Chapter 08
Tok, tok.
Ihan tapped the keycard lying on his desk with his finger.
The memory of Haru’s flustered face when she thought the key had gone missing vividly resurfaced.
She was a woman whose thoughts and feelings showed transparently on her expression.
A strange woman who made him stifle laughter without meaning to.
A fleeting day long ago, still etched in his memory.
Her young face with clear skin, free of makeup, was still fresh in his mind.
He had wanted to see that face once more.
That was why he hadn’t hesitated to do something as petty as hiding the keycard under his feet.
Thanks to that, he had managed to secure another meeting with her—an underhanded trick, yes, but it got him what he wanted.
As he paused his work and drifted into thoughts of her, a knock sounded.
The clatter of high heels, the sudden gust of strong perfume as the door opened—
He already knew who it was without needing to check.
“Oppa!”
Of course. She had come all the way here because he’d ignored her calls.
“Mr. Kim, I told you not to let just anyone in.”
“Anyone? Am I just anyone to you?”
Before Kim could answer, Byulna cut in, fuming.
“You’re just… too pushy.”
“Well, it’s not Mr. Kim’s fault, is it?”
At Ihan’s small gesture toward the door, Kim bowed his head and left.
Once the door shut, Byulna strode quickly toward him.
Only then did Ihan’s eyes flicker briefly, dismissively, over her.
“What’s with that outfit?”
He dropped his gaze again, as if he’d seen something distasteful.
Byulna was dressed in skintight leather, her body shape on full display.
The provocative look, reminiscent of Catwoman, made Ihan frown.
“I thought you liked this kind of style.”
No doubt she was referring to Haru, whom he had recently bumped into at the hotel café.
Her ponytail pulled her eyes up at sharp angles, like clock hands pointing at ten and ten.
Combined with her thick eyeliner, her look was simply absurd.
“You should’ve told me earlier. Leather suits me perfectly, don’t you think?”
Such shallow tactics.
She was the type who would even throw on Stone Age animal hides if it meant pleasing him.
It wasn’t the first time, so Ihan responded wearily.
“I’m busy. Just say what you came for and leave.”
“Who was that woman the other day?”
“And why should I tell you that?”
Deflecting her question with another, Ihan flipped through his papers and ordered,
“Stop barging in here with your personal business under the excuse of work.”
“Just answer me and I’ll go. Who is she? Your girlfriend?”
Byulna waited nervously for his answer. At last, Ihan spoke.
“She’s not my girlfriend.”
“Right? I knew it!”
Byulna’s lips curved upward, matching the sharp angle of her eyeliner—until Ihan slowly raised his head.
For the first time, his eyes met hers. Then he said:
“She’s the woman I’m working hard to win over.”
Thunderstruck, Byulna’s eyes widened in shock.
He had never said such words before—words that seemed so unlike him.
It stung that his side wasn’t hers, but her only comfort had been that it belonged to no one.
But now—
Her mind flashed red with alarm. Something was wrong.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?”
Until now, whenever he had mentioned women, they were always fabricated excuses meant to push her away.
She had seen through those lies and lingered around him, waiting for her chance.
But Tae Ihan, actually pursuing a woman?
And not the other way around? Impossible.
“You saw this, didn’t you?”
Ihan held up the keycard between his fingers.
“That day, you must have seen us go up together.”
Byulna’s face stormed with denial as she shook her head.
His firm voice cut through:
“You got your answer. Now leave.”
Fuming but unable to argue against the evidence she had witnessed, she obeyed.
Normally, she would have pressed further, but this time she couldn’t.
After she left, Ihan tried to return to his work—only to be interrupted by his phone vibrating.
Seeing the caller ID, his brow furrowed slightly.
Reluctantly, he answered and raised the phone to his ear.
—Son, did you get yourself a woman?
No greetings, no pleasantries. Just the blunt question.
“As expected, your information network is fast.”
—I heard you were seen at the hotel. Did you think word wouldn’t get to me?
The Silas Hotel was owned by Ihan’s mother, Hwaran.
Of course, if he was spotted there with a woman, she’d hear about it.
But what she didn’t know—was that he had planned for it.
—So, who is she?
After a pause, Ihan considered his answer.
A fake blind-date partner?
A chance reunion with someone from the past?
Or simply a woman who intrigued him?
None seemed right.
“I’m just getting to know her.”
It was the kind of cliché line celebrities used in dating scandals.
But since he truly didn’t know her well yet, it fit perfectly.
—Another blind date’s been arranged. You’re not going?
Hwaran constantly set him up on blind dates.
He always sabotaged them, but she kept scheduling more as if it were a duty.
And he, in turn, kept showing up only to ruin them.
But this time was different.
“I believe I just told you I’m seeing someone.”
—Fine, then. You can explain it yourself to your father and grandfather.
The blind dates had always been their idea.
To them, marriage was a business strategy. They wanted him to find a suitable match quickly.
But Ihan had never let any woman close, let alone considered marriage.
His odd excuses at every meeting only fueled rumors, until his family was reduced to begging him to date anyone at all.
Satisfied for now, Hwaran hung up without pressing further.
Exhaling, Ihan set the phone down.
By making Haru play the role of his lover, two problems had solved themselves.
The “fake girlfriend” had become the perfect excuse to silence both his meddling family and Byulna.
On the other side of town, Haru was glued to her screen, racing against a looming deadline.
Just one more episode left to translate.
She replayed and paused the video again and again, typing mechanically—until that scene came up.
—“Haah… yes… good…”
The very scene she had been caught watching in the elevator.
For a moment, she forgot to translate, staring blankly at the screen.
And in her mind appeared none other than Cha Seungjae.
“There are things married couples must do together, you know.”
“Yes. Exactly what you’re thinking of.”
She could almost hear his voice again, lips curling with mischief.
Onscreen, the male actor’s face twisted in raw intensity, his groans escaping.
His heavy thrusts moved the woman beneath him as sweat glistened on his muscular body.
“Why do you think a man would ask a woman to meet again?”
Before she realized it, the actor’s face blurred, replaced by Seungjae’s.
The veins straining on his neck, the sharp jawline clenched tight—
She found herself transfixed, until the shrill ring of her phone shattered the fantasy.
Startled, like a child caught misbehaving, she glanced at the caller ID.
It read: Cha Seungjae.
She hurriedly stopped the video and answered.
“Hello?”
Guilt and embarrassment weighed on her voice.
Maybe it was because she had just imagined him in that scene.
Caught in the act, her words stumbled clumsily.
—What were you doing, to sound so startled?
With just his voice, he could see right through her.
With him, she always felt exposed.
—Don’t tell me… you were thinking about me.
“N-no! Of course not!”
Her hasty denial only made her guilt more obvious.
She bit her lip in self-reproach.
She thought she heard his low chuckle.
—We need to see each other, Dan Haru-ssi.
