Chapter 2.4
What kind of person was this woman?
She didn’t seem to have any manners.
She was nothing like his calm wife.
Grabbing his car keys, Jin-wook rushed out.
There could be another man.
If this woman left, his wife would be alone—and in such a vulnerable state….
“D*mn it….”
Clenching his forehead, he headed to the parking lot.
Despite the sub-zero weather, Jin-wook didn’t feel cold.
His body was practically burning with heat.
The inside of his car was chilly, but he didn’t even bother turning on the heater.
Starting the engine, he briefly thought about his wife.
At least she had worn his coat when she went out.
If she felt cold, he could turn on the heater later.
For now, he needed to get to that street food stall.
His car sped out of the parking lot, gaining speed rapidly.
As the car accelerated, so did his heartbeat.
“A street food stall?”
‘Go Ah-jin, my wife, at a street food stall?’
She looked like someone who wouldn’t even touch alcohol, yet here she was drinking.
He had once tried offering her a drink at home.
Just a sip, he had said.
But she had refused and practically fled the scene.
He had assumed she couldn’t drink at all.
Now that things had come to this, there were countless things he needed to question her about.
Pressing the accelerator, he pushed the car to its limit.
***
As soon as he entered the street food stall, there was no need to search—he spotted them immediately. At this late hour, there was only one table occupied by two women.
He walked straight toward the familiar sight of his wife’s back.
The sound of his footsteps, heavier than usual, caught the attention of the woman named Eun-hee, who acknowledged him with a glance. He responded in kind, with a brief nod, before checking his wife’s condition.
“Go Ah-jin.”
His wife sat slumped over, mumbling to herself.
Even though he called her name, she didn’t respond.
“Just wait a little longer, and she’ll start talking. Aren’t you curious?”
The woman, who had been watching him, pushed the chair next to his wife with her hand.
What kind of story was his wife supposed to tell?
Though baffled, he sat down.
The street food stall itself was a place he found deeply unpleasant, but his wife was drunk.
He had heard once that drunken words were often the truth.
The idea that someone might reveal truths they couldn’t share soberly seemed pathetic to him, but now, he was curious.
His wife rarely expressed her thoughts.
Perhaps, just this once, he might hear what was truly on her mind.
It was unusual to see his wife, who was always impeccably composed and poised, so disheveled.
Her nodding head and the smell of alcohol on her breath were equally unfamiliar.
“Choi… Choi Jin-wook!”
His wife suddenly called his name, causing his sharp eyebrows to twitch.
“This is where it gets important, so listen carefully.”
Her friend gestured for him to pay attention, her face glowing with excitement.
Unlike his wife, this woman seemed entirely composed, which made her all the more irritating to him.
“Choi Jin-wook. My husband, Choi Jin-wook, you know? Do you know how selfish he is? Especially, you know, especially during s*x! He’s the absolute worst. Eun-hee, listen to me. You know, if you’re going to do it, it’d be nice to share the effort, right? But no! He always, always comes at me when he wants it. And he just keeps going, until—until I’m completely drained. He’s a beast, a beast!”
What followed was a shockingly fresh revelation.
Judging by the way she repeated herself like a parrot, it seemed she had been ranting like this for quite some time.
‘Really, Go Ah-jin. What a spectacle.’
“Ha.”
A low sigh escaped his lips.
If drunken words were truly honest, then his wife must have been deeply dissatisfied with their s*x life.
She was apparently so upset that she felt the need to air their private matters to a complete stranger—a drama writer, no less—and call him an animal.
“Excuse me, Mr. Choi Jin-wook. Are you okay?”
“Why? Do I look unwell?”
“Well… it’s just that… when Ah-jin drinks, she seems to let out everything she’s been holding back. She usually keeps so much bottled up inside, you know? You understand, right? Please try to be understanding.”
The woman, noticing his expression, seemed to be trying to smooth things over.
Her exaggerated tone only made his lips curl in irritation.
It was far too late for damage control.
He had already decided to keep this woman as far away from his wife as possible.
“I have one request. I don’t watch much TV, but I hope you won’t turn this into an episode about me and my wife.”
He didn’t want to harbor prejudice against her profession, but wasn’t this how writers worked?
When they ran out of material, they used the personal stories shared by those around them.
He recalled reading an interview with a certain creator who admitted to doing just that.
“I may be a writer, but I’m also a person. I can’t go into detail, but the only reason I’m able to do what I do now is because of Ah-jin. She helped me out without any conditions, simply because we’re friends. I would never repay her kindness with betrayal.”
Adjusting the glasses perched on her nose, the woman answered firmly.
She admitted that writers sometimes had no choice but to use the stories of those around them when they ran out of ideas during brainstorming sessions.
But she insisted that she would never exploit Ah-jin’s story in that way.
“Well, I suppose I’ll have to wait and see.”
Words alone weren’t enough to earn his trust.
Besides, this woman was his wife’s friend, not his.
He had no reason to believe her, so he issued a quiet warning.
“Unlike my wife, I’m not easy to deal with.”
“Sure. I guess we’ll find out. And today’s situation really has nothing to do with Ah-jin. I know it’s not my place to interfere, but it seems like there’s not enough communication between you two. I just thought this might help you understand Ah-jin’s thoughts a bit better—that’s all.”
“I know my wife well enough.”
He drew a firm line, his tone sharp.
The phrase “my wife” momentarily silenced Eun-hee.
Given how much she had humbled herself, he could have been more generous, but he remained stiff and unyielding.
It was remarkable in its own way.
No matter how high up he was—the President of DH Department Store, no less—she hadn’t expected him to be so cold and unapproachable.
Ah-jin must have gone through a lot after marrying him.
What had she seen in a man like that?
Eun-hee pitied her friend silently.
Of course, she couldn’t deny that Choi Jin-wook was breathtakingly handsome—to the point of frustration.
Just as Eun-hee was about to get up, her friend stopped her.
“Hey, hey? Eun-hee, you said you’d keep listening to me. Why are you leaving already?”
Until that moment, Ah-jin, who had been sitting absent-mindedly, also tried to stand up. Eun-hee quickly pressed her friend’s shoulder back down and instructed her firmly.
“Do you know how long it’s been? It’s already been over four hours. You said you wanted to make dinner plans, but then you dragged me to a street food stall. I really didn’t see that coming. Anyway, I need to head back to the broadcasting station now. Go home with your husband.”
“Husband? What husband? …Eun-hee, why are you leaving already? Don’t go!”
Ah-jin clung to Eun-hee like a child, but Eun-hee hurriedly freed herself from her friend’s grasp, pulling her clothes away while grabbing her bag.
At this point, the best way to help Ah-jin was to disappear from that man’s sight as quickly as possible.
“I’m sure there’ll come a day when I’ll receive thanks for what happened today.”
For a moment, Eun-hee almost let out an exclamation.
It seemed that Ah-jin’s husband understood the reason why she had deliberately called him using Ah-jin’s phone, provoking him in the process.
He didn’t seem like such a bad person after all.
With a slightly relieved expression, Eun-hee gave a small nod in farewell and left the street food stall.
***
“Go Ah-jin.”
“Yes….”
After the woman left, Jin-wook rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin up with his hand.
His initial thought of dragging his wife out of there immediately had somewhat dissipated.
Perhaps it was because he had seen a different side of her.
Now that he had confirmed she wasn’t with another man, he felt he could stay here a little longer.
That didn’t mean the anger simmering inside him had completely disappeared.
Looking at her now, he couldn’t help but question whether this was truly the Go Ah-jin he knew.
She was undoubtedly the wife he had known for three years, but the difference between the woman sitting here now and the doll-like figure who always sat quietly at home was staggering.
Maybe it was the alcohol, but her flushed cheeks and slightly damp lips looked far livelier than usual.
It wasn’t the perfect and composed image she always presented, but he found himself oddly drawn to her.
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