Chapter 2 (Part 1)

Seeing Do-jin return, Seo-hye stepped back.

Was it his plan all along to trap me and then consume me?

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close to him.

The man facing her from such a close distance was so fierce that he seemed capable of devouring her in one go.

As she was about to open her mouth to ask what he was doing, his large hand grasped her jaw all at once.

Seo-hye’s eyes squinted involuntarily at the intense grip that seemed to crush her lower jaw.

Unperturbed, he scrutinized her from her forehead to her nose, then over her philtrum to her lips.

“No matter what, a bride shouldn’t have scars on her face.”

“…!”

“Make sure no one lays a hand on your face from now on.”

The words he had conveyed from the kitchen seemed to be sincere.

Her mind went blank, and she didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t something she could simply agree to.

“…The marriage talks are already directed towards my sister.”

“Then should I sleep with you and marry your sister?”

His chilling tone. An act beyond decency. And words confirming what he had done.

“How is that even possible?”

She tried to pry his hand off her jaw with the hand that wasn’t holding the cigarette butts.

But it was useless. He spoke in a calm voice, devoid of any impact, while pressing his lower body tightly against hers.

“Even now, seeing you makes me feel this way.”

The sharp sensation pressing into her lower abdomen spread bewilderment across her face.

“Wait patiently. Until I come back again.”

He released her slowly, leaving her with those enigmatic words.

As soon as she was released from his grasp, Seo-hye hurriedly ran toward the gate. She quickly climbed the stairs and opened the front door.

Until the front door opened, she didn’t hear the sound of the car door closing.

Thinking that his piercing gaze was fixed on her back made her spine tingle.

She clutched her aching chest and headed to the bathroom on the second floor.

Standing in front of the mirror, she looked at her face. It was a mess. Her face was flushed, and there was blood she hadn’t managed to wipe off near her left eyebrow.

It was hideous and ridiculous. She looked like a clown who had just amused Do-jin.

A hollow laugh escaped her, followed by tears that seemed about to fall.

She wondered how such a ridiculous situation could happen.

Everyone in this household wants Hae-mi, not her, to marry into the Seonghan Group.

And she had been intimate with the grandson of that Seonghan Group.

And that grandson wasn’t backing down from wanting to marry her.

She wanted to ask the heavens if this was the price of her deviation. If she had to endure such difficulties.

As she was about to rub her face in frustration, something rough brushed against her cheek.

Only then did she realize she was still tightly holding the cigarette butts he had discarded. And that she had rubbed her face with that hand.

“Oh… really…”

She wrapped the crushed cigarette butts in tissue and threw them in the trash.

Then she turned on the faucet and washed her cheek with lukewarm water.

But somehow, the more she washed, the more the acrid scent disappeared, yet his scent only grew stronger.

It was an absurd situation. Surely, her sense of smell had gone mad.

She rubbed both hands with soap and bent over to scrub her face thoroughly.

The persistent scent took quite a while to wash away.

***

The next day.

As they left the meeting room, Seok-young immediately recited Do-jin’s afternoon schedule while looking at the tablet PC.

“As you requested, I’ve moved the meeting with N.K regarding the senior care service agreement within the hotel to tomorrow. What should we do about the 5 PM overseas strategy meeting?”

Listening while walking, Do-jin organized the schedule himself.

“Move the meeting to tomorrow morning as well.”

“Yes, understood.”

Seok-young had informed Do-jin earlier that the Chairman had requested a visit in the morning.

Thus, he understood that Do-jin wanted to postpone both the meeting with N.K and the overseas strategy meeting to respond to the Chairman’s summons.

“Shall I prepare the car?”

At Do-jin’s nod, Seok-young took out his phone and said,

“I’ll also inform the Chairman’s secretary’s office that you’ll arrive within thirty minutes.”

Do-jin stopped.

“There’s no need for that. I’m stopping somewhere else first.”

Leaving the flustered Seok-young behind, Do-jin resumed walking.

Seok-young hurriedly closed the distance between them.

Once Seok-young was back within Do-jin’s proximity, he continued the conversation.

“I heard you’re becoming a father this year, Secretary Yoo.”

Before Seok-young could respond, Do-jin turned and entered the arriving elevator.

Even as the elevator doors closed with him inside, Seok-young couldn’t move.

Do-jin’s warning had struck a chord.

It was a silent pressure to decide whether to align with the Chairman’s side or with him.

***

Do-jin, having reached the main gate, instructed the driver to get out, then climbed into the driver’s seat himself.

The accelerator pressed under the shoe sole smoothly, contrasting with the constraints imposed by Eung-soo, and he drove the car at full speed.

Since the hospital was not far from the hotel, he arrived earlier than expected.

Do-jin headed straight to the VIP hospital room.

The person guarding the door of the hospital room brightened upon seeing Do-jin.

“……Young master?”

“Mr. Cha.”

Do-jin greeted Cha Hyun-sik with a slight smile.

Mr. Cha, with his tanned skin and coarse hair, gave off a strong impression, but his speech and demeanor were more sincere than anyone else’s.

As the chief secretary to Jae-jun, the president of Seonghan Hotel and Do-jin’s father, he was a grateful benefactor who did not covet greater power and consistently assisted his father.

“My goodness, how long has it been! I heard you came last week, but I was so busy that I couldn’t even make a call.”

Mr. Cha couldn’t hide his emotional expression as he welcomed Do-jin. He slowly continued his admiration, taking in the now grown-up Do-jin.

“……You’ve really grown. Looking at you like this, you really resemble the president. Oh, the president is currently listening to reports related to the company.”

Mr. Cha glanced at his wristwatch.

“Well, it seems like it will be over soon. The president will be very pleased.”

As if to confirm his words, the door to the hospital room opened, and a staff member came out.

She flinched upon seeing Do-jin and then froze like a statue.

Do-jin’s indifferent eyes briefly scanned the young woman in front of him, but they soon shifted to Mr. Cha without much interest.

Amusingly, since arriving in Korea and seeing Seo-hye, every woman appeared monochromatic to him. Even the rather cute young secretary before him.

“Ah, this is the youngest secretary on our team. This is Won Do-jin, the new Managing Director of Seonghan Hotel and the president’s son.”

At Mr. Cha’s introduction, the young secretary gaped like a goldfish before quickly bowing to Do-jin.

“Oh, hello, I’m-“

“Yes, the youngest member of the president’s secretariat.”

Do-jin laughed softly as he stepped toward her.

As he suddenly closed the distance, the young secretary took a deep breath, becoming tense.

“My purpose is to see my father.”

But he mercilessly passed her by and entered the hospital room.

Inside, Do-jin’s eyes fell on Jae-jun, who was blankly watching the caregiver organize some documents that seemed familiar from earlier.

He still couldn’t move below his neck.

The hope that a miracle might have occurred while he was in the United States was, unsurprisingly, unfulfilled.

When he collapsed from the shock of his wife’s death, he suffered a significant head injury and was unfortunate enough to become paralyzed from the neck down.

Despite this, he steadfastly held his position as president of Seonghan Hotel.

There were those who harbored discontent and wanted to oust him, but there was no one else with Jae-jun’s track record of achievements and unique management skills within the hotel.

Of course, it was also possible because he was a card that Chairman Won Eung-soo of Seonghan Group had not yet discarded.

In hindsight, his grandfather was truly a repulsive old man.

He pressured Do-jin’s mother to her death and held his father, who was devastated by the loss of his wife, as a hostage.

And that was his eldest son.

“Come and take care of the hotel. While you’re at it, get married too.”

He threatened Do-jin severely, saying he would remove Jae-jun from the frontlines of management if he didn’t comply.

“…Who is this…? You’ve grown so much I almost didn’t recognize you, my son.”

Jae-jun’s voice, upon belatedly noticing Do-jin, was tinged with moisture.

Do-jin quickly approached and sat beside the bed, meeting his eyes.

“Take it easy. I’ll help you from now on.”

“You rascal, you came to help not of your own volition but because of your grandfather, didn’t you?”

He wanted to say he came to prevent his grandfather from ruining the position his father had struggled to maintain even from the sickbed. But those words lingered on the tip of his tongue.

“An old man needs a little prodding.”

Do-jin brushed it off lightly. He didn’t want to remind his already precarious father that if he made even a small mistake, everything could collapse.

“Still, it’s reassuring that you’re here.”

Do-jin silently lifted his father’s hand.

A hand that would fall limply unless he held it firmly.