“You’re saying you lost your apartment access card? All of them, without exception?”

“Yes. Please reissue all of them. So that whoever found them can’t use them!”

Sun Woo lied without batting an eye.

He was determined not to allow anyone, whether it was Jin Young Cheol or anyone else, to enter and sit in their home without his and Green’s permission.

But the manager’s reaction was unexpected. He seemed rather pleased.

“Why don’t you try using a mobile access card this time?”

“A mobile access card?”

“If you just install an app on your smartphone, the family representative can issue access cards via mobile.”

“If I don’t issue it, no one can enter?”

“Of course. They can’t enter the house or even the first-floor entrance. We’ve been implementing this for six months. Didn’t you know?”

Seeing the manager look at them as if wondering why the young couple didn’t know, Green blushed.

As the homeowner Sun Woo had been away for over a year, and only Green and the housekeeper had been coming and going, they hadn’t paid much attention to the announcements or notices posted in the elevator.

The manager handed Sun Woo a manual with detailed instructions for app installation and usage.

“Just follow these steps. For occasional visitors, you can issue a one-time QR code.”

As Sun Woo agreed to issue mobile access cards, an employee exclaimed happily.

“Manager! We’ve finally exceeded three-quarters of residents using mobile cards!”

Wondering why this was such a cause for celebration, Green looked puzzled, prompting the embarrassed employee to explain.

“At last month’s resident meeting, we decided to completely scrap the general access card system once more than three-quarters of residents got mobile cards.”

“So, we won’t be able to use regular access cards at all?”

“Yes, that will be the case within two months.”

Sun Woo smiled with great satisfaction at the management office employee’s words.

*****

Even after Sun Woo and Green left the house, Jin Young Cheol and Han Moon Taek sat blankly in the living room. They were too weak-kneed to even stand up.

Chewing on the rice cakes Green had served, Jin Young Cheol mockingly said to Han Moon Taek.

“What? Your child is so good that she listens well to her father? Is such a good child going to clubs for one-night stands?”

“And you, sir, how freely did you raise your child to roll around regardless of nationality, skin color, or even gender?”

Jin Young Cheol gulped down the gugija tea as if frustrated.

“You believe that? Sun Woo, that rascal, is lying to make me angry!”

“Can’t you see that Green girl is deliberately doing this to shut me up?”

“Hmph, how would I know if it’s true or not!”

Han Moon Taek was infuriated by Jin Young Cheol’s double standards in dealing with Sun Woo and Green.

Imagining how much Green must have suffered, he resolved to quickly divorce her from Sun Woo, who had nothing to offer.

“I’ll go first. I’ll think about it too, so please contact me if you have any good ideas, Assemblyman Jin.”

“What thoughts? Why should I contact you?”

“Ah, are you going to leave the kids like this? We need to think about how to tear them apart!”

At Han Moon Taek’s words, Jin Young Cheol narrowed his eyes and glared at him.

While it was only natural for him to want Sun Woo’s divorce, he was displeased with Han Moon Taek treating Sun Woo as an inadequate son-in-law.

“If our Sun Woo just gets divorced, people will line up to take him, but what’s the rush to divorce your daughter when she doesn’t seem to have much going for her?”

Irritated by Jin Young Cheol’s words, who thought only his son was great, Han Moon Taek lost his temper.

“Do you know how good our Green’s reputation is after attending upper-class gatherings with her mother-in-law? Already, Miyeon Construction and Narae Foods have sent their sons’ photos.”

“What? I’ve never seen such trash! You’ve already received photos when they’re not even divorced yet?”

“Hmph, do you think I don’t know about you meeting the National Assembly Speaker and the ruling party leader about your son’s remarriage? If I’m trash, you’re rotten food waste!”

As Han Moon Taek turned and left, seemingly truly upset, Jin Young Cheol hurriedly got up as well.

“Hey, let’s go together. Contact me right away if you come up with any good ideas!”

*****

Green, who left home early in the morning with Sun Woo, went straight to Hannah’s. Although she had lied about having an appointment, Hannah’s place was indeed the easiest to visit at this hour.

“Green, what brings you here without notice?”

“Sorry. Did you finish work late yesterday?”

“Always, right? Around 1 AM? Good timing. Make me some food.”

Green went to the kitchen, smiling. As Hannah was always busy, the refrigerator didn’t have a variety of ingredients.

With the eggs, green onions, kimchi, and rice available, Green made kimchi fried rice and egg soup.

As she generously made two servings of kimchi fried rice, Hannah entered the kitchen with half-closed eyes, following the savory sesame oil smell.

“Smelling this makes me hungry.”

“Here, enjoy your meal!”

As the food entered her mouth, Hannah’s half-closed eyes gradually returned to normal.

“Now, spill it! What brings you here this morning?”

Hannah asked probingly while biting into the apple Green had peeled for her.

After a moment’s hesitation, Green sighed softly and confessed in a whisper.

“Actually, I slept with Sun Woo yesterday.”

“What? You haven’t slept together until now?”

Hannah seemed more shocked by the fact that they had just slept together now, rather than the fact itself.

“No, Han Green! Wait, don’t say anything yet!”

Hannah immediately called Jenny from where she sat.

“Jenny? It’s Hannah.”

“Wake up, you fool! Green slept with her husband yesterday.”

“That’s what I’m saying! We’re about to hear why they only slept together now. If you can rush over in 30 minutes, we can listen together. Otherwise, I’ll listen alone.”

At Jenny’s firm reply, Hannah smiled satisfactorily as if she had expected it. Green looked at her friend with disbelief.

Hannah went to the refrigerator and brought out beer.

“What’s with the alcohol in the morning?”

“Is beer even alcohol? I’m dying of curiosity, but I’ll control it while waiting for Jenny, so don’t stop me.”

“If you drink, I won’t say a word!”

Faced with Green’s unexpectedly firm attitude, Hannah hesitated for a moment. Although Green seemed gentle, once she became stubborn, not even Jenny and Hannah combined could handle her.

Green had good reason to stop Hannah’s early drinking. Right now, she desperately needed advice from friends with clear minds.

Jenny arrived 28 minutes and 30 seconds after hanging up the phone, with a hoodie pulled over her head. Although her expression seemed indifferent, it was proof of how much she cared about Green’s affairs.

Hannah didn’t hold back her praise for Sun Woo, their big-spending customer.

“Your husband is no ordinary man. Last time, he bought you clothes, shoes, bags, and even accessories. I thought you were too caught up in newlywed bliss to come to your senses.”

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Hannah clapped her hands.

“Wait, then why did he buy that dress with the thigh slit and open back?”

“Hannah, you persuaded him to buy it!”

Seeing Green burst out again, upset about being forced to buy a dress she had nowhere to wear, Hannah wrinkled her nose.

“Of course, I thought you had already seen everything. I knew if you had seen each other, he definitely couldn’t refuse that dress.”

“Enough. Han Green, tell us everything that’s happened so far, from A to Z. Don’t leave anything out!”

At Jenny’s threat, Green really spilled everything.

She told them how they somehow got caught up in the mood and ended up sleeping together, and even how their two fathers rushed in this morning causing a fuss about divorce, and what she and Sun Woo said to defuse the situation.

Jenny and Hannah, who had been listening with great interest, couldn’t help but admire the couple’s shocking statement about one-night stands at clubs without regard for gender.

“Wow, you’re a match made in heaven, both of you are just so… Wow…”

Even Hannah, who usually doesn’t care about others’ opinions, didn’t have the confidence to say such things in front of her father and father-in-law.

Jenny, who had been listening with a serious expression, opened her mouth.

“What’s your biggest worry right now, Green?”

“Well, you know, although it was just something said to avoid a crisis, what if Sun Woo really misunderstands and thinks I’m an experienced woman?”

“What?”

Both Hannah and Jenny were speechless, as if they had heard a truly novel nonsense.

“Sun Woo said that. He said he’s curious and unprejudiced, so he doesn’t discriminate between this and that. What if he likes that I’m an experienced woman like him, and that’s why he doesn’t want to divorce?”

“That’s your point of worry? You’re not worried that your husband might think you’re loose, but that he might be disappointed that you’re not as experienced?”

“That’s right.”

“I’ve lived long enough to hear all sorts of things from Han Green.”

Hannah flopped down on the sofa as if the world had become meaningless.

“You slept with your husband yesterday, right? Then, he must have already noticed that you’re a complete novice. You can tell just from kissing, you dummy. Why are you worrying about such useless things?”

“Hey, I’m not a complete novice. I’ve dated and had some skinship here and there…”

Hannah snorted loudly at Green’s rebuttal. Even Jenny, who rarely changes her expression, gave a faint sneer.

“If you want to believe that was dating, I won’t stop you.”

Green pouted at her friends’ chiding. Then Jenny casually dropped a comment.

“Green! Your husband might have lied just like you to upset his father.”

“I know. But what if it’s true?”

“Are you worried enough about such things to really like your husband?”

Green’s heart sank to the floor at Jenny’s casually thrown question. She realized a fact that even she hadn’t been deeply aware of.

She had come to genuinely like Sun Woo. She didn’t want to disappoint him for any trivial reason.

She was afraid of Sun Woo being disappointed in her to the extent that she wanted to hide the truth, even if it meant lying.

“What’s this? Why is your face getting redder? Do you really like your husband?”

“…Yes.”

Seeing Green blushing yet admitting she liked Sun Woo, Hannah patted her friend’s back wildly as if proud.

“Oh my, Han Green! This kid has grown up, all grown up! What do you like about him? Hm?”

“He’s just kind, listens to me well, and he’s handsome too.”

“And that? Is he good?”

“Good at what?”

Seeing Green avoiding eye contact and pretending not to understand, Hannah immediately delivered a back smash.

“Where do you think you’re being coy when you understood everything?”