🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 4
It sounded like a lie, but it was real.
Had she seen it recently? No. It was a drama she had happened to catch on a rerun before she came back in time.
It was just another third-rate drama, yet for some reason, her eyes had been drawn to it.
In one family variety show, someone had mentioned that Jung Hana helped him land his first leading role on the big screen.
“So you really saw it.”
“Were you fooled the whole time?”
“I’m still a rookie, so it’s surprising when someone recognizes me.”
“You’ll do well. Even better from now on.”
At Kang Dasom’s words of praise, Yoon Jinwoo’s expression shifted in a strange way. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, yet forbidden from acting because of his family—he was a man trapped between privilege and his own dream.
His mother, Jang Jubin, was born into a prestigious family during the Fifth Republic era. She studied abroad in America, married into the Cheonmyung family, and lived a life of luxury without ever once dipping her hands in dishwater.
So when her beloved youngest son declared he wanted to become an actor—an entertainer, nothing more—was it any wonder she flew into a rage?
Now, Yoon Jinwoo was practically estranged from his mother. His two older brothers still tried to mend things during family holidays, but that was the limit.
Both Yoon Jihwan and Yoon Sunghoon secretly hoped Jinwoo would stay out of the succession battle. Three sons in a chaebol family were trouble enough; a war of princes would benefit no one.
Jinwoo bit the corner of his lip.
The more he looked, the less she seemed to suit his brother, Yoon Sunghoon.
Her way of speaking, her clothes, even her looks—none of it matched.
“What makes you say that about me?”
“You can tell who’ll succeed just by looking.”
“You’re no fortune-teller.”
“No, but I’m good at reading people. Really.”
“I doubt that.”
A woman who was truly good at judging people wouldn’t be with a man like his brother—the very one whispered about as the family’s trash.
At his retort, Dasom curved her lips into a smile. The subtle expression pulled his eyes to her without him realizing it.
“Want to make a bet? Between you and me, let’s see who’s better at reading people.”
“Do you realize this is the first time we’ve met?”
“It’s the first of many times.”
Did she even realize the meaning behind her words? Jinwoo glanced down at his phone.
[Wait.]
That was all the reply he got from Jung Hana. No follow-up call, no word on when she’d arrive—just a single command: wait.
And what else could he do?
If she told him to wait, he had to wait.
He couldn’t ask when she was coming or who she was with.
So instead, he decided to talk a little longer with the woman in front of him.
She had told him to wait—not not to speak to his brother’s woman.
“Well, thanks for watching my work, but I don’t think we’re meant to keep seeing each other.”
“Then let’s bet on it.”
“My brother—well, I shouldn’t say this myself, but he’s not exactly quality material. He’s never dated a woman for more than a month.”
“I won’t be like that.”
Her confidence made Jinwoo click his tongue inwardly. Her body looked so frail she might break if touched, yet her words carried an almost reckless certainty.
“You—”
“Not ‘you.’ It’s Kang Dasom.”
“…Ah, right. Kang Dasom-ssi.”
“Yes.”
“If you claim to be good at reading people, you shouldn’t be with my brother. That’s a contradiction.”
Her bare face twisted slightly at his words.
And even in that troubled expression, he found her beautiful.
Dasom didn’t answer, just sank into thought. Time slipped by, and Jinwoo’s patience began to run thin.
Truthfully, he just wanted to end this before Jung Hana showed up. Dealing with Hana’s questions about this scene would be far worse than Dasom’s boldness.
“What are you putting up for this bet?”
“Huh?”
“You suggested it. A bet needs a prize.”
Dasom’s lips parted in hesitation. She looked like someone who truly hadn’t thought that far ahead.
“What should I put up?”
“You’re the one who brought it up—why ask me? Forget it. This was pointless—”
“If I win, have dinner with me.”
She cut him off mid-sentence.
“You’re dating my brother, aren’t you?”
“I never said we’d eat dinner alone.”
“Let’s say that was a slip of the tongue. Then, if I win—”
“Enough.”
“Do you make a habit of cutting people off, Kang Dasom-ssi?”
Irritation flickered across Jinwoo’s face. She didn’t budge an inch.
The once naïve expression on her face shifted to one brimming with quiet confidence.
“I’ll win anyway. No need to hear the rest.”
“Arrogant, aren’t you?”
She only shrugged in reply.
“In three months, it’s my father’s birthday.”
“Chairman Yoon’s?”
“My brother never brings women to the family estate in Seonam-dong. Not once.”
Even a scoundrel like Sunghoon knew he had to show respect to his parents.
And he knew full well that every woman he dated would be beneath his mother’s standards.
“We’ll see that day.”
Even if Dasom continued her relationship with Sunghoon, there was no way she’d be brought to Chairman Yoon’s birthday.
It was a bet Jinwoo was certain to win.
“All right.”
“Then it’s settled—”
“Have you heard of a novel called Paradise Lost?”
“I don’t like novels.”
“I’ve been enjoying it lately. I even saw news that it’s being made into a drama.”
Dasom began talking about the story as if nothing had happened.
And what was the point of that?
Jinwoo barely listened, cutting her off the way she had done to him.
“Are you changing the subject?”
“No. I was talking about you, Jinwoo-ssi. That’s all.”
“And your point is?”
“That novel—Paradise Lost. I once saw an online post saying you’d be perfect in it. I agree.”
“You’re saying I should audition for the drama?”
“If you’re interested.”
“Ha. As if it’s that easy.”
The price of giving up his position as Cheonmyung’s youngest son had been steep.
He refused to live as his mother’s puppet, and all he had left was his pride.
Her words, he dismissed as the naïve thoughts of someone who didn’t know the industry.
Or maybe she thought the Cheonmyung family could pull strings for him.
Well, strings were pulled—just in the opposite direction.
Before he landed his small part in Chasing My Dream, there had been another drama. They had tried to use his family name as a marketing ploy, only to be threatened: “If you cast Yoon Jinwoo, we’ll pull all sponsorship.”
That was how things worked.
How hard he had fought just for a minor role in a flop with a 1% rating.
“Just think about it. I really do believe you’d be perfect.”
“Fine.”
He gave a half-hearted answer. She was, without question, a strange woman.
Meanwhile, Yoon Sunghoon’s car sped down the road. The sports car, worth hundreds of millions of won, parted traffic like Moses at the Red Sea.
No one dared even brush against it—other cars swerved aside on their own.
Hierarchy existed even on the road.
The backseat and trunk were filled with unopened luxury brand boxes. Sunghoon had charged every purchase under Kang Dasom’s name.
With one day of shopping, she had become a department store VIP.
Not quite an MVIP, but no one doubted she would reach that tier within the year.
And Dasom intended to make sure she did.
“I was such a fool.”
It had been the same in her previous life.
After spending a night together, Sunghoon had dragged her to the department store, complaining that her shabby clothes weren’t good enough.
As the illegitimate daughter of UL Electronics, Dasom had felt burdened by his spending.
In the end, she bought only a small wallet, barely used his card, and faded into the background.
The staff quickly forgot her. What they wanted was not Yoon Sunghoon’s wife who refused to spend—but the woman who swiped his card without hesitation.
After marriage, department store clerks recognized his mistresses more than they recognized her.
Soon, Sunghoon’s car stopped in front of the iron fortress that was the Yoon family’s estate in Hansung-dong.
At once, Madam Sang-an came rushing toward Dasom.
“My goodness, Miss Dasom, what on earth is all this?”
