TGMD 1

Chapter 1

Reunited with the Mad Dog

Arriving nearly twenty minutes earlier than scheduled, Yoo-joo pulled out a compact mirror and carefully examined her reflection.

Her early morning trip to the salon had clearly paid off. Her hair cascaded downward, smooth as silk, framing her flawless, milk-white skin. Her dark eyes sparkled naturally beneath long, fluttery lashes, while a subtle lip shade highlighted her effortlessly delicate aura.

Good. Perfect.

She let out a soft breath, carrying a quiet thread of tension beneath it.

Today marked her third date with her fiancé. Unless something went drastically wrong, this meeting would seal the deal, and she’d end up marrying him.

Granted, she didn’t actually love the man—he was just someone her family had handpicked for her—but she didn’t really have any complaints either. To be fair, it was more accurate to say she wouldn’t even dare to have any.

Being born as the second daughter of a mega-conglomerate family, bearing the name ‘Jung Yoo-joo’—none of it had been her choice. Her future wouldn’t be any different.

Accepting her assigned role and living a comfortable, wealthy life was all that was expected of her. That was the subtle brainwashing she’d grown up with.

There were moments when a friend’s indignant voice—complaining about how outdated and absurd that lifestyle was—would flicker through her mind, but the thought quickly faded into the background.

You only get to say romantic nonsense like that because you’re not in my shoes.

Ever since she was a child, every detail of her life—her speech patterns, dining etiquette, minor habits, posture, and even her romantic history—had been strictly monitored. She had long since grown completely powerless to resist.

“Hello, I’m Go Ha-jin.”

She recalled her first meeting with her fiancé. His polite voice, respectable career, and restrained manners stood out. Nothing was over the top, making for a solid, reliable impression.

If she had to marry for family duty anyway, she preferred it be with someone clean-cut. It certainly didn’t hurt that he was quite handsome, too.

“You’re just as beautiful as I’ve heard.”

Go Ha-jin was a year older than Yoo-joo and held the title of the youngest star prosecutor in the country.

With looks straight out of a Korean drama and an impressive self-made success story, he generated a massive buzz wherever he went. People used to joke that even boring news broadcasts saw a spike in ratings whenever his face appeared on screen.

Yoo-joo’s father, Chairman Jung Young-jae, was exceptionally fond of this promising prosecutor. He was eager to welcome him into the family, desperate to cement a deeper foothold in the legal sphere.

It was all to gain the upper hand against their longest-standing rival since the company’s founding: Doseong Group. Having always settled for second place by a razor-thin margin, her father was naturally bitter.

As the only daughter of the Yuha Group, Yoo-joo’s sole duty was to tie the knot with Ha-jin, who represented a vital new lifeline for the company. Compared to her older brother Yoo-ho, who had to give up far more, her role was remarkably simple.

Yet, as she mentally listed everything riding on this business transaction of a marriage, a heavy weight settled on her shoulders. Rather than excitement, a wave of anxiety washed over her; responsibility, not butterflies, pressed down on her chest.

Just then, the heavy thud of leather dress shoes and the scent of an unfamiliar cologne drew closer. Before she could even process why her fiancé’s cologne had changed, she raised her head—and instantly froze.

“Long time no see, pretty girl.”

Standing before her wasn’t her fiancé, but an entirely unexpected figure—and the last man on Earth she ever wanted to see again.

“You haven’t shown up for so long that I thought you might be dead.”

With the same arrogant smirk he had always worn, he blurted out the words without hesitation and slumped into the chair opposite her.

“Or have you been trying your absolute hardest to avoid me? If so, points for effort.”

Yoo-joo crossed her arms and glared at him.

His broad frame had grown even more imposing, likely from constant workouts, and the defined lines of his handsome face had matured into a dangerous, sultry charm. The striking contrast between his thick eyebrows and straight nose was as breathtaking as ever, paired with a lush head of deep black hair.

“Honestly, that’s why I pretended not to notice you a few times. I told you before, I’m actually pretty nice.”

“Ha…”

An exhausted, heavy sigh slipped past her lips before she could stop it.

Even for someone as thick-skinned as him, there had to be a limit. How could he dare approach her and strike up a conversation like this, acting so brazenly as if nothing had ever happened between them?

Meanwhile, every time she so much as thought of this man, she still felt as if her entire world was caving in.

“Don’t look at me like that.”

He scrunched his nose playfully.

“You’re scaring me.”

As if he was actually scared at all.

His name was Han Do-kyung. He was the eldest son of the formidable Doseong Group mentioned earlier. Although designated as the heir apparent to lead the empire, he was far from a model executive.

Appearing in the crime and scandal sections far more often than the financial news, he was widely known as Doseong’s ‘Mad Dog.’ To this day, people still questioned why Chairman Han Joon-영 chose his wild eldest son over his quiet, well-behaved second and third sons.

“What do you think you’re doing right now?”

And this man was once the closest person in the world to Yoo-joo. Though now, they were worse than strangers.

Just looking at Do-kyung made a bitter, prickling sensation boil up inside her. To find the root of that feeling, one had to go back nearly ten years, all the way to her high school days.

That deeply personal, private era—hidden from the outside world—was a time Yoo-joo desperately wished she could erase from her memory.

“Doing what?”

His nonchalant response was infuriating. Having once been shattered so thoroughly that she couldn’t even sweep up the pieces, Yoo-joo raised a sharp, defensive wall against him. It was a pure instinct for survival.

“Someone else is supposed to sit there. Please get up.”

“Oh really? My bad.”

Whenever the subtle madness in Do-kyung’s eyes suddenly sharpened into focus, people usually cowered in fear.

Just like right now.

“By the way, Yoo-joo… this hotel belongs to me.”

Do-kyung rested his chin on his hand, lazily studying her. After a moment’s hesitation, Yoo-joo averted her gaze.

“If you didn’t want me crashing your little date, you shouldn’t have come here.”

She had been so overwhelmed that she hadn’t even checked the owner of the venue. She had simply agreed to the location her fiancé had unilaterally sent her.

Even if she had realized this hotel belonged to Doseong, she never in a million years imagined she would run into him here.

Coincidences like this were far too rare.

“You’ve always been just a tiny bit off, haven’t you?”

Do-kyung asked softly, his question layered with multiple meanings. Yoo-joo’s heart began to race for a completely different reason than before.

“Though, I have to admit, I’m surprised. You used to act so special and smart, but in the end, you’re no different from any other girl, are you? Marrying a man you don’t care about just to be useful to your family—is that all your existence is worth?”

She had vowed not to let his words shake her, yet, as always in his presence, everything slipped out of her control.

“I thought you were a bit different.”

“What do you even know to speak so carelessly, Sunbae—”

Losing her composure for a split second, Yoo-joo slipped back into her past self. Only then did Do-kyung smile, pulling up the corners of his mouth in satisfaction. Provoking her had clearly paid off.

His smile was so captivating that it drew the eyes of almost everyone passing by.

“It’s been a while since I heard you call me Sunbae.”

“Sunbae—no, Mr. Han Do-kyung. You and I have nothing to do with each other anymore, so stop it.”

“…”

“Never mind. It’ll be faster if I just get out of your sight.”

Yoo-joo gave up on her important date with Ha-jin and stood up. As Do-kyung had pointed out, the real mistake today might have been sitting in this specific cafe out of all the places in the city.

Unluckily, right at that moment, her eyes caught sight of her fiancé opening the glass doors to the hotel cafe and walking in.

The timing was disastrous.

According to her initial plan, Yoo-joo was supposed to receive a proposal from Ha-jin today. But ever since Do-kyung showed up, everything had spiraled out of control.

“When was it that you came back to Korea again?”

Do-kyung asked, tracking her movements with just his eyes.

“It’s probably been about three months.”

For someone asking a question, he sounded entirely certain of the answer.

“For those three months, you spent every single day desperately avoiding me.”

Ha-jin spotted Yoo-joo standing up and offered a warm wave.

“And I willingly pretended not to notice.”

Yet Yoo-joo couldn’t bring herself to react. Every single one of her senses was fixated on Do-kyung.

“Do you know why I finally broke that suffocating silence and showed up in front of you today?”

Unaware of the situation, Ha-jin walked toward them with long strides and a bright smile. But Do-kyung’s unhinged momentum didn’t stop.

“Listen carefully, Yoo-joo.”

Trapped between them, Yoo-joo was the most anxious person in the room.

She felt as if she were cradling a live bomb that could detonate at any second.

“I’m going to do everything I can to stop your marriage.”

Yoo-joo’s eyes trembled violently. Laid-back by nature and usually indifferent to his surroundings, Do-kyung was the kind of man who, once he made up his mind, never failed to get what he wanted. No matter how hard she resisted, the future would unfold exactly as he willed it.

“Feel free to think of it as petty revenge for the past. Or just consider yourself unlucky for getting bitten by a mad dog. I won’t judge.”

That meant one thing: her smooth, secure marriage was now in serious jeopardy.

“Just remember this. I’ve just bet everything I have on breaking off your marriage.”

The moment his thoughts turned into spoken words, a terrifying weight took hold. It was one of those rare moments where it actually made sense why someone as recklessly unhinged as Do-kyung was chosen as the heir to Doseong Group.

“So let’s get entangled again—dirty and messy, just like before.”