ARHS 05

Chapter 5

After being styled by a professional, Somin had completely transformed.

Even she could hardly recognize herself. If she were to run into someone who knew her, they wouldn’t recognize her at all—the mirror reflected someone entirely different.

Somin descended the stairs toward the entrance where Chris was waiting. Hearing her footsteps, he looked up and swept her with a sharp gaze.

“Not bad. You’ll do.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

Whether it was because of the ivory dress with gold embroidery she wore or simply his usual style, Chris looked striking in a black tuxedo.

No—he was so handsome it was hard to look away.

But to her, he was merely a predator whose approval she had to earn.

A dangerous man, completely unpredictable.

“Let’s go.”

“Alright.”

Once they got into the car—one whose price she couldn’t even begin to imagine—Somin let out a long breath.

“You don’t need to be nervous. Just relax.”

Easy to say.

She was supposed to play the role of his girlfriend after meeting him only twice. How could she possibly relax?

Besides, he held the fate of the robotics team in his hands. No matter how bold she might be, she couldn’t afford to be comfortable around someone like that.

“You said I’m supposed to act like your girlfriend, right?”

“How many times do I have to tell you?”

He clicked his tongue, sounding annoyed.

“So where did we meet? At the expo?”

“That’s what I said.”

That wasn’t what she was asking.

“I mean where we really met. If I’m your girlfriend, we should agree on how we fell in love—where we met, how it happened.”

So this was why people said theft required teamwork.

“At the expo. You destroyed my robot, and it was the first time a woman had done that, so I fell for you.”

“Oh…”

The story strangely felt familiar.

They had met at the expo, and she had destroyed his robot. The only lie was that he had fallen for her.

“Making up a story from scratch would be easy to expose. But if you weave the lie into the truth, people are more likely to believe it.”

It made sense.

That was how she lied to her parents all the time.

A lie built on facts didn’t sound suspicious.

“Is there anything I should watch out for?”

“Something to watch out for…”

Chris leaned toward her.

Instinctively, she leaned back—but there was nowhere to go.

“Like this.”

As she retreated, his large hand caught her chin and gently pulled her forward. Seeing his smooth lips drawing closer, she bit down on her own.

“Hey…”

“Chris.”

“Fine, Chris. This… isn’t right. Doing something like this without consent—”

Somin quickly placed her hands on his shoulders and tried to push him away, but he didn’t budge.

They were so close she could feel his breath. The confined space of the car left her no room to escape.

Chris was as unpredictable in action as he was in words.

He didn’t seem to intend to stop. If he kept going, they would kiss—on their second meeting.

Somin shut her eyes tightly.

Time slowed. She waited for the touch of his lips, but it never came.

When she cautiously opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was his lips—firmly closed in a straight line.

“Why did you close your eyes?”

“W-well…”

Because you were going to kiss me.

She couldn’t say it out loud and instead bit the inside of her cheek.

It felt like she had jumped to conclusions and gotten ahead of herself. Her face burned with embarrassment.

If the car jolted and their bodies moved, their lips might brush. The distance between them was that small. Speaking—or even breathing—felt risky.

Yet she couldn’t pull away. His hand, which had only been holding her chin, now gently cupped her entire cheek.

She was completely trapped.

“Why are you doing this?”

Breaking the silence, her barely audible voice echoed in the car.

A crooked smile touched his lips.

“You asked if there was anything to watch out for. I’m teaching you.”

She didn’t understand what lesson required this position.

Somin swallowed hard. She couldn’t meet his gaze, her eyes wandering.

“Just stay still.”

Her brow furrowed slightly.

Everything he said and did was unpredictable—nothing made immediate sense.

His other hand brushed her cheek, lingering near her lips.

She kept her gaze down, staring into space. Tension made her eyelashes tremble.

“If I touch you, hold you, don’t pull away. Act naturally.”

She hadn’t expected “stay still” to mean that.

“That won’t happen, but if we kiss—like I said before—don’t close your eyes. Just keep them lowered and stay still.”

“That’s…”

Somin bit her lower lip, but his hand straightened it for her.

“Tsk.”

Chris clicked his tongue and frowned.

“It’s a bad habit. If you want to speak, speak. Or shout. Just don’t chew up your lips.”

“That’s why I’m saying—please move your hand.”

Being honest because she couldn’t shout, he laughed.

“Get used to it. If you can’t even look me in the eye, you’ll be exposed as a fake girlfriend.”

Why tell her to be honest if he wouldn’t listen? He was impossible to predict.

Frustrated, she bit down on her lip again.

“Don’t do that.”

“You don’t listen to me either.”

A faint smile crossed his lips.

“Oh, it’s a little late to ask, but… do you have a boyfriend? A real one.”

If she had, she would have said so when he suggested the fake relationship. It would have been the easiest excuse to refuse.

Still, she didn’t want to answer too readily. Her gaze darkened.

“I don’t have a boyfriend… but there is someone I’ve cherished for a long time.”

She met Chris’s eyes steadily as she answered.

“Someone you like?”

His brows lifted slightly—surprised.

“Hm…”

Somin exhaled slowly instead of replying.

It wasn’t simply a crush. Though she hadn’t lived long, there had been someone she had long missed—someone who had kept her going, someone she had yearned to see for over twenty years. That person had given her the strength to keep living. The longing was so deep that just thinking about them made her heart burn.

If that feeling could be called love.

“Yes, a crush… for a long time… I guess.”

A small smile appeared on her lips as she spoke.

The hand gripping her chin loosened. Chris’s gaze wavered as he slowly looked away.

“Sorry. That was rude.”

The man who had been pinning her with his eyes turned toward the window and remained silent until the car stopped. The quiet between them weighed heavily.

The car glided to a stop at the entrance of the HL Hotel.

But instead of halting at the lobby, it passed by and stopped in front of the VIP special wing.

Several years ago, Somin had attended an event at the HL Hotel—not as a guest, but as an event assistant.

When the official supporting the event became drunk, she helped him to the waiting car. Outside the lobby, the official had stared at the trees and said:

“Do you know what they call the HL Hotel special wing? In our world, it’s the tiger’s den. Only those who survive among the tigers can rise to true power and wealth.”

“….”

“Right now, I can’t enter the tiger’s den, but someday I will. Being invited to it means I could become a presidential candidate.”

Hearing the drunken man boast about power made her sick.

And yet the party Chris was attending was being held in that very special wing—an event that even three-term assemblyman Ryoo Inho had never been invited to.

Before meeting Chris, she had spent hours reading about the event online, but realizing it was being held in such an exclusive place made the truth sink in: Chris’s social status was far beyond what she had imagined.

If she had known the party was in the “tiger’s den,” she would have run away.

This was no place for half-hearted acting.

Somin felt dizzy.