The Golden Couple Problem

A sob had caught in her throat, and before she knew it, the words tumbled out of Jaein, low and raw.

"You said we'd talk next time. Doing this at my workplace—come on, this isn't right—"

She never got to finish.

"You were crying. Why?"

"I wasn't—"

"You were. Your eyes are bloodshot."

Watching Taeha look her dead in the eye, Jaein found herself at a loss for words.

Why she was crying.

Why would that matter to you?

Not like you ever cared about me.

"It's nothing."

"Is it because of the Gold-Thread Couple? The family dropping off the show?"

Jaein's head snapped up to meet his gaze.

So he heard.

It suddenly occurred to her that he might have gone so far as to stop Bureau Director Lee on his way out of the conference room to ask.

Jaein pressed her lips together.

Why did he have to show up at a moment like this, only to catch her looking like a mess?

"Tell me. It was them, wasn't it?"

At the repeated question, emotion surged up inside her, hot and sudden. Her pride stung.

"I'm not incompetent, sunbae. I can support my mother on my own."

She'd said that with such confidence—just yesterday.

In truth, she didn't hold nearly enough sway within the network to make such bold pronouncements. One word from Seongho and she got shoved around every which way. That was Jaein's position here.

But things like that were fine. She could endure them, overcome them, same as always.

What she hated was looking pathetic in front of him.

She'd sworn she'd divorce him if it killed her.

And now the claim that she could live perfectly well on her own had been rendered hollow.

"That's right, they were. So will you please leave? I have to return some calls—I'm busy."

"……"

"And you'd better show up next time. Sunbae, you can see I'm swamped, right? I still took a half day off to come here."

With that, Jaein turned away.

The truth was, she knew perfectly well that returning calls wouldn't solve anything. She had a shortlist of backup candidates, but it was window dressing. How many couples out there had a concept as sharp as the Gold-Thread Couple's and could start filming as early as next week? Honestly, she wasn't confident she could book a cast that would satisfy the higher-ups.

Well, there goes my plan of ever going home for a while.

She had just gripped the handle of the emergency exit when a voice reached her.

"Want me to take care of that problem for you?"

Wondering if she'd misheard, Jaein turned around—and found her eyes locking with Taeha's, gazing down at her, steady and unblinking. Not a flicker of hesitation in them. They were telling her he meant it.

"Take care of it? You, sunbae?"

When she asked how exactly he planned to do that, he stepped closer. He came near enough that the toes of their shoes nearly touched, then tilted his head down to hold her gaze.

"You just need to find a replacement cast, don't you?"

Well, yes, obviously.

"You won't find one. A civilian couple that would become that big a story."

She knew it wasn't that simple.

"Why not? There's a couple out there who'd drive way bigger buzz, sitting right under our noses."

Jaein's brow furrowed. What civilian couple could he possibly mean?

"Do you know some couple around here? Would you recommend them to me?"

The moment she'd thrown pride to the wind and gazed at Taeha so desperately, the corners of his mouth began to curl upward into a slow smile.

"Yeah? Then call him. Bureau Director Lee."

"Our Bureau Director?"

Half in disbelief, Jaein pulled out her phone and tapped the Director's name in her call log. The moment the call connected, Taeha took the phone from her and pressed it to his ear.

"Bureau Director Lee. This is Woo Taeha."

Even as he spoke to the Director, his eyes stayed fixed on Jaein. There was something in that steady, downward gaze that, strangely, stirred a thirst in her.

"The variety program PD Seo Jaein is running."

And then, soon enough, she understood why.

"There's an empty spot on that program after a cast dropped out. My wife and I would like to appear on it."

At Taeha's low, quiet words, Jaein's heart plummeted.

Turning his words over in her mind, she blinked rapidly.

……What?

Who's appearing where?

The program I'm running?

We're going on Sesame Couple?

Jaein's eyes went wide, wider than she could control.

"Sunbae!"

She lunged for the phone in his hand. She managed to snatch it back, but the call had already ended. She was scrambling to dial the Director again when Taeha plucked the phone right back out of her grip. Jaein's hand shot out, but in a blink the phone was raised far beyond her reach.

"Sunbae, are you insane?"

"Why? You said you need a cast who'll make more of a splash than those troublemakers."

He smiled, eyes crinkling in a way she found infuriating.

"That's us, isn't it? You and me."

"……"

"Is there a single couple in all of Korea who'd drive a bigger story than Woo Taeha and Seo Jaein?"

Jaein couldn't close her gaping mouth. Incredibly, the man before her was dead serious.

"Don't talk nonsense! Give me the phone!"

"How is it nonsense? Let's go on the show."

"Sunbae. Do you even know what program I produce?"

So flustered that her voice trembled as she confronted him.

"It's a couple observation variety show. Featuring couples so in love that sesame seeds are pouring down!"

Woo Taeha, Vice Chairman of Daeha Group—one of South Korea's undisputed top conglomerates. And Seo Jaein, the Cinderella who'd married that third-generation chaebol heir.

Their marriage had already made headlines once. And now he wanted them on a variety show?

This was a program that pushed even genuinely loving couples to their limits. How on earth were the two of them—headed for divorce—supposed to appear on it?

"Do you know what happens if word gets out that we're in the middle of a divorce? And sunbae, you gave me a one-year grace period before announcing the divorce, remember?"

"……"

"That was to keep it from going public. And now you want to do a variety show? It makes no sense. What about the elders in your family? If your mother finds out—"

She might come straight over and grab Jaein by the hair.

Her mother-in-law Junhee was someone who cared deeply about appearances. She'd already been openly displeased that Jaein kept working as a PD at all. If Jaein appeared on television alongside Taeha, every last arrow of that resentment would come flying at Jaein alone.

Ugh, horrifying. Absolutely horrifying!

Jaein wrapped her arms around herself. Goosebumps prickled across her whole body at the future she could see so vividly unfolding.

"I really can't do this. This is not happening. Call the Director back right now and take it back."

"No. I'm going on that show. With you."

Jaein's eyes wavered with bewilderment she couldn't hide.

"You said you wanted a divorce."

Unlike Jaein, utterly at sea, the man before her didn't waver an inch.

"I'll give you your divorce. In a year. In exchange, you appear on the show with me."

"……"

"You know as well as I do. Short of my agreement, your only option is a divorce lawsuit."

Jaein bit down hard on her lip.

The problem was, she understood exactly what he meant.

"Don't waste money and time on a court battle. Just bear with it for one year."

"……"

"If you still want out after a year, I'll let you go then. And as I said before, the settlement will be more than generous."

You lose nothing either way—that argument, damn it, would not let her mouth stay closed.

"Do you actually think of us as a married couple, sunbae?"

"What else? If you and I aren't husband and wife, what are we? Want to pull the paperwork and check?"

"No—not that. I'm asking whether you honestly believe we got married because we loved each other."

It was maddening. Enough to drive her out of her mind.

The woman he loved was never me.

When she'd brought up divorce, Taeha had accepted it without a moment's hesitation. Which meant, plainly, that he'd wanted it too. Maybe he'd regretted marrying her from the very start. After all, that woman—the one he'd almost married before Taeha broke it off—was still single.

So she simply couldn't understand it. Why he was so dead set against divorce now. Whether his memory had somehow gone wrong.

Resolving to call his secretary after work to confirm it, Jaein pushed through the emergency exit and headed straight back to the office.

She planned to tell the Director that Taeha had said something absurd—that it had slipped out by mistake, and he shouldn't give it another thought.

But on her way toward the Director's office, Jaein's eyes snagged on a single sheet of paper lying on the desk of her senior, PD Cho Minseop.