Chapter 3. Someone Else's Room

Seoyun had spent the entire night organizing her research materials.

Dawn was beginning to lighten the tall windows of the mansion, but the house remained unnaturally quiet. The occasional clink of dishes from downstairs and the muted footsteps of the staff were the only sounds breaking the silence.

As she packed her leather research notebook and laptop, she reached into the back of the desk drawer.

The black security USB was gone.

It was the only backup containing the core equations and original research data she'd devoted her youth to completing before her marriage.

Seoyun immediately stepped into the hallway.

Neither the housekeeper carrying laundry nor Butler Kim had seen it.

Her gaze stopped at the end of the hall.

The master bedroom.

The room that had still been hers yesterday.

Pale morning light stretched across the polished floor. Everything outside that door looked exactly as it always had.

Only the room itself no longer did.

The moment Seoyun opened the door, a heavy cloud of perfume hit her.

In just one night, the familiar bedroom had been transformed.

Cha Yuri's cosmetics and perfume crowded the vanity where Seoyun's things had once stood. An open suitcase sat beside the dressing room, while a thin silk nightgown lay carelessly across the bed.

The curtains were half drawn, leaving the room washed in dim gray morning light.

Yuri stood in front of the full-length mirror, brushing her hair.

She was wearing nothing but Jaeheon's white shirt.

The oversized shirt left her bare legs exposed, its hem sliding dangerously high over her thighs whenever she moved.

Their eyes met in the mirror.

Yuri's red lips curved slightly.

"Unnie, what are you doing in someone else's room this early?"

Someone else's room.

Seoyun's gaze turned cold.

"Have you seen my USB?"

"Who knows? I'm not interested in things like that."

Seoyun's eyes dropped to the shirt Yuri was wearing.

"That's Jaeheon's shirt."

Yuri slowly ran her fingers along the collar.

The loose fabric slipped open, revealing her neck and collarbone—and the red marks scattered across her pale skin.

She crossed her legs.

"Does it look good on me?"

"Take it off."

"Why?"

"Because it belongs to my husband."

Heavy footsteps sounded in the hallway.

Jaeheon.

The moment Yuri saw him, she clutched the front of the shirt.

"Oppa... Unnie says I have to take this off right now."

As Yuri reached for the buttons, Jaeheon strode over and caught her wrist.

Then he pulled the loose collar back into place, covering her exposed skin.

"Keep it on."

He turned to Seoyun.

"It's my house. Who I let wear what is none of your business."

Seoyun didn't answer.

Her gaze swept across the room instead.

The vanity. The nightstand. Beneath the sofa.

"I didn't come here because of the shirt. I'm looking for a USB containing my core research data."

"So you're accusing Yuri?"

Yuri pressed a hand to her chest.

"Unnie, are you saying I stole it and threw it away? That's terrifying..."

"I never said you threw it away."

Yuri's fingers went still.

Just then, Butler Kim bent down beside the bed.

"Madam, one moment."

He reached deep underneath it.

A moment later, his hand emerged holding a black USB.

"Here it is."

Seoyun took it from him.

It had been pushed deep beneath the bed, almost against the wall.

Yuri let out a breath of relief, pressing a hand to her chest.

"Thank goodness. I was so scared you were going to accuse me of being a thief for no reason."

Jaeheon's voice turned cold.

"You found it. Apologize."

Seoyun looked at him.

"Apologize?"

"You suspected Yuri."

"I never said I suspected her."

"Han Seoyun."

His eyes hardened.

"Apologize, then get out of someone else's room."

For a moment, Seoyun said nothing.

Her gaze moved slowly around the bedroom.

The bed she'd shared with him for three years.

The sofa where she'd read late into the night.

The dressing room that, until yesterday, had been filled with her clothes.

Now the morning light fell across Yuri's open suitcase, her cosmetics scattered across the vanity, and Jaeheon's white shirt wrapped around her body.

In a single night, her husband had turned it all into someone else's room.

"You're right."

Seoyun tightened her grip around the USB.

"I guess it is someone else's room now."

She turned to leave.

Something slick brushed against her palm.

Seoyun stopped.

A faint pink stain marked one corner of the black USB.

Her eyes shifted toward the vanity.

The lipstick Yuri had been applying moments ago was still sitting in front of the mirror, its cap left off.

The exact same shade.

Yuri moved closer to Jaeheon, slipping her fingers inside the long sleeve of his shirt.

Seoyun slowly raised the USB.

"Looks like I'm not the one who owes an apology."

Yuri's lips stiffened.

"You are, Cha Yuri."

Seoyun turned the stained corner toward them.

"Because your lipstick is on my USB."