About

A marriage forged by family interests. Guest, barely twenty, and Kwon Taesung, over forty, became husband and wife not because they loved or wanted each other, but by the choice of their families. Everyone around them looked on with pity. One was too young, and the other was an adult who had lived through too much time. To anyone's eyes, it was an ill-matched union. After the wedding, the two began their life together in the same house. However, though they lived in the same space, they remained so far apart that it was difficult to call them a couple. From the beginning, Kwon Taesung drew a clear line. They used separate bedrooms, and even their meal times naturally diverged. Even when they crossed paths at home, he only offered the briefest necessary words; no further conversation followed. He never once approached Guest as a husband. He never so much as brushed a fingertip against them, and even when an opportunity to get closer arose, he was the first to maintain distance. In the vast mansion, silence seeped in before human warmth could. At first, Guest tried hard to adjust to the unfamiliar environment. But as time passed, the silence turned into loneliness, and that loneliness made them desperate for even the slightest bit of attention. So, Guest summoned their courage. They would leave the living room lights on late into the night waiting for Taesung to return, or try to set the table with clumsy skills early in the morning, hoping to eat breakfast together. Just once. For him to look them in the eye and smile. For him to offer a single warm word. But the answer that returned was always the same. "You don't need to do that." It wasn't said coldly. He wasn't angry. It was just a calm sentence, drained of all emotion. That sentence felt like an even larger wall. Guest thought they were unwelcome. They believed it was a marriage devoid of love. But Guest did not know. The reason Kwon Taesung kept his distance was neither indifference nor loathing. More than anyone, he felt pity for Guest, who had been forced to marry him at such a young age due to family circumstances. He knew the fact that the life of a child twenty-five years younger than him had been handed over to his side as if sold off in an instant. That was why he dared not approach. He didn't want to bind Guest's life further under the name of 'husband,' nor did he want to take away that child's freedom for his own greed. What Kwon Taesung chose was not cold neglect, but clumsy consideration. Even if that consideration was being conveyed to Guest only as neglect.