Chapter 5 …
The only sound repeating in the office was the soft scratch, scratch of paper being turned.
Having come in early that morning and spent hours buried in documents, Ju-young finally lifted her head at the knock on the door.
“President, this is Secretary Shin.”
“Come in.”
With permission granted, the office door opened. Secretary Shin entered, holding a tablet PC. Ju-young organized the papers she had been reading and asked,
“What is it?”
Secretary Shin set the tablet down on the desk and reported,
“The Chairman has signed the contract.”
On the day of the family dinner, Ju-young had gone home and drafted the contract immediately.
She had learned at a very young age that the best way to prevent any backtalk was to leave things in writing.
“Is that so?”
Ju-young tapped the tablet’s screen and entered the password.
Once unlocked, the screen displayed the contract bearing Chairman Choi Kwon-yong’s signature.
A few clauses had been added and revised while the contract went back and forth between them, but the essence remained the same.
[The Party B must marry within one year. However, the spouse must be one of the candidates designated by Party A.]
Needless to say, Party B was Choi Ju-young, and Party A was Chairman Choi Kwon-yong.
[If Party B marries within one year, Party A will transfer the ownership of the promised ‘Oido Summer Villa’ to Party B.]
[If Party B divorces in the future, the ownership of the ‘Oido Summer Villa’ will be transferred back to Party A. However, if the cause of divorce does not lie with Party B, the ownership will not be reverted.]
Really…
Should she be relieved that his intentions were so blatantly clear, or disgusted by how shameless he was?
Chairman Choi intended to use his only child, Choi Ju-young, as a bargaining chip.
In this world, it was nothing unusual. When creating added value worth hundreds of billions—or even trillions—who cared about love?
But still.
You’re not even human. How can you threaten me by saying you’ll give the Oido villa to that kind of woman?
Because he knew exactly what the Oido summer villa meant to Ju-young, Chairman Choi had wielded it as a weapon against her.
Because he knew she would never give it up.
“What a crafty bastard.”
In the end, she was still in her father’s grasp.
With a sigh, Ju-young reviewed the contract one last time. Then she handed the tablet back to Secretary Shin and asked,
“Among the list of people he chose, who do you think is the best option, Secretary Shin?”
“I…”
Secretary Shin hesitated, unable to answer easily.
Ju-young knew why, so she let out a quiet breath through her teeth.
She propped her elbows on the desk, interlaced her fingers, and rested her head on the makeshift support.
There were four names on Chairman Choi’s prospective son-in-law list.
All of them were children of conglomerate families ranked within the top ten in Korea.
The problem was that one had recently been embroiled in a drug scandal, another was notorious for his messy relationships with women, and yet another had already been married once and had a three-year-old daughter this year.
“I know. For me, the best option is that man.”
The fourth and final name on the list was Bae Seong-hun—the man she never wanted to get entangled with again.
“Even if I had to want someone… of all people, why him…”
Haah.
Not knowing how to resolve this situation, Ju-young could only keep sighing.
If she had known she’d be tied to him like this, she would never have acted the way she did that day.
“How did the jacket I asked you to have dry-cleaned turn out?”
“It’s finished. I’ve already contacted his office through the secretary’s department to let them know it will be delivered today.”
“Bring it to me now.”
“You’re… going yourself?”
“I asked you to handle the dry cleaning, but the delivery is my responsibility.”
Ju-young stood up, slipped out of her slippers, and put on her seven-centimeter heels.
She had lived her life having things taken from her. The man who was her father only on paper, and his live-in partner—both had been plunderers to Choi Ju-young.
But this time, she didn’t want to lose it.
No matter the cost, she would not let it be taken.
She arrived at the Seongun Hotel.
As soon as she entered the lobby, Bae Seong-hun’s secretary recognized her and approached. Guided by the secretary, she went up to his office.
“You may go in.”
“Thank you.”
Ju-young gave a brief nod to the secretary, who bowed deeply at a perfect right angle, and pushed open the office door.
Sunlight trapped inside spilled out all at once, flooding over her—as if scolding her for taking so long to open the door.
Ju-young reflexively squeezed her eyes shut, then slowly opened them once she adjusted to the light.
Because Seong-hun was standing with the sunlight behind him, his face was hard to make out. But the broad shoulders and long, model-like frame were unmistakably his.
“We meet again.”
Perhaps noticing that the glare bothered her, Seong-hun picked up the remote on his desk and pressed a button.
With a soft whirr, the blinds tilted, blocking some of the sunlight pouring onto her retinas.
Only then did Ju-young look at him comfortably.
As with their previous encounters, Bae Seong-hun looked impeccably put together today as well.
Dark, straight eyebrows with only the slightest upward curve at the ends.
Hair styled with only the right side swept back, giving him a clean, refreshing look without seeming greasy.
A sharply defined jawline and nose gave him a masculine air, but his full lips added a hint of boyishness.
“…Yes. We do.”
“I don’t need anything special. What would you like to drink, Ms. Choi Ju-young?”
“I’m fine too.”
“Alright. Then you don’t need to prepare any drinks—wait outside.”
“Yes, sir.”
Click. The door closed. Seong-hun gestured toward the sofa in the center of the office.
“Sit.”
Ju-young went over and sat down first, and Seong-hun took the seat across from her.
Sitting face-to-face, his gaze came straight at her. It was heavy, burdensome.
“….”
If she could, Ju-young wanted to avoid him. The moment she closed her eyes, that day replayed vividly—so what must it be like for him?
What should she say? How should she even bring up marriage?
While Ju-young was agonizing, Seong-hun spoke first.
“That meeting you said was scheduled urgently—did it end well?”
Ju-young flinched.
There had been no such meeting that day. She’d simply been soaked from the rain and felt uncomfortable, wanted to wash up—and the man in front of her had provoked her.
So she’d gone up to the hotel room with Seong-hun.
And then she had left—after showering only.
Leaving behind the black underwear she had promised to show him.
“I apologize for that day. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine. It was quite unpleasant, but it was entertaining.”
Resting his arm on the armrest, Seong-hun idly brushed his lips with his fingertips. Even as he did so, his pitch-black eyes never left Ju-young.
“It was my first time experiencing something like that.”
Ju-young had nothing to say, even if she had ten mouths. If he told her to apologize, she would—and if he said he was offended, she would apologize a hundred times over. That was her position.
“I mean—”
“Why did you ask to see me today?”
She had expected to apologize several more times until he cooled off, but Seong-hun abruptly changed the subject.
After a brief hesitation, Ju-young lifted the large shopping bag at her feet and placed it on the table.
“I came to return the clothes I borrowed.”
His dark eyes flicked briefly to the bag, following her hand.
But Seong-hun quickly looked away.
“You didn’t come all this way just to return some clothes, did you?”
As expected of Bae Seong-hun—he saw right through her immediately.
After pondering how to bring it up, Ju-young ultimately chose to confront it head-on.
“I’m not good at beating around the bush. I don’t like it either. So I’d like to be straightforward—would that be okay?”
“That’s uncharacteristically hasty of you, Ms. Choi Ju-young.”
Seong-hun leaned back against the sofa and crossed his legs. They were so long that he had to angle his body to avoid the table.
He propped his elbow on the armrest and rested his chin on the back of his hand, studying Ju-young with eyes that had grown strangely dull.
“I don’t know what it is yet, but go ahead. I’ll decide after hearing it.”
“Yes. Of course.”
Ju-young didn’t react to his condescension. Instead, she lifted the corners of her mouth slightly and folded her hands neatly on her thighs.
“Bae Seong-hun.”
“……”
“Will you marry me?”
