to make him suspect she was not indecisive.
Do-uk sensed that Seonha had already finished making every decision. In truth, it was not even a matter of decision. As Seonha had said, it was a contract already agreed upon by both parties.
A contract. Yes. We had entered into a contract marriage with a fixed term. Seonha was merely saying she would fulfill it.
The problem was him. He had been the one to propose the contract marriage first, and he had been the one to set every clause of the contract, so how could he have forgotten this matter completely? No matter how busy he had been, it was impossible.
Of course, there were excuses.
From the beginning, it had been a married life he expected would not last even a year. Chairman Choi’s health had been that serious. But after the two of them married, his strength had begun to recover to a degree that even his attending physician found astonishing.
Until about a year into the marriage, Do-uk had been somewhat conscious of the contract, but as time passed, he gradually forgot that fact. He grew used to it.
Life with her had come to feel utterly natural, and not only that, from the moment Seonha handed him the divorce papers, he even felt as though he had been struck hard in the back of the head. Unbelievably, the emotion piercing through him now was a sense of betrayal.
“I’ve said everything I came to say. I won’t bother you anymore, so hurry and work.”
Seonha placed the teacup he had never once touched, now completely cold, back on the tray. With the soft rustle of her skirt swaying, she turned her back to him and firmly closed the door behind her as she left.