The Next Day…
The front door slammed open.
"Where is Mina?!" Jiwook's voice thundered through the house.
In the kitchen, Mina didn't flinch. She stirred the soup calmly, as though his voice didn't rattle the very walls.
Footsteps echoed on the stairs. His mother descended in her slippers, frowning. "Why are you yelling like a lunatic? It's barely morning!"
Jiwook ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I'm done, Mom. I'm done with that wife of mine."
At that, Mina stepped out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a towel. Her expression was unreadable, but her eyes burned with a quiet fury.
"You ungrateful bastard," she said slowly, her voice trembling—not from fear, but from rage. "After everything I did for you—after all the nights I starved to pay your damn debts, after every job I took just to keep a roof over our heads while you were drowning in self-pity—you say you're done?"
She took a step forward. "I loved you, Jiwook. God, I worshipped you. I put your needs first every single time. And you—" Her voice cracked. "You threw me away like trash."
Without warning, Jiwook's hand flew across her face.
SMACK.
The slap echoed like a gunshot. Mina's head jerked to the side, a red mark blooming on her cheek. Silence fell—sharp and suffocating.
His mother gasped. "Jiwook!"
But he wasn't done. He pulled a stack of papers from his coat and flung them at Mina's feet.
"Take it. Since you want it so badly."
Mina bent down, fingers trembling as she picked up the divorce papers.
Her voice was low but cold. "She drafted this for you, didn't she? Soo-Ah."
His mother stiffened. "What's she talking about? "
Mina didn't even blink. "Your son's mistress. The girl he brought to my workplace. The one who insulted your daughter-in-law in front of a room full of people."
She turned to his mother. "Did you know?"
There was a pause. Then, with shocking calm, his mother said, "Oh. Soo-Ah? Of course I knew."
Mina stared. "You—what?"
His mother walked over and snatched the divorce papers from Mina's hands, looking at them as if they were nothing more than an annoying bill. "There's no need for this divorce. That girl is just a means to an end. A stepping stone for Jiwook's future."
"A means to an end?" Mina laughed bitterly. "He cheated. He lied. And you… you condoned it."
"I did what I had to," his mother said coolly. "You may have been useful once, Mina. But that time has passed. Look she is the reason my son is doing well."
Mina looked between them—this twisted mother and her even more twisted son.
Her voice shook as she said, "I pitied you once, Jiwook. For your childhood. For your scars. But now? I just pity myself for ever thinking you were worth loving."
Jiwook's jaw clenched. "Don't act like a victim. You think you're some saint? You were always playing the martyr, Mina. Always trying to be perfect. It was exhausting."
"Exhausting?" Her voice rose. "I was exhausted, Jiwook! From loving a man who looked through me every day, from begging for scraps of affection like a fool! I gave you everything—and you still wanted more. You wanted her."
He said nothing.
Mina stepped forward, staring him in the eye.
"I'll sign these papers. But don't think you've won. Because when karma comes knocking—and it will—I hope she wears perfume that smells just like betrayal. So you'll remember me every time you breathe."
She turned on her heel and left, her back straight, never looking back.
And for the first time, Jiwook had no words. Only silence.
--
Jiwook stood frozen, the silence in the house pressing down on him like a weight. His mother still held the crumpled divorce papers in her hand, staring after Mina with narrowed eyes.
"She'll come crawling back," she said, as if to herself. "Once reality sets in, she'll realize she can't survive without you."
But Jiwook didn't respond.
His ears still rang with her words—perfume that smells like betrayal. The sting of her voice lingered longer than the sting of his own slap.
His mother glanced at him. "Jiwook. Did you hear me?"
"She's not coming back," he muttered.
"What?"
"She's not coming back," he repeated, louder this time.
For the first time, there was a flicker of uncertainty in his mother's expression. "Don't be ridiculous. You think that woman has anywhere to go? She's nothing without you, just wait and watch."
Mina came back downstairs, her steps heavy with finality. She sank onto the sofa, a pen gripped tightly in her hand. The tip scratched across the paper, the sound sharp and decisive.
Her signature was clean, elegant... resolute.
She set the pen down slowly, as if the weight of it was too much to bear, and then picked up the documents. Without sparing Jiwook a glance, she held them out, her hand trembling slightly. He reached for them, but before his fingers could brush the papers, she let them slip from her grasp, the documents fluttering to the floor between them.
"I hope it was worth it," she said, her voice a hushed whisper, barely more than a breath.
Without waiting for a response, she turned away, her footsteps fading as she ascended the stairs.
Minutes later, she returned, her belongings packed. Thank goodness I packed in advance, she thought, though it didn't bring her comfort.
As she walked past the living room, her bag slung over her shoulder, she heard his mother's voice from the sofa, dripping with contempt.
"Dramatic until the very end."
Mina didn't stop. Didn't flinch. Didn't offer a single parting word.
The door clicked shut behind her, sealing the sound of their life together into the past.
Outside, the storm had worsened. Rain fell in relentless sheets, soaking through her thin coat within seconds. The wind howled, sharp and icy, as if the sky itself mourned what she refused to. Water pooled in the cracks of the sidewalk, and every step sent cold droplets splashing against her ankles. She hugged her bag tighter to her chest, as if its flimsy fabric could shield her from the world, and stood on the edge of the sidewalk, staring at the empty street blurred by the downpour.
For the first time, she realized—*I have nowhere else to go.*
"No family, no nothing..." she mumbled bitterly, the words lost beneath the drumming rain.
They burned on her tongue anyway. She had spent so long building a life around him—around that house, that family. She had abandoned old friendships for his sake. Her parents were absent, and her savings were dwindling. Yet, the tears never came. Maybe the rain had stolen them, washing everything away before she could feel it.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket, a weak vibration against her damp thigh.
A message from Hana, her old friend:
*"I heard what happened. Are you okay? If you need a place to stay…"*
Mina stared at the screen, raindrops smearing the words as they landed. Her fingers hovered, trembling—not from the cold, but from the silent battle between pride and desperation.
She typed, *"Where are you?"* and hit send, as if that one small act could anchor her in the storm.
Then she began walking, her shoes sloshing through the wet pavement, her mind adrift in the gray haze of the downpour.
That's when she saw it—a small figure darting across the rain-slicked road, a flash of pink against the gloom.
"What the—?"
The little girl was charging straight toward the busy intersection, reckless and unaware of the danger. Her pink backpack bounced wildly as she ran, her small feet pattering frantically.
"No!" Mina screamed, her heart leaping into her throat.
Without a thought, she lunged forward, her folder slipping from her hands as she grabbed the girl by the arm and yanked her out of the way. The car screamed past, missing them by mere inches, the force of the near-miss sending both of them tumbling to the ground. Mina hit the pavement hard, her elbow absorbing the brunt of the fall.
For a moment, everything was still. Then the little girl, unscathed, sat up, huffing indignantly.
Mina winced, her elbow aching, but she barely registered the pain as she stared at the child, ready to scold her.
But the girl's face wasn't one of gratitude—it was pure defiance.
"Hey!" The girl shoved Mina's hands off her. "That was MY chance!"
Mina blinked, stunned. Your chance?
"Your chance?" she echoed, confusion flooding her voice. "You almost got hit by a car!"
"I wanted a new mommy!" The little girl crossed her arms in a dramatic huff.
Mina froze. A new mommy?
Before she could make sense of it, a man appeared, rushing toward them in a soaked suit. His shoes splashed in the puddles, his tie askew, his face as pale as death. He skidded to a stop a few feet away, panting heavily, eyes wide with panic.
"Ari!" he shouted, his voice a mix of relief and frustration. "Don't you ever run off like that again!"
The girl stuck out her tongue at him, a defiant glint in her eyes. "I just wanted a new mommy!"
Mina stared, trying to process what was happening. The man looked at her, his expression softening into gratitude—then caught, like a breath held too long. Something flickered in his gaze, too quick to name but too potent to ignore. The way his eyes lingered on her face—not with hesitation or panic, but with the quiet shock of a man who'd just stumbled upon a forgotten light in the dark. His gaze darted to Ari, then back to Mina, as if checking whether the vision would dissolve.
Then it was gone, buried under a blink and the practical tilt of his head as he adjusted his grip on Ari. But the air between them had shifted. Even the rain seemed to hush.
"Are you okay?" he asked, voice shaky.
"I'm fine," Mina muttered, rubbing her sore elbow. "But your daughter—"
Before she could finish, the man knelt beside Ari, who had clung to his side, pouting.
"Ari," he said gently, "we've been over this. You can't just run into traffic like that. What if something happened to you?"
The little girl's face fell, and she looked up at her father with wide, sad eyes. "But Daddy, I want a new mommy."
The man froze, his mouth hanging open, unsure of what to say. Ari's words hung in the air like a weight neither of them could shake off.
Mina, her mind still reeling, cleared her throat awkwardly. "Uh… I'm really sorry, but—"
Before she could even finish, the man turned toward her, his voice desperate.
"I know this sounds insane," he said, running a hand through his messy hair. "But you saved her. I… I don't know what to do. Look, I need help. Would you consider… marrying me?"
Mina's eyes widened in shock. "Marrying you?"
His face turned crimson. "Not for real! Well, yes, but—look, I'm really not good at this! I need a stable home for Ari. My family is… complicated. Please, just hear me out!"
Mina stood frozen, utterly dumbfounded. Had he really just proposed to her?
Ari tugged at Mina's sleeve, her eyes shining with unbridled hope. "Please, Miss. You're my new mommy now, right?"