Divorce Proposal

The person I knew and the person I was coming to know were two completely different people.

The moment you, who shared meals and nights with me every day, began to feel unfamiliar, the perfectly calm and peaceful life we had built as a married couple started to crack.

At first, the crack was as faint as a dot, but with time, it spread uncontrollably and far.

And eventually, it became a rift strong enough to shatter everything.

Chapter 1

A soft sound echoed through the quiet apartment, unit 2301 of Forest One.

It was the alert that a car had just passed through the apartment’s main gate.

Jooheon, freshly out of the shower, glanced at the door screen, tightened his bathrobe, and headed toward the dining room.

The car that entered the complex was carrying Ayeon.

She drove slowly, rolling her window halfway down.

The breeze had already turned cool as if autumn was approaching.

Her car moved unhurriedly along the entrance road, lined with elegant juniper trees, then passed by the Su-gyeong Café where a few residents were sitting and chatting.

Forest One was known for its beautiful landscaping.

Thanks to that, the entire complex had a serene atmosphere.

Especially at this late hour, that feeling was even stronger.

Just driving slowly through the complex always made Ayeon feel a little better.

It was partly the familiar, beautiful scenery that gave her comfort and partly the sense of relief that she was finally home, where she could rest after a long day.

After circling the complex once, she entered the underground parking area and parked smoothly in a spacious spot.

She got out of the car, passed through the drop-off zone, and entered the underground lobby where an elevator was waiting.

Everything along her path sparkled as if meticulously cared for, from the floor to each elevator button.

Ayeon and Jooheon had started their newlywed life at Forest One when it had just opened for residents.

They had been married for five years, and the apartment was now in its fifth year too.

But hardly anything had changed since the day they moved in.

Ayeon agreed with the residents who praised the reliable construction company that managed the property.

The value of Forest One had soared remarkably each year, setting new price records among apartments in Seoul.

She thought her father-in-law, Yoon Sang-gi, who had chosen the apartment, had an excellent eye.

He had been her academic advisor during her master’s and doctoral programs, and now, as an honorary professor at Korea University, he was the person she respected most.

Thanks to him, they had such a nice home, and she had lived a fairly peaceful married life with a husband who seemed to care only for her.

She had never seriously considered marriage before. All she wanted was a room of her own somewhere under Seoul’s vast sky.

But at some point, living in Forest One, a place others envied, had become so natural to her that she found herself smiling bitterly as she stepped off the elevator on the 23rd floor.

The moment she entered the house, her eyes landed on a pair of shoes left messily at the entrance.

“You came home already?”

Sliding into her slippers, Ayeon stepped inside.

“Yeah,” came the reply. Jooheon emerged from the bedroom in his bathrobe, smiling brightly, arms open wide as he wrapped her in a hug.

“Why are you so late? You were reading papers again and lost track of time, right? Honestly, what’s so fun about that.”

As he ruffled her hair with a playful, slightly sulky look, Ayeon gave an awkward laugh.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“If you apologize with that pretty face, I…”

He paused mid-sentence, and she raised an eyebrow.

“I end up feeling even sorrier.”

He looked at her with eyes full of affection.

Ayeon chuckled softly and wrinkled her nose.

“I’m going to take a shower.”

“I like you just the way you are right now though.”

His gaze slowly swept over her from head to toe.

Since she had a lecture that day, she was dressed in formal attire: an H-line skirt, a white blouse, and a thin black jacket.

It was an ordinary office look with no special accents, but it was the kind of outfit he liked.

And she knew there was one detail he especially liked.

Glancing at her legs wrapped in skin-colored stockings, Ayeon gave a faint smile.

But right now, showering came first.

“If I don’t shower now, I’ll just get more tired.”

“…Alright. Go wash up then.”

He was reluctant but respected her decision.

She slipped out of his arms, set down her bag, took off her jacket, and headed toward the bathroom.

She took off her black skirt, quickly peeled off her stockings, and began unbuttoning her blouse.

“Huh?”

She suddenly gasped.

One of the buttons on her blouse was missing.

It was one of her favorite blouses, the kind she wore frequently despite having many shirts.

“Where did it fall off…”

She clearly remembered seeing it earlier in the mirror after finishing her lecture and returning to her office.

Thinking it might have fallen off just now, she furrowed her brow and bent down to look for it on the floor.

But she couldn’t spot it anywhere.

Straightening up again, she scanned the floor more carefully. That was when she noticed a small piece of paper lying beside the cabinet.

She picked it up, intending to toss it in the trash, but a familiar word caught her eye.

“Intercontinental?”

It was a receipt from a hotel in Seoul.

It was the hotel where Jooheon often met with foreign buyers.

He must have dropped the receipt while taking off his clothes.

Without giving it much thought, she crumpled it up and tossed it in the trash, then finished undressing and stepped into the bathroom.

As soon as she turned on the shower, a refreshing stream of water poured down.

She let the water cascade over her, ran her hands through her hair, then gently brushed down her upper body.

Suddenly, a conversation she had with her colleague Tae-eun a while ago surfaced in her mind.

‘Professor Seon, not this time either. That must be disappointing, right?’

‘I should take it as a sign to focus more on research.’

‘Yeah, you’re still young. I honestly thought you’d become the youngest professor at Korea University since Professor Yoon Sang-gi is also your father-in-law.’

‘Come on, you know how strict he is about separating personal and professional matters.’

‘That’s true. And I know you’re not the type to rely on connections anyway. I shouldn’t have said that. Sorry.’

‘No need to apologize, really.’

Once again, her appointment as a professor had fallen through.

She had pretended to be fine in front of Tae-eun, smiling as usual, but inside she wasn’t.

She was deeply disappointed and had spent quite some time in a daze.

For a while, she couldn’t focus on her dissertation or anything else.

Still, she had tried to pull herself together, telling herself it wasn’t an easy path and she would try again.

But maybe because the department had been buzzing all day about tomorrow’s welcome reception for the newly appointed professor, she had been stuck in a bitter mood again all day.

‘I didn’t expect Jin Sunwoo to return to Korea University.’

‘…Me neither.’

Jin Sunwoo being the star of tomorrow’s welcome reception had been a surprise.

After finishing her shower, Ayeon let out a small sigh without realizing it.

“Did something happen? You don’t look happy.”

Jooheon, sitting on the bed reading, looked up at her as she walked out of the bathroom.

“Really? Nothing happened.”

She shrugged and gave him a faint smile.

“I don’t think so…”

He got off the bed and walked toward her.

She frowned slightly as she looked at him.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t want it to show…”

“Why?”

He gently held her shoulders and asked softly.

“I don’t want to make everyone uncomfortable.”

“Everyone?”

“Just… people in the department. Professors, lecturers, students…”

“I’m your husband who sees through everything about you. Others won’t notice.”

“Really?”

She gave a small, uncertain smile.

“Yeah. So tell me what happened.”

He lowered his arm from her shoulders and wrapped it around her waist.

She let out a deep breath and finally opened her mouth.

“…It didn’t work out again.”

She muttered, lowering her gaze.

“The truth is, I…”

She bit her lip before continuing.

“It feels like I’m walking through a tunnel with no end.”

“Oh no…”

Jooheon finally seemed to understand what had happened, his brow furrowing.

“Should I talk to my father about it?”

He said it to comfort her, but her face hardened immediately.

“Absolutely not. If you don’t want everything I’ve built to collapse, don’t you dare.”

She never wanted anyone to say she had gotten special treatment because of her father-in-law.

That was why she had worked twice as hard as everyone else. Becoming a professor was something she had to achieve on her own.

“Ha… Alright. I only wanted to help somehow.”

“I know. And that’s why I’m okay.”

“I feel bad that there’s nothing I can do.”

He looked at her with a bittersweet expression, gently caressed her face with his fingertips, then pulled her into a tight embrace.

“It’ll work out next time. You’re working so hard.”

“Yeah. Thank you.”

Resting in his arms, she spoke in a small voice after a moment of thought.

“Actually…”

“Hm?”

“Since this appointment didn’t work out, I started thinking…”

“About what?”

“Maybe… we should try for a baby.”

For a moment, Jooheon pulled back from the embrace and looked at her.