The Lie That Introduced Itself
That was Ji-su's honest belief.
The fleeting suspicion that this man might have some other motive toward her dissolved almost instantly into the conclusion: Impossible. He had witnessed, from beginning to end, the spectacle of Kim Young-baek looking down on her. Besides, would a man like this really flirt with a woman who supposedly had a fiancé? What could he possibly stand to gain? It was a definitive No.
Jae-gyeom shook his head, took the tie hanging from Ji-su's hand, and looped it around his own neck without ceremony.
"You know, Ji-su. I like this."
"Like what?"
"Feels like a collar you put on me."
"……A collar, seriously?"
"Now then—shall I go to Im Ji-su's house, wearing the collar Im Ji-su fastened on me?"
She hurried after him on quick, short steps. In the large full-length mirror to the left of the entryway, Jae-gyeom and her own reflection appeared side by side as he slipped on his shoes.
"Wow. Unbelievable."
"Am I that handsome?"
"No—me. I look absolutely hideous."
It was true that Jae-gyeom in his immaculate suit looked striking, but only now did Ji-su take in her own appearance, so at odds with his polish, and feel her soul leave her body in embarrassment.
The beige linen dress she'd dug out to see her mother for the first time in ages was soaked with sweat and crumpled beyond saving. She'd hauled heavy bags under the blazing midsummer sun, and her hair—hopelessly tangled—clung miserably to her forehead and the back of her neck. It was a mercy it was still tied up at all.
"What? You're nothing but pretty."
"……If that looks pretty to you, there's something wrong with your eyes."
"No way. I have high standards. You're pretty."
Jae-gyeom smiled with easy warmth. Thinking that the look in his eyes was, for no good reason, far too tender, Ji-su shook her head.
By then the sun had finished preparing its exit, leaving only a glow of dusk behind. She got into the car and gave him the address, and on the road toward her mother's house, she stared straight ahead as she explained quietly.
"My boyfriend's name is Kim Young-baek. He's thirty-five. His job is… well, technically he doesn't have one. His family runs a shop in an apartment complex in front of Su-gyeong City Hall in Gyeonggi-do. If anyone asks, just say he's helping his parents because he's going to inherit the shop."
To her flat, emotionless explanation—delivered as if she were reading aloud from a book—Jae-gyeom responded with a question in exactly the same tone.
"So you were going to marry him for that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Anyone could see the man was way out of your league. I just wondered if maybe the reason you insisted on marrying him was the shop."
"Excuse me?"
"Don't get mad. I'm trying to understand you. I figured if that's what you were hoping for out of the marriage, it would actually make sense. Wanting to live comfortably isn't something you should be shamed for, so I don't think badly of it. Sorry if I gave you the wrong idea."
Was Kim Young-baek really that far below par? Sure, he was thinning on top and on the short side, but Ji-su found it odd that he'd warrant being dismissed so bluntly as "out of her league."
"Fine. It's not a long story anyway. So, to answer your question directly—no. That shop means absolutely nothing to me. I have zero desire or interest in it."
"Hmm."
"Young-baek's mother—when she told me to greet my mom today, she said that so no one would look down on him for being unemployed. Anyway, that's all you need to know."
At Jae-gyeom's cynical question—So you weren't actually planning to inherit the shop?—Ji-su had nodded.
Before she knew it, they'd passed through the town and turned onto the narrow two-lane road leading into Gyechon-ri. She still had plenty left to teach Jae-gyeom about Kim Young-baek, but the house was already drawing near, and her heart began to race. She rushed to tack on a conclusion.
"Today—my mom will probably have dinner ready for us. The original plan was to eat, spend the night at our house, and tomorrow morning you'd catch the train back to Seoul. I was going to rest here with Mom for a few days before heading back myself."
The man had listened attentively to every word.
"But that's not possible anymore, so—"
"Why wouldn't it be possible?"
"Because Yoon Jae-gyeom can't very well sleep at my house, can he?"
His eyebrows rose in genuine puzzlement, as if to ask what on earth could be wrong with that. Ji-su shook her head.
"We'll eat, then leave saying something urgent came up. We walk out together and go our separate ways right there. I'm heading back to Seoul."
"Why? I thought you were spending time with your mother."
"……If I stay with Mom any longer, she'll keep asking about Young-baek. And I don't want to talk about him anymore. It makes no sense to keep seeing someone after what happened today—he's someone I'm breaking up with anyway. That's why."
"Okay. I like that conclusion."
At last they turned into the familiar neighborhood. A sign came into view: Welcome to Gyechon Village, Overflowing with Trust and Love.
After parking in front of the gate, Ji-su looked at Jae-gyeom just before getting out.
"Thank you. And… I'm sorry I don't remember you."
"That's hardly something to thank me for, or apologize for."
"No. I'll make it up to you somehow, however hard you worked. Give me your account number."
"Don't tell me you're planning to pay me back in money."
Before the question—then how am I supposed to repay a debt?—could even form in her head, the man was out of the car and holding the passenger door open for her. Ji-su picked up the gift she'd prepared in advance.
"Take a look at me. First time meeting my future mother-in-law—final inspection. How do I look?"
Straightening his slightly crooked tie knot, Ji-su laughed.
"Honestly, it's fascinating—your personality. I can't tell if you're shameless or just brazenly confident. Mother-in-law, really."
"I've been calling you that for a while now. Just noticing?"
"……I'm in your care, then."
"Don't worry."
The moment they stepped through the gate, Baekgu barked at the top of his lungs. Ji-su went to pet him first.
"Baekgu, have you been good? Noona took way too long to come see you, huh?"
Hearing movement in the yard and the dog's excited barking, her mother came out to greet her. Her face was flushed with nervous anticipation.
"Ji-su! Aigoo, my daughter, oh my goodness. I almost didn't recognize you."
"Mom!"
Every single day of living alone in Seoul as an office worker, and today's absurd ordeal on top of it—all of it had worn Ji-su down. Without meaning to, she let herself whine like a child and burrowed into her mother's arms.
She hugged her mother tight and breathed in deeply, and the familiar scent filled her lungs to the very bottom. Everything felt like it would be all right now. She reminded herself that she could pull off the act she had to perform—hauling in Yoon Jae-gyeom, a man who shared not a single shred of anything with Kim Young-baek—and drew another long, deep breath.
"Sweetheart. Aren't you going to introduce the gentleman who came with you? Oh my, what a wonderful face he has. So tall and handsome—good heavens."
Under her mother's expectant gaze, it was time to tell the lie. It's fine, Ji-su told herself. It was better than walking through that gate alone and stammering that Kim Young-baek had made it as far as town but turned around—better than leaving her mother stunned and embarrassed. Anything was better than that.
"Mom, this is the man I'm going to marry—"
"Mother. How do you do. I'm afraid my greetings are long overdue. My name is Yoon Jae-gyeom."
Watching the man introduce himself—not as Kim Young-baek, but as Yoon Jae-gyeom—breaking into a wide, sunny smile, Ji-su froze in such shock that she forgot to breathe.
Once they moved inside, the dinner hour stretched out agonizingly slowly—a time when her mother and Yoon Jae-gyeom laughed and chatted in perfect delight, while Ji-su sat across from them feeling queasy, uncomfortable, and unable to sit still.
"Oh my, you know, the more I look at our Jae-gyeom, the more familiar he seems. Is it because he's so handsome? People must tell you all the time you look like some celebrity, don't they?"
"Please, Mother, speak comfortably."
"Ohohoho, good heavens! And such a lovely personality too! Usually a face that handsome comes with a prickly temper. Pretty girls are the same way."
"And yet you're as beautiful as you are, Mother, and endlessly warm-hearted."
"Oh my! Stop flattery like that, you'll make me dizzy!"
Ji-su wanted to cry. It had been so long since she'd seen her mother laugh out loud like this.
When Ji-su had told her over the phone that she had a boyfriend of six years, her mother had been hurt—how could you hide something like that from your own mother, not one word? But as if she were a different person from the one who'd scolded her just days ago, her mother now looked radiantly happy—all of it directed at Yoon Jae-gyeom, a man she would never lay eyes on again after tonight.
"Mother, could I have another bowl of rice?"
"Well, I never—even the way you eat is a blessing to watch. Eat as much as you like. I only hope the food suits your taste. I did try my best, but…"
"I was so looking forward to your cooking, Mother, that I've been fasting since last night."
What is wrong with this man, seriously? Ji-su glared at Jae-gyeom, her eyes firing off words far worse than curses. Jae-gyeom simply smiled.