As if he hadn't expected this situation, Hyun-gu clenched his teeth. Though she was prepared for cheap violence, he thrust forward the bouquet instead.
"Let's get married, Sa-hee."
"..."
"I'm not saying this lightly. I sincerely want to build the rest of my life with you."
Should she be thankful he didn't get down on one knee? Sa-hee stared at the pitiful faces of the clustered roses before looking up. Her voice emerged without the slightest emotion. She was just curious.
"How much am I worth?"
"What?"
"How much am I worth to you?"
"Are you asking how much I could give you if we marry? You know I work at my father's company, right? I make 6 million won a month there. I could give you at least 2 million won monthly. When I inherit my father's company, I'll make even more... But how much do you make to ask me something like this? Do you have any savings?"
"That's not what I meant."
"Then what do you mean?"
"I'm curious how much you're planning to pay that you're already acting like you've bought someone else's life."
"..."
Hyun-gu's mouth closed. His face visibly flushed red and blue by the moment. His next words were full of agitation.
"Your grandmother said I was a good match!"
"Did she?"
"Yes! She said she'd try to arrange something, but since we already know each other, wouldn't it be better to tell them we'll date nicely and get married without troubling the elders! You just don't know yet, but someone with my qualifications isn't common? Since my father's in business, he can introduce people who know Younghwa-dang too."
"Why don't you just marry our grandmother then?"
"Yeon Sa-hee!"
"What."
Hyun-gu let out a huge sigh. With one arm on his waist and his chest puffed up, his face even looked somewhat determined.
"How long do you think you can act like you're something special?"
"If I'm nothing, does that mean I have to marry you when you ask?"
"..."
"To me, you're just a short, ugly classmate... nothing more, nothing less."
"Hey, what? You, crazy..."
How amusing that such a curse through gritted teeth followed his proposal. The man before her wouldn't reflect on how worthless his resolution had been - the proposal he claimed wasn't made lightly, his desire to build a life together.
Sa-hee started to walk away. Within a few steps, her wrist was caught in a strong grip. Hyun-gu's eyes blazed as she turned back, her face contorted in pain.
"Let go."
"Can't do that. You're coming with me. You should have listened when I was being nice."
"Let go!"
Hyeongu Lee forcefully pulled Sahee along. When Sahee barely managed to resist, a brutal force yanked her again, seemingly uncaring whether she lost balance or fell.
Sahee gritted her teeth as she was dragged along limping. Just when she decided it would be less humiliating to simply collapse to the ground than endure this, a voice called out.
"Ms. Yeon Sahee."
A low voice called from not far away. Hyeongu flinched and turned around.
His grip loosened slightly, and in that moment Sahee's knees crumbled like a sand castle. As she looked back from her collapsed position, she saw CEO Jeong Taeon, who appeared to have just finished dinner, staring at her intently.
The man's face was expressionless as he approached like an elegant predator. Even standing before her, he didn't feel like salvation.
"...S-Sahee, you know this person?"
Hyeongu asked, looking back and forth between Sahee and Taeon. His earlier aggressive demeanor had completely deflated into a shrinking posture, drawing an empty smile from Sahee.
"Did you buy something?"
Taeon asked Sahee as if he hadn't heard or seen anything, bending down to pick up the discarded plastic bag with his long, straight fingers.
As Sahee unconsciously curled her hands against the dirt ground, CEO Jeong Taeon raised his head.
"Indeed."
He didn't bother checking the contents since she had never bought anything for him in the first place. Instead, the man gazed into Sahee's eyes as if drinking them in.
Taeon rose smoothly to his feet. Hyeongu straightened his back tensely as they faced each other. Only then did Taeon briefly glance at Hyeongu as if just noticing him.
"When cheap flower peddlers can freely come and go, I can see the standards of Younghwadang have really fallen."
"Ah, I-!"
"I'll buy those."
Before Hyeongu could finish speaking, CEO Jeong Taeon gestured at the flower bouquet and smiled crookedly. He took out two 1-million won checks from his wallet and handed them to Hyeongu's chest dismissively.
Caught off guard with the checks in hand, Hyeongu could only blink, unable to respond to the sudden humiliation.
"Stand up."
Having seemingly finished his business with Hyeongu, Taeon turned to Sahee and extended his hand. That pristine white hand that looked like it had never been dirtied beckoned to her.
After brief hesitation, Sahee grasped his hand.
* * *
"Did you come to see Sahee?"
A sharp, powerful voice cut through the anger as Hyeongu stood staring blankly in the direction where Taeon and Sahee had disappeared, his fists clenched.
Park Jisoon was watching Hyeongu, dressed in a bright blue hanbok, her eyes gleaming intensely.
"Ah, Madam."
Hyeongu flinched for a moment and forced an awkward smile.
"Without visiting the guest house first."
"I just met her out front. Sahee seemed busy with work so I was about to leave."
Haha... Despite his artificial laughter, Park Jisoon didn't smile. She just looked at the flower bouquet in Hyeongu's hand.
Hyeongu scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"She doesn't open up easily."
"It's fine. I just need to try harder. They say even a tree will fall if you chop at it ten times, right?"
Hyeongu quickly moved to Park Jisoon's side. Her expression remained unchanged as she looked at his fumbling smile.
"So, you'll help me?"
"With what?"
"My marriage with Sahee. If you could just say something to her..."
"I heard Mrs. Yoon said she could handle it without needing a separate meeting."
"Ah, that..."
He bit his lower lip, remembering his mother's enraged screams: How could my son have to bow and beg a mere shaman! If she were normal, maybe! A woman with no job who goes around limping!
Though Park Jisoon gestured for him to continue, Hyeongu brushed it off with a foolish smile.
"I must be lacking something. I should come visit Sahee more often."
"No."
"Pardon?"
"We have a guest at Younghwadang, so I'd appreciate if you refrained from visiting for a while. Meet Sahee separately."
Guest.
Hyeongu recalled their recent encounter.
The connection between Younghwadang and Jeong Moon Group was already well-known in the neighborhood. But he never expected to suddenly see in person the man he'd only seen in the news. Nor that the man would take Sahee away...
"How can young people develop feelings meeting only at home?"
"Right, that's true. But Sahee is so busy..."
He couldn't bring himself to say that she seemed to have blocked all his calls and messages. As he rolled his eyes helplessly, Park Jisoon clicked her tongue.
"I'm not saying never come. Just for a while."
"Yes! I'll try harder!"
"Alright. I'm going in now."
"Yes! I'll see you again, Madam!"
Park Jisoon just nodded slightly before turning to go inside.
Hyeongu ground his molars and crumpled the 2 million won worth of checks in his hand. He recalled the backs of Sahee and that man walking away hand in hand.
That stuck-up Yeon Sahee, who had glared at him murderously just for grabbing her wrist, was like a gentle lamb when taking that man's hand.
So you're just materialistic after all, Yeon Sahee. Don't tell me you've already spread your legs?
Given how Park Jisoon would supposedly do anything for Jeong Moon Group, she'd probably already offered Sahee up. Just look at how she told him not to come for a while.
How stupid... In the end, you'll just be that group's mistress!
Hyeongu cursed under his breath, trying to deny the anxiety writhing like worms inside him. His reaction to the fear brought on by animal instinct was fierce. When CEO Jeong Taeon had briefly looked back while walking away holding Sahee's hand, though just for an instant, he had clearly been warning Hyeongu.
* * *
She wished she had just let herself be dragged away.
Sahee anxiously watched Taeon, who firmly held her hand. A man and woman walking hand in hand, matching their steps as if on a stroll. Anyone who saw them would find it hard not to misunderstand.
Though the madam said she wouldn't return until evening, you never knew. Sahee squeezed their joined hands as she glimpsed the small guest house at the edge of her vision.
Taeon stopped walking and turned to look at her.
"...We're here."
At Sahee's words, Taeon furrowed his brow as if to ask 'where exactly?' before letting out a small laugh.
Sahee took that moment to release his hand. It slipped free without resistance.
"Thank you for earlier."
Spring hadn't properly arrived yet, but their joined hands had been warm. Perhaps it was natural, after struggling against Hyeongu's grip and then being confined in this man's large hand the whole time after.
Sahee deliberately tried to shake off the strange feeling building in her chest. As she dusted off her dirty hands, she looked at the plastic bag CEO Jeong Taeon was still holding.
"Please give that back now..."
"You have many men."
"..."
"Men who say they love you, men who want to marry you."
His words of unclear intent struck like a knife. Her truncated response died before returning.
Sahee's eyes opened and closed slowly as she processed his words. CEO Jeong Taeon was watching her with apparent indifference.
"Pardon?"
At her question, the man's lips curved into a smile. His eyes remained expressionless, unmoved. He clearly looked somewhat displeased.
Helping her one moment, displeased the next. His mercurial nature was hard to understand. But if she thought of his recent help as mere charitable assistance, it wasn't incomprehensible. Anyone could see she was being dragged away. He had simply performed a noble obligation to save face.
Sahee lowered her gaze neatly.
"I'm sorry if it caused a disturbance."
"If you have someone you're dating, couldn't you just explain that?"
"..."
"Unless you intend to spread yourself around."
Her face burned at the insulting words. Unless he deliberately wanted to provoke her, it wasn't something one could say after seeing what happened.
"Someone I'm dating..."
Sahee's mouth closed before she could retort that she'd need to have someone to explain about.
Behind the man's words about men who say they love her, she suddenly remembered Juhwan's voice shouting his love. And CEO Jeong Taeon standing behind him then.
It was a shout Sahee had completely forgotten. From the start, Juhwan was a man who loved everything in the world. He was such a philanthropist that he could love even a roadside dandelion as much as Sahee.
"...That person you saw is just forceful, and that friend isn't someone I'm dating but a college classmate. He's naturally playful and easily says 'I love you' to anyone..."
Even as she explained in detail, her throat felt tight. Why was she making excuses to CEO Jeong Taeon as if caught in an affair? Even if she had "spread herself around," what business was it of his?
Sahee bit her lower lip before finishing her words.
As she just stared at him for a while, Taeon smirked. His next words came with a loose smile that could almost be considered friendly.
"You look like you have something to say. Go ahead."
"It's nothing."
"Really?"
"Yes. Thank you again for today. If you'll just return my things, I'll be going now."
Though his leisurely attitude made her stomach twist, it was a kind of instinct that made her erase all expression.
She shouldn't get close to this man.
Though they'd barely met, being around him felt like it frayed her nerves. Tension would build up even in her straight back, and she'd felt at a loss several times. Before sleep, she'd even suffered from muscle aches stretching from her ankles to her thighs.
Was it because he was Younghwadang's precious guest?
Because he was a man with the power of Jeong Moon?
No, was it because he seemed made of arrogance that crushed people?