Chapter 8.1 – Seven Years

“Will you be eating too?”

“No. I’m fine.”

When his father-in-law President Go asked while looking at the menu, Choi Jin-wook replied firmly.

“Are you telling me to eat alone right now?”

“I have an early dinner appointment. I’ll pay for the meal.”

Though it was President Go who had first suggested they eat together, he showed not the slightest sign of apology. Clearly displeased, he drained his water glass and visibly tried to suppress his irritation.

When Jin-wook had gone looking for Ah-jin the last time, he’d realized the man had quite a fiery temper—completely unlike her. He was now certain that Ah-jin had taken after her late mother instead.

It would take quite a while for the meal to be prepared.

Give them time for a brief conversation before bringing out the food. This was what he had instructed the Korean restaurant’s head chef in advance. He had never intended to sit and eat with President Go from the beginning.

“So, what’s the reason you wanted to meet separately?”

Perhaps tired of just drinking water listlessly, President Go spoke first.

“Do you know why I haven’t divorced Ah-jin yet?”

“Maybe she’s not as useless as she looks. You seem to have taken quite a liking to her.”

He didn’t speak like a father talking about his daughter.

The way he treated her, more like merchandise than family, made Jin-wook cross one leg over the other. It was a good thing he’d stopped Ah-jin from following him here.

“I heard you tried to stop her from that arranged meeting at first.”

“Don’t misunderstand. Even though she’s my daughter, she grew up so roughly that I knew she was far beneath you, so I did that. But she seemed to want it herself.”

“Ah-jin was… eager, you say?”

It was a story about her that he was hearing through someone else’s mouth, not Ah-jin herself. Choi Jin-wook was immediately intrigued. So it was true that his wife had set her heart on him from the time of their blind date.

“Mm. That’s right. Well, she probably had her eye on DH rather than you. Unlike her mother, she’s cunning and knows how to get what she wants.”

However, President Go’s story flowed in a different direction.

When Jin-wook listened, behind-the-scenes stories that he hadn’t heard from Ah-jin began to flow out.

“I really loved that child’s mother. After the child’s mother died, I still gave her money because she was my child after all. I told her not to catch my eye and to live doing whatever she wanted. But then she said this. That it was money I’d have to take back anyway when she died. I was flabbergasted. That’s when I realized her greed wasn’t ordinary.”

At the disparaging remarks about Ah-jin spoken so casually, a smile flickered across Jin-wook’s lips. Hearing the route through which his wife’s secret funds were secured was very intriguing.

“So that money came from you, Father-in-law. I see.”

With that money, she had invested in her writer friend and prepared for divorce from him someday, hadn’t she?

She must have invested it in her writer friend, perhaps preparing for divorce all along.

If not for that money, Ah-jin might never have even thought of leaving him. President Go failed to notice the murderous look flowing in his eyes.

“If her spending seems excessive, please understand. She grew up with nothing. Since marrying you, she’s probably lost her head. For my sake, just overlook it.”

He had no intention of listening to President Go’s misguided assumptions. If a father knew less about Ah-jin than he did after living with her for three years, the answer was already clear.

Ah-jin had never truly had a family to begin with.

“What exactly are you asking me to overlook?”

Jin-wook’s face, having abandoned his polite attitude from just moments before, held only contempt. It was as cold as looking at sewer filth rather than a superior.

“Y-you—”

“This is absurd. You don’t know a thing about Ah-jin, and yet you talk as if you do.”

Even if he should’ve maintained the appearance of civility, he couldn’t help but laugh dryly.

How pitiful Ah-jin must have been to ever consider these people her family.

Along with that came deep relief. That Ah-jin had no proper family other than him.

“Don’t misunderstand. She’s still my blood. My wife and I spent a great deal of money to marry her off properly. If you two aren’t divorcing and plan to live together, then we’re family, aren’t we? So about that K Corporation investment, I was thinking—”

“Not a chance.”

“Wh-what did you say?”

“Family? Don’t give me that crap.”

Choi Jin-wook brought out exactly what the low-level employees who were quitting the company used to shout in the lobby.

Really, it was full of such b*llshit. He had tried to speak nicely, but the other party who tactlessly brought up the main point was ridiculously absurd.

“What! What are you saying right now?”

“Ah-jin told me herself—she’s never once felt like family to you.”

“Well, that’s because she’s married now. A woman who’s wed is no longer part of her birth family—an outsider.”

“Good. ‘An outsider.’ Let’s end it there.”

It was rather fortunate. Choi Jin-wook thought it was rather good that Ah-jin had nowhere to return to.

“Mr. Choi Jin-wook!”

Since she herself wouldn’t be able to cut ties because of her dead mother, he would cut them for her instead.

“From now on, Ah-jin’s only family is me. I’ll transfer the money to your account.”

What did the amount matter? No matter how much he sent to President Go, it wouldn’t be a waste. If that could completely block off any place for Ah-jin to return to, it would be worth it.

Given Ah-jin’s personality of feeling indebted and unable to live comfortably, she might be dragged around by President Go using that money as leverage, so it was better to block it in advance.

Choi Jin-wook had never cared about President Go’s company in the first place. It had been a marriage he entered looking only at the woman named Go Ah-jin from the beginning. Neither Choi Jin-wook nor Go Ah-jin needed the backing of a small-to-medium enterprise.

President Choi Jin-wook of DH Department Store’s wife.

For Ah-jin, that one title was enough.

“Mr. Choi! Don’t be like this—let’s talk about it!”

“Escort him out.”

President Go, who had chased him all the way to the company, was eventually dragged out by security company employees. Choi Jin-wook, who had given instructions to block his entry entirely, went straight up to the president’s office.

***

“What brings you here?”

“You get hungry when you come back from outside work, don’t you?”

Ah-jin was waiting in the president’s office, saying she had brought dinner. It was a three-tier lunch box that she had prepared herself. It was packed full of menu items she must have learned from the cooking classes she had been attending recently.

“How is it? It was worth sending me to cooking classes, right?”

As soon as he took a bite, Ah-jin sent him an expectant look.

“Not sure.”

It had improved a lot compared to before, but seeing Ah-jin’s expectant expression made him want to betray her expectations.

Did she really not know that their time alone together had decreased because she had registered for three times a week, claiming she wanted to improve her skills, when she asked such a question?

“…Is it not good?”

“It’s not good. Stop going there.”

“That can’t be. The teacher praised me so much.”

“The teacher, is it a man?”

“Yes. He’s an unmarried teacher, but he’s kind and gentle.”

“Quit. Immediately.”

“That’s ridiculous. Why?”

“You really need to ask?”

“I know. I just wanted to hear you say it.”

This kind of conversation was familiar now. Choi Jin-wook was realizing what Ah-jin wanted.

Especially when she talked about other men, Ah-jin loved it when he reacted intensely.

On days when he was truly jealous, she probably didn’t even think about the consequences. She just wanted to feel loved, even if it was just through words.

And Choi Jin-wook was accommodating Ah-jin as much as possible.

He didn’t know anything about love between men and women anyway.

As a result of growing up watching his parents who had been distant since childhood, he had thought such things were futile. Even now, that thought remained unchanged.

He had simply realized that if he erased the existence called Go Ah-jin from his life, nothing would remain. That’s why he had come to consider Ah-jin as his top priority.

“Won’t you tell me the reason?”

Even now, Ah-jin was just waiting for his answer.

“We need to make our first child.”

It wasn’t very difficult to give Ah-jin the answer she wanted.

A few days ago, she had gone to a bookstore and returned with nothing but childcare books.

Embarrassed but smiling, she’d said she wanted to study in advance—pure and innocent as ever.

“I love you, Jin-wook.”

Ah-jin also gave the answer he wanted.

Precisely, he wanted to hear her say she wouldn’t leave, but she seemed like she would only say that after filling up the full three weeks. Instead, she often said she loved him.

“I love you too.”

He said this while pretending to be calm, trying hard to suppress the intense thirst that felt like it would burn his throat.

He believed that if he continued to tell her what she wanted to hear, he would eventually hear the answer he wanted to hear as well.

Despite various incidents, Choi Jin-wook had realized. In the end, what Ah-jin wanted became what he wanted as well.

Someday, when Ah-jin learned about what he had done to President Go today, she might blame him.

It didn’t matter at all. By then, she would already be accustomed to living alone with just the two of them.

To achieve that, he needed to hurry and make their first child. Of the three weeks he had gotten from Ah-jin, two weeks remained.

For Choi Jin-wook, it was enough time.