Chapter 2
Husband?
The word felt completely unfamiliar.
The existence of Do Yugam, bringing up the marriage Jaekyung had desperately erased from her mind five years ago, made her so dizzy that she felt as if she might collapse.
She had definitely gotten divorced.
That marriage was over.
During the ten months of their contract marriage, she had never once seen her husband's face.
So why had her ex-husband suddenly appeared?
And for what reason?
Minho, who had been watching Jaekyung's reaction, widened his eyes and frowned.
“Husband? Jaekyung. Do you know this man?”
Even when Minho questioned her, Jaekyung couldn't answer immediately.
But perhaps it was because of the strangely familiar way the man moved.
She had no clear memory of him, yet her body reacted first.
A faint tremble ran through her.
Jaekyung couldn't take her eyes off Yugam, even though this was supposedly the first time she had seen him.
He looked to be in his mid-twenties.
Maybe around her age.
His eyes were so deep that looking into them felt like staring into the ocean.
A perfectly shaped nose rose over smooth skin, and his lips had a strangely sensual shape.
Jaekyung had grown up tired of seeing her father's absurdly handsome face, so she had never been particularly shaken by a man's appearance.
Yet she found herself staring at Yugam's cold, sculpted face as if hypnotized.
He's probably just a typical con artist with a pretty face.
Embarrassed that she had been staring, Jaekyung cleared her throat.
“I think you're misunderstanding something. This is my first time meeting you.”
Yugam let out a short, disbelieving laugh.
Without asking permission, he dropped into the seat beside her.
Jaekyung instinctively shifted away from him.
“You seem to be in the middle of a proposal. At least learn about a woman's past before proposing. She's the kind of woman who took the money and ran before even finishing her contract.”
Ran away?
Jaekyung's heart dropped.
She tightly clenched her trembling hands.
Then Yugam spoke again.
“Seo Jaei. Wasn't five years of running away enough?”
After divorcing at twenty, she had changed her name from Seo Jaei to Seo Jaekyung.
Other than her father and a few very old friends, nobody called her by her old name anymore.
No way.
A few months ago, her father had fallen victim to a phishing scam.
Had Jaekyung's personal information been leaked too?
She looked suspiciously at Yugam again.
She suddenly felt as though not only Minho, but everyone else in the restaurant was staring at her.
“I don't know who you are, but please stop.”
Desperate to stop him from mentioning her old marriage, Jaekyung grabbed Yugam's arm.
Yugam's cold gaze remained fixed on her.
“I'll stop here if that's what Seo Jaekyung wants. We can finish the rest outside.”
His eyes narrowed.
“I have a lot to discuss with the wife who ran away from me.”
Yugam wrapped his hand around Jaekyung's wrist, which was barely clutching the edge of his suit.
He wasn't even gripping her tightly.
Yet at that cold touch, all the strength seemed to leave Jaekyung's body.
She had completely erased it from her memory.
But beneath her wrist, a forgotten sensation slowly crept back to life.
Five years ago.
Her heart began pounding wildly, just as it had on the day she was thrown out into the pouring rain.
“Minho, wait here for a moment. I'll... go outside and come back.”
Jaekyung tried to leave quickly.
“Say it here. Jaekyung!”
Minho looked at her in confusion as he pushed his glasses up.
“Marriage. It isn't true, right? And what does he mean by a contract?”
Jaekyung hesitated.
“I did... get divorced. I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner.”
“Divorced?”
Minho abruptly shot to his feet.
In front of the two confused people, Yugam reached into the inside pocket of his suit and placed a document and business card on the table.
“She's not divorced. She's a married woman.”
He tapped the document.
“If you don't believe me, check it yourself.”
[Do Yugam / Chairman of the Uitae Foundation]
The marriage certificate contained the names and signatures of Do Yugam and Seo Jaei.
“We got married five years ago. As you can see, her spouse is Do Yugam.”
Jaekyung carefully looked over the business card and document.
Her fingertips trembled so badly she felt as if she might stop breathing.
“It ended. I definitely signed the papers and finished everything.”
“The divorce papers were never officially submitted. So as you can see, the divorce is invalid.”
Without reacting to Jaekyung's desperate explanation, Yugam calmly continued.
“And I came to offer you a position as my secretary.”
Jaekyung stared at him.
“A secretary? What are you talking about?”
“Think of it as a change of position.”
The arrogant gaze of Yugam, who had introduced himself as both her ex-husband and chairman, moved between Minho and Jaekyung.
The vice principal had clearly warned her that her contract might be terminated.
There was no reason the chairman of the foundation would personally come all the way here just to hire a one-semester contract teacher as his secretary.
Wait.
If he was the newly appointed chairman...
Had he come because of the post criticizing the foundation that the vice principal mentioned?
He had talked about a penalty fee.
Was he planning to sue her?
Minho's expression darkened as he looked between the documents and Jaekyung's pale face.
