The sound of water splashing onto the bathroom floor ceased.

Pushing through the steam flowing out from the open door, Joo stepped out with her damp feet. Wearing only a light slip, she tried to enter her room.

But before she could even open the door, her hesitating feet turned towards the opposite side.

The room that had lost its owner for a year was tightly shut.

Her footsteps, falling one by one, reached the door of the room across.

As she opened the door, an unfamiliar and cold air touched her skin.

“It was almost our wedding anniversary.”

Finally lifting her feet that had been glued to the floor, she stepped over the door frame.

Looking around the achromatic room that had lost its warmth, Joo sat on the man’s bed.

Around this time last year, she had entered Do Hyun’s house and simultaneously got married to him.

The man was her senior in university and her superior at work.

Do Hyun had to go to the Philippines for the construction of a casino resort complex in Clark. It was only four days after their wedding.

She didn’t feel disappointed or regretful. It wasn’t a marriage where they loved each other enough to cling onto.

“When was it.”

Getting married to her senior…

I’m really insensitive. Even if I got married to live in this house, how could I forget our wedding anniversary.

Her blinking eyelids gradually slowed down. She had to quickly pull herself together and leave the room, but instead, her upper body tilted to the side and plopped onto the bed.

“I should go to my room and sleep.”

It doesn’t matter anyway.

There are still two more years left until the owner of this room returns.

‘I’ll just close my eyes for a bit and wake up. Just for a little while…’

She pulled the pillow next to her and tucked it under her head.

As her tired eyelids closed, her mind blurred and she quickly fell into slumber.

She was in such a deep sleep that she didn’t even hear the sound of the front door closing.

The wheels of the suitcase pushed through the hallway and entered the living room. The figure that came into the open room took off the jacket he was wearing.

The sound of the collar crumpling and breaking resonated softly.

Joo, who had been lying curled up facing the wall, turned her body towards the door. The front of her loose slip wrinkled, revealing a deep cleavage.

With each exhale, her chest swelled largely and then deflated, repeating the process.

“Phew.”

At the man’s low breathing, Joo’s eyebrows furrowed.

As the man took off his jacket and placed it on the end of the bed, a gust of wind tickled the tip of Joo’s nose. The faint woody scent emanating from the jacket beside her naturally lifted her eyelids.

“Ah.”

Following his long legs, her gaze reached the top and caught the man’s face.

Nam Do Hyun, it was undoubtedly her husband Nam Do Hyun.

“Sir.”

Is this an extension of a dream?

Still unable to believe that Do Hyun was in front of her, Joo couldn’t close her mouth.

Pushing the mattress with both hands, she lifted her upper body at an angle.

“Why are you here?”

He wasn’t supposed to be here.

Nam Do Hyun was supposed to stay in the Philippines for a total of three years until the resort construction was completed. Unless it was an unavoidable situation, he assured her that he wouldn’t come back to Korea.

He had asked her to act as the owner of this house that others would envy for three years.

Why is Nam Do Hyun in this house?

“I’ll be staying in Korea for the time being.”

“…What?”

It felt like her heart, which had been dangling, dropped to the very bottom.

This was Nam Do Hyun’s main residence, but it had also become Joo’s haven.

“How long… How long?”

“It could be a month.”

Taking a short breath, Do Hyun corrected himself.

“Or maybe I won’t have to go back at all.”

“Then we…”

The words that couldn’t even form properly stopped in her throat.

“We’ll be living together in this house.”

Do Hyun finished the sentence for Joo.

Do Hyun’s voice, echoing deeply like a cave, shook her gaze.

As she straightened her swaying focus, Do Hyun’s face settled clearly.

It felt like the sense of reality she had briefly lost was filling every part of her body.

“Did we write something like a contract?”

There was no way they had written one.

As soon as they held the wedding ceremony, Nam Do Hyun boarded a plane to the Philippines.

“No. We never made anything like that.”

“We should make one.”

His gaze, sweeping down her smooth neck, sank deeply into her fair chest.

Nam Do Hyun bent his upper body downward in an instant.

“Sleeping in our own rooms.”

His hand moved to her shoulder, which was crookedly tilted.

His long fingers caught the thin shoulder strap of her white slip.

“At home, wear something proper instead of these revealing clothes.”

As his fingers brushed against her skin while pulling up, her breath stopped for a moment. The strap that had slipped down settled back in place with his slowly rising fingers.

It was as if her foggy mind was finally clearing up.

Now she realized.

Nam Do Hyun, who said he would return after three years, had come back after only one year.

“Please take care of me for the remaining two years, Shin Joo.”

The corners of Nam Do Hyun’s lips curled up softly.

“No. I should call you honey now.”

That pleasant smile made him look like a villain who could never be hated.

Only now did she remember what she had been trying so hard to recall.

September 11th.

Today was her wedding anniversary with Nam Do Hyun.

The married life with this man, with whom she had never played the role of a couple even for a single day, had begun.

[This is the timeline separator]

A year and two months ago.

That day was also a day when the unpleasant heat and stuffy humidity combined to reach the peak of discomfort.

As Joo, who had briefly visited the supply room, entered the office, the company phone rang as if it had been waiting.

“This is Shin Joo from the PR team.”

[There’s a commotion downstairs right now! They want to see Shin Joo. Please come down to the lobby quickly. We can’t handle the situation.]

The other person hung up without even revealing their affiliation, indicating how urgent the matter was.

Since they mentioned the lobby, it must be either the security office or the information desk.

Joo, who had been holding the receiver blankly, pushed back her chair and stood up. As she boarded the elevator and left the office, anxiety slowly engulfed her.

The commotion that had been faintly heard through the receiver was directed at her.

It wasn’t just one, but many.

The scene of the lobby revealed as the elevator doors opened was nothing short of a bombshell.

More than a dozen people were struggling with the security team, trying to get past a single entrance gate. No matter how muscular the security team was, they couldn’t withstand the reckless people any longer.

The head of the security team, sweating profusely, pleaded desperately.

“I told you to wait until Shin Joo comes down. Please go out. Okay?”

“How can we trust your words! Bring that Shin Joo b*tch in front of us right now!”

“It’s dangerous! Step back!”

Hesitating, Joo stepped out beyond the gate, trying to calm the situation.

Spotting Joo between the security team members, the people reached out their hands like moths to a flame.

“Joo, come here!”

“Why aren’t you answering our calls?”

“We’re only trusting you, how could you stab us in the back?”

As the people pushed forward, the security team members eventually scattered to the sides.

The people from her hometown surrounded Joo in a circle. The onlookers gathered in the lobby all whispered and glanced at Joo.

She had been with the company for a year. It meant that anyone who knew her face would recognize her.

“This is the company. Let’s go out and talk.”

“You know what you did is embarrassing, don’t you? Then we can’t go out even more.”

The villagers put their hands on their waists, seemingly determined to stay put.

The restaurant owner from the village pointed her finger right in front of Joo’s face.

“You, how are you going to pay back the money your father borrowed from us?”

“It’s the money my father borrowed, not the money I borrowed.”

The restaurant owner rolled up her sleeves and took a step closer to Joo, as if she couldn’t believe it.

“Your father was so lucky to die. He used up all our money and threw himself into the warm Han River water when the weather was nice.”

“Auntie.”

“But we’re different from your father. We have a sense of responsibility. We need to feed our children. Even if we want to die like your father, my son is too precious to me that I can’t even put my nose in a plate of water!”

It hadn’t even been a month since Joo had sent off her father.

As soon as the market day ended, people she didn’t even know came to Joo, clamoring for her to pay the money. Not only was it a debt of unknown origin, but she had already given up on inheriting the debt. However, they wouldn’t listen.

“I don’t have money. I told you.”

“You paid back the village head’s money. This is discrimination. You know that?”

“The village head had an IOU, and he was ill, so the money was necess…”

The restaurant owner slapped Joo’s chest hard with her strong palm. Losing her balance, Joo’s legs staggered and stepped back.

Undeterred, the restaurant owner charged at Joo.

“We lent money only trusting your father, but since there’s no IOU, you’re going to run away?”

Joo’s slightly parted lips closed.

The people’s eyes filled with contempt and disdain poured onto Joo.

A week ago, her mother, who hadn’t been able to escape the shock of losing her father, collapsed due to a cerebral hemorrhage. Her mother, who had been rushed into the operating room, had to embrace lifelong paralysis on her left side.

The one who wanted to cry now was not the people who had lost money, but Joo, who couldn’t feel the obligation to pay back.

“Everyone, come out!”

As the thunderous voice of the real estate agent Mr. Kim was heard, the villagers parted like the Red Sea.

As she turned her head straight, a transparent stream of water was sprayed towards her face. As the ice-cold water poured over her body, Joo froze, unable to do anything.

“Ahh!”

The company employees who were watching screamed and stepped back.

Mr. Kim threw the blue bucket he was holding onto the floor.

“Get splashed with cold water and come to your senses! You rotten b*tch!”

The bucket that rolled on the marble floor with a clang reached the tip of Joo’s feet.

Water dripped down from her long hair onto the floor.

The water that had soaked her body was filled with a foul smell.