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Chapter : 01
Late at night, in a quiet park.
Gaeun was waiting for HanKyung, lighting candles one by one on a small heart made of wax.
“What are you doing?”
“Ah! You scared me!”
“What is this?”
HanKyung, with his hands shoved in his pockets and a smug expression, nodded toward the candles.
“You could’ve just said you’re here. Congratulations on your first day, Jeong HanKyung.”
“It’s just a normal first day at work. What’s the big deal?”
HanKyung, about to start his first job after passing the level 9 civil service exam, sounded a little boastful, which slightly annoyed Gaeun. She forced a smile.
She understood, though—she had also once prepared for the civil service exam and knew how hard it was.
“…Congratulations. It must have been tough studying and training all this time.”
“Thanks, Gaeun, but wait. Did you do all this just to make me emotional?”
“This… this?”
“Isn’t this a bit too much? Doing this on the street is embarrassing.”
HanKyung’s face was full of irritation as he called her gesture embarrassing.
Gaeun’s pride sank. She had wanted to give him a proper celebration at an expensive restaurant like everyone else.
But Gaeun had given up preparing for the exam and had been working at the academy desk for a year, so her budget was tight.
“Embarrassing?”
“These cheap candles… and… wow, someone else would’ve done better. But what’s that?”
HanKyung’s eyes lit up when he saw the suitcase on the bench.
Gaeun had thought it better to give him a suit for his first day rather than spend the money on a meal. It was a gift she had prepared.
“…A first-day gift.”
“Is this really mine?”
“Yes.”
“Hey, thanks.”
As HanKyung reached for the suitcase, the candles scattered and rolled on the ground.
Gaeun hadn’t expected tears of gratitude.
She just wanted to hear: “Sorry for being annoyed while studying. Let’s go on more dates in the future.”
“Gifts are nice, but don’t do this kind of thing again. Makes it seem like you’re trying to annoy me.”
The remaining candle flames flickered and died in the night wind.
Gaeun held back the tears threatening to fall. She refused to cry in front of HanKyung, even if it meant crying alone later.
“Are you saying you did this to annoy me?”
“No, I mean…”
“I did this because I wanted to make you happy. On this street? This is where we often went on dates. I wanted to celebrate with you where we have memories. And you just call it embarrassing? Annoying me?”
“Hey, O Gaeun?”
HanKyung stepped back, surprised by Gaeun’s rapid-fire words.
“No matter what, HanKyung, you shouldn’t react like this. Even if you don’t like it, you could at least say thank you once, thinking about the effort I put in.”
“Thanks… I do, but my point is, do you really need to do this here? Think about my feelings too.”
“Your feelings? Do you think I’m always happy meeting you? That my smiles mean I’m crazy about you?”
“Because you like me…”
“I’ve had my share of awkward and embarrassing moments with you too. Sitting on this shabby bench, drinking canned coffee, eating, watching movies… every time I had to pull out my wallet first while you stood behind me, I held back even though I was disgusted and annoyed.”
Memories of the seven years since they first met at twenty, now both twenty-seven, flashed through Gaeun’s mind.
Why do only the awkward memories come back, not the good ones?
“I often wanted to say what you’re saying, but I didn’t. You know why? I considered your feelings. I thought you might get hurt. But now, you don’t think about my position or feelings at all, and talk like that?”
“Then why do you consider me? If you hate it, say so. Why? Just because I passed the exam, you don’t want to break up?”
“Break up? Not for you. I’m upset about wasting my time foolishly next to you!”
“Then break up.”
Seeing HanKyung’s expressionless face, Gaeun laughed bitterly and gathered the scattered candles, throwing them into the trash. Then she looked him straight in the eyes.
“Let’s break up.”
“Okay, we’re broken up.”
“Give it to me.”
“What?”
“A gift? We’re broken up, give it now.”
“Isn’t this a first-day gift?”
HanKyung gripped the suitcase and hid it behind his back.
“What gift between us now?”
“You can’t take back a gift once it’s given?”
“So, you won’t give it?”
“…”
“You’re really trying to show me the worst side of you. If you don’t give it, I’ll report you. As a bribe.”
“What bribe?”
“You’re coming to the district office. Getting such an expensive gift from a resident is a bribe, isn’t it?”
Hearing the word “bribe,” HanKyung finally handed over the suitcase, reluctantly, his face full of regret.
“Pathetic.”
“Pathetic? You’re the petty one, you jerk!”
“Petty? Hey, O Gaeun! Are you done talking?”
“Not even close! I have so many things I want to yell at you, but I hold back because I don’t want you to go crazy. And don’t tell anyone I dated you. It’s embarrassing!”
Gaeun pushed HanKyung’s shoulder and walked away.
Seven years with him—why did she endure him, pretend to be okay, and tolerate it?
“I’ll find a better man and show him our marriage papers right in front of you!”
Gaeun, who thought she couldn’t work at the academy desk forever, decided to go for an interview at an online shopping mall.
The interview location was a hotel lounge, which seemed odd, but she accepted it when told the office was under construction. She was desperate and didn’t question it.
The lounge was quiet and nearly empty.
“Did you come alone?”
“Yes, I had an appointment.”
Gaeun looked around and saw only one person sitting there.
The owner of the online shopping mall she wanted to join: Kim GeumBong.
Gaeun smoothed out the wrinkles on her skirt and approached the man who seemed to be the boss.
“Hello, I’m here for the interview today…”
“Please, have a seat.”
Even with his stiff tone, Gaeun smiled automatically.
She had expected a fat man in his 50s named Kim GeumBong, but the person in front of her looked young and attractive.
Determined to get the job, Gaeun sat down.
“I don’t have much time, so I’ll ask briefly.”
“Okay, understood.”
“Do you usually smile this much?”
“Huh?”
“No, is there something on my face?”
I smiled because he was handsome. Gaeun almost said it aloud but calmed herself.
“There’s a saying: ‘I’m happy because I smile, not I smile because I’m happy.’ I tend to think positively, so I smile a lot.”
“Positive in everything… not bad.”
According to the job site, this mall was a one-person business, run solely by the handsome owner. The pay wasn’t high, but having such a good-looking boss in the same office was a great condition.
“Are you discreet?”
“Yes… very discreet.”
“I hate rumors about me, especially about my private life.”
“I don’t care about anyone else’s private life, sir.”
Her eyes caught something familiar in him.
“You just do what you are asked and stop looking at people like that.”
He noticed she was staring and gave her a sharp look.
“You’d better fix that.”
“Yes, I will.”
“Let’s end the interview here.”
“Will there be more interviews?”
“Didn’t Secretary Tak tell you?”
“Secretary Tak?”
Even a one-person company had a secretary?
The owner stood and handed Gaeun a business card with his personal contact.
“Joo Seokjin, CEO of JooShin Retail…?”
Gaeun read it aloud quietly and swallowed hard.
The man she thought looked familiar was the same person in the news. JooShin Retail was the top distribution company in the country.
Seokjin smiled at her shock.
“Today, I’m secretly holding an interview to find a wife.”
“A wife?”
Joo Seokjin, CEO of JooShin Retail, was holding a wife-seeking interview instead of a normal hiring interview.
Just then, Gaeun’s phone buzzed—it was the original interviewer, Kim GeumBong.
“…Hello?”
-Oh no, I’ll have to cancel the interview since my friend’s daughter works here.
“Yes…”
Gaeun, still stunned by Seokjin, didn’t react much to the cancellation.
She answered, hung up, and looked at Seokjin.
“I think you have the wrong person.”
“Aren’t you Yoon Hyejin?”
“I’m O Gaeun…”
