Chapter 3
“Entertainment secretary?”
Yugam raised an eyebrow.
“My wife seems unusually upset. Is being angry your new concept?”
Concept? Seriously?
Jaekyung had no reason to keep listening.
Just as she was about to stand, Yugam slid another document in front of her.
[Chairman's Office Secretary / Three-Month Employment Contract]
“Someone apparently decided to make my wife unemployed without permission.”
His lips curved faintly.
“So I made this.”
So I really did lose my teaching job because of the vice principal's warning.
Was this what Yugam meant by changing her position?
So many unexpected things had happened that even Jaekyung, who normally remained calm, could no longer understand what was going on.
“Does the chairman personally visit people just to tell them they've been fired?”
“Seo Jaekyung gets special treatment.”
“I'm not grateful at all.”
“I'll put your termination on hold and delay the penalty fee.”
Yugam tapped the contract.
“Come to the foundation dinner with me first.”
“I refuse your offer.”
“I even prepared Seo Jaekyung's favorite thing as a reunion gift.”
Jaekyung narrowed her eyes.
“Money.”
Yugam leaned lazily back in his chair.
“The principal recommended you. He said Teacher Seo had a good attitude.”
From the very beginning, Yugam spoke as though Jaekyung didn't actually have a choice.
“And since we've lived apart for five years, I'd like to keep my wife close from now on.”
His lips curved upward.
“It's good for both of us, isn't it?”
Living apart? Wife?
Every word sounded ridiculous.
Jaekyung bit her lip.
“Everything you're saying right now sounds insane.”
Yugam's expression didn't change.
“You think I'm insane?”
His voice remained cold.
“My doctor said something similar. He asked if I was obsessed with the wife who ran away.”
He looked directly at her.
“You took the money and disappeared. How could I not go insane?”
A chill ran down Jaekyung's spine.
“I am insane, so the sane Seo Jaekyung should start by understanding her situation.”
“...”
“It becomes simple if you accept my conditions.”
Yugam's expression remained perfectly blank.
“Do you have enough money to divorce me immediately and fight a major law firm?”
He continued before she could answer.
“You're smart. Decide for yourself.”
Then he casually added,
“That post criticizing the foundation? Add the contract penalty and compensation for defamation, and the amount could get pretty large.”
The elevator doors closed.
Only then did reality truly sink in.
Jaekyung opened the eyes she had tightly shut and looked at Yugam with determination.
“Wait.”
Yugam glanced at her.
“I'll somehow pay the penalty fee for the contract.”
She clenched her hands.
“So please cancel the additional compensation you're threatening to charge.”
“Why should I?”
“Isn't this too much against one individual?”
Yugam slowly turned toward her.
“The one being unreasonable is you.”
His tone was lazy.
“I told you I'd reduce the penalty and compensation if you worked yourself to the bone as my secretary.”
His brow lifted.
“Did you not understand?”
“I already said I won't be your secretary.”
“If you followed me here yourself, doesn't that mean you've already agreed to the contract?”
“I didn't follow you. I'm going home.”
“We entered the same elevator.”
Yugam spoke as though explaining something obvious.
“So common sense says you followed me.”
“That's only according to your standards.”
Yugam narrowed his eyes slightly.
He stared at Jaekyung, who refused to lose even a single argument.
“Seo Jaekyung.”
His gaze became intent.
“What do you want?”
Jaekyung was caught off guard by the question.
She needed time to organize the mess in her head.
When she had applied to become a teacher at the school, she had felt uneasy about the Uitae Foundation.
But because it was only a one-semester contract, she had carelessly assumed there wouldn't be any problems.
“What I want is...”
Jaekyung stopped herself.
She had to think rationally before allowing herself to be pushed around by a man who casually mentioned major law firms.
“If you don't know, let's use the standard I just made.”
Yugam spoke calmly.
“I won't immediately demand that we sleep together as husband and wife.”
Sleep together?
He really was insane.
The words irritated and embarrassed her.
But right now, there was no question that Yugam, as chairman, held all the power.
Jaekyung looked up at him tiredly.
“What standard did you just make?”
“If you want us to get back together romantically...”
A slight smile appeared on Yugam's reflection in the elevator doors.
“Let's start with an office romance.”
“Excuse me.”
Jaekyung stared at him.
“Are you seriously my husband?”
Her suspicion had not disappeared.
“If you really were my husband, you know perfectly well why you have no reason to appear in front of me now.”
Being called his wife felt completely foreign.
It was only natural.
Even while spending passionate nights together, they had been husband and wife in name only.
Other than short sounds and gasps in the darkness, they had never even seen each other's faces.
Jaekyung's patience was reaching its limit in the cramped elevator.
Fortunately, the doors opened just then.
She quickly stepped outside.
Yugam's voice followed behind her.
“Is running away a habit?”
Jaekyung stopped.
“Just like back then.”
Yugam's strong hand caught her.
“Who exactly ran away?”
Jaekyung desperately wanted to tell him the truth.
But because of the confidentiality clause in the secret contract she had signed with Director Jin, she swallowed the words.
Yugam took another step closer and stared down at her.
A scent brushed past her nose.
It was neither completely familiar nor completely unfamiliar.
