He doesn't know that the blackmailer is me, so why is he saying such things?

Heeju's face clearly showed signs of confusion.

"There will be no divorce."

Sa-eon's icy voice cut through the air. He frowned as if even the thought of it filled him with irritation.

"Scandals, rumours or any kind of pathetic failure is intolerable. I can't stand the thought of my name being tarnished. It's just the way I'm made."

The intensity in his gaze was almost obsessive, laced with a cold, biting determination.

"But still...

How could anyone spend their whole life with someone they didn't even love?

The image of her father, reduced to an empty shell of himself, surfaced in her mind like an old scar.

I can't do this.

She clenched her fists under the table as a symbol of determination.

"So you better get ready."
"For what...?
"Prepare to protect what's yours - your livelihood, your place."
"...!"

"Don't just spit it out. Make sure you swallow it all."

He pushed the plate forward, urging her to eat.

"From tonight you'll sleep in my room."
"...!"

Heeju couldn't breathe.

"If we continue to live like this, we'll just end up blaming each other as guilty spouses. Troubles can easily tear us apart. I'm sure even the teenage Hong Heeju has learned this from somewhere."

He looked at her with a mischievous, knowing expression.

Suddenly he got up from the chair and moved closer to Heeju.

"When I took your phone, I happened to see something interesting."
"..."
"You seem to have saved my number under a rather amusing name."

The realisation seemed to hit her.

"Oh no!
"'Business Husband.'"

He pronounced the words slowly, almost savouring them.

It was a name she had cynically chosen to remind herself of her situation, to keep her expectations and disappointments in check. Hearing it out loud, however, made her cheeks burn with embarrassment.

"Well, I suppose I should live up to this 'business relationship'."
"...!"
"Come with me to the 70th anniversary of the 'Sankyung Daily'. We should put on a decent show."

Without warning, he lifted the hem of his shirt.

The sight of his hard abs filled her vision. As Heeju instinctively turned her head away, he caught the back of her head.

The edge of his shirt, carrying his scent, brushed roughly across her lips.

"Let me wipe the milk from your lips like a baby..."

Baek Sa-eon rubbed away the white traces on her upper lips with deliberate movements.

His expression was indifferent, but his hands were strangely meticulous.

Heeju was stunned, her eyes glued to the sharp lines of his abs and the visible dip of his pelvic bones. Unconsciously, she swallowed the temptation.

Sa-eon's eyes darted to the clock and with a frustrated click of his tongue, he backed away.

Without hesitation, he turned and walked towards the bedroom, crumpling his dirty shirt roughly in his hand.

"..."

Once alone, Heeju touched her burning lips. He had rubbed them so thoroughly that the skin around them had turned red.

 

***

 

After Baek Sa-eon left for work, Heeju finally felt the tension drain out of her body.

Lying sprawled on the sofa, she absentmindedly touched her still throbbing lips before suddenly standing up.

"I should at least do the dishes...!"

Trying to shake off her thoughts, she cheerfully opened the dishwasher.

Ring! Ring!

Her original phone, which she hadn't seen for ages, began to ring.

Although she had once set the ring tone herself, it now felt strangely alien.

Given her well-known selective mutism, there were few people who would dare call her directly.

It must be Mum.

The life that had briefly returned to her face quickly faded.

Her mother's calls rarely required an answer. They were just one-sided barrages of nagging before hanging up abruptly.

But this time the call was from a blocked number. As she stared at the screen, the call ended, only for the phone to ring again moments later.

< Blocked number. >

It was the same caller.

Heeju answered the call with shaking hands.

- "Sis, don't make me lose my patience. Pick up immediately next time."
"...!"
- "As you know, I'm not exactly a patient person."

It was the kidnapper. Heeju froze as if he had been plunged into cold water.

"The 2 billion won Baek Sa-eon promised you... are you going to take it?"

The blunt question left her speechless. It confirmed her suspicion that he had been listening to her conversations.

"By the way, I can set you up with an untraceable offshore account. But before that..."

The kidnapper let out a sinister chuckle. Heeju shuddered and instinctively cupped her ear, as if to shake off the unsettling sensation.

"Let me tell you something good. I'm going to tell you his real job... Baek Sa-eon's real job."
"...!"

Baek Sa-eon's 'real job'?

"What do you mean...?"
"Exactly what it sounds like. Not the honourable position of Blue House spokesman, but the shadowy work he's really involved in. You could use that to really blackmail him. You can finally bring him down.
"...!"

Her heart raced. But she couldn't be tempted so easily.

"...Why?"
-"What?"
"Why are you helping me like this?"
-"Because I want things to go back to the way they were."
"..."
-"I want the same thing as you."

His answer was startlingly simple, though it didn't seem as if he intended to offer a more satisfying explanation. There was an invisible line she could sense he wouldn't cross.

-"That's why I want you to win. Negotiating for 2 billion is a stupid deal. Do you really think you can get a divorce on that?"
"..."
-Nope. That slippery snake will outmanoeuvre you. He already has you dancing to his tune."

Heeju winced.

-Baek Sa-eon's game is all about using information. He's leading you astray, making you chase after the wrong things. It's not about divorce... it's about getting you to settle for the 2 billion and walk away.

As if he had already caught a whiff of something, Baek Sa-eon moved cunningly. He was strategising to avoid being labelled as the guilty party in the marriage.

The arrogant husband didn't doubt for a second that Heeju would obediently go along with his plans. This assumption made her want to scream in protest.

- "But it won't come for free."
"...!"

Her lips parted slightly.

- "You promised to get the words I want from Sa-eon. But do you think it will happen all at once?"
"...!"
- "So, before the main event, I'll train you a little."

Her heart started to beat wildly.

- "I'll give you Baek Sa-eon's new weakness. But in return, you'll..."

She closed her eyes tightly, overcome by a feeling of despair.

Heeju instinctively felt that she was now trapped in another tank.

But she didn't want to give up. She didn't want to be a pawn in her husband's game. She wanted to be the one in charge. When her eyes opened again, they were filled with determination.
- How about a controversial comment from the Blue House spokesman? Something like... foul language."
"...!"
- "Even better if it's an unforgivable insult."

He chuckled, as if wishing for something easy to achieve. And that turned out to be their first mission.

- "Record him cursing. Then I'll trade with you."

 

***

 

"I... It's just so vulgar, so vulgar!"

As Heeju opened the door and walked in, Director Han Joon groaned theatrically. She knocked lightly on the door to get his attention.

Why did you call me?

She signed the question and the director immediately got up from his seat.

"Where were you rushing off to yesterday?"
"..."
"Was something wrong?"
"Everything is fine.

Heeju smiled faintly, hiding her true feelings.

The director handed her a file.

What is that?
"Work. I thought you didn't want to be unemployed forever."
"..."
"It's lyrics for a pop song. Have a look."

Heeju took the file and began to leaf through it quietly.

But as soon as she read the first line - no, the very first word - her face turned red. Her mouth fell open in shock and Han Joon sighed heavily.

"It's for the international concert I mentioned."

[ WXXXXX in this house / Wet AXX PXXXXX ]

She couldn't even bring herself to read the lyrics.

"Do you think you can handle it?"
"Absolutely not!

Heeju waved her hands with a pale face.

I have never seen or interpreted content like this before - ever!
"That's why I wanted new people to participate."

[ FuXXXXX with XXX XXXX ]

Ahh!

This was beyond hot - this was scorching hot!

Heeju quickly crumpled up the papers in her bag. Every single word, every line of the lyrics was provocatively explicit and shockingly creative.

The thought of standing on stage and interpreting such content in sign language made her head spin. Just as she was about to run away, Han Joon stepped in her way.

"Okay, W-Wait!"

He blocked her path and gestured for her to calm down.

"In that case, take a look at this while you're here."

He held a tablet in front of her narrowed eyes.

The emblem of the Blue House gleamed on the screen. Heeju, who had been ready to protest, clamped her mouth shut.

It was a recruitment notice sent by the Blue House to sign language centres all over Seoul.

The title, bold and prominent, read: 'Sign Language Interpreter Placement at the Blue House'.

When she saw it, a strange feeling of heat rose in her chest.

Noticing the change in her expression, Han Joon grinned.

"I knew you'd like it."
I don't like it at all," she retorted.

But all she got in return was a sneer.

"Come on, ever since Baek Sa-eon was a presenter and hosted debates, you've been using political clips to practice your signing. I know everything."
"...!"
"This is a rare opportunity and you know it."

"But...

But the person blackmailing the Blue House spokesman is me...