Chapter 19
“Ah... s-stop.”
The husband she met only at night gently stroked Jaekyung's hair in the darkness.
“Take off the blindfold.”
His fingertips moved tenderly over the fabric covering her eyes.
Jaekyung trembled and whispered, afraid someone outside might hear her voice.
“I can't. It's... one of the contract conditions.”
Her husband, lying beside her and touching her body, moved over her.
His heavy thighs pressed around her.
“The contract?”
His voice lowered.
“You should still listen to your husband.”
His touch became more demanding, almost as though he were punishing her.
Jaekyung barely had time to feel embarrassed before her body reacted.
She had become too familiar with him.
She had sometimes wondered whether he might ask to see her face just once.
But her husband remained strangely detached about her identity.
Jaekyung was grateful for his lack of emotion.
He didn't give her a name, a face, or an expression.
He didn't ask questions.
Another night came.
Only two months remained.
The more accustomed Jaekyung became to her husband's body, the more precious every night felt.
Anxiety about their approaching separation grew inside her.
So did regret.
Even on what would become their final night near the ten-month mark, they didn't turn on the lights.
That night, his hands stayed on her burning body longer than usual.
His large palm moved down her slender back and wrapped around her waist as if refusing to let go.
His touch lingered persistently.
Jaekyung was exhausted by the time it finally ended.
Her husband had repeatedly woken her whenever she started drifting off.
Afterward, drenched in sweat, he dropped onto the bed beside her.
Then he spoke in a low voice, almost as though confessing a secret.
“I'm taking medication.”
Jaekyung shook away her sleepiness.
“What kind... of medicine?”
She had once heard something from the servant who looked after her.
“Young Master takes medication, so he isn't always himself.”
“Never say anything unnecessary to him.”
Psychiatric medication.
Was it true?
Jaekyung asked quietly,
“Are you... sick?”
“Later.”
“...”
Then his voice came again.
“Even if I don't remember you...”
A pause.
“Wait for me.”
Will there even be a later for us?
They had never even seen each other's faces.
Wait for me?
Was her husband also sad that the contract was nearly over?
Jaekyung nodded blankly in the dark even though he couldn't see.
Her husband took Jaekyung's hand and placed it against his firm chest.
His heartbeat made hers respond.
His body was warmer now.
Did my fever really cure his cold illness, just as Monk Godeok said?
Jaekyung slowly ran her pale fingers over his broad, sweat-covered shoulders and lean, muscular body.
“Come here.”
She gasped when his large arms pulled her tightly against him.
She could barely breathe.
Yet the embrace felt so comforting that it was almost ridiculous.
Maybe they had developed affection through physical closeness after all.
Surely it wasn't love.
For a brief moment, Jaekyung wondered what expression he was making.
If she saw his face, perhaps this marriage would really end.
She buried herself deeper beneath the warm blanket.
It's only treatment.
Only pleasure.
Her fever had worsened after her mother became sick.
Her husband's cold body had cooled it every night.
That was all.
Just like any other night, Jaekyung spent the night with him and then moved to another room to sleep.
“Wake up.”
A servant's voice pulled her awake.
Director Jin stood above her with a displeased expression.
Jaekyung immediately shot upright.
“Ah, hello.”
It had been ten months.
This was the first time Jaekyung had seen Director Jin since signing the contract in her house.
“If you have anything you want to take, pack it now.”
Director Jin's eyes were cold.
“I'll have a driver send it directly to your house.”
Jaekyung stared at her.
“My things?”
Fear suddenly struck her.
Did Director Jin find out that I spoke with my husband?
Jaekyung had violated the contract condition that forbade conversation.
Director Jin placed another paper in front of her.
“My son says he doesn't want to see Miss Jaei anymore.”
Jaekyung froze.
It looked exactly like the day they first met.
“This is the contract termination and confidentiality agreement.”
“...What?”
Only hours earlier, Jaekyung had spent another passionate night with her husband.
She couldn't claim that everything between them had been fine.
Director Jin played an audio recording.
A low male voice, similar to her husband's, filled the room.
[My wife? Hah. I've never even seen her face. I want to stop. I hate it. I can't stand her... even her scent is disgusting.]
Director Jin sighed.
“Apparently he said things like that several times during treatment.”
She looked annoyed.
“I should've handled it earlier.”
Then she added,
“I deposited enough money so you won't feel disappointed about the penalty for ending the contract early.”
There's still time left.
I can't leave like this.
Jaekyung's voice became desperate.
“...This is so sudden.”
She looked at Director Jin.
“Did I do something wrong?”
Director Jin's expression hardened.
“If anyone did something wrong, I suppose it was me.”
Jaekyung blinked.
“What do you mean?”
“I regret bringing in just anyone.”
Director Jin checked her watch.
“My son hates you this much.”
She sounded impatient.
“I have a business trip, so I'm busy.”
The white paper fluttered in front of the frozen Jaekyung like a flag.
“Hurry and sign.”
Jaekyung's hand trembled violently as she wrote her name.
The document was immediately snatched away.
“D-Director Jin... I...”
Speaking to her husband had clearly violated the contract.
Maybe if she promised never to speak to him again, she could be forgiven.
Click. Click.
Director Jin turned without answering and walked out of Jaekyung's room.
“Wait!”
Jaekyung stared helplessly at the empty doorway.
The separation was always part of the contract.
But was it really going to end like this?
Her eyes went blank.
The servants quickly dressed her and placed the medicine she took every morning into her mouth.
“You need to hurry before Director Jin gets angry.”
Bang.
The enormous gate surrounding the Pyeongchang-dong estate slammed shut without hesitation.
A servant's final words remained in her ears.
“Director Jin and Young Master have already been very patient.”
The servant had told her she should consider herself lucky that it ended this easily after she received so much money.
Jaekyung stood outside, clutching the same old backpack she had brought ten months earlier.
BOOM.
Thunder roared.
Rain suddenly poured from the dark sky.
Heavy drops struck her so hard they felt almost like hail.
Jaekyung lifted her face, wet snow and rain clinging to her skin, and stared back at the enormous house.
The bedroom she had only visited at night had always felt like a sealed room.
Which part of the house is my husband's room?
She couldn't even guess.
Did he really hate me?
Does he know I've left?
All the worries she had carried about how they would say goodbye and how she would feel when she left suddenly seemed ridiculous.
The separation had lasted only a moment.
Ending things was easier than beginning them.
Jaekyung felt as though she had finally woken from a coma.
It had been a long, strange tunnel of a dream.
She couldn't even tell whether it had been a good dream or a nightmare.
Several security cameras mounted along the enormous wall stared down at her like they were watching an intruder.
She felt as though an alarm might start at any moment.
Wake up.
Nothing happened.
Under the worsening storm, Jaekyung ran toward her real home.
At least it was fortunate that this marriage hadn't been love.
Her mother had always said love was poison.
At least Jaekyung had chosen something that couldn't poison her life.
Jaekyung's tone.
Her breathing.
Even the way she held a glass beneath the moonlight.
Everything overlapped with Yugam's memories of his faceless wife.
If I hadn't looked at her face on the final night, knowing I wouldn't remember it because of the medication... would she still have run away?
He had always believed his wife disappeared because she was afraid the relationship was becoming real.
Yugam stared at the dark ocean reflected by the hotel lights.
His throat moved.
Every moment, he reminded himself that erasing these dangerously deep feelings was the right thing to do.
To keep a boundary between them, Yugam had to remain colder.
He turned toward the living room.
Jaekyung was already sitting on the sofa.
Beneath the chandelier, Yugam found it difficult to look away from her.
“Are those really the only clothes you brought?”
Jaekyung blinked.
“Oh, this...”
She quickly looked down at herself.
She had worn the shirt so often that she hadn't even thought about it.
And with Yugam nearby making her tense, she hadn't noticed what she was wearing.
The problem was that she had expected to sleep alone, so she had brought one of her usual home T-shirts.
The enormous shirt even had the shape of a bra printed on the chest.
Loud words covered both the front and back.
Emperor Nightclub Booking King Jjun. Hot Man.
I Want to Be Inside You.
Oppa, I Love You. Hug Me. You're the Only One for Me. You'll Come Again Tonight, Right?
Promise Me Forever. Kiss, Mwah.
Yugam's eyes stopped on the words beside a drawing of lips.
Kiss, Mwah.
