Chapter 8: A Chain That Binds

Ji-Han’s impudent tone cut through as he asked whether I had anything to say.

“No.”

I had nothing left to say. Turning to walk away, he grabbed my wrist.

“No, you must have something.”

I could feel the curious gazes of passersby. His intensity was impossible to ignore, and helplessly, I followed him. It wasn’t worth drawing attention in front of the broadcast station.

We walked in silence until we reached his parked car inside the building’s lot. After I got in, Ji-Han broke the silence.

“You want to go back to work?”

“Yes. I do.”

“Why? Didn’t you quit?”

I recalled resigning under the silent pressure of both families, expected to play the dutiful wife. That decision belonged to my past, before everything changed.

He turned to face forward, clearly annoyed.

“My mind’s changed.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He asked sharply, as if our other issues weren’t enough.

“And wanting to attend the shareholders’ meeting.”

His confusion about my decisions showed his frustration.

“You’ve been strange lately. It’s like you’ve suddenly become a different person.”

Of course. The me you knew all this time was already dead in front of the courthouse.

His car turned toward what used to be our newlywed home. At a red light, he glanced over.

“I know how much you loved your anchor position.”

He claimed to understand me, but… did he?

“But that time is over.”

He seemed to have done his homework before our marriage.

“People are watching you now. I don’t want my wife to be the subject of gossip.”

His eyes flashed dangerously, laced with thinly veiled control.

“I’ll take care of my own business, Seo Ji-Han.”

“How can that be only your business? You’re the face of Hojin now—you can’t be irresponsible.”

My refusal froze him. I looked through the window at the familiar apartment complex landscape.

My phone buzzed—Park Hyeon-Ik.

Ji-Han, after parking, glanced at the screen, then nonchalantly asked, “Won’t you take it?”

“I can call later.”

He didn’t intervene. Before long, a text came.

“You’ve been talking to Lawyer Park a lot lately?”

His tone was suddenly calm and logical. He stared at me, probing.

“He’s the legal advisor for W Group.”

I gathered my bag, unbuckled my seatbelt, and reached for the door—then he stopped me.

“Wait a minute.”

Ji-Han turned around and took something out from the back seat.

It was the wedding ring—the one that never made it onto my finger that day. From its case, he slipped it onto my left ring finger.

“I heard brides get nervous before the wedding.”

He glanced at me and continued, “Even ordinary brides feel that way, but you… you had so much going on.”

It wasn’t concern—it was possessiveness.

“I worry about you getting hurt in all this turmoil.”

He looked at me with such fragile care that I felt sick.

“It’s okay if you don’t do anything, Yeo-Jin.”

Has he ever called my name so affectionately?

I knew he was saying it to let down my guard, but I felt dizzy.

I thought I had trained hard, but the moment I saw this ring, all my efforts seemed to have gone down the drain, and I felt like I was crying again.

“You just stay right where you are—like a greenhouse flower, knowing nothing, untouched.”

“So that it’s easy for me to take it all away.”

It felt as though Ji-Han, the man who had taken everything from me in my previous life, was whispering that to me again and again.

Seeing him smiling at me made my skin crawl.

Because I knew all too well what was hidden behind his sweet words.

“Lean on me and rest.”

He spoke as if he was my protector, but I knew what that meant.

****

That evening at home, rage still boiling, I opened our wine cellar and drank directly from the bottle until it was empty. Yet the heat didn’t fade; if anything, it clarified me.

I placed my hand over my heart, eyes drawn to the ring, and whispered, “Why did I ever believe you… why…”

What once shone as a symbol of love had become a chain. It mocked me with its brilliance.

I groaned as I looked at the wedding ring that seemed to say, “You will gradually let go of everything.”

Not even the anchor position, and not even the W Group. There was no room for me to yield to these two in this life.

“I won’t let things go the way they want.”

The screen of the cell phone on the island table vibrated and lit up brightly.

“Hello.”

It was Jae-Ha.

He had called first after reading my message asking to meet.

– “I didn’t expect you to reach out like this. You want to meet now?”

“Yes. If possible, I’d like to see you today.”

At the word “today,” there was a brief pause on the other end.

– “Have you eaten?”

“No. Not yet.”

– “Then want to come out? Let’s eat.”

Jae-Ha’s low voice came through the receiver.

Not feeling up to eating, I sat down on the stool and stared at the wine bottle in front of me.

“I’m done eating.”

I’d drunk enough to drain the bottle, but I wasn’t the least bit drunk.

I wanted to be drunk—just enough to forget it all.

My eyes landed on the wedding ring, gleaming with a strangely elegant glow. I took it off and set it down on the table.

“Want to have a drink?”

*****

Jae-Ha’s car, which had been driving silently, slowed down as if it had reached its destination.

“Hotel?”

I looked at Jae-Ha from inside the car that had stopped at the hotel’s main entrance.

However, he got out of the car casually, came over to the passenger seat, and knocked on the window.

“Get out.”

“You want to drink here?”

I rolled down the window and asked him, pointing to the hotel behind me.

Jae-Ha smiled lazily at my question, which seemed intentional, and lowered his head through the crack in the lowered window.

“Then what are you going to do?”

I pointed to the hotel while looking at him, who was looking at me with a meaningful look.

“No. The place is a bit.”

“The atmosphere here is nice. Get out, it’s almost time.”

It must be a good atmosphere because it’s a five-star hotel.

In the end, I followed him into the hotel, at a loss for words.

It seemed like a very well-prepared place, considering that we had made a surprise appointment.

“Have you made a reservation? You can’t come here without a reservation. And check the time.”

Jae-Ha turned around with an expression that seemed to be asking an obvious question.

“It’s peak time.”

“You’re very thorough…”

“That’s right.”

That’s true, though.

Jae-Ha nodded without changing his expression, and a hollow laugh escaped his lips.

Jae-Ha smiled faintly and walked toward the wine bar employee.

“Are you Seo Jae-Ha?”

“Yes.”

He followed the employee who was guiding him and stopped.

There was a table with the word “reserved” written on it right in front of the glass window.

A small candle was emitting a light, illuminating the table.

“This is a reserved seat for Seo Jae-Ha. Have a good time.”

The lights of the cars running along the Han River beyond the large window were such a beautiful sight.

Jae-Ha, who had ordered wine and a simple starter, only then turned his gaze towards me.

And soon, two glasses with wine were placed in front of me.

“Oh, one glass is fine.”

He then handed the glass in front of him back to the server.

“I’m not drinking.”

“……You don’t plan on drinking?”

“Yes.”

I was taken aback by his firm answer.

I had come all the way here with the intention of drinking together. As I was contemplating whether I should move now, I heard Jae-Ha’s voice.

“I have a car, and it’s late at night, so I can’t send you home alone.”

Something flickered inside me—his concern was a small comfort.

When the server left, his eyes stared at me blankly, as if asking what was wrong.

However, he didn’t speak first, so I smiled faintly, as if he was being considerate of me.

“Actually, I was drinking wine alone at home today.”

“Why?”

He asked as he set down his glass.

“I wanted back what I’d lost. But but it didn’t work out.”

Was it because of the atmosphere here? Or was it because we were facing each other with a single candle dimly lit in the darkness?

I was talking about myself without realizing it.

“Why?”

“They said there’s already a candidate.”

He picked up the glass of water, and his expression changed strangely when he heard the word candidate.

“Do you want to be reinstated?”

Jae-Ha asked in a calm tone and put down the glass after taking a sip.

I was startled by him asking about my intentions for reinstatement before he could even mention reinstatement.

“How did you know that…?”

I looked at him with wide eyes.

Jae-Ha, who was about to continue speaking, looked behind me and suddenly paused.

“What’s wrong? Is there something?”

“Seo Ji-Han.”

I turned my body to follow Jae-Ha’s gaze, who was staring right behind me with a stern face.

At the end of his gaze, a very familiar man was staring at us.

It was Ji-Han. I squinted my eyes in confusion, and our gazes met for a moment.

A woman’s voice was heard from behind him, and Chae Seo-Rin, who had been hidden, was revealed.

“Oppa, where is your seat?”

I turned my head, thinking it couldn’t be.

In the packed bar, the only reserved seat card on the table right next to me came into view.

‘Ha.’

“I said window seat…”

Only then did her words, which had been continuing brightly as if she had noticed me sitting at the table next to her, suddenly stop.

Seo-Rin, who had been flustered and didn’t know what to do, hurriedly let go of Ji-Han’s sleeve that she had been holding onto.

‘Excuse me, explain anything to me. Seo Ji-Han.’

Ji-Han’s eyes, which had been wide open in surprise at first, gradually became quiet.

No, instead, he raised his head and looked at me even more brazenly.

He didn’t have any of those common explanations or excuses.

I almost let out a harsh curse without realizing it. I clenched my fists to hold it back, curling up the corners of my mouth that were twitching.

“Why are you two together?”

I asked my fiancé, who was standing still, pretending not to know.

What are you doing here?

Unlike the smile I tried to keep my composure from, my eyes had grown cold.

I already knew them through pictures and reports, but seeing them in person like this was hard to bear.

The betrayal of him as my husband and the endless sense of humiliation.

Unlike Seo-Rin, who seemed very flustered, my fiancé met my gaze with a calm face and didn’t say anything.

I vividly remembered him putting my wedding ring on, and I felt disillusioned.

‘You came to the hotel after saying that to me?’

“I came to have a drink and chat.”

Ji-Han, who had been standing for a while, finally opened his tightly shut lips.

He pointed to the reserved seat with the tip of his chin, giving a brief and concise explanation of the situation.

Then, a tiny crack appeared in his eyes as he looked at Jae-Ha, who was sitting in front of me.

“I’m the one who wants to ask. Why are you with my brother?”

This time, he asked.