“From here on I need to work. Cha Yunjoo will have to entertain herself—can you manage that? The party is at eight in the evening, so as long as it doesn’t interfere with getting ready, you can do whatever you want.”

She had been so tense she was holding her breath, and he had to let her go. Seeing her tense face, Kangwook’s playful streak had kicked in and he had teased her, and her expression was so entertaining that he broke into a full laugh. His laughter brought her reason back to its proper place, and only then did her frozen mind start working again. Kangwook had been playing with her, enjoying himself. Once she realized it was a joke, she got angry.

“Mr. Kangwook, are you having fun?”

“Very much. Why didn’t I know sooner that Cha Yunjoo was this entertaining?”

“You think I’m just going to sit here and take it?”

“I look forward to it. Whatever you have in mind.”

He drew out the last words, speaking at his leisure, and the tension that had wound Yunjoo so tight quietly eased. Her face relaxed.

‘Just you wait, Choi Kangwook! I’ll get you back.’

Their time in Hong Kong began with both of them laughing. With Kangwook’s words—that she could do whatever she wanted until the party—Yunjoo went into her room, changed into something comfortable, laced up her sneakers, and headed out of the hotel. 

The thought of wandering around on her own made her feel so light she could barely feel the ground beneath her feet. She stepped out of the hotel with a bright, full smile, and there was a man following close behind her.

“You don’t have to come with me. I’m going by myself, so please just rest.”

The man was a guard and driver Kangwook only brought along on overseas trips. She had no desire to drag Kangwook’s driver around with her.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. The president instructed me to drive you and not to leave your side.”

“I’m more comfortable going alone. I’ll explain it to him later, so just stay here.”

“He also instructed me that if that were the case, I was not to let you leave.”

At the guard’s words, Yunjoo turned to go back to Kangwook and stepped up to the elevator, but paused to think for a moment before turning back to the guard. It seemed like the guard would be the one in a difficult position if she pushed back. Having him along was still better than having Kangwook follow her, and since it wasn’t as though she had been told not to go out, there was nothing to make an issue of.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Rather than chasing after a man who was supposed to be working just to argue about it, she decided it was better to enjoy her time in good spirits, and got into the car they had provided.

‘Right, let me enjoy a few of the perks of being Choi Kangwook’s wife. Let’s go, Cha Yunjoo!’

The condition was that the driver and guard would accompany her, but she didn’t mind at all. She would have needed to take a car anyway if she were going alone. This was too exciting a time for anything to hold her back—it was a freedom nothing could stop. Yunjoo headed to Wan Chai.

She wanted to walk slowly and take it all in. She had said she wanted to go on foot, so the car pulled over and followed at a quiet distance, but before long she forgot all about it and walked through Wan Chai feeling like she was on her own. 

It was the old heart of Hong Kong’s city center, and she found it fascinating to see skyscrapers shooting up into the sky right alongside low, weathered buildings. SoHo and Lan Kwai Fong pulled her gaze in every direction.

Lan Kwai Fong was packed with small, charming little shops. Yunjoo walked through it slowly, so absorbed in looking around that she lost track of time. For Yunjoo, who was experiencing the quiet joy of travel for the first time, nothing she laid eyes on looked ordinary. She was happy and full of delight.

She was taking it all in like that when she stopped at one spot and stood there for a long while, unable to move. What captured her gaze completely was a deep red dress. The little shop was so small you could walk right past it at a brisk pace without noticing it, and there was no sign to speak of.

It was a top dress in a clear, cherry red—not something you could simply call a red dress—and it caught Yunjoo’s eyes and refused to let go. She drifted inside the shop almost without realizing it, and found herself reaching out to touch the dress. As she stood there touching it, unable to look away, the owner came over.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it really is.”

“I think it would suit you very well. This piece is lovely, but it seems to be particular about its owner—it just hasn’t been going out the door.”

Even as the owner spoke, Yunjoo couldn’t take her eyes off the dress. She never wore this kind of color, never even glanced at it. And of all things, a dress especially—she had never worn a dress in anything other than black, and wearing one in a color like this had never once crossed her mind.

“Would you like to try it on?”

“Is that alright? I might not even buy it.”

“You might want to buy it and still find it doesn’t fit. Don’t worry, just try it on.”

She genuinely had no intention of buying it. But it was so beautiful she wanted to try it on at least once. She felt a little bad, but she planned to be satisfied with just trying it. Then a thought suddenly surfaced—the events of that morning. What if she used this dress to get her revenge?

She was going to surprise Kangwook with a dress completely unlike anything he had seen her in before. That was the thought running through her head, eyes bright with amusement, as she tried it on. It was a dress she never would have touched back in Korea, and here she was, putting it on.

Hong Kong was creating a different kind of joy for Yunjoo. She made up her mind to enjoy the trip, with the dress as her instrument of revenge. She decided to wear the dress she wanted to wear and actually enjoy something called a party. It was possible because she was Yunjoo. The passive marriage she had endured, and the active, unapologetic divorce notice she had delivered—those things were changing her.

The dress fit Yunjoo like it had been made for her. The woman in the mirror looked so unlike herself that she had to wonder if it was really her. She had put it on with the girlish idea of getting back at Kangwook, and now the dress had her full attention. The woman in the mirror was her, and yet someone else entirely.

“It’s so beautiful. Goodness, the owner of this dress has finally appeared.”

“Yes…….”

“They say that if you receive a kiss while wearing this dress, you fall in love with that person.”

“What!”

“I put a spell on it when I made it. That the two of you would see only each other, forever.”

Yunjoo didn’t believe the owner’s words. She pulled her gaze away from the dress she had been staring at and met the woman’s eyes. She knew it was a joke, a sales tactic to move the merchandise, but when the woman gave a nod, it somehow sounded real.

“Sounds like a lie, doesn’t it?”

“…….”

“Let me give you one warning. Never wear this dress in front of someone you can never be with.”

“…….”

The dress had stolen Yunjoo’s heart so completely she couldn’t think straight, and despite the steep price, she paid by card and walked out. Looking at the bag in her hand, Yunjoo forgot what the owner had said. Or rather, she decided from the start that it was a ridiculous story.

In the moment she had locked eyes with the woman, she had believed it, but that was the kind of story that only belonged in fairy tales, and she had grown too old to believe in things like that. 

Still, she felt wonderful. She looked at herself standing on an unfamiliar street, doing things she never would have done in Seoul.

She was always too busy rushing back, hurrying home the moment her errands were done, and she couldn’t remember the last time she had walked at her own pace, just for herself. Carrying the dress bag, Yunjoo was in high spirits. She sat on a bench along a waterfront promenade with a view of the sea, sipping coffee and simply resting.

It felt good to just be here, doing nothing. Hong Kong, with its exotic atmosphere so vivid it could make you feel you had landed in Hawaii, kept Yunjoo in a state of pure elation. She returned to the hotel with bright eyes, set aside the dress she had brought from Seoul, changed into the dress she had bought today, and looked at herself in the mirror.

‘Wait! Was the neckline always this low? When I tried it on at the shop it didn’t seem this revealing. Oh no, this is a disaster!’

The boldness she had felt at the shop had vanished entirely, and she paced around the room wondering what she had been thinking when she bought it, all thoughts of revenge gone, with no idea what to do about the situation she was now in. She had already done her makeup and hair to match the dress—now what?

She could hear Kangwook moving around outside, but Yunjoo couldn’t bring herself to leave the room. She stared at the dress she had bought on impulse, swept up in some kind of spell, with eyes full of regret. She fretted and fidgeted inside the room, and just as she finally decided to change back into the dress she had brought, she heard Kangwook call out.

“Are you ready yet?”