Chapter 1
The Blind Date
Her already long eyelashes felt heavy under the extra weight of carefully applied mascara.
Bora blinked slowly, then cautiously sipped her juice through a straw, afraid the lip gloss she had painstakingly put on might smudge.
“Unexpected.”
“Pardon?”
The large, handsome man sitting across from Bora was named Han Kang-yoon.
He was known as the type who bulldozed through work without regard for others, a cold-blooded man with neither pity nor mercy.
Because of that, despite his perfect credentials and striking looks, he was the subject of widespread rumors about why he still wasn’t married.
The dark navy suit tailored precisely to his body, along with the crisp white shirt underneath, seemed to reflect his meticulous and uncompromising personality.
“What exactly is unexpected…?”
From the moment she’d entered the room, Bora had felt slightly uncomfortable under Kang-yoon’s unwavering gaze.
“That you’re beautiful.”
“…What?”
“I never thought my aunt would choose someone this pretty as my blind date.”
Bora’s pale cheeks flushed red at Kang-yoon’s unexpected remark.
“Ms. Yoon Bora, were you dragged here against your will too?”
“No… well, yes.”
At Bora’s honest, unskillful lie, Kang-yoon—who had kept a blank expression—curved his lips slightly in a faint smile.
“The truth is—”
“Right. There must be something. The truth is?”
Kang-yoon removed the straw from his iced Americano and drank directly from the cup.
More than half the coffee disappeared in just two gulps. Watching the cup, Bora absentmindedly fidgeted with the straw in her own juice.
There had been something bothering her ever since she’d been told she’d be meeting the son of the Kangsan Group.
“The CEO of Kangsan Trading, Han Kang-moon, asked to meet me several times.”
“Huh?”
“But I never accepted. He’s such an important person, and there’s an age difference—”
“Hmm. Han Kang-moon is only a year older than me.”
“Really? You look much younger than I expected…”
“Well, we’re practically the same age. Our birthdays are one day apart. Han Kang-moon was born on December 31st. I was born on January 1st.”
As he said that, Kang-yoon’s eyes grew cold again, just as they had been at first.
Bora couldn’t read his emotions at all.
If he truly was the cold-blooded man people said he was, he wouldn’t have bothered coming to a blind date he had no interest in.
And if he wasn’t interested in her, he would’ve politely excused himself by now and left the hotel lobby.
Instead, Kang-yoon said nothing—just silently drank his coffee while watching her. Bora’s mouth felt unbearably dry.
“You may have heard things about me.”
After a long silence, Kang-yoon spoke again.
Bora found his low, deep voice surprisingly attractive.
“Whatever you’ve heard or imagined, I’m probably a better man than you think.”
“You don’t even know what I imagined…”
Cold-blooded. Rude. Arrogant lone wolf.
As Bora recalled the negative words she’d heard about him, she trailed off awkwardly.
And it was true—after learning Kang-yoon was Han Kang-moon’s brother, her prejudice had only worsened.
A spoiled man who thought the world revolved around him.
Someone foolish enough to believe money could buy a woman’s heart.
That was as far as Bora’s opinion of Han Kang-moon went.
They’d only met a few times during volunteer events hosted by the Honor Society Club.
Bora’s pretty face, young age, and innocent mannerisms had caught Han Kang-moon’s attention.
Even after she made her rejection clear, he had persistently contacted her.
As the memory of his greasy smile surfaced, Bora’s expression stiffened slightly.
“There’s only one thing I’ve heard about you.”
Kang-yoon spoke while looking at Bora’s neat, well-kept fingernails wrapped around her juice glass.
“The only daughter of Bitchan Co., Ltd., and the CEO of the silver town ‘The Light.’”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Well, I knew from the start they wouldn’t match me with the daughter of a thriving company.”
His indifferent tone made Bora think, Blood really doesn’t lie.
Han Kang-moon or Han Kang-yoon—it’s the same. Neither of them considers how their words affect others.
Ignoring her thoughts, Kang-yoon tapped the armrest of his chair with a long, straight index finger, deep in thought.
“As you probably know, I’m the son of my father’s mistress. Since my father passed away early, my aunt raised me as if I were her own son.”
“Yes… I’ve heard.”
“Officially, I’m the second son of the Kangsan Group. But in the blind-date market, I’m nothing more than decorative wallpaper—someone who’ll never inherit the group. So offers rarely come my way. Of course, my awful personality being exaggerated doesn’t help.”
His self-deprecating smile drew Bora’s gaze.
“So, now it’s your turn.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ve exposed my weaknesses and flaws. You should do the same, Ms. Yoon Bora. Only then can we honestly see whether we can give each other what we want.”
Revealing one’s weaknesses on a blind date.
The unexpected turn made Bora tense.
Her mother had told her she had to seduce Han Kang-yoon no matter what and marry him.
To restore her father’s collapsed business, they needed the help of a group as powerful as Kangsan.
Her father’s reckless borrowing had pushed even Bora’s own business to the brink of ruin.
Her mother had already known Han Kang-moon was interested in Bora.
So she’d discreetly sent word to the Kangsan Group through acquaintances—but the response had been a blind date with Han Kang-yoon instead.
“So what if he’s illegitimate? That kind of thing doesn’t matter these days. And rumors—you only really know once you experience them yourself. Bora, steel your heart. If you just close your eyes and act clever, you’ll save this whole family. Okay?”
Her mother, who had lived her life as a wealthy housewife, could not bear their recent downfall.
Her goal was to marry her one and only beautiful daughter into a rich family for a high price.
Bora’s love, feelings, and career were of little importance.
To her mother, being able to buy every new luxury handbag of the season mattered more than Bora’s happiness.
The thought made Bora’s throat tighten.
“If it’s difficult to talk about, you don’t have to.”
Seeing Bora’s face pale, Kang-yoon spoke gently—but Bora straightened and spoke up.
“As you said, my family is in a difficult situation right now. I need to resolve that, and I’m also at the age where marriage makes sense. And…”
Kang-yoon waited patiently as Bora hesitated, her lips tightly pressed together.
“My incompetent father’s mismanagement has put my business at risk too. What kind of parent siphons money from their child’s business? I built my silver town with my own strength, without taking a single won from him.”
“Hm.”
Kang-yoon’s eyes gleamed with growing interest.
“There are two reasons I came to this blind date.”
“And they are?”
“First, my mother requested a match with the Kangsan Group, and fortunately, it was Han Kang-yoon—not Han Kang-moon—who showed up.”
“That doesn’t sound bad.”
“Second, I was hoping you might invest in my silver town.”
“Invest?”
“As you know, my family is collapsing. If I can’t resolve The Light’s debts soon, Hanjeung Group will seize and sell it. They originally proposed a partnership, and when I refused, they built a similar silver town and have been targeting us ever since.”
“Hmmm…”
During the boom of silver towns, many sprang up recklessly and soon lost value due to poor management.
But Bora’s The Light remained the industry leader, a business recognized for its quality.
“I don’t know why you came here, Mr. Han Kang-yoon, but I came thinking I might meet an investor with real foresight. A win-win situation—killing two birds with one stone. You know what I mean, right?”
Though she spoke boldly, Bora’s heart pounded, unsure of what Kang-yoon—who kept watching her with a strange expression—was thinking.
Her pale fingers resting neatly atop her skirt clenched and unclenched unconsciously.
“Negotiations are most effective when both sides show their bottom.”
After thinking for a moment, Kang-yoon nodded slightly.
“As the CEO of a silver town, persuading old folks must be second nature to you, right?”
“…What?”
“Tell me. Can you soften a stiff old man who keeps his mouth shut and says nothing?”
Bora couldn’t fully grasp his intention—but instinct told her this was it.
Her final chance to save The Light, the business she’d poured everything into.
She had to grab the lifeline this inscrutable man was offering.
“Yes. I can. That’s my specialty.”
“Good. Deal.”
At Bora’s answer, Kang-yoon broke into a broad smile she hadn’t seen before.
In that instant, Bora felt as though her heart dropped straight into her chest with a heavy thud.
