Chapter : 02
Ju-hye took a gulp of cold water and struggled to calm the nausea still churning in her chest.
She had only just stopped crying. Sitting across from her, Dae-hyun held a glass of whiskey in his hand.
Even though dawn was already passing, there was no trace of fatigue on his face. Perhaps the sudden mention of divorce had made his mind go cold.
“Divorce…”
Dae-hyun murmured quietly, tapping the rim of the whiskey glass with his fingertips. Tap. Tap. With each sound, Ju-hye’s heart thudded in response.
He looked like someone hearing this for the first time, and somehow, that made her feel bitter.
‘Dae-hyun. Let’s get a divorce.’
Just an hour ago.
Ju-hye had looked up at Dae-hyun, who had returned home late at night, and firmly proposed divorce.
Since she had never shown tears in front of him before, she assumed he would naturally take her words seriously.
“I’m curious about the reason.”
But Seo Dae-hyun, wearing an utterly indifferent expression, rested his chin on his hand and asked for a reason as if it were nothing. The orange light above the table cast an elegant shadow along his tilted face.
Ju-hye lowered her head, as though turning away for the first time from the face she had once watched every day with a fluttering heart.
She failed to notice his brows crease in displeasure at that moment.
“Because you forgot.”
What kind of expression was Dae-hyun wearing as he looked at her?
“Forgot? Forgot what?”
In her mind, the face of a young woman bubbled up again like foam. It was simple, yet not a reason she could easily voice. Instead, she chose to explain only the result derived from that cause.
“The reason why I came to love you.”
Did he truly want to know the reason in the first place?
Was he simply asking back because he didn’t know how to respond?
Ju-hye couldn’t be certain of anything behind Dae-hyun’s question.
Jin Ju-hye had endured nearly two years of married life, hoping Seo Dae-hyun would remember her. No—she had tried to endure, but ultimately failed.
The responsibility lay entirely with Seo Dae-hyun. He had betrayed this contract.
She offered him benefits; he offered her a little love… It should have been such an easy transaction.
“When I forgot the reason, the purpose disappeared too.”
When she married Dae-hyun, she knew he had proposed with her social background in mind. Knowing that, she still naïvely accepted the proposal, hoping only for his love.
Even after marriage, she moved in ways that could help him as much as possible, lived quietly, and tried not to go against his goals.
Seo Dae-hyun chose her for profit, but she believed that as they lived together, even he might change a little.
People could feel affection even for a dandelion blooming through asphalt. Surely, everyone had at least that much warmth.
“They say many couples live like this, but no matter how much I think about it… I don’t have the confidence to live like this until I die.”
What Ju-hye had overlooked, however, was loneliness.
Even though she knew well how indifferent Dae-hyun was, sometimes she felt a piercing loneliness even while standing by his side. Every time she heard his dry whisper of “I love you,” doubt crept in first.
Is that love really real?
Is my existence just a reward given because I’m useful to him?
Because she believed this marriage was born of her own desire from the start, Ju-hye carried guilt over this outcome.
Guilt for having accepted Dae-hyun’s love gladly while doubting it.
If she hadn’t chosen marriage back then, she wouldn’t be feeling this emptiness now.
“I won’t resent you. Just please proceed with the divorce quickly.”
“……”
“I’ll talk to Father myself. I’ll say we fought a few times over personality differences. He’ll understand.”
Ironically, Ju-hye still loved Dae-hyun, and she didn’t want to make a scene by publicly exposing his affair during the divorce.
She also didn’t want to see the moment when the man she loved confessed with his own lips that he had a mistress.
“I’ll make sure it’s handled quietly so there’s no disadvantage to you.”
“Is that truly what you mean?”
Seo Dae-hyun’s voice came calmly.
He was a man with little emotional fluctuation, always appearing relaxed. She liked that about him, but it was often painful because he was so hard to read.
It was probably the same now. Facing his indifferent expression even while bringing up divorce would only hurt her.
Without lifting her head, Ju-hye answered simply.
“…Yes. I mean it.”
After all, Dae-hyun had never remembered her, and he never would.
The two memories they had coincidentally shared existed only for Ju-hye. For him, they didn’t exist at all.
For Ju-hye, it had been a love like fate; for Dae-hyun, merely a contract for profit.
“Ju-hye.”
At that moment, Dae-hyun whispered softly.
Startled, Ju-hye lifted her head. She couldn’t even remember the last time he had called her name with such tenderness.
“Did you get another man?”
But unlike the gentle tone, the content was devastating.
“What… did you just say?”
Ju-hye stared at him with wide eyes, doubting her ears. Her red, full lips parted blankly, and her slightly swollen eyes reddened again.
Dae-hyun’s gaze lingered on her before drifting away.
“Otherwise, there’s no basis to support such a sudden proposal.”
A look Ju-hye had never seen before appeared on her husband’s face.
The composed, neatly arranged blankness was gone, replaced by something almost anxious.
“Answer me again. Do you really want a divorce?”
Facing this unfamiliar expression of Dae-hyun’s, Ju-hye struggled to steady her trembling heart.
“Yes. Please divorce me.”
At her unwanted confirmation, Dae-hyun slowly raised one eyebrow.
Ju-hye didn’t back down and met his gaze head-on. At her unwavering, resolute eyes, Dae-hyun’s lips twisted.
“You’ve probably heard plenty, but there’s a cooling-off period for divorce.”
A cooling-off period?
At the unexpected words, Ju-hye frowned. His voice remained calm, but his eyes flickered darker than usual.
“That’s all just formal nonsense, isn’t it? Basically an unnecessary procedure—”
“That nonsense has become necessary for me right now, so I intend to follow it.”
She was confused. Dae-hyun’s reaction was the complete opposite of what she had expected.
Trying to remain composed, she shot back a question.
“Why, exactly?”
What need does that formality have for someone who doesn’t love me?
It was a long question compressed into a single sentence.
Faced with the desperation underlying it, Dae-hyun enunciated his reason clearly.
“Because I don’t want to divorce you.”
With that unfamiliar expression—the one she had loved so much she could almost be fooled again, the one she had longed for through changing seasons—
“So…”
Seo Dae-hyun earnestly asked Jin Ju-hye for one act of mercy.
“Give me a chance.”
The man’s jet-black eyes, set in sharp features with a languid impression, were deep like a swamp.
As if he could easily draw out the remaining love in her heart at any moment.
“I’ll try.”
Seo Dae-hyun’s cruelty lay precisely in that gentleness. He was kind, yet cold.
Gentle coldness—what a contradictory phrase, yet he was exactly that kind of man.
Why?
Faced with the sudden turn of events, Ju-hye bit hard into the inside of her mouth. Her usually blunt husband, showing a side she had never seen before, shook her heart. She couldn’t deny it.
He says he’ll try. Without even knowing the exact reason. Without knowing that I’ve found out…
How much had she suffered alone before bringing up divorce?
If she had decided to close her eyes because she couldn’t bear the truth, then she should never open them again.
Even if that meant enduring the misery of continuing a marriage while turning a blind eye to his affair.
Don’t waver because of a moment’s emotion, Jin Ju-hye. You promised yourself.
There was no value in continuing the conversation. She had suffered enough already.
“I have nothing more to say.”
Ju-hye sprang up from her chair and turned away. Dae-hyun also stood and approached her. She flinched and froze when he blocked her path.
“I made a dinner reservation in Cheongdam tomorrow.”
With only the table lamp on, the living room was dark. Unable to clearly see his expression, Dae-hyun reminded her of the plan like a declaration of war—the anniversary dinner she had heard about earlier from Manager Jung.
“I’ll send Manager Jung, so don’t be late.”
“I already promised to have lunch with Joo-young unni tomorrow. Don’t wait for me.”
“It’s a dinner reservation, so it doesn’t matter.”
Though Ju-hye replied coldly, Dae-hyun’s attitude didn’t change.
As he came closer, Ju-hye stepped back hesitantly. When the light finally reached her vision, she could see his face clearly.
“I’ll wait.”
The man’s eyes, looking down at her as if he might devour her, said it plainly.
Whether she came back late or early… either way, he would wait until the end. Whatever she chose was her freedom.
His gaze was one that seemed to hand over the knife, yet never doubted she would ultimately choose him.
When she met those calm eyes, Ju-hye sometimes felt as though Dae-hyun could see straight through her.
“Dae-hyun, I—”
The moment she opened her lips to argue, a large hand suddenly wrapped around Ju-hye’s waist and pulled her toward him.
