Three years ago.

 

Yunseul leaned his head and looked into the vivid blue sky.

 

For a moment, she forgot about her situation and was mesmerized by the dazzlingly beautiful sky.

 

A soft breeze stroked her face, and her lips curled into a smile.

 

“Miss, you should go in.”

 

A familiar voice behind me snapped me back to reality.

 

I lowered my head to the sky and stiffened my back.

 

I took a deep breath and walked into the hotel.

 

Today was the day I would see the line I’d been putting off for so long, so I was being forced to stand.

 

It’s almost ridiculous that I thought the blue sky was pretty, given the subject matter.

 

Besides, maybe, just maybe, something pleasant would happen.

 

I felt a piercing gaze on my back.

 

……It couldn’t be.

 

The corners of Yunseul’s mouth fell back into place.

 

Her father’s secretary monitors her closely.

 

She reports every little thing to him.

 

Probably even how many times she goes to the restroom.

 

I stood hard and walked through the hotel lobby.

 

The sound of her shoes hitting the floor echoed with each step she took.

 

The secretary stepped into the elevator before her and pushed the button for the highest floor.

 

YunSeul stepped into the elevator and pressed the close button.

 

Clutching her bag, she stared straight ahead. Yeah, this is nothing, she could do everything for her mom.

 

Her eyes filled with so much pain as he thought of his mom.

 

“Ma’am.”   

 

Thinking about my mom, I didn’t even realize I’d arrived at the showroom.

 

I stepped off the elevator, this time with the help of an assistant.   

 

“I’ll be here.” 

 

“Okay.”   

 

The truth was, she wanted to run away, but Yunseul had always never given up.

 

At first, I resisted my father’s order to get married.

 

But, once again, she gave in. She had walked here of her own accord to marry a faceless man because her father wanted her to.

 

For the sake of my mother, I would do it again and again.   

 

When I asked my father who his opponent for today’s sun bowl was, he didn’t tell me, but my step sister, Ina, gave me a sarcastic hint about her opponent last night.

 

‘You’re showing off with the vice president of Seoju Group.

 

Didn’t your dad tell you that he’s the famous Seo Ji-hyuk?’

 

Seo Ji-hyuk was someone she had heard of.

 

It wasn’t until Ina told her that she realized that her father was really trying to sell her for money.

 

It wasn’t anything new, but it made her feel sad, so she worked hard all night.

 

I suppressed it.

 

Her father had told her to be grateful that she was going to marry into a good family.

Yunseul’s lips twitched upward, wondering what he’d expected after what he’d been through.

She furrowed his brow in frustration to think that the reason he’d threatened my mother was to marry her off to a man like that.

 

“You have a reservation?”

 

“Yes, I’m Yunseul.” 

 

“Follow me.”

 

I was escorted by the waiter to the most private room in the restaurant.

 

I gave a fake smile and bowed my head slightly to the waiter who opened the door for me after I knocked.

 

Once inside, the door closed behind my back.

 

The large windows were the first thing that caught my eye, and.

 

 “…………..”

 

You make eye contact with the man at the table.   

 

“…Hi. I’m Yunseul.”   

 

Yunseul says hello and sits down across from the man.

 

 His emotionless eyes lazily scanned her face.

 

 I swallowed hard, feeling my throat burn as I just stared.

 

Yunseul’s face, which was as white as a sheet, turned blue.   

 

“Seo Ji-hyuk.”   

 

There were many rumors about Seo Ji-hyuk, one of which was that he was gay because he hated women, and another that he loved women so much that he would never pick up a woman he hadn’t picked up before.

 

There were so many other rumors about him, like hitting women and having sex with two or three people at a time, that I couldn’t even remember them all.

 

Among the many rumors, these two, that he was either gay or had a strong preference for women, were the most common, but why?

For a man with so many rumors, he seemed so stoic that Yunseul’s jet-black eyes twitched.

It would be more reassuring if it said he was a bad guy on the outside, but this is like looking into the dark sea at night.

 

There’s no way to know what’s under the sea because he doesn’t reveal much. 

 

Anxiety coursed through her body as Seo Ji-hyuk closed his mouth tightly after saying his name.

 

Yun-seul’s trembling eyes slowly clung to Seo Ji-hyuk’s face.

 

His pupils darted about as if trying to gauge his intentions.

 

On the surface, he looked like he could be trusted even if all the rumors were false.

 

Moreover, he didn’t dare to imagine Seo Ji-hyuk disheveled.

 

“Let’s skip the rice.” 

 

“What?”

 

“You didn’t come out to eat, did you?”

 

“…Yes, you can do that.

 

” He was right.

 

He hadn’t come out to eat with Seo Ji-hyuk.

 

Taking a slow breath, Yunseul’s eyes hardened.

 

It didn’t matter what kind of man Seo Ji-hyuk was, whether he was a woman-beater or a man-lover, there were women lining up to sleep with him or herself who had nothing to do with it; she just had to marry this man.

 

So, if I could keep my mom…….

 

As long as she could do that, she didn’t care what happened to herself.

 

Thinking of her, she steeled herself, slipping her trembling hands under the table and clasping them together.   

 

“They must have known I was coming.” 

 

“……………….”

 

“Seeing as how you’re not surprised by my name.”   

 

Yunseul clamped her mouth shut.

 

It didn’t matter if he was Seo Ji-hyuk or not.

 

Even if there was a criminal in the room, it didn’t change her intention to marry him.   

 

“…Of course.”

 

So, she didn’t even wonder what Seo Ji-hyuk had swallowed in his mouth.

 

She only thought of what she had to do. To tell him that she would marry him today.

 

if you want to get married.

 

Either that, or tell him you’d like to meet him on the condition of marriage.

 

I tried to organize in my head what I should say to Seo Ji-hyuk, a man I’ve never met and whose rumors are flying.

 

“We haven’t even met, and your family is already acting like it’s a done deal.

 

Is there any reason to rush into marriage?”

 

“…………..”

 

This time I didn’t answer because I didn’t have an answer.

 

It must be urgent if he’s threatening my mom, too.

 

Should I have said it was urgent?

 

“It doesn’t look like I’m lacking anything…….”

 

 I didn’t say it to myself. I stared at Seo Ji-hyuk’s lips as he muttered to himself.   

 

“Is there a flaw?”

 

Unlike a moment ago, when he was completely devoid of emotion, he was acting like someone who wanted to hurt him on purpose.

 

The look on Seo Ji-hyuk’s face made him wish she could reject him, but Yunseul couldn’t, and she stubbornly lowered her eyes as if she wasn’t hurt by his words.   

 

“I’m here because I want to marry you, Mr. Seo Ji-hyuk.”   

 

Suddenly, Seo Ji-hyuk’s eyes sharpened.

 

I’m nervous and scared, but I can’t back down.

 

Yunseul’s face went blank like a doll.

 

Leaning back in his chair, his mouth bursts open in disbelief, and his intense eyes stares at me from head to toe. 

 

She swallowed hard and looked him in the eye.

 

Her lips twisted up slowly, and she realized Seo Ji-hyuk’s true self was a beast with hidden claws.

 

“Don’t want my heart.”

 

“I mean, don’t think I want anything from you.” 

 

“…………”

 

“I mean, if we get married, it’s just for looks, and don’t think about wanting anything else from you.”

 

I had no intention of wanting his heart.

 

“If you marry me, you’ll only be unhappy.”   

 

“ It would only hurt you,”

 

he added, giving him a fake smile as he waited for her answer. 

 

Does he have a woman…?

 

I guessed he might, since both my father and stepmother did.

 

Even if he did have a woman, it didn’t matter.

 

Wasn’t that common on this side of the world?

 

I forced my shaky eyes to focus.

 

I thought of my mom.

 

He’d said he’d leave her out of it this time, and now that he had the memorandum, he couldn’t change his mind.   

 

“I warned you it would be unhappy, but if you don’t mind, let’s get married.”

 

The words came out of his mouth so easily that Yunseul blinked, speechless.   

 

“I can’t be bothered to show up every time either.”

 

…Is that a good thing?

 

“Once again, you’re going to be unhappy.”

 

My life was hell anyway. How much more unhappy would I be?

 

Yunseul nodded.   

 

“If you’re going to be unhappy, why do you look so happy?”

 

His eyes narrowed.

 

Yunseul controlled her expression.

 

She’d been separated from her mother at a young age and sent to live with her father, so she’d learned to put on a mask.

 

I quickly wiped the look off her face and she clicked her tongue.

 

“For the record, I don’t want to have kids.”

 

That’s what I thought.   

 

“You mean you don’t want to get pregnant.” 

 

“…Okay.”   

 

I pressed the corners of my mouth to hide my relief.

 

“If you do, erase it, but I’ll be careful.”

 

…Careful?

 

I narrowed my eyes, not sure what he meant by careful.

 

The corners of his mouth loosen, as if he likes what he sees.

 

I don’t know what words will flow from his lips, but somehow, I don’t want to hear them.  

 

 “Alas, I intend to release my libido.

 

If I don’t do that, what’s the point of marrying you?”

 

…I thought he had a girlfriend of course, didn’t he?”

 

“Pfft.

 

Does Ms. Yun-seul only sleeps with the ones he loves?”

 

 I don’t.”

 

He trails off and laughs wryly.

 

I wonder if the rumors of promiscuity are true.

 

“If you don’t like it, don’t get married. I’m fine with falling down.”

 

 “…I don’t care, I’ll make sure we don’t have kids.”

 

In fact, she didn’t want children herself.

 

 “Are you in such a hurry to get married that you’re going to marry with a man you don’t love?”

 

“…I want to.”   

 

No.

 

“You have to.”   

 

I have to take the card he’s dealt me.

 

“I heard you had a fiancé. Did he get dumped?”

 

Did he do a background check?

 

Is that why he was so rude to begin with? “

 

…You’re the same way.”

 

“What?”

 

“Forget it.

 

When you don’t need me anymore, you’ll dump me too, right?

 

Please tell me before you do, because I think it’s bad for any couple to be dumped without warning.”

 

she was about to say that no one would dare to abandon the successor to the Seoju Group, but then she closed his mouth.

 

There were so many things I wanted to say, but I decided not to, because it would only be an excuse.

 

I lowered my head to hide my glaring eyes. A piercing gaze clung to her forehead, but she couldn’t bring herself to look up.   

 

“I’ve decided, I’ll get up first.”   

 

Without another word, he stood up and left the room.

 

The desired outcome and I don’t know why I’m so bitter.

 

I squeeze my eyes shut as his voice echoes in my head, telling me I’m going to be unhappy.   

 

* * * * * * * * * * * *

 

“Ms. Park has refused to be interviewed.”

 

Yunseul looked at the prison guard with a pale face.

 

She’d refused every time she’d come, so she figured she might refuse this time too.

 

Her mom hadn’t seen her since she was imprisoned for eight years.

 

It had been eight years.

 

The last thing Yunseul remembered was her mother, covered in blood, in the third grade.   

 

“Please ask her one more time.”   

 

The prison guard looked sorry for me, knowing my situation.   

 

“If someone refused to talk to you for eight years, is it any different today?”

 

She looked wistfully at the prison guard who comforted her, saying it was unfortunate but unavoidable.   

 

“Please tell my mother….

 

Please tell her I’m getting married, and that I want to see her before I get married…….”

 

I swallowed hard to keep the tears from falling.

 

She had learned at a young age that crying didn’t change anything.

 

She blinked rapidly.   

 

“Please….”

 

“Uh huh, okay.”   

 

She hasn’t seen her mom in eight years because her mom doesn’t want to see her, she missed her mom so much.

 

Every time she thought of the word mom, it broke her heart.

 

Today, she really wanted to see her mom.

 

The wedding was in less than two weeks.

If she got married, her mom could get out of the prison.

 

I couldn’t tell her that I’d made a deal with my father, so I just wanted to tell her that something good was going to happen, and most of all, she wanted to see her mom.

 

“Park Ji-young wants to meet with you.” 

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, go ahead.

 

She’s limited to 10 minutes for public interviews.”   

 

Ten minutes?

 

Yoon-seul smiled at the prison guard who stamped the interview application and handed it to her as a receipt.

 

“Thank you!”

 

Yunseul’s voice was brighter than ever.

 

 I took the receipt and went to meet my mom.

 

My whole body was sweaty from how nervous I was waiting for her to come out of the interview room.   

 

I wiped the sweat from my palms onto my clothes, but the sweat continued to build up.

 

I couldn’t even sit in the chair and was pacing around.

 

The door on the other side of the tempered glass opened.   

 

“…Mom.”  

 

It was her mother, whom she hadn’t seen in eight years, but Yoon-Seul recognized her at a glance.  

 

 “Mom!”   

 

I shouldn’t cry, I don’t have time to cry, but the tears keep coming.

 

But unlike her own sadness, her mom’s expression was cold.   

 

I sat across from her through the tempered glass.   

 

“You’re getting married?”

 

I wanted to ask her if that was the first thing she’d said to her daughter after eight years?  

 

I wanted to yell at her, that I hadn’t missed her, that I hadn’t think about how she was doing, that I resented her for refusing to see me until now.

 

“I wanted to spill it, but we had less than ten minutes left.”   

 

Yunseul sobbed and pressed her palm against the tempered glass.

 

She wanted to touch her mom, she wanted to break the glass that separated them.

Her fingertips turned white.   

 

“…Mom, how are you?”

 

Mom, who had the warmest eyes in the world, said.

 

“Yeah, I’m good.”

 

My heart sank at the coldness of her tone.

 

I look at my mom, who just stares at me, unconcerned about her daughter’s well-being.   

 

“…Do you know how much I missed you? Do you know how much I…….”   

 

“…I told you to get over it.”   

 

Yunseul shook her head.   

 

“Forget? How can I forget my mom? I missed you. I missed you. I missed you so much….”

 

“Look at me, mom…. Didn’t you miss me, huh? I…….”

 

I’ve missed you so much, it’s been so hard, it’s been so hard, it’s been so hard, but my will to see you has gotten me this far.

 

“Look at me, mom…. Please….”

 

Finally, I burst into tears.

 

I wiped them away, but like a burst dam, there was no way to stop them.

 

I put my mouth close to the microphone and called out to my mom, wondering if she couldn’t hear me because the microphone was turned off.

 

But my mom didn’t move.

 

“Mommy, I’m going to save you. I’m going to save you.”

 

“………….”

 

“So just hang in there, okay?”

 

My mom found out she was pregnant to me after my dad abandoned her.

 

We were living happily, relying on each other, but everything changed when mom got a boyfriend.

 

When Yun-Seul was in middle school, he came home from class and found his mom being beaten by the man.

 

When the drunken man reached for her, she pushed him with all her might, and man fell hitting his head on the corner of the dressing table accidentally and died. 

 

After the man died, her mom went to jail, and she was sent to her biological father.

 

His father says his mom contacted him, but Yun-seul still doesn’t believe it. 

 

Her mom was not the kind of person to push her into hell.

 

She was abused by her stepmother and her half-sister, Ina.

 

Her mom was the only thing that kept her life going.

 

I was determined to get her out of prison one day. 

 

It’s not that I didn’t try to save my mom, I tried lawyers at first, but no one would help me.

 

Everyone in the neighborhood thought she had been beaten to death by that evil man, but then my mom suddenly changed her story. 

 

I found out later that my father made her to do it.

 

He threatened my mom to lock me out of the house for life if my mom didn’t do what he wanted.

 

Yun-seul gave up everything and lived according to his father’s wishes, the last of which was to get married.

 

To get her out, she would have to sacrifice herself, and that sacrifice was nothing.

 

It didn’t matter, as long as she could get her out.   

 

“Don’t do anything. I’m happy the way I am. Forget about me, live your life. There’s no point in getting involved with me. You said you were getting married? Don’t get married because of me..”

 

“Mom!”

 

Then, I wanted to ask you what I should have done?

 

how I can forget you?

 

With each passing day, I feel more and more nostalgic for my mom, so what should I do?

 

……. What can I do to live my life according to my mom’s wishes?

 

I wanted to cry out.

 

“I’ll get you out somehow, just wait.”

 

“…Being in prison means there’s less than a 10% chance of overturning the verdict.”

 

There were so many things she wanted to say, but Yunseul held her mother in her eyes. 

 

Through her frantic sobbing, she finally saw her mother’s face in detail.

 

Unlike eight years ago, her face was full of wrinkles, her shoulders had lost weight, and she had a hand on her chest that looked exactly like her own.

 

“Congratulations on your marriage.”

 

 “…………..”

 

If I was going to get married, I wanted to do it while my mom was around.

 

I used to think vaguely about it.   

 

“I want you to have a good life. I want you to be happy.”

 

“Yeah, have a good life. Live happily ever after.”

 

“And don’t ever come back.”    

 

I stood up and followed my mom as she turned to leave.   

 

“Mommy! Hm…ugh! Mommy!”

 

Mom’s eyes were definitely red.

 

I wondered why ten minutes was so short. Something was wrong with the prison clock.   

 

“…Mom! I’ll make sure…….”  

 

she vowed to protect her mom, just as she protected her.

 

I rushed home because I had a visitation until 4 p.m., but it was still dark when I got home.

 

It was as dark as my heart.

 

She pushed herself through the black gate that greeted her with open arms.    

 

“You met your mom?”

 

She ask,while I’m changing into my slippers at the front door and walking into the living room, where my father, stepmother, and half-sister Ina are sitting on the couch eating fruit.

 

They are a perfect family except for me, so I don’t know why I’m here.

 

Well, I’ll get rid of them soon.

 

Yunseul smiled bitterly and lowered his eyes.   

 

“Will your mom meet me?”

 

“…Yes.”

 

I answered, still standing, unable to sit on the couch.

 

It was her stepmother who drew the line, as if she wasn’t part of the family.

 

She didn’t want her to be in the same room as her father and step sister Ina, so she drew a line in the sand whenever the three of them were together.

 

“What do you want to do with a man like that?”

 

 I didn’t need to be told.

 

“Dad, I’m going to go upstairs.”

 

“What are you doing meeting a murderer?” he said.

 

“Don’t visit your mom again. Don’t you dare go back there!”

 

So far, he hadn’t had any reason to look into himself, but in the future, he would be the heir apparent to the Seoju Group, so he had to be careful.

 

The words stuck in my ears like scabs.   

 

“…I wanted to tell you about the wedding.”

 

 “What’s the point of telling someone who can’t get out anyway?”

 

“When are you going to let out Mom in prison?”

 

Part of me wants you to let me out now.

 

“When you get married, I’ll move your mom to the hospital on the same day.”

 

But maybe this time it’s true.

 

I mean, I wrote an agreement, so I’m not lying.

 

“You shouldn’t go there.” 

 

“Why? Why…!”

 

a shrill voice escaped me.   

 

“Who knows, I’ve been able to erase everything so far, but do you think a group of servants can’t figure that one out?”

 

“…………”

 

“If you get caught. I’ll send your mom somewhere you will never find.

 

Do you think I can’t do it?”

 

No, you’ve done enough.

 

Yunseul’s face twisted.   

 

“You must never tell anyone about your real mother.”

 

Just in case, what if someone found out?

 

…My mom was in danger?

 

“That…. I’ll let you see it when you’re pregnant.”   

 

Yunseul’s eyes widened to tears.  

 

 “…What? What did you just say?”

 

 I thought I misheard.

 

“He said he’d let me see my mom if I got pregnant.”   

 

Yunseul’s eyes slowly closed and opened. She said she didn’t want a child. and a voice tells you to delete the child.

 

No, more than that.  

 

 “Why would my father…. want me to get pregnant?”

 

I realized that marriage wouldn’t end the threat. I looked at him with suspicion in my eyes.  

 

 “If you get pregnant, won’t you forgive me if I get in trouble with your mother later? A man is better off with a child at home, and then he’ll be better off outside.”

 

“What did you promise me?”

 

I wanted to be angry, but I had to hold it in to hear his answer. I steadied my voice, which was threatening to sharpen.  

 

“I need to know, so I can focus on my father.”   

 

Thankfully, my voice came out soft.   

 

“Get pregnant. In three years. That’s the condition.”

 

 “Condition?”

 

“That’s right, the condition is that you give birth to Seo Ji-hyuk’s child.

 

The truth is, neither I nor my in-laws knew that Seo Ji-hyuk would say yes until I put him on the stand.

 

I thought he would refuse, but he said he would marry you.”   

 

Ah…. Something was wrong. There was a condition.

 

 

“…What if I can’t have children?”

 

“You’ll be kicked out, so you’ll have to fight for them, bake them somehow!”  

 

 I nodded at my father, who scowled at me.

 

But inside, she vowed never to get pregnant.

 

Three years and I could get a divorce.

 

And now that she was a daughter-in-law of the Seoju Group, free from her father who monitored her every trip to the bathroom, she could visit her mother wherever she was.

 

She didn’t want to get pregnant, but neither did he.

 

“We’ve even drawn up papers saying you’ll help us give us a baby.

 

It’s not hard to have a baby, you know what he meant.”

 

He meant to get down to business and get pregnant.

 

 “If you do, erase it,”

 

 I could almost hear his voice.

 

He didn’t seem like a man who would change his mind.

 

Three years, just three years, and then I’d be free.

 

I wanted to go live with my mom on a small island somewhere.

 

“Why aren’t you answering!”

 

“Yes, I will try, Father.”   

 

Yunseul replied, and her father looked away.

 

If I don’t get pregnant, what will he do?

 

She forced a smile to form on her lips and took the stairs to her room on the second floor.

 

A few days later, a man named Hyung-nim came to visit.

 

Yunseul sat up straighter at the waist.

 

She strained against her lower stomach, but she couldn’t get comfortable in the gorgeous bell-bottomed wedding dress that didn’t fit her.

 

As the minutes ticked by, it felt like her whole body was being held down.

 

She let out a small sigh, uncomfortable in the dress that felt like it was suffocating her.

 

She should be the happiest bride in the world today, but there was no sign of happiness anywhere on Yunseul’s face.  

 

 “Die, you monster, die!”

 

I’m standing in the bridal waiting room, looking like a caged bird, pretending to be happy and grinning from ear to ear, when a boy comes out of nowhere and starts wielding a toy knife.

 

He slashed his thighs, his calves, over and over again, as if he were a monster.   

 

“Get back, you ugly monster!”

 

the boy, who must have been about four or five years old, shouted, and this time he stabbed her in the stomach with the tip of the toy knife. A panicked Yunseul yelps.

 

I whispered to it to stop, but it didn’t work.

 

It just got louder and louder, screaming at her to get lost. 

 

Yunseul didn’t want it to be loud, and she figured it could be because she didn’t know anything, but.

 

Zzzzzz-.

 

 It looked like it was going to cause an accident, and it did.

 

Her wedding dress snagged on the feet of a running child and ripped.

 

Yunseul looked at the tear in her dress with despairing eyes.

 

Luckily, it wasn’t a big tear, but her eyes widened as she realized that it was somehow showing her my future. 

 

I realized I was clenching my fists as an employee came over to fix the dress.

 

I didn’t understand why I was trying to make it mean something when it could have just been a tear.

 

I smiled at her as he stood there in shock.

 

I try to tell her it’s okay with the shape of my mouth, but she just shakes her head and says,

 

“Huh!

 

“Jun-hyuk!”

 

 He quickly closed his parted lips.   

 

“Mom!”

 

The woman in the bridal suite glances up from the dress she’s fixing and pulls him into her arms.  

 

 “Let’s go.

 

Grandma’s waiting for you.”

 

“Yes! Mom, I kicked your a$s, didn’t I?”

 

“Yes, you did, I’ll kick your a$s so hard so you can’t move!”

 

“I did? Look at that! I ripped it off!”

 

She looked away from the woman who was not telling him not to do it, but actually encouraging him to do it.

 

The woman was her sister-in-law, who had come to visit her not long ago.

 

She was leaving the bridal chamber with an unattended child when she noticed the commotion and smiled.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to do.

 

He’s just a kid, so can you understand?”

 

They make you feel like you’re in trouble if you don’t understand, and they apologize in a way that doesn’t feel sincere at all.  

 

 “…It’s okay.”   

 

Yunseul forced the corner of his mouth up.

 

Before her sister-in-law leaves the bridal waiting room, she turns his head to look at her and smirks wryly. 

 

Yunseul lowered her eyes.

 

It’s okay.

 

After the wedding, my mom will go to the hospital.

 

As much as she missed his mom today, she could handle this.

 

I’ll get through this.

 

She exhaled slowly to steady her breathing. She remembered the first words the woman called Hyung-nim had said to her when she came to visit her,

 

“I just wanted to meet the woman who is going to be my sister-in-law.”

 

She wondered what she knew when she said,

 

 “Are you sure you want to get married?”

 

Without an appointment. It was only a few days ago that my father told me not to tell anyone and that if I did, he would send my mother to a place where I would never see her again.

 

I looked at my sister-in-law’s face to see if she knew about my mother, but she didn’t seem to know anything.

 

Then I glanced at herself.

 

I bit my tongue to keep myself together.

 

“…Yes, I will do it.”

 

I looked at my sister-in law with unwavering eyes to show that I would not back down.

 

I did.  

 

‘I see, Ji-hyuk…

 

I wanted to see the person he’ll marrying up close, because I was sick and couldn’t go to the ceremony.’

 

…Ji-hyuk?

 

Do you usually call your husband’s brother by his first name?

 

It was too natural for that.

 

 ‘I’ve seen your face, so I’ll go.’

 

He looked up at his brother, who had gotten up without touching his coffee, claiming that he had really only come to see her face.

 

‘There are only two daughters-in-law in the Seoju Group, me and you, so please get along.

 

‘ Why? Why, I can smell the same kind of smell as my father from him.

 

Yunseul sat there until his sister-in-law turned away, wishing her well. 

 

The next day. Yun-seul met with her and told her she wanted to get on birth control.

 

Of course, she asked her to keep it a secret from the adults.

 

She said he didn’t want children, so of course he agreed. 

 

Luckily, her father hadn’t given her a secretary when she decided to marry him, so she could get the procedure without him knowing.

 

…… She didn’t need another child to be used like her. 

 

It was a secret she kept to herself, a secret the adults on both sides of the family knew nothing about.   

 

“A double contract?”

 

she shook her head, trying to erase from her mind the parts of the pregnancy contract she didn’t know about, the one her in-laws and his father had made.   

 

There was a frightening silence as the dressmaker exited the bridal waiting room.

 

I remember when his older brother passed away in a car accident, the news was all over the place.

 

When he decided to get married, it turned out that he was in a foreign country and had come to Korea after his brother’s death to take a successor class.   

 

That seemed to be the end of the rumors.

 

After his marriage, he became the president of Seoju Group.

 

His father was proud of his sister-in-law, bragging about her here and there and wanting to meet her, but she was cold to her.

 

…Does he have a girl he loves?

 

 “What does that have to do with me?”

 

He was angry that he was even thinking about it.

 

It was a different world from his own.

 

Sure, her father ran a company that everyone knew by name, but the Seoju Group was something else.

 

She curled her fingertips around herself in disbelief.

 

 …as long as she didn’t get pregnant.

 

Then you’ll be kicked out in three years.

 

I can live with it because it’ll still be hell wherever I go.

 

“Yunseul!”

 

I gasped at the familiar voice.

 

How did I get here…?

 

It was Park Dae-hee, stumbling into the bridal waiting room.

 

Or rather, her ex-fiancé.   

 

“Are you really going to get married?”

 

It was her father’s idea to get engaged to Park Dae-hee, but at her house and, of course, my father sold it without looking back.   

 

“My mom says you’re for sale.”   

 

My mom.

 

My mom says.

 

Mama’s boy, Park Dae-hee, looks for her here too.

 

I was so sick of it.   

 

“Dae-hee, how long have you and I been together and you come here?”

 

 “My mom…. You poor….”

 

I came here because I was being sold to a strange man.

 

I’m so, so tired.

 

“Poor Dae-hee, you cheated on me with my only friend.

 

Why are you so shameless?”

 

 Even if her father hadn’t broken up the marriage, Yun-seul would have ended it with Park Dae-hee.  

 

He should at least be ashamed of himself for showing up naked in Kim Yoon-jin’s apartment, where he’d once been a friend.

 

“I know I’m shameless, but think again.

 

The man you’re going to marry, you said he’s gay.

 

Is this the choice you made because you’re traumatized by me?”

 

Ha, I’m speechless.

 

My head was pounding.  

 

 “Get out of here before I call someone, and even being gay would be better than marrying you.”

 

“What, what? What did you say?”

 

 I’d rather be gay than Dae-hee Park, who was shamelessly telling me that she had no choice but to sleep with him after he cheated on her.  

 

 “What did I say? I said I hope I never have to see you again.”

 

Park Dae-hee’s face crumpled.  

 

 “What are you going to do if Yoon-jin finds out? She’s pregnant.”

 

The other day, Kim Yoon-jin called.

 

She insisted that she was pregnant with Park Dae-hee’s child and that she would never see Park Dae-hee again. 

 

I remembered that she said she was going to start a rumor that she was having an affair. 

 

It was ridiculous, but I wasn’t angry.

 

“Congratulations on your pregnancy, you two make a great match.”

 

I can still hear my father’s words.

 

I can still hear their chorus echoing in my ears.

 

I rubbed my hands over my ears.  

 

 “Oh, and don’t even think about sending a wedding invitation.

 

I’m not coming.”  

 

 I couldn’t help but wonder if Kim Yoon-jin’s pregnancy was a secret, and I wished that Park Dae-hee would leave the bridal waiting room as soon as possible.

 

“You don’t even have…….”

 

“You’re getting married to Yoon Jin, right? Congratulations from the bottom of my heart.”   

 

The corners of Yun Seul’s mouth turned up. 

 

She couldn’t believe he was wearing a wedding dress and congratulating his ex-fiancée and ex-friend on their pregnancy and marriage. 

 

It was sad, more than the fact that Park Dae-hee and Kim Yoon-jin had cheated, it hurt that she had lost someone she considered a friend.   

 

“Well, I’ll go then. I know I’m an asshole, but…. You’re going through something, you’re always welcome to reach out to me. I’ve lost the only friend I ever had. ……. I’m not going to lose touch with you.”

 

You look like you’ve got a steel plate in your face.

 

I had an affair with my fiancée’s friend.

 

“I’m not going to contact you, so can you please go away?”

 

The scared Park Dae-hee quickly disappeared as she pretended to be popular outside.

 

I don’t know how she made it to the bridal waiting room if she was so scared.

 

Well, maybe if her mom made her do it.

 

She squeezed her eyes shut as the throbbing in her head intensified.

 

She let out a long sigh, trying to calm herself, when the door to the bridal waiting room opened.

 

He stepped through the crack and strode toward me on his long legs, his eyes look at me from head to toe as if keeping score.

 

His eyebrows furrow as if he doesn’t like something.  

 

 “Looks like you got your way after all.”

 

I could feel all the anger she was holding back.  

 

“If this is the marriage you want, why don’t you make a pitiful face like a woman being sold?”

 

 Yunseul’s face flushed red.

 

The color contrasted with her pure white dress. 

 

She felt like he was treating her like that, so she clasped her hands together.  

 

 “What if the bride is upset?”

 

So smile.

 

It wasn’t hard to force a smile.

 

It was something I did all the time.

 

“Are you going to do that in bed? That’s not funny.”   

 

The corner of my mouth that was about to rise crashed down.

 

A dry sob slid down the back of my throat. 

 

The wedding wasn’t the problem.

 

Once the wedding was over, there was still the first night.