Chapter 4
My Friend’s Woman
“Haa…”
A breath escaped her lips — sharp, heavy, and full of disbelief.
Tears streamed down both of Yeoul’s cheeks.
“How… how could this…”
The words barely came out. Her mind was a wreck — like the aftermath of a storm tearing through everything in its path.
“I tried so hard to endure it…”
Her married life had not just been hellish — it was hell itself.
It had been painful, exhausting, and cruel.
But above all, it had been unbearably lonely.
‘Just do as Mother says.’
‘She’s always right, so don’t argue — just listen.’
More than Song-hwa’s harsh words or the oppressive authority she wielded as mother-in-law, it was Seung-tae’s silence that broke her.
‘I should’ve never married you.’
‘You ruined my life.’
Whenever he came home drunk, he would mutter those words — that marrying her had been a mistake.
Every time, she told herself it was because he was tired. That he didn’t mean it.
She forced herself to believe that lie.
She had been such a fool.
He never loved me to begin with. Thinking my efforts could change that… that would’ve been the real miracle.
Now she understood.
What she’d endured wasn’t marriage.
It was a tool — a tool for Seung-tae to feed his inferiority complex.
“So that’s why you didn’t care. Even when I cried, even when I broke…”
She let out a bitter laugh.
How could she have never once doubted him?
There had been so many signs — countless clues right in front of her.
She could’ve figured it out so easily… if she’d just allowed herself to think.
Anger rose — not toward him, but toward herself.
With a rough motion, Yeoul wiped her tear-stained cheeks.
“I’ll never forgive you.”
Revenge?
Before meeting Seung-tae again, she hadn’t cared about revenge.
Even when she had returned to the past, she hadn’t planned on vengeance.
Sure, she resented Song-hwa for everything she’d done, but in this timeline, none of it had happened yet.
So she thought avoiding marriage, avoiding him, would be enough. That she could escape that wretched life.
She hadn’t planned revenge.
After all, there’s that saying — ‘The best revenge is to be happy.’
She didn’t know who said it, but she had tried to live by it.
She even wrote a bucket list — reclaiming all the things she’d given up for marriage.
She thought that would be enough.
But she’d been so naïve.
So, she changed her mind.
It wasn’t enough to just walk away.
She would make him pay — for every lie, every deception, every ounce of pain he caused.
Then, her phone began to vibrate inside her bag.
The caller ID flashed a name — Seung-tae.
Her eyes burned like fire.
“Kim Seung-tae… I’ll never forgive you. I’ll make you live through the same hell I did. I’ll break you — no matter what it takes.”
Even if that revenge destroyed her too.
She shoved the still-ringing phone back into her bag.
It kept vibrating relentlessly, but she ignored it and walked on.
“Haa…”
Yeoul stood in front of the Seodo Group’s towering headquarters, its top lost in the sky.
She hadn’t slept a wink.
Her fury had burned through the night, piling up until it felt as heavy as a mountain.
She had spent all night thinking — and thinking again — of how to take revenge.
And in the end, only one answer came to her.
Ha Gun-woo.
So, as soon as morning came, she went straight to Seodo Group’s main building to find him.
She didn’t have his number — there was no other way but to show up in person.
“It all started with Gun-woo… so it should end with Gun-woo.”
Seung-tae’s inferiority complex toward Gun-woo.
Because of that pathetic jealousy, her entire life had been ruined.
So the best revenge… would be to use the very man Seung-tae envied most.
“I can do this. I have to.”
Taking a deep breath, Yeoul stepped forward.
“May I help you?”
As she entered the grand lobby of Seodo Group, a polite receptionist rose from her desk with a bright smile.
“Um…”
Yeoul hesitated. How was she even supposed to ask?
But she couldn’t stand there forever. She swallowed hard and spoke.
“I… I don’t know his exact title, but I’m here to see Ha Gun-woo.”
The receptionist’s brows lifted slightly — understandable, since it sounded odd to know someone’s name but not their position.
And that name…
Ha Gun-woo.
The third son of the Seodo Group’s chairman.
Yeoul’s confidence wavered, and she glanced nervously at the woman’s face, afraid she might be dismissed as some crazy fangirl.
Fortunately, the receptionist’s smile remained kind.
“Do you mean Assistant Manager Ha Gun-woo?”
“Yes, Assistant Manager Ha Gun-woo.”
Yeoul nodded quickly, trying to sound as natural as possible — as if to prove she really knew him.
“May I ask who you are?”
“I’m a junior from college.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“No.”
“Without an appointment, it may be difficult to see him.”
“Please… could you just tell him Kang Yeoul is here to see him? If he refuses, I’ll leave right away. Please, just tell him once — just once.”
“…Alright. I’ll let him know.”
Maybe it was the desperation in Yeoul’s voice, but the receptionist paused, then picked up the phone.
Her palms grew clammy as she waited, her mouth dry.
A few seconds passed.
Then the receptionist spoke.
“Assistant Manager, this is the front desk. Miss Kang Yeoul is here to see you. Ah, yes. Understood.”
So soon?
She’d barely said his name before the call ended.
Yeoul’s eyes widened.
The receptionist set the receiver down and looked up.
“He said he’ll come down himself. Please wait right here — he asked that you don’t leave.”
Don’t leave?
That word “please” caught her off guard.
What had Gun-woo said to make her emphasize it like that?
“…Alright.”
Curiosity itched at her, but she didn’t ask.
Instead, she stepped aside to wait.
So, back then, he was still an assistant manager.
The thought made her smile faintly.
It felt strange and oddly comforting to learn something new about him.
I really didn’t know much about him, did I?
From the moment she started dating Seung-tae at twenty, Gun-woo had always been around — tagging along on their dates, hanging out with them.
And yet, all she’d ever known about him were four things:
His name.
His school.
His major.
His age.
That was it.
She hadn’t even known he was the chairman’s third son until after marriage — when news outlets praised his achievements at Seodo Group’s U.S. branch.
It hadn’t been Seung-tae who told her.
So he hid it on purpose… out of that same stupid jealousy.
Gun-woo and Seung-tae had gone to the same high school and college.
Gun-woo was always top of the class — first place, every time.
Seung-tae used to joke that he was “forever second.”
Back then, she thought he was just being modest — complimenting his friend.
Now, she knew better.
It wasn’t modesty. It was envy — pure and ugly.
Just then—
“So it really is you, Kang Yeoul.”
That familiar voice made her spin around in shock.
There he was.
Ha Gun-woo.
He stood there, slightly out of breath, eyes wide as if he couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.
Like she couldn’t believe it either.
Wow… it really is Ha Gun-woo.
For some reason, the words he’d just said echoed in her head in the same tone.
It felt unreal — almost magical — that the man standing before her was truly him.
He looked both familiar and different.
His face was the same… but there was something new about him.
Something that made her heart tremble.
“Hello, Gun-woo.”
She managed a soft smile.
“I’m sorry for showing up without notice.”
“It’s fine.”
“I didn’t have your number anymore, so I had no other choice but to come here like this. I hope I didn’t cause trouble.”
“It’s not trouble,” he said quietly, his tone low but firm.
And then—
Yeoul…
He swallowed the rest of his words.
Because what he wanted to say could never be said aloud.
She could never know.
That he carried feelings for his friend’s woman.
