Chapter 6
Chairman Kang was treated like an unwanted guest when he was abruptly dismissed upon noticing how stiff Yua’s shoulders had become.
“Would you please step out? Don’t turn your grandson into a defective product who can’t even get married unless you’re guarding him.”
Even breathing felt close and heavy in the oppressive study room.
As the chairman of Taekyum Group, many of the congratulatory gifts and greetings he had received over the years were displayed in the study, making it a space full of curiosities.
Even when left alone with him, Yua didn’t panic. Instead, she calmly turned her eyes and began admiring the sculptures.
A sunflower painting as tall as she was, a jade turtle symbolizing longevity, and even a censer made of gold.
“So calm, huh?”
“Sorry?”
“Are you pretending? I’m nervous, you know.”
It was Lee Jun who broke the silence first. Seeing Yua leisurely examining the artifacts while sitting across from him got under his skin.
“You don’t look like someone who has no intention of getting married.”
“If that were the case, I should’ve said so before today. You were told your debt would be cleared if you kept up the marriage for just two years. You agreed to it.”
How could she explain that she was no longer the same Yoon Yua from the past?
“My mind has changed.”
All she could manage was that. Jun let out a bitter laugh.
“Pretty easy for you, Yoon Yua. You think there’s a better option than me?”
He was her husband for four years. She had seen his sharp glare and sensitive temperament up close. Now, at thirty-two, Kang Lee Jun almost looked like a puppy to her.
“You’re awfully confident, Mr. Executive.”
“What?”
“Why should I measure myself against marrying you?”
Yua looked up at him, frowning as she spoke.
Just because her father had been a chauffeur for the Taekyum Group didn’t mean she owed them loyalty.
She was no longer the fragile 24-year-old who had almost crumbled after her father’s death.
“Your face? Sure, it’s nice. But so what? What else?”
Jun was stunned speechless at her challenge.
What changed? Normally she would be trembling just being near him.
“Lucky me, then.”
Her noticeably different attitude intrigued Jun.
“Lucky?”
“Yeah. Seems like you still like at least one thing I have.”
He smirked, clearly referencing his face, and dropped his crossed leg to lean forward, resting his arm on his knee.
As he leaned toward her, his elbow brushed lightly against her knee. The brief contact left a hot trace that made Yua subconsciously bite her lower lip.
“Since I brought up marriage with you, the conclusion’s already set. Don’t be foolish — just take what you can. Whatever you want, I’ll make sure it’s in your hands.”
Yua’s chest ached as she stared at him.
Lee Jun, still somewhat kind.
He would never truly understand what her reddening eyes meant.
“Marriage? I’m the person in question, and I said I don’t want it.”
Did he think she was just whining because she was well off?
“I don’t like you, Mr. Executive. I won’t marry you.”
The chauffeur’s daughter, now an orphan. No meddling or coercion from her side, and certainly no sleazy favors disguised as threats.
“What don’t you like?”
She knew this was the very part that made Jun think it was fine to marry her — that she had nothing left to lose.
“With Taekyum Group, I just need to be at your side when needed. Smile, greet, make small talk — easy, right?”
“I don’t want the group. I don’t want you.”
Tap, tap.
He rhythmically tapped his index finger against his knee.
For someone supposedly trying to up her value, she sounded too confident. Just as his grandfather said, it felt like she had some kind of flaw. His mouth tasted bitter.
“You think you have a better option? You’re making it seem like I’m the one begging here.”
“Mr. Executive.”
“This is really messing with me, you know.”
It was all supposed to be for convenience.
Something that looked like a lovely story from the outside.
But none of it meant anything to Yua. It was all painfully real to her.
“If you’d feel better thinking I’m rejecting you because I’m not good enough, then go ahead.”
“What?”
“Go find someone who suits your level. Like your fiancée, Yang Jae-hee from Hansa News.”
Rejecting him while graciously suggesting he be with someone else — it was revolting. If she intended to upset him, it worked.
Jun let out a low sigh and ran his fingers back through his hair. The closed door felt suffocating. Yua was incomprehensible and annoying.
“Yoon Yua. Drop the act and tell me what you want. If it’s money, I’ll handle it. It’s just two years. We act like a happy couple and then part ways.”
Maybe it was because, for the first time, his perfect assumptions were proven wrong.
She was beginning to irritate him.
Her tightly pressed red lips, her slightly swollen eyes — she looked almost appetizing. It made his mouth dry.
What the hell.
Was he turned on by a woman who clearly didn’t want him?
Knowing that Chairman Kang wanted to make amends for her father’s death, Yua ended the conversation with Jun. She made it clear that she wanted nothing — not the marriage, not anything else.
She asked for just one thing.
To stay a few days in the empty field visible from the main house.
She needed time to reminisce about her son Sejin, in the place filled with memories of him.
*
“Phew…”
Dusting off her hands, Yua tilted her head at the awkwardly bent nail.
After laying the waterproof tarp over the white gravel floor, she had made no progress. Her brain felt scrambled, and she kept counting the nails instead of moving forward.
“Hope this is right…”
Just setting up the tent decently had taken her all afternoon. The bright orange tent looked lonely and pitiful in the vast empty lot.
“Sejin loved this color…”
Yua still couldn’t believe her son was dead, or that she’d returned to the past. This whole reality felt like a dream.
She slowly looked around.
The 100-year-old jujube tree was gone. The cypress house — vanished.
Everything she remembered felt like a fading dream.
With a sniffle, she crawled into the tent.
When Yua asked to borrow a barren field for a few days instead of marrying Taekyum Group’s heir, Chairman Kang had scoffed at Jun.
<Is Yua just that unambitious, or are you just that pathetic for failing to win a woman’s heart?>
And when she specifically requested an orange tent from Grip Company — Jun’s outdoor brand — the chairman blinked in disbelief.
He rarely reacted to anything, but he frowned when he saw the tent through the study window.
The wind-flapping orange tent looked hideous.
<She’s really going to sleep in that tent?>
<Yes.>
<You fool…>
Jun had been scolded more in one day than in several months.
Of all places, Yua had to pitch a brightly colored tent visible from both the study and his bedroom. It was irritating.
It was supposed to rain, and the wind was getting stronger. Yet she ran around catching the tarp and picking up nails as if determined.
<She’s going to blow away like that. Send her a premium camper van or something. Even if it’s Taekyum land, anything could happen at night.>
<There’s CCTV. She’ll be safe.>
<…Your personality… never mind.>
Forget it.
Chairman Kang sighed deeply and clasped his hands behind his back.
Even after he left, Jun stood in the study, watching Yua run around busily.
Dark clouds loomed quickly in the distance.
A storm was coming.
“Why does the pole keep bending?”
The product instructions had made it look so easy.
Frowning, Yua muttered to herself in frustration.
She wanted to recall good memories with Sejin in the place that made him happy. That was all she had left.
But this damn tent was too difficult.
After throwing a few simple belongings into the flimsy tent, she stretched her back and looked up.
“Why’s the sky so gloomy too?”
She had cleared out all her stuff from the annex to avoid any contact with Jun. She wanted no more entanglement with Taekyum Group or his aunt.
Not that there was much to take. Just a few clothes and a laptop.
Watching the tent wobble pathetically in the wind, Yua pouted.
“This tent is just as unfriendly as Kang Lee Jun.”
And just as the words left her lips, a low, growling voice snapped back at her:
“That about me?”
