Chapter 2
A fake husband to trick the ghost! So basically, the only solution is to sleep with a man, huh?
Either way, once dead, the body would rot away, so it wasn’t like she planned to preserve it carefully.
But then… with whom should she “combine”?
In Seol-ah’s values, a man eligible for “combination” fell into the following categories:
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A man who loves me, and I love him.
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A man who loves me.
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A man I love.
Mutual feelings were ideal, but at the very least, one side had to be serious about love… No, wait—love? In this kind of situation? What nonsense.
Okay, scratch the “love.” The most realistic fake-husband candidate was option two: “a man who loves me.”
“So you’re saying you want me to play the role of your husband? Me, you, in your house, every night… sleeping together?!”
As if speaking into a microphone, his booming voice turned every head in the room.
“Im Seol-ah! Hey! Say it properly for everyone to hear!”
She hadn’t even been able to tell her best friend about this embarrassing issue for fear an ant might overhear.
Yet with Crush-Guy A’s feather-light personality and thunderous voice, her secret would instantly become national gossip.
Simulation result of “man who loves me”? A total failure!
The next candidate: “a man who doesn’t need to love me, but can keep his mouth shut.”
It had to be someone who wouldn’t go around bragging that she’d begged random men to sleep with her just to get rid of a ghost.
After asking around, she finally found one: an extremely quiet man, Introduction-Guy B.
He was the ultimate introvert, so at least he wouldn’t spread rumors.
But…
“Holy crap! D-did something just pass by? Aaaaah!!!”
He was such a natural coward that he practically lived on herbal tonics. The moment she mentioned ghosts, he screamed and bolted.
The third candidate was the one man she’d rather die than contact: Ex-Boyfriend C.
“Noona, you were still a virgin? Guess no guy was desperate enough to take your V-card after we broke up? Hahaha!”
The reason for their breakup had been “not doing it.” His true colors had shown within a month, so she dumped him.
“When you were making me a horny dog back then, and now suddenly you want it? Honestly, noona, you’re still hot as hell… but a virgin? That’s kinda…”
What? Is that too much for you?
“It’s boring, isn’t it? Still, since you’re begging, I can’t be heartless. I need new pads anyway. Buy them for me, and I’ll do it with you.”
She realized just how quickly a man turned into the one holding the knife—how fast he transformed into the dominant “buyer” when a woman showed desperation first.
Hopeless.
What if I just go with someone I absolutely despise?
A cursed, repulsive man she wouldn’t care if a ghost killed.
Like Married-Boss D, who’d harassed her at company dinners, sent her sleazy messages, and tormented her for ages.
At least she’d feel no guilt with him.
But still—disgusting. He was someone who deserved to be dragged away by ghosts himself.
There was no way she could sleep with a creep like that.
Forget it. I lost.
Her search for a temporary husband ended in utter failure.
She admitted defeat and faced the fated day.
Im Seol-ah’s last day alive.
“Tonight at midnight, the gates of the underworld will open for one hour. If the ghost severs the bride-to-be’s life thread, she’ll be dragged to the afterlife and live eternally as that ghost’s bride in hell. So before then, you absolutely must sleep with your husband. That’s the only way to live!”
It was a night she couldn’t endure sober, so she forced herself to drink… only to spit it out.
It was her first taste of raw soju in her life.
My first experience is on the day I die…
A hollow laugh escaped.
If only I’d dated someone before, this wouldn’t be happening.
But really—how many boyfriends would risk their lives against a ghost?
Even if such a man existed, she knew he wouldn’t be hers.
There’s no one who’ll protect me. No one who’d jump into the fire with me…
For three years, haunted by ghosts, she hadn’t had the mental space for romance.
Just maintaining her job was overwhelming.
Because of that, she wasted three whole years—years when she should have been receiving and giving love.
It’s unfair. I’m lonely. I’m scared…
Now all that was left was this helpless, pathetic self—too terrified to enter her own house, squatting and crying by the gate.
Dear unspecified gods, you know I’ve never once prayed in my life. But just this once, please look kindly on me. When I open my eyes, please, just one husband in front of me…
As midnight—the hour of death—approached, she wept endlessly.
Then a voice called her name.
“Im Seol-ah.”
She slowly lifted her tear-swollen eyes, hands still covering her face.
“Yang Min-ho? Why are you…?”
From college days, he’d been a persistent nuisance, even following her into her workplace.
He still occasionally confessed, but she’d always cut him off without hesitation. She had her reasons.
“Wow, you’re just calling your boss’s name like that? Hearing you speak informally again… it makes my heart flutter.”
He gave his signature “killer” look—though in truth it was just a sleazy grin, tongue flicking like a snake.
“What are you doing here…?”
“You asked me to come.”
He shoved his phone screen in her face.
[Do you still want to sleep with me?]
Seol-ah jumped to her feet in shock.
She had once considered him under the “man who loves me” category, but in reality, he was radioactive waste—untouchable no matter how desperate.
She had deleted the mistaken text at lightning speed, but he had a creepy hobby: snooping deleted messages with a hidden app.
Disaster.
“So you finally had the guts to say it after some drinks. Dropped the act, huh?”
“…”
Not worth answering.
She had to get away from this human trash before she got burned.
But her body, weakened by a single sip of alcohol, refused to obey her clear mind.
“All right, all right, don’t get mad. But come on, running here late Sunday night? That proves it, doesn’t it? You want it too.”
He slipped an arm under hers, groping her soft forearm under the guise of support.
Seol-ah flinched and yanked away.
“Sorry, it was a mistake. Please leave. I’m sorry.”
For a moment, his face twisted with violence.
“Mistake? Im Seol-ah, are you f***ing playing me? You wag your tail, call me here, then tell me to leave?!”
She knew he was trash, but this was the first time he showed such aggression. Fear surged.
But dizzy and nauseated, she couldn’t fight back, only stumble backward until her back hit a wall.
“You text me in the middle of the night, then pull this crap?”
“That’s because… I was scared… the ghost…”
He frowned in confusion—then burst out laughing, leaning back.
“Haha! You even have a cute side? Never thought you’d use being scared of sleeping alone as an excuse.”
“Sorry for the misunderstanding. But right now, I—”
He mocked her cornered state, brushing her hair.
“So the truth is, you regretted rejecting me because I’m a team leader now, right? After all that playing hard to get, you’re no different.”
“That’s not it.”
“Come on, you’re nearly thirty. If you don’t snag a man now, when will you? Honestly, even if times have changed, women in their twenties still sell higher. Haha!”
She would rather hold a ghost’s hand and walk into hell than sleep with this bloated egomaniac insect.
“Fine then, let’s go.”
He pointed at a nearby motel sign and pulled her wrist.
“No! Stop it. I said no!”
And then, in the empty midnight street, a third voice rang out low and cold.
“Let go.”
Across the street stood a man in casual all-black, baseball cap pulled low.
