Do You Really Have to Marry?
Kwon. Jae. Ho.
As she slowly repeated his name inside her mouth…
Thud. Thud.
It was as if her heart, which had stopped, started beating again from an electric shock.
Her dried-up emotions twitched violently at memories that came rushing back from the past.
Caught in the dizzying storm of emotions, Yul-ri tightly shut her eyes.
It wasn’t her imagination.
Her expression had clearly changed. Jae-ho lifted his glass to his lips again and carefully observed her face. But when Yul-ri opened her eyes once more, the confusion he had seen was gone. She smiled brightly at Min-woo and began walking beside him.
Leaning against the wall, Jae-ho silently watched her back as she walked away.
“Hoo… This is getting interesting.”
Letting out a short laugh, he emptied his glass in one gulp and followed the two of them.
“You should’ve told me beforehand.”
Yul-ri whispered in protest to Min-woo. She thought it was just a simple dinner, but Chairman Kwon and Executive Director Kwon were also present. Min-woo only grinned at her.
If she had known elders would be there, she would have refused immediately. She felt as if she were sitting on needles. She couldn’t even taste the food in her mouth. Chewing mechanically, she glanced at Jae-ho, who sat across from her.
Since sitting down, he had kept his eyes lowered and hadn’t joined any conversation. Even stranger, no one introduced Kwon Jae-ho to her. Of course, they were once engaged, so they already knew each other.
She had heard that when the engagement broke off—arranged by Chairman Kwon himself—the chairman had been quite disappointed. Maybe that was why, when Min-woo insisted he wanted to marry Yul-ri, the chairman agreed easily despite her past engagement with Jae-ho.
Still, seating former fiancés together so casually was rude, if not inappropriate. But Jae-ho seemed unbothered. With an expressionless face like he was wearing a mask, he quietly focused on his meal.
Sensing her gaze, Jae-ho lifted his head and looked at her. She flinched and quickly lowered her eyes.
Yul-ri must feel very uncomfortable right now. After all, she and Jae-ho had once been engaged.
Silently lifting a piece of sirloin to his mouth, Jae-ho recalled his meeting with Chairman Kwon an hour earlier.
“I heard you were busy. So you finally found time.”
Chairman Kwon Geon-cheol had decided to call his eldest grandson, Jae-ho, back early last year. At the time, Jae-ho was staying in Dubai and kept delaying the call, using work as an excuse. After nearly a year of back-and-forth, he finally returned to Korea.
Without even asking how he had been, the chairman got straight to the point. The chief secretary placed a tablet PC in front of Jae-ho.
“I’m planning to properly build a new headquarters. A project that will leave a major mark in architectural history.”
KG Group had started as a construction company and grown into a large corporation. Though profits from other fields now surpassed construction, the chairman’s love for it remained. That was why he had high expectations for the new headquarters building.
“Jae-ho, I want you to do it.”
It was a bold proposal. In both scale and meaning, it was a project that even world-famous architects would desire. But Jae-ho only glanced at the screen and didn’t even touch the tablet.
“Why me?”
He asked casually after a moment of silence. The chairman frowned, as if not understanding the question.
“What do you mean why you? You’re blood of the Kwon family. You already have a reputation as an architect. If not you, then who?”
At the words “blood of the Kwon family,” Jae-ho smiled brightly.
“Blood of the Kwon family? Do you think the company is your personal property? You’re just the major shareholder, Chairman. You don’t own the group.”
“How dare you speak so rudely!”
Executive Director Kwon Woo-sik, sitting beside the chairman, flushed red with anger. From the start, he hadn’t liked this meeting. His son, Kwon Min-woo, was about to be named successor. Yet Jae-ho had suddenly returned. Who knew what he was planning?
After lightly tapping the tablet screen, Jae-ho picked up his jacket and stood.
“If you want me to design it, follow proper procedures. Select other architect candidates and choose from among them. That would be fair.”
“If you’re selected, will you do it?”
At the chairman’s question, Jae-ho showed his teeth in a smile.
“Well… that depends on my schedule. I’m quite busy.”
“You! How dare you speak to your grandfather like that!”
Unable to tolerate his attitude any longer, Executive Director Kwon jumped up. But Chairman Kwon raised a hand to stop him.
“That’s enough.”
The second son, Kwon Woo-sik, lacked emotional control. It was the worst trait for a businessman. If not for past troubles, management rights would have gone to the eldest son.
The grandson standing before him now was nothing like his father who had stepped down quietly. It was clear just by his eyes—he wasn’t someone easy to handle. And that made him even more desirable.
“We haven’t seen each other in a while. Let’s have dinner together as a family.”
At the word “family,” Jae-ho accepted the invitation without much thought.
He hadn’t expected Yul-ri to be there.
Coming back from his thoughts, Jae-ho gave a bitter smile and lifted his water glass.
“So, is today’s accident being handled well?”
As the meal neared its end, Chairman Kwon asked Min-woo. The warm atmosphere quickly turned cold.
“Yes, Grandfather. I’m sorry for worrying you.”
Min-woo bowed deeply.
“Of all times, with the wedding coming up…”
“I’m sorry, Grandfather.”
Seeing his son cornered, Executive Director Kwon quickly redirected the attack.
“Jae-ho, you still haven’t fixed that habit of using your left hand.”
He looked at Jae-ho disapprovingly.
“Tsk tsk. A left-hander in the Kwon family…”
Yul-ri’s eyes moved to Jae-ho’s left hand holding the chopsticks. A left-hander? But he didn’t seem fully comfortable using it.
Wasn’t his injured shoulder the right one?
Maybe he was using his left hand because of that.
“…Excuse me.”
Just as Yul-ri was about to speak, Jae-ho lifted his eyes and looked straight at her. His gaze sparkled dangerously, as if warning her to stay silent.
Startled, she quickly lowered her eyes.
“I believe we’re in the 21st century.”
Jae-ho slowly set down his chopsticks and leaned back.
“But you’re still complaining about left-handedness, Executive Director?”
“In my time, if you used your left hand at the table, you were hit immediately.”
“Ah… ‘in your time.’ That’s why people call you old-fashioned.”
“What? Old-fashioned? How dare you—”
“Ahem.”
As the executive stood up in anger, Chairman Kwon cleared his throat. With just one cough, the executive sat back down, face red.
“I’ll leave now. Finish your meal.”
After the chairman left, the executive followed. An awkward silence fell.
“Hyung, take it easy. Did you really have to act like that after not seeing each other for so long?”
“What do you mean, act like that?”
Jae-ho asked calmly. Min-woo smiled coldly.
“You’re not still under the illusion that your father is the successor, are you? If you want even a crumb, watch your words. Unless you want to leave empty-handed.”
Even knowing it was the chairman who had called Jae-ho back, Min-woo pretended otherwise and tried to provoke him.
But Jae-ho only curved his lips gently.
“You talk as if you’re already the successor.”
“Not ‘as if.’ I already am. Can’t you see?”
Provoked, Min-woo wrapped his arm around Yul-ri’s shoulders, as if showing off—‘Your former fiancée is now my woman.’
Suddenly dragged into a competition between the two men, Yul-ri frowned.
Is that why he invited me? To show me off?
Annoyed, she gently removed Min-woo’s hand and picked up a slice of candied ginseng from her plate.
As she chewed slowly, a sweet yet bitter taste filled her mouth.
“Let’s talk.”
After the meal, Yul-ri grabbed Min-woo’s arm. They needed to discuss him dragging her into such an uncomfortable dinner without telling her.
“Sorry, can we talk later? I have to go back to the office…”
“Fine. We’ll talk later.”
After letting him go, Yul-ri headed to the lobby to call a taxi. As she took out her phone, it rang.
“Are you okay? Did the accident happen while you were there?”
Hyun-kyung’s worried voice came through. She was the first to check on Yul-ri—not her family.
A shadow passed over Yul-ri’s face.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Except I ended up like a drenched rat.”
“I heard someone got hurt. I was so worried…”
“Sorry for worrying you.”
Honestly, she almost got hurt. If Jae-ho hadn’t appeared in time, she would have been badly bruised.
“I want to go see you right now, but my event isn’t over yet.”
“We’ll see each other tomorrow. You know you’re the only one I have, right?”
Hyun-kyung was the most precious person in Yul-ri’s world. More than family. More than a lover.
“Of course I know. I love you, Chae Yul-ri.”
“I love you too. Finish your event well, and let’s talk later at home.”
Smiling brightly, she hung up. Just as she was about to open the taxi app, she felt someone beside her.
Turning her head, she saw Jae-ho standing there.
She had thought he left right after dinner. A cold air clung to him, as if he had stepped outside.
Startled, she brushed her hair behind her ear.
“Didn’t you bring a car?”
Though the dinner had been awkward, Jae-ho spoke naturally.
“Isn’t Min-woo taking you home?”
“He had to return to the office. Because of the accident at the mall…”
She realized she hadn’t properly thanked him earlier.
“Thank you for before. How’s your shoulder? Did you get treatment?”
Seeing him not using his right hand, the wound must have been deep. Was he wearing a black sweater so the bandage wouldn’t show?
Jae-ho stayed silent for a moment, deep in thought. Then his firmly closed lips parted.
“If there are questions, I’ll ask first.”
She looked puzzled.
Her hair slipped down again, and before she could move, Jae-ho reached out and tucked it behind her ear.
“…!”
At the unexpected touch, she froze.
His low voice entered her ear.
“Do you really have to marry?”
