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Chapter 20
The Fake Lover Who Crossed the Line
Yoon Haeyoon and Do Inhyuk had been different from the very beginning.
Having lived alone with her grandfather, she had always had to worry about their tight financial circumstances.
Inhyuk, on the other hand, had grown up without his parents, but he had never once had to worry about money.
Once again, she was reminded of the difference between them.
It also made Haeyoon realize once more that there was an impassable river between herself and a man like Do Inhyuk.
“I’ll be the one to bear the burden of spending the money.”
Inhyuk gently pushed Haeyoon’s back.
After making sure she had gotten into the car first, he bent down and met her eyes.
“Ms. Haeyoon, just enjoy yourself.”
“Who knows? Maybe you’ll discover a new hobby you didn’t even know you had.”
Did he mean a hobby of spending money?
Just how extravagant of a hobby was that supposed to be?
“It’ll be fun, right?”
“It looks like you’re enjoying it more than I am, Mr. Inhyuk…”
It seemed that Inhyuk already had a hobby of spending money.
“Wouldn’t it be more fun to spend money on yourself? Rather than unnecessarily spending it on someone else.”
“It’s fun buying things for you, Ms. Haeyoon.”
“Then let’s say you’ll humor me and go along with my new hobby.”
As expected, there was no way to beat Do Inhyuk by being stubborn.
Once again, Haeyoon had lost.
“Then shall we go? To spend some money.”
He smiled brightly and closed the passenger-side door.
They had definitely left while the sun was still up.
Haeyoon gazed at the darkening sky before shifting her eyes.
Inhyuk was taking shopping bags out of the back seat.
“Give them to me. I’ll carry them.”
When Haeyoon hurriedly reached for them, he pulled his hand back.
“They’re heavier than they look.”
“I can still carry that much.”
This time, she was being stubborn too.
Even though, by now, she should have simply given up and followed Inhyuk’s lead.
The moment Haeyoon stretched out her arm and grabbed the handle of one of the shopping bags—
“Ah. Is it because you don’t want to go upstairs with me?”
She froze and looked up.
The two of them had ended up standing quite close together while struggling over the shopping bag, and their eyes met.
“After two warnings, you’re drawing quite a serious line.”
Inhyuk raised an eyebrow and pulled the bag a little farther away.
“Ah—!”
Since she was holding the shopping bag as well, Haeyoon’s body tilted forward.
Her hand shot out instinctively and grabbed Inhyuk’s arm.
“What’s wrong? Are you afraid I might do something?”
He moved the arm she was holding.
Ignoring the hand gripping his arm with surprising ease, Inhyuk gently wrapped an arm around Haeyoon’s waist.
“Well, it’s true that I’ve been waiting for an opportunity.”
His perfectly straight eyebrow lifted.
“Was it that obvious?”
At his playful expression, some of the tension in Haeyoon’s body eased.
“……It would be a lie to say I’m not afraid.”
“I like your honesty.”
Inhyuk chuckled softly.
“If you lied here, I was going to make sure you didn’t get off so easily.”
He released Haeyoon.
The shopping bags weren’t actually that heavy.
That was because, despite Haeyoon’s stubbornness, she had only bought exactly what she needed.
“Go inside and get some rest.”
It was a surprisingly clean ending for someone who had teased her all day.
That was why Haeyoon couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
She kept getting nervous around him, and she found herself constantly conscious of him.
The moment Haeyoon took the shopping bags from him, she stepped back two paces.
“I think your hobby is probably teasing me.”
At her slightly sulky expression and tone, Inhyuk let out a low laugh.
“That’s true. It’s the thing I’ve been finding most interesting lately.”
He showed no sign of embarrassment whatsoever.
By now, Haeyoon had gotten somewhat used to this shameless side of him.
Still, she suddenly remembered their first meeting.
“……Your first impression definitely wasn’t like this.”
The memory of Do Inhyuk, who had given off an extraordinary sense of intimidation, was still vivid in her mind.
Back then, Haeyoon had been so intimidated in front of him that she could barely even meet his eyes.
“Is that so? What was your first impression of me?”
Somehow, the shopping bags had already ended up back in Inhyuk’s hands.
Haeyoon hadn’t even noticed.
“I thought you were a little cold and… difficult to approach.”
“That’s an assessment I hear quite often.”
He didn’t deny it.
“I suppose I am, for the most part.”
“Then why are you… like this now?”
Haeyoon chose her words as carefully as she could.
Even so, she couldn’t completely hide the questioning look in her eyes or the sense of confusion in her voice.
“If I treated you according to my first impression, you’d run away.”
“You wouldn’t even consider someone like me.”
Was he different because he was a businessman?
Do Inhyuk had seen right through Yoon Haeyoon.
“Why do you need to go this far to marry me?”
Haeyoon suddenly found herself curious.
When Siyeon had asked her about it, she had only been mildly suspicious.
But after talking with Inhyuk, she wanted to know.
Why on earth was he so serious about this marriage?
“Looks like you finally have something you’re curious about when it comes to me.”
Perhaps she was asking later than she should have.
Still, the fact that she had finally become curious about him was a fairly positive sign to Inhyuk.
“Because my grandfather wants it.”
Was he more filial than she had expected?
Haeyoon was just about to feel sorry for having misunderstood Inhyuk when he continued.
“He’ll only be satisfied if I marry the woman he wants me to marry. And then I’ll get what I want from him.”
“What do you want?”
“DY Group. And for him to acknowledge my mother.”
Haeyoon had vaguely expected something like this.
It was Giseop who cherished her as his lifesaver, not Inhyuk.
And Inhyuk had said that he needed to marry her and that there were significant benefits he would gain from this marriage.
So she wasn’t surprised.
But why was it?
When she thought that everything this man had shown her in front of her had merely been an act for the sake of his goal…
“I see.”
Haeyoon quickly suppressed the strange feeling rising inside her.
“I understand why you want to marry me so badly, Mr. Inhyuk.”
She hurriedly gathered the shopping bags.
“Oh. Actress Siyeon will probably ask you about our relationship.”
“My mother?”
“Yes. I think she was quite confused because of the snack truck you sent to the filming set.”
“Ah.”
He had caused the trouble without considering what would happen afterward.
Inhyuk scratched his cheek.
“I’ll explain it to my mother.”
Haeyoon quickly nodded.
She was beginning to want to go home.
“Then I’ll go inside now.”
“Be careful going up.”
Haeyoon paused for a moment at his concern over a distance that required nothing more than climbing the stairs.
Was this also an act for the sake of the marriage?
“Yes. You too, Mr. Inhyuk.”
Haeyoon gave him a brief nod and hurriedly turned away.
Tap, tap, tap.
She climbed the stairs quickly.
It wasn’t until she reached the second floor in one go that she finally caught her breath.
Inhyuk had said that marrying Haeyoon was absolutely necessary for him.
There was nothing wrong with doing whatever it took to achieve one’s goal.
If anything, he was simply being clever.
“Then… are all the things he does in front of me lies?”
Suddenly, Haeyoon wondered what he was really like normally.
What kind of man was Do Inhyuk when he wasn’t putting on an act?
That strange feeling she had experienced earlier seemed to be rising again.
Haeyoon deliberately shook her head hard and continued up the stairs.
“Haa… I’m exhausted.”
It had been a long day.
She took off her shoes carelessly and simply left the shopping bags in the entryway.
Dragging her feet, Haeyoon went inside and collapsed face-first onto the sofa.
“Grandpa, I’m home.”
She didn’t even have the energy to smile brightly at Taesu’s photograph like she normally did.
They say you only learn to enjoy something once you’ve tried it.
That ill-suited shopping trip had completely drained Haeyoon.
How long had she been lying there?
When her phone vibrated with a buzzing sound, she merely stretched out her hand.
Her fumbling fingers caught the bag she had left on top.
[I just got home.]
Inhyuk always seemed to let her know whenever he arrived home.
It wasn’t as though she was particularly curious, nor was she worried about him.
She figured it must simply be a habit.
“Did his ex-girlfriend get him into the habit?”
There was a good chance that was the case.
He wasn’t the kind of man who would act that warmly toward a friend or Giseop.
“His ex-girlfriend…”
Do Inhyuk, dating someone because he was genuinely drawn to her rather than because of some benefit.
Haeyoon couldn’t imagine it.
Well, no matter what, he was still human. Surely he had dated someone normally at some point.
“It’s not like that man is happy about this situation either.”
If she thought about it from his perspective, none of this would have happened if Haeyoon had never appeared.
She had thought she was the only one in a difficult situation.
But she realized only now that Do Inhyuk was in the same position.
It would be nice if Giseop changed his mind.
But…
“He absolutely won’t.”
Even though Haeyoon had known him for only a short time, she was certain of it.
She turned her head and looked at the shopping bags she had left in the entryway.
“Three months is a long time.”
A small sigh escaped her before she could hide it.
