The Foolish Ex-Wife
While Suhyun slept, Jia had been browsing the internet, wondering what he had been up to. She found videos and news articles featuring him, leaving her feeling a mix of relief and shock. She was relieved that he hadn't been out meeting other women, but shocked that he had been doing such monumental work, only to return home without a word and simply fall into a deep sleep.
In the past, he would have been eager to share his day. "Noona, look at this! I made this today—isn't it amazing?" or "I spent all day on this at the office. If you plug these data values into Excel, it calculates everything that used to be so complicated." He would have shown her his designs, explaining how he’d adapted an internal combustion engine for his new fuel, or how he’d gone out to buy mechanical engineering textbooks to study for a project they could build together. But now, as she reflected on those moments, she was consumed by regret.
'It’s because I never reacted properly... now, even when he does something this incredible, he doesn't say a single word to me...'
Divorce and everything else aside, whether it was out of exhaustion or a simple lack of desire to share, he hadn't told her a thing about what happened today. In the past, he might have said, "Wow... we had to connect ropes and pull that heavy thing with tools. If we’d messed up, the grounded ship could have crushed us, and we almost fell into the sea. I actually did it. Phew..." But after watching the news, she replayed his words from this morning in her mind.
"I'm tired..."
"You don't have to do anything."
"I worked overtime. I'm exhausted."
Not only had he gone out and saved an oil tanker, but he had also managed to contain and recover nearly half of the oil spilled into the sea in a single day. Yet, he dismissed it all as just "working overtime" before collapsing into sleep. Sitting at the dining table, she wiped away tears, remembering how she used to respond when he talked like that.
"I don't know anything about that. Are you bringing that up just to sound smart?"
"What do you want me to do about it? Are you going to fail again? Is this another excuse for a mistake?"
"Fine. I get it, so let's just sleep. I'm sleepy. I'm tired."
She berated herself, convinced that she must be a wicked woman—the kind who deserved to be cursed by her friends and everyone else—and she spiraled deeper into self-reflection.
Just then, Suhyun slowly stirred from his sleep. He sat up, washed his face, brushed his teeth, and walked out.
"Oh, you're awake?"
"...Yeah, hmm..."
"Would you... like to eat?"
He nodded, feeling hungry, and she slowly headed into the kitchen, desperately hiding her joy. She wanted to rush, to feed him as much as possible like she used to, but she held back. She feared that every little action might be misunderstood. Rushing might make it seem like she found it a chore, and too much food might feel like a burden to him.
All day—no, since yesterday—she had kept her friends' words in her mind. 'That’s all just your own way of thinking.' When trying to show kindness, it was right to think from the other person's perspective. The problem was that she hadn't known that until now. Because of that, she had acted in ways that burdened him and made him uncomfortable. She had to change that now.
Her movements weren't fast, but they were skillful. Instead of just piling up meat because he liked it, she thought, '...He must be exhausted, so I should avoid food that puts a strain on his stomach. Something easy to digest...' Suddenly, she remembered the early days of their marriage when he had made her breakfast.
'What was on the menu?' She pondered for a moment, and cream soup came to mind. Tracing that memory, she recalled a sandwich made with minced beef and mozzarella cheese, grilled in the oven after cutting off the crusts of the bread. On another plate, there was crispy bacon and a beautifully cooked sunny-side-up egg.
'...A little ketchup, and a bit more mustard than that.'
After setting it up beautifully, she called him over. He walked over slowly and looked it over. The menu was certainly smaller than before, but every ingredient was something he liked. He was relieved it wasn't a royal feast like in the old palaces. As he reached for the cutlery, he saw her standing there. Instead of telling her to get lost, he said, "...I'll eat well. You made something tasty."
"..."
With a smile, she bowed her head slightly and looked up, sitting quietly as if she had something to say. As he was halfway through his meal, she finally spoke up.
"...By any chance, would you like a drink?"
"...?"
He looked at her with a 'Why the sudden drink?' expression. She continued, "Ah... well, you had such a hard day... I thought a glass might help you feel a bit more relaxed..."
This woman isn't usually like this.
"So, I thought a simple beer might be okay..."
It wasn't her intention to get him drunk and force herself on him again. Really. She had just been watching YouTube for a long time after seeing other happy couples, and she saw wives who would offer their husbands a drink and warm words of comfort after they came home from work. She just wanted to try that.
"You said you wanted to drink before, but you hated it."
"That... I think I was wrong about that, too."
"..."
"Father told me to keep a close eye on you so you wouldn't drink..."
He knew about that, but he hadn't realized she had told her that. Is that why she smashed the wine bottles? "You didn't have to break the bottles, though. Ah, you broke the glasses, too."
"...I'm sorry."
Having nothing to say, she just hung her head and couldn't add another word. He glanced at her while eating. Truth be told, he was a bit thirsty and had been thinking about a drink. Maybe it was because he was tired. So, he said, "...Give me a beer."
"...?"
She looked at him, wondering if she’d heard him right. "You don't want to give it to me?"
"Ah, no, no. No... I'll get it for you quickly. Just a moment."
She quickly washed a beer glass and carefully poured one of his favorite beers from the fridge. The foam was just right, and he nodded in satisfaction before taking a sip. Jia took a step closer, saying she had something to tell him.
"What is it?"
"Ah..."
She asked if she could sit for a moment, and he gave her permission. She sat on the chair at the table right next to him, took a deep breath, and hesitated before speaking.
"...You know, the money you gave me a while ago."
".....Ah, hmm. The money you paid back?"
"Yes. That's right."
Since what she needed to say had changed before and after meeting her friends, she started with the story she had intended to tell.
"...Actually, I wanted to earn a lot of money, just like you."
"Yeah."
"So... since you were making so much money in the stock market, I thought if I were just quick with my hands, I could do it too..."
He chuckled while eating at her words. "It's incredibly difficult. There's so much to think about."
"That's right... so... that money you gave me, or rather, the money I paid back..."
"You blew it all?"
She had been hesitating, but at his words, her eyes went wide. She straightened her posture and apologized. "I'm sorry. I... I was such a fool. I thought it would be easy, and I was so naive..."
"..."
"So I made a mistake."
He looked at her for a moment with a pitiful expression, then asked for another glass of beer. She went to the fridge, brought it back, and poured it for him. It was pathetic enough that a woman who had first asked for a divorce, claimed she could live well on her own, and said she was sick of him, was now crawling back home with lame excuses—and on top of that, admitting she’d lost all the money.
She endured his gaze, offering only a humorless apology. "But how did you buy those home appliances?"
"I emptied out the rest of the money to buy them..."
"Did you think I'd like it if you bought those?"
"...It's not that I didn't have that feeling, but you always wanted them, and I had stopped you..."
"You didn't stop me, you cursed at me."
"..."
They were suddenly talking a lot. The beer was doing its work. From his perspective, he couldn't help but enjoy watching her cater to his whims and spill her guts. Yet, perhaps out of that same "meddlesome" nature, he asked, "How much did you lose?"
"Everything..."
"...?"
He dropped his chopsticks. She quickly jumped up, wiped away her tears, and picked them up. She put them in the sink, grabbed a new pair, and placed them in his hand.
"..."
"No, does that make sense? There's a limit to everything, even if it's 10%..."
"...There are just things I can't even sell, things I have to leave alone. Things that are frozen..."
"No, what kind of crazy bitch is this, seriously..."
He told her to show him her phone immediately. She brought it over and handed it to him obediently. Now, she couldn't even sit down; she stood like a student being punished, hands clasped together, waiting for his response.
As soon as he saw the purchase amount written on the screen—67,711,853,510 won—he clutched his head. She had actually dumped it all in. "Are you seriously insane, Seo Jia?"