IMFOBO | CH 24 | He’s Really Done It

Eun-cho stared at the unfamiliar reflection in the mirror.

The night before, after returning from her grandmother’s hospital, she had discovered several unfamiliar paper bags in her room.

A large box was crammed full of clothes, jewelry, and even bags and shoes.

It was as if someone had stripped a mannequin bare from head to toe.

He probably hadn’t prepared it all himself.

He would have ordered a subordinate to find appropriate clothing.

After all, being embarrassed in any way was not something Ryu Tae-san would ever allow to happen.

Her head was so full of thoughts that she hadn’t even considered what she should wear to the inauguration ceremony tomorrow.

All she managed was to ask the village chief to broadcast an announcement about the clinic’s morning consultations to Cheongnim-ri and the surrounding villages.

“I suppose you could call it thoughtful.”

He said he’d stay by her side the whole time, but it lasted only a single night.

He must misunderstand the meaning of the phrase.

Eun-cho sighed as she gazed at the dark, empty room that its owner had already abandoned.

She knew it was something to be grateful for, but the unfamiliar kindness was also a burden.

A dark gray herringbone jacket, a pleated A-line skirt, a necklace studded with diamonds, and matching earrings were elegant and classic.

The position of Ryu Tae-san’s wife felt heavy and real, and the unfamiliar items didn’t feel like her own.

It would easily cost more than a mid-sized car, without a doubt.

“For conscience’s sake, I should at least get my hair done at the town salon tomorrow.”

She wasn’t usually good at dressing up, so she was worried, but first she needed to get some sleep.

Eun-cho lay down on the padded mattress and blinked.

Her body felt heavy and limp, like a waterlogged cotton ball.

It was as if multiple hands were pulling her down from inside the blanket.

Down, further down.

“Director Lee Han-moo doesn’t know that I’m bringing Lee Eun-cho to that position.”

Eun-cho recalled what Tae-san had told her in advance and searched for her father in her phone’s contacts.

[Director Lee Han-moo]

[Director Lee Han-moo’s Secretary’s Office]

That was the extent of their relationship.

A bleak connection where she couldn’t call him “Father” outright or even save his number.

It was ridiculous to even contact someone who wasn’t waiting for her.

She vaguely remembered her father from when she was young as being kind and affectionate.

He loved his wife and daughter, and he cherished and adored them.

Those fragments of memory were so sweet and missed that she had waited for her father throughout her childhood.

Whether it was because he couldn’t bear to see a daughter who looked just like his wife, who had died in an accident, or because he had started a new family and his longing for her had disappeared when another daughter was born, her father had never once looked for Eun-cho.

When she had sought out her father because of her grandmother’s illness, she had been forced to endure the cold stares of her father’s new family.

The humiliation of being treated like an illegitimate child, as if she were of impure blood…

It was only natural that her longing would turn into resentment and hatred.

“We’re not exactly on terms where we can smile at each other.”

Eun-cho squeezed her eyes shut and turned off her phone screen.

In the end, she didn’t contact her father.

She didn’t send her bank account number to his secretary’s message.

Maybe, just maybe, she was foolishly hoping to believe until the very last moment.

“It’s cold.”

Eun-cho curled up, wrapping herself tightly in the rather thick blanket.

But she still couldn’t shake the chill.

She had taken a painkiller, but it didn’t seem to be working.

She should have gone to the family medicine clinic in town, no matter how busy she was…

Normally, she would take Western medicine in a situation like this, since it would work faster, but she hadn’t had any time because of all the patients who had come at once after hearing about the morning hours.

It wasn’t until late at night that she was finally alone.

Once the surroundings became quiet, Eun-cho was finally able to look at her true feelings, which she had been suppressing and ignoring.

“…Am I feeling unsettled?”

Although it was a bold decision made because of the old house, she couldn’t help but feel complicated when the marriage became a reality.

“Is it because I’m sick that I’m overthinking things?”

Nevertheless, the choice had been made by Lee Eun-cho.

Therefore, Lee Eun-cho would take responsibility.

That much was certain.

* * *

“Wow, Eun-cho! You look so chic today! Is that the new Deauville collection? You look amazing!”

“Is it expensive?”

“It’s beautiful!”

Soo-ji complimented Eun-cho, using a strange dialect from who-knows-where and uttering the famous line, “If it’s beautiful, it’s expensive.”

She even gave her a thumbs-up, making Eun-cho scratch her cheek as if she were embarrassed.

Her face, with her unskilled makeup, already felt stuffy.

The feeling of her hair, which she usually just tied up in a ponytail, cascading over her shoulders was unfamiliar.

She was also worried that the heels, which she didn’t usually wear, would make her wobble even though they weren’t very high.

“Let’s get going, we’re going to be late.”

Jung-seok nodded, pressing the car key button.

Euncho guided Soo-ji, who insisted on sitting in the back with her, to the passenger seat instead, then sank into the back seat herself.

The scenery passing by outside the window was familiar yet foreign.

It was perhaps because she was realizing anew that she was opening the door and entering a new world.

The navigator displayed an alert that it would take exactly 3 hours and 36 minutes to reach the Baekun Group affiliate’s hotel in Samseong-dong, where the inauguration ceremony was being held.

It was indeed a long, long way.

Not only was there a physical distance between her and that man, but also a psychological distance that didn’t seem to be narrowing.

Not to mention the distance between her and her father.

This must be what it was like to be worse than strangers.

Just then, Soo-ji spoke.

“Eun-cho, I think it’s good that you’re marrying scary Tae-san.”

Soo-ji sometimes said innocent and clueless things, but she didn’t mean any harm.

Eun-cho knew she was saying that because she didn’t know the full story, so she just smiled faintly.

“It’ll be more reassuring to have you there than some other random woman becoming your sister-in-law and bossing you around.”

“Yeah.”

“Friends may lose contact, but if you’re connected as family, you’re together for life.”

She felt dizzy and feverish.

Eun-cho felt like she was choking at Soo-ji’s words, so she took out the tumbler she had put in her small handbag.

It was Doraegi (bellflower root) tea, which she had brought because her throat felt scratchy.

She felt like she could only endure it if she drank this.

“Family…”

She knew that Soo-ji’s way of thinking was normal.

She had never properly told her about her family environment, so she didn’t say that with any other intention.

“I want to be with you for life.”

“Me too, thank you.”

Eun-cho just felt a little sad.

Families don’t always stay together for life.

Some families break up along the way, and some have heartless fathers who sell off their daughters.

She felt a pang of sadness as she realized that she had lived an extraordinary life.

“Eun-cho, if you’re tired, get some sleep. It’s quite a drive to Seoul.”

“Okay, thank you. I’ll buy the coffee when we stop at the rest stop.”

The two people in the back looked affectionate.

Soo-ji, who was constantly chattering and putting chewing gum in Jung-seok’s mouth, was lovely.

It was an image that was unimaginable with Ryu Tae-san and herself.

Glancing at her reflection in the car window, she realized that she looked sick.

Eun-cho took out a lipstick with a vibrant color.

It was the first time she had used a lipstick that she had received as a gift.

She didn’t want to show that she was sick, so she pressed the lipstick firmly onto her lips.

‘Is it a little too dark?’

She had added more and more, so it seemed quite dark, but she couldn’t see any tissues around.

Fixing her makeup required energy.

Eun-cho leaned back to calm the dizziness that was spinning around and around.

When she closed her eyes, the face of the arrogant man came to mind.

Could she really trust Ryu Tae-san?

Although she had hesitated for a long time, they were, after all, in a relationship where they had promised to marry each other.

She was suddenly filled with anxiety when she realized that he would keep his promise to hand over the old house, but that she was overlooking all the other important things.

‘Don’t think nonsense. It’s already too late.’

As the car sped up, the unfamiliar scenery outside the window changed dizzyingly from moment to moment.

It was a road leading to Ryu Tae-san, the man who would soon be her husband.

Finally, the three of them arrived at the Baekwoon Group’s hotel.

A hotel employee politely opened the car door and greeted them.

“Welcome.”

Eun-cho bowed slightly and opened the heavy glass door and entered.

The bustling crowds in the open lobby caught her eye, and the hotel’s unique subtle scent tickled her nose.

The art pieces placed throughout the unusually high ceilings and luxuriously finished walls blended together like a single work of art.

It was when the three of them were passing a moon jar with a calm atmosphere.

“Have you arrived?”

Was it only two days?

Tae-san appeared as if he had been waiting for Eun-cho, perfectly timed.

“Oh, matching outfits?”

Soo-ji, who had a sharp eye for things, looked at the two of them and beamed.

The excited dolphin-like squeal about how well they suited each other was just a bonus.

She thought he sent her clothes to match his standards, but she didn’t know he had this hidden intention.

Ryu Tae-san, dressed in a dark gray suit with a faint houndstooth pattern…

Yes, he looked stunning.

The man, who perfectly pulled off the three-piece suit, even gave off an atmosphere as if he had just stepped out of a photo shoot.

But he was just a poison dart frog who would instantly kill you if your skin so much as brushed him.

A good-looking rice cake isn’t necessarily good to eat.

‘He’s really done it.’

His hair was neatly styled without a single strand out of place, his cufflinks were of a simple design, and she could glimpse his watch.

He was perfect without any faults.

At first glance, you might mistake him for the one being inaugurated today.

Without a doubt, the men he had encountered in the lobby while walking here had been subjected to the punishment of turning into squids.

“…!”

Just then, the man suddenly closed the distance without any warning.

Eun-cho, startled, tried to step back, but Tae-san was faster.

He grabbed her wrist and lightly pulled her towards him.

“What is this on your lips?”

He asked an unexpected question.