TCE 09

Chapter 09

We sank into a despair so horrifying it went beyond self-reproach.

I had died.

I shut myself inside a dark room without even turning on the light, digging into myself and the criminal in a haze of confusion that felt impossible to overcome.

I did nothing—just sat on the bed and listened to my own story coming out of the television.

“…Mr. Choi, known for multiple fraud convictions… also accused of heavy drug use…”

“…Meanwhile, the victim of the murder case, Ms. Go, was the eldest daughter of a famous brand family, considered to have a very promising future…”

The murderer, caught at the scene, faced an unusually swift trial, and the news announced he would be sentenced to life in prison.

But none of that brought me any comfort.

I was crushed under one unbearable truth: that I had died. Not as some unlucky accident, but as a cruel, absolute ending.

[What did I do to deserve this punishment? Why me?]

For days, I collapsed under a misery I couldn’t explain to anyone.

The moment of realization began with a single peach, cut and served by Mrs. Kim.

[Please, try some.]

The truth was, I had a severe peach allergy. Just a small bite was enough to send me into shock. I never even went near canned peaches.

But when Mrs. Kim, worried because I hadn’t been eating, brought me one, I lost my mind at the sight. I devoured it in one gulp, almost desperately wishing to die again.

Yet instead of dragging me into the abyss, that mouthful of peach sent me to paradise.

[It’s… delicious.]

The refreshing flesh, the sweet juice spreading in my mouth, the crispness that softened and melted on my tongue—it was such a small thing, but it turned “the taste of death” into “the taste of life.”

Swallowing down my tears along with the peach, I finally came to a realization about my death.

There was only one cause behind all of this.

“That lunatic.”

Sure, Joo Ae-jeong and Ha Yun-jae, who broke off the engagement and made me into a laughingstock, were unpleasant. But they couldn’t be the root cause of my death.

And if this was supposed to be punishment for the sins I’d committed as “Go Woo-ri,” then no—objectively speaking, that wasn’t the case either.

The moment I met that lunatic, my fate had already been sealed. My life had ended when my breath was cut off and my eyes closed. Yet here I was, alive and breathing, even if it was in another person’s body.

Now here’s the real question.

How was I supposed to live from now on? And what had become of the real Joo Ae-jeong?

Tsk.

Clicking my tongue, I stared into the mirror.

“Are you in there somewhere?”

I asked the face that was already starting to feel familiar.

The fundamental question circled in my head, but I brushed it away quickly.

Surprisingly, I was calmer about this situation than I would’ve ever expected.

Whatever the case… I’m alive right now.

That was the conclusion I came to.

Of course, reaching a conclusion didn’t mean the problem was solved. The lump of injustice still weighed on my chest, and I still didn’t know what to do next.

Maybe the way I’d been devouring food until I gained weight wasn’t relief, but just a defense mechanism. Eating filled the emptiness, giving me the illusion of being whole again.

The stabbing tightness in my chest remained all the same.

“I can’t just stay like this.”

I didn’t want to lock myself away and do nothing.

I didn’t want to wallow in misery, looking pathetic and pitiful.

And I sure as hell didn’t want to cry. It was humiliating, infuriating.

Because I was Go Woo-ri.

And with that resolve, I faced Yun-jae.

“I thought you’d run away from home.”

The husband who, at least on the outside, was perfectly my type.

Husband.

The word itself felt impossible to ever get used to.

Marriage had never once crossed my mind in life. So naturally, the most basic questions came up:

What is marriage? What had Joo Ae-jeong and Ha Yun-jae shared that made them decide this? And what does it mean to endure as husband and wife?

Lost in thought, I just stared at him.

“Phew.”

Yun-jae sighed under my steady gaze, then turned away sharply.

Crunch. Crunch.

Apparently unsatisfied with just cereal and milk, he was now eating dry cereal straight from the box, like chips, while glancing back at me following him into his study.

Watching him chew at the doorway, lips working, somehow annoyed him. For someone usually so composed, that was rare.

Finally calming himself, he spoke.

“If you have something to say, say it.”

His hand loosened his tie, heavy with exhaustion.

“Well, it’s nothing important, just… something I was curious about.”

“Then say it quick, I don’t have time.”

“You know…”

Setting the cereal bag aside, I hesitated before speaking.

“I don’t know if I should even ask this.”

“Then don’t. Leave.”

“Wow, stingy. Give me a second to get it out.”

My half-teasing whine only deepened his frown.

By now, the timing for finding me strange had long passed, yet the weirdness of it all still lingered. Even so, his curiosity about the “why” had already faded.

He took a step closer.

“Three.”

“Huh?”

Another step.

“Two.”

“…What?”

The final step.

“One.”

“What does that—”

Startled, I found myself pressed flat against the bookshelf as Yun-jae reached for the doorknob to shut me out.

“Wait, wait! Just tell me—how far are we supposed to go?”

Desperate not to be kicked out, I grabbed his hand on the knob with both of mine.

He froze for just a moment under my grip, and in that instant I slipped fully inside the study.

I wasn’t leaving until I got an answer.

“What do you mean?”

Instead of replying, I fiddled with the spine of a thick hardcover.

“Well… it’s a contract marriage, sure, but we’re still adults. It made me wonder.”

“Stop beating around the bush and say it.”

“…Are we supposed to sleep together?”

It was a straight fastball.

“I just figured… it’d be good to know.”

Awkwardly brushing my hand along the shelf, I realized too late that I’d said it far too bluntly.

Of course, regret came too late.

Momentarily speechless, Yun-jae tugged his tie completely loose.

Rather than call out my sudden, unpredictable question, he decided to play along.

“So what are you really trying to say?”

“It’s not like I meant anything special by it.”

Embarrassed, I scratched my cheek.

“Just… whether we’re only supposed to talk, or if, you know, there’s… more.”

I trailed off, fidgeting with the bookshelf. But when I turned back, he was already standing right in front of me, like a tree rooted in place.

His crooked gaze bore down as he fired back:

“You want me to play the role of husband?”

My eyes widened, my nerves sparked.

There was something strangely sensual in the provocation.

“No, that’s not what I meant—”

I tried to slip away from the gap between him and the shelf, but he stepped in, closing the space, bracing an arm against the bookshelf.

Thud.

The heavy shelf trembled as my body pressed back against it. His steady gaze nearly pulled me under again, and I had to shrink into myself to resist.

Gulp.

Each time I was with him, I swallowed hard, painfully, as though something stuck in my throat. And now, as I blinked at him, he whispered more intimately.

“It wasn’t in the contract.”

“…”

“But there wasn’t a clause against it either.”

That was a line straight out of a con man’s mouth.

Oh, Ae-jeong, you fool. When you signed that contract, you should’ve been more careful with the fine print.

Cursing the absent—or vanished—Ae-jeong, I clutched at his collar. His eyes flicked down at my grip, strangely amused.

One corner of his mouth curved upward.

“If you want it, I’ll give it.”

Good heavens.

“Do you want it?”

His words carried not an ounce of sincerity. Yet somehow, in that voice that usually leaned more toward apathy than restraint, the sticky sweetness of temptation slithered in—leaving me with a strange sense of guilt and a sharp tingle in my chest.

It almost made me nod. No—maybe I actually did nod, just a little, swayed by instinct rather than curiosity.

But the last shred of reason yanked me back from crossing the line.

Exhaling hard, I forced my head high and asked:

“Do you love me?”

“What?”

“If not, then no.”

“…”

“I’ll only sleep with someone I love.”

The words might not have reached him at all, but it was the best excuse I could throw up in the moment.

To me, it meant something—sleeping with someone you loved.

But apparently, that romantic reasoning meant little to Yun-jae. Instead of pressing further, he cut the conversation short, as though it were a waste of time.

“Stop fooling around.”

“…Yes. I will.”

At his sharp look, I immediately backed down and squeezed out a quick reply, then darted away from the shelf and him.

With fists raised awkwardly in front of my chest, I must’ve looked like a boxer warming up. He clicked his tongue, tilting his head.

“Be ready tomorrow. Don’t be late.”

The thick tension between us finally dissolved—only to be replaced by another problem.

Lowering my fists slowly, I tilted my head.

“Where are we going?”

My tone was dumb, almost childlike, and Yun-jae’s brow furrowed.

“It’s the schedule you set yourself.”

Which means that “you” isn’t me at all.

I didn’t say it. I just laughed awkwardly.

“My memory’s been bad lately. I feel drained all the time, too.”

A poor excuse, given my face had grown plump and healthy after gaining four kilos in just a week. But he didn’t bother to call me out.

“Charity work.”

Then he pointed a finger straight at me, adding:

“You’re in charge of the food truck.”