Chapter 7 …
Just how big is it, anyway?
An indecent curiosity suddenly bloomed in her mind.
Her face burned hot. She told herself it was pure curiosity, but it wasn’t something she should be thinking about with the man right in front of her.
Pretending not to be startled, Ju-young turned her head away.
As before, their eyes met once through the elevator mirror. Ju-young calmly lifted the corners of her lips, maintaining her composure.
This wasn’t the time to let him look down on her. She needed to stimulate his curiosity as much as possible and appeal to him as a suitable marriage partner.
“I’ll remember that.”
“Remember what? I buy my own underwear.”
Ding!
—First floor.
Right on cue, the elevator doors opened. Ju-young stepped out first, and this time she looked directly at Seong-hun.
“You never know. Another opportunity might come along for me to give you underwear as a present again.”
Following her out, Seong-hun replied,
“Then I’ll be looking forward to it.”
“….”
It wasn’t mere politeness—he sounded genuinely expectant. Ju-young was left speechless.
Why was this man sincerely looking forward to something like that? Was he a pervert or what?
“I’ll be going now.”
Keeping her thoughts hidden, Ju-young slipped into the back seat as Secretary Shin opened the door for her. She rolled the window down and looked up at Seong-hun standing beside the car.
“Please give some serious thought to the proposal I made today, and let me know your answer.”
“I will.”
Secretary Shin walked around the front of the car and sat in the driver’s seat, speaking right as the two finished their conversation.
“Shall we depart, President?”
“Yes, go ahead.”
“Yes.”
Secretary Shin shifted gears, and the car began to move slowly.
“Then.”
Ju-young gave Seong-hun a brief nod, rolled the window up, and leaned her head back against the headrest.
She was exhausted—truly exhausted. She didn’t have the strength left to move even a finger.
Maybe it was because so much had happened since morning?
No. The truth was that she’d been pushing herself nonstop these past few days. Ever since the Oido summer villa issue erupted, she hadn’t had a single day of peace.
“Haa… my head hurts.”
“There’s headache medicine in the back seat, President.”
“I’ll take it later when we stop. I don’t even have the strength to open the cap right now.”
“Yes. If it gets much worse, please let me know. I’ll pull over briefly and get the medicine ready for you.”
Too tired to say more, Ju-young gave a vague sound of acknowledgment and closed her eyes.
The Oido summer villa matter seemed mostly settled now.
She’d made an offer too good to refuse, so Bae Seong-hun would pretend to think it over for a bit before taking her hand.
All that would remain afterward was divorce.
She had no intention of staying married to Bae Seong-hun for life. But if she divorced him, the ownership of the Oido villa would revert to Chairman Choi Kwon-yong.
To keep the villa, the cause for divorce would have to be on Seong-hun’s side…
And if that happened, Chairman Choi would use every means possible to wring the maximum amount of alimony out of Bae Seong-hun—no, out of Seong-un Group.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
Bae Seong-hun was a man she couldn’t quite read, and she wondered if it was really okay to marry someone like that.
Marriage wouldn’t suddenly turn a man with a clean private life into a playboy, and he didn’t seem like the type to interfere in hers either.
Still, the fact that she didn’t fully understand what kind of person Bae Seong-hun truly was made Ju-young uneasy.
It felt as though he could see right through her weak, vulnerable self.
She didn’t want anyone—him or anyone else—to discover that fragile side of her.
“Secretary Shin.”
Ju-young lifted her now-heavy eyelids and spoke.
“If we went to the Oido villa right now, would it mess up the schedule a lot?”
“I believe it would be a bit difficult today. You have dinner scheduled this evening with Director Jin Hye-su of the Taekyung Art Museum, and she’s leaving for Paris tomorrow.”
So she couldn’t even rest when she wanted to. Not that resting would really put her mind at ease anyway.
“Alright. Let’s proceed with today’s schedule as planned.”
“Yes, President.”
Ju-young closed her eyes again.
Just for a moment, she thought she wished she wouldn’t wake up ever again.
Bae Seong-hun stopped by his family home for the first time in a while.
According to his original schedule, he should have been in a meeting regarding an underperforming hotel branch. But after Choi Ju-young’s sudden proposal, he postponed it.
He needed the night to himself—to quietly sort through his thoughts.
Unfortunately, his mother, Min Yu-young, somehow sensed that he had no evening plans and called, telling him to come home.
That had been about two hours ago, along with her complaint about how hard it was just to have one meal together.
“Seong-hun, you’re here?”
Yu-young had come all the way to the entrance with Jinju-daek, the housekeeper who had worked there the longest.
“I’m back. It’s been a while, Jinju-daek.”
“Yes, Young Master.”
After greeting Jinju-daek as well, Seong-hun walked down the long hallway leading to the living room with Yu-young.
When he was young, this hallway had felt enormous. Now, it didn’t seem nearly as large.
Had he grown bigger, or had the hallway never been that big to begin with?
Back when he was a child who knew nothing, everything here must have felt vast and otherworldly.
Back then, Bae Seong-hun had—
“Seong-hun.”
“Yes, Mother.”
Yu-young’s voice pulled him out of his thoughts.
“What happened with the blind date with the CS Group’s daughter? Did it… not go well again this time?”
If she had asked him yesterday, he would have said it hadn’t gone well—that he and Choi Ju-young didn’t match.
But now, he wanted to leave a bit of room. He hadn’t finished sorting out his thoughts yet.
“I’m not sure.”
“Oh, really?”
Yu-young suddenly grabbed his right arm. Her face lit up as she met his eyes.
“If you’re not sure, that means you don’t dislike the girl outright, right?”
“I suppose so.”
“Oh, thank goodness.”
All he’d said was that he didn’t dislike her, yet Min Yu-young looked as though she’d gained the whole world.
And that joy left an uncomfortable scratch behind the wall of the poker face Bae Seong-hun had carefully built.
“To be honest, your father and I have been very worried. It feels like you still haven’t opened your heart to anyone outside our family.”
“……”
“We raised you giving you the same love, but sometimes I wonder if your father and I unknowingly treated you differently.”
“……”
“Your father and I, Seong-hun…”
Yu-young gently stroked his right arm.
“We truly want you to be happy.”
Near midnight.
After arriving home, Ju-young showered and collapsed onto her bed. Keeping Director Jin Hye-su company—who loved her drinks—had resulted in her drinking more than her usual limit.
“Ugh… my stomach burns.”
Lying face-down on the bed, Ju-young stretched one arm down to the floor and rummaged through a plastic bag.
At some point, she’d developed the habit of not eating any snacks when drinking.
Knowing this well, Secretary Shin had bought her ion drinks, chocolate milk, and a hangover remedy for the next morning, telling her to drink them at home.
Just as she was sipping the ion drink—
Bzzz.
Her phone vibrated. When she glanced at the screen, the name Bae Seong-hun appeared.
The haze of alcohol vanished instantly.
Why was Bae Seong-hun calling now…?
“Yes, this is Choi Ju-young.”
She quickly pulled the drink away and answered.
—Where are you?
“At home.”
—Have you showered?
An unexpected question on an unexpected call.
She wondered what kind of ploy this was, but until she got a clear answer regarding marriage, she needed to stay on his good side.
“Just now.”
—Then that won’t work.
What wouldn’t work?
—I came because there’s something I need to talk about, but since you’ve already showered, I’ll head back today. I’ll have my secretary contact you tomorrow.
No sooner had curiosity arisen than Seong-hun answered it.
No—more importantly—
“Head back…? Bae Seong-hun, where are you right now?”
—In front of your apartment.
An unexpected visitor had arrived at an unexpected late hour.
