Chapter 8
“How could I seduce a man? Who would even fall for me?”
“What do you mean? There are plenty of guys who’d line up for you, just hoping to get a chance.”
“You bastard, are you crazy?!”
Bum-gyu roared.
“How dare you say that in front of her? She’s Ban Seok-joo’s daughter. Have you lost your mind?”
At the mention of her late father, even the sly glint in Chairman Park’s eyes faded a little.
Clearing his throat, Park tried again.
“This target’s standards are way too high. Ordinary women won’t work on him. That’s why I’m asking you.”
“But me? I’m not cut out for this.”
“You just don’t know yourself. You’re actually perfect for it. You’ve got that rare look—innocent and fragile, but also naturally alluring. It’s the kind of beauty that makes a man’s chest flutter.”
He piled on the compliments, but Sa-hee still looked unimpressed. Park quickly added:
“It won’t be hard. We already know the target’s taste in women. You’ll just follow a script.”
Then he explained the plan.
It would be a long-term project, lasting at least six months. Sa-hee’s role was simple: get close to the target, seduce him, and report everything he did.
Her cover identity was already prepared, but they needed the right woman to play the role.
Park glanced nervously at Bum-gyu.
“…If you manage to hook him enough to marry him, that would be perfect. But even if not, just keeping him bewitched is enough.”
“Marry?!” Bum-gyu exploded.
He leapt up, grabbed Park by the collar, and shook him violently.
“You dare say that about Sa-hee?!”
Park, choking, rasped out:
“I didn’t mean real marriage! She’ll be using a fake identity. Even if she marries him, it’s not legally valid.”
Then, stabbing where it hurt most, he added:
“You didn’t raise her like a princess. You trained her as a fixer. What’s the difference?”
The truth stung. Sa-hee’s fate had been sealed at fifteen, the day she let go of Bella’s hand and followed Bum-gyu into this life.
“In this business, using seduction is normal. Even you, Bum-gyu, married multiple times under fake identities.”
“That was different! I’m a man. She’s a woman!”
“If you wanted to protect her as a woman, you shouldn’t have dragged her into this world in the first place.”
This line hit hard. In such a brutal world, everyone grew up fast. Men, women—it didn’t matter.
“And another thing. The fact that she’s twenty-two with zero dating experience? That’s a weakness. In this business, that makes her vulnerable.”
“You bastard, watch your mouth!”
Bum-gyu shook him like a ragdoll, though Park wasn’t small himself.
Still, Park kept pushing:
“The target’s really handsome. I saw him myself. A real feast for the eyes.”
Bum-gyu’s face reddened further, but Park ignored him, staring only at Sa-hee.
“He’s tall—easily over 190 cm. Perfect build. Sleek, like a jaguar. Strong, but elegant.”
Sa-hee watched their squabbling, expression blank, thoughts racing.
She knew Park wasn’t entirely wrong.
In this line of work, everyone was sexually experienced and morally loose. At twenty-two, she was unusual. Most women her age had already gone through a dozen men.
For Sa-hee, though, men meant nothing. She cared only about two things:
money and Korean citizenship.
Then Park dropped his hidden card.
“If you succeed, besides the payment, I’ll make sure you get South Korean citizenship.”
Sa-hee’s eyes widened.
“You know citizenship isn’t something money alone can buy.”
She knew well. As a stateless person, she couldn’t simply buy her way in. She had no documents to prove her parents were Korean, no records at all.
Bella was proof—despite being the daughter of a rich oil baron, she still couldn’t get Korean nationality because she lacked the political connections.
Neither could Bum-gyu or Seung-cheol help her. All they could do was forge fake identities.
But Park… Park claimed he could give her the real thing.
“I’ve built connections in the Korean Foreign Ministry. Over drinks, I even spoke with the Vice Minister. Told him about you—said your parents were Korean, that you’re 100% Korean, and I’d testify for you. He agreed to recognize it.”
Bum-gyu’s grip on his collar loosened.
“Normally, you’d need all kinds of proof about your parents, but with my word as witness, they’ll make it official.”
Straightening his clothes, Park smiled slyly.
“So here’s the deal. Do this job, and you’ll have two things: a powerful first husband, and… South Korean citizenship.”
The crude joke about the husband she ignored. But the citizenship? That struck deep.
That was her lifelong dream.
“…I’ll do it.”
“Ban Sa-hee!” Bum-gyu shouted, horrified.
But her decision was made.
“Promise me. If I succeed, you’ll make sure I get Korean nationality.”
Park agreed. He would even put it in the contract as a special condition.
That day, Sa-hee canceled her Santa Barbara holiday, signed the contract, and sealed her fate.
“Let this be your last job, Sa-hee,” Park told her.
“Next Christmas, I hope you’ll be living in Korea—free, wealthy, and twenty-something.”
Freedom.
Such a sweet, romantic word.
