Chapter 2. The Woman the State Wants

Even after Jaeheon and Yuri disappeared upstairs, Han Seoyoon remained standing beside the dining table.

The braised short ribs had gone completely cold. A thin layer of grease had begun to harden over the surface.

Beside the cake box sat a navy tie she had prepared for Jaeheon.

She had bought it before their marriage with the last of her research stipend.

Back then, she hadn't had much money.

She had stood in front of the display for nearly thirty minutes, wondering whether the tie was too expensive.

In the end, she had bought it anyway.

She had imagined him wearing it.

She had imagined him asking where it came from.

Perhaps she had even imagined him smiling.

Three years later, the gift was still unopened.

Seoyoon picked up the box.

She stared at it for several seconds.

Then she dropped it into the trash.

"Madam."

Butler Kim Junho approached cautiously.

"I'll have your belongings moved from the master bedroom to the guest room."

"Don't touch my things."

"But Mr. Kang ordered—"

"It's a room he gave me."

Seoyoon's voice was quiet.

"I suppose he can give it to whomever he wants."

Butler Kim fell silent.

The pity in his eyes was worse than any words of comfort.

Seoyoon turned away.

At the kitchen sink, she tried to remove her wedding ring.

She had never taken it off in three years.

The ring caught painfully against her knuckle.

She covered her finger with soap and twisted it several times before it finally slipped free.

A pale indentation remained around her finger.

Three years.

That small mark seemed to be all her marriage had left behind.

As Seoyoon stared at the ring in her palm, a phone suddenly rang from the back of a drawer.

She froze.

It was her private phone.

The number she had used before her marriage, when she was still working as a researcher.

Almost no one knew it anymore.

Seoyoon opened the drawer and looked at the caller ID.

National Science Strategy Agency.

Her expression changed.

"Hello?"

"Am I speaking with Dr. Han Seoyoon?"

Seoyoon stopped breathing for a moment.

Doctor.

That single word struck somewhere deep inside her chest.

No one had called her that since she entered this house.

Here, she was Mrs. Kang.

Madam.

Jaeheon's wife.

The daughter-in-law of the Kang family.

But once, before all of that, she had been Dr. Han Seoyoon.

"Yes."

Her grip tightened around the phone.

"This is Han Seoyoon."

"The prototype high-density energy storage system you designed during graduate school has been reevaluated as a core national project."

Seoyoon's eyes widened slightly.

The official continued.

"We have also detected attempts by foreign institutions to contact individuals connected to your research. Emergency security procedures may be required."

Seoyoon instinctively looked toward the second floor.

The master-bedroom door was closed.

Then Yuri's soft laughter drifted through it.

A moment later, she heard Jaeheon's voice.

Gentle.

Patient.

So different from the cold voice he used with his wife.

"Dr. Han."

The official's voice brought her back.

"Are you willing to return to research?"

Once, Seoyoon would have asked Jaeheon first.

She would have considered his schedule.

His family's reputation.

What his father might think.

Whether returning to research would inconvenience the Kang family.

And while waiting for everyone's approval, she probably would have given up.

Just as she had given up three years ago.

This time, she didn't.

"Yes."

The answer came more easily than she expected.

There was a brief pause on the other end.

"If your return is confirmed, you will be designated as a protected person of national importance. Relocation and enhanced communication security may be necessary."

"When?"

"Immediately, if you consent."

Seoyoon slowly lowered her eyes to the wedding ring in her palm.

The metal looked strangely unfamiliar now.

"I consent."

"Would you like time to discuss this with your family?"

At that moment, the master-bedroom door opened.

Footsteps sounded on the stairs.

Jaeheon appeared.

"Han Seoyoon."

She looked at him without lowering the phone.

"Ask the butler where Yuri's medication is."

Seoyoon stared at him.

On their wedding anniversary, the first thing her husband had asked of her all night was still about another woman.

Not whether she was hurt.

Not why she was still awake.

Not even whether she had eaten.

Yuri's medication.

That was what mattered.

Seoyoon looked away.

"Tell her to find it herself."

Jaeheon's expression hardened.

"What?"

"I'm on the phone."

For the first time in their marriage, she cut him off.

Jaeheon started down the stairs.

Then Yuri's voice came from above.

"Jaeheon."

He stopped.

And turned around.

Of course he did.

Something inside Seoyoon became strangely quiet.

The official spoke again.

"Dr. Han, do you have any family members you wish to register for protection?"

Seoyoon looked at Jaeheon's back.

Then she placed her wedding ring on the dining table.

It struck the marble with a small, clear sound.

"No."

"Our records show that you have a spouse."

"There is no family I need protected."

This time, she didn't hesitate.

"We'll send a security vehicle to the rear gate at six tomorrow morning. Do not disclose your relocation to anyone outside the operation."

"Understood."

The call ended.

For several seconds, Seoyoon remained motionless.

Then she walked to the study she had kept closed for years.

When she opened the door, the faint smell of old paper and dust greeted her.

She switched on the light.

Research books lined the shelves.

Old notebooks were stacked exactly where she had left them.

She crouched in front of the lowest shelf and pulled out her research notebooks and a small security case.

Her name was still visible beneath a thin layer of dust.

Han Seoyoon.

Her own name.

Not Mrs. Kang.

Not someone's wife.

Han Seoyoon.

Inside the study, she found an invitation from an overseas research institute that she had received before getting married.

She unfolded it carefully.

Three years ago, she had believed she was choosing love.

Now she wondered whether she had simply called everything she sacrificed love because that was easier than admitting how much of herself she had abandoned.

Rain tapped softly against the window.

For once, the thought of leaving didn't frighten her.

The thought of staying did.

Seoyoon found her old research ID inside a drawer.

She brushed her thumb over the photograph.

The woman in it was smiling brightly.

Confidently.

She barely recognized her.

But she wanted to.

She wanted that woman back.

Dr. Han Seoyoon—the woman who had once chosen her own future without asking anyone's permission.

She closed the security case and held it firmly in both hands.

Upstairs, she could still hear faint voices from the master bedroom.

But for the first time, she didn't care what Jaeheon and Yuri were talking about.

At six tomorrow morning, she would leave.

And this time, Kang Jaeheon wouldn't be the one deciding her future.