AOA 26

They say the past becomes a memory. Since I was the only one who remembered the various humiliations I’d gone through before the regression, I could laugh them off.

But this was something happening in real time. And unfortunately, the other person involved was Baek Mugyeong.

He seemed to believe my excuse, that it happened out of ignorance. Still, he had probably added a couple of spoonfuls of “how pathetic” to his impression of me.

Whether it was financial power, authority, experience, or just physical strength, I never once thought I could win against Baek Mugyeong.

Even so, I had set a goal for myself: not to do anything stupid in front of him like I had before the regression. I promised myself not to smile like an idiot even after being humiliated.

But I had already shown him how helpless I was when Jeong Guhyeon beat me up, and now I had proven how careless I was, walking around with an alpha’s pheromones on me without even realizing it.

It was genuinely embarrassing and shameful. That shame quickly turned into anger, at Lee Jeongwook.

Ignorance may be a sin, but this was a different matter. Lee Jeongwook knew that my spouse was an alpha. No matter how generously I tried to interpret it, it felt malicious.

“Haa…”

I took a deep breath. Even though I wasn’t in my right mind for more than half of the two years I was married before the regression, I had still learned a lot.

Calling Lee Jeongwook right now and confronting him? That was something an amateur would do. The proper, textbook approach was to have someone else handle it quietly. My biological father, who cared even more than I did about my reputation, would take care of everything once he found out.

Thinking that far, I lost all energy and flopped onto the bed. Life really wasn’t easy.

The next day, I moved quickly. I contacted my biological father and made an appointment, saying I had something urgent to discuss. He always said that important matters shouldn’t be discussed over the phone, so I made the effort to meet him in person.

When I brought up Lee Jeongwook, my father exploded just as expected. He said he would handle it, but he still blamed me, saying I must’ve left an opening for such a thing to happen.

I let his words go in one ear and out the other. Then I returned to the hotel, downed an iced americano in one go, and cooled my temper.

The breaker issue was resolved in the afternoon. The problem wasn’t with the electronics but with the breaker itself, which had to be replaced, according to the groundskeeper.

I returned home separately from Baek Mugyeong.

After that, I spent a peaceful Sunday afternoon in the warmth of our house. Of course, I didn’t forget to keep researching about trait carriers in the meantime.

And then came Monday, a day most working people hated.

When I arrived at the gallery, I headed straight to the director’s office to submit the event proposal I’d been directly tasked with by my stepmother a week ago.

“The cover is tacky.”

That was the first thing she said when she took the proposal. As she turned the pages with a graceful smile, her expression grew more and more stiff. Probably because there wasn’t much to nitpick.

“This is too plain, even if it’s just a practice draft. You know what I mean, right?”

“Yes.”

“All right. You can go.”

“I’ll take my leave.”

I bowed and left the director’s office. After closing the door, I let out a quiet breath without realizing it.

The proposal I’d written before the regression had inconsistent font sizes and spacing, random table formats, plenty of typos, and no page numbers. It had been a disaster, my first time writing something like that.

My stepmother had only sneered back then and told me to attend the meeting. She had distributed copies of my proposal to the staff and picked it apart line by line with ridicule. I’d still been mentally sound at the time and had been so humiliated I couldn’t lift my head.

But this time was different. This time, I outsourced the whole thing to a professional. There were companies online that specialized in drafting documents like this. I had asked for something neat and low-key, and they delivered.

I had gained some skills in writing reports during college before the regression, but I didn’t want to waste time on things like this, so I paid for a solution.

Apparently, the result was decent enough. My stepmother didn’t share it with others or make a spectacle out of it.

Feeling good, I headed back to my seat. Just then, my phone vibrated. The caller ID showed: Lee Jeongwook.

Most of our communication had been through messaging apps. I couldn’t recall him ever calling me directly, which made me curious. I tapped the call button.

“Hello?”

—“Minchae?”

“Yes, it’s me, sir. What’s the matter?”

—“I heard you’re quitting lessons. Is something wrong? There’s still a lot of time left in our contract.”

Technically, my biological father had hired Lee Jeongwook, not me. Judging from the timing, my father must’ve fired him first thing Monday morning.

“Yes. That’s how it turned out.”

—“You do realize how rude this is? Do you understand that this messes up my whole schedule?”

I debated what to do. Part of me wanted to say, Put your hand on your heart and think about what you did. But I didn’t want to drag it out.

“For anything related to the class, please speak with my father. I don’t know anything.”

—“Minchae!”

“I’m at work, so I’ll have to end this call now.”

—“Wait—”

I ended the call without waiting to hear more. There’s a saying: you don’t avoid poop because it’s scary, but because it’s filthy.

I quickly blocked his number and messaging app and smirked.

It was a Monday, but it had started off well.

***

Day after day passed without incident. Soon, it was Christmas season.

The Chairman of Daesong Group, a devout Buddhist, didn’t celebrate Christmas. So there were no family gatherings. But the Daesong Foundation hosted a grand year-end charity concert every year under Baek Jinseok’s honorary title, “Cheongam.”

Naturally, all the members of the Baek family showed up. Attendance varied depending on individual circumstances, but for the most part, people made an appearance.

Since Baek Mugyeong would attend, I had to go too.

“Hm.”

I frowned a little as I stood in front of the mirror. It was a formal event with a large crowd, so I had dressed appropriately. But something still felt off.

A dark-colored suit, a white dress shirt, a statement tie, cufflinks, belt, and neatly styled hair. I even wore the watch I received as a wedding gift.

Before meeting my biological father, I had never dressed like this. He believed strongly in appearances and constantly nagged me that the Daesong Group’s daughter-in-law couldn’t go around looking sloppy. That’s when I started caring about my clothes.

At first, I felt awkward and squirmed in discomfort. I couldn’t even hide my rebellious attitude. Early in the marriage, I only wore funereal black suits.

But there was no reason to do that now. This charity concert was where Baek Mugyeong’s extended family would gather. It was our first time greeting them since the wedding, but given the venue, it would mostly be about showing face.

If I ever wanted to divorce Baek Mugyeong, the last thing I needed was to stand out. So I chose a safe, dark gray suit.

Still, it felt like it didn’t suit me. Like wrapping a round potato in fancy silk.

I hadn’t thought much about it when I went at the matchmaking date or even at the wedding. But now that I was choosing and wearing my own clothes, the feeling was different.

“Well, nothing I can do.”

I sighed and put on a black coat. After checking myself one last time in the mirror, I went downstairs.

Baek Mugyeong, who was supposed to head to the art center with me, was already waiting in the living room. Watching him standing there, glancing at his phone, I was secretly impressed.

A well-built man looked like a model no matter what he wore. Especially in that deep navy suit with a slight sheen, he didn’t even seem like a regular person.

Standing next to him, I felt like a dirt-covered potato or squid. Or maybe everyone’s attention would just go straight to Baek Mugyeong.

Either way, it didn’t matter. It was a fact that he was handsome, so I had nothing to worry about if he made some snide comment at me.

He must’ve heard me coming down the stairs, because he looked over. For a second, his brow furrowed, then smoothed out. A sign that something had displeased him.

But even as I reached the bottom of the stairs, Baek Mugyeong said nothing. I quickly checked my outfit just in case. Nothing seemed obviously wrong.

“Is there something on my clothes?”

I asked him directly without hesitation. I didn’t want to be nitpicked in front of the whole Baek family.

“No.”

“So there’s no problem?”

“No.”

The question of why he had looked at me like that stayed on the tip of my tongue but never left my mouth. Things were still awkward with Baek Mugyeong, so I needed to avoid sounding confrontational.

“Let’s go.”

I stepped aside to let him lead the way. Baek Mugyeong gave me a brief glance, then began walking.

My job today was simple: follow Baek Mugyeong around, or be dragged around by my biological father to greet people.

I wasn’t nervous, I’d done it once before. But I steeled myself, knowing just how exhausting it was to be swarmed by people.

For the next couple of hours, I was determined to play the part of Baek Mugyeong’s quiet, mild-mannered spouse to perfection.