TPDC CHAPTER 7

Episode 7

Tae-jung continued acting like a man whose goal was marriage—no, a marriage with the intention of divorce from the start.

He even said he would match every clause in the contract to Ji-won’s exact wishes.

“If you don’t marry me, I’ll have to go on a blind date soon.”

“A blind date?”

“And I’ll probably end up in a marriage I don’t want.”

“……”

The man who had asked her to marry him with a face that lacked any trace of desperation now had eyes tinged red, like the sunset.

They say even the wishes of the dead should be honored—so how could she ignore the earnest plea of a man she once had a crush on as a child?

Ji-won fiddled with the wish coupon still in her hand.

Objectively, it wasn’t a bad proposal. In fact, it was so good that it made her suspect it might be a scam. Refusing any further would be foolish.

“You said one year, right?”

“That’s right.”

“I have one condition.”

“Anything.”

He looked ready to agree to whatever she asked. That made it easier for Ji-won to speak.

“If I marry you, my identity is going to come out…”

“I’ll keep it a secret. That’s no problem at all.”

“No, I want it to be well-known.”

“Well-known?”

“There’s someone I want to show that I’m doing just fine. I want that person to see me… looking my best.”

“There’s no need to dress it up. You’re already amazing just the way you are.”

“If I remember correctly, you were always this kind.”

“And you’ve changed.”

Tae-jung tilted his head slightly and whispered near her ear.

“You should call me oppa. Like you used to.”

“……”

“You used to call me oppa all the time when we were kids.”

“That was when I was a kid.”

Ji-won blushed. Maybe she had called him that back then, but now the word just wouldn’t come out of her mouth.

It wasn’t in her vocabulary.

When she was growing up in an orphanage, she called older boys “hey,” “you,” or used their full name, including the surname. Acting tough was the only way to avoid getting picked on.

Of course, there were still those who hit her even then. In any case, the world Ji-won had lived in was far removed from anything gentle.

“Do you see a black sedan behind us?”

Ji-won stretched her neck, trying to peek over her shoulder. Tae-jung gently stopped her.

“If you look that obviously, they’ll know.”

“Are you saying… we’re being followed?”

“That’s right.”

“But why?”

Ji-won widened her eyes in disbelief. Suddenly, Tae-jung placed both his hands gently on her shoulders.

“My grandfather is a very suspicious man. I told him I wouldn’t go on any more blind dates because I was seeing someone. He put someone on me to make sure it wasn’t a lie.”

“Your grandfather… You mean the chairman of Seonil Group?”

With a short nod, Tae-jung confirmed it. Then, very naturally, he took Ji-won’s hand.

Startled by the sudden skinship, Ji-won tried to pull away, but hesitated.

That black sedan kept bugging her. Since she had agreed to marry him, she figured she should at least go along with things for now.

When Tae-jung opened the passenger door, Ji-won climbed into the car as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

She eyed the heavily tinted black sedan through the side mirror and cautiously asked,

“That car… it’s not going to keep following me forever, is it?”

“It might.”

“I can’t have that until the wedding.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

“How?”

Ji-won turned her head to look at him. Tae-jung started the car and answered as if it were the easiest thing in the world.

“By dating properly.”

“…Properly?”

“Just like anyone else in a relationship.”

Well, that was a problem.

She would need to know what dating properly meant to do that.

Ji-won had never really been interested in anyone. To her, romance had always felt like a luxury. Just surviving on her own was hard enough. Whispering sweet nothings and dreaming of love was simply out of reach.

Her only knowledge of dating came from dramas—old ones at that. Like the kind with lines such as, ‘Since when have you been so pretty, Dong Ji-won?’

Well, she’d just have to follow Tae-jung’s lead.

With a face like that, he probably had more dating experience than he could count.

---

Ji-won kept tilting her head in confusion.

Was this really a date?

Tae-jung had invited her out on a date, but all they had done was come to a nearby café.

Saying they both had urgent tasks, he suggested they take care of work first. From the moment they sat down until now, he hadn’t lifted his eyes from his documents and tablet.

Even for someone with no dating experience, Ji-won was sure this wasn’t normal.

“Um, Mr. Moon Tae-jung.”

She called to him across the table.

He looked up from his paperwork, and the moment their eyes met, Ji-won involuntarily swallowed hard.

Moon Tae-jung was too handsome.

It felt unfair to sit across from such a gorgeous man for two hours just doing work.

“We’ve only been working. Are you sure this is a date?”

“Isn’t sitting across from someone you love and getting things done together a form of dating?”

“……”

Strangely, it made sense.

Really, what else is a date? Just being together like this was enough.

Nodding to herself, Ji-won turned her gaze back to her laptop. It was a workplace injury case she had recently agreed to take on.

Tae-jung, noticing her squinting at the screen, asked,

“What are you so focused on?”

“Work.”

She answered with feigned annoyance—her way of signaling not to interrupt.

But she couldn’t ignore the weight of his gaze on her. She eventually had to look up.

Apparently finished with his documents, Tae-jung now sat back sipping his coffee.

His rolled-up sleeves revealed strong forearms, the muscles flexing slightly as he lifted the cup.

Objectively, Moon Tae-jung was stunning.

Women in the café had been sneaking glances at him ever since they walked in.

How could she have forgotten a man like this?

Even if trauma had erased most of her childhood, a face like his should’ve burned itself into her memory.

Faced with his almost unreal beauty, a ridiculous thought popped into her head.

Did Moon Tae-jung get plastic surgery?

“Can I ask you something?”

“Go ahead.”

“Did you… get any plastic surgery?”

“What if I did?”

“I knew it.”

Ji-won folded her arms triumphantly as if it explained everything. Tae-jung frowned slightly, and she said,

“Even if I lost my childhood memories, there’s no way I would forget a face like yours. Just brushing past someone like you would leave a permanent impression.”

“Was that a compliment?”

“……”

“It sounded like you were complimenting my looks. Just checking.”

“You heard right.”

“I didn’t get plastic surgery.”

Tae-jung suddenly pulled a small envelope from inside his suit jacket. Opening it, he took out a Polaroid photo.

‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’

In the photo, a little girl held a balloon with a birthday card on it, standing next to a boy holding her hand.

The two kids were young Ji-won and Tae-jung.

Tae-jung held the photo next to his face and mimicked the expression.

“Looks the same, right?”

“……”

“You still look the same too.”

Ji-won stared hard at the girl in the photo. It was undeniably her. But for some reason, she felt completely disconnected from the image.

It was the expression.

Even though it was clearly a birthday celebration, the little girl looked like she might burst into tears any second.

No, Ji-won. You were happy then.

So in that photo, you should’ve been smiling.

She ran her fingertip gently over the Polaroid.

Then Tae-jung reached out and held her hand—just like in the photo.

Their eyes met, and at that moment, someone captured the scene in a picture.

 

Through the slightly open window, a black sedan slowly moved past. Seeing it, a smile curved at the corner of Tae-jung’s lips.