The rustling sound of freshly dried white bedding was pleasant to hear.

Bang bang, after smoothing out the sheets and changing the neatly ironed pillowcases, my mood improved as well.

For a man who split every minute and second, sound sleep was the only rest.

Wanting that rest to be perfect at least, Do Eum busily moved her body despite not feeling well.

“Oh my, young lady. Good heavens, what’s all this about?!”

So Kyung’s wife, who rushed in hurriedly, pointed across the yard to the central entrance below the hill.

“Reporters are crowding in front of the gate, I don’t know what on earth is going on…”

At the news that reporters she’d never seen even at the wedding were camped outside, Do Eum’s face turned pale.

“Something must have happened, but I can’t reach Manager Han and don’t know what to do!”

“Tell Mr. Kim to come in, and leave through the back door by car. Not the front entrance.”

“Wh-what about you, young lady?”

“I’ll have to wait quietly until he contacts me.”

He.

Though she said ‘he’, it specifically meant Woo Seok.

As always, Woo Seok was the one who represented his affairs, and she was just one of the many tasks he had to deal with.

After sending off Mr. and Mrs. Kim, Do Eum finally took out her phone and skimmed through the articles pouring in under Seo Ji Wan and Yoon Yi Seol’s names.

She remembered the man’s back as he left last night, telling her not to wait up.

The hurried steps of a man who rarely rushed, and the sharp engine sound as the car quickly left the garden.

Yoon Yi Seol.

‘So that’s her name. Calling her Seol instead of Yi Seol, is that their pet name?’

Pet name.

As if a chilly wind blew through one corner of her heart, she felt a chill.

After typing ‘Yoon Yi Seol’ in the search bar, Do Eum hesitated for a long while.

It was overstepping.

A clear violation of ‘Article 5, Clause 3 of Party B’s Obligations: Party B shall not interfere in Party A’s private life’ in the contract.

“What are you doing, how pathetic.”

Erasing the name ‘Yoon Yi Seol’ from the green search box, Do Eum turned on all the lights in the house and even the garden.

Deliberately, instead of soft flowing music, she turned on music so loud it seemed noisy, and headed to the kitchen wearing an apron.

Today, she ambitiously planned to prepare Japanese cuisine.

Just as she finished topping rice with salmon marinated in soy sauce and spices and various vegetables, a message came from Woo Seok.

Unlike usual, communicating by message instead of phone call meant the atmosphere there must not be good.

The phone call from Woo Seok came about an hour after Mr. and Mrs. Kim left.

Right when she had finished marinating the salmon in sauce.

– It’s me, young lady.

“Yes, Manager Han.”

-You must have been surprised? It’s nothing. Especially not what you’re worried about.

Woo Seok had said something similar in front of the flowers delivered to the house before.

That she didn’t need to worry about it.

Do Eum responded brightly to Woo Seok’s voice, which was uncharacteristically a tone lower than usual.

“It’s alright, don’t worry about me. What should I do?”

Skipping the long explanation that there was no need for excuses in a relationship bound by contract, Do Eum only asked about her duties.

“Should I leave for a while if you want? I noticed the reporters don’t seem to know about the exit behind the garage…”

-No, no. Just carry on as usual, like you always have.

“I understand.”

The answer was concise and clear.

“…Is the CEO alright?”

-At Chairman Jang’s summons, the CEO is at Anseo-dong. I’ll escort him to Hwaan-dong as soon as he comes out.

It seemed the saying that Chairman Jang Ho Muk wielded the greatest influence across the peninsula wasn’t entirely wrong.

That day when he was urgently summoned to Anseo-dong.

Thinking back to Ki Hyeok and his wife kneeling before the old man, it seemed so.

Seeing how two company representatives were dragged over to bow their heads at a word from Chairman Jang.

Would this man also kneel before his grandmother?

What would he apologize for?

No, would he even think he did anything wrong?

Do Eum wiped her hands on her apron and stepped onto the lawn in the garden as always.

Judging by the commotion outside the gate, the reporters were still guarding the central entrance at the bottom of the hill.

Since she had lit up the whole house, the bright light would be clear even from down there, and surely the image of a wife waiting for her husband to return from work would be clear too.

Ziiing.

As the door opened, she saw Ji Wan’s sedan coming up.

Raising the corners of her lips in a faint smile, Do Eum folded her hands neatly with a deep breath.

*****

“Did you tell her to turn on all the lights?”

“Of course not.”

The garden they entered after passing through countless reporters was unusually bright.

Contrary to expectations that she would minimize lighting to block outside attention and be huddled up, if not in total darkness, the woman was standing in her usual spot with her hands neatly folded.

“Then, did you tell her to act like that?”

“No way, how could I?”

Woo Seok was just as dumbfounded, since in their earlier call she had sounded terrified, acting as if she might hide away at any moment.

The sight of Do Eum standing straight with a smile, waiting in contrast to how she had been, impressed upon those below the hill how meaningless today’s commotion was to the two of them.

It was clearly a gesture to those with eyes ablaze trying to catch something, anything, that this baseless rumor would cause no problem whatsoever for their household.

As Woo Seok, who got out first, bowed to the woman, Do Eum held out a lunchbox wrapped in a yellow cloth.

“I challenged myself with Japanese cuisine today. Give one to Driver Park and eat the other at home, Manager Han.”

Receiving the lunchbox handed over with a bright smile,

‘Is this really the face of a wife who saw news articles about her cheating husband today?’

Woo Seok scrutinized Do Eum’s face carefully.

While Woo Seok stood dazed, forgetting to open the back door, Ji Wan opened it himself and stepped onto the lawn.

“Welcome home.”

The bright smile that had stupefied Woo Seok was now directed at Ji Wan.

“Manager Han, please go now. Eat before it gets cold.”

After greeting Woo Seok, the woman casually wrapped her arm around Ji Wan’s right arm.

Countless camera flashes went off at the bottom of the hill, capturing the backs of the seemingly affectionate couple.

Click, click.

Flash, flash.

*****

Neatly arranged salmon rice bowls were placed in front of the two people sitting silently across the dining table.

“I made Japanese food today.”

This conversation deviated far from the expected question of what all this was about.

“The salmon looked fresh and good.”

Unlike usual, Ji Wan sat at the table without washing up, as Do Eum led him, and looked over the woman across from him.

Instinctively, he always did this when looking at her.

He kept checking if she seemed uncomfortable anywhere, if there was anything she couldn’t say.

Unlike other women whose desires were evident in their every gesture, it was because of this woman who didn’t easily reveal her thoughts.

He was bothered by her constantly smiling face, even though she shouldn’t be in the mood to smile at the news about him that had heated up the internet all day.

And the occasional sniffling too.

“Why are all the lights on outside?”

“I just turned them on. I thought brightening up inside and out might improve your mood a bit. Do you feel any better?”

“I wasn’t feeling bad to begin with.”

A lie.

Everything his grandmother in Anseo-dong said, whether words or glares, flew like daggers piercing his heart.

“I see. Let’s go with that then.”

Do Eum picked up the chopsticks, gently mixed Ji Wan’s rice bowl, and held out a large spoonful in front of his mouth.

As Ji Wan was about to open his mouth nonchalantly, having done this a few times before, he snatched the spoon away.

“I’ll do it myself.”

He said.

“I told you, you don’t have to cook.”

“I do it because I enjoy it. I get bored, and I have the ingredients and time, and it’s fun too.”

To the man who was utterly indifferent even in the act of chewing slowly with his red lips,

“Still, since I made it, I’d like to hear you say it’s delicious.”

She added her sincere feelings disguised as a joke.

There was no reply, making her gathered courage seem futile.

“They say sheep raised in neat fences don’t know the fear of wild beasts rampaging in the wilderness. So until they die, they don’t know there are enemies beyond the fence, or that those enemies could jump over to devour them at any time.”

It was an abrupt story.

“Someone who’s never had neat fences knows how scary the world beyond is. Unwanted attention, formless criticism… and rumors created at will.”

It seemed she was talking about the gossip that had been aimed at her all day.

“So I don’t misunderstand. Because you’re not that kind of person.”

There must have been thousands of things she wanted to ask.

Did you really go to meet that woman yesterday?

If you met her, why did you come back instead of staying?

If it was going to be like this, why did you marry me instead of her?

Watching the woman console him, putting aside countless words she wanted to confront him with, an indescribable nausea rose in him.

“What kind of person?”

“…Pardon?”

“If you mean a fool who falls in love with one person but marries another out of necessity, all while running at the beck and call of an obsessive ex-girlfriend.”

The woman with a face that looked like she would wait all night if told to ‘wait’, no, who would wait in that spot without moving even if told not to wait.

“I am that kind of person.”

The woman who would probably say ‘It just happened that way’ if asked why she waited,

“…Sir.”

She became frightening.

“I am that kind of person, I’m saying. It’s not that what others are saying is a misunderstanding, but what you’re doing now is the misunderstanding.”

The small woman’s head bowed so low it nearly touched the marble dining table.

“You remember our contract, right?”

“Yes.”

“Party B follows Party A’s requests as long as there is no physical or material harm.”

Clank.

The sound of chopsticks being set down on the table echoed in the empty living room.

“For my sake,”

Choosing the tie I’ll wear every morning, neatly turning my shoes towards the entrance, preparing meals for me day and night.

“Don’t do anything.”

This kind of thing where you care for me.

Having said what he needed to say, Ji Wan strode into his room.

Above the man standing straight.

The pouring light was blinding, or perhaps her eyes really were sore from staying up all night.

Her vision kept blurring.

Wiping away tears, Do Eum checked the bowl that had been in front of Ji Wan.

The food left more than half-eaten in the well-polished silver tableware looked just like her.

Arranged to be appetizing and pleasing to the eye, but not fulfilling its role at all.

He probably hadn’t eaten anything all day.

‘I should have just stayed still.’

Do Eum, regretting coming out to offer unnecessary comfort, silently lowered her gaze to the table.