Heeju asked to be discharged from the hospital two days later.

Her body still hurt, but there were no fractures, and the feeling of being confined to the hospital was becoming unbearable.

No, actually....

After the threatening phone call took a strange turn, Heeju felt unsettled by the whole incident.

"Is this all your stuff?" Baek Sa-eon asked as he carried her bag.

He wasn't exactly thrilled about her early release, but after staring at her message - "I feel suffocated and lonely being alone" - for a long time, he unexpectedly relented.

Because he knew. He knew that not a single family member had visited her in hospital.

"Rest well at home for now. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"...!"

"Where is he going?

Heeju stared at him nervously. Noticing her expression, he casually added: "Today is the anniversary of grandfather's death.

Ah... Heeju's embarrassment was short-lived. Her eyes widened in realisation.

The memorial service for the late Baek Jang-ho. The man famously known as "the one who achieved everything but the title of president".

Baek Sa-eon's grandfather had grown up being called "the crown prince".

Although Sa-eon had distanced himself from the family estate since moving into the Blue House, he made an exception every year for this one occasion: the memorial service for his late grandfather.

It was a moment often captured on camera - Baek Sa-eon attending the family gathering as the eldest grandson.

A prestigious family wasn't built in one generation.

The first generation, his great-grandfather, had laid the foundation as the nation's first vice president.

The second generation, his grandfather, had become a political titan.

The third generation had dominated as a four-term member of the National Assembly and was now a formidable presidential candidate.

And then there was the fourth generation - Baek Sa-eon, the young blood who attracted endless media attention wherever he went.

[ I want to come with you ]

Heeju typed a message.

Sa-eon raised an eyebrow.

Although she was the wife of the eldest grandson, she had never attended a family memorial service. No, it was more accurate to say that she hadn't been able to.

Whenever she watched Sa-eon walk away, leaving her behind, she couldn't help but feel a growing sense of inadequacy and the nagging belief that she wasn't really accepted as part of the family.

[6:09 PM] [ I don't want to be home alone. ]

But this time she decided to stand her ground, something she rarely did.

Because I have a feeling he will agree.

It was an intuition, a feeling that had quietly built up over time like snow - built on the countless conversations they had shared.

Whether it was a sense of responsibility for his legal wife, a protective instinct born of their childhood bond, or simply pity - she wasn't quite sure what to call it.

But one thing was clear, he wasn't as cold as he seemed.

Surprisingly, there were moments when he paid attention to her, watching her more closely than she expected.

"If you don't want to be alone..."

Her eyes met his steady, unwavering gaze.

His brow twitched once before his expression became serious again, making it impossible to read his thoughts.

How can someone with such a cold face moan like that... No, no! Stop thinking about that, Heeju!'

When Heeju realised where her thoughts were going, she turned her head abruptly, nervous.

Sa-eon tilted his head slightly, amused by her reaction.

"Would it be better if we stayed together?"
"...!"
"Then I'll skip it and stay with you."

Heeju blinked at his unexpected answer.

That's not what I meant...!

She'd wanted to go because she thought that being around people and the excitement would help her to distract herself from her thoughts. Maybe even being coldly dismissed there would help ground her wandering emotions!

[6:10 PM] [ No, I'm saying we should go together! ]

Baek Sa-eon blinked suspiciously at her message and pursed his lips. But when a faint smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, Heeju felt as if she had seen something she shouldn't have. She quickly lowered her head, pretending not to notice.

 

***

 

The ancestral home was buzzing with activity.

The reason his family was able to rise to prominence as a political dynasty was due to the central figure of the late Baek Jang-ho. All his relatives - ambassadors, governors, mayors, ministers of justice, prosecutors and members of parliament - had prospered on the foundation he had laid.

Although he had long since passed away, he remained the unshakable axis of their family.

I was the one who insisted on coming, but...

As the relatives' eyes turned to Baek Sa-eon, Heeju felt her palms sweat. At the same time, a familiar warmth forcefully intertwined with her fingers.

"...!"

Their hands were locked tightly together, like intertwined roots. The tight grip left no space between their joined fingers, anchoring Heeju in place.

"Baek Sa-eon!"

Her ears felt silenced by the sensation and she couldn't make out the surrounding voices clearly.

As his cousins approached him with familiarity and the family elders chimed in with remarks, Heeju could only stare blankly at the increasingly tight grip on her hand. Her pulse pounded furiously at the full contact.

"Oh, and that must be..."

The looks directed at her weren't exactly welcoming.

She wasn't Sangkyeong's legitimate daughter, but rather a stepdaughter brought here by his second wife.

The elders, their pride visibly wounded, frowned on cue. Even under the best of circumstances, their expressions couldn't be described as friendly.

"If you had arrived, you could at least have greeted everyone properly!"
"...!"

Heeju jumped at the sudden scolding.

"No matter how rushed the marriage was, she should have introduced herself to the family beforehand or made a courtesy call...!"
"Mind your own business and enjoy your conversation."

Sa-eon's brusque interruption was accompanied by a furrowed brow as he stepped forward.

"What did you just say...?"

For a moment, the gathered relatives looked completely stunned. His deep, calm voice sounded almost elegant, despite its bluntness.

"That insolent boy, what did you just say?"
"I won't do such a thing."
"What?!"

His indifferent gaze turned to the source of the outcry. The mere act of eye contact caused several people to clear their throats uncomfortably.

"Why should my wife be forced to do what your children don't even bother to do?"
"Don't you know the meaning of propriety, you disrespectful brat?"
"Ah, decency..."

He let out a faint chuckle and nodded slightly.

"Propriety... you only bring it up when you want something for nothing."

His cold gaze was a warning to her.

"Decency doesn't exist in this world. Whether it's dogs or humans, they all try to build a hierarchy to rule."
"...!"

"They wanted to reinforce the hierarchy and instil discipline, masked by the cloak of decency."

His voice, sharp as a blade, cut through the air.

"If you want courtesy visits, start by making yourself worthy of such attention. It's the proper order and the responsibility of those who expect such things."

The elder's face turned crimson with anger.

"Even a phone call is a form of power."
"...!"

Heeju looked around nervously, her eyes darting. Sa-eon began to gently stroke the back of the hand he was clutching so tightly.

"First of all, make yourself into someone worth wondering about."

He took control of the discussion on filial duty, then left without a glance. As she was dragged along by his firm grip, Heeju couldn't help but feel uneasy.

Is this really going to be okay?

She had a bad feeling about this from the beginning.

 

***

 

"Oh dear! How did you two get together?"

As they entered the dining room, the savoury aroma of cooking oil filled the air.

Heeju's mother-in-law, Shim Gyu-jin, dressed in a black turtleneck and matching trousers, hardly an outfit suitable for the kitchen, bustled about without so much as an apron on.

Of course, there was no one to help her. Heeju didn't need to ask; she knew her mother-in-law had probably sent everyone away.

Grilled fish, skewered meat, pan-fried minced meat patties, tofu pancakes, vegetable skewers, fish pancakes, mung bean pancakes, zucchini pancakes, shiitake pancakes, soup - her preparation of the ancestral rites food was meticulous.

From beginning to end, she insisted on doing everything herself, refusing help from anyone.

This stubbornness was a well-known trait of hers within the family.

"Heeju was discharged from the hospital," Sa-eon said.
"I sent a flower pot to the hospital. Did you get it?"

Heeju nodded quickly.

"You could have stayed longer. Why did you leave so soon? Did Sa-eon drag you out, using the rites as an excuse?"

Her mother-in-law cast a suspicious glance at her son, causing Heeju to wave his hands in protest.

"Sa-eon isn't that kind of person," Sa-eon's aunt, who had just entered the room, chimed in. She stroked her dog in her arms.

"Do you know how much the elders here pushed to see their nephew's wife? But no, not a single strand of her hair has appeared yet. That's how stubborn he is."

Then the aunt's eyes shifted to Heeju.

"But today I'm curious why she came along."
"She didn't want to stay alone," Sa-eon replied flatly.
"What?"

The hand that had been stroking the dog stopped mid-movement.

"We didn't want to be apart, so we came together. Is that a problem?"
"N- No, it's not, but..."

The aunt looked confused, as if she had just heard the strangest thing.

"Seriously, you and your mother both have such strange ideas about the strangest things."

Shim Gyu-jin chuckled slightly at her sister-in-law's complaint.

"I just don't want to leave the ancestral table to anyone else."
"Yes, yes... I know."

In the days when women were expected to run the household, Shim Gyu-jin had been encouraged by Baek Jang-ho himself to return to her studies. He had given her the freedom to pursue her ambitions while holding his eldest grandson like a precious treasure.

His fondness for Sa-eon was so obvious that he always spent weekends with him, and until Sa-eon entered middle school, he refused to take him to public events or political rallies, no matter how important.

There were even rumours that by this time Sa-eon had already completed an advanced education and had been home-schooled, bypassing the standard system altogether.

His looks, charisma, steadfast personality and political philosophy all reflected Baek Jang-ho, making him the most important heir to his legacy.

Many praised Sa-eon as Baek Jang-ho's masterpiece.

Naturally, this led to jealousy among the direct descendants, whose expressions often turned sour when they heard such praise.

"Sa-eon, make sure your wife learns well," one of the relatives casually remarked as he burst in with others carrying the ancestors' food.