Chapter 7
[Let’s keep the matter of the will a secret from Sunho until his memories return.]
The will.
It was the reason Iseol and Sunho had married, yet it existed only in a time Sunho could no longer remember.
If you take away the will, what remains between us?
She racked her brain and combed through her memories, but nothing remained between Sunho and herself.
A house surrounded by high walls and trees, invisible from the outside.
As the car arrived at the house, the parking gate opened. The car, driven by the Driver, glided smoothly through the main gate with the two of them inside.
A house with an unusually spacious and beautiful garden. Beyond the garden stood a two-story house with a modern exterior like an art gallery.
The single-family home Sunho had built for himself had become their newlywed house.
The word “newlywed” felt laughable, for they had lived like strangers.
Iseol fixed her gaze on her husband, who sat looking out the window in silence. She wasn’t heartless enough to treat him coldly—not when he had been injured because of her.
How are we going to live in this house from now on?
Can I continue to keep my distance from you?
Iseol’s mind was a tangled mess.
After the Driver departed, Iseol entered the house with Sunho.
A house she was returning to after several days.
Thanks to the housekeeper who had kept the home well-maintained in their absence, warmth lingered inside despite the cold winter.
Her husband, who had said nothing the entire car ride, remained silent even after entering. Sunho, following behind Iseol, seemed to be taking in the house with his eyes.
The duplex-style structure featured a living room wall that soared two stories high in floor-to-ceiling windows. Through the expansive glass, the wide garden was laid out in full view, and winter sunlight filtered in warmly.
Beyond the entryway lay the living room. With the living room as the center, the right side was Iseol’s space, and the left was Sunho’s.
They hadn’t formally divided their spaces, but since neither ever entered the other’s room, they had naturally become separate territories.
With a table between them, Sunho and Iseol sat facing each other on the sofa.
It was the first time since their marriage that the two of them had sat facing each other on the living room sofa in this house.
“How much did you hear from Grandfather?”
Sunho, who had been leaning back against the sofa looking at the garden through the floor-to-ceiling window, turned his head at Iseol’s question and looked at her.
His composed gaze. From the moment they left the hospital, neither his expression nor his eyes had changed.
What is that man thinking right now?
Just as Iseol found herself wondering about him for the first time, Sunho slowly spoke.
“I heard that no one must discover my memory loss until I’m appointed vice president in January.”
“What about everything else?”
Like the story of how we got married, or what kind of relationship we had.
“I didn’t ask Grandfather about you, Ms. Iseol. I thought it was right to hear about our relationship directly from you, not from him.”
True to his perceptive nature, Sunho immediately answered the part she had been curious about. And without delay, he asked the heart of the matter.
“Why did we get married?”
Yes, of course it must seem strange.
A person might not remember with their mind, but their heart should—yet here was a woman he didn’t love at all, calling herself his wife.
Unable to mention the will because of Chairman Taehwan’s request, Iseol searched her mind for an appropriate answer.
The first thing that came to mind was a marriage of convenience. But given her family circumstances, that made no sense. Calling it a contract marriage didn’t work either—there was no contract, and no plausible reason.
Iseol recalled Chairman Taehwan’s request.
[The fact that Sunho can’t remember is known only to you and me, Iseol. Stay by his side and make sure it isn’t discovered. You are the person closest to him. I’m asking you.]
He had meant for her to stay by Sunho’s side and help him avoid mistakes that might reveal his memory loss. For that, they needed to be in a relationship where being close wasn’t uncomfortable.
If they were going to be close without discomfort…
After agonizing over it, Iseol squeezed her eyes shut and answered.
“…Because we loved each other.”
Love?
The word was so absurd it nearly made her laugh out loud, but she had no other choice. If nothing remained between them once the will was removed, the only way they could exist side by side without discomfort was as people who loved each other. It was also the most ordinary reason for marriage.
Thinking she would confess the truth if he didn’t believe her, Iseol raised her gaze to Sunho.
But he nodded.
Could he actually believe this…?
Iseol studied his expression. Having spent fourteen years in a profession devoted to expressing emotion, she had developed a keen sense for reading feelings in others’ faces.
But her husband’s expression was ambiguous.
She worried over whether to push forward with the lie or devise another approach even now.
But Sunho had deceived even his closest friend into believing they were a couple in love. If he knew they had no love between them, he would have to act like a loving husband on top of pretending he hadn’t lost his memory. Her husband, who must already be bewildered enough by his memory loss alone.
Iseol wanted to spare him even a little of that burden. It was a meager repayment for the husband who had saved her.
I’m sorry for deceiving you, but perhaps you’ll understand when I explain later. That it was a lie for your sake.
Iseol, who had always drawn a line with her husband, was the one to cross it first.
“I first met you when you visited the set to offer encouragement while I was modeling for a Haeseong Food coffee brand commercial.”
When Iseol brought up the story of their first meeting, Sunho, who had been listening silently with an unreadable expression, asked:
“How long did we date before getting married?”
Even at Sunho’s sudden question, the lies flowed smoothly, as if she were reading from a script.
“We dated for about a year. We wanted to be together every day.”
I got married because I needed a place to hide. You got married to inherit Haeseong Group. I’m sorry for lying. I’ll apologize when your memories return.
“But three months after we got married, there was a problem at the American branch, and you left for the States in a hurry. You returned to Korea after a year and a half, and the accident happened the next day.”
Iseol’s voice, which had been carrying on the lie with composure, trembled slightly when she spoke of the accident. When she lowered her gaze to the table, Sunho’s voice reached her.
“So we dated for a year. And lived together for about three months after getting married?”
“Yes.”
“Then…”
“We’re newlyweds, aren’t we?”
“Yes… I suppose so?”
Newlyweds. Why would he say something like that all of a sudden?
Though puzzled, since he seemed to believe her without suspicion, Iseol raised her gaze to meet his.
Is he smiling?
An inscrutable smile hovered at his lips.
Had winter sunlight always been this blinding?
The sunlight streaming through the living room’s floor-to-ceiling windows illuminated Sunho brilliantly.
Sunho rose from his seat. “Where is the bedroom? I want to rest.”
Ah. The bedroom.
Sunho’s room was on the left, Iseol’s on the right. Her eyes, which had been darting back and forth between the two sides, unable to choose, finally found their center.
Steeling herself, Iseol rose after him.
“This way.”
She led him to the left. The room Sunho had occupied alone until now.
When she opened the door and entered, the room was saturated with his scent—the same one she had noticed when helping him dress in the hospital.
Though it was her first time entering too, Iseol introduced it as if it were familiar ground.
“This is our bedroom.”
Our bedroom. What a strange combination of words. For a pair for whom the word “we” rang so hollow, “our bedroom” sounded foreign indeed.
“The dressing room is over there…”
Having stepped out of the room, Iseol explained the layout as she saw it. She hardly knew the left side of the house, having almost never set foot there.
“Then rest.”
“Wait.”
Just as Iseol finished explaining and tried to leave, Sunho suddenly took her hand.
“Help me undress.”
Sunho took a large step toward her. Because of the height difference, Iseol’s head tilted up.
“I want to wash.”
He wanted her to… undress him?
Iseol swallowed hard. She had never dressed a man before, and she had certainly never undressed one.
Did she have to see that incredible body again? No, wait—he was going to shower, so she’d have to help him out of his pants too. No, even his underwear…
The very thought made her dizzy. Things had escalated. Iseol bit her lip hard.
Should I say I can’t?
But she had already said they were in love.
“…What do I do?”
