Chapter 2. The Nation's Fourth Call

After walking through the rain for a while, Seoyun returned to the mansion and began moving the rest of her belongings out of the master bedroom.

It was past one in the morning, but the guest room light was still on. Clothes she'd hastily gathered and physics books lay scattered across the bed.

After giving up the master bedroom to Cha Yuri, she'd moved everything herself without asking anyone for help.

An old leather research notebook slipped out from between the books.

Before her marriage, she'd spent countless nights filling those pages with equations and experimental data.

Seoyun leaned against the headboard and opened her laptop. Just as she found the research folder she'd closed three years ago, her phone vibrated.

[Private Number]

"Dr. Han Seoyun. This is the National Science Strategy Agency."

It was already the fourth call.

"Is this about the same offer?"

"No. Your research has been designated as a core national technology."

Her hand stilled.

On the laptop screen was a research folder dated three years ago.

"What exactly does that mean?"

"It means the government is formally requesting your return."

"And if I accept?"

"We'll come for you ourselves."

The call ended.

Footsteps approached from the hallway, and the guest room door opened without so much as a knock.

Jaeheon walked in.

The top two buttons of his shirt were undone, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. The familiar woody scent of his cologne was mixed with the sweet perfume of another woman clinging to his rumpled collar.

His eyes immediately fell on the open suitcase.

"Yuri's clothes are wet. Give me one of your nightgowns."

Seoyun looked at him.

"What did you just ask me for?"

"Something for her to wear tonight. Anything will do."

Without waiting for an answer, he reached for the black silk robe lying on top of her suitcase.

Seoyun snatched it from his hand.

"Taking my bedroom wasn't enough? Now you want to put her in my clothes too?"

"Don't be childish over one damn nightgown."

"If it's that insignificant, give her something from your closet. She's the woman you brought home."

Jaeheon's eyes narrowed.

At that moment, a long strand of hair caught on his shirt collar drifted to the floor.

It was a much lighter brown than Seoyun's.

Jaeheon stepped on it.

"She could barely stand, so I carried her. Don't start imagining things."

"I didn't ask."

"Your face says enough."

"Do you want me to be jealous?"

Seoyun shoved the robe deep into her suitcase.

Jaeheon's mouth hardened.

Then his gaze landed on the research notebook on the desk.

He picked it up.

"You're still holding on to this?"

Seoyun reached for it, but he raised it out of her reach.

"Give it back."

"You quit all this when we got married."

He flipped carelessly through the pages.

"You're still playing scientist?"

"Those are my private research notes."

Seoyun reached for the notebook again.

Jaeheon's hand closed around her wrist.

His broad chest blocked her path, his warm breath brushing her forehead.

Her gaze dropped to his open collar.

Yuri's perfume hit her again.

"Let go."

"Han Seoyun."

"Don't touch me with the same filthy hands you used to hold another woman."

She jerked her wrist free.

Jaeheon's hand froze in midair.

"Did you just call me filthy?"

"Can you honestly say you're not?"

Outside the room, Butler Kim stopped in his tracks, a bag of medicine in one hand and a glass of warm water in the other.

Jaeheon tossed the research notebook onto the desk.

It struck the edge and fell to the floor.

"If you've got time to waste on this, take Yuri to the hospital tomorrow. What else do you even have to do in this house?"

A humorless laugh escaped Seoyun.

"No."

"She's sick. Take care of her for a few days."

Seoyun bent down and picked up her notebook.

"Why should I take care of a woman who's taken my bedroom and now wants my clothes too?"

"You're my wife. Isn't this the least you can do?"

"Does being your wife include taking care of your mistress?"

"Don't call her that."

"Then what should I call her?"

Seoyun brushed the dust from the leather cover with her fingertips.

"What do you call a woman you carry home in your arms on your wedding anniversary and put in your wife's bed?"

Jaeheon stepped closer, blocking her path.

"Stop filling your head with nonsense."

"No."

"Han Seoyun."

"I'm done doing what you tell me."

Jaeheon reached for her chin.

Seoyun turned her face away, and his fingertips grazed her cheek before stopping in midair.

"Be ready to take care of Yuri tomorrow morning. I'm not asking."

Seoyun pressed the notebook against his chest and pushed him back.

"Neither am I."

Jaeheon took a step back.

"I'm telling you no."

His jaw clenched.

Seoyun returned to the desk and pulled the laptop toward her.

"Get out."

"What?"

"Get out of my room."

Jaeheon stared at her back for a long moment before turning away.

Bang!

The door slammed shut.

Butler Kim hurriedly stepped aside in the hallway.

Seoyun looked back at her laptop.

The proposal from the National Science Strategy Agency was still open.

She rested her left hand on the keyboard.

Her wedding ring caught the light with a cold gleam.

Seoyun slowly turned it once around her finger, then let go.

She opened the research folder.

Hundreds of experimental results and design schematics filled the screen.

Then she clicked the empty field at the bottom of the proposal.

The cursor blinked.

Han Seoyun.

She typed her name.

And clicked Send.

A moment later, a new message appeared.

[Dr. Han Seoyun's return has been confirmed.]