Prologue: The Owner's Place
The lighting in the wedding hall lobby was brutally bright. Bright enough to plausibly hide the shadow darkening my face.
My parents' acquaintances, relatives I could barely remember seeing before, and the old army buddies I still texted from time to time—they were all there. I repeated the endless loop of congratulations and handshakes. My jaw had gone rigid from forcing a smile all day long. My fists kept clenching with compulsive force. Pretending to be fine was far harder than I had expected.
A few of the sharper-eyed friends seemed to sense that something was off with me.
“What’s wrong with you? Nervous?”
“Don’t tense up. It’s no big deal.”
“Just go in, take a few pictures, pull yourself together, and you’ll already be on your honeymoon.”
Their shoulder-patting words were kind, yet none of them brought comfort. Instead the word honeymoon buzzed grotesquely in my ears.
“What’s with him? The guy who never gets nervous about anything.”
“Maybe it’s because this is his first wedding?”
“With a face like that, I doubt he could do it twice.”
When I failed to laugh, the atmosphere froze over. Friends who had known me since childhood swallowed their discomfort with awkward coughs. They gave my shoulder a few quick pats and hurried into the ceremony hall.
Left alone in the lobby, a chill crept down my back like cold fingers.
“Hello. It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Choi Gyeong-rok. I work with the bride.”
The moment that voice touched my eardrums, my heart dropped straight to the floor. My breath seized. Ice spread through my veins as though every drop of blood had fled from my fingertips.
Choi Gyeong-rok.
He was my wife’s owner—and already the owner of the man called me.
My body still remembered that low, relaxed voice. A wretched instinct surged up my spine, screaming at me to bow my head in submission.
Once this lavish wedding ended, he would slip into my place as naturally as breathing.
The honeymoon tickets I had reserved after staying up all night. The bed in the luxury hotel I had chosen with such care. Every hour I had dreamed of and planned with Min-ah.
I had offered all of it to him with my own hands.
Because that was the perfect duty owed to one’s owner.
Today I stood as the most celebrated groom in the world.
And the most miserably tamed, defeated man alive.