Reason for Marriage

Chapter 23

Marking her territory

It was a long flight from Berlin to Incheon that took at least 12 hours, including one stopover.

Rumors were circulating that a top star deliberately sat next to a man on a plane, who was actually a third-generation chaebol, pretending it to be a coincidence. Twelve hours was enough time to fall in love.

Numerous acts of affection that happened in the sky leaked through the mouths of stewardesses after the plane landed. So, even on a plane, Sang-yeon was conscious of people’s eyes and ears and was always nervous not to start rumors.

However, when Sang-yeon appeared in the first class, the stewardesses became agitated.

Even for those who had served numerous celebrities, Sang-yeon was special. It was because he was such a veiled figure and because of the aura given by his status as a classical conductor.

And decisively, it was natural for single women to be excited because he was more handsome than most actors. It was even common for the stewardesses who checked the VIP passenger list in advance to deliver fan letters or notes with their contact information on them.

Usually, President Seo would have cut such a thing properly in the middle, but it was impossible today. This was because Ji-hee delayed her return to Korea, saying she had more work to do in Berlin, and Sang-yeon wanted to return to Korea and to Minju a day earlier than scheduled.

Although he was not confident enough to sleep in an open space, Sang-yeon needed a break after his heavy drinking of the previous day. As soon as he sat down, he closed his eyes with an eye patch on even before the plane took off.

Soon after, however, Sang-yeon, who even wore earplugs, raised his body from his seat. It was because of a smell. A very strong smell… It was none other than the smell of ramen.

Sang-yeon, who was sick from a hangover, immediately salivated when he smelled the spicy ramen. He pressed the call button to order one bowl. When he drank the hot and spicy soup, his stomach seemed to calm down.

“I guess you drank a lot the night before, Conductor Park Sang-yeon-nim?”

The person who spoke was the one who had lured Sang-yeon with the smell of ramen. Sang-yeon stopped eating and turned his gaze to the side where the voice came from.

“Nice to meet you. I’m James Jung, a violinist who will be collaborating with the conductor this time.”

What do you mean collaboration? How can there be a performer that I don’t know? Sang-yeon lost his appetite for a moment, but only responded to the opponent’s words by continuing to eat.

“Looking at your expression, you must have not heard anything. What should I do? I’m sure all the articles must have been published in Korea by now.”

The method of notifying him of a new collaborator in a state where his cell phone was not available, it was really a play like Chairman Seo.

Whose greeting request would it be it this time? Just thinking about it made him shudder.

“A person like you without a single hickey is a violinist?”

Sang-yeon glanced sideways and said, looking at James’ neck and collarbone.

“What do you mean ‘hickey’? There are things you can’t say on a first meeting.”

“I guess you think of hickey as a kiss mark, but I’m not interested in who you rolled around with last night. I’m just talking about the traces of practice that viola or violinists should have, musical instrument scars.”

James’ face turned red with shame.

“Who do you think I am and how dare you?”

“So far, everything in the world has been possible as he wants, but this time it won’t work. I’ll decide who my collaborator is.”

“Hey, you bastard. Are you that good?”

In the end, James jumped up from his seat.

“In addition, it’s the worst to have a bad head.”

“What?”

James, whose anger could be seen in his eyes, rushed toward Sang-yeon and grabbed him by the collar. Sang-yeon felt the situation to be so absurd that he laughed without realizing it.

James could not stand it and punched, but Sang-yeon quickly avoided. At that moment, James lost his balance like a fool and fell, hitting his chin on the floor.

“What?… I’m bleeding!”

James was terrified and even cried when his torn jaw bled. It was a spectacle.

Stewardesses rushed with first aid boxes and passengers in the first class buzzed.

Suddenly, Sang-yeon turned around and strode diagonally.

“Can I look at your phone for a second?”

“Ah… No, why?”

An embarrassed female passenger said, hiding her cell phone behind her back.

“Because you are filming me without my permission.”

“I don’t know why you’re saying that?”

The woman denied, but Sang-yeon was convinced of the opposite. Obviously, he heard the sound of pressing the video recording button on his phone from her side.

“Shall we make a bet?”

Sang-yeon grabbed the woman’s wrist strongly and took her cell phone away. As expected, it was Sang-yeon’s win. The woman had recorded the fight between Sang-yeon and James on her cell phone.

“You should be thankful for not being sued for infringement of the right of publicity.”

After deleting all of her videos and photos from the cell phone, Sang-yeon returned it to the woman.

“If others don’t want to be sued by me, please delete them on your own.”

His voice was not very loud, but the first class became silent at Sang-yeon’s words.

It was James who actually caused the disturbance, but in people’s memory, Sang-yeon left a strange impression of fear.

* * *

The plane departing from Berlin in the morning arrived at Incheon International Airport early the next morning.

Minju did not come to pick up Sang-yeon at the airport.

No, she could not go out. Because that was what he wanted.

Instead, she prepared breakfast to eat together at home. She thought about the menu and decided to cook kimchi stew. This was because it was a menu that Minju was confident in, and despite having never been abroad, she thought it would be the menu she wanted to eat the most when returning home.

She could have gotten help from the helper, but she did not bother calling the woman on vacation so that Sang-yeon could rest well today. Sang-yeon returned home just in time as if waiting for the stew to finish boiling.

“Are you here?”

Minju ran out with her apron on. Sang-yeon’s face was dark.

“What’s wrong with your face?”

“I guess it’s just because I’m tired. How have you been?”

Sang-yeon lightly kissed Minju’s forehead.

They spent only four nights apart, but it felt strange.

It was not because of the time spent apart, but because the stories she had heard through Dr. Kim that Sang-yeon looked different.

“Hmm, it smells good.”

“I cooked some kimchi stew. Hurry and wash up, and then let’s eat.”

“Oh, but what should I do about this? I’m a little more sleepy than hungry right now.”

‘I didn’t think about jet lag. Did you have to show that you’ve never been abroad? Choi Minju… Sigh.’

“Ah, right. Then, go rest. You can eat after sleeping.”

“Can I do that?”

Sang-yeon asked very politely as if he was sorry for the meal she had prepared.

“How can you ask that? Hurry up and rest.”

With a tired face, Sang-yeon went up to the second floor, leaving his bag in the living room. Minju took care of his luggage just like when he left for the business trip. She took out the clothes one by one from the bag that was organized in a completely different way than when she had prepared it.

However, even though she emptied the bag, for some reason, she could not see the cuff links she had given to Sang-yeon.

Did he lose it? Did he leave it in the hotel room? Did he not pack the cuff links that I gave him while organizing his bag?

Feeling down with disappointment, Minju headed to the laundry room.

Minju’s hand, which mechanically separated white and colored clothes, paused for a moment.

There was a red lipstick mark on a white shirt. The lipstick marks were exactly on the sleeve of the shirt, as if they had loosened the cuffs with their lips.

Was it like marking her territory? Like saying ‘don’t touch this guy because he’s mine’?!

It was a warning message from the woman in the hotel room she had talked to last night.

It was clear that the cuff links were not forgotten by Sang-yeon but that she intentionally took them off.

Minju came out to the kitchen with the shirt stained with lipstick. She put kitchen detergent on the clearly remaining lip-shaped mark, rubbing it with a dishcloth.

However, the lipstick marks were not removed as easily as expected, and Minju’s hand became more and more powerful. In proportion to the growing strength, that much anger accumulated within her.

She rubbed the shirt as hard as she could this time. But it was a failure. The red lipstick gradually expanded and only colored the white shirt pink.

Nevertheless, Minju did not give up. How long did she hold on to this shirt? In the end, Minju’s hand stopped only after the shirt was torn.

She had rubbed it so hard than she had left nail marks everywhere. It was a mess.

Minju wanted to burst into tears, but if she cried here, she seemed to really lose to her, so she clenched her teeth and held back her tears.

In order to soothe the heart that could not calm down, she took the psychiatric medicine that Dr. Kim had given her and drank it with some water. Then, she rolled up the torn shirt of Sang-yeon, which was lying randomly in the sink, and threw it into the trash can.

Sang-yeon woke up after sleeping for more than 10 hours and emptied a bowl of rice and kimchi stew boiled by Minju with a clear complexion.

It was a better hundred times than not eating well, but Minju still hated seeing him eat too well after what she learned.

“I think I’m going to go now. Thank you for the food. I’ll do the dishes.”

“You don’t have to do that. Just leave it.”

Minju stood up from her seat, organizing the dishes without making eye contact with Sang-yeon.

“But why do you look like you’re angry right now?”

Sang-yeon held Minju’s wrist and said.

“What’s there to be angry about?”

Sang-yeon pulled Minju and put her on his lap.

“Look me in the eyes.”

Sang-yeon rushed to look into Minju’s eyes.

Minju had fallen into the illusion of love because of that very gaze that Sang-yeon had showed at their first meeting, but not now. How many women had he made fun of with those eyes? Just thinking about it made her teeth tremble and made her nauseous.

Minju, who hid her desire to chew Sang-yeon’s eyes right away, even smiled when she looked at Sang-yeon with the spirit of never being pushed back.

“Okay, it’s done now, right?”

Then she immediately got up from Sang-yeon’s lap and headed to the sink with the bowl.

Sang-yeon’s expression was completely hardened by Minju’s coldness.

“Don’t lie to me. Because it’s so obvious.”

Sang-yeon’s cold voice from behind grabbed Minju’s heart for a while.