It was a long search.

Clearly, the cell phone memo stated that the proposal location was a restaurant in Jamsil, but she referred to it as a ‘cafe’ before hanging up.

So Tae Sung spent 5 minutes quietly holding his head, trying to recall the dark past, and then spent 10 minutes thoroughly searching for another memo in his phone.

After that, he meticulously searched the cafes around Jamsil.

He thought maybe they had met at a cafe first to casually mention marriage before proposing at the restaurant.

Unfortunately, the surrounding cafes started closing one by one not long after.

There were so many cafes that closed at 10 o’clock as she had said.

At this rate, even if he found the right answer, she wouldn’t be there anyway.

So Ji Wan’s house, where he returned after giving up on everything.

As he got out of the taxi, he could see Ji Wan’s lit veranda.

Tae Sung’s face, now finally meeting her again, no longer showed any of his previous composure.

Ding dong―

Soon, the doorbell rang at Ji Wan’s house.

Ji Wan, who had just finished a late meal and was doing the dishes, moved only her rubber-gloved hands busily without even glancing towards the entrance.

Ding dong― Ding dong―

The persistent doorbell rang repeatedly.

Frowning at the irritating sound, she sighed and took off her rubber gloves as if she had no choice.

“I see you again now. Should I say it’s nice to see you?”

Tae Sung said as soon as she opened the front door.

It was a complex face with the corners of his mouth raised but his eyes not smiling at all.

Ji Wan stared at him silently for a moment, then turned her head and said,

“I don’t know why you keep coming to our house. Looks like you’ve forgotten your own home too.”

It was meant to sting.

After all, Ji Wan had learned during the call she started today to find out about Tae Sung that he had completely lost three years worth of memories.

“Ha.”

Tae Sung let out a low laugh.

He brushed back his hair, which was more disheveled than in the morning, organized his distorted emotions, and waved his hand, gesturing for Ji Wan to move aside.

“Let’s talk inside.”

Ji Wan had nothing to say.

“I don’t want to. You can’t come into our house anymore.”

So when she stood firmly blocking the way, Tae Sung said once more with emphasis,

“I don’t have a habit of saying the same thing twice. And I especially don’t have a habit of standing in front of someone else’s door like a salesman talking about money.”

Tsk… It’s only about money when it’s disadvantageous to you.

Ji Wan glared at Tae Sung, pouting her lips.

Tae Sung shrugged as if telling her to make her choice.

Putting aside her feelings of betrayal towards him or despair for the future, Ji Wan, who had to definitely get the money, reluctantly stepped back.

“We’re only talking about money and then you’re leaving.”

Tae Sung entered the house without answering.

As always, he was quite a self-centered man who didn’t answer when things were disadvantageous to him.

* * *

“Yes, there’s been a small damage to my memory.”

It was a calm confession that Tae Sung made after taking a sip of the chrysanthemum tea Ji Wan had brewed for him as they sat at the dining table.

“I knew it! I thought something was strange!”

Ji Wan shouted so loudly that the dining table light shook when she received confirmation of what she had suspected.

Tae Sung closed his eyes, pressing one temple firmly as if her shout greatly bothered him.

“Your voice. Can’t you be careful?”

“Don’t pretend to be in pain! And then so shamelessly! What?! You won’t divorce?!”

Tae Sung twirled his finger near Ji Wan’s lips as if turning down the volume on a speaker.

Ji Wan, filled with anger, glared at that annoying finger and huffed.

Tae Sung took another sip of chrysanthemum tea and continued speaking.

“It’s not serious. I just temporarily forgot due to the shock at the time of the accident, I didn’t suffer any physical damage to my head.”

“But you still can’t remember anything right now. Seeing how you couldn’t find the cafe today, it seems like you’ve completely forgotten about me?”

“Does that upset you so much?”

“Who’s upset about this? For me, I just want Joo Tae Sung to remember the promise he made to me.”

Ji Wan emphasized the word ‘promise’ forcefully.

Tae Sung, who had quietly set down his cup, answered in a much more relaxed voice.

“You don’t need to be so anxious. If I regain something, it will be memories of you.”

“How can you be sure?”

“They say that love is a stimulus that is strongly transmitted to the brain. Since I felt a stimulus from you that I had never felt before in my life, wouldn’t it be the first thing to come back, given how intense it was?”

Tae Sung spoke logically and calmly, but the more Ji Wan heard his words, the more bewildered her eyes became.

That was because ‘love’ was the word that least suited us.

“W-wait a minute. What are you saying now? Love? You don’t… think we got married because we were in love, do you?”

Ji Wan asked with a slight laugh.

Tae Sung, seemingly very bothered by her lopsided smirk, stared at that side of her mouth and answered.

“Aren’t you speaking too harshly?”

But Ji Wan’s attitude remained confident.

“You’re lying. You’re not hurt at all right now!”

That was true.

Tae Sung was just slightly amazed at how this woman, who seemed to have no tact or sense, could so accurately grasp his true feelings.

As if to provide the answer, Ji Wan continued,

“We were in a contractual relationship. A 1 billion won contract.”

“Contract?”

“Yes, on the condition that I become Joo Tae Sung’s wife on paper, I was supposed to receive 1 billion won for maintaining the marriage for 3 years.”

Tae Sung was silent for a moment after hearing Ji Wan’s explanation.

But not long after, what escaped through his lips was a low laugh.

“Well, setting it up from the beginning to receive 1 billion won is certainly a larger amount than the alimony one would receive after 3 years of marriage.”

And then he voiced a suspicion that was quite off track.

It seems this man thinks I’m lying to extort more alimony.

Feeling wronged and frustrated, Ji Wan explained to him again with an incredulous expression.

“We really were in a contractual relationship. We first met at a cafe in Jongno, stamped the contract and marriage registration form there, and you said not to appear or contact you before you found me first!”

“Ah, so you’re saying we even first met on the day we stamped the marriage registration form?”

“Yes!”

“I made a woman I was meeting for the first time my only legal spouse?”

“Yes!”

“Why would I do that?”

“I don’t know that either!”

The last answer was truthful so she said it loudly, but she could instantly tell that something was going wrong.

“Ha……”

Sure enough.

Tae Sung let out a long sigh.

It was a reaction that seemed to find Ji Wan pathetic, like when she had to deal with a drunken boss at a company dinner.

Realizing this approach wasn’t working, Ji Wan stood up.

“Wait a moment! I’ll bring evidence!”

What she pulled out from deep inside the bedroom closet was none other than her contract with Tae Sung.

The very contract they had each stamped and taken one copy of after confirming the terms at the cafe.

“Here, this is our marriage contract.”

Ji Wan placed the contract down firmly in front of the dining table.

Tae Sung picked it up and skimmed the contents with a dry gaze.

“Look, Joo Tae Sung’s name is written here and your seal is stamped, right? You personally contracted and stamped this yourself.”

Ji Wan’s finger pointed at the clearly stamped red seal.

Tae Sung’s gaze slowly moved along the printed letters as he held the contract.

The title was Legal Marriage Relationship Maintenance Contract. ‘Party A’ was Joo Tae Sung. ‘Party B’ was Lee Ji Wan.

The main content was that for 3 years, Party B would become Party A’s legal spouse, and this relationship would be maintained for 3 years.

There was also a confidentiality clause stating that Party B could not disclose this marriage, or anything about Party A, to any third party.

After confirming this much, Tae Sung deliberately sneered.

“It’s no big deal for a married couple to forge a seal.”

“What? No, how can that make sense?”

Ji Wan protested vigorously at Tae Sung’s far-fetched words.

“There’s no seal I left with you! You should have the same one too!”

“No. There was no such contract in my file drive.”

“Then you must have printed it out on paper and put it away somewhere instead of keeping it as a file!”

“I’m not that analog of a person.”

Though he was reacting calmly, in truth Tae Sung’s mind was in a slightly confused state.

From the beginning, it was easier to understand that he had maintained a contractual marriage relationship for some reason rather than that he had married someone out of love.

But the problem was that he couldn’t recall that reason at all.

No matter how dangerous a case might be, he wouldn’t have suddenly needed a legal spouse out of nowhere.

He’d rather have signed a contract for a personal bodyguard.

To understand the situation that didn’t make logical sense, Tae Sung skimmed over the rest of the contract again.

A special clause he hadn’t read yet caught his eye.

[For the 3 years the marriage is maintained, Party B cannot make any contact with Party A.]

Tae Sung’s eyes glinted sharply like when tracking down a criminal as he saw this part.

That was because he had evidence in his grasp to refute the special clause stating they couldn’t meet at all for 3 years.

“At this point, I have something to show you.”

Having regained his characteristic composure, he silently took out his cell phone.

Ji Wan’s bewildered gaze turned to his phone screen.

What soon appeared were photos taken 3 years ago.

The places and clothes were all different, but these were the very couple photos that nearly killed her to take all in one day…

Those couple photos where she was smiling on the outside but on the verge of tears on the inside.

“For a couple that shouldn’t meet, we sure made a lot of memories.”

Tae Sung said.

His tone was soft with a hint of laughter, but his eyes were as sharp as a prosecutor submitting evidence to a judge.

Ji Wan waved her hands vigorously as she tried hard to refute.

“No, th-these were all taken in one day. You brought in a hair stylist and even a regular stylist and we took these non-stop from 7 AM to 11 PM!”

“Even for a patient, shouldn’t you prepare a more plausible scenario? Your lie is too half-hearted.”

“Wow, this is driving me crazy! I’m telling you we really took them all in one day?!”

“There must be at least 120 photos, how can that make sense?”

You committed that nonsensical act while dragging me around!

Ji Wan felt like crying. She wanted to reach out right now and grab this cruel man by the collar.

But lacking the courage to engage in a physical fight with an adult male with such fierce features, she just messed up her hair for a few minutes.

“Think about it… If we were really married, everyone around us would know. We would have had a grand wedding ceremony. But we don’t know any of each other’s people and there are no wedding photos…”

Ji Wan pleaded in a dying voice.

If she’s this wronged, maybe this contract is real.

‘Come to think of it, that love diary did feel more like a scenario too.’

But the truth didn’t matter to the current Tae Sung anyway.

In a reality surrounded by enemies on all sides, if he had to choose a place to stay temporarily, it would be right here in this house with the most manageable homeowner.

Tae Sung leaned his upper body towards Ji Wan and said as if persuading her,

“It was a marriage that the whole family opposed. My family would never have accepted you, and I must have thought that hiding you and being together was the only answer. Doesn’t it make sense to maintain a secret married life if you think about it that way?”

Ah… So that’s how it goes?

Then no matter what I say, there really is no way out.

Ji Wan buried her face on the dining table, having properly lost the fight where the more persistent one wins.

If things had gone according to the original plan, it would have been a happy ending with me getting the money in two weeks. Why do I have to be struggling in this trap?

But whether he knew her despair or not.

The man who set this trap got up holding his teacup and spoke in a nonchalant voice.

“I have no intention of living with a hole in my head. I’ll find my lost memories somehow.”

“Haaa……”

“If anything comes back to me, we’ll talk again then. It’s too disadvantageous for me to judge the truth now, isn’t it?”

Having said his piece, Tae Sung turned his back.

Ji Wan, who had been lying face down, shouted as soon as she heard his footsteps.

“Then what about my money!”

I really don’t want to keep talking about money either…

“I really… need to pay my dad’s hospital bills!”

At Ji Wan’s reproachful words, Tae Sung’s gaze returned to her.

After staring intently at her eyes that looked like they might burst into tears any moment, Tae Sung raised his phone with a faint sigh.

“Don’t you have a list of the money you need?”

“I can’t list it out in detail! I need 8.5 million won right away!”

“That’s fortunate, it doesn’t exceed the daily transfer limit.”

No sooner had Tae Sung finished speaking than Ji Wan’s phone in her pocket vibrated.

With an inexplicably ominous feeling, she checked her phone to find a bank app notification welcoming her, saying 8.5 million won had been deposited from Joo Tae Sung.

“What is this money…?”

“You said you needed it.”

“How did you know the account number?”

Tae Sung shifted his eyes towards the contract as he answered.

He must have quickly memorized the account written on the contract in that brief moment.

Well, with a brain that good, no wonder he can refute everything I say.

“I’m grateful you transferred it right away… But the money you really promised…”

“Looks like you’re only interested in the 1 billion won I promised.”

“No! No! That’s not what I meant! I’ll take it for now. I’m that desperate.”

Ji Wan’s eyes, which had been on the verge of death, regained life after receiving this financial treatment.

Thinking ‘She’s really a simple woman,’ Tae Sung brought up his most important point.

“From now on, while I’m here, if you need money, just say so anytime.”

“While you’re here…?”

“Well, I’m tired, so I’ll turn in now.”

Tae Sung, with a sly smile, naturally entered Ji Wan’s bedroom.

Even if she let him sleep there yesterday in the confusion, it’s not right to let him stay another night, is it?

Unable to let him sleep there again, Ji Wan quickly got up and called after Tae Sung.

“Hey! Joo Tae Sung! It’s not okay for you to keep sleeping at our house! Especially in my bed!”

Ding―

[Joo Tae Sung has deposited 1,000,000 won.]

“Lodging fee.”

The second financial treatment continued from the bedroom.

Ah, I really shouldn’t be convinced by this sort of thing so easily.

Ji Wan, who coincidentally had about a million won in bank interest to pay, couldn’t move a step and just added some unnecessary nagging.

“O-okay, you can sleep there for tonight… But not tomorrow! Unless there’s a valid reason… Ah! And even if there is a valid reason, sleep in another room! Not my bed!”

Really, it’s such a difficult world for people who need money.