Chapter 1: My Husband Came Back
The sound of water splashing on the bathroom floor stopped. Lee Joo stepped out with her wet feet, cutting through the steam flowing out through the open door. She tried to go into her room wearing only a light slip. However, before she could even open the door, her hesitant feet turned to the other side.
The room that had been without an owner for a year was firmly shut. Her feet, which had been leaving one by one, reached the room on the other side. When she opened the door, the cold and unfamiliar air touched her skin.
“Is it our wedding anniversary soon?”
She lifted her feet that had been stuck to the floor the whole time and climbed over the door frame. Joo-ga1A way to refer to oneself. sat on the man’s bed, looking around the colorless room that had lost its warmth.
She had moved into Nam Do-hyun’s house around this time last year, and got married at the same time. The man was her college senior and her boss at work. Nam Do-hyun had gone to the Philippines to build a casino resort in Clark. It had only been four days since their marriage. There was nothing to be sad or regretful about. It wasn’t a marriage where they loved each other so much that they were hanging on to each other.
“When was it?”
I married my senior… I’m so dumb. Even if I got married to live in this house, how could I have forgotten our wedding anniversary? My blinking eyelids gradually slowed down. I had to quickly drag myself out of the room, but instead my upper body tilted to the side and fell flat on the bed.
“I have to go to my room and sleep.”
It didn’t matter anyway. There were still two years left until the owner of this room came back. ‘I’ll just close my eyes for a bit and then get up. Just a bit… I pulled the pillow next to me and put it under my head. As my tired eyelids closed, my mind became hazy and I quickly fell asleep. I was so deeply asleep that I didn’t even hear the front door close. The suitcase wheels pushed through the hallway and entered the living room.
The figure that entered the room with the door open took off the jacket he was wearing. The sound of the collar rustling and breaking echoed faintly. Lee Joo, who had been lying curled up facing the wall, turned to lie down toward the door. The front of his loose slip wrinkled, revealing a deep furrow. Every time he exhaled, his chest rose and fell repeatedly.
“Whew.”
Lee Joo’s eyebrows furrowed at the man’s low breathing. When the man took off the jacket he was wearing and placed it on the edge of the bed, the rustling wind tickled Lee Joo’s nose. The faint scent of wood coming from the jacket next to him naturally made her eyelids rise.
“Ah.”
As she followed the long legs to the top, she caught sight of the man’s face. Nam Do-hyun, it was definitely her husband, Nam Do-hyun.
“CEO.”
Was this an extension of her dream? Lee Joo couldn’t close her lips because she still couldn’t believe that Nam Do-hyun was in front of her. She pushed the mattress away with both hands and tilted her upper body.
“Why are you here?”
He wasn’t supposed to be here. Nam Do-hyun was supposed to stay in the Philippines for three years until the resort construction was finished. He assured me that he would never come back to Korea unless it was absolutely necessary. He asked me to be the landlord of this house that everyone would envy for three years. So, why was Nam Do-hyun here in this house?
“I’ll be staying in Korea for the time being.”
“What?”
It felt like her heart, which had been dangling, was falling to the edge. This was Nam Do-hyun’s home base, but it was also Lee Joo’s sanctuary.
“For… For how long?”
“It could be a month.”
Nam Do-hyun took a deep breath and corrected himself.
“Maybe we won’t have to go back.”
“Then we?”
The words that she couldn’t form stopped in her throat.
“We’ll live together in this house.”
Nam Do-hyun continued speaking in Lee Joo’s stead. Nam Do-hyun’s voice, resonating deeply like a cave, shook his gaze. As she regained her focus, Nam Do-hyun’s face became clear. The sense of reality that had been lost for a moment seemed to be creeping into her body.
“Did we write something like a contract?”
There was no way they did. As soon as the wedding was over, Nam Do-hyun boarded a plane to the Philippines.
“No. We’ve never made anything like that.”
“We should make one.”
His eyes scanned her smooth nape and then fell deeply on her pale chest. Nam Do-hyun bent down in an instant.
“Sleep in your own room.”
His hand moved to her crooked shoulders. Nam Do-hyun’s long fingers hooked onto the thin shoulder straps of her white slip.
“At home, instead of wearing these shabby clothes, wear something proper.”
Her breathing stopped for a moment as his fingers, which were being pulled up, brushed against her skin. The string that had dropped down from his fingers as he slowly moved up settled into place. Her foggy mind finally seemed to clear up. Now, it finally felt real. Nam Do-hyun, who said he would return after three years, returned after only one year.
“Please take care of me for the remaining two years, Shin Lee-joo.”
Nam Do-hyun’s lips curled up softly.
“No. Should I call you honey now?”
That pleasant smile made him look like a villain who could never be hated. Now, I remembered what I had been trying so hard to remember. September 11. Today was my wedding anniversary with Nam Do-hyun. My married life with this man who had never played married couple for even a single day had begun.
***
Two months ago, a year and a half ago. That day was also the day when the discomfort index reached its peak, with the annoying heat and stuffy humidity. As soon as Lee Joo, who had been in the supplies room for a while, entered the office, the company phone rang as if it had been waiting.
“This is Shin Lee Joo from the PR team.”
[There’s chaos down there right now! I want to meet Shin Lee Joo. Please come down to the lobby quickly. It’s not organized right now.]
The person on the other end hung up the phone without even revealing his department, as if they were in a rush. Since it was the lobby, it must have been the security office or the information desk. Lee Joo, who had been holding the receiver, pushed her chair aside and stood up. As she left the office and got into the elevator, a sense of anxiety slowly enveloped her. The commotion she had faintly heard outside the receiver was directed at her. It wasn’t just one person, but many.
The lobby that was revealed when the elevator door opened was no different from being hit by a bomb. At least ten people were struggling with the security team to get through one of the entrance gates. Even the security team, which was built with muscle, could no longer withstand the reckless people. Sweating profusely, the security team leader pleaded.
“I told Shin Lee Joo to come down, so stay out. Okay?”
“How can we believe that! Shin Lee Joo, bring her to us quickly!”
“It’s dangerous! Get out!”
Lee Joo, who had been hesitating, came out of the gate to calm the situation. People saw Lee Joo between the security team members and reached out to them like moths to a flame.
“Lee Joo, you come here!”
“Why aren’t you answering our calls?”
“We only trust you, how can you betray us?”
As the people pushed forward, the security team members eventually dispersed to the sides. The hometown people surrounded Lee Joo. The onlookers gathered in the lobby all whispered and glanced at Lee Joo. It was the company she had worked for a year. Everyone who knew her face knew her.
“This is the company. Go outside and talk.”
“You must know that what you did was a dirty thing. Then we can’t go any further.”
The villagers put their hands on their waists, as if they were planning to stay down. The owner of the restaurant in the village pointed a finger at Lee Joo’s face.
“How are you going to pay back the money your father borrowed from us?”
“It’s money my father borrowed, not me.”
The owner rolled up her sleeves as if she was proud and took a step closer to Lee Joo.
“Your father had a very lucky death. He spent all our money and threw himself into the warm waters of the Han River when the weather was good.”
“Ma’am.”
“But we are different from your father. We have a sense of responsibility. We have to feed our children. I want to die like your father, but I’m so terrified thinking of my son that I can’t even put my nose in a bowl of water!”
It hadn’t even been a month since she sent her father away. When the ruckus ended, people she didn’t even know were clamoring for Lee Joo to give up his money. It was a debt of unknown origin, and although she had already renounced the inheritance of the debt, they wouldn’t listen.
“I don’t have that money. I told you.”
“You said you paid the village chief back. Do you understand that this is discrimination?”
“The village chief had a loan certificate, and he was not feeling well, so he needed money…”
The owner hit Lee Joo’s chest with her strong palm. Lee Joo’s two legs lost their balance, and she faltered and stepped back. The owner ran to Lee Joo without paying attention.
“We lent you money because we trusted your father, but since you don’t have a loan certificate, you’re going to leave?”
Lee Joo’s lips, which had been parted, closed. People’s glares filled with contempt and disdain poured down on her. A week ago, her mother, who had not been able to recover from the shock of losing her father, collapsed from cerebral hemorrhage. She was rushed into the operating room and had to endure paralysis on her left side that she would never be able to recover from. The one who wanted to cry right now was not the people who had lost their money, but Lee Joo, who did not feel the obligation to pay it back.
“Everyone, come out!”
When the thunderous voice of Real Estate Agent Kim was heard, the townspeople split in two like the Red Sea. When he turned his head to face them, a transparent stream of water sprayed toward her face. As the ice-cold water splashed on her body, Lee Joo froze, unable to do anything.
“Gyaaak!”
The company employees who had been watching stepped back in shock. Mr. Kim threw the blue bucket he was holding onto the floor.
“Get splashed with cold water and come to your senses! You rotten X!”
With a thud, the bucket rolled on the marble floor and touched Lee Joo’s feet. Water dripped down her long hair and onto the floor. The water that had soaked her body was full of a foul smell.
