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I-ryeong gently nudged her husband’s side with caution.
At this moment, she didn’t even see Dongha kneeling in front of her with a servile expression.
The idea of gifting her a building—specifically the building that had once belonged to Dongha’s father—left I-ryeong feeling unsettled.
She couldn’t figure out when he had planned all of this, and as she looked at her enigmatic husband, confusion only piled up further.
“So you’ll just transfer the ownership to my wife’s name, but continue using me as the manager!”
Cho Taepal pleaded tearfully.
“Dad! Stop being so pathetic. It’s annoying.”
Dongha, his face etched with irritation, shouted loudly at his father.
“What? Pathetic? You little punk! Shut your mouth!”
“Agh!”
Cho Taepal struck his son’s head hard enough to make a loud thud—it sounded like someone smashing a watermelon.
The only one squirming uncomfortably from this father-son conflict was Baek Ari.
She hadn’t expected Jo Dongha to end up penniless. The buildings in Gangnam, Busan, and Jeju, though technically under his father’s name, were worth hundreds of billions—but she never imagined they’d all be lost.
And she certainly hadn’t expected them to end up in I-ryeong’s husband’s hands.
Ari felt her insides twisting painfully. She could barely stand it, consumed by frustration because the seat I-ryeong now occupied should have been hers.
“Chae I-ryeong.”
Her voice came out sharp, tinged with bitterness.
I-ryeong, who had been focused solely on her husband until now, flicked her gaze toward Ari for a brief moment.
“You sure know how to reel in a man, huh?”
“…”
I-ryeong turned her attention away from Ari. She had no intention of engaging with her vulgar former classmate.
“Do you know what I heard? Chae I-ryeong must’ve been such bad luck that the guy next to her went completely bankrupt.”
When I-ryeong ignored her, Ari shifted her target to I-ryeong’s husband.
“They spread nasty rumors about her at school too. Like she was having an affair with a professor. Oh, sorry, I probably shouldn’t say things like that.”
She couldn’t contain her glee, trying to hide her smirking lips behind her hand.
“Baek Ari.”
“Yes? Oh my, you know my name? How did you know?”
When I-jun called her name, a faint blush colored Ari’s cheeks. She coyly twisted her body as if embarrassed.
“Did you spread those filthy rumors about Baek Ari?”
“What? Why would I spread rumors like that?”
But her blush quickly faded.
“It’s written all over your face.”
“No! How dare you falsely accuse me!”
Ari trembled violently, her fists clenched tight.
“The real culprit always shouts the loudest. And do you really think it’s wise to say things like that in front of so many witnesses?”
I-jun’s gaze was as icy as his tone.
Thinking about how this person had clung to his wife as a classmate made him seethe with anger.
“What? Are you going to sue me or something?”
“There’s nothing stopping me from doing so. If you spread false rumors in public pretending they’re facts, you’ll soon find out what kind of lawsuit awaits you.”
“What kind of bastard are you?”
He had intended to scare her just enough to ensure she never came near his wife again, but now it seemed words alone wouldn’t suffice.
“You’d better watch your mouth.”
“What gives you the right to tell me that?”
“Me? I’m Chae I-ryeong’s husband. I already warned you to watch your mouth.”
His final warning shot through the air, colder than ice. He was already planning to file a complaint with a top-tier law firm come Monday.
The atmosphere froze under I-jun’s intimidation.
Dongha bowed his head deeply, and his father likewise couldn’t lift his gaze. Baek Ari swallowed her anger, unable to utter another word.
In the strangely heavy atmosphere, I-ryeong found herself feeling calm.
It was an emotion she could never have felt on her own. The sense of security provided by her closest ally, I-jun, shielded her from the overwhelming situation before her.
With her mind at ease, she began to understand why he had arranged this meeting today, even without him explaining.
It was to resolve the initial discomfort caused by their entanglement with these people.
Only silence filled the air, growing heavier with each passing moment. Finally, I-jun broke the quiet and signaled it was time to wrap things up.
“President Cho.”
“…Yes, President. Please speak.”
Cho Taepal stared at I-jun, his face pale, silently pleading for mercy.
But I-jun had no leniency left to offer.
Allowing Cho Taepal to remain as the building manager instead of firing him outright was already an act of generosity. However, given the trouble caused by his son, there was no reason to show further mercy.
The building was a wedding gift for his wife.
Though he felt a twinge of guilt for revealing it amidst this chaos, part of him thought it wasn’t a bad idea for I-ryeong to witness the downfall of these individuals firsthand.
“How can I trust you to manage the building for me? I’ve given you plenty of convenience until now, so let’s settle things here.”
“P-President!”
“You’ve worked hard until now.”
I-jun firmly rejected him and stood up from his seat. Then, glancing down at Dongha, he leaned forward slightly.
“Jo Dongha.”
He called out softly to the dazed Dongha.
“How dare you flirt with my wife? If you so much as linger around her again, this won’t end so lightly. Be careful.”
The icy warning hit Dongha’s ears, and he flinched visibly.
To think she had been toyed with by such a lowlife. The urge to beat him senseless was almost overwhelming, but he restrained himself and extended his hand to his wife instead.
“Shall we go?”
“Yes, I-jun. Let’s go.”
I-ryeong intertwined her hands and stood up. Ignoring both Dongha, who was still sprawled on the floor, and Ari, glaring daggers at her, she walked past them without a second glance.
“Because of one wrong woman, our family’s ruined! What are you going to do, you punk!”
“Dad. I think my knee gave out! It really hurts! Why’d you hit me on the head? Ugh, seriously!”
“All this mess is because of you! What are you going to do about it, Jo Dongha?”
The couple ignored the trio’s cries echoing behind them as they exited the café, their hands tightly clasped together, radiating happiness.
---
After escaping the chaotic scene, the couple arrived at a hotel in central Seoul.
Escorted by I-jun, they stepped into the VIP-only elevator, just the two of them.
Inside the rapidly ascending elevator, I-ryeong couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Do you remember?”
Seeing his wife’s delighted expression, I-jun smiled.
“Of course. I don’t think I’ll ever forget it, even until I die.”
“Until you die?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
This was the place where, over a year ago, he had proposed to her.
“It’s a precious memory for me.”
Back then, she had accepted the ring without any affection. Marriage had been her only escape, her sole way to breathe.
“Does that mean you liked it?”
At the time, there had been no love, so she couldn’t say she liked it. But she hadn’t refused him either, choosing instead to go through with the marriage.
As she gradually stopped denying the growing feelings she had for him, she believed that holding onto those emotions alone was enough.
Lost momentarily in the past, I-ryeong let a faint smile play on her lips before speaking.
“Of course. Oppa.”
“...Oppa?”
I-jun’s face turned bright red. His neck, his ears—everything flushed crimson.
Where had the growling tiger from the café gone? He now resembled a docile puppy.
He looked so adorable that she wanted to ruffle his hair endlessly.
‘Weren’t we three years apart? Yes, Oppa. Calling you Oppa feels nice too.’
A memory of something he had said long ago suddenly surfaced in her mind.
If she had remembered how cute he could be like this, she would have teased him about it earlier. She felt a pang of regret for not doing so sooner.
“You said you liked calling me both ‘Honey’ and ‘Oppa,’ right?”
“Me? Did I really say that?”
Flustered, he started stomping his feet in panic, looking utterly adorable.
His red cheeks made her want to tease him further, maybe even plant a loud kiss on them.
“Huh? Am I the only one who remembers?”
She let go of his hand, crossed her arms like a sulking child, and sharply turned her head away, even pretending to sniff indignantly.
“No, no!”
He frantically waved his hands in denial.
No matter how she looked at it, he clearly didn’t remember, but strangely, she didn’t feel annoyed. Instead, she wanted to keep teasing him.
“What about this? Do you remember this?”
Another memory popped into her head, and she began to playfully prod him again.
“What? What are you talking about?”
He looked unusually flustered, rolling his eyes around as if searching for answers. Watching him like this made her burst into laughter.
Even if it was a memory only she recalled, it was fine.
Her dependable man was turning out to be more lovable than she thought. If she spent her life with him, she believed she could always smile.
“Do you remember what I imagined when I looked at you?”
“...What?”
Before he could fully process his confusion, the elevator dinged, signaling their arrival at the upper floors, and the doors slid open.
“Can you guess what I’m imagining now?”
“Imagining?”
Taking advantage of his puzzled moment, she stepped out of the elevator first.
Walking quickly ahead like they were playing tag, she called out teasingly.
“I-ryeong! Honey!”
Determined not to let his wife slip away, he hurried after her, lengthening his strides to catch up.
All I-jun could see was his wife—her radiant self, full of nothing but happiness.
As the distance between them closed, the couple once again held hands, warmth flowing between them.
“So, what exactly were you imagining? Was it something about how cool I am?”
As soon as their hands touched, I-jun unleashed his curiosity.
He desperately needed to know what she had imagined that made her smile so beautifully.
“Huh?”
But seeing her questioning expression, he realized his guess was wrong.
“Not that? Then… did you imagine how handsome I am?”
“What?”
Unable to hold back, she burst into laughter.
“You knew all along how handsome you are, didn’t you?”
“Are you teasing me?”
Even the narrowing of his eyes sent shivers down her spine—he was that attractive.
As I-ryeong abruptly stopped walking, he followed suit, halting beside her.
Standing still, I-jun gazed down at her. Rising on her tiptoes, I-ryeong brought her lips close to his ear and whispered softly.
“I imagined how happy I am because Seojun Lee belongs to Chae I-ryeong.”
Her tiny whisper made his earlobes turn red instantly.
“Thank you... for loving me.”
Unable to resist any longer, she pressed a kiss to his heated earlobe, the one she had been holding back since earlier.
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