PROLOGUE

“Ha…… Oppa.”

A burning breath escaped between her small lips.

“Just a little, just a little more……”

Unable to hold back any longer, Eunchae twisted her body.

A large hand slowly traveled up her deeply curved back.

“Mm. Right there.”

The moment he finally found the spot, Eunchae nodded in satisfaction.

“Harder.”

“……”

“Scratch harder!”

Something caught against Doheon’s hand as it moved across Eunchae’s back.

He could clearly feel something unfamiliar beneath the fabric.

The moment he realized it was a woman’s bra strap, something strange stirred inside him.

I didn’t protect you all this time just so I could touch your bra strap like this.

“I’m telling you to scratch it properly!”

Wearing rubber gloves covered in soap suds, Eunchae wriggled impatiently, frowning.

Only after Doheon casually scratched her back did a bright smile finally spread across her clear face.

“Ah, I feel alive again.”

The sound of running water drowned out Doheon’s startled breath.

He briefly watched Eunchae as she returned to washing the dishes, then reached for his coffee cup.

“Mr. Min Seonwoo, I told you to avoid morning coffee. You’re going to complain about your stomach hurting again.”

He still couldn’t get used to it.

Being called by someone else’s name by her.

“I’m fine.”

Ignoring her warning, he poured himself some coffee. But Eunchae took off her rubber gloves and stubbornly snatched the cup away.

“If Mom were still alive, she would’ve smacked you right across the back like this.”

Doheon casually caught the hand that came flying toward him, lifting it up.

Perhaps caught off guard, Eunchae could only blink while her wrist remained in his grasp.

“Min Eunchae.”

Just as a strange tension began to fill the air behind his low voice, the bewildered expression on her face quickly turned mischievous.

“You think I won’t hit you if you hold one hand?”

Using her other, free hand, Eunchae smacked Doheon on the back and burst into laughter.

Three months into their marriage.

He was currently living with a wife who believed he was her deceased biological older brother.

Chapter 1

Hotel Restaurant

Doheon’s fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest of the sofa.

If he didn’t keep himself occupied with something like this, he was liable to yawn from sheer boredom.

His first appointment after returning to Korea for the first time in five years was a blind date.

He had originally come here after hearing that the APAC Executive Vice President of a global brand had secretly entered the country.

It was a high-end brand whose value went without saying. On top of that, its rarity made it even more desirable, since it had yet to open an official store in Korea.

His mother had insisted that he visit as soon as he returned, claiming she’d gone to great lengths to arrange the meeting.

He should never have trusted her.

‘You’ve arrived before me?’

When the appointed time came, someone entirely unexpected approached him and struck up a conversation.

Only then did he realize that his mother had schemed to put him in a blind date.

Just as he was about to get up and leave—

Mrs. Choi

Just one hour.

As if she had anticipated his reaction, Mrs. Choi sent him a message.

Doheon’s neatly shaped eyebrows furrowed.

Mrs. Choi

No, just thirty minutes. It’s Mom’s wish.

It had been his mistake to put up with this, thinking he could at least do his mother a favor after returning home for the first time in so long.

“You’re even more handsome than the rumors say.”

The same old conversation. The same blatant displays of interest.

Doheon didn’t even touch his food. His expression openly displayed his boredom, but the oblivious woman sitting across from him continued talking without pause.

“By the way, what’s your ideal type?”

A woman who could read the room. A woman who knew when it was time to end a meeting and get up. A woman who knew when it was time to leave. A woman whose retreating figure was beautiful.

Doheon silently recited his ideal type in his head, answering her with a bitter smile instead.

Unfortunately, the woman in front of him seemed to be the complete opposite of everything he wanted.

“I guess you’re the quiet type. Maybe because I’m such a chatterbox, I actually like quiet men.”

Could she really not understand that he wanted to end this conversation as soon as possible?

Doheon deliberately raised his wrist to check the time.

Just as his expression grew even more displeased at the thought of having to sit there for another ten minutes, he overheard the conversation of a couple at the table directly behind him.

“Why are you so damn clueless?”

Beonman glared irritably as he gulped down his wine.

A faint sigh escaped Eunchae’s lips as she chewed her meat.

She should have realized something was wrong the moment he suggested having an expensive meal at a hotel restaurant.

“I already booked a room at this hotel, you know.”

“Then who told you to book it without even discussing it with me?”

At her sarcastic response, Beonman put his wineglass down with a loud clink and demanded an explanation.

“Because of you, always pretending to be busy, we can barely see each other once a week. And now you’re saying you’re just going to eat and leave?”

“If I’d known you were going to pressure me like this over dinner, I would’ve stayed away and picked up someone’s shift at work instead.”

“So, are you really saying you won’t go to the room?”

“Hey, seriously. Is that the only thing you ever think about?”

The problem was that she had allowed her heart to waver after witnessing his supposedly admirable devotion as he chased after her for months.

Beonman, who had once claimed that simply being allowed to date her was more than enough, had recently begun revealing his true intentions.

“There’s something wrong with you. We’ve already been dating for a hundred days.”

“We’ve only been dating for a hundred days.”

Eunchae replied in a low voice, fixing her gaze on her plate as she continued cutting her steak.

Beonman glared at her disapprovingly before suddenly snatching the cutlery out of her hands.

“If you’re not going to sleep with me, then don’t eat!”

Eunchae’s hands remained suspended in midair after her fork and knife were taken away.

“Why do you think I went through the trouble of booking such an expensive restaurant?!”

With his plan falling apart, Beonman no longer bothered hiding his true intentions.

“It’s such a waste of money if we’re not even going to sleep together.”

Those additional words finally snapped the last thread of Eunchae’s patience.

Had she ever begged him to buy her this damn meal?

It was utterly ridiculous. He was already drinking a whole bowl of kimchi soup before the rice had even been served, and now he was even taking away the food she was eating.

“You kept pestering me, begging me to please go out with you just once. I only agreed because you were getting so annoying.”

Eunchae had been muttering under her breath with her eyes lowered, but she suddenly lifted her head.

“I’m not eating anymore, you bastard.”

“What? B-bastard?”

“Even if you were the last man on earth, I wouldn’t touch someone like you!”

Beonman was left speechless, as though he had just been slapped in the face by her insulting words.

Taking advantage of his stunned silence, Eunchae abruptly stood up.

Only then did Beonman come to his senses and shout after her.

“Hey! Even if you’re leaving, at least pay for the food you ate!”

“How utterly pathetic.”

Eunchae pulled out every single bill from her wallet and threw them straight at Beonman’s face.

“Here. Take it and choke on it.”

After delivering her final words, Eunchae immediately walked away.

“Hey, you crazy—!”

Even then, Beonman hurriedly gathered the banknotes that had fallen after hitting his face.

He quickly got up and strode after Eunchae, roughly grabbing her wrist to stop her.

Eunchae stopped because of the forceful pull and turned around with a frown.

“Give me this watch too. I spent a fortune buying it for you!”

That was all the proof she needed that everything he had spent on her, including the food he had bought her, had merely been a scheme to get her into bed.

She couldn’t even find it funny anymore.

Eunchae tried to pull her hand free.

“Let go.”

“I’m not letting go until you give it back!”

In the middle of their struggle, a server approaching from the opposite direction bumped into Beonman’s arm and lost his balance.

The plates the server was carrying wobbled, and the food came tumbling down onto Eunchae’s pink dress.

“Haa……”

Looking down at her ruined clothes, Eunchae felt utterly pathetic.

Her miserable appearance was exactly like her life.

“Min Eunchae, are you okay?”

Beonman belatedly asked, looking startled.

Did she look okay to him?

“I told you we should’ve done things my way. Why did you have to be so stubborn?!”

“……”

“Hey, let me see. Here, at least use this to wipe yourself off.”

Beonman grabbed some napkins from the table and reached toward Eunchae’s dress.

Just then, a man’s voice interrupted from a distance.

“Get your filthy hands off her.”

The sound of dress shoes striking the marble floor grew closer.

The hand holding the napkin was abruptly knocked away by another man’s hand.

Eunchae’s gaze lifted as a tall, handsome man approached.

The moment she saw his face, she froze as though her breath had stopped.

“Who told you to wear such a cheap watch?”

With a casual flick of his hand, the watch came loose from Beonman’s wrist.

He deliberately flung it onto the floor.

Beonman was so horrified that he immediately bent down and scrambled to pick it up.

Meanwhile, a luxurious designer suit jacket was draped over Eunchae’s body.

“Wearing a cheap watch, dating a cheap bastard. Who taught you to live like this?”

His low voice was incredibly calm and cold.

Eunchae wasn’t the only one startled by the man’s sudden appearance.

Beonman, who had suddenly become a cheap bastard who could only afford to give someone a cheap watch, stared at him in disbelief before opening his mouth.

“Who exactly are y-you?”

Meeting the man’s icy gaze, Beonman quickly corrected himself from the casual speech he had been about to use to a polite form of address.

Doheon answered casually, as though tossing a coin to a beggar.

“Her husband.”

At the unexpected news of her own marriage, Eunchae’s mouth fell open.

Doheon had been wearing a sharp expression, as though he had come to catch his wife cheating on him.

He took Eunchae’s hand and led her away.

“Hey! Min Eunchae! You were married?!”

Beonman shouted after Eunchae as she was pulled away.

His voice echoed through the restaurant as he screamed that he had been deceived.