REH 02

Chapter 2

Her husband.

The word felt unfamiliar.

The sudden reappearance of Yugam, a man who dragged out the memory of a marriage she had desperately tried to erase five years ago, left Jaekyung dizzy, as if her whole body were about to convulse.

It had definitely been a divorce.

Their marriage had ended.

During the ten-month duration of their contract, she had never once seen his face. So why had her ex-husband suddenly appeared? And for what reason?

Watching Jaekyung’s reaction, Minho’s eyes widened and his brows furrowed.

“Your husband? Jaekyung. You know this man?”

Even when Minho demanded an answer, Jaekyung couldn’t bring herself to respond immediately.

Perhaps it was because of his strangely familiar gestures and the overwhelming sense of déjà vu.

She had no memories, yet her body reacted first, trembling ever so slightly.

Jaekyung couldn’t take her eyes off Yugam, whom she was supposedly seeing for the first time.

He looked to be in his mid-twenties.

Was he around her age?

His eyes seemed deep enough to fall into, like staring into the depths of the sea. His smooth skin, sculpted nose, and sensual lips looked almost unreal.

She had never been attracted to any man because she was so sick of seeing her father’s handsome face—handsome enough to belong to a celebrity.

Yet now she found herself staring at this man with a cold, statue-like face as though she had been bewitched.

He must be some typical scammer who’s only handsome on the outside.

Embarrassed that she had been staring blankly, Jaekyung cleared her throat with a hoarse cough.

“I think there’s been some misunderstanding. This is the first time I’ve ever met you.”

Yugam let out a short laugh as if he found her statement absurd.

Then, without asking permission, he dropped into the seat beside Jaekyung.

“Looks like you’re in the middle of a proposal. At least know a woman’s past before you propose to her. She’s a woman who took the money and ran before she could even complete the contract.”

A woman who ran?

Jaekyung’s heart dropped.

She tightly clenched her trembling hands.

“Seo Jaei, isn’t five years long enough to have been running away?”

After divorcing at twenty, she had changed her name from Seo Jaei to Seo Jaekyung.

Other than her father, the only people who still called her by her old name were a few longtime friends.

No way.

Had her personal information been leaked when her father fell victim to a phishing scam several months ago?

She looked suspiciously at Yugam sitting beside her.

It felt as though not only Minho but also the people around the restaurant were sneaking glances at her.

“I don’t know who you are, but please stop.”

Jaekyung grabbed Yugam’s arm pleadingly as he continued bringing up their ended marriage.

Yugam’s cold gaze remained fixed insistently on her.

“I’ll stop here, as Seo Jaekyung wishes. We can continue the rest of the conversation outside. I have a lot to discuss with my runaway wife.”

Yugam wrapped his hand around Jaekyung’s wrist, which was barely holding onto the edge of his suit.

He wasn’t even gripping her tightly, yet the moment his cold touch settled against her skin, all the strength drained from Jaekyung’s body.

She had completely erased those memories.

Yet beneath her wrist, a faint sensation she had forgotten began to creep back.

Five years ago.

Just like the day she had been thrown out and left standing beneath the torrential rain, her heart began pounding wildly.

“Minho, just a moment. ……I’ll go outside with him and come back.”

Flustered, Jaekyung tried to get up.

“Tell me here. Jaekyung! The marriage. It isn’t true, is it? And what contract is he talking about?”

Minho, staring at her in confusion from across the table, nervously pushed up his glasses as he pressed her for an answer.

“The divorce… is true. I’m sorry. I should have told you sooner.”

“You’re divorced?”

Minho, who had been watching her sharply, shot to his feet.

Before the two bewildered people, Yugam pulled documents and a business card from the inner pocket of his suit and held them out.

“Not divorced. Married. If you don’t believe me, we can verify it with the documents.”

[Do Yugam / Chairman of the Uitae Foundation]

And on the marriage certificate were the names and signatures of Do Yugam and Seo Jaei.

“I got married five years ago. As you can see, my spouse is Do Yugam.”

Jaekyung scrutinized the business card and documents Yugam had placed on the table. Her fingertips trembled so violently that it felt as though she had stopped breathing.

“It’s over. I know it is. We signed the papers and finished everything.”

“The divorce was never registered, so as you can see, it’s invalid. I came here to offer you a position as my secretary in the chairman’s office.”

Despite Jaekyung’s desperate explanation, Yugam remained unmoved, simply stating what he had come to say.

“What do you mean, an offer to be your secretary?”

“Think of it as a change of position.”

The arrogant gaze of the man who had just introduced himself as both her ex-husband and the chairman swept over Minho and Jaekyung in turn.

She had definitely been told by the vice principal that her contract might be terminated.

There was no way the chairman of the foundation had come personally to hire a temporary teacher on a one-semester contract as his secretary.

No way….

If he was the newly appointed chairman, was he here because of the post criticizing the foundation that the vice principal had mentioned earlier?

He had talked about compensation for breach of contract.

Was he planning to sue her?

Minho’s face darkened as he looked back and forth between the documents and Jaekyung’s pale face.

“This is ridiculous! I’m a medical consultant for the Uitae Foundation. Who the hell are you?”

Minho slammed his hand down on the table and glared fiercely at Yugam, who claimed to be the chairman.

“Oh, you’re a medical consultant for the Uitae Foundation? So Seo Jaekyung has been seeing someone connected to the foundation as well.”

Yugam frowned and glared at Jaekyung as though interrogating an unfaithful wife.

Minho rubbed his dry, weary face when the phone in his hand began vibrating insistently.

“Looks like your patients are looking for you. You should get back to the hospital first.”

Yugam sat with his legs crossed, watching leisurely. He gave Minho a slight nod, telling him to check his phone.

“Minho, your phone’s ringing. It looks like it’s the hospital. You should answer it.”

“Whew… Is the hospital really important right now?”

The ringing continued to vibrate noisily without any sign of stopping.

“Ah, damn it.”

Roughly running his hands through his hair, Minho checked his missed calls and messages before looking at Jaekyung.

“Jaekyung. We’ll talk again later.”

“I’m sorry. I’ll… explain later.”

No matter how many times they had met, this situation would inevitably have been unpleasant for Minho, who was experiencing his first relationship.

It was only natural that he would be angry.

Minho gave Yugam a cold glare.

“And you. I don’t care whether you’re her ex-husband or current husband. That doesn’t matter. Jaekyung is going to marry me, so you’d better understand that.”

Yugam shrugged his broad shoulders and lightly tapped the marriage certificate with his finger.

“Sure. I’m a man who likes to do things according to the law.”

After Minho left the restaurant,

the ring case remained open and sat forlornly between Yugam and Jaekyung.

Yugam calmly examined the ring as though nothing unusual had happened.

“You ran away because you wanted this cheap ring? You got paid for your first marriage, too, and yet you still haven’t gotten rid of that habit.”

Although enough time had passed for her to forget, Yugam’s distinctive cynical tone and low voice gradually awakened fragments of something buried deep in Jaekyung’s memory.

“If you really are the chairman of the Uitae Foundation, please refrain from making personal remarks.”

Jaekyung carefully examined the business card and documents Yugam had handed her.

Under the lights, Yugam stared intently at Jaekyung’s face as it gleamed softly.

“Seo Jaekyung. I never forgot my wife. And as far as the paperwork is concerned, we were never separated. Did you think I wouldn’t be able to find you just because you changed your name?”

“What right do you have to look for me? Let’s fill out the divorce papers again.”

Yugam looked at Jaekyung sitting there pale-faced and whispered in a low voice.

“Start over with me from today. I wanted to see you. I wanted to know what my runaway wife looked like. You wanted to see me too, didn’t you?”

Jaekyung wondered if she had heard him correctly.

She had heard from one of the servants who had lived in the house that he had been taking psychiatric medication.

Had he become completely delusional and mistaken her for another woman?

On the morning they signed the divorce papers, her husband had clearly said that being around her was disgusting and unpleasant, and had thrown Jaekyung out before the contract period had even ended.

With trembling fingertips, Jaekyung closed the ring case on the table.

After apologizing to Minho, who must have been deeply shocked, she put the small box into her bag so she could return it to him.

Yugam watched her actions in silence before giving a mocking chuckle.

“It’s been five years, but you’re looking better than ever. I knew you were shameless, but you really are something. You abandoned your husband, ran away, and even managed to pull off a cute little scam marriage with another man. You really are capable.”

Jaekyung squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing the words she wanted to say.

“How am I supposed to believe that you’re my husband? Documents can be forged.”

“……Proof.”

Yugam’s gaze rested on Jaekyung, carrying a strange familiarity that made her feel an inexplicable sense of déjà vu.

“Every time I held Seo Jaekyung, my body—which was always cold as ice—would melt from the heat. And you have a raised mole-like mark beside your right breast. Shall I go on?”

“……That’s enough. Stop.”

The memories of the marriage she had forgotten came rushing back, filling Jaekyung with shame.

Her body grew hot again, as though she had a fever.

“You still run hot.”

Yugam’s hand moved toward Jaekyung’s forehead.

She recoiled and moved backward.

“I’m leaving now.”

“Sure. Let’s leave together. As it happens, I need a secretary for a company dinner.”

“A company dinner? You need a secretary for entertainment who suits your tastes?”