Chapter 05
“That’s the Kind of Comment That Gets Misunderstood”
Hayul knew about the contract marriage too.
At first, Lee Yeon hadn’t planned to tell her but as always, she was no match for Hayul’s sharp instincts.
Hayul hadn’t believed for a second that Lee Yeon was suddenly getting married.
“What?
You’ve never once told me you had a boyfriend, you go straight home after work every single day, and now you’re telling me you’re getting married?
I know exactly why you even bother with disguises, and why you swore you’d never get married!
And now you expect me to believe this ridiculous wedding?
You think I’m buying that?”
With no other choice, Lee Yeon had confessed.
Hayul was furious until she found out the groom was Dohyun.
Then she paused, thought for a moment, and suddenly shouted, “This marriage gets my full approval!”
Lee Yeon still had no idea what had prompted such a dramatic turnaround.
Still, Hayul gladly signed on as a witness for their marriage registration.
“Why should I bother getting used to it?
We’re going to divorce soon anyway.
The plan is to quietly enjoy our freedom, then go our separate ways.”
Lee Yeon clinked glasses with Hayul and tossed back her drink.
“Or maybe you won’t divorce.
You always say you never know what life will bring.
You two could end up falling for each other.
Don’t be so quick to write it off.”
“Lim Hayul!
We don’t even live on the same floor, remember?
We’ve never once had a meal together at home when would we have the time to fall in love?
That ‘no catching feelings’ clause?
I’m following it to the letter.”
Startled, Hayul stopped mid-bite, staring at her with wide, rabbit-like eyes.
“You don’t even eat together?
Do you guys talk at home?”
“Talk?
How?
We don’t even know when the others come or go.
If I hear the front door, I just think, ‘Oh, he left.’
“We agreed not to interfere in each other’s lives.”
“Girl, at this rate you wouldn’t even know if he brought another woman home.”
“That’s going too far.
The vice president’s not the type to bring another woman over.”
“Lee Yeon.
You do realise it would take one slip for your family to find out, right?
Your mom used to worry herself sick that you’d grow old alone, hiding behind disguises forever.
That’s why she threw you into blind dates, tried to set you up with the best prospects she could find she was obsessed with getting you married.
And when she finally got a son-in-law who loved you even like this, she was over the moon.
If she finds out the truth… do you have any idea how much that would devastate her?”
Lee Yeon sat silently, listening as Hayul, blunt as ever when she drank, delivered one piercing truth after another.
The restaurant was full of music and chatter, but Hayul’s words cut straight through the noise, pressing down on Lee Yeon’s guilt.
She was right.
This was something her family could never find out.
“If they ever find out, my mom’s going to clutch her neck and faint.”
“Faint?
She won’t be the only one.
You said your father-in-law treats you like gold, right?
Do you know how rare it is for a father-in-law to be that kind to his daughter-in-law?
If he learns this marriage is fake, do you realise how deeply that would wound him?”
Wounds…
“No.
Absolutely not.
We can’t hurt them ever!”
Yeon’s eyes, heavy from the alcohol, snapped open wide with conviction.
The thought that Deok-ho might suffer another wound because of her and Dohyun is unthinkable.
This marriage had to end cleanly in two years, with a plausible explanation to persuade the elders.
That was the kindest way for everyone.
“Then be more strategic about it!
You two aren’t just not close you’re too not close.
At least have a meal together once or twice a week!
You should know each other’s hobbies, allergies, favourite foods, and favourite movies, come on, isn’t that basic?
If you keep living like strangers and suddenly have to pretend to be a loving couple, it’s going to look awkward as hell.”
As Dohyun’s secretary, Yeon knew most of his professional preferences, but they had never shared their real likes and dislikes.
“Yeah.
It’s very stiff and awkward.”
“Exactly.
At least figure out what kind of man your husband is.
Starting today, get to know each other better.”
“How?”
When Yeon hesitated, her voice quiet, Hayul’s eyes lit up.
***
In a narrow Apgujeong alley, Dohyun pulled his sleek foreign car to a stop in front of a cafe.
A meeting that had run long made him late.
He ran a hand through his dishevelled hair, pushing it back into place before stepping out.
Ignoring the stares that seemed to follow him, he scanned the cafe.
It didn’t take long to spot the man sitting at a corner table.
Dohyun’s lips twitched into a faint smile as he walked over.
“President Kim Jae-ha. Don’t you have work to do?”
The man looked up, uncrossing his arms and rising from his seat.
He was just as tall as Dohyun, his hair permed into loose waves, his smile boyish and warm.
He gave Dohyun a small bow.
“Vice President, you’re here.”
Jae-ha was Dohyun’s only friend whom he truly trusted.
There was a mischievous glint in Jae-ha’s eyes as he straightened.
Dohyun smirked and gave his arm a friendly swat.
“Let’s go. I’m starving.”
Jae-ha gave a few instructions to a staff member before heading out with him.
They walked to Jae-ha’s place, just a short distance away.
“The braised eggplant and sweet-and-sour pork here are famous.”
As soon as they arrived, Jae-ha unpacked the takeout bags and began setting the table.
“I saw that Woosung Card ranked second in the latest online brand preference survey!”
A few years ago, Woosung Card had never cracked the top three, hovering at a lacklustre fifth or sixth place.
It was only after Dohyun joined that the company shot up to second place.
When he’d first walked into the company, the scene had been grim: stagnant veterans rotting in their seats while the rookies floundered underneath them.
Dohyun had first solidified his own position, then cut away the dead weight, pushing for a fresh relaunch with bold promotions.
With sharp, youth-focused marketing and the launch of a new card aimed squarely at the 20s–30s demographic, sales had soared.
“That’s why I came here in the first place. This result was inevitable.”
“How’s your wife?”
As Gap-soo’s obsession with Dohyun getting married grew more and more suffocating, Dohyun had once vented to Jae-ha about the pointless time he was wasting on it all.
It was Jae-ha who had first jokingly suggested a contract marriage though, to Dohyun, the idea had been far from a joke.
He’d never formally introduced Yeon to him; their only encounters were fleeting ones when she’d come by the company.
Even so, Jae-ha had made a habit of asking about her every time they met since the wedding.
“She’s doing well.”
“From different floors?”
The moment Jae-ha finished speaking, he burst out laughing.
He wasn’t even that drunk, so what on earth had he eaten to get like this?
“Oh, this is killing me.
To think there’s actually a woman out there who doesn’t give Ahn Do-hyun the time of day.
If it were me, I’d have broken into her room at dawn and dived into her bed hundreds of times by now.
And yet, you’ve never once crossed the line?”
Jae-ha made a show of wiping away nonexistent tears.
When Do-hyun told him to cut it out, he only laughed harder, prompting Do-hyun to shake his head in exasperation.
“That’s exactly why I made the proposal. Because she’s that kind of woman.”
Even now, he couldn’t deny that Lee-Yeon was the perfect partner for him.
She had agreed to all his conditions without protest even the marriage registration.
At first, he’d worried she might change her mind after they married and start making advances, but it turned out to be a needless concern.
She was honouring the contract flawlessly.
“So, when’s the housewarming?”
“Will you stop with that already?
I told you, this isn’t a real marriage.”
“Is your wife a good cook?”
“No idea.
Never eaten her food.”
“Ha!
Guess she really doesn’t like you.
She hasn’t even cooked you a single meal?”
Jae-ha cracked up for a second time, laughing so hard his voice echoed.
“We’ve never eaten together privately.”
“What?
You mean you’ve never even been to a restaurant together?
Wow.
I must’ve been an idiot to expect otherwise!”
“And what exactly were you expecting, huh?”
At that, Jae-ha mumbled evasively, then suddenly raised his voice.
“With how cold you are, how long do you think you can keep fooling your grandfather?
Honestly, it feels like your wife’s the only one putting in any effort, and it’s kind of sad.”
…Maybe he’d gone too far.
Even if it was a loveless marriage, maybe he’d been too quick to draw boundaries.
Now that he thought about it, he’d never once treated Lee-yeon warmly, never expressed gratitude to the woman who’d been such a perfect partner.
No wonder she couldn’t possibly like him.
If anything, he’d been making a conscious effort to be even more indifferent.
The thought brought a wave of guilt.
Jae-ha was right.
The only reason the sharp-eyed Gap-soo hadn’t seen through their act yet was that Lee-yeon was pulling it off so well.
At this rate, it wouldn’t be strange if he found out tomorrow.
“You’re the one who told me to just breathe separately at home in this contract marriage.
And now you’re lecturing me about meals?”
“I didn’t think you two would literally just breathe!
I’m telling you try to get along!”
Jae-ha’s nagging went on for quite a while after that.
When Lee-yeon came home, the apartment was pitch-dark.
Assuming Do-hyun wasn’t back yet, she turned on the living room light.
“Eek!”
But the moment the light flicked on, she saw a dark silhouette sitting on the sofa and let out a startled scream.
“Vice President! You’re home?”
She laughed awkwardly, the sound stilted and strained.
Truthfully, she wanted to say, What are you doing here?,
But that didn’t seem like something you should say to the homeowner, so she swallowed the words back down.
“Just got in?”
The moment she saw him, Ha-yul’s advice came to mind.
“What’s so hard about it?
Just say, ‘Let’s grab a meal together to get to know each other better.’”
Ha-yul had said it wasn’t like she was asking him out on a date it was just a meal.
How hard could that be?
“Looks like you were out too, Vice President.”
The problem was, she wasn’t drunk yet.
Without the crutch of alcohol, she had neither the courage nor the excuse.
She didn’t have the warm haze of alcohol to borrow courage from; her nerve was sorely lacking.
What if it sounded like she was actually interested in him?
What if Do-hyun misunderstood and things between them turned awkward?
One wrong step, and their marriage could become unbearably uncomfortable.
“Mm.
You’ve been out too, Secretary Lee?”
“Yes.
A friend dragged me out for chicken feet and soju.”
It had been ages since they’d had this much of a conversation at home.
Same house, same furniture, but the air felt… different.
Her mouth was going dry, her heart thudding with an unfamiliar tension.
But why was he sitting out here in the living room?
Could it be… was he waiting for her?
“Were you… Waiting for me?
Is there something you wanted to say?”
“No.”
Did he really have to shoot it down that flatly?
The instant reply knocked the words right out of her mouth.
“Well, then… I’ll just head upstairs.”
She kept her tone even, but with every step up the staircase, her thoughts tangled faster and faster.
Why was this so hard?
Surely they ought to at least know the basics about each other.
It’s not like sharing a few more conversations would suddenly make them file for divorce.
“V–Vice President!”
Her voice came out urgent, but Do-hyun only turned his head at an unhurried pace.
“Please don’t take this the wrong way, but… why don’t we get to know each other a little?”
His gaze swept over her reading the seriousness in her face, the steady, unflinching look in her eyes behind those glasses.
A long silence settled before he started walking toward her, one deliberate step at a time.
“I’d like not to misunderstand… but you realise that’s the kind of thing that invites misunderstanding.”
“That’s exactly why I said not to misunderstand!
Don’t think of it as focusing on each other think of it as… simply getting acquainted.”
The look in his eyes grew sharper as he approached, and she couldn’t read him at all.
Was he about to shut her down, call it nonsense?
Three years working right beside him had taught her this much: when it came to Do-hyun, logic was her best weapon.
If the conversation lost its point, she’d feel deeply wronged.
That thought cleared her head, sobered her up.
“Think about it we’re contract partners, but we hardly know a thing about each other.
I’m your secretary, so sure, I know your business preferences… but personally?
Nothing.”
The words poured out like water from a burst dam.
She pushed her slipping glasses back up and kept going.
“Your grandfather invites us over for dinner two or three times a month.
I’m always worried I’ll slip up.”
That he’ll see through this ridiculous marriage and be hurt by it.
“Say he asks me, ‘Do you cook for the Vice President?
What’s his favourite dish?’
And I answer, ‘He loves crab stew.’
But what if you’re allergic to crab?
That’d be a disaster!”
“Luckily, I’m not allergic.”
Do-hyun’s calm response made her want to tear her hair out.
Was now really the time to fact-check food allergies?
“That’s… wonderful to know.
I’m not allergic either.
See?
We’ve already exchanged one piece of information.
You know the saying know your opponent and know yourself, and you’ll never lose a battle.
Not that you’re my opponent, of course.
I just think a little relevant information exchange is goo
d business practice.
What do you think, Vice President?”
Standing four steps above him, she looked down at his face.
He simply gazed back, unmoving.
For a long moment, the two of them stood there like stone statues neither crossing the invisible line between them.
Finally, he spoke.
“Alright.”
She blinked, surprised at the easy agreement, though she masked it with a neutral expression.
But he wasn’t finished.
“So… how about dinner tomorrow?”
