VSSSP 06

Chapter 6

Even when she was treated like an unwanted burden by her stepmother, and even when she secretly cried because of Su-a’s bullying, it had always been miserable—but this feeling was different. It refused to become familiar. It refused to numb itself.

The two devils whispered again.

“I said it before—Min-seong is fine as someone I can just play around with.”

“What do you mean?”

“He won’t go around telling people about our relationship, and if I ever find someone else, he won’t cling to me. That’s all.”

At Su-a’s words, Min-seong let out a low laugh.

Then came the sound of something wet and dragging. It was the kind of sound that could only come from a deep, lingering kiss.

I-hyeon covered her mouth with her hand, holding back a sob. She covered her ears, too—but even that couldn’t block everything.

A muffled cry escaped, and she quickly clamped both hands over her mouth again.

The two people, lost in their kiss, didn’t hear a thing. The obscene sounds continued.

After a long while, a breathless voice finally spoke, and the wet, dragging noise stopped.

Su-a gave a soft laugh and said,

“This is the suite room key for the 21st floor—like I mentioned earlier.”

“How do you even have that, Su-a?”

“I already booked my wedding at this hotel, so I have the contract. I just showed it to them and asked for the 21st-floor suite, and they gave it to me without a word.”

Su-a said it proudly.

Min-seong looked at her with affectionate eyes and stroked her cheek.

“You really are bad, Su-a. They say it’s the room for the first night after the wedding.”

“So what? It would be torture to spend a boring night with that girl, right? On our first night, think about me instead—about how we were burning hot together.”

“You’re really awful.”

“You like it because I’m awful. You’ve been getting excited for a while now.”

Su-a whispered in a low voice.

“I’ll go take a shower. Come up after you send her off.”

“Wow. Doing this again today is even more exciting than yesterday. I’ll send I-hyeon off and go upstairs.”

“Okay.”

The metallic click of a lock echoed. In the sudden silence, I-hyeon took out her phone with trembling hands.

She didn’t have the courage to face Min-seong. She had heard their conversation, but her mind refused to process anything.

It still felt like a dream.

I-hyeon exhaled shakily.

“Haah.”

Forcing herself to wake up, she opened the message thread with Min-seong and typed a reply.

I was too drunk, so I just took a taxi from the lobby.

A reply came immediately.

You left on your own?

Yes.

She was about to put the phone down when she saw his next message.

It was rude to leave without even saying goodbye, you know.

I-hyeon’s thoughts froze. She couldn’t think.

It’s not right to leave the person who bought you dinner without even saying thanks. I said hello to Su-a on your behalf.

A tremendous sense of betrayal shook her whole body.

She needed to reply—but she couldn’t think of anything.

Then it happened.

A large hand snatched the phone from her.

I-hyeon’s head followed the movement of the phone.

The first thing she saw was light.

No, maybe it was the hallway lamp?

She was crouched on the stairs, and the person who took her phone was standing, so the emergency exit light shone around him, making him look even brighter.

Then a low voice echoed.

“Why are you hesitating about something like this?”

The man’s long fingers tapped the phone. He moved with the confidence of someone handling his own device.

When he handed the phone back, I-hyeon finally saw his face.

The first thing she noticed was his eyes—long, sharp eyes with a cold glint and almost no emotion. A straight nose, a sharp jawline, and lips as smooth as if sculpted.

Dressed in a perfectly tailored suit without a single wrinkle, he looked like a work of art crafted by a master sculptor.

Overwhelmed by his presence, I-hyeon stammered.

“Ah… the secretary from earlier….”

It was the man she had met earlier today—though this was the second time they had crossed paths.

He pulled a handkerchief from his jacket pocket and held it out.

“You’ve been crying again.”

“Ah….”

“And this time, it doesn’t seem like a pleasant situation.”

She had been exposed to everything by a stranger. Even though it wasn’t her fault, her face burned with embarrassment.

The man showed no intention of walking away. He kept holding out the handkerchief and moved his hand slightly.

“Take it. You look like you need it.”

I-hyeon awkwardly wiped her face with the back of her hand. Her tears were still too heavy, and she couldn’t clean them all.

With trembling hands, she gently grabbed the edge of the handkerchief.

“…Thank you.”

When she pressed the cloth to her face, a faint woody scent reached her nose—the same scent she had noticed earlier in the garden. She had thought it came from the trees, but it seemed that wasn’t the case.

The subtle scent calmed her. Her racing heart and shaking legs gradually returned to normal.

Realizing that the man was still looking down at her, she felt a new kind of discomfort.

Suddenly, he extended a hand.

“Get up.”

“Ah… okay.”

“Let’s go.”

“Where?”

“To the 21st floor.”

I-hyeon’s heart began to beat irregularly again.

It was a different feeling from the betrayal she felt toward Min-seong and Su-a. The cold gaze of the man in front of her hadn’t done anything wrong, yet for some reason—perhaps out of shame—she felt strangely angry.

Without thinking, she bristled.

“…It’s my business. Mind your own and go on your way.”

The man nodded slightly, as if accepting it.

“I like your voice like that.”

“What?”

“The right amount of anger, and clear pronunciation.”

I-hyeon stared at him and then, unable to hold back, sprang to her feet.

She glared at him as if he were insane.

The man didn’t miss the change in her expression.

“I like that look, too.”

I-hyeon clenched her empty hands, trembling.

She had stood up to close the distance, but the man was far taller than she expected. Even with high-heeled shoes, she didn’t reach his chin.

He moved naturally, as if he had known her for a long time. He placed a shiny gold card on top of her phone and held it out.

“It’s the 31st floor. Go take care of it. I’ll buy you a drink.”

Realizing that the card was a hotel room key, I-hyeon was utterly stunned.

“What…?”

She couldn’t finish her sentence.

Ignoring her, the man slipped the phone and the room key into her pocket.

“If you can’t do it alone, I can go with you.”

I-hyeon had finally experienced what it felt like to lose the ability to speak after overwhelming emotional shock.

She had cried a lot today.

She had cried with happiness when she saw the garden her mother designed.

But earlier, she had cried blood tears of betrayal, wishing it was all a nightmare.

Now, in this absurd situation, it felt as if all her tears had dried up.

A man who barged into her business, handed her a hotel room key, and interfered without permission—she had never met anyone like him.

He must be crazy, a natural flirt, or a con artist.

Whatever he was, he didn’t seem normal.

I-hyeon looked at him with contempt.

“Do you think I look pathetic…? Do I seem like a joke to you?”

At her words, Mu-gyeong’s brow furrowed.

Mu-gyeong had never interfered in other people’s business in his life.

He had never shown kindness before—so to be answered like this was irritating.

He let out a small laugh.

“You can even say things like that?”

“Hey!”

“Good.”

The woman had more spirit than he expected.

He had worried about leaving her alone, but at this level, she would probably handle the 21st floor fine.

“Go up and yell like that. You probably won’t resort to violence, but you can punch someone if you need to. Like I said, I can go with you.”

“I said I don’t need it!”

I-hyeon shouted.

Not wanting to deal with the crazy man anymore, she brushed past him and yanked open the emergency exit door, walking toward the escalator in the center.

“What kind of crazy person is he? Does he think I’m easy? Who does he think I am?”

Feeling betrayed by her fiancé’s true nature—more than anger, a crushing sense of misery made tears drip down her face.

She reached the escalator and descended to the first floor, then stopped in front of the main entrance.