5.

“I don’t really get it either, but anyway—that’s what I heard. Taegang Wook found his wife and is driving up to Seoul now. So don’t worry. Just live happily with Ha-eun.”

The “wife” Wook found had to be fake.

Haein thought for a moment whether to interfere—but it wasn’t her business anymore. If he accepted that woman as his wife, that was even better.

Only then did Haein relax.

By the time they reached Seoul, it was already late at night.

“This is our home. Do you like it?” Wook asked after they arrived at the apartment.

Ye-eun looked around. The place felt strange to her. When she felt awkward or nervous, she blinked slowly; she was doing that now.

“Is this… the place we used to live?”

“No, our old place was the main family house. You didn’t like big houses, so I got this apartment. You always wanted to live in an apartment. Let’s live here, just the two of us.”

Soon after his wife disappeared, Wook moved out of the main house. He couldn’t stand living there without her.

When he rented this place, he chose it for her taste—planning to live here together when he found her.

The 57-pyeong apartment (about 1,900 sq ft) felt cramped to him, but he endured it for Ye-eun.

“This is the bedroom, and that’s the dressing room. There are clothes there—pick what you like.”

The dressing room was full of clothes for her, things Wook had bought whenever he missed her.

“Wash up and come out. I’ll get snacks ready.”

“Yes, okay, Oppa,” she answered with a sweet smile.

Wook felt relieved that she trusted his words.

While Ye-eun chose clothes and went into the bathroom, Wook left the bedroom and went to the kitchen to prepare her snacks.

On the way here, he’d had the staff stock the fridge.

Inside were her favorites: strawberries, tiramisu, and macarons. The strawberries were already washed and trimmed.

He felt happy imagining her enjoying them.

But inside the bathroom, Ye-eun’s face twisted. The angelic smile she’d shown Wook turned devilish in an instant.

“Ugh, so annoying! How am I supposed to live in a place this small!”

Her sharp, irritated voice was completely different from her gentle tone earlier—as if she were a different person.

A month after bringing his wife home.

Wook did his best for the wife he’d found after seven years. He took her to the hospital for a full checkup and arranged sessions with a famous psychiatrist.

They went on many dates, too.

What he regretted most after she vanished was that he’d been too busy to spend time with her.

“Ye-eun, where should we go today? Anything you want to eat?”

It was the weekend, and Wook invited her out again. Ye-eun leaned against him, touching him suggestively.

Her meaning was clear.

Wook gently moved her back and whispered softly:

“Let’s not rush, Ye-eun. After you get your memories back, okay? That’s best.”

“How long will that take? How can I wait forever? Don’t you want me? You said you loved me like crazy before.”

“I did—and I still do. But I’m not an animal who would hold his wife while she’s unwell. From now on, I’ll put you before myself. So let’s wait a bit. You’re in counseling—you’ll remember soon, okay?”

Seeing he wouldn’t change his mind, a deep frown line formed between Ye-eun’s eyebrows. She really didn’t like this.

She had thought that once she stood in this place, everything would go her way.

If she stayed like this, nothing would work out.

She had to act. She needed allies.

“Oppa, doesn’t the main family know I’m found?”

“They know.”

Of course they did.

His mother still called every day—telling him to bring Ye-eun back to the main house.

But Wook had no intention of taking her there. He wouldn’t let her suffer as a daughter-in-law again.

He answered firmly but gently:

“No need to go. Just think about living happily with me.”

“Let’s at least go say hello, please? You never know—since we lived there for three years, maybe being there will help me remember something.”

Wook’s firm heart wavered. The doctor had said:

“Showing her places she lived or things she loved can help recover memory. Don’t rush—give it time.”

So they went to the main house.

His mother, Hyun-sook, was waiting with Ye-eun. Grandfather was out playing golf.

Unlike before, when she was cold, Hyun-sook held Ye-eun’s hand and greeted her warmly.

“Welcome, my daughter-in-law. You must have had such a hard time.”

Wook stared, surprised by the change. His mother had never treated Ye-eun like a real daughter-in-law.

As if reading his thoughts, Hyun-sook hurried to explain:

“I give up. I’m going to accept her—truly—as my daughter-in-law now. She’s the wife my son searched for seven years. If I do wrong and she disappears again, my son will be ruined. I’m just grateful she’s alive.”

Over the last seven years—since Wook had cut off almost all contact—his mother must have changed her mind.

Thinking she would no longer mistreat his wife, Wook felt relieved.

“Thank you, Mother, for accepting our Ye-eun.”

“So, Wook, come back to the main house now. I’ll really treat her well. The house is so lonely without you.”

“Oppa, I want to live here, too. I love it. Let’s move back here, okay?” said Ye-eun.

As Wook debated what to say, his phone buzzed. It was the private investigator he’d hired for a new task.

During Ye-eun’s medical exam, Wook had asked if the doctor could tell whether she’d ever given birth. The doctor said he couldn’t.

“Can’t tell” meant she might have.

Since coming back to Seoul, Wook kept thinking about the child who led him at the pension—the girl who looked so much like his wife.

And the girl’s mother, who had the same scent as his wife.

He needed to confirm it.

A child who didn’t look like her mother might be the baby Ye-eun had once carried.

That woman had mentioned a birth certificate, but he hadn’t seen it himself.

“I’ll take this call, Mother. Please look after our Ye-eun.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll really treat her well now.”

“Ye-eun, if Mother treats you badly, come out right away, okay?”

After reminding Ye-eun, Wook stepped out to the entryway. He wanted fresh air instead of his wife’s strong perfume.

She sprayed so much that his head hurt.

Outside, he could finally breathe. He drew in air scented with spring flowers and answered the call.

“Go ahead.”

“Kim Ha-eun and Kim Haein are confirmed as biological mother and daughter,” the investigator reported. “There’s a birth certificate, and more importantly, the DNA matches. They’ve been living together at that pension for five years…”

Maybe his hopes had been too high.

He felt very disappointed.

“Please investigate Kim Haein more thoroughly,” Wook said. “See if she has a lost sister.”

She had said she was an only child, but who knew if that was true?

She didn’t seem like a liar, but if she didn’t remember her early childhood, her parents could have abandoned a younger sibling.

Haein was two years older than his wife.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her—probably because her eyes were like his wife’s.

Not the color, but the look in them.

While Wook gave instructions to the investigator, his mother Hyun-sook was studying Ye-eun’s face up close, exclaiming:

“It’s really perfect. Exactly the same. I had no idea plastic surgery could be this amazing.”