‘When was I ever Choi Kangwook’s wife?’

She had never been his wife in three years, and now that they had decided to divorce, she couldn’t understand why he was saying that word, but her heart was pounding, and she hated that it was.

If that was true, then it meant he had genuinely been worried about her the day her father came too, and that didn’t sit comfortably either. Yunjoo’s expression shifted through several things before settling into something shadowed. She looked at Kangwook with eyes full of questions. 

Even Kangwook was surprised by what had come out of his own mouth, so Yunjoo must have been all the more so. He could tell from her expression exactly what she was about to say, and he couldn’t let her say it.

“Cha Yunjoo! What do you want to eat?”

“Pardon?”

“I said, is there anything you want to eat?”

“Me?”

“Are you back to being the old Cha Yunjoo today? Why can’t you follow a simple question?”

“What do you mean, me?”

Kangwook smiled at the way she snapped back at the small provocation. It was a good way to scatter her thoughts. She had been deep in thought from his words, and when the sudden question came, she answered blankly without thinking. Then she saw Kangwook smile at her reaction, and it soured her mood and sharpened her words.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Wondering if Cha Yunjoo had gone back to her old self.”

“Wake up. I am never going back to who I was.”

“I know. And I find the Cha Yunjoo of right now much more interesting.”

Interesting? She wasn’t living this hard so that Choi Kangwook could find her interesting.

“Mr. Choi Kangwook, I have no intention of being interesting for you. And stop acting strange and confusing me.”

“Me?”

“Well, is there anyone else here?”

“But Cha Yunjoo, couldn’t you wash up before coming down? I said you looked pretty the other day, but I didn’t mean it extended to this.”

“What!”

Her face went hot in an instant. She had been thinking about it just moments ago, and then the back-and-forth with Kangwook had made her forget entirely. Yunjoo stopped herself mid-anger and ran up the stairs. It was dangerous when Yunjoo got serious. Kangwook had cut her off and sent her upstairs on purpose, and once she was gone he laughed quietly and called after her.

“You did smell a bit when I carried you earlier. But wash up quickly and come back down. I’m starving from waiting.”

She barely held back the urge to ask why he had carried her then. She stomped into the bathroom, looked in the mirror, and let out a yelp. Even she couldn’t look at herself. Her dark circles had dropped down to her cheekbones, her hair was a disheveled mess with dust sitting dull in it, and her face was streaked with grime. It was beyond looking at.

‘Choi Kangwook has a strong stomach.’

‘Ugh, honestly! What is wrong with me lately? I’m losing my mind. Why do I keep letting him see me like this?’

She washed up thoroughly, changed into comfortable clothes, and came back downstairs to find Kangwook still sitting in the same spot.

“Did you wash properly?”

“Yes.”

“Come closer.”

“Why?”

“Let me check the smell. Earlier it was like something out of a drain.”

Kangwook moved toward her saying he was going to smell her, and Yunjoo stepped back, sniffing herself. Kangwook watched and started to laugh.

“You’re teasing me again.”

“Bingo.”

“This man, honestly!”

Watching Kangwook tease her at every turn, Yunjoo couldn’t decide whether to be angry or laugh along.

“Let’s go out.”

“Where?”

“We need to eat. I need to eat. Are you not going to?”

“Well, I do need to eat.”

“Then let’s go out. Eating at home is a hassle, and my wife is on strike. I’ll buy, so come be my dinner company.”

He was gently needling her, but the easy way he said it, simply asking her to eat with him, left her with nothing to say back, and she had no choice but to go along.

“Alright. What are you buying?”

“Whatever you want.”

“Let’s have meat. Not fancy steak, charcoal grill. Actually, should we have eel?”

Watching her face, which had been complicated and serious just moments ago, light up the instant food came into the conversation was both amusing and remarkable. Yunjoo kept changing every time he looked at her, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. He watched her go back and forth between two options without being able to decide, and offered a clean, simple answer. They could just have both.

Going out together for something personal was a first in all their time living together. Kangwook stepped out the front door with Yunjoo and kept stealing glances at her as she walked beside him, the corners of his mouth lifting. He drove them himself to a place that looked quietly upscale. When they walked in, the owner appeared almost immediately and greeted them, and Yunjoo, uncomfortable standing side by side with Kangwook, took a small step back.

“Welcome. President.”

“Yes, is what I requested ready?”

“Of course, President. You said two, correct?”

The owner’s gaze drifted toward the woman standing slightly apart, and Kangwook followed it and drew Yunjoo to his side. Yunjoo looked up at him in surprise without a word. She had wanted to avoid being recognized as much as possible, since they were going to part ways. That was why she had put distance between them, and now he had pulled her right next to him, and her expression showed it.

“This is my wife.”

She was so caught off guard that for a moment she just stared at Kangwook blankly. Has she ever actually heard that word from him? The occasions she had accompanied him were always ones where standing beside him said everything without needing words. So hearing Kangwook say it out loud with his own mouth felt strange and out of place.

“Ah, I see. Welcome, ma’am.”

“Yes, hello.”

Yunjoo had been standing there startled at Kangwook’s words, but she returned the owner’s greeting when it came. She didn’t know why he had felt the need to say it in a situation where introducing her wasn’t necessary, but unlike Yunjoo, who found all of it uncomfortable, Kangwook was perfectly composed.

He had to know she was watching, yet he followed the staff member leading them in, and she had no choice but to follow too. She must have looked obviously dazed, because she noticed the owner watching her, so she gave a small smile and quickly stepped into the private room Kangwook had entered, then turned and glared at him. What was that introduction for, calling her his wife out of nowhere. It wasn’t wrong, but she had already divorced him in her heart, and hearing it grated on her.

“What was that? That’s so embarrassing.”

“What? This is a place my family has been coming to since my grandfather’s time, so I know the owner well, and Cha Yunjoo is still my wife, so I said so. Is there a reason I shouldn’t have?”

When he put it that way, she had no real comeback. She had been ready to argue, but his words stopped her cold. Nothing he said was wrong. Unlike when they had walked in, Yunjoo was now frowning with a dissatisfied look as she flipped through the menu in front of her, when she remembered Kangwook saying they could have both, and looked up.

“This is a Korean beef restaurant. They don’t do eel.”

“I know. Wait.”

A staff member came into the reserved private annex and set the table, bringing out both Korean beef and eel, and began grilling them on the grill. The eel clearly wasn’t on the menu, and she had to ask.

“I didn’t see eel on the menu. Do they do it?”

“The President requested it specially.”

The fact that he had arranged something not even on the menu for something she had mentioned was surprising, but it also felt like an imposition.

“That’s an inconvenience.”

“Not at all.”

The flustered staff member spoke up at Yunjoo’s words. That was an inconvenience too. She had meant it for Kangwook to hear, and now the staff member was the one made uncomfortable.

“I wasn’t speaking to you.”

Yunjoo turned her eyes away from the uncomfortable staff member and fixed them on Kangwook. She knew he understood perfectly well who she was talking to and was pretending otherwise.

“Ah, I keep forgetting. That President Choi Kangwook is quite a remarkable person.”

“Everyone else seems to remember. Why is it only the one person who shouldn’t forget that does?”

“Because you’re not worth much to me.”

“I’m a person with a thousand percent utility value.”

Yunjoo glanced sideways at the staff member mid-conversation and stopped herself. They weren’t alone, and she needed to be careful. The two of them fell quiet, and shortly after, the staff member left.

She had said it with a bit of an edge, but she meant it. She had never once thought about using Kangwook. That was why she sometimes forgot what kind of person Choi Kangwook was, she thought, and then wondered how much longer she would go on like this, and a faint smile came to her. She didn’t know how many days were left, but she decided she might as well enjoy them.

“I’ll eat well. Thank you.”

“Good, eat a lot. But just the I’ll eat well part.”

“Still, being grateful is being grateful. Lately I sometimes wonder if you’re a different person.”

“I’ve often thought the same about Cha Yunjoo, so we’re even.”

“You thought I seemed like a different person? Well, I suppose that’s fair. But this is me.”

Yunjoo had been about to push back at Kangwook’s words, then quickly agreed instead. And at the end, she held herself up without apology. It was good to see.

“I know. That this is Cha Yunjoo.”