CHAPTER 01………………………
After taking a deep breath and straightening her clothes, Seoyoung stepped into the hotel café.
She didn’t walk far before she spotted a familiar-looking man sitting facing the entrance. He was the one whose face she had memorized from a photo.
In person, he was even more handsome—enough that it was easy to believe the rumors that he had made many women cry.
Even while sitting, he looked tall, and his smooth, actor-like features were striking. Across from him sat a woman who looked very demure even from behind, her back perfectly straight.
Unable to interrupt a blind date in progress, Seoyoung quietly sat at the table beside them.
After ordering coffee and eavesdropping on their conversation, she realized the man’s voice was gentle, but he wasn’t remotely interested in the woman he was meeting.
They exchanged smiles here and there, chatting—until the woman suddenly stood up after receiving a call and excused herself.
Now’s the moment.
Seoyoung, who had been sitting and waiting for twenty minutes already, watched the woman walk away with only her phone and approached the now-alone man.
“Mr. Cha Hyukjin, marry me.”
At her blunt words, the man who had been gazing out the window slowly turned his head.
“What did you just say?”
Cha Hyukjin—so handsome that anyone would stare at least once—raised an eyebrow.
He crossed his long, model-like legs with effortless elegance. Although he looked like a gentleman, he had an aura that made him feel hard to approach.
His sharp gaze, as if he could see right through her, made him feel completely different from the person she had researched.
Meeting Hyukjin’s icy stare head-on, Seoyoung sat across from him as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
Holding a faint smile on her lips, she shrugged and repeated herself.
“I said let’s get married.”
“Ha!”
Hyukjin let out a disbelieving laugh.
She even knew his name—clearly she knew exactly who he was.
Plenty of women had thrown themselves at him over the years, but none had ever proposed so directly. Yet her attitude was strangely calm and matter-of-fact, which caught his attention.
“It’s definitely a unique approach, but I’m curious—why should I marry you?”
Normally, he would eject any woman who approached him, no matter how beautiful. But the unexpected proposal from this stranger stirred the interest of a man who’d been bored for far too long.
Especially since this provided a neat excuse to get rid of his blind date partner right now. A little mischief didn’t sound so bad.
Hyukjin’s frosty expression melted away, and his lips curved faintly.
“I thought you were a staunch bachelor, yet lately you’ve been all over the marriage market going on blind dates, haven’t you?”
Seoyoung took out a business card from her wallet and slid it across the table toward him.
“If you’re going to get married anyway, marry me. If you want, I’ll even divorce you after two years.”
Her eyes curved as if she were making a daring offer.
Hyukjin glanced at the card, then quickly scanned her again.
Hyun Seoyoung.
Granddaughter of Park Bokja, Chairwoman of Shinhwa Group—who started in private lending and grew a savings bank into a powerhouse—and currently the head of Carlos Hotel.
Wasn’t she competing with her cousin for the president position?
He had learned about Seoyoung when he—Cha Hyukjin, executive director of Hanho Construction—recently became interested in theme park and resort projects.
She had the tall, slender figure of a model, refined features on a small face, and a commanding presence.
But it wasn’t just her looks—her competence was said to be exceptional.
Despite being recognized late as a Shinhwa Group granddaughter, she was already listed as a candidate for company president, surpassing the long-entrenched Vice President Jung Minhyung.
As expected of Grandfather.
She was one of the prospective candidates that Chairman Cha Geunho had shoved at Hyukjin, telling him to pick whichever woman he liked and get married.
But this woman had shown up before any proposal could even reach her.
Hyukjin once again marveled at his grandfather’s uncanny foresight—whether with people or business.
Not that I have any intention of marrying just because he said so.
He had already investigated Seoyoung thoroughly as a potential business partner long before she appeared on any list of suitable brides.
Even though he knew exactly who she was, he pretended otherwise, folding his arms and motioning for her to continue.
“That’s your pitch?”
Nervous that Hyukjin’s blind date partner might return any moment, Seoyoung glanced at the entrance and quickly stated her real purpose.
“How about we get married and become business partners? I heard Hanho Resort plans to build a theme park in Jeju. If you collaborate with us using the land Carlos Hotel acquired, the synergy would be incredible.”
Hyukjin snorted.
“You want to marry me for the sake of a collaboration? With the condition that you’ll even divorce me two years later?”
“Yes. I heard Chairman Cha is very persistent. If you keep going on blind dates like this, won’t you end up getting married anyway? If you have to, wouldn’t it be better to marry someone who guarantees you freedom afterward? I’m a lifelong single like you, so we’d get along well.”
“We’ll see…”
Hyukjin tilted his head and stroked his chin, clearly unimpressed.
“I don’t see much benefit for me.”
Seoyoung pursed her lips, a tiny sigh slipping out.
What a snake. And people call him gentle and considerate? Total nonsense.
For a man known as a polite English gentleman, he looked more like a hustler focused on dominating a negotiation.
And the cold stare he greeted her with had been nothing like his public image.
She had met plenty of two-faced people before—this was nothing new. The real problem was that she couldn’t simply walk away out of annoyance.
Her recent business ventures kept getting blocked, and if she mishandled this moment, the hotel she had built with so much effort might fall into the hands of her incompetent cousin Minhyung.
So attempting a fast deal might be her best shot.
“Do you want something else?”
Even if she hated the idea, she had to get married for her own sake. Yet the man across from her acted as if he were the one being inconvenienced.
Hyukjin watched her brown eyes glinting under the sunlight. His lips curled as he leaned forward.
“What I value most is sexual compatibility, you see. And I’m not immoral enough to sleep with other women after getting married.”
“…!”
“If marriage takes away my freedom, then at the very least I should confirm the one thing that matters most to me, don’t you think?”
He flashed a sly smile.
Most women who wanted him would have clung to him saying it was fine—but Seoyoung was not like that.
According to his research, she had never even been in a proper relationship, barely interested in men at all.
And indeed, though she tried hard to maintain her expression, unmistakable disgust flickered in her eyes.
As expected—you can’t answer.
Hyukjin shrugged as he watched her glare at him.
“Well, it seems our discussion is over. Would you please leave? As you know, this seat is taken…”
He nodded toward the woman returning behind Seoyoung.
Realizing the blind date partner was back, Seoyoung rose and spoke quietly.
“I’ll think about it and contact you.”
“As you wish.”
Hyukjin took out a business card from his inner pocket and placed it on the table.
“If you’re interested, it’s best to contact me soon.”
On the black card, the white digits told her this was his private number.
Seoyoung grabbed the card and turned.
The woman, now right in front of her, frowned deeply.
“Who are you, and why are you—”
But she never finished the sentence. Seoyoung walked off without caring.
Instead, Hyukjin rose and answered for her.
“She’s the woman I’m going to marry.”
“What? What are you—?”
“It was just decided, so my apologies for not telling you sooner. Goodbye.”
With a polite bow, he walked past her and out of the café.
The furious woman yelled something behind him.
“Interesting.”
A dull, boring life was about to get very entertaining thanks to a woman named Hyun Seoyoung.
