11:43 a.m.
The makeup director, who had just secured the last earring, took a step back.
“Bride, you’re all set.”
Haeon Ki slowly looked at herself in the mirror.
Black hair neatly swept up beneath a thin veil.
An ivory dress densely embroidered with delicate beads.
Nothing adorned her neck or collarbones.
It was just like her past life.
The dress.
The earrings.
The makeup.
Even the white roses set to one side of the vanity.
Everything was so identical that, for a moment, it felt less like time had turned back and more like she was watching that day all over again.
And yet, the woman in the mirror was different.
On the day of her first wedding, she had sat in this very spot with trembling hands the entire time.
Would her father be satisfied?
Would she give the elders from Hyeonrok any reason to find fault with her?
What would Yeoheon Jin think when he saw her today?
She had never once asked herself whether she actually wanted this marriage.
This time was different.
She was getting married today.
But it was a marriage with an end date already set.
One year from the date of the marriage registration.
When that time came, if she wanted a divorce, she would get one.
In the meantime, she would sort out her share of Haedam and build a foundation for a life independent of her family.
Not anyone’s daughter.
Not anyone’s wife.
Just under the name Haeon Ki.
This marriage had an exit.
That fact alone made it a little easier to breathe.
“Bride.”
The makeup director continued carefully.
“Someone from the legal team is waiting outside.”
Haeon’s gaze shifted in the mirror.
“Please let them in.”
A moment later, a lawyer from the Hyeonrok Group Legal Affairs Department and an employee from the Haedam Distribution Legal Affairs Department entered together.
Both wore peculiar expressions.
It was only natural. They were bringing a contract outlining the marriage term and divorce conditions to a bride whose wedding was barely two hours away.
The lawyer from Hyeonrok held out a black folder.
“This is the final version, with all the conditions you requested incorporated.”
Haeon took the folder and immediately opened the first page.
What she had written herself that morning had been arranged into legal language.
The marriage term would be one year from the date of the marriage registration.
Each party would manage their personal property independently.
Neither party would claim rights to the other spouse’s personal property.
Haeon Ki’s personally held equity stake and voting rights would be guaranteed.
The business relationship between Hyeonrok Group and Haedam Distribution would be separated from the marriage.
Neither spouse nor either family would arbitrarily interfere in the other spouse’s personal business.
Both families could not demand participation in management or proxy voting authorization on the grounds of the marriage.
And finally.
If Haeon Ki requested an end to the marriage after the contract term expired, Yeoheon Jin would cooperate with the uncontested divorce process without any special conditions.
Haeon did not rush.
She read every word from the first sentence to the last.
The sound of pages turning filled the quiet room.
After checking all the way to the final page, she looked up.
“Nothing was added that I didn’t request, was it?”
“No.”
“Nothing whose meaning was changed?”
“We only polished the wording to ensure legal effect. The conditions themselves are unchanged.”
She lowered her gaze again.
Yeoheon Jin’s signature was already on one side of the final page.
Straight and neat handwriting.
It wasn’t unfamiliar.
In her past life, she had seen his signature countless times.
Documents related to Hyeonrok Group’s donations.
All kinds of official event documents.
Year-end cards sent under both their names as a married couple.
Various contracts that had arrived at their home.
Yeoheon Jin’s signature had been everywhere.
And yet, after living with him for seven years, she couldn’t recall a single thing he had written directly to her.
Haeon picked up the fountain pen.
At that moment, the employee from Haedam carefully spoke up.
“Bride.”
The nib stopped above the paper.
“Yes?”
“The chairman asked that you review the marriage term clause one more time before signing the final version.”
Haeon slowly raised her head.
“He told me to take it out?”
The employee couldn’t answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
“If even that one clause is removed, I’m not getting married today.”
“But if it becomes known outside the two companies, it could burden both sides…”
“This isn’t a contract for public disclosure.”
“That’s true, but…”
“Then leave it as it is.”
She offered no further explanation.
She didn’t try to make anyone understand her choice.
Haeon looked down at the contract again.
Then she wrote her name on the final page.
Haeon Ki.
The ink seeped into the paper.
She had signed on the same day in her past life.
Back then, she had signed a contract without even properly reading it.
This time, she was signing a contract whose terms she had set herself.
The same wedding day.
A completely different signature.
“I’ll keep the original.”
“We prepared two originals. You’ll keep one, and the other will be delivered to President Jin.”
“What about copies?”
“Other than the copies kept by both legal teams, there are none.”
“Don’t give the detailed terms to either family until I give permission.”
The lawyer from Hyeonrok bowed his head.
“President Jin made the same request.”
Haeon’s hand paused for a moment.
“Yeoheon Jin did?”
“Yes.”
Again.
He had already done it before she even said anything.
Haeon asked no more questions. She closed the folder and placed it inside her bag.
She had already lost count of how many times it had happened today.
Whenever she said what she wanted, Yeoheon Jin accepted it.
Sometimes he even prepared things she hadn’t said yet.
It was something she ought to be grateful for.
And yet, strangely, the more he did so, the deeper her suspicion grew.
1:22 p.m.
Guests continued to stream into the bridal suite without pause.
Relatives from both families.
Executives from Hyeonrok and Haedam.
People who had been close to her father for years.
People who had come to show their faces simply because this was a wedding between the two groups.
Haeon smiled as much as necessary.
She lifted the corners of her mouth for photos.
She answered congratulations with a polite “Thank you.”
Most of the faces were ones she had seen in her past life too.
Back then, she hadn’t remembered much of what anyone said.
She had been too nervous, doing nothing but smile.
This time was different.
She could hear people’s voices clearly.
“The two families are really becoming one now.”
“Haedam’s situation should improve quite a bit if it moves forward with Hyeonrok.”
“President Jin finally made the right decision. It’s a good match for both sides.”
This was a place where people came to offer congratulations, but no one spoke of love.
The company.
Funds.
Investment.
Equity.
Business.
Haeon let the smile fade from her lips for a moment.
It must have been exactly the same in her past life.
She hadn’t thought it strange then.
No.
Maybe she had known and pretended not to.
The door opened, and Wonhu Ki entered.
Once the last guest had left, he closed the door himself.
“You’re really going through with that contract?”
Haeon looked at her brother through the mirror.
“Yes.”
“Even the clause saying you can divorce after a year?”
“If I want to.”
“It’s the same.”
“It’s not the same.”
“What’s different?”
Haeon slowly turned around.
“This time, I’m the one making the decision.”
Wonhu’s brow furrowed.
“You weren’t like this as recently as yesterday.”
There it was again.
That claim that she had changed overnight.
Of course she had.
She had died once and returned.
“People can change.”
“In one day?”
“Sometimes one day is enough.”
Wonhu looked as though he didn’t understand.
Haeon had no intention of explaining.
“Dad is furious right now.”
“I know.”
“You should speak to him first after the ceremony.”
“About what?”
“About changing the contract terms like that.”
Haeon’s expression turned cold.
“I set the terms of my own marriage. Do I need to apologize for that?”
“I’m not saying you should apologize…”
“Oppa.”
Her voice wasn’t raised, but Wonhu stopped speaking.
Haeon slowly straightened the skirt of her dress.
“Today is my wedding.”
“I know.”
“So at least for today, I’m going to think of myself before the company.”
A fleeting, unfamiliar look crossed her brother’s face.
The Haeon of the past would never have said that.
In the end, Wonhu said nothing more and headed for the door.
Then, with his hand on the doorknob, he looked back.
“Still, President Jin.”
“What about him?”
“He’s accommodating you a lot more than I expected.”
Haeon’s gaze shifted.
“So?”
“You’re asking because you don’t know?”
Wonhu gave a short laugh.
“He’s not normally the kind of person who accommodates others like that.”
The door closed.
Left alone, Haeon stared at herself in the mirror for a long time.
She knew.
Yeoheon Jin wasn’t someone who accommodated others.
When necessary, he negotiated.
If he gave up one thing, he was the kind of person who always gained something greater in return.
But with her, he kept giving way.
What on earth did he want from this marriage?
1:48 p.m.
Twelve minutes before the ceremony.
Haeon left the bridal suite and stood in the private corridor leading to the ceremony hall.
The staff made the final adjustments to her train.
Junmuk Ki had entered first and was waiting inside the hall.
In her past life, Haeon hadn’t been able to breathe properly in this corridor.
At the time, she had thought it was nerves.
Looking back now, it hadn’t been.
It had been fear.
It had felt like she was walking into a path whose end she couldn’t even see.
This time was different.
One year.
There was a date when it would end.
That one fact alone made her steps feel lighter.
Then someone came walking from the opposite end of the corridor.
It was Yeoheon Jin.
A black tuxedo.
Black hair neatly swept back.
He wasn’t wearing glasses today.
Haeon’s breathing stopped for the briefest moment.
He looked exactly as she remembered.
He had stood that way just before their wedding in her past life too.
Back then, Yeoheon Jin had looked at her and said only one thing.
“Are you ready?”
Haeon had answered, “Yes.”
That had been all the two of them said before the wedding.
Today, Yeoheon stopped a few steps away.
Then he looked at Haeon without saying a word.
His gaze didn’t easily fall away.
Haeon asked first.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Only then did his eyes shift slightly.
“Just because.”
“Do you know how many times I’ve heard that I look strange today?”
“I believe I’ve heard it quite a lot.”
“You’re not even denying it anymore.”
The corners of his mouth lifted ever so faintly, then fell.
“Have you reviewed the contract?”
It was Yeoheon Jin, after all.
Even with their wedding approaching, his first question was about the contract.
The familiarity actually reassured her a little.
“Yes. I signed it.”
“And there were no problems with the contents?”
“I reviewed it from beginning to end.”
“Keep the original with you.”
“I have it.”
He nodded.
“I’ll prepare a personal safe at home as well.”
Home.
At that single word, Haeon’s body stiffened.
Hannam-dong estate came to mind.
A long dining table on a winter night, with no one around.
A silent hallway.
The stairs leading up to the roof.
Yeoheon spoke at once.
“Not that house.”
Haeon looked up.
“You’ve already chosen somewhere else?”
“The place we’re going to tonight is ready.”
“In just a few hours?”
“There’s a house that was vacant already.”
“Where is it?”
“You’ll see it yourself after the ceremony.”
Again, he didn’t ask why.
Why she hated that house.
Why her expression hardened at the mere mention of its name.
He simply acted as though they didn’t have to go there.
Haeon studied him for a moment before asking,
“Do you regret marrying me?”
Yeoheon’s expression froze.
“Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
“It’s only for a year.”
“Yes.”
“I might really ask for a divorce after a year.”
“I know.”
“I probably will.”
A brief silence.
“Yes.”
“And you still don’t regret it?”
Music announcing the start of the ceremony drifted from far away.
Yeoheon didn’t answer for several seconds.
Then he said quietly,
“At least I don’t regret getting married today.”
Something in her chest sank strangely.
Haeon looked away first.
“I’m still not sure.”
“You don’t have to be.”
Again.
Whatever she said, he told her it was all right.
As though he would accept any choice she made.
Then a staff member approached.
“Groom, please get ready to enter.”
Yeoheon began to move, then stopped.
“Ms. Haeon Ki.”
“Yes?”
A brief silence.
“You don’t have to be afraid today.”
Haeon’s expression went blank.
“Did I say I was afraid?”
Yeoheon’s eyes froze for an instant.
It was truly only a moment.
But Haeon didn’t miss it.
“No.”
He took a step back first.
“That was unnecessary.”
Without explaining further, he headed toward the ceremony hall.
Haeon couldn’t take her eyes off his retreating back.
You don’t have to be afraid.
It was something she had never told anyone in her past life.
Not even the fact that she had been afraid on the day of her first wedding.
Yeoheon Jin shouldn’t have been able to know.
And yet today, he kept speaking as though.
As though he were someone who had lived with her for seven years.
2:00 p.m.
The doors to the ceremony hall opened.
Brilliant light poured out all at once.
The guests rose from their seats.
Music spread beneath the high ceiling.
Haeon placed her hand on her father’s arm.
One step.
Then another.
The same hall.
The same path.
The same people.
Yeoheon Jin stood at the end of the aisle.
In her past life, she had looked at him and thought,
So he’s my husband now.
This time was different.
He was someone who would become a stranger to her in a year.
That was what she thought.
But the closer she got, the more she noticed something strange.
Yeoheon’s expression was different from what she remembered.
In her past life, he had been composed.
Today, he wasn’t.
His lips were pressed tightly together.
His gaze never strayed elsewhere, not even for a moment.
The closer she came, the more a subtle tension gathered in his fingertips.
Junmuk let go of his daughter’s hand.
A little over a foot remained between them.
Haeon instinctively remembered what came next.
This was when the groom was supposed to take the bride’s hand.
In her past life, Yeoheon had reached out, then paused briefly.
And in the end, he hadn’t taken it.
A fleeting moment that no one had paid attention to.
A scene only Haeon Ki had been unable to forget for seven years.
Yeoheon Jin’s right hand slowly rose.
Haeon’s gaze dropped to that hand.
The same date.
The same ceremony hall.
The same man.
The same moment, returned to her once again.
This time too.
Would he not take her hand?