Chapter : 02

‘It’s not just that, though.’

Even putting all of that aside, could she really call herself that man’s wife?

And more than anything, she could already picture the faces of her in-laws who would be waiting outside the operating room.

Not only her parents-in-law, but also her brother-in-law. Perhaps even her aunts-in-law might have come.

After all, Woo Taeha was the eldest son of a family in which male heirs were precious.

Every single one of them was someone who had never welcomed Jaein.

“Sister-in-law. Taeha is such a perfect son to you, so what are you going to do now that he has such a blemish? Why did you have to get married when you could have just dated?”

They were people born into privilege and nobility.

Jaein’s family was an ordinary family. No, in truth, her circumstances were slightly below ordinary. The difference between her and them was like the distance between heaven and earth.

Even though five years had passed since her marriage, she had never been able to close the distance between them.

“Didn’t I hear that her father died of cancer while taking care of his wife? What was it that her mother had again?”

“Dementia.”

“Sister, don’t marry off the second child like that. You should at least match the level.”

The whispers she had heard from beyond the dining room.

Whether it was a holiday or a long weekend, Jaein took care of every unpleasant chore in the family, yet she had no place of her own in it.

It was a rigid, narrow-minded family.

‘When was I ever family to them?’

To them, she was nothing more and nothing less than a wife legally tied to Taeha on paper.

As the image of her mother-in-law openly treating her as though she did not exist came to mind, Jaein shook her head.

There was nothing good that would come from going there for no reason. Right now, she was nothing more than Taeha’s soon-to-be ex-wife.

Suppressing her troubled feelings, Jaein walked back toward the office.

“Producer Seo! Are you okay? I heard about the accident. Please be careful on your way. He’ll be okay.”

Perhaps because lunchtime had just ended, everyone she passed tried to comfort Jaein with a few words.

They seemed to think that she had returned to the office to take a half-day off.

‘I’m not even planning to go to the hospital.’

With an awkward expression, Jaein entered the office.

The moment she stepped inside, the attention that immediately converged on her made her face burn.

She had momentarily forgotten.

Just how much attention her marriage had attracted from so many people.

And it was understandable.

Her husband, Taeha, was the heir to Daehan Group, unquestionably the greatest conglomerate in South Korea.

A meeting between a chaebol and an ordinary citizen.

An ordinary junior producer at a broadcasting station had suddenly married into a chaebol family one day.

Jaein’s story, which was practically a modern-day Cinderella story, had driven people wild with excitement.

From the wedding ceremony all the way to now, five years into her marriage, Jaein had remained a hot topic.

“What are we going to do about the editing if Producer Seo leaves? We’re right before the broadcast—ah, I’m not saying anything bad. You know that, right?”

At the words of the main producer, who had subtly approached her, Jaein swallowed a sigh.

If she stayed seated in the office like this, it felt as though rumors of marital trouble would hit the headlines before she even had a chance to announce her divorce.

“I’ll take a half-day off. I’m sorry.”

“Huh? Oh. What are you sorry for? Go ahead and leave.”

With no other choice, Jaein grabbed her bag and stood up, hurriedly making her way toward the door.

“Did they finish the rough edit?”

“I don’t know. It feels awkward to ask. Look at how distracted everyone is.”

“They have every reason to be distracted. If it were me, I’d say Producer Seo is remarkably calm considering the circumstances.”

Whispers came from behind her.

The intense attention from everyone only added to the complexity of her feelings.

Get along well, huh?

‘I’m getting divorced.’

‘I’m not even going to the hospital.’

But Jaein simply could not bring herself to say it.

A loving married couple.

The relationship everyone believed was filled with love was actually a fake one in which there had never been anything like love.

As Jaein left the office, a certain contract appeared in her mind.

It was called the ‘Marriage Termination Agreement.’

“Fine. Divorce. Do whatever you want. But we’ll announce the divorce one year from now.”

“Why?”

“I’m busy. I don’t want to be bothered by something like that.”

The condition Taeha had imposed after recently completing his succession to the position of vice chairman was that their divorce would not be made public for one year.

There was nothing bad about it for Jaein either.

Five years of married life had been like sitting on a bed of thorns.

No matter what Jaein did, whether people liked it or disliked it, their attention and scrutiny always followed her.

If there was one advantage, it was that because she had a husband who was the major shareholder of the broadcasting station’s holding company, people could not treat her carelessly.

And that had become both an advantage and a disadvantage.

“So why don’t you just stay home and support your husband instead of coming to work? You’re making people uncomfortable. You’re not really a junior anymore.”

“Who knows? Maybe she’ll suddenly become a team leader one day.”

Even the smallest mistake Jaein made would be exaggerated and immediately turned into proof of her incompetence.

‘That’s why I worked even harder.’

Her efforts and the results she achieved were not proportional.

At first, she had endured everything because of love.

But now, she was simply tired of the noisy and chaotic life.

Jaein wanted to tell everyone what was really happening.

Everyone.

‘I’m preparing for a divorce!’

‘We’re going to break up.’

But she could not say it, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

Wouldn’t things get better in a day?

Even if his injuries were classified as serious, they were not severe enough to threaten his life.

Once the surgery was over and he recovered, people would soon forget about it.

To everyone else, it was merely a momentary source of entertainment and gossip.

That was what she believed.

One day passed, then two.

Then a week.

And yet, nothing had changed.

“Producer Seo. You look terrible. Are you getting any sleep?”

“Huh? Yes… I’m okay.”

“It must be difficult commuting to and from the hospital, right? Vice Chairman will get better!”

Even the usually prickly main producer, Seongho, who was always busy glaring at her and criticizing something, had changed.

“Yes. My wife has been praying these days. Producer Seo, go home early. You should go and stay by his side.”

The head of the entertainment department also stepped in and encouraged Jaein to leave work.

Praying? Director, you go to a temple.

‘And since when have you been this kind?’

Or perhaps not.

The director, who needed to stay on the good side of Taeha, the head of the holding company, had probably always been this friendly.

Once again, the attention of everyone around her came rushing toward Jaein, making her flinch.

“I’m really okay. I still have the editing—”

She tried to wave them off.

“What editing? Go home. Jo Producer is going to do it, right?”

“Ah, yes. I suppose I should.”

Looking at the gloomy Minseop, Jaein felt as though the ground beneath her feet had turned into a thorny path.

Once one person opened the floodgates, wave after wave of words of consolation came pouring in, and she could only force an awkward smile.

She felt as though she would only attract even more attention if she stayed, so Jaein hurriedly left the office.

Only after leaving the broadcasting station and entering the apartment complex did she finally feel as though she could breathe again.

A week had passed since Taeha’s accident, yet there was still no sign of him waking up.

Even though the surgery had been successfully completed through the combined efforts of the best hospital and the best medical staff.

Every time another day was added to the length of his unconsciousness, Jaein felt as though her blood was slowly drying up.

The end of the mandatory waiting period had arrived, and the date for their divorce confirmation hearing was mercilessly approaching—only one week away.

Dozens of times a day, her emotions swung up and down.

Even though she had firmly made up her mind to get divorced, the anxiety that kept growing inside her was this:

What if the man never woke up?

Stupid bear.

She wasn’t even his real wife.

Once he woke up and the divorce proceedings continued, they would simply become strangers.

Jaein, who had stepped into the elevator, bit her dry, rough lips before releasing them.

Maybe she should have gone to the hospital at least once.

A headache came over her for no reason, and she pressed a hand against her forehead.

Then, just as she stepped out of the elevator when the doors opened—

“Why are you only coming now?”

A familiar, extremely familiar, low voice rang in her ears.

‘Wow. I must be so tired that I’m hallucinating.’

Jaein shook her head, trying to clear it.

She was just about to move forward from where she had stopped when the sound of heavy footsteps followed.

Then they stopped right in front of her.

A shoe suddenly appeared in her field of vision.

Jaein noticed the shoes of the man who had stopped in front of her and slowly raised her head.

“Seo Jaein.”

The voice she had dismissed as a hallucination was far too vivid.

Five years.

No, ever since she had entered university as a freshman, she had heard this voice so often that it had become deeply familiar to her.

A voice so deep it seemed as though it had swallowed a cave.

There was only one man in South Korea who had a voice like that.

Even as she straightened her head, Jaein’s heart began pounding wildly, unable to believe what she was seeing.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Feeling her heartbeat, Jaein raised her head.

A large figure entered her field of vision.

Her eyes met those of the man looking down at her, and her heart seemed to plunge straight down.

Taeha, who was supposedly unconscious, was standing there, looking down at her.

Jaein was so shocked that she could not even close her wide-open lips.

“W-What is this?”

Why was the man who was supposedly unconscious standing there looking perfectly fine?