Daughter-in-law… It didn’t take long to realize what that word meant.

The woman’s identity was Im Ryu Ryeong, Sun Woo’s mother and the mistress of Juha.

A flustered Se Eun bowed her head in greeting.

“Ah. Nice to meet you. I, I am…”

She opened her mouth but couldn’t form the next words.

It was understandable, as this was her first time meeting Im Ryu Ryeong in person.

From the beginning, this marriage had proceeded without even a formal meeting, and for some reason, she was absent on the wedding day.

As Se Eun stood there bewildered, Im Ryu Ryeong gave an elegant smile.

“You’re quite different from the rumors.”

“…Pardon?”

“Your taste in clothes is quite good.”

“Ah…”

Realizing that her gaze was fixed on her plunging neckline, Se Eun flustered, not knowing what to do.

It was then.

“Here, your rabbit fur.”

Sun Woo, standing behind, nonchalantly draped the white fur coat over Se Eun’s shoulders.

As Se Eun hurriedly adjusted her clothes, Im Ryu Ryeong stepped a bit closer.

Simultaneously, as if to block, Sun Woo intercepted her gaze towards Se Eun.

The palpable tension made the staff take a couple of steps back.

“What is it? Don’t act friendly, just go on your way.”

Despite the blatantly rude tone, Im Ryu Ryeong’s expression didn’t change at all.

Rather, she seemed to become even more at ease.

To Se Eun’s eyes, she looked like someone who had just gotten hold of an interesting toy.

Soon, she slowly shifted her gaze to face Ki Sun Woo.

“I’ve luckily and coincidentally met my daughter-in-law whom I haven’t even seen yet, shouldn’t I at least greet her? Don’t you agree, young lady Yeon Se Eun?”

“Ah, I’m sorry. I should have visited you first, but…”

Se Eun glanced at Sun Woo, gauging his reaction.

Actually, after visiting the Ko San family home, she had tentatively asked if it wouldn’t be good to pay respects to the Juha family as well.

It seemed like the right thing to do, as far as she knew.

However, Ki Sun Woo flatly rejected that suggestion.

As expected, their relationship seemed far from a typical mother-son relationship.

It was understandable since she wasn’t his birth mother, but he was openly displaying hostility.

Ignoring that hostility with ease, Im Ryu Ryeong took another step closer to Se Eun.

A face of unparalleled beauty.

Se Eun found herself unknowingly staring at her face, as if mesmerized.

She seemed to be a classic yet Western-style beauty, with an innate elegance emanating from her entire being.

Before she knew it, Im Ryu Ryeong had approached and gently grasped Se Eun’s hand.

Startled for a moment, Im Ryu Ryeong then handed Se Eun a business card.

“At least the daughter-in-law should be able to distinguish between public and private matters. If anything happens, feel free to contact me here. I am your mother-in-law, after all.”

“Ah, yes. Thank y… Huh?”

Before she could even grasp the card properly.

The paper was torn to shreds in mid-air and fell to the floor.

This audacious act was, of course, Ki Sun Woo’s doing.

“Well, well.”

Snickering as if it were pathetic, he dusted off the hand that had just torn the card.

Then he stared at Im Ryu Ryeong with provocative eyes.

“Contact freely? You seem to be unaware. Since ancient times, they say don’t associate with in-laws, why are you being so old-fashioned?”

“Ki Sun Woo.”

“There won’t be any need for you to contact my wife. So don’t try any tricks.”

At the word ‘tricks’, Im Ryu Ryeong’s smile faded a little.

Nevertheless, she maintained her composure until the end.

“Our daughter-in-law must have a hard time. I feel a bit sorry for passing on such a troublemaker.”

Not knowing how to respond, Se Eun’s eyes trembled.

There was clearly malice towards Sun Woo hidden between Im Ryu Ryeong’s words.

Of course, Ki Sun Woo wasn’t one to miss that.

“You’re apologizing for the wrong thing. Keeping silent about what you should really apologize for.”

As if he didn’t want to exchange any more words, he grabbed Se Eun’s shoulder.

“And unfortunately, my wife hates it the most when someone pays attention to her.”

“What?”

“It means leave her alone.”

“Huh? No, Ki Sun Woo. That’s…”

Se Eun looked back and forth between Sun Woo and Im Ryu Ryeong with wide eyes.

She was perplexed but had no way to explain.

“Right? Yeah, I know. So let’s go now.”

Sun Woo cut off Se Eun’s urgent words and quickly instructed the manager who was almost hiding behind them.

“We’ll take everything she tried on today. Charge it to my wonderful mother’s card here. Is that okay? You seem to really want to play the role of mother-in-law. It’s all for the daughter-in-law, after all.”

Im Ryu Ryeong gave an indecipherable smile and nodded to the manager.

It was truly like walking on thin ice.

Se Eun just wanted to get out of this situation quickly.

The ill-fitting clothes, the title of daughter-in-law, everything felt uncomfortable.

Sun Woo once again firmly held Se Eun’s hand, just like before.

As if to show off their relationship, he even affectionately pulled her shoulder close.

While Se Eun was flustered, not knowing what to do, he delivered a final blow to Im Ryu Ryeong.

It was a voice like a blade, completely different from the pleasant voice he had been using until now.

“Well then, please change your shopping time next time if possible. I don’t want to run into you again.”

*

From the car ride back until they re-entered the house, Se Eun couldn’t relax her tension.

On the other hand, Sun Woo went on about trivial things as if nothing had happened, saying they should go shopping again since they didn’t get to buy casual clothes.

Se Eun was amazed and surprised at how he could be so nonchalant after encountering such a storm just moments ago.

On top of that, she felt a sense of admiration and envy.

She had always been severely scolded by her aunt and Mo Na, but couldn’t even utter a peep.

Being able to be so confident in front of an intimidating stepmother seemed like a different species from herself.

“…Se Eun.”

“…”

“Yeon Se Eun. Are you listening? Miss Yeon Se Eun~ Honey! Wife!”

Startled by the sudden shout breaking through her thoughts, Se Eun snapped back to reality.

Ki Sun Woo was waving a shopping bag at her with a mischievous expression.

“What were you thinking so deeply about? You should look at today’s spoils.”

“Spoils…?”

“Well, it’s too small to be called spoils. We should have taken more expensive things, it’s weak.”

Shaking his head, he took out the clothes they bought at the department store and laid them out.

It seemed like it would easily cost tens of millions of won if all combined.

Se Eun had secretly looked at the price tags while fitting earlier.

Carefully, Se Eun asked what had been bothering her since the car ride back.

“But… Is it okay to treat your mother like that?”

“It doesn’t matter. You saw it. She was provoking me just as much.”

“But…”

“It’s fine. You don’t think she really intends to play the role of a mother-in-law, do you?”

Se Eun’s fingertips trembled.

Ko San had never even tried to treat her as a granddaughter.

Her aunt was the same. Rather than treating her as a niece, she saw her as a stumbling block in the way of her daughter Mo Na.

How could someone like her play any role for anyone?

“No. Nothing like that.”

As she shook her head resolutely, Sun Woo’s lips finally curved up in satisfaction.

“Good. That’s how it should be. After all, aren’t husband and wife one body and soul? If I dislike someone, you should dislike them too, that’s all.”

“…What kind of unreasonable logic is that?”

Although it was absurd, Se Eun felt relieved by his attitude.

While Im Ryu Ryeong had indeed grated on her nerves earlier, Ki Sun Woo didn’t seem to mind at all.

“My stepmother had been in a long-term affair with my father. Long before he married my mother.”

He blurted out the shocking story as if it were nothing.

The story Se Eun was curious about but couldn’t bring herself to ask.

“Moreover, she even secretly had a son. That’s my elder brother.”

“Ah…”

“When my father remarried, my elder brother, who was born first, naturally became Juha’s eldest son. That’s how I became the abandoned prodigal son or trash.”

“…”

At a loss for words, Se Eun just stood there blankly.

Should she comfort him? Or sympathize?

Given that her own situation was no less difficult, perhaps sympathizing would be more appropriate.

But Ki Sun Woo was, as always, Ki Sun Woo.

Quickly changing the heavy topic, he held out clothes to Se Eun.

“Here, now that you understand, put this on.”

“…That has nothing to do with it.”

“It does. Right now, you’re worried about me inside, aren’t you? If you wear this, it’ll make me feel better.”

“That’s…”

Since it was true, Se Eun bit her lip and glanced at the clothes he had bought.

From the modest dress she first wore, to the fluttering dress he said made her look like Tinkerbell, and then…

“Huh? When did you buy this?”

Se Eun asked while stroking the soft white coat that had just come out of the large shopping bag.

The fluffy white fur was surprisingly smooth and plush.

Suddenly, something she had forgotten came to mind.

“Oh. Come to think of it, earlier you called my clothes rabbit fur… Don’t tell me this is too?”

A startled Se Eun quickly checked the coat’s tag.

Ki Sun Woo chuckled softly.

“Don’t worry. I thought you might not like real fur, so I bought the highest quality faux fur. Put it on. And throw out that old clothes.”

Suspicious, Se Eun stared intently at Sun Woo.

But Sun Woo didn’t avoid her gaze and stared right back at her.

Se Eun was flustered by the unexpected staring contest.

In the end, Se Eun was the first to blink and open her lips.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

Slowly, Ki Sun Woo’s eyelids closed and opened again.

Soon, words that made Se Eun’s eyelashes tremble flowed from his red lips.

“Because I care.”