Chapter 15
“Let’s talk.”
“…Can’t we do this tomorrow at the office, Director?”
“It has to be today. If I don’t, I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep.”
“Haa… What is it you need to say?”
“I told you, didn’t I? If I don’t do this today, I won’t be able to sleep.”
“Yes, so please go ahead and say it…”
“Im Seol-ah, if it’s not with you, I won’t be able to sleep.”
“…What? B-but you said you never wanted to get personally involved with your employees… that it was a rule…”
“My rule. And I’m saying I’ll break it. Is that a problem?”
“Director, wait a second. You’re too close—!”
“You shouldn’t have made me think about you all day.”
“What did I…? We’re outside. People can see us. J-just give me some space…”
“You shouldn’t have lingered in front of my eyes all day. I barely managed to stop myself from losing it, wanting to hold you again.”
“B-but you don’t even like me…”
“A man who hates having his plans disrupted… when I withdrew my words and broke my own rule in less than half a day—do you really think that means I dislike you?”
“Th-then why are you… unbuttoning? Why are you loosening your tie and—mmph!”
…That’s the kind of scene she had imagined.
In that instant, she hated herself.
She was furious with her own rotten imagination.
Even though she had already accepted the suffocating reality of needing to find a new husband candidate, even though she knew the game was already over, she had still secretly hoped—faintly, foolishly—that he might change his decision.
When they first met again as boss and subordinate, she had shuddered at the mere memory of that night.
But the moment she saw him waiting in front of her house, she realized she had been holding on to “what if.”
Yet he only ever thought about work…
The realization made her feel shameful, pathetic.
Fine. I’ll work, too. Until I get fired, he’s still my superior. I’ll treat him as such—with courtesy, formally, as professionally as I can.
Just as Seol-ah opened her mouth to apologize for her earlier emotional tone—
“And even if you want to refuse, you’ll listen until the end.”
“Yes, Director.”
“Here’s the point. Let’s make a proper deal. A real estate deal.”
“…Excuse me?”
“You’ll live in my apartment, and in exchange, I’ll live in your house. What do you say?”
It was shaping up to be a night with absolutely zero normal developments.
“It’s not something you get to experience easily. I tried to let it go, but I just can’t.”
Her lips, pressed tightly in disbelief, parted with a small popping sound.
“So… what you’re saying is… at a time like this… you want to have a ghost-hunting experience?”
Seol-ah scolded herself for ever underestimating the world’s greatest eccentric.
“I’ve always had an interest in this field. I bought that apartment because this neighborhood is known as a ghost spot, but nothing ever showed up. Who knew the real hotspot was just across the street…”
My house is… a ghost hotspot? A spirit’s sanctuary?
“I can’t waste all those nights running around looking for ghost spots. I have to see this ghost with my own eyes. Absolutely.”
A headache began pounding at her temples. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed.
“What do you think? It’s not such a bad offer for you, either. My apartment’s fully furnished. I even redid the kitchen with all built-ins. And the bed—it’s one of the world’s top three luxury brands, the same used by the Swedish royal family—”
“You don’t seriously want to see that ‘royal bed’ smashed to pieces, do you!”
Her uncharacteristically raised voice stopped him short.
She took a breath, then spoke again.
“This house isn’t haunted. I’m the one haunted. No matter where I go, wherever I sleep becomes the ghost’s home.”
Only then did Su-hyuk’s expression shift, as if he finally understood why she said everything was pointless. He lifted one eyebrow.
“So if I want to see the ghost, the only way is to live under the same roof as you?”
“Yes, that’s what I’m saying. But you and I aren’t in that kind of relationship—not even close. So please, Director, keep your real estate proposal to yourself.”
Seol-ah forced a bright smile through clenched teeth.
“…What a pity. Are you certain about this ‘haunted by a ghost’ thing?”
Seol-ah frowned and recited the address he had texted her earlier.
“…Apartment 3033, Trimaise, 167th Street. If I sleep there just one night, the ghost will come crashing in without fail. If you’d like, Director, you’re welcome to watch.”
When she started toward his car as if ready to go right away, Su-hyuk instinctively stepped back.
Of course. She had expected as much and stopped at once.
“Then I’ll just let it wreck whatever it was wrecking before. Have a good night, Director.”
With a receptionist’s gracious smile, she bowed politely and turned toward home.
“…Then, last thing. Could I at least come inside for one more quick look—”
“Goodbye, Director!”
Seol-ah spun around, holding down the fury rising from her gut, smiling stiffly with eyes that bent in mock cheerfulness.
“This time for real—goodbye. Right? Okay?”
With teeth clenched, she jabbed her finger toward his officetel building. Her forceful aura left him speechless.
She bowed again, then strode away, huffing through her nose.
“Im Seol-ah!”
I’ve been holding back.
A problem child. A flaw. A ticking time bomb carrying the secret of that one-night stand, someone who should have been erased already—yet I’ve been holding back.
So why do you keep pushing me?
Fine. Even if she got fired, she wanted to say it.
Seol-ah clenched her fists, marched back, and stopped in front of him.
“You’ve been pushing me to the edge all day long—what are you doing now…?”
Her heavy voice made Su-hyuk tilt his head in puzzlement.
“Do you know how excited I got, even while telling myself not to expect anything?”
His expression didn’t change, but for a moment, a ticklish breeze stirred in his chest.
“I thought—‘Maybe, if I’m lucky, I can finally be freed from this ghost and live normally again.’”
His eyes trembled slightly.
“I can’t even remember the last time I felt something like hope. Even knowing it was only a 1% chance against 99%, foolishly my heart kept clinging to fifty-fifty. Maybe, perhaps, what if… That pathetic 1% was enough to make me realize—ah, right, that feeling of joy and excitement, this is what it was like.”
When he stepped closer, she cut him off.
“And besides… I liked it.”
He raised one brow in question.
“Yes. You. I liked you.”
“…!”
“Even drunk, even when I’d given up on everything, I still noticed. Even when I was thinking of my last words, I still thought—‘Wow. He’s handsome. He’s amazing.’ Pathetic, right?”
Her trembling voice stayed steady.
“I could have lived just enjoying those fluttering feelings, but why is my life like this? What’s wrong with me…”
She stopped, and Su-hyuk watched her with an unreadable face.
“I had no idea that the very next day I’d be exposed like this—how much I longed, how much I thrilled! And then I got completely laid bare before the man I’d crushed on alone… incompetent, pitiful…”
Why did the tears she had held back all day threaten to spill now, of all times, in front of him again? It was unfair.
She swallowed them down and forced another smile.
“Honestly, it’s humiliating. I worked so hard at the office to act normal, but the truth is—I’m so humiliated right now.”
Then it struck her: tonight, only he had stared directly at her.
She had never once truly met his gaze.
“So, like you said, it’s better if we don’t get tangled outside the office.”
She didn’t care what his cold eyes and firm lips meant.
“And as for what happens inside the house—I’m used to it. At worst, it’s just scary. Nothing more. So don’t worry about it too much.”
At her words, his voice cut through the night air, sharp and cool.
“Then how are you going to break this situation? Tell me your plan.”
Composed, with a faint smile, Seol-ah answered calmly:
“My partner is… a shaman. They promised to use more talismans and keep a closer watch. And… my husband will be back soon.”
Su-hyuk’s brow twitched ever so slightly.
“…Husband?”
