CHAPTER 2
Smile, Hong Yumin.
Yumin forced her cheeks and lips upward with all her strength as they kept trying to fall.
But the anger boiling inside her made it hard to smile.
What? Youthful looks?
“They say he’s 44, but looks 33, and he works out regularly. It’s rare these days to find a rich man who manages himself and looks young, so do your best.”
Then why is the man sitting in front of me a bald vulture who looks at least in his late forties no matter how generously I judge?
Recalling her aunt’s suddenly gentle tone after agreeing to the blind date made her clench her fists.
“The photo was a scam….”
At Kim Byungtae’s first words, Yumin flinched.
“Pardon?”
“I said the photo’s a scam, haha. You’re a million times prettier in person.”
“Ah… thank you.”
Looking at Byungtae, who was only five years younger than her father, Yumin forced a smile.
“May I take your order?”
At that moment, an employee approached.
Before even glancing at the menu beside him, Byungtae spoke.
“A vanilla latte and… do you have orange juice?”
“Yes, shall I bring those two drinks?”
Byungtae simply nodded.
Yumin looked at him in confusion.
Sensing her gaze, he met her eyes and chuckled.
“Ah, I thought a baby like you would like orange juice.”
Yumin’s mouth fell open.
…A baby?
“I ordered for you, is that okay?”
A chill ran through her entire body.
Hong Suji must have seen this man’s photo beforehand.
That’s why she passed him off to me.
That wretched girl.
She tormented me endlessly when I lived under their roof, and now she’s throwing this kind of filth at me too.
She wanted to run away immediately, but the image of her father in the hospital flashed before her eyes.
If she failed to get a second date from this man, her relatives would surely threaten her with her father’s hospital bills.
Her father had been hospitalized with severe aftereffects from a factory fire in the past, and without treatment, his life would be in danger.
Yumin let out a deep sigh.
“Haa.”
“Haha, you must be nervous.”
“……”
“Cute.”
Yumin squeezed her eyes shut.
No matter how strong her stomach was, hearing a middle-aged man call her cute in a romantic way made her dizzy.
“Here are your drinks.”
Just then, the drinks arrived.
Yumin quickly gulped down the juice.
Watching her blankly, Byungtae burst into laughter.
“Want your oppa to order you another?”
“No.”
“Alright.”
Byungtae sucked loudly on the straw in his own cup.
“Ahh, this place makes good coffee.”
“……”
“That girl… Su… what was her name?”
“Suji?”
“Ah, right. Suji. The one who was originally supposed to meet me. You’re the same age as her?”
Yumin gave a slight nod.
“Haha, I don’t know if I should say this, but I’m really grateful to Miss Suji. Your face and figure are much more my type.”
“……”
“And compared to your slim body, you seem quite… generous too.”
Byungtae’s lecherous eyes gradually moved downward.
Ha, Hong Yumin, endure it.
You’ve lived like a burden in that house for ten years, you can endure this much.
“So… what does our baby like?”
Taking another deep breath, Yumin looked at him and asked back.
“What do I like? Do you mean hobbies?”
“No, no. I mean what you like to eat.”
“Ah, food. I eat everything, I’m not picky.”
“Heh. If you eat everything, I suppose you’d eat that too?”
His gaze slid downward again.
As his behavior crossed more and more lines, Yumin’s patience was nearing its limit.
Should I stay here or leave?
If I ruin this and go, they’ll definitely threaten me with my father’s hospital bills…
No, even if she could somehow earn the hospital fees by working in a factory, the real issue was the debt her uncle had paid off for her father.
A few years ago, when she tried to escape from Germany, she was caught by men her uncle had sent in less than two days.
Until her father’s debt was repaid, she wasn’t allowed to even think of escaping.
“Haah.”
“You heard what kind of man I am, right?”
Yumin nodded half-heartedly.
“You see, I don’t need anything else. Support as a wife? I don’t need that. I’ve got a whole truckload of servants at home. What I need from my wife is just… to be good in bed.”
“……”
“So, let’s not waste time… we should go upstairs.”
As he trailed off, Yumin slowly lifted her gaze.
The moment their eyes locked, his lips twisted cruelly.
Then he clapped his hands together in the air with a sharp sound.
“Once.”
Clap.
“No, actually twice.”
Clap, clap.
“Let’s match it.”
The surroundings fell silent in an instant.
Even as Yumin’s face flushed with heat, he continued loudly.
“How about we go to the department store, buy gifts for your parents-in-law—no, wait, for your relatives—and go together? It’d be nice to take care of everything at once. We’re getting married next month anyway.”
What? Married? Next month?
“……What do you mean by that?”
“You didn’t hear? We’ll hold the wedding next month and prepare to have a child right away. My father was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. He needs to see a grandchild before he passes. I’ve got a lot to inherit from him.”
Yumin felt dizzy.
From how naturally he said it, it seemed like this had already been agreed upon with her relatives.
Forty-four years old.
So she was supposed to marry a man nineteen years older within a month and bear his child?
That’s why they sent me instead of their precious daughter Suji.
The realization of how her relatives treated her as less than human made her sick.
Yumin closed her eyes again.
Even trying to suppress her anger, her hands and jaw trembled uncontrollably.
Tap, tap.
At that moment, Byungtae kept flicking his fingers in the air.
When Yumin slightly opened her eyes, he spoke.
“And by the way, the fortune-teller took 2 billion won because of this marriage.”
…A fortune-teller?
Could it be that shaman Yoon her uncle blindly trusted?
Seeing Yumin’s puzzled expression, he whispered flatly.
“My fate says I lack women. That shaman found someone to fix that. That’s you, baby.”
The more she heard, the stranger it sounded.
Originally, Suji was supposed to be the one here.
Then does that mean their fates are similar?
“Anyway, baby. I spent quite a lot bringing you to me. So shouldn’t you show me something in return?”
As soon as he finished speaking, he took something out of his pocket and tossed it onto the table.
Yumin’s pupils trembled as she saw what it was.
It was a hotel room key.
She slowly lifted her gaze to him, and he raised his eyebrows with a lewd expression.
“If you understand, shall we go?”
Byungtae stood up first.
“Ah… I think there’s been some misunderstanding. Let’s stop here for today. I’ll go home and confirm with my uncle—”
“Hey, hey. Baby.”
Grinding his teeth, he whispered threateningly.
“Stop acting expensive and follow me. I bought you. You don’t have a choice. You understand?”
When Yumin shook her head, he bit his lip harshly and reached toward her.
In an instant, he grabbed her wrist tightly and tried to drag her out of her seat.
Yumin resisted with all her strength, refusing to stand.
The moment she got up, it would be over.
But his strength was overwhelming, and her body kept lifting off the chair repeatedly.
What do I do… I don’t want to sleep with that bastard!
Should I just scream and flip everything over?
But what about my father?
And then it happened.
Smash—!
With a sound like something shattering, a scream burst from Byungtae’s mouth.
“Ah, damn it! Which bastard was that!”
At the same time, something rolled down near him.
Startled, Yumin hurriedly looked down.
It was a napkin holder from one of the tables.
Enraged, Byungtae turned around.
“You, was it you?!”
But because of his large build, Yumin couldn’t see who had thrown it.
The surroundings fell silent, and everyone’s attention turned toward them, making her uneasy.
She didn’t even want to see who had started the fight.
“Hey! Why the hell are you throwing that at someone’s head!”
“That ‘hell’ seems to be what you’re doing. Mind moving your head?”
In contrast to Byungtae’s rage, a low, calm voice responded.
“W-what?!”
At the chilling familiarity of that voice, Yumin’s heart seemed to freeze.
“I need to check if the woman sitting in front of you is someone I know.”
Heavy footsteps approached the table.
“H-hey! You—!”
As if trying to stop him, Byungtae stammered.
Then someone appeared beside him.
A familiar shadow fell over Yumin’s head.
“It is.”
Her heart, which had frozen, began to race uncontrollably.
“The one who ran off with my assignment.”
It was Seol Jaejun.
