Prologue: Two Years Married, Seoyeon's Serene World
Two years into her marriage, Seoyeon's world was quiet and serene.
The seven years she'd reigned at the pinnacle of K-pop as Ciel felt like a distant dream from someone else's life. Now, she awoke not to the blinding lights of broadcast studios, but to the morning sun pouring through the apartment window. She was no longer greeted by the cheers of tens of thousands, but smiled at her husband Cheolsu's sleepy mutterings—a perfectly ordinary wife.
Cheolsu was a good husband. Though he seemed utterly unremarkable to the world, just another company man, to Seoyeon he was kinder and more reliable than anyone. His everyday normalcy filled the void left by her glamorous past, offering her a new kind of happiness before she could even miss the spotlight.
Whispers from others—"Why him, of all people, for a woman with such pale skin, a face sculpted by gods, and curves even more voluptuous and seductive than in her idol days?"—had become background noise by now.
That peace began to crack subtly when Cheolsu transferred to the data security team.
"Our department head? No joke, man. Total old-school dinosaur."
Cheolsu grumbled as he yanked off his tie at the dinner table like it was the source of all his woes. The newly appointed Manager Park was the classic boomer boss: pressuring for results, making female staff pour drinks at after-work gatherings—straight out of another era.
"Still, he was shocked when he found out my wife's Ciel. Keeps telling me, 'Kim, you married well. Real patriot, you are—a patriot.'"
Cheolsu chuckled it off, but something about this "Manager Park" gave Seoyeon a bad feeling.
Her premonition proved spot-on. A few days later, Cheolsu came home looking troubled.
"Seoyeon... you busy this weekend?"
"What's up? Something wrong?"
"Manager Park... he's having a company outing this weekend. Insists you have to come..."
Cheolsu's voice trailed off weakly. It was clear the manager had sniffed out his biggest weakness: his wife. Cheolsu hated dragging Seoyeon—who avoided public appearances since retiring—into this just to shore up his standing at work. It was worse than death to him.
"No way. I'm not going."
Seoyeon was firm. But Cheolsu's next words crushed her resolve.
"This project... I'm team lead, but he said if I can't even convince you on this, I'm not cut out for it... Sorry, really, I'm sorry..."
Seeing her husband's slumped shoulders, she couldn't bring herself to refuse. In the end, with a heavy heart, Seoyeon agreed to attend the outing—not as the dazzling idol Ciel, but as Deputy Manager Kim Cheolsu's wife, Seoyeon.