The Couple’s Time

“Earlier you said it would be a waste to bring anyone to me. What did you say yesterday?”>****

“A-ah, yes. I thought it would be a waste even to bring anyone to the Head of Division, but after seeing my mother-in-law, that thought has vanished. She’s so young and a stunning beauty, and the two of them suit each other so well.”>****

Seonwu clicked his tongue inwardly.>****

A stunning beauty. Jaye was no longer young— she was far too young to be taken at face value.>****

“I see. It seems everyone has the same eyes. When I first met my mother-in-law, I was truly surprised. Head of Division, isn’t my mother-in-law beautiful?”>****

“Mmm……”>****

Hearing those words from Jaye’s mother, Seonwu shrugged.>****

“She must have been so beautiful that the Head of Division married so quickly…….”>****

Jaye had never been beautiful. Seonwu had never once thoroughly examined her face.>****

Just then, the elevator reached the underground parking garage.>****

“Let’s go to work.”>****

“A-ah, yes, Head of Division. There’s a car waiting on that side.”>****

Seonwu stepped out of the elevator and walked toward the car in front of him.>****

***>****

Friday was a day off. Jaye, finally able to organize the house at ease, dusted the new furniture and learned how to operate the appliances.>****

Despite having worked hardest yesterday, there were still many things left to do.>****

Unwrapping the packaging of small accessories and appliances one by one and arranging them was one task, and wiping each dish once before placing it in the sink was no ordinary chore.>****

“Do I have to wipe the stainless steel pot with edible oil before use?”>****

Jaye, whose housework skills were rusty, had to look up the instructions online for every single task.>****

When she lived in the hermitage, she had helped her mother with the kitchen, but the utensils and ingredients had been limited.>****

At best she could add umami with dried mushrooms and season with salt, but now that she had entered the real world, there were all kinds of gadgets and seasonings.>****

If she lived alone, it would have been almost the same as back then, but she had unexpectedly been forced to maintain a proper household after moving out with Seonwu.>****

“If only I had learned cooking at Unamjae…….”>****

It was hard work, but her heart was full. She had never seen her own room before, yet here she was— the room and the entire spacious house were hers.>****

Seoul was crowded and complex everywhere, but this house and the small garden in front of it had become her own space.>****

For the time being, she would live here alone with Seonwu.>****

She had never imagined sharing married life with him as a show-window couple, but yesterday, while cleaning the house together, they had spent a time that felt exactly like any other couple.>****

‘If I just hang a mirror on the wall, it’ll be done, right? Where should I drill?’>****

‘Yes!’>****

‘I have no idea what I’m doing right now— should I call the handyman anyway?’>****

‘I’ll do it for Seonwu-senpai if you can’t!’>****

‘How would I ever make you work? I’ll just do it myself.’>****

Seonwu, who had never done rough work before, found drilling holes into walls, hanging mirrors, and clocks to be entirely new experiences, yet he still managed to do exactly as Jaye asked.>****

The employees from Samjeong Group who had come to deliver the appliances all witnessed his appearance.>****

‘I thought the Head of Division was rough around the edges, but he looks so different at home?’>****

The female worker from the logistics team kept muttering those words in Seonwu’s ear, as if the remark was meant to single him out for special treatment.>****

After finishing the kitchen, Jaye opened the windows and began the cleaning she had left unfinished the day before.>****

While scrubbing the floor, the phone on the living-room shelf vibrated.>****

[Shin Jaye, why are you skipping school?]>****

It was a message from Minjeong. Jaye had never missed school even in rain, snow, severe menstrual cramps, or a cold.>****

Naturally, Minjeong was astonished that she was absent.>****

[Just because. Yesterday was the move.]>****

[No way!]>****

[Hey, Minjeong. Actually, I moved yesterday.]>****

[Moved? Did you move out with your husband?]>****

Jaye had been unable to attend club gatherings because she lived with her mother-in-law, and that was why everyone in her major knew she was already married.>****

She could have hidden the fact, but having married into the Samjeong Group, entered school with her husband’s help, and greeted the dean and department head, it was impossible to conceal everything.>****

[Yes. I completed the move yesterday.]>****

[For real? So you skipped class yesterday?]>****

[Yes!]>****

[Wow! Did you have a housewarming?]>****

[My husband isn’t doing one, and asking me to invite friends alone feels weird.]>****

[Make your husband do it together with you by pleading.]>****

[That’s hard to say.]>****

[Hey. If it were my face, I would have had your husband promise the moon and stars.]>****

[What? I have to clean, so I can’t message for long.]>****

[Photos! Show me photos of the new house!]>****

[Yes! Just a moment!]>****

Jaye stood holding the phone and surveyed the house.>****

When she moved to Seoul, she had photographed the food she tried for the first time, the places she first visited, and all the beautiful things she saw. But after the appliances and furniture arrived, she had not taken a single picture of the house.>****

Of everything in Seoul, this house was the one she liked most…… and she had not taken a photo.>****

“Let me see…….”>****

Jaye lowered the phone camera and carefully examined the house now filled with the items she had chosen.>****

One side of the living room was made of windows.>****

Being a penthouse in the tallest building in the area and facing south, sunlight poured in from sunrise to sunset.>****

The light streaming through the floor-to-ceiling windows painted on the white leather sofa.>****

Each pillow was a different color, and the marble-patterned coffee table was beautiful.>****

Even the white kitchen visible behind it was not a single ugly spot.>****

When Seonwu first offered the house, she had wondered if she could simply accept it, but after filling it with the items she loved, she only wanted to stay here forever.>****

Jaye took a photo of the living room and kitchen together and sent it to Minjeong.>****

[Wow! The house is so pretty!]>****

[Wait, I’ll show you something even more amazing.]>****

Jaye turned and stood before the balcony window looking at the rooftop garden.>****

Compared to Unamjae, it was only a small yard, yet Jaye knew it would be impossible to live in a house with a garden of this size in Seoul.>****

The moment she saw her own private garden, thoughts of all kinds overflowed in her mind.>****

When she saved up enough pocket money, she would buy a red wooden table for the garden.>****

If a red wooden table was not available on the market, she would buy paint and make one herself.>****

And a parasol on top— it would be perfect.>****

After a few years, when the small trees grew thick, her mother who had lived in the mountains would surely love it here.>****

“It’s really wonderful…….”>****

She took several more photos of the garden visible through the balcony window.>****

When all the leaves had fallen and the lawn in the flower bed had turned yellow, the contrast of the blue autumn sky with the yellow grass was beautiful inside a single frame.>****

Sending that photo to Minjeong brought an instant reply.>****

[It’s a penthouse! Wow wow! When I get free, I’ll put the barbecue grill and grill meat!]>****

Hearing Minjeong’s words again, Jaye looked at the garden once more. The space was plenty for a table and barbecue grill.>****

By the time it warmed up, Seonwu would be gone from the house, but then she would bring her mother to Seoul and, as Minjeong said, grill and eat meat on the rooftop with her.>****

If that was how it would be, perhaps the separation from Seonwu or even the divorce would not hurt as much.>****

Just imagining a future without Seonwu made her throat feel tight, but that had been inevitable from the beginning.>****

Jaye forced a smile and changed her mood.>****

[Yes. I’ll put the grill and grill samgyeopsal like you said!]>****

[Ooooooh!]>****

Jaye’s mood improved after Minjeong’s reaction.>****

[But Jaye, your husband is really rich, isn’t he?]>****

Jaye knew she was already married, but few people knew she was the wife of the Samjeong Group successor.>****

[The living room, the garden— even to buy a Seoul apartment penthouse, you need at least fifteen billion won.]>****

To keep the truth hidden from classmates, she had not revealed it at school either.>****

[I was just told it was purchased, I don’t know the details. I can’t clean yet, so I’ll go help clean.]>****

Jaye ended her chat with Minjeong. There was still much to clean throughout the house.>****

“All right, let’s finish the remaining cleaning.”>****

No matter what, she wanted to be the perfect wife to Seonwu for the remaining month, even for the sake of the man who had left Unamjae with her.>****

***>****

After moving out, while Jaye tried to be a good wife to Seonwu, a change had come over Seonwu’s life.>****

“Head of Division, have there been no calls from Unamjae today?”>****

Hearing Park Chief’s words, Kim Eunji, the secretary, shook her head while sitting in the secretariat.>****

The Management Strategy Division secretariat had originally been a three-person system, but the deputy who had worked with the Head of Division and been involved in the accident was on sick leave.>****

The Management Strategy Division had originally been too busy to handle its workload with just two people, yet now even Park Chief and Kim Eunji had nothing to do and were enjoying leisure time.>****

Because Unamjae’s lady had stopped all reports coming to the Management Strategy Division.>****

Created after Chairman Jeong Geuncheol’s death, the Management Strategy Division belonged to neither electronics, logistics, construction, nor automobiles, yet it was the operation headquarters deeply involved in the management of the four subsidiaries and over sixty affiliates of Samjeong Group.>****

A place that received and sent nearly a hundred documents and consultations every day had become a ghost office with one single word from Unamjae’s lady.>****

Unamjae’s lady had established an Adjustment Planning Office to replace the Management Strategy Division.>****

She had also made the representatives of each subsidiary conduct business negotiations through that office, instantly turning Head of Division Jeong Seonwu into a mere figurehead.>****

Organizing a replacement body for the Management Strategy Division meant removing Seonwu from every matter in the group, and hundreds of thousands of employees of Samjeong now knew the fact.>****

“Over there, Chief……”>****

Park Chief looked up at Kim Eunji.>****

“A while ago the Head of Division moved out, didn’t he?”>****

“Yes.”>****

“I hope he didn’t move out without permission from Unamjae’s lady. For example, there was a mother-in-law conflict or…….”>****

At Kim Eunji’s words, Park Chief’s expression grew serious.>****

She could not dismiss the statement as nonsense, because the very next day after they moved out, Unamjae had temporarily established the Adjustment Planning Office and ordered that it would handle the Management Strategy Division’s work.>****

That had already been a week. Park Chief stood up with a serious face.>****

“I probably need to talk to the Head of Division.”>****