TNS 10

Chapter 10

Holding the manila envelope with a rigid expression, Yunseo toyed with the keycard inside—an access pass to Executive Director Cha Junhyung’s office that had fallen out.

Starting tomorrow, she would be commuting to Director Cha Junhyung’s office, no longer serving as Vice President Cha Seonjae’s executive secretary.

Becoming Junhyung’s close confidante to act as a double agent was her condition in her deal with Seonjae, but Vice President Cha Ikhyeon also believed that placing a competent secretary beside his son would salvage Junhyung’s rock-bottom reputation. That was precisely why Ikhyeon had previously insisted on an unwanted marriage for both sides.

What Cha Seonjae required of her was proof of her worth as a viable pawn. Entering Cha Ikhyeon’s faction under the guise of keeping tabs on the rapidly ascending Seonjae, while in reality slowly gnawing away at their cartel from within—that was her way of protecting her family, and the only loyalty and gratitude she could offer him.

The contents inside the envelope were a noose tightening around her neck, yet simultaneously the sole weapon she had to swing to survive this ruthless war. Feeling the chilly texture of the paper against her fingertips, Yunseo bit her lower lip hard. Cha Ikhyeon had tried to bind her by exploiting her feelings for Seonjae, but he had overlooked one crucial detail: Yunseo was more than ready to burn herself to ashes if it meant protecting her family, and protecting the world of Seonjae—the only man she had ever admired.

Yunseo slid the documents back into the envelope and squeezed the keycard tight in her palm. The sharp plastic edges dug into her skin, but she felt not a single pang of pain. Between Seonjae’s distrust, Cha Ikhyeon’s blackmail, and the ugly mountain of debt her father had incurred, Yunseo had to begin a lonely battle where not a single mistake was allowed.

When Seonjae saw her showing up for work at Cha Junhyung’s office tomorrow morning, what kind of look would he give her? He would likely sneer with a expression twisted in hatred and contempt. But it didn’t matter. The more he defined her as a betrayer, the more she could do for him from within the shadows.

Yunseo exhaled a short breath. In the dark living room, only her eyes glowed slowly.

A hazy vapor floated above the bathtub filled to the brim with water. Seonjae wiped his face and sank his body deep into the hot water. Since he had been with Ha Yunseo all day, bringing home her lingering scent was hardly unusual. Even so, it was a fleeting trace that would wash away in the ripples the moment he submerged himself in the bath.

Yet for some reason today, no matter how long he remained submerged, her lingering scent refused to dissipate. Furthermore, each time the water rippled, the heartless words Ha Yunseo had uttered drifted through his mind, persistently grating on his nerves.

“Ha Yunseo.”

Just uttering her name left the tip of his tongue dry and rough. When she—who had supposedly agreed to marry his cousin, Cha Junhyung—suddenly held his hand and declared their marriage, Seonjae felt a bizarre discomfort rather than a sense of victory. It was a transparent calculation. Even though it proved he was a far more valuable pawn than Cha Junhyung, the eyes making that declaration were so clear that her true motives remained entirely unreadable.

Ha Yunseo standing beside Cha Junhyung… The woman who used to move like a shadow by his side would now enter the enemy’s heartland and pretend to keep him in check. It was a scheme he had designed himself, yet imagining her absence made the pit of his stomach feel hollow and cold. Even as he reassured himself that he had merely removed a suspicious piece from his side, the vacuum left in his heart remained an unsettling void. It was too embarrassing to call it loss, yet too unpleasantly jarring to label it mere anger.

Just thinking of Ha Yunseo brought a heavy pulse of heat down to his lower body beneath the water. The cramped, intimate hotel room; her pale shoulders revealed as he unbuttoned her neatly fastened shirt one by one; her wet voice trembling beneath him, repeatedly crying out his name. Her usual sharp, articulate tone was nowhere to be found, completely swallowed by the raw sensations only he could grant her—those vivid memories surged back, wrapping around his body amidst the scorching water.

“Damn it.”

Even while despising and distrusting Ha Yunseo, his body still vividly remembered the submissive pleasure she had surrendered to him. Seonjae gripped himself roughly. He recalled Ha Yunseo’s obstinately closed lips—lips he knew better than anyone how they parted and how scalding the breaths were that spilled from them.

The temperature inside the bathroom rose unnaturally hot. Just imagining Ha Yunseo standing by Cha Junhyung’s side made his insides twist and boil over.

The mere thought of that idiot grabbing her wrist, or swaying as he looked into those transparent eyes, sent a wave of disgust straight to the top of his head. A tangled tempest of emotion—whether jealousy or sheer possessiveness—erupted and poured out uncontrollably.

“Phew… Ah.”

His roughened breathing tangled with the stagnant air in the bathroom. What followed late was a heavy silence accompanied by a terrible emptiness. Covering his wet face with his palm, Seonjae panted heavily. Ha Yunseo was poison. A lethal, dizzying poison that seeped into your body unnoticed until it completely paralyzed you.

Whether her leaving his side for Cha Junhyung would end up as a blunder that shot him in the foot, or a masterstroke to possess her completely, remained to be seen.

“Just try it.”

When he opened his closed eyes, a far darker thirst and a ruthless obsession burned in his pupils. Whatever calculations she harbored, the one breaking down at the end had to be Ha Yunseo herself. Even if that conclusion meant mutual destruction, it didn’t matter.

Seonjae raised his wet body and looked down at the cooling bathwater. Reflected on the surface, the Seoul nightscape wavered in distortion. Draped in a robe over his firm physique, Seonjae’s face crumpled in irritation. The robe he usually wore without a second thought felt coarse, as if scraping against his skin. Only then did he realize how utterly infuriated he was with Ha Yunseo for repaying his favor with betrayal.

The Executive Director’s office boasted the highest ceilings and the most magnificent view in Hankyeong Pharmaceuticals’ headquarters. Vice President Cha Ikhyeon had poured his personal ambitions into decorating this office for his only son; its lavish, ostentatious decor seemed like a desperate attempt to veil the owner’s vulgar nature.

High-end imported artwork covered the walls, a gleaming top-tier mahogany desk sat in the center, and deep Italian leather sofas looked soft enough to swallow anyone who sat in them. Every piece of furniture flaunted its worth, yet that excessive luxury only served to expose the owner’s shallow vanity all the more clearly.

“Hey, Secretary Kim! Why couldn’t I get ahold of you today? I was going to push back my entire schedule and take the day off, but you just had to drag your superior into a wild-goose chase?”

Arriving in the hallway outside his office later than usual, Cha Junhyung fumed with a face still heavy with a hangover. Yesterday, the bombshell marriage announcement dropped by Cha Seonjae and Ha Yunseo in front of Representative Kim Gyeongae had reached his father, Vice President Cha Ikhyeon. Having just weathered the brunt of his father’s explosive hysteria, Junhyung’s mood was thoroughly foul.

Junhyung stopped in his tracks near the entrance of the secretary’s office upon noticing that the secretary, who should have been there to greet him, was absent.