Chapter 1.3

Inside the gift box had been a limited-edition luxury watch. A product with a price in the hundred-million-won range. In many ways an excessive expense.

Saying this too was a kind of investment, whenever she saw her father laying out all sorts of hospitality for the Daeam family, her chest tightened achingly. How much more of a material offensive would her father launch, and how much more mockery would she have to receive. Her vision already went dark.

“Th-the engagement. It seems like maybe the Chairman said it as a joke…….”

[What kind of nonsense is that.]

“No matter how I think about it, it is strange. There are so many people with good family backgrounds around Seo Young-hoon, so why me, I just cannot really understand…….”

Alcohol made her tongue slur. Backtalk she would not normally make flowed out on the strength of the drink.

A few months earlier, Chairman Seo Mun-hyeop, at a meal, had complimented her appearance and dropped a joke that once Seo Young-hoon secured the successor’s seat, it would be fine to even push forward an engagement.

Chairman, it is an honor. You do not know how decorous our Seo-hwa is, unlike kids these days. She will not have her eyes wander, and beside Young-hoon she will steadily assist him well.

Director Woo, why do you take a joke so seriously. Still, well, you never know with people. If someday Young-hoon says he cannot live without Seo-hwa, I would have no choice either.

It had not been an official announcement. It was nothing more than a light comment let slip in a private setting of just four people.

She had faintly sensed the subtle mockery contained in Chairman Seo’s smile, but her father did not notice at all. He only grinned foolishly that such words had been spoken, spinning hopeful scenarios.

The only heir of the Daeam Group being engaged to the daughter of the director of a small hospital—she could not even understand that such talk had arisen. All the more when she thought of her father’s hospital barely maintained by Daeam’s sponsorship. Even if that pledge were real, she had no intention whatsoever of sharing a future with Seo Young-hoon.

But after that day her father swelled with expectation.

[It is thanks to how well I have treated the Chairman. So, you just keep pleasing Seo Young-hoon. Do not act like a block of wood; show some charm. So, his eyes do not turn to another girl.]

Once her father realized that Young-hoon’s influence had largely led Chairman Seo to say those words, from that day on he all the more forced her to cater to Seo Young-hoon’s whims. He earnestly urged that the tower he had built must not be knocked down.

If she so much as slightly displeased Seo Young-hoon’s mood, verbal and physical ab*se flew from her father, and the more that happened, the more she could only shrink in front of Seo Young-hoon. He enjoyed it. Seo-hwa writhing and cowering at a single look or gesture of his.

Even knowing that, she could not escape this repeating life.

[Why are you not answering? Did you cause trouble again?]

“No, no. I did not cause trouble. I pleased him well. Seo Young-hoon…… liked the present too, and also…….”

The sharp voice that pierced her ears pulled Seo-hwa out of her thoughts, which had wandered into the past. 

Seo-hwa hurriedly began briefing her father on how Seo Young-hoon had felt today. She mixed in some lies, saying how much Seo Young-hoon had liked his gift. 

[Is that so?] 

Only then did her father’s voice soften a little. 

“Yes. You don’t need to worry. I’ll… do my best.” 

Seo-hwa spoke with her eyes tightly shut. She didn’t even know what she was saying anymore. Her mind, still hazy from the alcohol, could only repeat over and over that she would continue doing her best. 

Lying to avoid the immediate consequences had long since become a habit. 

[Good. I trust you. Raising you should at least be worth it.] 

Click. The call ended, and silence filled the air. Along with it came a wave of bitter self-reproach. 

Her legs, which had been crouched for too long, felt numb. Seo-hwa patted her tingling thighs and forced herself to stand up. Her ankle throbbed faintly. 

How much longer would she have to live like this? Seo-hwa stood dazed, trying to organize her thoughts, before letting out a deep sigh and turning around. 

However, her steps didn’t take her far before she came to an abrupt halt. 

“……” 

She belatedly noticed the presence of someone else, carried to her on the breeze. She wasn’t the only one leaning against the building wall. 

Startled, Seo-hwa looked up to see the face of the shadow looming before her. 

It was the man she had seen earlier at the pool. 

His features were as distinct as his gaze, which was so steady and direct that there was no room for misunderstanding—it was undoubtedly fixed on her. 

The man removed the cigarette loosely hanging from the corner of his lips and exhaled deeply. The smoke dispersed into the air, momentarily obscuring his eyes. The hazy veil of smoke surrounded him, while his gaze—its intent unclear—lingered on Seo-hwa’s face, as if teasing her. 

Seo-hwa unconsciously tensed up again. But this was a completely different kind of tension from what she felt in front of Seo Young-hoon. With sweaty palms clenched into fists, Seo-hwa swallowed nervously. 

‘How long had he been standing there?’

He wasn’t far from where she had been crouching earlier, close enough that her voice could have reached him if he had been listening. 

“…Did you hear me?” 

“Seo Young-hoon’s at the pool.” 

So, he had heard. Seo-hwa’s face flushed hot with embarrassment. Her mind replayed the scene of herself reporting every little detail to her father—how Seo Young-hoon had felt today, and how much he had liked the gift. 

Her face burned with shame, but she forced herself to remain composed. Masking her expression, Seo-hwa gave him a slight nod as a greeting and walked past him indifferently. She could feel his gaze trailing her with every step, but she did her best to ignore it. 

Are you doing well? You delivered the present to Seo Young-hoon?

Her father’s question still pricked at her like a thorn. Feeling uneasy, she decided to retrieve the gift Seo Young-hoon had left behind at the pool and hand it to him properly again. Since Seo Young-hoon was also at the pool, it would be a natural opportunity to deliver the gift and leave. 

Seo-hwa headed straight for the pool where Seo Young-hoon was supposed to be. But once again, her steps came to a halt. 

When she arrived at the dimly lit pool, she saw a man and a woman passionately kissing, their attire leaving almost nothing to the imagination. Considering the crowd that frequented such gatherings, this wasn’t a shocking scene. 

If it hadn’t been Seo Young-hoon, Seo-hwa wouldn’t have thought much of it and would have simply turned away. 

The pool’s lights, growing brighter as night fell, illuminated the pair at the center of the scene. The sound of splashing water grew louder, and the obscene noises of lips sucking on skin became more pronounced, leaving Seo-hwa frozen in place. Her entire body stiffened, but her heart raced uncontrollably. 

“Mm….” 

Seo Young-hoon was aggressively groping Kim Hee-yeon’s chest while their tongues intertwined. They didn’t seem to care who might be watching. 

The gift box Seo-hwa had brought was lying discarded near them, soaked and crumpled to the point where it could easily be mistaken for trash. 

“Ah….” 

Her fingers trembled. 

What if Seo Young-hoon told her father? What if he said that her behavior had bored him and caused him to lose interest? 

Her father’s warnings about the future vividly replayed in her mind. Countless anxieties washed over her like the rippling waves in the pool. 

So, you just keep pleasing Seo Young-hoon. Do not act like a block of wood; show some charm. So, his eyes do not turn to another girl.

‘If father found out about this…’ 

Seo-hwa slowly took a step forward. She forced herself to approach the pair, who were still engrossed in their kiss, until she reached the gift box abandoned beside them. With great effort, she picked it up. 

Only then did the couple, who had been lost in their own world, notice Seo-hwa and break apart. 

“Hah… Oh, Seo-hwa’s here.” 

“Sorry, Seo-hwa. I borrowed Seo Young-hoon’s lips for a bit.” 

“……” 

“He’s a good kisser, you know.” 

They were completely nonchalant. There wasn’t even a hint of shame. 

For a moment, Seo-hwa stood there, dumbfounded. 

What had she expected when she stepped into their space? Did she really think Seo Young-hoon would be desperate for her? 

Seo-hwa felt foolish for not knowing her place. She swallowed the bitter laugh threatening to escape. 

“Go ahead and finish what you were doing.” 

“See? I told you Woo Seo-hwa’s cool.” 

“Right? Besides, you’re not even dating her, are you?”  

Seo-hwa wanted to beg him not to let her father see him showing interest in other women, but she didn’t want to say such things in front of Kim Hee-yeon. 

It was a petty sense of pride. Yet even that wasn’t allowed by Seo Young-hoon. 

“Don’t worry, Seo-hwa. I won’t let it show in front of the Director.” 

“What? Is Seo-hwa getting hit? Wow, that’s awful.” 

Seo Young-hoon, sensing Seo-hwa’s mood as she pressed her lips tightly together, casually poked at the feelings she was trying to hide. His words prompted an exaggeratedly shocked reaction from Kim Hee-yeon, who smirked mockingly.