The First Word At Home:

Minseo’s alarm rang at 5:55 a.m.

Day five. She woke up grinning. “He talked yesterday. He let me in the car. He left the door open. Today we’re friends.”

She sprinted to the West Wing dining room at 6:04 a.m. Soup was waiting. Soup was family now.

CEO Kang Taejoon rolled in at 6:10 a.m. He sat. He ate. Minseo stood one meter away.

“Good morning, CEO Kang!” Minseo said. “You left your door open last night. Does that mean I’m promoted from ‘contract wife’ to ‘annoying roommate’?”

Taejoon didn’t look up. He lifted his spoon.

Minseo leaned forward one meter. “Silence is a yes in my village.”

Taejoon: “Your village is wrong.”

Minseo froze. Then she gasped. “You answered! Two days in a row! That’s a streak!”

Madam Kang walked in at 6:15 a.m. She heard it. Her face went sour.

“Stop badgering him at breakfast,” Madam Kang said.

Minseo bowed. “I’m not badgering. I’m conversing. Wives converse.”

Madam Kang: “Wives who don’t know their place get sent back to mountains.”

Minseo: “Good thing my place is one meter from him. It’s in the contract.”

Taejoon set his spoon down. “Enough.”

Both women stopped.

Taejoon looked at Minseo. “Eat.”

Minseo: “Yes, CEO!” She sat one meter from him and ate soup so fast it was impressive.

After breakfast, Taejoon rolled to his office. Minseo followed. One meter.

The secretary opened the door. Minseo stood by the desk.

“CEO Kang,” she said. “Can I ask why you let me in the car yesterday?”

Taejoon signed a paper. “Because arguing in the hospital lobby was loud.”

Minseo: “So I’m quieter in cars? Noted.”

Taejoon: “You’re not quiet.”

Minseo grinned. “But I’m loyal. And I’m one meter. That’s rare.”

Taejoon finally looked at her. “Why don’t you cry? Other women would have left by now.”

Minseo blinked. “Cry? And waste water? I’m from the mountains. Water is expensive.”

Taejoon didn’t smile. But his eyes softened. Just a little.

Madam Kang burst in without knocking. With Hana. Again.

“CEO Kang, the board wants a photo for the homepage,” Madam Kang said. “You, Grandma, and a wife. Today.”

She pushed Hana forward. “Hana is ready.”

Taejoon: “Minseo is my wife.”

Hana’s smile cracked. “But I… I studied etiquette.”

Minseo: “I studied one meter. I’m certified.”

Madam Kang: “This is ridiculous. She’s a jinx.”

Taejoon rolled his chair to face Minseo. One meter. “Get your shoes.”

Minseo: “We’re going?”

Taejoon: “Yes. One meter.”

They left. Madam Kang was left holding Hana and fury.

In the car, Minseo actually sat this time. One meter from Taejoon.

Minseo: “So… do we talk in cars now? Or is that a special event?”

Taejoon: “Only if you don’t ask stupid questions.”

Minseo: “Define stupid.”

Taejoon: “You’ll figure it out.”

Minseo laughed. “You’re mean when you talk. I like it.”

Taejoon glanced at her. “You like everything.”

Minseo: “Not soup. I’m getting tired of soup.”

Taejoon almost smiled. Almost.

They arrived at Grandma’s private ward. Grandma was sitting up.

“Ah, the loud one and the quiet one,” Grandma said. “Perfect.”

Minseo bowed. “Grandma! We brought ourselves. And one meter.”

Grandma: “Sit, child.”

Minseo: “I can’t. One meter.”

Grandma: “My room, my rules. Sit one meter from him.”

Minseo looked at Taejoon. He nodded once.

Minseo sat on the floor. Exactly one meter from his wheelchair. “This is the best day of my life.”

Grandma laughed. “Taejoon, she’s good for you.”

Taejoon: “She’s loud.”

Minseo: “Loud keeps you awake. Quiet people let you freeze.”

Taejoon didn’t answer. But he didn’t tell her to stand up either.

Hana and Madam Kang arrived twenty minutes later. With a photographer.

Madam Kang: “Stand up, Minseo. Hana will sit for the photo.”

Minseo: “No.”

Madam Kang: “Excuse me?”

Minseo: “Grandma said sit. I sit. Contract says obey Grandma. Grandma outranks you.”

Grandma: “She’s right.”

The photographer looked confused. “So… who sits where?”

Taejoon said, “Minseo stays. One meter. Take the photo.”

Click.

The photo had Taejoon in his wheelchair, Grandma in bed, and Minseo on the floor one meter away, grinning like she won the lottery.

Madam Kang looked like she swallowed a lemon.

After the shoot, in the hallway, Madam Kang grabbed Minseo’s arm.

“You think this is a game?” Madam Kang hissed.

Minseo pulled back one meter. “No. It’s a contract. And I’m winning.”

Madam Kang: “You’re a mountain jinx. You’ll ruin him.”

Taejoon rolled between them. “Don’t touch her.”

Madam Kang froze. “Taejoon…”

Taejoon: “She’s my wife. That’s final.”

He rolled away. Minseo followed. One meter.

In the car home, Minseo was quiet for ten whole seconds. A record.

Then: “Did you just… defend me?”

Taejoon: “I stated facts.”

Minseo: “Facts sound like defense when Madam Kang is involved.”

Taejoon didn’t reply.

At the mansion, dinner was soup. Again.

Minseo put her spoon down. “CEO Kang. Can we please have rice tomorrow? Just once?”

Taejoon: “Tell the chef.”

Minseo: “I did. He said ‘CEO orders soup.’”

Taejoon sighed. “Rice tomorrow.”

Minseo gasped. “You have power! You never use it!”

Taejoon: “I use it when you’re annoying enough.”

Minseo: “So I should be more annoying?”

Taejoon: “No.”

Minseo: “Too late.”

After dinner, Taejoon went to his room. Minseo stood one meter from his door.

Taejoon opened it. “You can come in.”

Minseo blinked. “Inside? Past one meter?”

Taejoon: “One meter inside. Sit on the chair.”

Minseo walked in. She sat on the chair. Exactly one meter from his desk.

Taejoon: “Why are you here?”

Minseo: “Because you said I could. Also, I have a question.”

Taejoon: “What?”

Minseo: “Are you ever going to call me Minseo? Or am I always ‘wife’ or ‘jinx’?”

Taejoon was quiet.

Then: “Minseo.”

Minseo’s heart did that thumping thing again.

“Did you just say my name?” she whispered.

Taejoon: “Yes.”

Minseo: “Say it again.”

Taejoon: “No.”

Minseo laughed. “Fine. I’ll settle for once a day.”

Taejoon picked up his pen. “Go sleep.”

Minseo stood. “Yes, CEO Minseo’s boss.”

She walked out. One meter.

In her room, she wrote her list.

List one: CEO said my name. Once. Legendary.

List two: Rice approved. Soup tyranny over.

List three: Photo. I’m on the homepage floor.

List four: He defended me. In front of Madam Kang.

She lay on her bed and stared at the ceiling.

“Day five,” she whispered. “He said Minseo. He let me sit. He said rice.”

The jinx bride wasn’t just staying now.

She was being noticed.

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