CHAPTER 1: Wedding Anniversary Gifts (Part 4)

Back at home, Moon-kyeong took off her stuffy clothes one by one. She searched for information about Kim Seo-wook on her cell phone.

There were plenty of hotel management news related to him, but they were all formal articles.

Just then, she received a call from Bora and Moon-kyeong asked her to visit her studio apartment.

A short while later, Bora, a childhood friend from the orphanage, visited her studio apartment. Covered from head to toe in luxury goods, Bora looked at Moon-kyeong and raised her thumb.

“Seo Moon-kyeong, I heard you had a great show tonight.”

“Have a seat. Want some coffee?”

“Yeah, strong. You know my style, right?”

Moon-kyeong personally brewed the coffee and placed two cups on the table. As she set them down on the table, Bora narrowed her eyes and asked.

“What was so urgent that you had to call me at this time of night?”

“I have something I want to ask.”

“Go ahead, speak.”

“Do you know about Lee Han Group’s Kim Seo-wook?”

“Is there anyone who doesn’t know that person? Oh, right, you’ve been abroad for a long time, so you might not know much about this field.”

“Tell me. What kind of person is he?”

“Umm, a luxury trash?”

Bora was quick on the uptake here. Since she confidently stated that her dream was to marry into a conglomerate family, she gathered news about the third-generation chaebols more diligently than anyone else.

She had attended many social gatherings on Moon-kyeong’s behalf, so she heard and saw many things. What she said was close to the truth.

“In short, he’s a total mess. He’s not even worth looking at, except for the fact that his father is Chairman Kim Seok-young. Oh, do you know about the secretary?”

“Secretary?”

“Yeah. After Chairman Kim Seok-young became the head of the company, he hired a young secretary, not his main wife. Shin Joo-eun. That’s her name. Rumor has it that the chairman loved her so much that she gave birth to three sons, the first of whom died of leukemia at the age of seven. There’s a curse in that family that if they only have sons, they die young because meddling with the ancestors’ graves brings misfortune. Anyway, the second one is Kim Seo-wook. The third one is…”

Moon-kyeong interrupted Bora’s words and asked again.

Whether it’s the curse of the Lee Han Group or whoever the third one is, it’s not important. After all, it was Kim Seo-wook, the second son, who is her prospective husband.

“Why is Kim Seo-wook a mess?”

Bora burst into laughter.

“Oh, that? It seems he has a perverse hobby. There are rumors that he engages in dirty affairs only with young people. There’s also talk that he doesn’t perform well in bed.”

“Don’t his parents know? They always say he’s very upright.”

“What? Who says that about Kim Seo-wook? Tell them to cut the crap.”

Moon-kyeong chuckled subtly at Bora’s response.

“Parents don’t really know how to properly see their own child. Well, Mom is like that too. They don’t know why their children are like that.”

“Wait, did you receive a marriage proposal from Lee Han Group?”

As Moon-kyeong nodded, Bora seemed to pause in thought, wearing a subtle expression.

“I envy you, Seo Moon-kyeong.”

Moon-kyeong, who was sipping her coffee, paused.

“What do you mean?”

“Back then, if I had been adopted, would I have received a marriage proposal by now? You became a top ballerina with a father who is a congressman and a mother who is a professor at Korea University. And I’m just an ordinary office worker, and I’m jealous of that. Can you explain it again?”

Moon-kyeong lowered her gaze. The invisible wall between them was so thick she couldn’t even fathom it anymore.

Her voice sank.

“No. There’s no need for that.”

“Go ahead and get married. What’s the harm? It’s just adding another wing to your already glamorous life. Whether it’s a conglomerate or a mess, what does it matter? You’ll become the daughter-in-law of Lee Han Group.”

A glamorous life. Moon-kyeong chuckled ironically.

“Bora.”

“Yeah?”

“So, do you envy me?”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“I do.”

Bora, who had interrupted Moon-kyeong’s words, gave her a cold look.

“You, don’t reject it.”

Moon-kyeong loosened her tied hair and massaged her neck. She crossed her legs.

Gone was the grace she’d put on in the restaurant, and a rebellious gleam shone in her eyes.

“What do you think?”

“About what?”

“Me disappearing before the wedding.”

“What are you talking about?”

Moon-kyeong swept a hand through her disheveled hair and laughed softly.

“Just kidding. I’m going to get married.”

“Well, you should.”

“Yeah, because I don’t have a choice anyway.”

“…….”

“But you know, if, just if, I get another chance to choose again, I’m running away.”

“What?”

“I want to live with my original name, not Seo Moon-kyeong.”

Having finished speaking, Moon-kyeong gestured toward the dressing room on the right.

It was her saying that Bora could take whatever she liked.

It had always been like that. Bora would often come to her house, asking if she could take this or that, and always chose the most expensive bags and shoes, everything.

Even the things Bora had adorned herself with now were all from Moon-kyeong at some point. Bora, who used to laugh slyly, came out holding two bags and an apricot-colored dress hanging in the closet.

She spoke, like someone doing something that was all too natural.

“I’ll be going now.”

“Yeah.”

Once Bora was out of sight, Moon went into the master bedroom and curled up on the bed.

Everything was perfect in her life, but it was a bit sad. No, not a bit. A lot.

With a melancholic expression, Moon-kyeong pulled the blanket over herself.