CHAPTER 03…………………….
For some reason, Seoyoung kept glancing at the clock today.
She couldn’t focus on work, her mind tangled with the condition Cha Hyukjin had set.
“Seriously? Bedroom compatibility? In this day and age?”
Wouldn’t it be better if he just openly said he wanted to see other women?
If the wife permitted it, then there would be no need to test such compatibility at all, would there?
Her mind spiraled through all kinds of thoughts as time crawled.
“No matter what, this marriage has to happen.”
After agonizing endlessly, Seoyoung finally looked down at the business card Hyukjin had given her and sighed.
The call barely rang before he picked up.
— Cha Hyukjin speaking.
“This is Hyun Seoyoung. I’d like to discuss the condition you mentioned.”
— The condition… Is that the problem? More than getting the marriage itself done?
At his words, Seoyoung bit her lip.
There was no doubt that Hyukjin had done his research on her after they parted ways.
And he must have realized he held the advantageous position.
In the end, Seoyoung was the one who had to lower her head.
“Of course, making the marriage happen is the most important thing.”
— Then shall we see just how committed you are? Let’s meet tonight. I don’t want to keep getting dragged into blind dates either.
“Tonight is a bit too—”
— So I guess you’re not as desperate as you seemed?
His pointed remark made her bite down hard on her lip. She immediately changed her tune.
“It’s not that I’m not desperate. I simply thought I should give you a little more time to think. Fine. Let’s meet tonight.”
— I’ll text you the location. See you later.
He sounded amused, as though she were trying to be considerate.
Then he hung up first.
“This is ridiculous. Does he always move this fast?”
She had heard he was cautious and composed.
Whatever his manners were with women, when it came to business, he was said to be cold and precise.
True, Seoyoung’s situation was the more urgent one—but still, did they really have to meet tonight?
It wasn’t like she had the right to choose anyway.
Hyukjin just had to sit through a few more blind dates, but Seoyoung stood to lose everything she had worked for.
Fine. What’s so hard about checking our ‘bedroom compatibility’ once? Let him have his way.
She pressed the intercom.
“I’m leaving work now. Please get the car ready.”
The sky burned red with sunset.
Returning to the family home in Pyeongchang-dong, Hyukjin was greeted warmly by Mrs. Kim, who managed the household. He headed straight for Chairman Cha’s study.
He had been preparing to leave work when he got the call. Apparently, the woman he had rejected in the morning had phoned the chairman to complain about what happened during the blind date.
So of course, the furious chairman had ordered Hyukjin to come home immediately.
Hyukjin knocked twice, and when he received permission, he straightened his tie and entered the study.
“You say you have a woman you want to marry?”
Before he could even sit down, the chairman shot the question at him with a menacing glare.
His father, Seunghun, sitting across from the chairman, also looked at him expectantly.
The chairman had been impatient lately. His elder grandson had been married three years with still no news of a child, so he’d been pushing Hyukjin to get married quickly.
Ever since the grandchildren were young, the one who stood out the most—the one the chairman doted on most—had been Hyukjin. Yet the boy had run off to study in the U.S. and lived freely, not wanting to return at all.
They had barely managed to drag him back a year ago, and he’d immediately revitalized the struggling auto division, pushing it ahead of competitors.
But after achieving all that, he had the nerve to ask to be transferred to the construction company.
Thinking back to that moment made the chairman’s eyes sharpen.
He knew very well why Hyukjin kept trying to avoid corporate duties.
Hyukjin also understood his grandfather and father’s desires—but he couldn’t just follow their wishes blindly.
I didn’t uproot my life and make decisions lightly.
But when his father—Vice Chairman Cha Seunghun—told him that his health had worsened and that weak-hearted Youngjin couldn’t handle the group alone… he couldn’t refuse.
He didn’t mind helping Youngjin, but letting his greedy cousins snatch away the best divisions was unacceptable.
So he agreed to return for exactly three years—no more.
And now the chairman was even trying to get a great-grandchild out of him. It was absurd.
Then, two weeks ago, the chairman suddenly collapsed. Pale and frail in his hospital bed, he’d told Hyukjin that his only dying wish before his death was to see him married.
Hyukjin tried to ignore it, but in the end, he was pushed into agreeing to blind dates.
If it hadn’t been for Mother, I would’ve let it go in one ear and out the other…
Thinking of Mihyun, who worried about him constantly, Hyukjin swallowed a sigh.
“Yes. She’s exactly the kind of woman I like.”
The chairman’s eyes widened, brows lifting high with surprise.
Seunghun also looked skeptical, closely watching his son’s face for signs of lying.
“I’m not joking, Father.”
Hyukjin let out a soft laugh as he looked at Seunghun.
“If you had someone you liked, why didn’t you say so earlier?”
Seunghun narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
“To be precise, I found her today.”
He wasn’t picking up women off the street, yet here he was—calling a different woman from his blind date earlier that very day his future bride. It was hard to believe.
Hyukjin had often been spotted with women, but they were all casual encounters. He had never been in a real relationship.
“Explain in detail.”
The chairman, having listened quietly, nodded for him to continue.
“I can only say that she’s one of the candidates you sent me. Nothing is confirmed yet.”
Speaking vaguely and refusing to give a clear answer, Hyukjin irritated Seunghun.
But the chairman’s wrinkled face slowly softened into a smile.
At least there was no need to worry that she was some unknown woman of questionable background.
“So, you’re saying there’s a woman you want to marry?”
“Yes. Someone you approve of, and someone I want.”
“Good. Then bring her home soon so we can meet her.”
Seunghun shot his father a look of disbelief.
“Father… You actually believe him?”
“What’s there not to believe? That boy says plainly when he dislikes something.”
“That’s true, but still… Don’t you find this a bit strange?”
Hyukjin appeared gentle on the surface, but he was very good at masking his emotions.
He might be lying just to delay the blind dates again…
Seunghun couldn’t shake the suspicion that Hyukjin had devised something to escape the chairman’s pressure.
Watching the two men go back and forth, Hyukjin’s lips curved in a small, victorious smile.
“I’ll introduce her to you soon, Grandfather. Now, may I leave? I have an important appointment.”
He had been sitting for barely a few minutes, yet he was already checking his watch as he asked to go.
