Meeting, Not Pure

For five years, did you have fun without me? There was one thing my husband, Joo Tae-jun, said to me on our wedding day. “…Smile. You got what you wanted, so why the long face?” Our marriage, built on nothing but cold calculations and a contract, felt like an endless, dark tunnel. Then, at the end of that tunnel, like a ray of light, a child came into my life. But I had no choice but to run. There was no way my child could grow up safely in a household where treating people like objects was the norm. So, I left him with a lie—that I had found another man. Five years passed. And then— “Five years. Did you enjoy yourself?” The moment I heard his voice, my whole body froze. “You should’ve at least made the most of it with that bastard before I found you. But that won’t be an option anymore.” I forced my stiff body to turn—and there he was. “My turn now. This time, I’m never letting you go.” My ex-husband. My first love. The man I once left behind.