Chapter 1

Sleet swirled down from the sky like flower petals.

It was the first snow of the year.

It was enough to excite the guests inside the hotel lounge, but it did not stir much feeling in Lee-jae.

Because the very next month, she would be forced to tie the bond of marriage with the man sitting across from her.

“Ahem, ahem, I’ve heard a lot about you, Miss Lee-jae, from Professor Seo. You’re twenty, right?”

Watching the hot steam rising from her coffee cup, Lee-jae forced the corners of her lips upward.

She was on a blind date.

The man drank his hot coffee with a loud slurp.

With a damp, unpleasant gaze, he slowly swept over Lee-jae’s figure.

“……May I ask how old you are?”

“I was born in ’66. Year of the Horse.”

Lee-jae’s lips parted slightly, then closed again.

Perhaps noticing that she had been startled by the bigger age gap than she expected, the man waved his wrinkled hand in the air as if telling her not to be like that.

“Well, age difference is absolutely not important when it comes to rubbing skin together and living as husband and wife. Then what really matters between a married couple, you ask? The bedroom, that’s what matters most. And maybe because I was born in the Year of the Horse too, I run like a horse in bed…… kuhp, khahat!”

“…….”

Moved by his own wit, the man laughed as if he might lose his breath.

“Of course, I’ve gone through three painful divorces…… but that was only because my ex-wives were all bitches greedy for nothing but my money.”

Honggyun continued.

“Anyway! Just as I was thinking I should choose a pure woman who would truly love not my outward appearance, but my inner self!”

“…….”

“Professor Seo happened to recommend you, Miss Lee-jae, you know?”

When Honggyun grinned, his gold tooth flashed.

“I don’t want much. Miss Lee-jae, you only need to bear me three stout sons. And please don’t mind my daughters, who are ten years older than you, Miss Lee-jae.”

“…….”

“You’re young, Miss Lee-jae, so you’ll probably give birth easily too, right?”

Go Honggyun, Vice President of Geumya Distribution.

As Lee-jae stared at Honggyun’s business card lying on the table, she suddenly thought of a man from several years ago who had tossed his own card to her as if throwing charity.

‘Baby, do you really want to marry a son of a b*tch like me?’

Even the low, damp voice, and the faintly curved, attractive smile he wore as he looked down at her.

Lee-jae swallowed dryly.

It was because last night with the man who had bound her like an animal came back vividly.

“Miss Lee-jae?”

“……Yes?”

Honggyun, displeased that Lee-jae was not focusing on his words, opened his mouth again.

“I was told you’re exactly the style of a wise wife and good mother. A type this pure-looking yet full of sensual charm is practically a natural monument. The kind of woman who sets a man’s desire ablaze, you could say.”

For an instant, silence fell over the lounge. It was not because of Honggyun’s words.

Lee-jae felt a strange sense of déjà vu. She knew the moment when this kind of silence arrived.

Usually, it was when that man…….

‘Pull yourself together. Next month you’ll be forced into marriage, so why do you keep thinking about last night…….’

She felt pathetic for thinking about him even here.

He was a man she would have no reason to run into anymore.

Last night, when she had thrown herself at him with determination, asking him to hold her as a woman, he had coldly turned his back on her, saying she was too young to excite him and that she should come back after growing more.

“Ah, yes…….”

Lee-jae tried to focus on her conversation with Honggyun.

But as if mocking her effort, the hotel lobby grew noisy.

Soon after, a black sedan came to a smooth stop outside the hotel.

Among the men lined up outside as if waiting for someone important, one with a dangerous look clicked open the car door, and polished shoes stepped onto the marble floor.

Toward the man who got out of the car with elegant movements, every man in the area bent sharply at the waist to a full ninety degrees.

The moment she saw Beom Do-geon through the window, leading the group of men from the very center and heading toward the lobby, Lee-jae’s heart dropped heavily.

“Miss Lee-jae, are you even listening to me?”

The man, guided by a subordinate, entered the lounge. Over Honggyun’s shoulder, the man’s face slowly came into view.

His pomaded hair was perfectly slicked back, and he wore a sharply tailored all-black three-piece suit.

His remarkably handsome face and long legs openly displayed the superiority he had been born with.

Everyone in the lounge fixed their gaze on the man’s beautiful face and solid build as if spellbound.

Then, when they met the fierce eyes of the subordinates standing behind him, they hastily lowered their own.

“So this is…….”

Only belatedly realizing that this was a hotel under the Mujung Group, she bit down on her lip.

Beom Do-geon sat at the table directly behind Honggyun, with his back to her.

‘……Why is he here?’

It could not be that he had come looking for her.

…Of course he must have come because he had business at his own hotel.

Lee-jae could not understand why she was getting nervous for no reason.

Even though they were sitting a fair distance apart, she felt, almost like an illusion, the heavy musk scent that was unique to Beom Do-geon.

The scent that had wrapped around Lee-jae’s body every time she was held in his arms.

He was not even close to her now, so why.

“That’s right. A hotel built by the Mujung Group.”

Honggyun sneered. It seemed he had heard Lee-jae’s murmured words.

“No idea how much money they threw into it. Originally, no tall building can be built here because of military law. In a war, fighter jets have to fly through this area. But they say Mujung made even that possible. Those bastards in Mujung live above the law.”

Lee-jae also knew at least that the Mujung Group was a company with roots in the underworld.

But now it had transformed into a solid corporation centered around major construction companies, hotels, and casino businesses in South Korea.

“Ugh, what a world! Looks like the country’s about to be taken over by gangster bastards.”

“Ah…….”

Lee-jae looked at Honggyun with an embarrassed face.

No matter how she saw it, he seemed so immersed in bragging about himself that he had not noticed the man drawing every eye in the lounge.

Beom Do-geon, the power behind the Mujung Group.

Beom Do-geon settled his heavy body deeper into the velvet sofa.

He was receiving a report from the subordinate standing in front of him.

“I’m telling you, I can’t sleep from worrying about the country! These days, it looks like South Korea is about to fall into the hands of some thug bastards. The Mujung Group is no joke. You know its roots are in a terrifying organization, right?”

Lee-jae began looking at Honggyun with tearful eyes.

Please, sir, please close your mouth. Right behind you…….

But perhaps Honggyun thought Lee-jae was listening closely to him, because he raised his voice with excitement.

“They originally made their money through private lending. And now that they’ve got cash, there isn’t a single place in Korean business their hands don’t reach. Tsk, tsk.”

“…….”

“I hear even Professor Seo has been lobbying Mujung hard because he wants to break into politics? I thought Professor Seo was a patriot too, honestly.”

With a desperate expression, Lee-jae gestured behind him with her hand to warn him.

“What, what is it?”

Unfortunately, Honggyun seemed not to have noticed her signal.

He merely brushed back the few strands of hair left at his forehead.

“I heard Mujung even personally chose the next presidential candidate. That’s why I’m saying South Korea has completely fallen into Mujung’s hands! What a country.”

Ah, what was he trying to do.

Lee-jae wanted to leave Honggyun behind and run away if she could.

“They said his name was Executive Director Beom Do-geon, right? I happen to know that heir too. According to rumors, he’s unbelievably cruel. Just a thug who never got rid of his gangster habits.”

“…….”

“I’ve seen him in person, and his body was really big and solid. Looked like if he hit someone once, they’d be finished. And sure, his face is exceptionally handsome, but what’s that good for besides playing women?”

Lee-jae stole a glance behind Honggyun. She could see the neatly groomed back of Beom Do-geon’s head. Below that stretched a firm neck, and shoulders as broad as the Pacific, not the slightest bit disordered.

“Anyway, patriots like me, you know, really don’t like that Mujung has swallowed up South Korea, ngh…….”

Lee-jae’s heart shrank.

At this distance, Beom Do-geon must have heard everything. Had he simply grown so used to hearing all kinds of things that he did not even bother to care?

“That’s right, Miss Lee-jae.”

“…….”

“Let’s put off worrying about the country until tomorrow and deal with the urgent fire first. I got a little worked up by your startled face, ahem.”

“Pardon?”

Not understanding what he meant, Lee-jae asked back.

“I know about the defect in your ankle, and I need to check with my own eyes whether there are any other defects too. Our wedding is already next month! Let’s go upstairs at once. It’s perfect that we’re in a hotel.”

Lee-jae bit her lip awkwardly. She was being sold into a marriage without love anyway, but even so, she wanted to put off her first night with Honggyun as long as possible.

“I heard you’re still a v*rgin who’s never even been touched by a man? I understand a hundred times over that you’re scared. I’m a little overwhelming~. Like a wild stallion, you could say?”

Honggyun swallowed as he looked at Lee-jae’s full chest.

“I’m sorry, I have another appointment afterward…….”

Just as Lee-jae rose from her seat, Honggyun suddenly grabbed her wrist.

“What’s this, now you’re going to act expensive?”

“Let go of me!”

“Hey, are you looking down on me because you were bought cheap? Do you know how much money I gave Professor Seo?”

“…….”

“You may have been a promising ballerina once, but now you’re just damaged goods with a bad ankle! I’m the one buying you!”

Lee-jae shook the wrist he held. But the more she struggled, the more tightly Honggyun gripped her, trying not to let her go.

“You talk too much for a b*tch who was sold off! Come up to the room with me right now!”

Creeeak.

Suddenly, a sofa shoved backward in a single motion, and the man who had sat unmoving like a mountain shot to his feet.

Lee-jae turned around and froze when she saw Beom Do-geon striding toward her.

With his characteristic indifferent gaze fixed directly on her, he closed the distance.

Then it happened.

Beom Do-geon seized Honggyun by the head and slammed him down onto the table hard enough for a thud! to ring out.

“Aaagh, who is it!”

“Well, the gangster bastard is here.”