Late Afternoon in the Greenhouse
The lecture hall had just emptied, and Shin Jaye rose to her feet, clutching her major textbooks to her chest.
“Wow… Shin Jaye…”
Jeong Minjeong’s teasing laugh followed, laced with unmistakable envy.
As dinner approached, Seonwu had mentioned in passing that he had a date to run and, while he was at it, would be waiting for Jaye at the café on campus.
She still couldn’t quite understand why the person who had supposedly gone straight to the company would suddenly appear at lunchtime or why he would be waiting there for her. Still, she couldn’t leave him waiting long.
“Look how happy you are that he’s waiting for you.”
“That’s not it at all.”
“Really? I’m confused…”
“Jeong Minjeong, do you want to die?”
“Anyway, I’ve confirmed that your husband is completely healthy today, so I can stretch out and sleep well. He’s so busy, he probably can’t do a date, but at least he’ll manage the night part properly.”
Night part…?
“You’re impossible!”
“Why! You said yourself before that you two are handling married life perfectly, right?”
“Aigoo, you’re so naive.”
Jaye bolted away from her friend, cheeks burning.
It had been easy to toss that line at Minjeong back when she was hiding how married life actually felt, but now that her friend was probing the details of her marriage to Seonwu, Jaye wanted nothing more than to shrink into a mouse hole.
“Remember, it’s an enormous loss to leave someone as handsome as that alone. You came to Earth with the mission of producing a son who looks just like your brother-in-law.”
At the mention of Seonwu’s likeness, Jaye turned bright red and swatted her friend’s back.
“You little— you little— you never stop with your nonsense!”
Fortunately, Minjeong hadn’t noticed the oddity in Jaye’s married life.
“Anyway, I’m heading out first, Minjeong. See you Monday!”
Poking around Jaye’s marriage any further would only make her questions about Seonwu more pointed. Since Jaye’s knowledge was limited to what had appeared in the newspapers, she probably wouldn’t be able to answer anyway.
Jaye left the lecture hall with quick, light steps and stepped out of the engineering building.
Winter had truly begun, and the air touching her skin was so sharp it stung. Still, today was clearly a lucky day— this was the first time they had taken a photo together.
In the near future, when each of them would be living their separate lives in their own places, she would want to see Seonwu again. That was when she planned to pull out the photos they had taken.
She had been his wife for three years; in such a moment she would have been just a little sad to have nothing but his profile picture left. But today she had gained far more than she had expected.
*That’s all I need. This is more than enough.*
For a moment she stopped walking, then quickened her pace across the campus courtyard.
Her footsteps felt especially light on the scarf, like the winter wind that brushed past them.
***
Seonwu was waiting for Jaye in the café inside the university.
When Jaye entered the café at a brisk pace, she found Seonwu seated in the sunlit room on the side.
The ceiling of the sunroom was piled high with fallen ginkgo leaves from the previous week, and beneath them Seonwu in his deep midnight coat looked like a gentleman from a painting.
Outside the glass greenhouse, a sharp wind howled, but inside the sunroom, reading a business magazine, his expression was infinitely peaceful.
*No more excuses about being busy from now on. I really do need to date Jaye more often.*
The memory of his words from lunch flashed through her mind. She knew they had been meant to avoid the situation, but even so…
He was a businessman who always presented the perfect attitude, yet the sight of him waiting and her own eager steps toward him made her feel, for just a moment, that she was his only wife among all the flawless women in Korea.
Jaye shook her head slightly and stepped forward with renewed determination.
“Ah, you’re here?”
The moment Jaye stepped into the sunroom, Seonwu stood up.
The gazes that had been following her around the café shifted along with him toward Jaye.
“Let’s go home.”
Seonwu passed her and headed for the parking lot in front of the café.
The way he walked in front of her was beautiful. His broad, horizontal shoulders and the graceful line from shoulder to waist as his coat fell were equally pleasing to her.
From the crown of his head to the tips of his toes, there was not a single imperfect part. She had never imagined that simply because he had come to her school, her heart would flutter like this.
Once they were in the car, Jaye asked the question that had been burning in her since class.
“You’re supposed to be at the company right now.”
“Yes.”
“Why did you come to school?”
She knew their situations were as far apart as heaven and earth and that she was unworthy to harbor any feelings for him, yet here she was asking pointless questions.
“My mother suddenly sent me a photo of us together. An authentication shot, or whatever. Where did you even learn that kind of expression?”
His reply was disappointingly businesslike.
“Ah…”
The air escaped from the heart that had been puffed up like a balloon.
“But if I reveal that I’m your wife, won’t that put Director Seonwu in a difficult position?”
She knew it was pointless to hope, yet she had still let herself believe his words, and now she felt foolish for letting them slip out.
“You call me Director again.”
“…”
Seonwu’s marriage had been mentioned in the business magazine, but there had been no photo of the wedding or even one of her.
Any media outlet that published private photos of a Samjeong Group employee would have to face the wrath of their largest advertiser in the country. In other words, there was no journalist in Korea who could get away with releasing such images.
At most, only people from Unamjae or Seonwu’s secretary knew she existed. Yet today, in broad daylight, he had come to her school and revealed that she was his wife.
“If my behavior bothers you, I apologize. It’s just that in Korea, the stigma of divorce still clings to women. It’s true that women suffer more. I’m sorry.”
“No, that’s not what I meant… When I get married again, I’d rather the fact that I once had a wife not become public knowledge.”
“You’re not a journalist, your friend isn’t either. And even if I divorced three times, I still would have married you.”
“…”
“After all, the next marriage will be arranged anyway, step by step.”
Jaye fell silent, lips pressed together. Every word he spoke was fact, and she had nothing to refute.
“But why is Shin Jaye so sullen?”
“Me?”
“Ah, because I said I’m your husband and you’re angry.”
“That’s not it.”
“Why? If you don’t want to be exposed as a married woman, then why pretend to be a campus couple?”
Jaye stared at him with bewildered eyes.
“What boyfriend are you talking about? You know my situation, Director. Everyone avoids anyone whose mother is sick. And how many people even believe in hereditary illness?”
Jealousy flared from the petty spite in her chest.
“Who cares about that. If you really love someone, you won’t care about such things.”
“Think about it. You’d accept a woman who was sick to death and might not even be able to climb onto a two-wheeled vehicle?”
“Everyone says ‘sick’ or ‘die,’ but for me it’s ‘sick’ rather than ‘die.’”
“What are you saying?”
“If you love someone to death, you’d still accept them.”
“…”
“If you truly love them, you’d accept them no matter how lowly their family background or circumstances.”
“What? You’re sulking for no reason and then shutting up?”
Jaye felt an inexplicable pang of envy toward the second wife she had never even met.
A man who would accept a woman of lowly status for love—how much love would his perfect second wife receive from him?
“Jaye, you seem kind of sulky.”
“I’m not sulking. I just thought that as long as it was Director Seonwu, I would love a wife who was sick or had some terrible illness properly.”
Even with him sitting there silently, her heart kept swelling and deflating with countless thoughts. It was unbearable.
“Or maybe that’s for the better. I was wondering what I had done wrong.”
Seonwu reached across to the passenger seat and ruffled her hair exactly as he always had.
Jaye stared at his hand, which held no trace of selfishness in the reflection of the car window, then looked away.
*Even though I’m a woman… even though I’m twenty-six years old…*
No emotion passed through Seonwu’s hand as it stroked her hair.
Jaye knew what that meant—he saw her only as a pet to raise at home or as a child. She bit her lip tightly and stared out the window.
***
They had gone shopping together near the apartment.
Jaye pulled meat and vegetables from the basket Seonwu had placed on the counter and stocked the refrigerator.
“Should I put the meat in the fridge?”
“Ah, yes. We’ll be cooking right away, but it’s better to put it in first, right?”
“Are you tired? We could just order delivery.”
Jaye stood there, staring at him.
“Maybe my food doesn’t agree with you?”
Seonwu flinched for a split second before looking at her as if to say, What are you talking about?
“Who said your food is bad?”
“No. You’ve never tried delivery food before. I asked you to eat it.”
In Unamjae, delivery food had been unthinkable. Meals had been prepared three times a day by staff, and even instant ramen had never been allowed.
“I’ve tried delivery food too. When I work late at the company, I order it in. What are you talking about?”
“That’s because your secretaries pick up from famous restaurants.”
“If you bring the food and eat it somewhere other than the restaurant, that’s delivery. What else could it be?”
Seonwu stopped talking and stared at her.
“What? Shin Jaye is upset?”
“No, I’m not.”
She said she wasn’t, but the truth was she was sulking.
It had started from the moment she got into the car. She was disappointed in herself for having let herself hope he had come to the school just for her.
The fact that he had come and taken the photo had been because of his mother’s fortune-telling. The fact that she had still been disappointed by something so obvious made her feel like an idiot.
For the past few days she had foolishly imagined that because they had cooked together and shared the same space, there was progress in their relationship.
In reality, they lived farther apart than they had in the single bedroom of Unamjae. He went to work and came home, and that was all.
Yet because of one small kindness, she had let herself imagine that their relationship was advancing. It was all in her head.
“If housework is too much for you, should I hire a housekeeper?”
“No. I’ll be living alone soon anyway. I won’t have the luxury to hire a housekeeper.”
Jaye quickly lowered her head so he wouldn’t see her simmering inside. She hurriedly scooped up the rice and began washing it under the faucet.
“I have to practice doing everything myself. That’s why I came into this house.”
Watching Jaye wash the rice in silence, Seonwu stood up and walked toward her. He reached out and gently brushed her cheek.
Jaye turned her head quickly, but by then his hand already carried the faint trace of tears.
(End of Chapter 20)