Chapter 06
Yerim let out a scoff, as if to say, “Is that all you’ve got?”
“That matter’s already been settled among the adults. There’s nothing you can do. So just go upstairs and get ready for your trip. Keep living quietly like you have been.”
“You never know, sometimes unexpected things happen.”
Myeonghui, who had been staring at me with her flatfish eyes, looked like she was about to pounce on Hyeonjeong and pull out every strand of her hair right then and there. But it was clear she was holding back, probably because Yeonguk was in the room.
On any other day, Hyeonjeong would have stayed as quiet as a mouse, but today, a heat rose in her body, fueled more by the throbbing between her legs than the sting on her cheek. Who would believe she drew strength from that heat?
“What if I get really close to Jo Jae-seok and screw this family over, or screw Jae-seok over and run away? If I do even one of those things, it won’t be good for this household, right?”
Yerim laughed, rubbing her forehead as if Hyeonjeong’s words were ridiculous. Then she clicked her tongue, as if there wasn’t even a one percent chance of that happening, looking at Hyeonjeong with pity, as if she were deeply mistaken.
“Yeah. Go ahead and try that. This should be amusing. I’ll be looking forward to seeing how much power you can really wield.”
As Yerim turned to go up the stairs, Myeonghui’s spiteful, hushed voice reached her.
“Oh my, did she just openly admit in front of us that she’s seducing Vice President Jo with her body? Threatening to whisper secrets on the pillow? Ugh, how vulgar. Like mother, like daughter, huh? She even said herself she doesn’t love him, what? I can’t even. It’s unbelievable.”
How laughable. A woman who got pregnant with Yeonguk’s child without marriage and lived hidden away like a mistress was calling the legitimate wife’s daughter vulgar.
People are free to be delusional, but if delusion were a crime, Myeonghui would be under restraint.
* * *
“Haa…”
A sigh escaped Hyeonjeong’s lips as she closed her suitcase.
After washing her throbbing body, sore from the previous night’s passion, and forcing down breakfast, Jae-seok had arrived at the house before she knew it.
Seeing him greet her so affectionately made the breakfast she’d eaten threaten to come back up. She said she’d go get her luggage and quickly came up to the second floor.
He’d called it a trip to get to know each other before the engagement. A nice excuse, as if she didn’t know his lecherous intentions.
She had tried refusing the marriage to Jae-seok, and she had tried running away, but this day had finally come. She thought she had given up, but apparently not, because she absolutely did not want to take her suitcase and go down to the living room where Jae-seok was.
“Maybe I should have tried making one last dash overseas.”
It was far too late for regrets. Considering the hardships her friends, who had helped her escape, had endured, it was better to just follow her fate. She didn’t want to burden anyone anymore.
But no matter how hard she tried, it was impossible to force herself to like someone.
Jo Jae-seok was, how to put it, someone she had disliked from the very beginning. Ever since the moment he saw her at a charity event with her family, claimed it was love at first sight, came to her house, and asked for her hand in marriage.
Shouldn’t the normal order of things be that if you like someone, you try to win their heart? And shouldn’t a normal father be wary in that situation and consider whether the man is suitable for his daughter?
But Yeonguk was eager to hand over his daughter, who had just graduated high school, to Jae-seok right away. Hyeonjeong had begged her father for time until she graduated university, but he ignored her, and after that, she kept running away and disappearing.
Every attempt failed, so she had reached a state of resignation.
Knock knock.
“Hyeonjeong, it’s me. Not ready yet?”
Jae-seok’s voice came along with the knock. Goosebumps rose on her skin involuntarily, and her body froze.
Before Hyeonjeong could even answer, her room door opened and Jae-seok entered with a fake cough.
He acted a little awkward, as if embarrassed to be in a girl’s room, but the man’s eyes, scanning her room as he entered, had a disgusting gleam to them.
“I was just about to come down.”
She wanted to ask why he was opening her door and entering without permission. But more than that, the way he looked at her bed with those gleaming eyes, smacking his lips, gave her goosebumps, and she just wanted to get out of this space.
Of course, leaving here meant getting in a car with just the two of them, headed to the villa.
Either way, it was a creepy situation, and Hyeonjeong felt like crying.
“We should get going soon. Looks like it’s about to snow heavily.”
Hyeonjeong looked out the second-floor window at the gray sky. The sky, looking like it could drop heavy snowflakes at any moment, just as Jae-seok said, was as gloomy as her heart.
* * *
It was laughable. Yeonguk himself shoved Hyeonjeong into Jae-seok’s car. As if to cut off her retreat, the car doors locked the moment she got in.
As if to say there was no escape.
* * *
The moment Jae-seok’s car got on the highway, snowflakes began to flutter down.
Hyeonjeong stared blankly at the scenery passing outside the window, but her whole body ached painfully.
Jae-seok’s luxury sedan undoubtedly had a smooth ride, but whether it was because she had overexerted herself with the man from the bar last night, her entire body throbbed.
She tried moving her hips, shifting this way and that to find a comfortable position, but it remained uncomfortable, and she kept fidgeting.
“What, is the seat uncomfortable?”
“No, it’s not that. It’s just a little…”
Even though she was just sitting in the passenger seat, being in an enclosed space alone with Jae-seok was already exhausting her.
The added fear that he might pounce on her the moment they arrived at the villa in Gangwon Province made her nerves feel sharp.
“Are you nervous because you’re traveling with me?”
“…….”
“It’s fine. We’ll be engaged soon. Just relax. And you know I’ve been very considerate, right?”
Jae-seok stretched out his right hand from the steering wheel and touched Hyeonjeong’s earlobe.
The slow, deliberate rub of his thumb on her soft earlobe gave her goosebumps, and she jerked her head away. Even though it was just a touch, it felt like ants were crawling all over her body, and her stomach churned.
It was a disgust she hadn’t felt yesterday, even when she’d engaged in more intimate and secret acts with a stranger.
It was just a touch on her soft earlobe, but Hyeonjeong knew exactly what kind of perversion was behind that touch.
How could it be so different? She had felt ecstasy with a man whose name she didn’t know, but not with Jae-seok, whom she was about to marry.
It was creepy and nauseating; she felt like she was going to die.
Hyeonjeong suppressed the urge to vomit and rolled down the window. The cold winter wind hit her cheek, but instead of clearing her head, it made her feel stifled, as if her heart would burst.
* * *
She let out a sigh as she watched the snowflakes grow heavier.
Is this really the right path? Is there no other way?
If just a touch gave her such goosebumps, she worried about how she could possibly share a bed with him.
“What, are you shy? How cute.”
Even if he was mistaken, why did it have to be in a favorable direction? To anyone looking, Hyeonjeong probably resembled a cow being led to the slaughterhouse right now.
“There’s no one else like me. I even waited for you to graduate, you know. How many years has it been? Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep my hands to myself all this time and take you away pure like this?”
Hyeonjeong closed her eyes, not wanting to hear Jae-seok’s words that felt like they were being driven into the back of her head.
“It’s only because it’s me that I’m being this gentlemanly. If it were anyone else, I would’ve… Anyway, you’re marrying well, Seo Hyeonjeong.”
“…….”
Anyone hearing him would think he’d been devoted only to Hyeonjeong all this time. But she knew well that the models, celebrities, and secretaries Jae-seok had been with were numerous. Of course, she had no interest, but Yerim never failed to gossip about Jae-seok’s relationships. She ended up knowing without wanting to.
“I’ll treat you well. You won’t find a better man than me. Good family, good skills. My looks aren’t something to be ashamed of either. And I’ve learned very well how to please a woman. It’ll be your first time, right? I’ll make sure you go crazy with pleasure.”
As if boasting about what a great catch he was, Jae-seok reached out his hand again and touched her thigh. As his hand crept closer between her legs, Hyeonjeong couldn’t take it anymore and pushed his hand away.
