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CHAPTER 08
“You once… asked me if I was a woman who could be useful to you, didn’t you?”
Daehyun frowned for a moment, then seemed to recall it and widened his eyes slightly.
His expression—stunned as if he’d just been hit—was so unlike him that it almost looked funny.
“I think our marriage has been useful enough for you so far. And there will still be plenty of ways it can be useful in the future.”
Juhye murmured in a self-deprecating tone, resignation settling into her gaze.
As if displeased by those words, Daehyun’s grip on her arm tightened.
It was a careful, stubborn hold—like he was clutching a cracked piece of porcelain.
“So I guess that’s why you want to maintain the marriage. I understand that much.”
At the word benefit, Daehyun’s gaze turned cold.
“But I can’t take it anymore.”
Juhye muttered, looking as though she didn’t even have the strength to pull her arm away from his grip.
Not realizing that her helplessness only irritated him further.
“I can’t… do this anymore.”
“Then why.”
“You already understood, didn’t you? Stop with the childish argument.”
A brief silence fell.
Instead of letting go of her arm, Daehyun lifted her chin with his fingertips. He studied her eyes closely, then whispered softly.
“You didn’t push me away when I kissed you.”
Juhye’s eyes flew wide open.
Was this man still trying to measure the size of her feelings even now?
“I could tell from that moment. Your heart was beating.”
“Anyone’s heart beats when they’re touched.”
“Do you really have the luxury for jokes right now?”
Daehyun let out a faint laugh. It didn’t fit the situation at all, and to Juhye it sounded like mockery.
Angered, she raised her voice.
“What luxury do I even have ri—!”
Her words scattered into the air mid-sentence.
Daehyun had suddenly closed the distance.
His hand slid around her waist—warm, firm, and unyielding.
“I’m the one… who feels like my head is going to explode.”
His low voice wrapped around her ear. His breath brushed her skin, tickling.
Juhye pushed at his shoulder in panic, but he didn’t budge.
“I said I’d try.”
His hand moved to her back in an instant, pulling down her zipper.
The sharp zzzip echoed loudly, and Juhye’s face went pale.
She struggled desperately to push him away, but the more she resisted, the tighter his hold on her waist became.
“Ngh… stop… let go…”
“It’s Friday, Juhye.”
At those words, her face flushed red.
Friday—the day they had implicitly always spent together.
Daehyun had frequent business trips even on weekends, and Juhye was busy managing the arboretum. So Friday had become the one day they naturally came together.
As if trying to fill the loneliness of the weekends they spent apart.
“This… is your effort?”
Juhye bit her lower lip hard and spat the words out.
They were pressed against the wall now, and if this continued, something she didn’t want would truly happen.
“Forcing yourself on me and calling it effort?”
“Forcing?”
His lips brushed near her eyes. She squeezed her eyes shut reflexively, and something warm traced her eyelashes.
Unlike his rough tone, his touch around her eyes was careful.
Just like all those Fridays they had shared together…
“You really haven’t gotten any better at lying, no matter how much time passes.”
“Stop…”
“You’re making that face just from a single touch.”
What expression was she even making for him to sound so certain?
Juhye trembled, feeling something heavy sink into her chest.
Even without him probing her, she already knew the truth.
Humiliatingly… painfully… she still loved Daehyun.
That realization—that she still longed for his warmth—hurt more than anything.
“A look that makes it hard to believe I’m forcing you.”
His hand slid lower along her waist—and with one motion, pulled the zipper all the way down.
“Ah…!”
Startled, Juhye grabbed his shoulders tightly.
She was trying to cover herself as her dress slipped down to her waist.
Her upper body remained barely covered, her snow-white skin exposed under the light.
Her smooth shoulders, flawless like ivory sculpture, looked almost unreal.
“This dress… it’s my favorite.”
His lips brushed her ear as he whispered slowly.
His breath mixed with his voice, sending a humiliating shiver through her.
“A dress where I can see everything with just a touch of my fingers.”
Juhye flinched, trying to hide her flushed face.
But his hand lifted her chin again, crushing her resistance effortlessly.
“Ngh… ahh…”
A faint sound was swallowed beneath his approaching lips.
His hand moved freely over her shoulder, tracing her skin.
Juhye staggered backward until her back hit the wall with a dull thud.
“You undo the zipper and suddenly become this indecent, Juhye.”
His whisper was far too direct, far too embarrassing.
Shaking, she pushed at his shoulders with all her strength.
Only then did their lips finally part.
“Haa… stop… stop it!”
Daehyun took a step back and wiped his lips with the back of his hand.
There was a small mark where she had bitten him.
But he looked completely unaffected. It was Juhye who turned pale at the sight.
“Friday doesn’t matter to me at all. We… we need to talk about something more important than this.”
“What could be more important than this?”
Daehyun was serious—and she could tell.
Juhye straightened her clothes with shaking hands, not realizing how exposed she still looked, one hand barely covering her chest.
“I didn’t accept your divorce proposal, and I asked for a chance to try. I think that’s a reasonable request.”
“I already told you I’m rejecting it.”
“Then are you planning to tell the Chairman yourself? That you want a divorce from me?”
His fingers gently brushed her cheek again.
When she turned her head away, he stubbornly followed her movement.
“That’s…”
“I heard the doctor’s warning.”
Annoyingly, Daehyun also knew the chairman’s condition.
For Juhye, who wanted to proceed with the divorce as quickly as possible and clear her mind, the situation had become extremely complicated.
Living under the same roof as Seo Daehyun, facing him every morning and night—it would be unbearable.
“Right now… it’s not the time to tell him. I know that.”
Juhye exhaled, trying to organize her chaotic thoughts.
Her logic and her emotions were tearing in different directions.
“But this… this isn’t right.”
Her body betrayed her resistance, reacting too eagerly to his slightest touch.
She hated it. She was ashamed of it.
The pleasure already carved into her body from countless nights with him was impossible to erase.
And Daehyun knew that too. That was why he was doing this—to sway her.
“You said there’s a cooling-off period for divorce.”
She needed to make her stance clearer.
Juhye pushed away his hand and answered coldly.
“Father will recover in about a month. I’ll tell him then, and my decision won’t change. So…”
“What if we have a child before then?”
Daehyun’s calm voice made her eyes tremble.
She staggered slightly, like a deer struck by a hunter’s bullet.
That word—child—something he had never once mentioned during their entire marriage.
“…What did you say?”
A child.
A child!
They had never even discussed it.
It had only been Juhye’s quiet, one-sided hope—that someday they might reach that point, that a child might be born from their feelings.
So hearing it now felt like nothing but betrayal.
“What if we had a child? Do you think that would change your mind?”
Daehyun slowly loosened his tie with his right hand, his voice dropping into a whisper as if ready to close in on her again.
