A Wife's Bold Move

While riding in a taxi to Ilsan University Hospital, where Seonwu had been transferred, Jaye had never imagined that she would be playing the role of the daughter-in-law of a chaebol family for the first time.

She dialed the hospital number and demanded that the person on the other end explain Seonwu's condition at once, citing her position as the wife of Jeong Seonwu from Samjeong Group.

The hospital was truly awed by the power of Samjeong Group. The deputy director himself picked up the phone and gave Jaye a detailed account of Seonwu's condition.

'He lost consciousness the moment the car overturned…'

A man with both excellent stamina and courage had fainted in an instant. It must have been a terrible accident.

'Destination is five kilometers ahead.'

As soon as the navigation device's mechanical voice sounded, Jaye remembered the call from Yonghwa Shaman that morning.

She predicted rain with a voice devoid of any ups and downs, just like the navigation guide.

'It seems there will be heavy rain today.'

Thinking about it, the shaman grandmother had always said that rain would fall whenever there was an ominous event.

'Could the big rain the shaman grandmother mentioned be about the head of division's accident…?'

Recalling Yonghwa Shaman's emotionless voice from earlier, Jaye clasped her trembling hands together.

'We're here.'

Jaye threw the ten-thousand-won bill from her wallet at the driver as if it were a tip and stepped out of the taxi without waiting for change.

Yet despite all the worry, what Jaye faced in the hospital room was Seonwu's impassive face.

'Why are you here?'

'…'

Seonwu remained lying in bed as he greeted Jaye.

'Why did you come here?'

'I received a call from the emergency responders.'

They had told her that the car had swerved to avoid a dump truck crossing the center line, slammed into the guardrail, and flipped over. Despite that, Seonwu had come through unharmed.

The deputy director of this hospital had warned her that the car had overturned and Seonwu had been brought in unconscious, and that she would have to undergo every possible examination just in case.

Yet here he was, looking exactly the same as when he had gone to work. The only difference was the splint fixed around his wrist.

'It's okay, go.'

At a moment like this, even his disregard for her was something to be grateful for.

He could speak so indifferently because he was safe.

'Oh, right. It wasn't the day I get skin treatment?'

'I took a taxi from in front of Korea University Hospital.'

'Seonwu.'

Seonwu cut her off at once.

'Yes.'

'You seem to have overlooked what is truly important.'

'…'

'What matters to you isn't my accident at all.'

'Jeong Seonwu.'

'It is to erase that hideous tattoo and prepare your life after the divorce.'

'I know.'

'The remaining three laser treatments will take at least three months. Isn't it more important to erase that tattoo first?'

Treated like a child who didn't understand priorities, Jaye lowered her head with a flushed face.

'I'll call a taxi. Go back to Korea University Hospital and get the laser treatment.'

After all the effort it had taken to get here…

'No. The laser treatment time has already passed…'

'One phone call from me can adjust the appointment time however I want.'

'No. I need to see the remaining examinations for the head of division…'

'Jaye.'

'Are you not listening?'

Seonwu, with his eight-year difference in age, always spoke to her this way, like to a child.

As soon as she stepped into the room, the farewell message Jaye had followed her with made her stubbornly stare at her own toes.

'I don't want to go.'

'Why are you doing something you never used to do—'

Just as the cold tension between the two of them was growing thick, the hospital room door burst open and Okhyeon stormed in.

'Seonwu!'

Okhyeon had not even properly put on her shoes. Having received news of her son's accident only four hours after arriving at work, her spirits were understandably shattered.

'What in the world is going on! Are you all right?'

'You're here?'

Jaye hurriedly bowed her head toward Okhyeon. The exact moment Seonwu had stopped on his way to her was when Okhyeon turned sharply and rushed in front of Jaye.

Instantly, a sharp crack rang out and Jaye's head snapped to the side.

'You useless woman! You forget your studies, your duties, and run around outside, and yet an accident happens to Seonwu!'

Standing before Okhyeon's vicious glare, Jaye lowered her head without a care that her cheek was swelling red.

'I'm sorry.'

Thanks to Okhyeon's fierce touch, one cheek had puffed up red, but Jaye could only grind her inner cheek to hide the pain.

Instead, Seonwu, startled, jumped down from the bed and rushed over.

'Mother, what are you doing right now!'

Seonwu, blocking the two women, gently touched Jaye's swollen cheek with his hand.

'Jaye, look up.'

When Jaye lifted her head, Seonwu held her chin and opened her lips to check if the inner mucosal lining was unharmed.

'I… I'm fine.'

'Open your mouth wider. Let me see inside.'

Fortunately, the inner lining was also fine. Seonwu turned sharply back to his mother.

'Mother.'

His gaze, now sharp as a blade, fixed on Okhyeon's face.

'If you keep doing this, even the marriage contract will be canceled and I will throw Jaye out of the house.'

Okhyeon's momentum snapped at Seonwu's threat.

'Why, Seonwu.'

Okhyeon, a giant of Korea's politics and business circles who could make people kneel with a single phone call, was nothing but a weak mother when it came to her son Seonwu.

She had spent hundreds of millions of won over a year performing rituals to protect her only son, and had even made expensive human talismans to place beside him.

'In just two months, it will all be over for you. As long as you get through these two months, all the Samjae disasters will be finished. How can it make sense to throw her out now?'

Okhyeon's hand reached toward Seonwu's shoulder as if trying to comfort him, but Seonwu raised his hand in the air and swatted hers away.

'Jaye. The person I brought home after making her accept the divorce because of me.'

'It's not like you brought her for free. The money we spent to bring her here was no less than five hundred million.'

Seonwu let out a low sigh as Jaye revealed five fingers.

'If you truly care for me, Mother, you should treat her like the person who entered your life for my sake.'

'It's because Jaye couldn't fulfill her role…'

'If you look at it that way, thanks to Jaye my car overturned and I still came out fine. Haven't you ever thought that because she shares my body every day, I'm safe?'

Okhyeon closed her mouth tightly. She truly believed that the bright red Samduiljogungbo tattoo on Jaye's back was the evil influence that would cause harm to Seonwu.

'If you ever lay a hand on Jaye again, I won't stay silent.'

Seonwu's words meant that even if the contract period remained, he would throw Jaye out.

'Yes, Mother was wrong. Mother was too hasty. I will never treat Jaye roughly again.'

Okhyeon hurriedly changed her attitude and tried to ease Seonwu's anger. His gaze also softened. Okhyeon glanced at her son's face and placed her hand on his shoulder.

'How are you feeling? Is there anywhere that's hurt? Let me look at your wrist closely.'

'Yes. More importantly, you should apologize to Jaye as well.'

Only now did Okhyeon's eyes catch the red handprints on Jaye's pale face.

'I'm sorry for hurting you.'

'No, I'm fine.'

The one who committed the sin was Okhyeon, yet Jaye's head bowed lower.

Seonwu clicked his tongue and picked up the phone from the bedside table.

'Park secretary, I'm coming. Please come inside.'

Today's secretary, who had been hurriedly brought in as a replacement because the head secretary was injured in the accident, was stationed outside the hospital room.

'Head of Division, may I come in?'

When Park secretary entered the room, Seonwu immediately issued instructions.

'Prepare one car for transportation. Also, please contact the hospital.'

He was determined to send Jaye to Korea University Hospital for laser treatment.

'And let's reschedule Professor Seo's appointment so she can receive treatment even in the evening.'

Okhyeon, who didn't know that Jaye's Samduiljogungbo tattoo was being erased, looked at them with eyes asking what kind of treatment they were receiving, but both Jaye and Seonwu kept their mouths tightly shut as if making a promise.

'Today, Park secretary will accompany this person to Korea University Hospital and then go home from there.'

'Yes, Head of Division.'

After passing on the errand, Seonwu looked at Jaye.

'You're not leaving? What are you doing?'

There were many things he wanted to know—whether her body was all right, whether the examinations were finished, whether she had to be admitted—but Jaye couldn't ask anything and turned toward the door.

As Jaye headed for the door, Seonwu pulled his wallet from the jacket on the sofa and approached her.

'Wait, Jaye.'

He took out several five-thousand-won bills and pressed them into her hands.

'Go buy an ice cup at the lobby cafe and massage it on your face to reduce the swelling.'

The amount of money he gave her was more than enough to buy the ice cup.

When Jaye hesitated because the sum was too large, Seonwu turned and looked at his mother.

'Mother, since Jaye is my wife, her face is as good as mine. No one in my family or among my people will ever treat her roughly. I wonder why you did it.'

'Because I couldn't see anything.'

Just as his words said, the people working at Unamjae and all of Seonwu's secretaries were extremely polite to Jaye, to the point of being burdensome.

'I'm sorry.'

'Yes. Since Mother says she's sorry, I'll overlook this one time. Please do not do such a thing again.'

'Yes, I won't.'

Jaye felt her chest suddenly warm because he was taking her side.

He was the only person who didn't treat Jaye as a purchased object, no matter how much the shaman grandmother or Okhyeon scolded her.

So it passed two years and eleven months, and another feeling began to grow inside Jaye's heart toward Seonwu.

'You're not leaving? What are you doing?'

'Ah, yes. I'll be back.'

Jaye snapped back to her senses and bowed deeply toward her mother-in-law and husband in the hospital room once more.

To hide the flush on her cheek, she hurriedly left the room.

Late at night. After finishing her skin treatment, Jaye returned home and spread regeneration ointment on her back.

Since the Samduiljogungbo tattoo was drawn across her entire back, there were parts that her hands couldn't reach no matter how hard she stretched her arms behind her.

While struggling to apply the ointment between her shoulder blades, Jaye finally gave up and checked her reflection in the vanity mirror.

'It seems it will only need two more treatments…'

Even with her eyes, the Samduiljogungbo tattoo had become noticeably faded.

The traces of laser treatment now seemed even deeper than the red pigment that had stained her skin.

'It's good that the tattoo is fading, but it really hurts.'

She was about to lie on her bed when the pain radiating from her back forced her to sit up instead.

After treatment, her back had always ached so badly that she couldn't even lie down.

After sitting for a long time, she looked at the bed beside her own, where her husband lay.

They had never even touched fingertips, but seeing the two beds placed side by side made the reality of their marriage sink in.

The shaman grandmother had said that staying close to the talisman was the way to protect one's body from evil influences, but Seonwu had never believed that. He had only shared the room with her and never laid a hand on her in any way.

There were many bad men in the world who found any excuse to sleep with women, yet Seonwu, despite having every excuse, was a man who kept his principles completely intact.

The fact that they had been sleeping in separate beds for nearly three years was proof of that. It was fortunate that he was a person with a proper mind.

'It's fortunate… but still…'

Yet the two beds placed parallel to each other sometimes felt as if they would never be able to face each other, and that thought brought a touch of melancholy.

'I wonder if the head of division is really all right…'

While Jaye was thinking about Seonwu, the phone on the vanity began to ring.

-Rrrr. Rrrrr

Jaye picked up the phone and checked the caller ID, her expression darkening.