ASDR 01

Chapter : 01

The woman standing before her husband was dazzlingly beautiful.

No—more beautiful still was her husband’s face as he looked down at the woman, a faint smile playing on his lips. The sight of the two of them smiling at each other was enough to make her dizzy for a moment.

“That concludes my report… Madam.”

The sound of rain pounding against the windows was loud. As if announcing the start of the sweltering summer, the rain that had begun the night before showed no sign of stopping.

The scene she had witnessed by chance that morning refused to leave Juhye’s mind.

“Madam?”

Juhye stared blankly out the window, blinking, when it suddenly occurred to her that tomorrow was their wedding anniversary.

To witness her husband’s affair on the eve of their anniversary—what kind of farce was this?

“Madam, is something the matter?”

A middle-aged man who had been reporting beside her spoke cautiously. He was the chief secretary, dressed neatly in a suit.

Juhye flinched and finally turned to look at him.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Director Jung. What did you say?”

At her flustered expression, the man adjusted the documents in his hands. He had found it odd earlier, and now it was clear—she hadn’t been listening.

“I said that the remodeling of the East Wing of Jinju Arboretum has been completed and that a commemorative ceremony is scheduled. If there was anything unclear in my explanation—”

Juhye pressed her right hand to her forehead and offered an apologetic look.

“No, no. It’s not that. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

The chief secretary studied her face carefully. Normally he would have let it pass, but today her complexion was unusually pale.

“You don’t look well.”

“My stomach feels a bit unsettled. I suppose it’s because I haven’t been sleeping properly lately… I’m fine.”

“If you’re unwell, I’ll call Professor Kim right away.”

Director Jung whispered with a worried expression, as if ready to summon her personal physician at once.

“It’s not that serious.”

Juhye shook her head, forcing a faint smile onto her bloodless face. She didn’t want to cause unnecessary commotion.

If her condition reached her ever-worried father’s ears, she might end up revealing what she had seen today as well. That would interfere with her husband’s work.

Even now, I’m worried about him… How foolish can I be?

Perhaps love was a kind of illness.

A severe one that buried sound judgment deep in a pit of sin.

A disease like a trap—one that made you blind yourself and step into hell, even knowing from the start that this marriage was the product of only half a love.

“If you give me the report, I’ll review it again.”

“Yes, Madam. And the CEO asked me to inform you that he has reserved dinner tomorrow evening in Cheongdam-dong.”

It was meant to be a celebration of their wedding anniversary. Unaware of the darkness settling over Juhye’s face, the chief secretary brought over a lavish flower basket and placed it on the table behind her.

The roses filling the basket swayed luxuriantly. Their rich fragrance brushed sweetly against her nose, but Juhye deliberately averted her gaze and asked,

“…What is this?”

“It’s a bouquet from the CEO. He said he has a formal dinner appointment with CEO Chae of the Rowan Hotel this evening and will be home late, so he asked me repeatedly to send this to you first.”

The chief secretary smiled innocently, unaware of Juhye’s turbulent thoughts. His eyes reflected the belief that his employer truly adored his wife.

After hesitating, Juhye picked up the card tucked among the flowers.

[Happy 2nd Wedding Anniversary]

The message was so stiff that one might believe it had been sent by a stranger.

But Juhye knew this was the best her husband could do. He had always been sparing with expressions, awkward and lacking in that way.

“You can really feel how much the CEO cherishes you.”

At the secretary’s gentle praise, Juhye’s gaze dropped even lower.

“Director Jung.”

“Yes, Madam?”

“Director Jung, are you…”

His person—or mine?

Juhye pondered the childish question for a moment. He had taken the position as her secretary at her husband’s recommendation, so strictly speaking, he belonged to her husband.

Which meant that even if she told him what she had witnessed today, there was no guarantee he would take her side.

“You may go now.”

In the end, Juhye dismissed him with an awkward smile. The chief secretary left, and after staring at the closed door, Juhye set the card down.

Outside the window, the heavy rain continued to dye the city gray. The gloomy weather mirrored her own melancholy.

“……”

Her fingers wandered across the table and touched a picture frame. It was one she had personally brought in on her first day working in this office.

In the photo, Juhye smiled brightly in her wedding dress, while the man beside her gazed calmly at the camera.

Seo Daehyun.

He was the CEO of Jinju Construction, the director of Jinju Arboretum, the husband of Jinju Hye—the youngest daughter of Jinju Construction chairman Jin Su-cheol—and her one and only first love.

First… I should find a lawyer.

Juhye staggered to her feet after knocking the frame over. Seeing their overturned wedding photo filled her with despair, yet strangely, her mind was cold and clear.

As if she had foreseen this moment from the very day she promised marriage to Seo Daehyun.

“Ms. Jin Juhye, I’ll be honest with you. Right now, I need backing.”

Juhye still remembered that day vividly—the day of the Jinju Construction anniversary ceremony, followed by a party.

The dry, cold words he whispered while holding a glass on the ocean-view terrace.

“I have neither the time nor the luxury to waste on trivial romance. I have the responsibility of inheriting the family business, and the ambition to rise higher.”

From the day they sat next to each other in a university lecture hall, to the day they ran into each other on the Inwangsan hiking trail—

That day was the third time Jin Juhye and Seo Daehyun had met.

“If I were to see a woman, she would have to be someone who benefits me.”

Why did it have to be that day?

Juhye was exhausted from the endless blind dates her father kept pushing on her.

She was secretly envious of her cousin Jin Juyoung’s love marriage, and her heart had skipped a beat when she ran into Seo Daehyun at the party.

“Can you be a benefit to me?”

It was an unbearably arrogant question. She had merely asked if they could meet privately sometime, yet his response was absurdly serious.

“That is…”

“I only need an excuse.”

Of course, Juhye hadn’t approached him lightly either. Before speaking to the lone Seo Daehyun on the terrace, she had downed several glasses of champagne to gather her courage.

When she realized he didn’t remember her at all, she needed even more courage.

“Without even such an excuse… I’m not in a position to casually meet someone like you, Ms. Juhye.”

Seo Daehyun didn’t remember that he had already met Jin Juhye in the past. He only knew, thanks to the party, what kind of social standing the woman before him held.

An answer was needed—even an excuse would do. Whether from nerves or love-blinded foolishness, Juhye answered the ridiculous question sincerely.

“Yes. I can be a benefit.”

She shouldn’t have believed in fate, but she was strangely weak to chains of coincidence. Regrets over missed chances to grow closer to Daehyun in the past weighed heavily on her.

Along with a stubborn desire to finally leave an impression on him this time…

“I’ll give you an excuse. So please—let’s try meeting seriously, Seo Daehyun.”

The fear that if she missed him again, there might never be another chance wrapped tightly around her heart.

And so, that foolish choice was made.

The sound of the front door closing quietly echoed through the house.

Sensing his presence, Juhye slowly stopped crying.

The last sob might have reached his ears, but she didn’t really care. Just trying to steady her exhausted heart was draining enough.

Thinking, as usual, that Juhye had fallen asleep first, Seo Daehyun quietly took off his shoes and loosened his tie. As he placed the watch he had taken off last onto the edge of the cabinet, he froze.

He had finally noticed.

His wife, sitting alone on the darkened living room sofa, a framed wedding photo resting on her knees, staring blankly at the floor.

“……”

His footsteps drew closer. Juhye sensed him too, but didn’t lift her head.

Though she hadn’t said a word, Daehyun somehow immediately realized something was wrong and reached out his hand.

His fingers hovered in the air for a moment before touching her pale cheek. He instantly realized her face was soaked with tears.

“What’s wrong, honey?”

Only then did Juhye look up at him with tear-filled eyes. When their gazes met, Daehyun’s face hardened sharply.

The only time he had ever seen her cry was on their wedding day—it was only natural he was shocked.

“What happened?”

His voice dropped even lower as he asked, but all that escaped Juhye was a sigh tightly wrapped around sorrow.

With great effort, she added a faint murmur.

“Daehyun.”

Somehow pitiful, heartbreaking, frustrating for reasons unknown…

“Do you love me?”

Juhye looked at him with eyes swollen red and stained with tears. At the sight of her wounded expression as she asked, Daehyun furrowed his brow.

“Of course. You know how I feel.”

No. I don’t.

I still don’t know.

I can’t even read what’s in your head right now…

“What on earth is going on? Did someone come by?”

Despite Daehyun’s puzzled question, Juhye couldn’t answer. The fear of facing the truth was far too great for her to open her mouth.

If that woman really was Daehyun’s mistress, then what?

“I have neither the time nor the luxury to waste on trivial romance.”

Was that woman someone who held value for him—even as nothing more than a trivial romance?

“Juhye.”

The low call struck painfully at her chest. She felt ashamed of the time she had lived under the happy illusion that love must be hidden somewhere in that indifferent voice.

If Daehyun acknowledged the existence of his mistress with his own lips, this moment would remain a nightmare in her memory forever.

It would be no different from confirming that he had never loved her in the first place.

“Daehyun.”

If that were the case… then perhaps it was better to—

“Let’s get a divorce.”

Juhye chose to willingly close her eyes before the truth she had witnessed.

So that she wouldn’t have to feel an even greater misery than this.