Episode 11. Don’t use your head to run away2021.08.07.
Sena stood up, turned off the lamp next to her desk, and left the room. The time I glanced at my watch was 9 o’clock at night.
Somewhere in my head, my mind was still lingering on the content of my consultation with actress Jeong Si-yeon. It was that shocking.
It was a story that a national actor was actually gay and got married in disguise to hide that fact.
The rumor that always followed the national actor, who never had any scandals, was the ‘gay theory’. There is nothing more fatal than a scandal in which a male star is revealed to be a sexual minority.
A choice between an actress who had a hard time making her name known after living in obscurity for a long time, and a male actor who wanted to hide his sexual identity.
My husband had an actor of the same age who he had been dating before he got married. Jeong Si-yeon also worked together before. The two had been friends since high school, and after suppressing their love for a long time and calling it friendship, the fire suddenly ignited.
However, the love that she wanted to protect even through a fake marriage was cruelly broken by the betrayal of her friend and lover, and her husband wandered for a while.
“Actually, it was a problem I didn’t have to worry about. Because we were colleagues and partners for each other’s image. “They signed a non-disclosure agreement and became a ‘show window couple’ who were faithful to the outer packaging of ‘marriage’ without the ‘love’.”
It’s not like there aren’t celebrity couples who confess that they were a show window couple. But I never thought the relationship started with a contract from the beginning.
“It’s not like I haven’t met other people. I had no intention of touching my husband’s private life… if only we hadn’t been drinking together that day. “Wouldn’t this have happened?”
The root of the problem was drinking alcohol with my husband, who was mentally exhausted.
We had our first night together, which we didn’t even have on our honeymoon, five years after we got married. We lived in the same house and had never laid in the same bed, but after drinking together and consoling my husband in his sorrow, when I opened my eyes, we had already mixed.
Sena thought of Jeong Si-yeon standing in front of the elevator and confessing calmly.
The longer she spoke, the more her face contorted in pain, showing regret and hurt feelings.
“It was nothing at first. A one-night stand that can happen between a man and a woman. It was just something that happened while I was drunk. Because I know my husband’s sexual identity better than anyone else. “It’s not that he’s a bad person, he’s just a person who can’t love women.”
However, after that day, she began to feel strange every time she saw her husband.
“At first, I remembered the way he held me, and I thought that maybe the emotion in his eyes when he looked at me was affection, and that maybe we could become a real couple.”
She smiled just a little as she described the moment when she began to give hope and meaning to her relationship with her husband.
“As soon as I realized I was in love with him, my heart started to spiral out of control. “Even though we are a couple based on a contract, I took comfort in that, thinking that I was the only one who could be by his side.”
As soon as she heard the news that her husband had someone new, her hopes turned to nothing and she despaired.
“My husband is in love with a man who is eight years younger than me. And every day became hell because of my jealousy toward his new lover.”
What she said was exactly right. hell. He said it felt like dancing in the fire pit of hell every day.
While listening to her story, Sena added, ‘I see, that’s right’ to the words of other counselors. ‘You must have been very heartbroken.’ I couldn’t say a single word of comfort.
“I know. Everyone has their own circumstances…”
For Gisena, counseling was just a piece of information to determine the faulty reasons for the divorce.
Establishing a rapport with a counselor is something only a psychiatrist can do, and as a lawyer, all I had to do was inform the client of the necessary procedures in the divorce process and give the client the desired result.
‘The moment my last remaining self-esteem was completely destroyed, our relationship became irreparable.’
Self-esteem. Those words bothered me.
A personal consciousness in which one’s own dignity is not obtained through external recognition or praise from others, but through mature thinking and values within oneself.
‘To paraphrase the hard dictionary meaning, love yourself. Who doesn’t know? It’s not easy, so everyone is having a hard time. If it had been easy, would Socrates have become famous for saying, ‘Know thyself.’
Until the end of the consultation, Jeong Si-yeon was unable to make any choice.
However, she looked much more relaxed after confessing a secret that she could not tell anyone. Maybe he gave up everything.
I didn’t have anything to say to her as she left, saying she would come back when she decided, so I just smiled.
I felt uncomfortable. It’s like going to the bathroom and coming out without being able to clean up properly.
I don’t know anything else, but right now I just felt like pouring a glass of soju over some really, really spicy chicken feet. My lips turned red and I was sweating profusely from the spicy taste. With packaging, of course.
Sena, who was searching for a good restaurant with the navigation system in her head, didn’t even notice who was standing right next to her.
“Are you leaving work now?”
“…yes. Thank you for your effort.”
Sena, who was engrossed in her own thoughts, just consciously responded and remembered the route to a famous restaurant near Hannam Bridge. The corners of my mouth turned up, thinking that there would be no traffic at this time.
“Good. “Take some time now.”
“…?”
It was only then that I realized that there was someone next to me, and the moment I recognized who it was, the heels of my high heels creaked.
“Mom, it’s a surprise!”
“How long are you going to be surprised whenever you see me?”
He suddenly appeared from nowhere, and while he was caught off guard because it was late, he ran into Ryu Kang-hyeon, the fierce dog he wanted to avoid so much.
“Why are you here at this hour? “Are you gone yet?”
“hour.”
“yes?”
“The words I told you to make even if it was me. “Did you forget?”
“uh, ah. uh.”
Sena opened her mouth and quickly came up with an excuse. However, there was nothing that came to mind other than chicken feet and soju.
“I’m in good spirits.”
Ryu Kang-hyun’s eyes looking down at me were as sharp as a hunter looking at prey caught in a trap.
“Don’t try to run away. “Because it’s an important story.”
***
I wasn’t mentally ready yet, but I felt like I was too lazy to eat and it would be difficult to just hang out at a cafe. After searching numerous stores, the place Sena brought him to was a small bar with a tower.
Sena, who was sitting in a row, looked not at Kanghyun but at the bottles of alcohol in the cupboard behind the bartender.
Kanghyun shook his head shallowly as he saw her trying hard not to make eye contact with me.
“I won’t eat you, so relax.”
I hadn’t seen her for long, but I knew a few things.
It swells when touched. Like a poisonous puffer fish. I don’t know anything else, but if you touch my pride like this.
“Who is eating them?”
Look. Forgetting that he was avoiding eye contact just a moment ago, he raises his cat-like eyes and pounces.
He answered back, hiding the smile that was slowly spreading beneath his expressionless face.
“It’s been three weeks since I came to K Law Firm. You are the only one I haven’t said hello to in three weeks. “I also said hello to the new Associate.”
“You caught someone leaving work just to say hello?”
“What on earth are you saying that I did?”
“What am I?”
“If they see me, they either sneak away or they attack me as if I’m going to hit them.”
“When did I act like I was going to hit you again?! “That’s because I suffered a lot from my seniors, so I’m crying out of resentment. Who says anything to a person who stays still?”
Kanghyeon narrowed his eyes. As the silence dragged on, Sena’s expression changed in real time.
A little fun in boring and dull everyday life. Ten years ago or now. Ryu Kang-hyun was never bored while watching Gisena. Enough to make childish puns even though he was well over 30 years old. Of course, the other person will be disgusted.
As expected, Sena, who could not bear the silence, suddenly sighed and opened her mouth.
“Is this because of that incident?”
“That incident?”
“I’m saying it now, but at the time it was really like an accident. I must have drank alcohol too. “You can get a reduction in your sentence with mental and physical weakness.”
“They take the mental and physical weakness medicine at any time. This is why I hear people say that the laws of the Republic of Korea are a mess.”
Sena, who was tired from all the effort while glaring at Kanghyeon, lifted the glass in front of her and quenched her thirst. In front of other people, he holds back his temper and smiles easily. Of course, he never laughed at me. never.
Even though Sena knew that he had no malicious intent, she felt like she was being misled. Even though I knew I was strange, I couldn’t find an answer.
“You know that you are the worst senior I know, right?”
“But they don’t curse at me because I’m a senior. “Are you treating me like a senior?”
“Do you know that nothing happens as long as you meet a senior?”
“I guess it’s not my fault.”
The side of my head was tingling so much that I turned my body at an angle. Kanghyun’s gaze caught sight of Gisena’s red-stained ears.
Every time she felt a thousand dollars inside and felt frustrated, her ears would turn red like that.
Light brown eyes were glaring at Ryu Kang-hyun with a bright expression. It is a mysterious color. It was clearly a gentle color, but there was passion and venom in it.
“Are you really telling me to make time to get some medicine?”
“Do I look free?”
“We’re both busy. Wouldn’t it be better if we texted you?”
“My working style is a bit different. I prefer face-to-face rather than non-face-to-face. Since I was a prosecutor. “Because it’s fun to sit in front of a criminal and see if that bastard doesn’t get away with it.”
“If the inspection job suits your aptitude, why did you get rid of it instead of continuing with it?”
“I couldn’t eat it because it was dirty.”
“Did you come out upset because you were so dirty?”
“I think you found out something about me?”
For a moment, I thought, oh no. As I tried to respond to his words, I ended up saying things I shouldn’t have said. It would not be an unsavory thing if the prosecutors’ office had gone so far as to crack down on his participation.
“I wonder what’s going on?”
“No, I’m not curious at all?”
“If you tell me you’re curious, I can tell you.”
“I’m not curious at all.”
“There are a lot of rats here and there. “Who heard what?”
The look in his eyes as he looked at the coordinates was unusual. Sena felt anxious for no reason and quickly turned her head. I was discouraged by the calm atmosphere.
“Ha, really, why did I forget to press the elevator and run into him?”
Seeing her muttering to herself as if telling me to listen, I eventually burst out laughing, picked up the glass, and swallowed the drink. If I laugh out loud, I’m sure he’ll jump out of his seat and leave.
It was not a coincidence that Ryu Kang-hyun ran into Sena in front of the elevator. I felt like I wouldn’t even have time to talk to her if I didn’t do this, so I watched and waited on purpose.
“Anyway, you and I are in an uncomfortable relationship with each other. “Let’s keep it short.”
“It’s not uncomfortable. I would rather get along well with you. Even if it’s because of work.”
“Senior, you don’t like me, right?”
“I never hated it.”
