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Chapter 02
1. The Boy Who Blocked the Road
It was a path leading to a meeting arranged in the early days of spring, still close to winter.
“Is that the building?”
At her timid question, the taxi driver nodded brightly.
“Yes, that one. The biggest hotel in Seoul. You must be on your way to a blind date. There’s a café inside that young ladies often talk about too. I know because passengers get off here so often.”
Soon, the driver turned the steering wheel to the side and stopped the car.
“Have a good day.”
“Yes, thank you. You have a good day too.”
After paying the fare, the woman got out of the taxi that had stopped near Namsan and walked toward the hotel.
‘You must be on your way to a blind date.’
The driver’s words lingered faintly in her mind.
She glanced down at her neatly ironed blouse. Pretending to be an adult, she crossed the crosswalk with an awkward gait that didn’t suit her at all.
She was 23 years old. About 160 cm tall, with a painfully thin frame.
Her cheeks were pale and clear, almost translucent, with a faint peach-like flush. Her eyes were a light, transparent brown, close to walnut-colored. Her small face looked youthful, almost like a girl’s.
Her straight black hair, without bangs and cut to a medium length just touching her chest, was so smooth it looked almost childlike, with a grayish-brown sheen reflecting off its surface.
She was the daughter of a small-to-medium business owner. She was also a university student majoring in fashion at a prestigious university, having entered as top of her class one year late.
At that moment, across the street, a father and daughter were crossing the road while chatting warmly. The girl looked like she had just entered middle school.
When she was fourteen, Yeoreul had begged desperately, hands and feet metaphorically in the air.
“P-please, I’m sorry! I-I—ah!”
Yeoreul hid from her father.
A dim room. Eyes darting around in fear.
“Ugh…”
A sudden hand covered her mouth. Her hair was grabbed without mercy, and her head was forced down.
The reason was that she resembled her dead mother. Her stepmother, who disliked her husband’s habit of remembering his ex-wife whenever he drank, simply watched the abuse in silence.
After fleeing the house in a miserable state, Yeoreul kept running. She escaped both her stepmother’s coldness and her father’s violence and went to her grandmother’s home.
For a while, she trembled in fear, but no one came looking for her. She regretted not leaving sooner. She had endured it thinking they were family—but she wasn’t family to them at all.
From the moment she began living with her maternal grandmother, Yeoreul’s only family was her. Life was not wealthy, but far happier than before.
Because the private high school she attended was affiliated with her middle school and prestigious, tuition was expensive, but she was lucky enough to receive sponsorship from an unknown wealthy benefactor and was able to attend through high school.
It had already been nine years since she left home. And recently, she had suddenly been contacted by her father.
Her steps back toward home after nearly a decade were cautious.
She thought time might have dulled the trauma—but it hadn’t. Just breathing in the familiar air made her nauseous.
The house still filled her entire body with fear. The twin younger brothers she remembered as babies were now elementary school students, unfamiliar to her.
In the spacious living room sat her father, Taeha, neatly dressed in a suit.
“Get married.”
That was the first thing he said as soon as she sat down.
“The day would come when you’d be useful to me. If you knew who you’re marrying, you’d be surprised too.”
His voice was thick with excitement and bulging veins, almost laughing.
“The J Group! The grandson of J Group!”
Yeoreul stared at him, frozen for several seconds.
The grandson of J Group… surely not.
“The grandson of J Group, Woo Ahhan.”
Her expression hardened instantly.
“The daughter-in-law is the chairman of J Department Store, and her son is going to be the head of J Industries! Do you know how many brands come out of that place? They dominate the entire fashion industry in this country! Hahaha!”
Bang, bang—Taeha slammed the table violently.
“Five years older. Perfect timing. This… this is a chance. A ridiculous chance.”
Yeoreul said nothing.
“Why that face? You should be bowing down in gratitude to your father.”
With a grotesque frown, Taeha shouted again.
“Just marry him!”
She flinched in shock. Her hands on her lap were trembling uncontrollably.
“W-why… why should I…?”
A hand swung toward her with a curse, and she instinctively covered her head.
“No, no. Not the face. That would be a problem.”
After calculating losses and gains, Taeha stopped his strike mid-air.
“Listen carefully. Even if I wasn’t a perfect father to you, you can’t treat me like this, understand?”
His eyes gleamed with greed as they locked onto her.
“Want me to make your grandmother’s life impossible too?”
At the chilling threat wrapped in a smile, a cold sensation ran down Yeoreul’s spine.
“This is a good opportunity.”
Noticing her reaction, he calmed his tone.
“Do you understand?”
Marriage. It was absurd—but she had no other option.
Taeha told her the discussion was over and ordered her to meet Ahhan, insisting the marriage must proceed no matter what.
Yeoreul left the house dazed. She accepted the generous amount of money he gave her to “dress appropriately.”
She even considered using that money to run away with her grandmother—but the threat that even her grandmother could be harmed left her powerless.
She couldn’t understand it. A conglomerate like J Group had no reason to arrange a political marriage with a relatively small company. And the man she was meant to marry was…
She unfolded the paper. The document from her father’s secretary read:
— Name: Woo Ahhan (雅: elegant, 嫺: graceful)
— Age: 28, born July 17
— Height: 189 cm
— Family: Maternal grandfather, Chairman of J Group Ma Unhak; mother, Chairwoman of J Department Store Ma Seok; father, former teacher and current CEO of J Industries, Woo Myeongseok
— Siblings: presumed only child
— Education/affiliation: Graduated from a prestigious university in the UK with a degree in business; currently a businessman after military service; director of J Industries fashion division
Woo Ahhan, though young, had secured a high position early. Since the merger of J Industries and J Textile, J Industries’ fashion division had seen record stock growth, leaving no room for criticism.
He was destined to become the leader of Korea’s fashion industry without obstruction.
— “Polite, but cold.”
The final evaluation from the secretary resonated especially well.
Woo Ahhan.
As she slowly turned, a boy who once blocked her path seemed to speak directly into her mind.
“My name. You know it.”
As a middle school student, Yeoreul remembered him as a high school boy with a soft, peaceful atmosphere.
Yet there was also a faint arrogance in the way he looked down at others, and in his refined, perfect stride.
His name, his appearance—everything about him was elegant.
Someone who had wealth, honor, status, and beauty. Yet he also seemed strangely lacking, despite being perfect.
Or maybe that was just her impression.
As she walked, she imagined the adult version of Ahhan.
How had he changed?
She entered the hotel lobby of the Unha Hotel, the meeting place for the arranged encounter. Having lived away from her wealthy family, it was her first time in such a large hotel.
Standing in the center of the vast, luxurious hall, she looked around blankly.
“Excuse me. May I ask something?”
She carefully approached the front desk after passing through the orderly crowd.
“Yes, hello. How may I help you?”
“To get to the lounge café…?”
“Oh yes, if you turn right over there, you’ll see it immediately.”
She turned her head and saw a quiet, elegant lounge café.
She felt foolish.
So it’s just over there. How embarrassing.
“Thank you.”
After bowing, she walked forward with heavy steps. After confirming the location, she went to the restroom first.
She checked her reflection in the mirror. Her outfit—a white-collared blouse and navy skirt—looked neat enough.
Her pale, plain face felt dull, so she applied a bright red lip gloss. With a touch of color, her face became livelier, like a clear summer sky.
She shoved the lip gloss back into her bag and practiced smiling at her reflection.
“Ha… ha… ha…”
She even made a sound.
Ugh.
Her heart pounded as if she were going to a job interview.
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, but the tension remained.
She didn’t even know how many times she had wished she was born with a stronger heart.
Today, more than ever, she resented how fragile hers was.
If she couldn’t win Ahhan’s favor, would Taeha give up?
She had thought about it many times—but meeting him still made her nervous.
“He probably won’t remember me.”
Would he even know they went to the same school?
“No, he wouldn’t.”
Thinking that, Yeoreul left the restroom.
