TUW | CHAPTER 47

Chapter 47

The Vice President’s Wife

“Shall we go to work together, Vice President?”

The cool autumn breeze drifted through the morning air.

Its touch slipped between Lee Yeon’s hair.

She breathed it in, savouring the freshness.

Nothing tugged or weighed down her hair anymore.

It felt like the wind was scratching an itch she hadn’t been able to reach.

At her words, Do Hyun only tightened the solid arm she was holding instead of replying.

The firmness passed into her arm, and somehow, the tremor inside her heart steadied.

She had told herself last night that she was done hiding, but shedding a shell worn for so long was harder than she expected.

It was her real self, yet it felt like walking around completely naked.

It wasn’t the same fleeting freedom she felt on her dates with Do Hyun.

Revealing her true face under the name Lee Yeon was something entirely different.

The two of them passed through the revolving doors and entered the lobby.

From the moment they stepped inside, the weight of countless stares pressed down on her.

The air itself seemed heavy.

Lee Yeon gripped Do Hyun’s arm tighter in response.

The sound of her heels echoed in a steady rhythm against the lobby floor.

To hide her trembling, she pressed more strength into every step.

Then, just when her nerves felt stretched too tight, she caught sight of a familiar face.

It was Jung Hwan, guarding the gate, and their eyes met.

Lee Yeon greeted him as she always did.

“Good morning.”

“Good morning.”

He returned the greeting automatically, pleased by the familiarity, but frowned when he realised he didn’t recognise the woman.

Jung Hwan remembered nearly every employee who passed through here.

And someone with looks like hers? There was no way he’d forget.

As the woman walked away, her voice tugged at his memory.

There were only a handful of employees in this enormous company who greeted him with such warmth.

“No way…”

He stared blankly at her retreating figure, mouth hanging open.

But Jung Hwan wasn’t the only one frozen in place.

Do Hyun’s tall frame and commanding aura always drew attention on its own, and now the woman walking beside him matched him stride for stride, stunning in her own right.

The lobby seemed to stop moving.

People halted mid-step, whispering to each other in hushed voices.

“Who’s the woman next to the Vice President?”

“You didn’t hear?

He got married.

The article came out last night.”

“Married, and already showing her off the next morning?

He must really be in love.”

“What good is that?

Didn’t you hear he’s having an affair with his secretary?”

“Seriously?

With a wife that pretty?

Unbelievable.

Did you see her face?

It’s tiny.”

“Too tiny.

How do a nose, eyes, and a mouth even fit on something that small?

Manager Yoon, look at my face, is the difference obvious?”

“Obvious?

Your face is bigger than the Vice President’s, let alone hers.”

The two coworkers compared themselves against Lee Yeon with grim determination.

“No matter how many massages I get, my calves still look like hen’s eggs, but look at her legs. Smooth as glass. God must not exist.”

Female employees who always wore slacks stared enviously at Lee Yeon’s bare legs.

Everyone in the lobby had their eyes on the two of them.

“The elevator feels unusually slow today.”

Lee Yeon whispered, uneasy under the flood of attention.

She wanted nothing more than to escape.

She hadn’t expected the stares to be this blatant.

“Look only at me. Forget the rest.”

Do Hyun ignored the gawking crowd as if they were monkeys at the zoo and fixed his gaze solely on her, steady as a racehorse running its track.

He smiled, flashing even white teeth.

Shrieks broke out from the female staff who caught it, but Do Hyun didn’t seem to hear.

That smile was meant for one person only.

“Vice President, our company has become a zoo.”

All they needed was someone to throw bananas.

“Do you need an escape?”

“Even the escape doesn’t look safe.”

What are you planning to do here…

The best option was to slip away quietly.

At her words, Do Hyun chuckled under his breath.

When Lee Yeon glanced around, she realised the employees had all backed up, leaving a three-step gap around the elevator.

Their hushed whispers had fallen silent too.

Everyone seemed to be straining to catch even a scrap of their conversation.

Encircled by people, Lee Yeon stood stiff in front of the elevator, unable to turn her head or body.

Just then, the long-awaited doors opened.

The two stepped inside, leaving behind only sighs of envy in the lobby.

“Up close, she’s even prettier than Jung Hee Ra.”

“I thought the same, sir. But poor wife… does she know her husband’s secretary is his mistress?”

“Of course not.”

The men whispered their envy, convinced handsome men always won the most beautiful wives.

The women murmured their own verdict—that beauty belonged beside beauty, a perfect harmony of handsome husband and stunning wife.

No one realised that the woman beside Do Hyun was actually Secretary Lee Yeon.

***

“I wanted to run away with everyone staring so openly. Weren’t you embarrassed too, Vice President?”

No one else had entered the elevator.

Despite the rush hour, the employees had avoided the ride, unwilling to squeeze into that heavy atmosphere.

Now, with only the two of them inside, Lee Yeon tugged lightly on his collar.

“I’ve been in the spotlight too long to remember embarrassment.”

“Ah…”

So the embarrassment is all mine, then.

“How do you feel?”

As they neared his office, Do Hyun asked the question that had been hovering since morning.

Now that Lee Yeon had stepped into the world without her disguise, he wanted to know.

She felt refreshed, as though she’d finally thrown off a heavy weight.

She liked feeling the wind threading through her hair.

She liked walking without worrying about her glasses sliding down her nose.

All of it was freeing—until she entered the lobby and every eye turned on her.

“Bittersweet. I liked the freedom, but the stares… it was overwhelming. For a moment, I wanted to hide.”

Regret pricked at her briefly, but she shook it off.

“Did you hear what the employees were saying?”

“That Lee Yeon has a big face?”

Her lips curved upward.

The faint rise of her cheekbones made her look even lovelier.

“No one’s ever said that to me before!”

She shot him a playful glare, and he pressed her forehead gently with a smile.

He was trying to ease her nerves.

Her face softened, the tightness in her expression loosening.

“What else did you hear?”

“They said an article came out about our marriage yesterday. Did you know?”

He nodded, then spoke firmly.

“I knew. But don’t think too much of it. Just focus on me, Lee Yeon.”

Leaving those words behind, he stepped into his office.

Lee Yeon felt like the morning had already drained her dry.

She dragged herself to her desk and turned on the computer.

The moment the company messenger loaded, messages poured in.

The flood slowed her computer to a crawl.

Not just from the secretarial team, but from other departments too—even Su Jin and Yeon Jung.

She skimmed the flood of questions and almost laughed at the absurdity.

[Secretary Yu!

Unbelievable! The Vice President showed up with his wife!

How does she look up close?]

[Secretary Yu!

The Vice President’s wife came today!

People are saying she looks like a model or a celebrity!

Is she in his office now?]

[Secretary Yu!

The Vice President and his wife are together, right?

Everyone wants to come up and see!

Is it okay if we do?]

Only hours ago, these same people had been whispering behind her back about her relationship with Do Hyun.

Now they were bursting with curiosity about his wife.

“Secretary Choi didn’t even say hello to me yesterday.”

Just yesterday, Secretary Choi had met her eyes several times in passing, only to brush by without a word.

And now he had the gall to send her a note.

As she read through the stream of messages, Lee Yeon tilted her head.

Maybe disguises really do suit me… Not one person thinks that woman was me?

She had expected at least someone to recognise her, but no one had.

Only Su Jin’s message sounded remotely sane.

[Lee Yeon’s appearance?]

Yes, Su Jin… It’s me.

She was reading that last message when quick, sharp footsteps approached.

“Secretary Yu! Why aren’t you answering—”

Yeon Jung nearly flew to her desk, but the words died on her lips.

A strikingly beautiful woman was seated there instead.

Lowered lashes framed long, dark eyelashes.

Then recognition struck.

It was the woman she had seen at the department store with Do Hyun.

Do Hyun’s wife.

The most famous face at Woo Sung Card.

And that woman was looking right at her, as if they’d met countless times before.

“Manager Kang, the messages froze the computer.”

“Secretary Yu?”