Marriage Situation

Chapter 5

Yooyoung’s mother, Lady Chansook Choi, had seen everything.

Yooyoung had clung to a man, welcomed a kiss from him, and rubbed herself against him.

She trembled at the realization that her mother had seen such a thing. Her mother terrified her, and that terror froze her lips now.

What do I do? Yooyoung’s brain refused to work, while a cold chill dripped down her body.

Lady Choi’s sharp gaze pierced her skin. “What were you just doing?”

She had never once spoken to her daughter in a warm voice, but she sounded especially cold today.

“Mother, that’s not—”

She cut Yooyoung off mid-explanation. “Come in first. I’m scared someone will see you.”

When Lady Choi walked over to the front gates and pressed the doorbell with great irritation, the large, heavy gates opened.

Despite being midsummer, the garden was heavily shaded by trees, and so felt gloomy and creepy. Yooyoung had been born in this house and had grown up here. But she had never once loved the estate.

The deep-brown, two-story house looked down upon all those who entered. The neatly organized garden, with its excessive orderliness, felt more oppressive than beautiful.

At that very moment, following her mother through the garden after being discovered doing exactly the thing she never wanted her mother to see, Yooyoung could barely breathe.

“Oh, you’re home, Ma’am and the Young Miss.” Once they entered the house, the housekeeper came out quickly to accept the groceries in Lady Choi’s hand.

“Move aside!” But Lady Choi threw the groceries on the ground, as though even the housekeeper’s kindness was irritating. “A person should know how to read the mood.”

Yooyoung’s father ran a mid-sized business passed down from his forebears. Her mother, who’d married into a rigid, patriarchal family, always chose the food that went into her husband’s mouth with her own hands.

Every morning, she went to the market near their home to pick the best ingredients of the season, and she prepared them herself to set before her husband.

“The food that goes into your father’s mouth is no different from gold. It should always be treated preciously. You should never mishandle it.”

And here that same Lady Choi was, throwing her groceries down and raising her voice. It had been a very long time since even Yooyoung had seen her cold, indifferent mother getting so angry.

“Goodness, honestly. This is absurd.” As soon as they got inside, Lady Choi whirled and glared at Yooyoung. “Don’t you have your seon today? I wanted to be thorough yesterday, so I even got you a room at the hotel for you to show up as well-kept as possible, but you... you...”

Lady Choi’s lips twisted harshly. The hand now free of groceries was clenched into a trembling fist. Yooyoung hadn’t been hit by her yet, but today could be the first time.

“Have you been hiding a man somewhere all this time?”

“Mother, that’s not—”

Yooyoung took a step closer to Lady Choi, but she only turned to distance herself further from Yooyoung.

“I can’t believe you’re spreading your legs like a dirty whore. What did I tell you? I told you that if something like you wants to be useful to this family, you need to marry a man from a good family that will have a positive influence on your father’s business. But here you are, with some nobody—”

Lady Choi let out a sharp cough. And then, as if her throat felt raw from rage, she cleared her throat a few times before continuing. “How dare you do that in front of this house? Where people could see! Are you out of your mind?”

Yooyoung had nothing to say. Jihoon Cha had initiated the kiss, but Yooyoung had also had plenty of time to run away. It had been Yooyoung herself who had leaned back against the front gates to accept the kiss and even reached out to grasp his shoulder.

“Who was that man?”

Yooyoung was silent.

“What happened with the seon today?”

Yooyoung quickly racked her brain. Was it better to have suddenly make out with a man she’d just met today through a seon? Or would it be better to pretend she’d been dating a man all this time?

“The seon went well today.”

The lips that had been so resolute in telling that man just moments ago that she didn’t want to get married moved quickly now.

“That man earlier... He was my seon partner. Mr. Jihoon Cha. The MGH Hotel owner.”

Lady Choi’s brows furrowed.

Then again, it wasn’t surprising. The seon appointment had been at 1 P.M. It was hardly 4 P.M. right now. Kissing someone she had just met was extremely uncharacteristic of Yooyoung.

“President Jihoon Cha? You kissed the man you met at your seon?”

“Yes, Mother. Because... he initiated it.”

She apologized to Jihoon in her mind. If she didn’t explain what had happened yesterday and only talked about today, he was bound to appear very strange. To think her seon partner would abruptly kiss her...

But Yooyoung didn’t have the luxury of considering his situation. She needed to move past her own situation in this moment before her mother’s anger spilled over.

“That’s what happened. There’s no one else.”

Lady Choi narrowed her eyes. She seemed to be evaluating the truth of her story.

“Mother, it’s true.”

It was true that Yooyoung had escaped the affair the day before, but she’d tried to end it before the seon. She wouldn’t dare try to see someone with an arranged marriage in the works.

“Do you expect me to believe that?”

“That’s the truth, so there’s nothing I can do no matter what you say, Mother.”

She was scared. Her body shook like a leaf.

Lady Choi, looking down with disgust at the way her daughter desperately clung to her, gave her disdain for a smile.

“I suppose we’ll see.”

* * *

The morning air was particularly cold. Yooyoung pulled her hair up, and the cool wind brushed over her exposed skin.

After staring blankly outside for a while, Yooyoung sighed and got out of bed to dress simply. The walk out to the living room was still cold.

Even though it was late summer, the cold seeping into her lungs made her cough.

When Yooyoung covered her mouth with a shiver, Lady Choi lifted her head at the sound from where she was sitting in the living room. Lady Choi’s lips twisted as she placed the notebook she had been holding on the table.

“You’re awake?” she interrogated.

“Yes, Mother. Did you sleep well?”

“Is that a cold?”

“N-no.”

“Then why are you coughing?”

Lady Choi’s words had more irritation than concern behind them. She raised her hand and called over the housekeeper who had been preparing food in the kitchen.

“Over here.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

“Make her some bellflower tea. Is the house cold? Why would you catch a cold when it’s still summer?”

Yooyoung shook her head before Lady Choi’s temper grew sharper.

“No, it’s really fine, Mother.”

Even though Yooyoung said she was fine, Lady Choi examined her face closely.

Yooyoung’s body trembled again when the sharp, fang-like gaze skimmed over her face. But Lady Choi’s lips twisted, mistakenly assuming her tenseness as something else. “We’re having a guest today. You’re home all day today, aren’t you?”

Today was a day off. Yooyoung nodded and wrapped the cardigan she had draped over herself tighter. “Yes. Should I leave?”

Sometimes, her father would have important guests over. When that happened, the daughters would be present to serve as conversation partners or would need to vacate the house. Which would it be today?

“No. Get ready and wait. And look pretty. Not this ugly appearance you have going on right now. This is why you’ll never do.”

The cold, frigid words stabbed Yooyoung’s heart. Lady Choi straightened up and continued, “How is it that there isn’t a single thing to like about you?”

Lady Choi sighed and whisked her hand for the housekeeper to hurry with the bellflower tea. There was irritation in the gesture.

A short moment later, Lady Choi forced a cup of bellflower tea into Yooyoung’s hand and said firmly, “Don’t mess up today. And don’t you dare let on that you’re sick.”

Nowhere on her face did she show any concern for Yooyoung’s health.

Yooyoung forced a smile while she trembled in order to reassure her mother all the same.

* * *

That afternoon, Yooyoung used thick makeup to hide her ashen complexion and put on a neat suit. She looked the way she did when she went to court.

Her parents liked when she greeted guests in these clothes.

As a businessman, her father had decided when his children were young that his oldest would enter politics and his second would go into law.

And the third would inherit his business. So they would support the third.

“Hfff...” The moment her thoughts reached that point, Yooyoung shivered and shook her head.

Useless thoughts. Thinking about this would only bring her mood down endlessly.

Just then, there was the sound of a knock at the door.

“Miss Yooyoung, your guest is here.”

Yooyoung nodded at the sound of the housekeeper’s voice. “Yes, I’ll be right out.”

She fastened the last button on her blouse and quickly headed downstairs. Lady Choi was the only one in the living room, where the guests were first greeted.

“Where is Father and the guest?”

“Your father isn’t home yet.”

Then was it just the guest? Wouldn’t it be rude for her father not to be present?

Yooyoung’s brows furrowed slightly in confusion, unable to understand the situation. Then Lady Choi gestured with her eyes toward the man standing by the window.

For a moment, she couldn’t make out the man’s face clearly because of the sunlight reflected off of the window.

A height tall enough to reach the ceiling, broad shoulders, a sharp nose. All of it created a long shadow.

Even before her eyes adjusted to the light, Yooyoung recognized who he was: a man whose presence in this house made no sense.

“Mr. Cha.”

“Hello, Miss Kim. Have you been well?”

“What brings you here?” Yooyoung’s mouth opened slightly in shock.

“I did say that I’d come get you next time.” The corners of his mouth drew up into a smile. “I came because I wanted to see you.”