BTAD 2

Chapter 2

Seeing the woman who had suddenly appeared right in front of him, Junhyuk muttered in bewilderment.

“No way, is this some kind of hidden camera?”

Narrowing his eyes sharply, he strode over and grabbed the shoulder of one of the men who had been whispering over yonder.

“Ah man, you startled me. Why again?”

“That woman who just came out……………….”

Toward Junhyuk, who trailed off and stared at Seohah, the man grinned with a “just as I thought” expression.

“Now that you see her up close, do you fancy her too?”

“Shut up and just answer what I ask.”

The man seemed annoyed by the commanding tone, but he couldn’t offer much of a retort.

“Is she the blind girl you guys were talking about earlier?”

With a still-displeased expression, the man nodded.

“Keeping your mouth shut is commendable, but when someone asks a question, you should at least answer.”

As strength gripped Junhyuk’s large hand clutching the man’s shoulder, the man hurriedly opened his mouth at last.

“Y-Yoon Seohah. The adopted daughter of Assemblyman Yoon Junghwan over there. She’s famous around here for being raised tenderly despite being a blind disabled person.”

“Her sight is gone?”

“Yeah. Why else do you think Yoon Junghwan opened a charity event for the visually impaired? It’s all to put his daughter forward, verify his moral character, and polish his public image. There are even rumors that she’ll be appointed as the Minister of Health and Welfare soon.”

“Completely blind? Since when?”

“Ah, I’ve already told you several times she’s been blind since long ago! Are your ears deaf instead of your eyes?”

Junhyuk’s eyes flashed sharply for a split second.

At the same time, the man’s arm was twisted, slamming his upper body down onto the table.

Champagne glasses tumbled down in a clatter, creating a noisy commotion.

Drawn by the sudden disturbance, the gazes of the surrounding people converged upon them.

“Ah, my apologies. My friend here has had a bit too much to drink.”

With a dashing smile toward the onlookers, Junhyuk pulled on the arm he had grabbed, pretending to sling it over the man’s shoulder.

“You’re not a kid anymore, so pace yourself.”

“Hey……………. You fucking mad dog.”

Twisted backward and shoved away before he even knew what was happening, the man huffed and puffed.

“How old are you, and you’re still cursing just like that when you’re drunk.”

Offering a brief apology to the surrounding crowd, Junhyuk grabbed the man by the collar, hoisted him up with all his might, and whispered low.

“There’s one thing you’re really good at, though. Running away to dodge a mad dog. Right now is the exact right time for that.”

An indifferent smile still hung on the corners of Junhyuk’s lips. To other people, he probably looked like a considerate person taking care of a drunken friend without showing even a shred of annoyance.

It was a perfectly controlled, relaxed expression.

“………………Business my ass, when you’re nothing more than someone else’s lackey.”

Muttering curses at Junhyuk, the man ultimately fled to avoid the crowd.

Naturally, he didn’t bother stopping such a man.

“Go ahead and run away to your heart’s content, see if I care.”

Junhyuk sneered as he gulped down the remaining drops of champagne left over from the spilled table.

His gaze, tinged with curiosity, slowly swept over Seohah’s pale face once more. He was a man who had never once in his life doubted his own discerning eye.

It was definitely that woman.

It was right then that another commotion broke out at the venue.

If nothing else, at least one thing was certain: the ten minutes he had promised himself had already long since passed.

Seohah’s unfocused pupils turned toward the front, where starlight seemed to burst and shatter.

Though it was an empty gaze wandering through midair, it was a pair of pitch-black, lake-like eyes devoid of even the slightest cloudiness.

“Hello. I’m Yoon Seohah. First, I’d like to express my gratitude to my father for arranging such a precious gathering.”

As Yoon Junghwan, standing beside her, smiled benevolently and patted Seohah’s back, applause broke out once more.

Even while cheering out of sheer habit, the people were busy whispering various gossipy remarks among themselves.

“Through this event, I hope that South Korea’s young visually impaired individuals will receive more support, secure professional jobs, and march forward toward a bright future.”

After finishing her greetings, Seohah swept her gaze across the audience and spoke.

Since she had put in eye drops just a moment prior, bright bubbles merely hovered before her eyes without forming any properly coherent images in her field of vision.

As she stepped down from her spot after finishing her words, a chilling remark spread right beside Seohah’s ear.

At the nippy chill crawling across her skin, she instinctively shrank her neck inward.

“Don’t forget that emotions are a luxury and mistakes are a sin.”

Unlike the sharp, cutting words, she offered a faint smile toward Yoon Junghwan, who would surely be looking at her with affection.

“Yes. I know.”

At that moment, the venue grew disorderly in an instant.

Even without that, right while she was giving her greeting, she had felt that a section of the event venue was acting strangely restless.

“Assemblyman Yoon, my apologies. I am Inspector Park Muncheol from the Narcotics Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s Wide-Area Investigation Squad. We received a report that there is a drug possessor inside the venue.”

Not quite grasping what kind of situation this was, Seohah wore a puzzled expression.

Having nothing in her sight meant it was difficult to cope whenever such unexpected situations broke out.

Perhaps because people were crowding around, Dodam led her in a different direction.

Whenever things like this happened, Dodam was the only existence Seohah could truly trust.

It was the exact moment she tightly gripped the harness with her damp hand.

“Ah!”

Seohah swallowed down a scream that almost slipped past her lips.

It was because someone had grabbed her hand and pulled her along. Still clutching her harness, Seohah had no choice but to follow the person in a state of confusion.

Her mind was in complete disarray, so up until this point, she simply assumed it was someone from her father or mother’s entourage.

However, the fear gradually crept in as she felt the man’s hand—so large that her small hand was entirely buried within it.

“Hoo………………. Just a moment.”

Maintaining the usual cowering posture she always kept, Seohah straightened her shoulders.

She usually avoided straightening her waist because it made her ample chest stand out, but perhaps due to being out of it, she didn’t even realize she was doing it.

Fortunately, the person stopped walking right there.

When she twisted her trapped hand, he even let go obediently.

The fearful sensation gradually subsided.

Feeling her courage return as she sensed Dodam lying down flat against her ankles, she asked.

“Who are you?”

“Hello.”

A microscopic crease formed between Seohah’s delicate brows. Instead of answering her question, he offered a greeting, so there was no reason she couldn’t return it.

“Ah, hello.”

A faint sound of laughter burst out. It was unmistakably a chuckle slipping past his lips.

“How old are you?”

Seohah’s baby-pink lips parted slightly, revealing her white teeth. Both being dragged away out of nowhere at a charity event and a question like this were utterly rude.

“Wait, let me guess.”

Whether the man made a large gesture, a sharp, piercing hint of citrus brushed past the tip of Seohah’s nose right behind a heavy, spreading wave of musk scent.

Her head instinctively followed that fragrance.

“Let’s see………………. Twenty-six or seven?”

Frowning slightly, she blurted out her actual age before she could stop herself.

“No, I’m twenty-four.”

She instantly felt a wave of regret, but she was already caught up in the man’s provocation.

“Unexpected. You look older than you are.”

At a loss for words, Seohah tightly pressed her petite lips together.

Right at this moment, she had a desperate urge to check that man’s face with her own two eyes.

A subtle lime scent was still lingering nearby. Inhaling the fragrance deeply and then letting it out, Seohah spoke once more.

“I asked who you are.”

“Me? Wanna guess? If you get it right, I’ll give you a prize.”

To tell someone known as a visually impaired person to guess his age was quite baffling.

Unable to suppress her rising sense of defiance, Seohah answered.

“Judging by the way you talk, about……………… four years old?”

At that moment, the man burst out laughing openly.

He was a strange person, but his laughter was so refreshing that it felt even more bothersome.

“Right from our first meeting, you’re dropping honorifics and only saying whatever you want to say.”

Perhaps the man had stepped closer, as a heavy fragrance washed over her in a rush. She took half a step backward.

“Well, you got the last digit right. I’m thirty-four. Since you got half of it right, I suppose I ought to give you half a prize.”

He really was a strange man.

Feeling as though she had suddenly dropped into an entirely different world, Seohah gave her harness a slight, firm tug, and she could feel Dodam lifting its body up.

“No, that’s quite alright. Then I’ll be taking my leave……………….”

Eager to escape this spot as quickly as possible, Seohah bowed her head in a greeting. Whoever this man might be, if she kept exchanging words with him any longer, she might end up making a mistake.

“Even if you head back to the event venue, it’s still going to be loud and chaotic, so stay here for a bit.”

Seohah tilted her head quietly, as if she couldn’t understand.

“By the way, do you like candy?”

Though she blinked a few times at the out-of-nowhere question, she answered obediently anyway.

“I hate sweets.”

“That’s good, then.”

Contrary to his affirmative words, a strangely unpleasant vibe bled into the man’s tone.

Seohah tilted her head at that subtle mismatch.

“Even if someone dangles star candy to lure you in, don’t go gobbling it up blindly.”

“I don’t eat things like that.”

Seohah said firmly to the man who kept treating her like a child. After a brief silence, the man offered a belated self-introduction.

“I’m Han Junhyuk.”

At that single name, Seohah’s heart felt as though it had momentarily stopped. Even amidst that, her lips didn’t forget to do their job, which she was thankful for.

“Could you be Chairman Han Dongpyo of H Bio’s……………?”

“Yeah.”

Junhyuk’s reaction was strangely lukewarm, but Seohah didn’t care. The only thing that mattered was that the person she had wanted to meet was right in front of her eyes.

Eager to escape the awkward spot, she hastily changed the subject.

“Um, that half-prize you mentioned earlier. I’ll take it.”

Han Junhyuk was right in front of her.

She absolutely could not let this opportunity slip away.

“I know why you came here. And naturally, I’m well aware that you probably won’t fancy someone defective like me. You must hate this arranged marriage between our families. After all, even a divorce might be impossible for you.”

Until the presidential election—her father’s ultimate goal—she had to remain a chess piece. Demanding a divorce before that was completely out of the question.

And besides that goal, Seohah had a reason why she must make this marriage succeed at all costs.

It wasn’t because of her father, who had declared that mistakes would not be tolerated.

“In that case……………….”

Swallowing hard once without realizing it, Seohah proposed in a low voice.

“If a divorce isn’t an option, how about becoming a widow?”

“What……………?”

“Because it would be much cleaner than a divorce.”

Perhaps because she had spoken far too much all at once, she felt dizzy. But Seohah forced out her final words anyway.

“Would you marry me? I’ll die for you, so there won’t be a blemish on your record.”