TGMD 3

Chapter 3

Your Engagement Party

Yoo-joo bolted upright as if clawing her way out of a nightmare, her eyes brimmed with tears she hadn’t realized were falling.

“Starting the morning off depressed. Wonderful,” she muttered, wiping her cheeks in frustration.

The past she so desperately wanted to forget had replayed in her dream with vivid, crystal-clear detail, as if it had happened just yesterday. She felt pitifully pathetic looking back at her seventeen-year-old self, who used to gaze at Do-kyung with eyes full of wide-eyed wonder.

She had made the wrong choice back then. The moment she realized what Do-kyung was up to, she should have told her brother immediately and cut all ties with him. If she had, things wouldn’t have rotted into such an unsalvageable mess today.

Forcing down the emotions that threatened to spill over like a breached dam, she reached for her phone. Surprisingly, there was no message from her fiancé, Ha-jin—a man who usually made a point to text her every single morning out of sheer obligation.

Not that she particularly minded, though.

Tossing her phone casually aside, she began getting ready to go out. Today was the official lunch where her father would introduce her fiancé to his inner circle and share the news of their upcoming wedding.

Lately, Yoo-joo’s days had been an exhausting blur as she juggled business management training with wedding preparations.

Nine years ago, right after that incident, she was sent abroad to study. She had returned to Korea just three months ago and taken a position at Yuha Air, one of the family’s subsidiaries. While it wasn’t the largest division, it undeniably held more growth potential than any of the others.

Having overslept, she hurried down the stairs to the first floor, only to notice an unusually restless energy buzzing through the house.

Sitting at the dining table was her older brother, Yoo-ho, who had moved out after getting married.

“You’ve been coming by a lot lately, Oppa.”

Yoo-joo had cried uncontrollably on Yoo-ho’s wedding day—mostly out of deep pity for him. If her memory served her right, he was seeing someone else at the time.

Marrying at the relatively young age of twenty-six, he was the first victim of an arranged marriage in their family. Yet, accepting his fate faster than anyone else, Yoo-ho stepped into the role of Vice President at Yuha Motors—the conglomerate’s largest flagship company—and laid the groundwork to turn it into a multinational powerhouse.

When Yoo-joo wept for him back then, Yoo-ho had merely scolded her with cold detachment, telling her to wipe her tears before anyone saw.

“Sit down and eat before you go.” “I’m late.” “We work to live—what’s the point if you skip meals?”

Yoo-ho insisted stubbornly. Checking her watch, Yoo-joo had no choice but to take a seat. Sitting there instantly brought back memories of their school days, when the family used to gather around this exact table for meals.

Sometimes this table was peaceful; other times it was suffocatingly quiet, or erupting into screaming matches.

Out of nowhere, Yoo-ho spoke up.

“Are you really going to marry Prosecutor Go?”

“Why are you acting like this too, Oppa? Don’t worry. I’m not a little kid anymore, and I’m never going to make a stupid mistake like that again. I won’t disappoint Father.”

Honestly, being buried in work at the office felt far more comfortable than staying in this exhausting house.

At her textbook response, Yoo-ho offered a bitter, hollow smile.

Pretending not to notice, Yoo-joo set down her utensils and stood up.

“I need to stop by the salon first, so I’ll head out. Father will lose his mind if I’m late on a day like today.”

“Have you seen Han Do-kyung recently?”

The question caught her completely off guard. In this house, the name ‘Han Do-kyung’ was practically a taboo topic.

Back when Yoo-joo was ready to throw everything away just to choose Do-kyung, her father had completely lost his mind, and her mother had passed out cold. And Yoo-ho had interrogated her more harshly than anyone else.

“What is wrong with you? Why are you bringing him up here…?”

Thoroughly shaken, Yoo-joo snapped at him in a harsh whisper.

“Exactly. Why are you making me bring his name up in this house?”

Yoo-ho felt a wave of despair at her reaction, which served as a far more telling answer than any words she could have spoken.

“Yoo-joo.”

Yoo-ho pushed his chair back and stood up. Looming over her, he looked down at his younger sister.

“I just caught you again.”

Caught me doing what? I haven’t hidden anything from you.

She wanted to scream those words at his face right then and there. But the words stuck in her throat.

The ghost of young Do-kyung from her morning dream seemed to reach out and place a hand over her mouth.

A sudden, overwhelming urge to cry washed over her.

She buried her gloomy feelings beneath a layer of heavy makeup. Painting her lips a deep red managed to pull together a respectable, composed expression. Hiding her true feelings had become second nature by now.

Unaware of what was truly going on inside her head, Chairman Jung Young-jae made no effort to hide his delight.

The grand banquet hall was bathed in dazzling, almost blinding lights, with tables lavishly set with high-end delicacies made from the finest ingredients.

And the guest list was even more extravagant. Aside from Doseong Group, the heads of the top ten conglomerates in South Korea were all in attendance.

Standing right at the center of the hall were the stars of the day, Ha-jin and Yoo-joo, side by side.

As countless eyes washed over them, Ha-jin leaned in and whispered in Yoo-joo’s ear.

“My phone broke.” “Oh dear, how did that happen?”

Yoo-joo responded casually to his sudden excuse.

“I was careless. It took a lot of effort to recover the data inside, which is why I couldn’t reach you earlier.”

Truthfully, she couldn’t care less about his silence. Today, her mind was entirely consumed with finding a way to escape this suffocating event.

“Still, the turnout of high-profile political and business figures is incredible. Your father’s connections are truly something else.”

She was almost certain she had told him they would skip outdated, performative formalities like an engagement party.

Publicly, it was supposed to be a light dinner to thank their supporters and casually announce their wedding—nothing for her to feel pressured about.

Yet sitting here now, Yoo-joo couldn’t spot a single difference between this event and a full-blown engagement ceremony. Father really can’t rest until he gets every single thing his way, she thought, feeling a fresh wave of disgust.

“Do I look alright today?”

Unlike Yoo-joo, Ha-jin seemed visibly thrilled at the prospect of rubbing shoulders with such powerful figures.

BANG!

The heavy doors of the grand hall suddenly burst open with a loud, jarring crash that instantly drew everyone’s gaze. Whispers rippled through the crowd.

It was the exact moment Chairman Jung’s satisfied smile crumpled for the first time all day.

Even though it had been quite some time, Chairman Jung recognized the uninvited guest in an instant. Besides, that face was unforgettable to him for an entirely different reason.

Chairman Jung roared in anger.

“Who the hell invited that bastard?!”

With his hair neatly slicked back and wearing a suit far more formal than his usual attire, Do-kyung offered a polite bow.

“Apologies for being late. My meeting ran longer than expected.”

“You… How dare you step foot in here…!”

If Yoo-ho hadn’t rushed over to calm his father down, a string of crude curses would have surely echoed through the hall.

Yoo-joo watched the unfolding chaos with trembling eyes.

Her father looked ready to throw a punch at Do-kyung on the spot, her brother was desperately holding him back, guests were whispering incessantly… and right at the center of it all was Do-kyung, casually dropping a live grenade into the room.

While a few people quietly knew about the past scandal between Do-kyung and Yoo-joo, it remained top-secret. Her family had every intention of burying it deep underground forever, keeping it a secret until the day they died.

“With such a joyous event at Yuha, it wouldn’t do for us at Doseong to miss out, would it?”

Do-kyung was shamelessly exploiting that very secret to his advantage.

“I assume Doseong was left off the guest list by mistake? Surely you didn’t leave us out on purpose.”

Knowing full well it wasn’t an oversight, Do-kyung casually sank into an empty chair.

A tense silence fell over the hall as the distinguished guests nervously read the room, glancing between Chairman Jung and Do-kyung.

“To avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings or gossip, I came as the representative for Doseong.”

Bitter as it was, Yoo-ho whispered something into his father’s ear, prompting Chairman Jung to finally return to his seat. Still, his face remained flushed with unbridled rage.

“It seems there was an error on our end. My apologies. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to join us, Executive Director Han Do-kyung.”

Yoo-ho delivered a formal apology on his father’s behalf. Do-kyung offered a half-hearted wave of his hand, accepting it carelessly.

While everyone else felt like they were walking on thin ice, Yoo-joo leaned over and whispered softly to Ha-jin.

“Did you invite Executive Director Han?”

“No. But it seems Doseong wants to make peace with Yuha. They can’t stay bitter rivals forever, after all.”

Unaware of the hidden scandal, Ha-jin shook his head with a naive smile.

Ever since reuniting with Do-kyung, Yoo-joo had occasionally pictured scenes like this—knowing just how reckless he could be.

Yet experiencing it in reality made her heart pound wildly against her ribs. She put on a brave face, but she felt that if she let her guard down for even a second, everything she had bottled up would explode. Do-kyung always had a way of recklessly upending her quiet life.

And yet… seeing her overbearing father’s face twist in anger for the first time offered a strange, dark satisfaction. Because if not for Do-kyung, no one else on earth could have pulled that off.

As she bit down hard on her red lower lip, her eyes suddenly met Do-kyung’s.

Reflexively, the corners of her mouth fell. It felt as though he had caught her red-handed, reading her embarrassing inner thoughts. Resting his chin on his hand, Do-kyung stared back at her with that familiar, lazy expression.

Doing her best to avoid his gaze, Yoo-joo pointedly linked her arm through Ha-jin’s, desperate to project the image of a perfectly happy couple.

Do-kyung had appeared effortlessly relaxed when he first entered, but now, his facial muscles subtly hardened. His expression turned sharp and icy, cold enough to send a chill through anyone watching.

He might have been able to fool the rest of the room, but he couldn’t fool Yoo-joo.

“Y-Yoo-joo?”

Caught off guard by her sudden display of affection, Ha-jin stammered, unused to seeing her act this bold.

“You see? They aren’t even officially married yet, and look how affectionate they are!”

Chairman Jung raised his voice intentionally, making sure Do-kyung heard every word.

Do-kyung clicked his tongue softly. How childish.

“Please give them your warm blessings and pray for their long, happy life together!”

The second the words left his mouth, a sudden burst of applause cut through the heavy air. The guests turned back toward Do-kyung in utter shock, but he only clapped harder, looking as though he thoroughly enjoyed the spotlight.

“Congratulations. You two make a gorgeous couple.”

He really was acting like a total mad dog.

There was no stopping him once he went wild. Not even the security guards dared to lay a hand on the eldest son of Doseong Group.

Through the chaos, Do-kyung’s eyes met Yoo-joo’s once more.

“Though I imagine the men who silently pined for Director Jung Yoo-joo must be feeling pretty heartbroken right about now.”

Do-kyung stared straight at Yoo-joo now, completely unbothered by what anyone might think.

Then he flashed a smile—utterly breathtaking, and dangerously charming.

“Myself included.”