The wedding reception finally ended at nearly six in the evening.
As they made their way down to the hotel's underground parking garage, Haeon Ki removed her veil and draped it over her arm.
Her toes had already gone numb.
When she lifted her train with one hand and stopped in front of the black sedan, Yeoheon Jin opened the rear door first.
“Get in.”
Haeon glanced inside the car, then looked back at him.
“We’re going together?”
The question sounded a little ridiculous even to her.
They were a couple who had gotten married today.
There was nothing strange about going to the same house.
But the first day of her past life had been different.
After the wedding ceremony, Yeoheon Jin had left separately with the Chairman of Hyeonrok Group.
Haeon had gone ahead to the Hannam-dong estate with her secretary.
Her husband had arrived home late that night.
That was why it felt unfamiliar to be going home together from the start.
“Would you rather go separately?”
“No.”
Haeon got into the car first.
“I was just asking.”
Yeoheon entered through the opposite door.
The car pulled away.
The farther they got from the hotel, the more the view outside moved away from the familiar route.
Haeon stared at the road in silence for a while.
She was sure of it.
They weren’t headed to Hannam-dong.
Only then did some of the tension leave her body.
Perhaps noticing, Yeoheon asked,
“Do you feel better now?”
Haeon turned her head.
“Did I look nervous?”
“A little.”
“I was trying not to show it.”
“Your expression changes whenever that house comes up.”
He noticed far too much.
Haeon turned her gaze back to the window.
“I told you I didn’t like it.”
“I know.”
“Aren’t you going to ask why?”
“Tell me when you want to.”
That answer made her even more uncomfortable.
Wouldn’t most people be curious?
It would have been natural to at least ask why someone who had suddenly said she hated the estate prepared as her newlywed home on the morning of her wedding.
But Yeoheon didn’t press her.
As if he already knew the reason.
Haeon lightly tapped the window frame with her finger.
“Where are we going?”
“Yongsan.”
“Yongsan?”
“There’s a house I’ve kept vacant for some time.”
“Is it owned by Hyeonrok?”
“It’s under my personal name.”
That was the first she’d heard of it.
In the seven years of her past life, Haeon had never once heard that Yeoheon Jin owned a private home in Yongsan.
“Is it somewhere you used to live?”
“No.”
“Then why did you have it?”
“I bought it a few years ago.”
“For investment?”
He thought for a moment before answering.
“At first.”
At first.
It sounded as though another reason had come up later.
Haeon didn’t ask anything else.
She had questioned Yeoheon Jin enough times just today.
And every time she asked, she only grew more suspicious.
The car entered the underground level of a high-rise residential complex overlooking the Han River.
Access by outsiders was strictly controlled there.
When they arrived in front of the private elevator, an employee who had been waiting bowed his head.
“CEO, everything’s ready.”
“Everyone can leave for the day.”
“Yes.”
The employee glanced at Haeon for a moment before bowing again.
“If you need anything, please contact us at any time.”
The elevator doors closed.
Haeon looked at Yeoheon.
“Is this a house without staff?”
“For today.”
“Just today?”
“If having live-in staff makes you uncomfortable, we don’t need to keep any.”
Of course. Once again, he was willing to do exactly as she wanted.
Haeon swallowed a hollow laugh.
“I’m used to houses where I don’t have to do anything, so I don’t mind.”
“Then let’s decide how many people we need.”
“I’m not planning to do the housework myself.”
“I didn’t think you were.”
“And how did you know that?”
This time, Yeoheon smiled for the briefest moment.
It was so short she almost thought she’d imagined it.
“It would be more surprising if you suddenly developed an interest in homemaking.”
“…You seem to know me surprisingly well.”
The doors opened.
Instead of answering, Yeoheon stepped out first.
Haeon glared at his back once before following him.
And the moment she passed through the entryway and entered the living room—
She stopped.
It was spacious.
But it wasn’t so enormous that it overwhelmed people, like the Hannam-dong estate.
The ceiling was high, and one entire wall was made of floor-to-ceiling windows.
City lights spread across the Han River as the sun nearly disappeared.
The interior was arranged around bright ivory and deep walnut tones.
There were no flashy decorations.
Nor was there the heavy, old-fashioned furniture characteristic of a chaebol family estate.
It looked like a home meant to be lived in.
Strangely, it was comfortable.
Haeon stood there for a long while.
“What do you think?”
Yeoheon’s voice came from behind her.
“It’s quiet.”
That was her first impression.
The Hannam-dong house had been quiet too.
But the silence there had been closer to the emptiness of a house without people.
This place was different.
Even in the middle of the city, there was no noise.
Perhaps because of the warm lighting, the entire space felt soft.
“If there’s anything uncomfortable, change it.”
“Was this really prepared in a single day?”
“The house itself was already in order.”
“The furniture too?”
“Most of it.”
Most of it.
Haeon looked at the sofa.
Dark gray fabric.
A low back.
Wide armrests.
It was exactly the style she liked.
It could be a coincidence.
That kind of furniture was common enough.
There was a long dining table beside the living room.
It could seat about six people, but it wasn’t excessively large.
Haeon slowed for a moment as she passed it.
The dining table at the Hannam-dong estate in her past life could seat twelve with room to spare.
She had no memory of the two of them ever sitting across from each other there.
“I want to see the bedrooms first.”
“This way.”
Yeoheon walked down the hallway.
He opened the first door.
“This is my room.”
Haeon glanced inside.
A bed.
A simple desk.
A built-in wardrobe.
A calm, orderly space.
It was exactly like Yeoheon Jin.
He stopped in front of the next door.
“And this is your room, Haeon.”
The door opened.
Haeon’s eyes slowly widened.
The bedroom was larger than she’d expected.
Ivory bedding and a low wooden frame.
A small sofa and floor lamp stood by the window.
The dressing room was completely separated within the bedroom.
A vanity.
A bathroom.
Even a small terrace—all of it was her own private space.
When she opened the door and stepped inside, toiletries she hadn’t even brought with her were already neatly arranged.
They were all new.
There was almost nothing specific enough to reveal her tastes.
So she could understand this much.
“When did you move my things?”
“I had them bring over what was at the hotel first.”
“What about the things at my family home?”
“I thought you might dislike it if I brought them without permission, so I left them there.”
Haeon turned around.
“…You did the right thing.”
There were things at her family home she wanted to sort through herself.
There were also many things she wouldn’t need in this life.
Yeoheon nodded.
“And.”
He pointed toward the end of the hallway.
“There’s one more room.”
“What is it?”
“See for yourself.”
It was the last door.
Haeon grasped the handle.
She opened the door.
And froze.
It wasn’t a bedroom.
It was a study.
More precisely—
It was close to the kind of workspace she’d wanted for a long time.
Bookshelves filled one entire wall.
A wide desk stood opposite them.
It was large enough to spread out both a laptop and her materials.
A window overlooking the Han River stood in front of the desk.
A floor lamp whose light wasn’t too harsh.
A board where she could pin up materials.
A small conference table.
And on one wall were books on brand design and materials related to distribution trends.
Haeon slowly stepped inside.
“This…”
Her voice barely came out.
She had wanted a space like this.
For a long time.
At Haedam Distribution’s headquarters, her position had always been ambiguous.
She had a private office, but she had no authority in important meetings.
She had never even considered creating a separate workspace at her family home.
Before her marriage, she had once seen a workspace like this in a magazine.
If she ever had a home of her own—
She wanted to put in one large desk.
She wanted to work alone until late at night, drafting proposals somewhere she could see outside the window.
That was all.
She had barely ever told anyone about it.
“Mr. Jin.”
She turned around.
He was standing outside the door.
“Who decorated this room?”
“The interior design team.”
“What was the concept?”
“I gave them the instructions.”
Her heart gave one heavy beat.
“What did you tell them?”
“That you would need a space where you could work.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
Haeon ran her fingertips over the desk.
A deep walnut top.
A design with smoothly rounded edges.
Could even this be called a coincidence?
Then she saw a familiar color beneath the bookshelf.
Haeon bent down.
It was an out-of-print book on brand design.
It was a book she had borrowed from the university library and searched for repeatedly at used bookstores because she’d wanted a copy of her own.
She hadn’t been able to find it.
Even in her past life, she had never managed to buy it.
Her hand stopped.
She pulled out the book.
It was a first edition.
Even the cover was almost perfectly clean, as if it were new.
“Did the interior design team prepare this too?”
Yeoheon’s answer came a beat late.
“I gave them the book list.”
Haeon slowly turned around.
“Why?”
“I thought it might be useful for work.”
“This book is out of print.”
“…I know.”
“It was hard even for me to find.”
Yeoheon said nothing.
Haeon pressed her fingertips hard against the cover.
This wasn’t a coincidence.
At least this wasn’t.
“How did you know I was looking for this book?”
Silence.
“Mr. Jin.”
Haeon took a step toward him, still holding the book.
“I’ve barely ever told anyone I wanted this book.”
For the first time, his expression stiffened with clear discomfort.
“I saw it before.”
“Saw what?”
“A list you had written down.”
“Where?”
Yeoheon’s gaze shifted briefly to the side.
“I don’t remember exactly.”
It was a lie.
This time, it was too obvious.
Haeon didn’t smile.
“Someone who doesn’t remember went and found an out-of-print book?”
“…I thought it was a book you needed.”
“And you made my room exactly the way I like it?”
“That was—”
“The sofa too.”
Haeon pointed toward the back of the room.
“The desk.”
Then toward the window.
“Even the position of the light.”
Their eyes met.
“Everything is exactly what I like.”
The expression disappeared from Yeoheon’s face.
Haeon stared at him for a long while.
The man who had suddenly returned to the country the day before their wedding.
The man who had checked her body first.
The man who had accepted without asking why when she said she hated the Hannam-dong house.
The man who seemed to know that she was considering an independent business.
And now—
The man who knew even the preferences she herself had long forgotten.
He was slowly crossing the line of what could be dismissed as coincidence.
“Mr. Jin.”
Haeon asked in a low voice,
“When did you start knowing me this well?”
This time,
he couldn’t answer right away.