Part 5

“Thank you.”

Jiwook gestured to the employee.

Seeing her drenched in the rain, he asked the employee to bring her a towel. He handed her the towel, but Seowoo remained motionless even upon seeing it.

“Stop being stubborn and dry yourself. Before you catch a cold.”

It had been a whole two years.

Jiwook was still the same as if no time had passed. 

Seowoo stared blankly at him, who was sitting in front of her. Despite seeing him with her own eyes, she couldn’t believe it.

It almost felt like a dream.

“I arrived today.”

When she remained silent, Jiwook spoke first.

Two years had passed.

Two years since they had parted ways in front of their house and went through an unwanted divorce. It truly felt like a long time.

“If you hadn’t insisted on divorce so stubbornly, things wouldn’t have turned out like this.”

His sharp words echoed in her ears.

This situation. How did I end up like this?

After the divorce, she moved to a quiet place and lived without thinking about anything. 

Seowoo lifted the teacup placed in front of her and took a sip. The warm tea thawed her frozen body.

She had met him at the memorial park earlier and came to the nearby café. Even though she didn’t want to face him, she was somehow led here by his insistence.

“So, you’ve moved to Dogok-dong now.”

Her hand holding the cup froze for a moment. She had only moved two weeks ago after sorting out her life in the countryside.

He couldn’t have known while he was in the United States. 

Had he been following me all this time?

Seowoo slowly lifted her head. His penetrating gaze was fixed on her. 

“It seems like you’re doing some background check on me.”

“Let’s start over.”

Seowoo was speechless at his sudden statement.

Start over? After all the effort I put into escaping from that place?

It was ridiculous.

“You make it sound so easy.”

“Easy?.”

Jiwook retorted immediately. Unlike her, who had finished sorting out her feelings, he still seemed angry. His furrowed brow and sunken voice made it evident.

Seowoo set her teacup down and looked him in the eye.

“You’ve never been here before, I know that.”

“Yoon Seowoo.”

“While I was sending our Star and crying until I fainted, where were you?”

“Is that my fault?”

“Then is it my fault?” 

It took a whopping 4 years.

To bring up a heartbreaking story so casually.

Their baby.

Unlike Myeong-hye, who expressed her dislike for having a daughter, Seowoo was very happy to have a daughter. She wished for a daughter who could be like a friend in her lonely life.

She remembered Myeong-hye going crazy, telling Jiwook never to contact Seowoo while he was away on a business trip.

Maybe it wasn’t his fault.

Jiwook didn’t know about her miscarriage. But the way he’d acted afterward made Seowoo realize that telling him wouldn’t have made any difference. 

“I never even thought about divorcing you, not even a bit.”

As she reminisced about the painful past, Jiwook spoke first. She didn’t say a word to him but left like she was running away.

She was exhausted by then.

After two miscarriages, she didn’t have the energy to argue anymore.

“I understand if you didn’t want to come to America, so let’s start over.”

“No. I don’t want to do that.”

“Seowoo.”

“Don’t call me so affectionately. It wasn’t like that back then.”

Seowoo’s voice was full of resentment. Perhaps if it had been affectionate before, she could have endured a little more.

She remembered her pitiful self, enduring everything just for Kwon Jiwook.

“That’s why I asked you to leave with me. If you had just told me…….”

“I guess it’s my fault again.”

Seowoo stood up as if there was nothing more to say. His cold eyes followed her.

“Sit down. We’re not done talking yet.”

Years passed must have been a good thing because his authoritarian tone now didn’t bother her anymore.

Feeling the chill from the rain-drenched clothes, she shuddered.

“Let’s never meet again.”

With tears brimming in her eyes, Seowoo spoke calmly, trying her best to hold back her emotions.

***

Jiwook walked slowly into the living room. Pulling his tie loose, he flopped down on the couch and leaned back.

The moment he met her this early morning felt like a dream.

He had known that she had moved to Seoul.

But he had guessed that he could meet her only at that place, not at her house, and he’d been right.

He vividly remembered her sitting in front of the small tree, clutching a dress and crying out loud.

“Ha.”

He sighed and closed his eyes.

[K Group Executive Director Kwon Jiwook’s marriage ends after just 3 years.]

[Actress Yoon Seowoo, daughter-in-law of the chaebol family, finally proceeds with divorce.]

Two years ago, when he arrived in the U.S., he saw an article that he couldn’t understand. He wondered if it was wrong to go to the U.S. in the first place, leaving her behind who didn’t even go to the airport

There were stories in the articles that he didn’t even know about.

‘What on earth is this about?’

‘Seowoo says she wants a divorce.’

Apparently, his mother, Myeong-hye, knew all about it. Seowoo had never intended to come to the U.S. with him in the first place.

‘She said she couldn’t take it anymore and left home.’

‘Mom.’

‘So, you should sort out your feelings too. Anyway, you’ll be able to do it while you’re in America. Since she said the divorce will be handled through lawyers, you should know that too.’

‘I don’t want a divorce.’

‘Don’t you have any sense? Are you going to try to bring back someone who left because she didn’t want to be with you?’

Those words lingered in his mind. He wondered if he could have caught her if he was in Korea.

He called her numerous times, but couldn’t even hear her voice.

The reason why he couldn’t enter the country… Jiwook’s eyes dimmed as he briefly reminisced.

At that moment, his phone in his jacket pocket vibrated. Jiwook, still with his eyes closed, took out his phone.

“Yes.”

• I got your message. It looks like the reason the Madam came up to Seoul is to get her job back.

“What do you mean?”

A comeback?

He asked, his voice rising.

• She met with Moon Seung-min, the head of MS Entertainment. An article about her return is scheduled to be released soon.

“Moon Seung-min?”

He slowly raised his eyelids.

Moon Seung-min…

The name sounded vaguely familiar, and he searched his memory.

• He was your wife’s manager before you got married…….

“Ah…….”

That Moon Seung-min.

Jiwook’s forehead creased deeply

This was the reason why she, who used to live in the province, came to Seoul.

Jiwook’s gaze dimmed.

“Find out more details.”

• Okay.

“Oh, and…”

• Yes, Sir?

Jiwook narrowed his brow and took a breath.

“What project she’s going into this time, who the director is.” 

• Okay.

“And who the other actors are. Find out everything by tomorrow.”

• Yes, understood.

After ending the call, Jiwook fell into deep thought.

“A comeback…”

Why does it have to be with Moon Seung-min……. Tsk.

He clicked his tongue softly and got up from his seat, walking into the kitchen. The house was neatly organized.

As if he had been living here all along.

Originally, after separating from his parents, it was supposed to be the house where they would live together. No, it was the house he had prepared for them to live in together when they returned from the US.

Picking up the bottle of whiskey, he poured a full shot into an on-the-rocks glass.

After the divorce, he had been suffering from severe insomnia. He poured himself a drink like this because if he didn’t, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“Ha.”

He gulped down the drink until he could see the bottom of the glass, then wiped his wet mouth. After pouring himself another full glass, he picked it up and strode to the living room. 

Standing in front of the window, he took a sip of whiskey and fell into deep thought.

From the age of nine when he first met her until now.

Everything that had happened flashed before his eyes.

Where did it all go wrong? Why did things become so twisted between us?

Even after pondering it over during his time in the US, he couldn’t find an answer. He felt suffocated from head to toe.

Jiwook let out a deep sigh, tilting his head back and letting the alcohol wash down his throat.