chapter 2 (Prolouge)
*
As Da-in left the apartment complex with her laptop pouch tucked under one arm, her phone rang.
—Mother-in-law—
The moment she saw the screen, her face stiffened.
After getting married, Da-in had ended up living in the same apartment complex as her mother-in-law.
Every single day, the woman would come barging into Da-in’s home as though it were her own, so perhaps that was why.
“Hello, Mother.”
—Are you outside? I came by the house, but you weren’t there. Where’s Seong-min?
“Seong-min is working right now, so he’s probably at the café—”
—Did you go to some café other than Seong-min’s?
Her already cold voice sharpened even further.
Hwang Seong-min, Da-in’s husband, was two years older than her and owned a café.
Da-in worked as a freelance designer, so she often went to cafés to work—but she deliberately avoided her husband’s café.
Wouldn’t the employees feel uncomfortable if the owner’s wife sat there occupying a table all day?
And honestly, Da-in herself felt more at ease in cafés filled with strangers rather than people she knew.
“It’s not that I went to another café. I’m on my way there now.”
—Honestly, what is wrong with you…
A child raised without parents only knows how to think about herself.
The words passed quickly, muttered almost under her breath, but Da-in heard every single one.
Quietly, she bit her lip.
—While you’re sitting comfortably tapping away on your laptop, your husband is out there suffering to make money at the café, and you’re thinking about happily going to some other café instead? If you worked beside him, then when customers crowded in, you could help out. Wouldn’t that be better?
Da-in didn’t agree.
Not before marriage, and not now, even as someone’s wife.
She believed she had at least the right to choose which café she worked in.
But now, entering the third year of marriage, she was exhausted—too tired for explanations, too tired for all the arguments.
“Yes, Mother.”
At least this was better.
If she had run into her mother-in-law after the woman had let herself into the house without permission again, she would’ve been forced to listen to another lecture about why she wasted money going outside when she could just work from home.
The person who even begrudged Da-in a single cup of coffee while she worked was none other than her mother-in-law.
—I left some herbal medicine in the fridge.
“Herbal medicine?”
Recently, Da-in’s work schedule had fallen apart, and multiple projects had overlapped.
She was stuck in a brutal situation where she had to handle two jobs simultaneously.
She had casually mentioned that even having two bodies wouldn’t be enough, but she never expected her mother-in-law to actually prepare herbal medicine for her.
“Mother, thank—”
—Seong-min’s face has gotten so gaunt lately! It’s because his wife doesn’t take proper care of him. Honestly, Da-in, you’re so lucky, aren’t you? What other mother-in-law in the world lives nearby and does all the things a daughter-in-law should be doing like some servant? Right? Am I wrong? Hey, are you listening?
“…Yes, Mother. I’m listening.”
—Ugh, so frustrating. Anyway, I put it in the very bottom drawer of the fridge, so don’t forget to give it to Seong-min!
“Yes.”
—I’m hanging up.
The call ended.
Children riding kick scooters zoomed past beside Da-in as she stood there silently staring at the ground.
She used to think marriage was a good thing.
It created new people to love, and she had believed she needed that in her life.
“Jung Da-in, you idiot. You still have a long way to go.”
If she could go back in time, she would smack herself in the back of the head for ever deciding to get married.
“Haah…”
Her sigh lingered emptily in the space the children had just passed through.
*
Da-in entered the café with a bright greeting.
“Hello.”
“Oh, ma’am, you’re here? Should I make your usual iced drink?”
Three years into marriage meant she’d been coming to this café for three years too, but she still couldn’t get used to being called madam.
Da-in smiled awkwardly.
“Thanks, Min-young.”
After taking a sip of her latte, she glanced around the oddly empty café and asked,
“It’s quiet today, huh?”
“Ah, well…”
Min-young, the part-time worker who was usually cheerful, suddenly looked flustered.
“Today was supposed to be the supply delivery from headquarters, but apparently there was a problem. The boss and the manager both went out to pick it up themselves.”
“Oh, I see.”
She had only meant there were fewer customers than usual.
Still, so they’d left because of work.
As Da-in nodded and opened her laptop, Min-young hurriedly added an explanation, almost like someone with a guilty conscience.
“They said since she’s the manager, she needs to be able to handle things like this on her own in the future, so they went together.”
“Thanks for letting me know, Min-young.”
It had been five months since the old manager quit and a new one came in.
If Seong-min wanted to entrust the café to her, he probably did need to teach her every little detail.
Da-in gave Min-young a small smile when the girl still didn’t leave the table, then turned on her laptop to start working.
She had to draw a cover illustration for a romance fantasy novel.
As she skimmed through the cover proposal documents, Da-in opened the attached file.
Inside was the unreleased manuscript the author had included.
The title was:
<No Problem, Mr. Regretful Male Lead>
I’ll enjoy reading this, Author.
If she read at least the beginning before drawing the cover, she could capture the atmosphere of the story and characters much more vividly.
Besides, this was an author Da-in genuinely liked.
Excited, she began reading from the very first sentence.
“…No way…”
By the time she finished all the attached chapters in one sitting, tears were shimmering in Da-in’s eyes.
Apparently, the author had attached the entirety of Part 1.
Just as the title suggested, it was a classic regret romance: the heroine and hero constantly misunderstood each other and hid their feelings, only to finally confirm their true hearts in the end.
On top of that, the heroine frequently delivered satisfying moments of revenge and catharsis that made the story exhilarating to read.
Author, this is so good, and the heroine is absolutely lovable! I’ll make sure to draw an amazing cover for you.
Unlike Da-in’s reality—where almost nothing remained that she still wanted to love—the world inside the novel overflowed with things she wanted to cherish and root for.
Because the protagonists had overcome so many hardships, she felt an even stronger desire to portray them beautifully.
Her hand glided across the tablet like flowing water.
And then a month passed.
*
Her husband, mother-in-law, and brother-in-law all left on a trip together.
Her husband had been furious that Da-in refused to come.
He scolded her, saying his mother would feel uncomfortable traveling with only her sons, and that as a daughter-in-law, Da-in never once thought about her mother-in-law’s feelings.
But Da-in simply had too much work. There was no way she could go.
So the three of them left for the trip.
Now, several hours later, Da-in came to the café partly to keep an eye on things while her husband was gone.
But—
“Where’s the manager?”
“Uh… she took a vacation. For a week.”
Her husband’s trip was also one week long.
A strange chill crawled over her.
In that instant, Da-in’s heart dropped as though she instinctively realized something.
She immediately left the café.
While running home, she checked the payment history on her phone.
Her husband had pressured her, saying that if she wouldn’t come on the trip herself, she should at least pay for the travel expenses to show sincerity. He’d booked the plane tickets using her card.
When she’d first seen the charge later, she’d only vaguely thought, Wow, that’s expensive for three tickets, and brushed it off.
But now…
The moment she got home, Da-in turned on the computer.
From the recently visited sites list, she clicked the airline website her husband must have used.
She didn’t know his password, so she wondered how she could possibly check the details—
But fortunately, the site automatically logged into his account.
The second she checked the ticket information, her eyes widened.
—Business Class, 4 Passengers—
The flight hadn’t departed yet.
After checking the time, Da-in immediately called her husband.
She had to know why there were four people on the trip instead of three.
Her husband answered, and Da-in asked hurriedly,
“Seong-min, it’s me. Is someone else going with you? The flight seats say there are four people—”
—Well of course. Did you think only an old mother and her two sons would go?
“…Mother?”
The voice on the other end wasn’t her husband.
It was her mother-in-law.
—We were going to have a lovely trip with our daughter-in-law, but since our oh-so-busy daughter-in-law couldn’t come, what were we supposed to do? The girl who manages Seong-min’s café works hard and acts sweet, so we brought her along as a reward.
“Mother, what on earth are you—”
Her words failed her.
Unable to even make a sound, Da-in listened as her mother-in-law continued.
—If a woman can’t fulfill her role as a woman, then naturally a man’s eyes will wander to another woman! Honestly, how can you not understand that? Anyway, enough! We’ll talk when we get back. It’s time to board the plane. I’m hanging up.
Click.
The call disconnected.
“You fucking—!”
She tried to scream bastards!, but suddenly her whole body swayed violently.
Her blood pressure surged to the top of her head before dropping all at once.
Like a drained battery, Da-in collapsed onto the sofa and struggled just to breathe.
How much time passed like that?
Suddenly, her heart began pounding like crazy again.
She felt like she needed to drink some cold water and clear her head.
That was when it happened.
As Da-in barely pushed herself up from the sofa, she stepped on the remote control and slipped.
Her head slammed hard into the edge of the table.
The back of her cracked skull burned hot, and her consciousness blurred.
Ah… I think I’m dying.
If she died like this, would the cause of death be a brain hemorrhage?
No.
The real cause of death was the stress caused by her husband and his family.
Blood spilled across the carpet, soaking the red fabric an even darker shade.
As she lay there dying, Da-in stared at it blankly.
…So he really did betray me.
And like an idiot, I never noticed.
Even more than the fact that her breathing was about to stop, Da-in couldn’t let go of the reality that the husband she trusted had betrayed her.
Their relationship had grown distant, yes, but she never imagined he’d outright cheat on her.
It’s so unfair.
If I was going to die like this, I should’ve just gotten divorced.
No—I never should’ve married that bastard in the first place!
Why did having a family matter so much to me?
Why did I sacrifice myself for it?
“So… unfair…”
At that moment, a breaking news report came from the TV she had accidentally turned on when she fell.
“A departing… passenger aircraft…”
But all Da-in could hear was the ringing eeeeee filling her ears.
And then—
She lost consciousness.
