Chapter 22

The beautiful form of the dress naturally drew her hand toward it, but Soyoon forced herself to stop.

“Please try it on quickly.”

“…I can’t wear this. Don’t you have anything else?”

It was not because it was expensive that she could not try it on. The black dress was too beautiful.

She did not mind that the back was open. The problem was that the slit went all the way up to the thigh, making her feel that her leg would show every time she walked.

The fortunate thing was that it was the left side, not the right. But what if someone happened to see her scar? She did not even want to imagine it. It was awful. She hated pitying looks, startled expressions, all of it.

“What’s going on?”

When he told the staff to leave for a moment, they scattered quickly.

“What’s the problem?”

The gaze in his eyes, his head tilted slightly, was very cold. Soyoon clenched her fists tightly.

“Can’t I wear something else?”

“Why?”

“…I don’t like it.”

He laughed as though she were being ridiculous.

“Why exactly did you make this contract with me?”

“….”

“Are you really that stupid?”

Since the afternoon, she had not been feeling well. As the alcohol wore off, she realized she had a fever. Well, of course she did, after getting caught in so much rain.

She just wanted to go home and sleep deeply, but she had no choice except to follow him here. Of course, with the party being tomorrow, it was true that she had to come.

His icy gaze made Soyoon shrink in on herself.

“I thought you were smart. I’m disappointed.”

“…I’ll wear it.”

“Do whatever you want.”

She stared blankly at him as he walked out, clearly truly angry, then lowered her head deeply. When she closed her eyes, she felt dizzy.

“Are you all right?”

A staff member caught Soyoon as she swayed. She nodded and said she was fine. The moment he left, the staff came in as though they had been waiting for that chance, and Soyoon had no choice but to put on the dress.

And then—

“Try these on.”

She shook her head at the heels that looked to be at least nine centimeters high. Just looking at them made her leg seem to throb.

“I’m sorry, but I’ll just wear them tomorrow.”

“Would you like to do that?”

“…Yes.”

He showed no sign of coming back after going outside. After finishing the fitting and waiting for him for a while, Soyoon finally went out. Their eyes met as he stood by the car with a cigarette in his mouth.

Did he smoke? It was something that did not suit Cha Do-ha at all. Because he had always had such a strong image of being the perfect student, she had never even imagined him smoking. She thought there was so much about him that she did not know.

Since there was no smoke, it did not seem like he had lit it.

His dark eyes had gone cold. Even knowing that she had made him like that, Soyoon still felt hurt.

She walked up to him.

“…I’m sorry.”

“Forget it.”

He did not say a single word until they got in the car and went home.

And the moment she got out of the car, he drove off as if he had been waiting for exactly that. She quietly watched the car disappear into the distance, then turned around.

Did he know that it was the first time they had parted without eating together?

Did he know that it was also the first time he had left first without waiting for her?

Her whole body hurt as if it had been beaten all over. Her heart hurt far more than her body.

***

The next day, her body still had not improved. She was enduring it, and enduring it again, with cold medicine.

Before putting on the beautiful dress that felt burdensome enough to weigh on her, she had her makeup done. Perhaps because of the cold medicine, she kept nodding off, and he came over, said one thing in a low voice, and disappeared.

‘What were you doing without sleeping, that you keep dozing off? You already cut back on your part-time work.’

So get it together.

She could tell what the rest of his words would have been even without hearing them.

The coldness in his tone stung her as though a thorn had lodged in it.

It seemed he still had not gotten over being angry.

Already, she was worried about whether she would be able to do this properly today. Yesterday the dark clouds had looked ominous, and with the rain that had started before dawn today, Soyoon was in the worst condition possible. On top of that, she had a cold.

Feeling chilled, she rubbed her arms.

In contrast to the glamorous dress, the makeup emphasized natural beauty. Instead, her lips had been given the focus, finished in a striking red. Her hair had been tightly tied back into one, drawing attention to the deeply exposed back.

The figure in the mirror felt unfamiliar, and Soyoon’s shoulders trembled.

She put on the dress, so tight against her body that it felt hard to breathe, and slipped into heels so high that if her ankle twisted, it felt as though she would be seriously hurt.

Every time she walked, her thigh showed in a dangerously fleeting way.

She walked as carefully as possible, paying close attention so that her right calf would not show. Soyoon had not even taken a few steps before she came to a complete stop.

She put so much force into her ankle that each step sent sharp pain through it, making her knit her brows.

“Oh my! Oh my! You’re absolutely beautiful!”

“…Thank you.”

Because the back was open, she had no bra on, using the pads built into the dress instead, and because the panty line could not show, she had to wear a thong. The thong was thinner and smaller than the one Seohyeon had given her before. As if with just a little force, it might tear with a snap.

Goodness.

Just thinking about the fact that she was wearing that made her face burn hot. Even the back of her neck turned red, and not knowing what to do, she shifted her legs slightly, only to feel the discomfort of it binding her body.

When she was younger, dresses had not clung to her like this, and the effect of the first revealing dress she had ever worn in her life had long since chased away all sleepiness.

Between the cold symptoms, the dress constricting her whole body, the underwear irritating such a private place, and the heels she could barely even walk in, it was a complete disaster.

After letting out a long sigh, she walked over to him, where he sat on the sofa.

He had been looking at his phone, but slowly lifted his head.

His eyes seemed to widen slightly, but then quickly returned to normal. She looked at him with trembling eyes as he firmly closed the lips that had parted just a little, but in the end, no words came from him.

It was not as though she had been hoping he would say she looked pretty.

Then why was disappointment surging up in her like this?

“This.”

She only quietly stared at the box he held out as he came closer. Perhaps feeling frustrated, he opened the box and thr*st it before her eyes, and only then did she lower her gaze to it.

“Ah……”

“Put this on.”

It was a diamond necklace and ring. When she blinked her wide eyes, he took out the necklace and moved behind her. The moment the necklace touched her skin, Soyoon shrank her shoulders.

Unlike her body, hot with fever, the cold temperature of the necklace startled her.

No, more than that, her heart pounded as though it would burst because he was fastening the necklace for her from behind. His hot breath scattered over the back of her neck.

Instead of letting him put the ring on her, she picked it up herself. And she slid the ring, which fit her finger perfectly, onto it on her own.

She stared blankly at the ring sparkling on her finger brightly enough to dazzle the eyes.

“We’ll be late. Let’s go.”

“Yes.”

He, who had been walking ahead, suddenly turned and stopped. She took a step toward him, where he stood still as though waiting for her.

Her ankle hurt terribly, but she pushed herself.

The reason he had waited was because of the rain. He opened the umbrella and waited for her to come beneath it, and she moved closer to him.

Sharing the umbrella, they headed to the car. While going down the stairs, she slipped badly because of the rain. Her weak ankle was the problem.

“Careful.”

A firm arm quickly wrapped around her waist. Perhaps because the back of the dress was cut so deeply, his arm touched her bare skin. That alone made Soyoon’s shoulders tremble.

Above her head, she could hear the sound of his relieved sigh.

“Thank you.”

Her face had grown so hot and red that even makeup could not hide it.

Unable to look at him properly, she loosened the arm that was still wrapped around her.

“Walk properly. Don’t act so unsophisticated.”

“…Yes.”

Her ankle was throbbing, but she did not show it. As he had said, she thought again of the reason she had made the contract. It was true that because of him, she had cut back on her part-time work and things had become easier.

And thanks to him, the anxiety of having to repay the debt had disappeared too.

So she made up her mind again and again that even if her ankle broke today, she had to do well.