Contract Marriage with Memory Loss on Top - Chapter 68

The taste of blankly staring at the Han River water sparkling in the sunlight was enjoyable. Yeon-woo was only able to take his eyes off the window after the course meal came out.  

“There’s a huge amount.”

Even though they said small portions would come out, there were so many varieties that it seemed like a lot for two people to eat. Is this what they call enough food to make the table legs bend? Yeon-woo, who was scooping up the soup and bread that came out as appetizers, reached out for the beautifully plated caviar dish. He always felt this way, but thanks to Ki-won, it seemed like he was being treated well, so he was always grateful.

“Eat slowly.”

Ki-won watched Yeon-woo eating heartily as if he found it cute and drank wine. 

“…Hyung, are you drinking alcohol right now?”

Discovering a shocking scene, Yeon-woo turned pale and snatched the man’s wine glass. It happened so quickly that even Ki-won looked taken aback.

“Is there a problem?”

“There are lots of problems!”  

Yeon-woo pushed Ki-won’s wine glass to the far corner with a sullen expression and handed him a glass of water instead.

“Your wound hasn’t even fully healed yet, what if you drink alcohol? It could get infected! Above all, how can you drink when you’re now someone who takes medicine?”

Yeon-woo’s chatter continued endlessly. What if it doesn’t heal properly because of this and leaves a scar, wouldn’t there be side effects from drinking and taking medication, and so on. Yeon-woo, who had been chattering enough to make one’s ears go numb, stopped talking with a look of relief.  

“You got it?”

“…It would be best to abstain from alcohol for the time being.”

Satisfied with Ki-won’s answer, Yeon-woo raised the corners of his lips and began to eat the rest of the food.

“Ah, hyung.”

Yeon-woo, who was chewing on his steak, called out to Ki-won as if something had come to mind. Ki-won put down the knife he was holding and looked at Yeon-woo.

“By the way… you’re speaking to me formally. It’s a bit unfamiliar, so I was wondering if you could speak casually to me?”

“Casually?”

“Yes, you used to speak casually to me before. You didn’t call me Mr. Seo Yeon-woo, you comfortably called me Yeon-woo.”  

“Does it bother you that I speak formally?”

It wasn’t to the extent that it bothered him, but it was true that it was more uncomfortable than casual speech. When Yeon-woo answered yes, Ki-won made an ambiguous expression. It was a vague face that was hard to gauge what emotion it was.

“Then I should insist on speaking formally even more.”

“What…?”

Dumbfounded, Yeon-woo had to put down the steak he was about to bring to his mouth. 

“I don’t mind that Mr. Seo Yeon-woo is paying attention to me.”

“…Didn’t you say you wanted to regain your memories?”

He argued before that nothing should change in order to regain his memories, but why is he acting like this today? There really was no man as hard to understand as Kwon Ki-won.

“Since the contract has been extended anyway, we can take it easy. Or do you want to do things exactly as they were before in order to truly help me regain my memories?”

“If it can help your memories return, it would be best to try to do things the same as much as possible.”

That’s why he retracted the thought of using separate rooms. Ki-won, who quietly listened to Yeon-woo’s answer, raised the corners of his mouth.

“Then…”

Yeon-woo, reflected in Kwon Ki-won’s jet-black pupils, had a startled expression. He hadn’t heard what the man was trying to say yet, but somehow it felt like he shouldn’t hear it.

“Shall we also repeat the things a married couple should do?”

“What, pfft…! Cough, heup!”

Yeon-woo, who was drinking water because his throat was dry, tried his best not to spit out the water in his mouth, but ended up choking after all. The tip of his nose was spicy and his throat stung. Yeon-woo hastily glared at the man with a flushed face.

“This is outside…!”

“It’s outside, but it’s only the two of us.”

How can he be so brazen. Yeon-woo was shocked.

“Then I guess it’s okay to have this conversation at home?”

“This hyung, really!”

“I’m quite looking forward to redoing the things from before I lost my memory.”

You don’t have to look forward to the things we just talked about, you know? He wanted to refute, but Yeon-woo had to cough repeatedly with his mouth covered by a tissue.  

It seemed like this conversation needed to be cut off here. Yeon-woo waved his hands and conspicuously threw out a different topic.

“So what did you want to say? You said to talk while eating.”

He’s not trying to say something strange again, is he? Yeon-woo’s eyes narrowed, full of vigilance. After all, Kwon Ki-won suffering from amnesia was an unpredictable person, so it made him anxious.

Even though all he did after going out was eat, he was already exhausted. Yeon-woo rubbed his face as if to erase the fatigue that showed on the outside.

“Mr. Seo Yeon-woo, you should also start acting like my spouse.”

Acting like a spouse, Yeon-woo mulled over the words Ki-won uttered, not grasping what he was trying to say. After marrying Ki-won, Yeon-woo hadn’t done anything. He was literally just staying still at home like a doll. But asking him to act like a spouse, he couldn’t easily grasp the meaning.

“The Sugang Industry founding anniversary party will be held in a few days.”

“Sugang… Industry?”

Did it come out too distastefully? Yeon-woo quickly bit his lip, feeling like he messed up.

“It seems the invitation came a month ago.”

“Ah… is that so? Do you want to go there?”

“I have to go.”

Even if Kwon Ki-won lost his memories, he probably wasn’t unaware of how he was tied to Sugang Industry. There were capable secretaries around him, so they must have retraced it for him. But telling me that he would go there, somehow it didn’t sit well with me. Of course, Yeon-woo knew that if he could distinguish between public and private matters, it would be better to attend.

‘Still… that person will be there.’

Not knowing what kind of relationship the two currently have, Yeon-woo became anxious. What if he knows the reason why Ki-won and I got married? What if he was counting down the days until he could remarry? What if he asks why we didn’t get divorced? Countless assumptions and predictions were jumbled together, piercing through Yeon-woo’s mind.

“With Mr. Seo Yeon-woo.”

“Yes?”

Unable to calm his troubled heart, Yeon-woo seemed surprised by the unexpected story. At the same time, it was the moment he understood what it meant to ask him to act like a spouse.

Yeon-woo received the invitation handed to him. The contents included the location and time of the Sugang Industry founding anniversary party event, dress code, and so on. Yeon-woo’s eyes, which were slowly reading this, stopped at the part marked in bold.

“Spouse accompaniment?”

“That’s what I heard. When I checked, it seems Mr. Seo Yeon-woo has never shown his face at an official event even once, is that right?”

“Yes… I guess it naturally ended up that way since we were a couple scheduled for divorce.”

There was no clause in the contract stating that he didn’t have to attend official events. So Ki-won’s request to go together to a spouse-accompanied event wasn’t wrong, but somehow it felt strange. Maybe because it was something he had never thought about before.

Yeon-woo’s concern didn’t last long. Although it was burdensome to reveal his face to other people, he didn’t want to send Ki-won alone to the Sugang Industry event.

‘I thought there would be something like this someday.’

He had to stay by Ki-won’s side for another year, so he couldn’t be absent from events that required spouse accompaniment every time. He couldn’t forget his duty while receiving enough money. Yeon-woo decided to steel his resolve.

“If it’s burdensome, you can express your intention not to attend.”

“No, it’s okay. It seems like a gathering for business people to build friendships, so how would people view it if only hyung went without a spouse? Above all, it’s written here that entry is strictly restricted without an invitation.”  

If the entry of the general public or reporters was restricted, he thought there would be no need to be nervous even if it was an official event. Literally, as long as he stuck close to Ki-won’s side, the event would go smoothly without any trouble.

“Listening to it, it does seem like they prepared thoroughly. As Mr. Seo Yeon-woo said, there won’t be any tiring matters.”

Kwon Ki-won muttered as if reciting, “It would be good to get used to it.” It was such a small voice that he almost let it pass, but Yeon-woo, who had been listening attentively, didn’t miss it.

“Get used to it?”  

“The things Mr. Seo Yeon-woo has to do as a spouse aren’t just this.”

It was quite a meaningful remark.

“Once you attend this event, invitations will fly in from here and there. The wives of businessmen are also busy building friendships among themselves.”

“Gasp…”

This might be a bit burdensome. He could stand by Ki-won’s side like a folding screen as much as needed, but the act of directly building connections came with responsibilities, so there were many things to be mindful of.

“Of course, we’ll take it slow with these things, and for now, I’ll only schedule events that involve coming with me.”

“It’s getting serious…”

“When I inherit Yeonsung Group, there will be many flies sticking to Mr. Seo Yeon-woo, so we need to lay the groundwork. That way, fewer annoying pests will attach themselves.”

“Just how far into the future are you thinking?”

Anyone who sees this would think the succession is imminent. Yeon-woo sent a tingling gaze to Ki-won, who seemed to keep forgetting that this was a contract marriage.  

“No one knows what will happen in life.”

However, Ki-won only lightly passed over Yeon-woo’s gaze and naturally replied.