Chapter 9
The mornings in the mansion’s garden began with the sound of birdsong. The crisp notes rode the cool air, slipping through the window cracks and brushing against her ears.
Seung-ah stirred under the blanket and, as always, reached out for the soft, squishy teddy bear she kept by her pillow.
Thump. Something warm landed in her hand.
“Mmm…”
She tried to pull it into her arms, but it was oddly heavy, nothing like the plush texture she was used to.
Blink. Blink.
When she finally forced her eyelids open, she was greeted by the sight of sleek black hair.
Gasp!
She held her breath and jerked back.
It wasn’t her teddy bear—it was Yoo-jin. He was lying on his side, his broad back, as vast as the Pacific, filling her entire view.
What a back. Anyone would envy that.
The contours of his well-defined muscles made her want to reach out and touch them. And across them, like a final stroke of art, were faint red marks, sensual in their own right.
She knew the culprit who had left those long crimson trails: her own fingernails.
Condom… yes, we used one. No visible marks anywhere else.
Confirming her own condition, Seung-ah wriggled, trying to slip out from under the covers.
But just as she was climbing off the bed—
“Leaving already?”
Yoo-jin’s sudden voice stopped her. Judging by how clear it was, he must have been awake for a while.
“I thought you’d keep me as a teddy bear replacement.”
“You’re, ahem, not nearly cute enough for that.”
“I’m not cute?”
He propped his head on his arm, gazing at her with those clear eyes. For a moment, his expression carried a boyish charm, though his lips were as red as freshly picked fruit.
Those very lips had tormented her endlessly last night.
The memory alone was enough to make her cheeks burn. Before it got worse, she quickly stood up.
“Get up and get ready for work.”
As she walked away, his teasing voice trailed after her.
“Choi Seung-ah just used me and threw me away.”
What was this man saying, after insisting it was more thrilling precisely because they weren’t dating?
Back in her own room, Seung-ah buried her hands in her hair.
What on earth have I done?
With the landlord, of all people!
And not just any landlord—her workplace superior.
To end up in bed with him after just one day of working together. Life really was full of surprises.
Sure, Tae-jun had provoked her, but she had been drawn to Yoo-jin as well.
It wasn’t just her. Judging by his words, Yoo-jin seemed to think of her as no more than a casual fling.
Well, he had been drinking. He claimed he wasn’t drunk, but maybe he was carried away by the mood.
Best to treat last night as nothing more than a brief indulgence.
* * *
After finishing her morning routine and coming downstairs, Seung-ah found Yoo-jin twirling his car keys in one hand.
“Let’s take my car today.”
“Is that really necessary? The staff might find it strange.”
“I’ve got something to talk about. Don’t worry, I’ll drop you off before then.”
Of course. He must want to clarify things.
Since that was what she wanted as well, Seung-ah followed him without protest.
The seat’s smooth leather pressed comfortably against her back and hips. Not a bad place to have a conversation.
Watching his hands move gracefully over the steering wheel, Seung-ah spoke first.
“Don’t worry about last night.”
“You really came out this morning determined to end it like that?”
“Aren’t you, Mr. Han Yoo-jin?”
“I think you’d make a fine partner.”
Partner? What did that mean?
He tapped his finger lightly against the wheel.
“My grandmother—Madam Geum Il-bong—she’s obsessed with my marriage.”
“I overheard her at the workshop.”
“She was at it there too?”
“‘Our Yoo-jin is perfect in every way, but he never thinks about settling down with anyone!’”
Seung-ah imitated Madam Il-bong’s accent with uncanny accuracy. Yoo-jin burst into laughter.
“She’s been like that since I was ten. Even when she saw a seven-year-old girl, she’d say, ‘Wouldn’t she make a fine bride for you?’ I’ve heard it so much, my ears are calloused.”
“So she wanted you to go on blind dates?”
“Fast on the uptake, I like that.”
“Why don’t you want to get married?”
“Hearing it from such a young age made me sick of it. And I hate being a puppet for my family’s elders. That’s why I chose a job unrelated to my grandmother’s business.”
Seung-ah had heard, vaguely, that Madam Il-bong ran some kind of food business. But perhaps the scale was bigger than she thought. The mansion itself had been a clear sign of wealth.
Of course, wealthy families always had demands for their children: take over the business, marry the woman we choose, and so on.
“I’ll return to the family company one day, sure. But at least marriage—I want that on my terms. And you know what? I think my grandmother has her eyes on you, too.”
He paused deliberately before adding:
“As my bride.”
“Me? As your bride?”
Her mouth fell open.
“As Han Yoo-jin’s bride?”
“So here’s the thing—”
“No, wait. Are you telling me she rented me that room in her house because she was secretly hoping, ‘Maybe Yoo-jin and Seung-ah will fall for each other when he comes back’?”
“She’s been pushing women toward me for years. By any means necessary.”
Unbelievable. Seung-ah had thought the old lady was simply kindhearted. Who would’ve guessed she had such schemes?
While Seung-ah sat in shock, Yoo-jin remained perfectly calm.
“If I dodge, she just thinks up the next plan. So I figured, why not play along? And if the marriage doesn’t work out in the end, maybe she’ll finally realize, ‘Even after all this effort, it’s hopeless.’”
“I… see.”
“So, I want you to go along with it. I’ll give you fair compensation.”
“Go along with it? In what way?”
Yoo-jin suddenly turned his head. Their eyes met.
“Like last night.”
Though his lips curled into a mischievous smile, his gaze was dead serious.
“You’ll play my fiancée. For one year. In return, you get that house.”
He threw out the terms as easily as tossing cards, then refocused on the road as the light turned green.
Seung-ah sat stunned, repeating his words in her head.
“For… for one year, I have to sleep with you—”
“Not just sleep. You’d be my fiancée.”
“And after a year, you’ll give me the house? But weren’t you the one who told me to move out before?”
“Back then I didn’t know my grandmother’s intentions. And honestly, you were just… a bit of a hassle.”
So he was ready to throw me out just because I was ‘a bit of a hassle’.
“But compared to the headache of marriage talk, letting you live there for a year isn’t so bad.”
So when Yoo-jin left, that mansion would become hers.
The mansion worth more than a lifetime of wages.
The house filled with memories of her childhood—one she thought she could never return to.
“Not a bad deal, right? It won’t be hard. And don’t you think we actually get along pretty well?”
Yoo-jin spoke with a casual air.
“In bed too.”
Her ears burned at his low voice.
“S-stop joking. I need to think about this.”
“I’m serious. It’s an important factor.”
Just then, they arrived at her stop. Seung-ah pointed ahead.
“Drop me off at that crosswalk.”
Right before she got out, she spoke calmly:
“Give me some time. It’s an unexpected offer—I’ll consider it.”
“Take all the time you need.”
While waiting at the red light, Yoo-jin watched her cross the street.
Things won’t be boring from now on.
To him, this was a sort of game. A little detour he had never tried before in his life—and it thrilled him.
But it wasn’t just calculation. The more he looked at her, the more he found her captivating.
He remembered her crouched like a small animal in the entryway.
‘I cleaned it. What do you think?’
Even when he tried to throw her out, she stood her ground—strong and intriguing.
And last night, her slumped shoulders had made him want to comfort her.
Tae-jun’s words had also stirred some anger in him.
‘You’re the reason I got tired of you.’
No matter how little time he had known her, Seung-ah wasn’t the kind of woman who deserved words like that.
Yoo-jin trusted his instincts. He never took just anyone to bed, and inviting Seung-ah to spend the night with him hadn’t been mere impulse.
As he absently rubbed at the scratches on his back from the night before, he turned the wheel again.
