Chapter 2
A cold beer is exactly what I needed for my aching stomach. Seung-ah and Mi-yeon each picked up a glass and sat across from each other at the table.
“Ahhh!”
Mi-yeon downed her beer in one gulp and then carelessly set the glass on top of the wedding invitation. The cold droplets trickled down, soaking the paper in an unsightly way. She glared at it and said:
“Kim Tae-jun… that guy. I heard he even bought a flashy new house. Supposedly in Cheongdam-dong. A J Corporation apartment, of all places.”
“They say the woman he’s marrying is the daughter of a wealthy family.”
Money. Comparing Kim Tae-jun’s current girlfriend with Seung-ah, that was the most obvious difference.
“Until recently, I was living in a tiny rooftop room…”
Seung-ah had no choice but to live in such a modest place due to her financial situation.
When she moved into that rooftop room, Seung-ah was a new employee, repaying her student loans with a meager salary, all while taking care of her younger sibling preparing for college entrance exams.
“And after all the care you gave him! After supporting him like that, he just abandons you?”
Mi-yeon voiced Seung-ah’s outrage for her.
Looking back, Seung-ah really did care for him a lot. She scrimped on living expenses to make sure Tae-jun’s birthdays and anniversaries were celebrated properly. Once, she even saved up and splurged on a watch he had wanted for a long time.
“Should I go to the wedding hall and cause a scene? ‘This groom is a cheat!’”
“That’s a good idea. I’d be tempted too.”
“Let’s team up…!”
“And we’ll end up as jailhouse buddies.”
“Who cares! If we can just teach that ungrateful, cheating bastard a lesson!”
Thinking about how he had behaved, Seung-ah couldn’t help but nod in agreement with Mi-yeon.
During their relationship, there were signs that Tae-jun was seeing someone else. Strange scents of perfume, delayed responses to messages—small clues that gradually revealed his actions.
And when Seung-ah finally caught him, he had the audacity to say:
“But I was so lonely. You were always busy with work and seemed indifferent to me.”
Even a passing dog would have scoffed at such nonsense. Cheating and then blaming the girlfriend!
She regretted only that the coffee she had thrown at him back then had been lukewarm—it should have been boiling hot, like molten lava.
Eventually, Tae-jun went to the new woman. And today, the wedding invitation he sent had landed on Seung-ah’s table via a friend.
Reduced to just holding a beer glass, she and Mi-yeon let out sighs of anger.
“Thanks to him, I get to live in this nice house now.”
The song lyrics “I even thought of marrying you” would have applied to him, but he was gone. Seung-ah had used the savings she had been accumulating for their future together to buy the house she now lived in.
It had to be considered a blessing. If she had gone house hunting with him, she might not have been able to find such a mansion.
Moreover, if Tae-jun had been around, Seung-ah wouldn’t have been able to happily spend time with her teddy bears. He had always disapproved of her collecting dolls, remembering the words he once threw at her:
“You’re not a child. That’s childish. Isn’t that a waste of money?”
He should have at least tolerated her tastes a little. Perhaps from that moment, she realized he was never going to be a good match.
After finishing the bear shopping, Mi-yeon raised her beer again.
“Ahh! Drink! To Seung-ah and the bears’ happy life!”
“To that!”
Mi-yeon, furious on Seung-ah’s behalf, poured herself more beer and got completely drunk.
Late at night, with only the sound of insects crying, Seung-ah escorted Mi-yeon to the front door.
“Ahh! Kim Tae-jun! Eat this!”
Mi-yeon gave the imagined Tae-jun a middle finger. Seung-ah quickly lowered her hand and guided Mi-yeon into her younger sibling’s waiting car.
After seeing off her affectionate, drunken friend, Seung-ah looked back to see the luxurious mansion filling her view. A sight that never failed to satisfy.
“Kim Tae-jun can live happily with that woman in his palace-like apartment for all I care.”
Seung-ah snorted confidently and entered the mansion, completely unaware that a drunken Mi-yeon had dropped the wedding invitation on the lawn.
The most expensive mansion in the area.
Except for Seung-ah moving in recently, it had been deserted. A car arrived, and the driver curiously surveyed the house. Meanwhile, the rear door opened.
The person stepping onto the floor was Han Yoo-jin.
He effortlessly opened the gate and entered. A man dressed in a dark suit in the middle of the night, with a lean figure and perfect proportions, naturally drew attention.
His face? Thick eyebrows above a straight nose, full lips, and a sharp jawline. Pale skin and cold eyes gave him an elegant, commanding aura.
His features were so flawless, it was almost divine—anyone passing by would easily turn to look.
Meticulous and thorough, Yoo-jin’s eyes scanned the mansion. Though he had been away for a while, the garden and exterior were immaculate.
Satisfied, he headed toward the entrance—until he noticed something white on the floor.
A wedding invitation. Wet and dust-covered.
<Kim Tae-jun> | <Shin Yu-mi>
Names he had never heard. How did it even end up here?
Unbothered, Yoo-jin picked it up and unlocked the door.
Beep beep beep… Click!
As soon as he stepped inside, Yoo-jin froze.
Two jet-black eyes stared straight at him!
A bear! A huge grizzly!
Well, technically, it was a giant teddy bear. Realistically made.
“W-what?!”
He shouted without thinking, then realized it wasn’t just one bear.
All around, teddy bears of every color, shape, and texture were arranged wherever he looked.
The man, suddenly in the middle of a den of beasts, hesitated. Their blank, black eyes seemed to watch him warily.
‘What is going on?’
While he was away, his grandmother, Geum Il-bong, had been managing the mansion. She had a hobby of collecting things, most recently porcelain. But he had never seen her display such unique items. It was almost unbelievable.
Huh…
He sighed, ignoring the throng of teddy bears, and threw the wedding invitation into the trash.
He wanted to ask about the house, but it was too late to contact his grandmother. He decided to wash up and get a good night’s sleep.
Until he left the bedroom, he had no idea anyone else was home.
When he reached for the bathroom door handle, the door was suddenly pulled inward, dragging him inside.
Someone was already in the bathroom—they had grabbed the handle.
“Uh… uh…”
Yoo-jin instantly lost his balance.
For a brief moment, he thought it might be his grandmother.
But he couldn’t risk hurting a frail old woman. Using his excellent reflexes, he steadied himself and ended up holding the person in his arms.
The bathroom, just finished with a shower, was steaming hot. Even the small body in his arms radiated warmth.
Relieved he hadn’t fallen, Yoo-jin then noticed something strange—there wasn’t a hint of gray in the hair resting against his chest.
Smaller than him, yes, but completely different from his grandmother.
The soft, smooth skin, the firm, curvy figure, and the unfamiliar scent from wet hair…
This wasn’t Geum Il-bong!
Yoo-jin’s eyes widened.
‘…A young woman?’
He instantly let go of her as if he had touched fire.
At the same time, Seung-ah regained her senses. The pain from hitting the man’s chest was brief, and then she realized she had been swept into the arms of a stranger.
Through her open jacket, she could see the sculpted chest muscles.
“Ah! Ah!”
She pushed him away and stumbled back, finally noticing the man’s breathtakingly chiseled features.
Frozen, she couldn’t even speak. There was no time to ask who he was.
Seung-ah quickly spun around and dashed out of the bathroom.
Bang!
The door slammed shut with a tremendous noise.
“Ugh!”
Only then did he exhale.
‘Who the hell is she?!’
