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Chapter: 01
Back to That Day (1)
As the phone rang, Cha Ji-hoo answered it.
“Hello, this is attorney Kim Seok-hoon. The court has accepted your divorce petition.”
“I see. Thank you. I appreciate all your hard work.”
After ending the call, he leaned back against the sofa and let out a long sigh.
“So… I’m finally free now?”
He was officially a divorced man.
He had never wanted it to end in court, but his wife had refused to agree to an uncontested divorce until the very end, leaving him with no other choice.
He had only just closed his eyes when the phone rang again.
This time, it was his wife.
No… he should call her his ex-wife now.
“…”
Ji-hoo didn’t answer.
There was no point. They would only repeat the same arguments and exchange harsh words.
A moment later, a text message arrived.
[Why aren’t you answering? Did you really have to go this far? Are you happy now? Don’t you feel sorry for the kids? Are you even their father?]
Just as he expected.
“Not a single word saying she’s sorry or that she was wrong… even until the end.”
He clicked his tongue.
He no longer felt disappointment or anger.
Those emotions only existed when there was still hope or affection left.
Ji-hoo had already realized that his emotional connection with not only his wife but even his two children had long since disappeared. He had already given up, so he no longer expected anything from them.
Maybe it was my mistake for letting them go so easily back then.
Six years earlier, when his wife suggested sending the children to America for their education, Ji-hoo hadn’t agreed immediately.
Perhaps, somewhere deep inside, he had sensed that something like this might happen.
But his wife, Ahn Ji-yeon, refused to back down, and the children wanted it desperately as well.
In the end, he had no choice but to agree.
And that was how the family became separated.
Not long after the three of them moved to America, the pandemic broke out.
Because of it, Ji-hoo couldn’t see his wife and children for more than two years.
Later, after finally taking vacation leave and making the difficult trip to America, his wife and children welcomed him not with joy or excitement, but with awkwardness and emotional distance.
I thought they were just having a hard time adjusting to life in America.
Throughout those years of living apart, Ji-hoo worked like a madman, earning every penny he could and sending all of it overseas.
The amount of money his wife needed only continued to grow.
To keep up with her demands, he had to slash his own living expenses to the absolute minimum.
Still, he endured it, convincing himself that it was simply what a husband and father was supposed to do.
Even so, the money she requested increased exponentially.
She said it was because the children were growing, their living expenses were rising, and inflation had driven prices up dramatically.
Even considering all that… it became impossible to keep up, even with the salary from my job at a major corporation…
Eventually, Ji-hoo accepted the company’s voluntary retirement package and used part of the severance pay to cover the expenses.
The real problem came afterward.
With the money he had left, he started a small business.
It showed promise at first, but the success didn’t last.
He sacrificed his sleep and poured everything he had into it, only to end up losing money and shutting the business down.
Eventually, he had to sell his house, move into a smaller rental apartment, and downsize his entire life.
Just as both his body and mind were reaching their breaking point, he received another devastating blow.
He was diagnosed with lung cancer.
The years of overworking himself had undoubtedly been the cause.
He told his wife about his condition and asked her to come home.
But even after learning that her husband was seriously ill, she refused to return to Korea.
“I’m sorry you’re sick, but realistically that’s impossible. You know this is the most important time in the kids’ lives. I’ll come back for a short visit soon, and we can talk then. Cancer has a high recovery rate these days anyway. Just focus on your treatment.”
Ji-hoo couldn’t believe this person was really his wife.
Even worse, although the children must have heard about their father’s condition, neither of them even called him once.
If your husband… if your father… had a potentially fatal illness, wouldn’t you rush to his side immediately? Can people like this really be called family?
Disillusionment filled him.
From that moment on, his heart began to grow cold.
Fortunately, the lung cancer diagnosis turned out to be a misdiagnosis.
But he never told his wife.
Ji-hoo decided he would no longer serve as their personal ATM.
Everything that had happened had opened his eyes.
He canceled his life insurance policy and began sending money only when he could realistically afford it.
Naturally, his wife exploded, insisting it wasn’t enough.
But when he told her he needed money for chemotherapy, there wasn’t much she could say.
Then one day…
Ji-hoo received a call from his older cousin, who lived in America.
“Hey, you should keep a closer eye on your wife.”
“What do you mean?”
“People have been seeing her at pubs pretty often lately. I saw her myself last night.”
“A pub? You mean… a bar?”
“Yeah. She seemed pretty close with some white guy. Looked like she’d had a lot to drink. Do you two still talk often?”
Rage surged through him.
While he worked himself to the bone, juggling two and even three jobs, skipping meals to send money to America…
His wife was out drinking.
The same woman who constantly complained that she was exhausted from taking care of the children day and night was now spending time drinking with another man.
That alone was completely unacceptable.
On top of that, he had also heard rumors that she had been spending money extravagantly.
Which meant that a considerable amount of the money he had sent wasn’t going toward the children’s education after all.
No wonder the amounts kept getting bigger and bigger.
He felt both furious and betrayed.
People really never changed.
Looking back, he had already seen her obsession with men and money while they were dating.
He and Ahn Ji-yeon had joined the company in the same hiring class.
They had grown close during OJT training and eventually started dating.
It had become an office romance without either of them intending it.
When Ji-hoo was promoted to assistant manager, she suddenly broke up with him.
Because he had truly loved her, he asked her to take some time and think it over.
A few months later, she came back.
Only later did he discover the truth.
She had fallen for the manager of her own team and dated him for a while.
But after learning that the manager was already engaged to another woman, she broke things off and returned to Ji-hoo.
I should’ve ended it back then.
There was no point regretting it now.
All he had learned was that being a good person alone only left you suffering the losses.
And one more thing.
People never changed.
I can’t do this anymore.
In the end, Ji-hoo’s anger exploded.
Convinced that the marriage could no longer continue, he hired a private investigator to gather evidence of his wife’s affair and private life before filing for divorce.
The court ruled in his favor.
His wife’s infidelity had been proven.
She had not returned to Korea even once during the six years they lived apart, completely abandoning her husband.
Furthermore, the overwhelming financial burden had been placed entirely on Ji-hoo alone.
Based on all of that, the court granted his request.
Ha…
Ji-hoo felt an overwhelming emptiness as he looked back on the years that had passed.
He hadn’t decided to divorce without knowing it would hurt.
Even so, it felt as though the precious years of his youth had been completely denied.
There was a hollow ache in his chest.
He had gained freedom and relief.
But he had lost his family and all the memories they shared.
That wasn’t something anyone could bear easily.
Still…
Life had a way of forcing people to keep living.
If only I hadn’t taken early retirement because of that money… I’d probably still be working at that company.
But regret and self-pity couldn’t change history.
He quietly put on his clothes and left home, heading toward the convenience store where he had been working for the past six months.
“Good work.”
“You too.”
After taking over from the previous shift’s part-time worker, Ji-hoo buried himself in work.
Keeping his body busy was the best way to stop unwanted thoughts.
Several calls and text messages came in, but he ignored every one of them.
They were from his wife.
No… from his ex-wife.
When his shift ended, he headed home.
Normally, he would have gone straight to his night job as a designated driver.
But today, his mind was far too unsettled.
Driving in his current state felt dangerous.
He stopped by the convenience store near his apartment, bought a few cans of beer, and drank them instead of eating dinner.
While he had been working, the thoughts had briefly disappeared.
But alone in his apartment again, the tightness in his chest returned.
I’m really alone now.
In truth, he hadn’t stopped being alone over the past six years.
Maybe he had been alone even before that.
Everyone ultimately walked through life alone.
Thinking that way, there was no reason to feel pitiful.
Yet now that he had legally severed all ties with his wife and children, he couldn’t help feeling as though the entire world had become empty.
It would take time before he could gather himself and move forward again.
The more years he had lost, the longer it would take for those wounds to heal.
“I’m not even getting drunk.”
Maybe it was because he rarely drank and his liver was stronger than he thought.
A few cans of beer weren’t affecting him at all.
Just as he was thinking about switching to soju, his phone rang.
He had intended to ignore it.
But this time it was his best friend, Park Min-soo.
“Are you working?”
“No. I didn’t go in today.”
“Oh, really? Then you’ve got some free time.”
“Why?”
“I’m near your place. Perfect timing. Let’s grab a drink.”
He wasn’t really in the mood.
Still, he’d been turning Min-soo down for so long because he’d been too busy with his own life that he felt guilty.
This time, he agreed.
Ji-hoo arrived at the restaurant first.
“My friend will be here soon. We’ll order then.”
The television was broadcasting an international news segment.
It reported that the princess of a European principality called Mohena had ascended to the throne.
According to the news, it was the first time in the nation’s history that a queen had become its ruling monarch.
Ji-hoo’s ears perked up.
“Mohena!”
A beautiful country blessed with the Mediterranean coastline.
Although only a tiny nation—just a fraction of the size of Seoul—it attracted wealthy people from all over the world.
At some point, Ji-hoo had fallen in love with its breathtaking scenery.
He had searched for countless photos and videos of the country and had even studied its history and environment out of personal interest.
“I’ve always wanted to visit someday. Now that I’m completely free… maybe this is my chance.”
If he could have, he would have left immediately and started a new life there.
But while traveling there might be possible, actually living there was another matter entirely.
With its astronomical cost of living and soaring real estate prices, only the truly wealthy could realistically buy a home and obtain permanent residency.
“Hey! Long time no see!”
“You made it.”
“You’ve become impossible to meet these days.”
“Sorry. I’ve just been trying to survive.”
“Today’s on me.”
“Really?” Min-soo laughed. “Come on. You’re barely making ends meet. What kind of money do you have to throw around? I’m not exactly rich either, but I’m still in better shape than you. I’ll pay.”
“I’m not struggling as much anymore. So let me.”
“What are you talking about? Not struggling?”
“I got divorced. Officially. I’m a divorced man now.”
“…What?”
Park Min-soo’s already small eyes widened as far as they could.
