A Relationship of Convenience - Chapter 48

Nestled in his arms, Da Hae lifted her head to meet his eyes and smiled like a breath.

It was cute how he recited lines like a tragic male lead with such a serious face.

A white hand barely freed from the restrained body cupped Jae Kyung’s cheek.

His pitch-black eyes appealed with desperation, but the small head shook mercilessly.

Changing tactics, the man frowned in dissatisfaction and immediately grumbled.

“I’m going on a business trip. Let’s stay together.”

“I need to prepare. I can’t waste this chance we got by making the team work overtime.”

“It’s greed for money, that.”

Oh my? Round eyes narrowed thinly.

It was absurd that someone who would even resort to a contract marriage for wealth was going on about greed for money.

Regardless, Kang Jae Kyung’s grumbling did not end.

Saying she should do half as much for him as she does obsessing over success, how could she be greedier than him, the CEO.

As classic drama lines followed about giving her anything she wanted, the elevator chimed melodiously to announce its arrival.

“I like working the most. It feels like I’m proving myself.”

She really speaks well. Almost annoyingly so. Light radiated from her confident voice and smiling face.

It was both admirable and pitiful.

It seemed like she was seeking to fill family deficiencies through work. That made him all the more impatient. He wanted to fill whatever deficiencies she had, but didn’t know how.

“I don’t want to lose to work.”

His long eyes lowered gently. Da Hae laughed ticklishly, saying “Oh my.”

“I wish I was what you liked most. But I’m losing to work.”

The shameless man expressed his feelings without hesitation, as if he didn’t even feel embarrassed.

Seeing his increasingly childlike side as days went by gave her an inexplicable sense of achievement.

It even gave her a feeling of superiority that only she knew Kang Jae Kyung’s true colors that others didn’t.

It was all a first experience. So every moment felt unfamiliar.

Doubts about whether we could be eternal were still lodged in a corner of her heart, but these days were a string of happy days enough to forget such concerns.

“You’re not losing. Not at all.”

These days, she even hoped that if this string continued, it might become eternity.

“Because I can’t do this with work.”

Jae Kyung’s smile faded faintly. Because Kye Da Hae lowered her eyelids and pursed her lips.

This harmless woman seemed determined to suck him dry.

The pursed lips, as if asking why he wasn’t coming closer, were soon engulfed by hot breath.

Da Hae stood on tiptoes but still woefully short, so she was pushed back step by step with her heels raised.

The rising mechanical sound was drowned out by wet noises. As they savored the brief moment with hands tangled in each other’s hair.

Ding. The elevator doors opened, and,

“Ack.”

A familiar voice screamed.

“…Holy sh*t.”

The following exclamation was also a well-known voice, so Da Hae flinched and quickly pushed against the man’s chest.

Her face slowly turned to the person outside the elevator and gave an awkward “hehe” laugh.

Wet lips and uneven breathing. Her friend’s husband sending an annoyed look. Se Dong’s eyes squeezed shut in front of a scene he didn’t want to witness.

“I didn’t see anything.”

Oh Se Dong, arms full of recyclable trash, clicked his tongue. And reprimanded them.

Asking if these respected intellectuals really had to do that in such a cramped space at this late hour.

“The elevator is a shared space. Pay more maintenance fees or something.”

Reluctantly stepping into the same space with them, the number panel lit up for the 1st floor recycling area and the underground parking lot.

“Recycling at this hour?”

In the silence. A dull tone revealed uncomfortable feelings.

“At this hour you should either separate or go in together. What are you doing?”

Standing a step ahead, Se Dong retorted without backing down.

“I’ll do it in the morning from now on. Or in the evening.”

“I was going to say it’s none of your business since you’re not even a resident…but I’ll let it slide. Because you’re a super buyer?”

Super buyer? Da Hae, unaware of the hacking issue, tilted her head.

Wondering why Kang Jae Kyung would have Oh Se Dong as a buyer.

Though she didn’t know the full story, it was clear the two had gotten closer.

Just seeing him send her off with Oh Se Dong, calling him brother-in-law and asking to escort her safely was enough to tell.

Getting off on the 1st floor, Da Hae immediately hit Se Dong’s side.

“Spill it. You two met separately, right?”

“Don’t try to uncover men’s secrets. You’ll get hurt.”

Da Hae pressed for an answer while tapping his back with a plastic bottle, but Oh Se Dong just sang along to that rhythm.

The recycling ended without him revealing anything about the two’s story.

Se Dong, who had been observing Da Hae fiddling with her phone so soon after parting, asked bluntly.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes.”

It was good that she was happy, but answering without hesitation was annoying.

Feeling the gaze looking at her unpleasantly, Da Hae put away her phone and got off with Se Dong on his floor.

Ignoring his snarky expression asking why she was following and saying it was very inconvenient, she asked what she was curious about.

“Why don’t you ask?”

“What?”

“The thing I’m thinking and you’re guessing.”

For instance, why they part like this when they have a perfectly good newlywed home, why they were doing that in the elevator when they could just go to either home together, why they act so affectionate while doing unnecessary things as a married couple, and such.

“It’s rude to pretend to know when someone’s hiding it.”

Se Dong lifted his chin, stretching his neck, and scratched his nape as he said nonchalantly.

“While knowing nothing.”

“Your oppa knows much more than you think, sweetie.”

Da Hae harshly brushed off the hand patting her head and headed for the emergency exit, ending with a “go to sleep” greeting.

Watching her retreating figure grow smaller, the unmarried Oh Se Dong laughed, “Hah.”

“Only diligent labor fills the stomach. Love doesn’t feed you. Dr. Oh Se Dong.”

* * *

Sweet Tooth Dental Clinic. Dr. Oh Se Dong’s office.

“They denied the scandal, but I’m his girlfriend.”

A wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses covering half her face. A woman in attire too excessive for a patient visiting the hospital came to see Se Dong.

Even he, who had no interest in celebrities, had seen Yoon Si Ah before. On drink bottles and chicken boxes he often ate, and at bus stops.

She introduced herself as the girlfriend of the second son of the Samyeong Group.

Se Dong showed no reaction even when she said he must be very surprised to face a celebrity like this and learn such a fact.

The second son of the Samyeong family, Kang Pil Seung. Kang Jae Kyung’s half-brother. Kye Da Hae’s young master.

He wasn’t curious at all about what he was supposed to do about her being his girlfriend, or why she came to tell him such things.

He was just displeased that his lunch break was slipping away.

“Eh…”

“Eh?”

Se Dong’s head tilted askew.

His gaze scanning the woman with a stretched philtrum was filled with disbelief. As if asking why such a rich young master would bother dating her.

Si Ah, correctly perceiving his thoughts, said it was absurd and showed her phone. The photo gallery was full of intimate pictures with Kang Pil Seung.

After providing plenty of evidence, she pretended not to care if he still didn’t believe her and asked out of the blue.

“Is there any reason you particularly need to stay in Korea?”

“Because I’m Korean?”

“A doctor without gravity.”

“That’s rich coming from a patient disrupting an appointment.”

As if wondering what kind of person this was, Si Ah blew out air in exasperation and crossed her bony arms over her chest.

Kang Pil Seung, whose inner thoughts were hard to read to begin with, had been very strange lately.

That was the reason she came here today. Because the personal information file she happened to see in his officetel was about this man.

It wasn’t surprising for a chaebol family to have someone do a background check, but Kang Pil Seung’s mood while looking at it was particularly grim.

When she asked who Oh Se Dong was, his gentle voice said:

He’s someone who will die soon, so why bother knowing. At that moment, chills ran down her spine.

Because it didn’t seem like a joke.

She didn’t know what dangerous thing he was planning, but she didn’t want to turn Kang Pil Seung into a criminal.

She didn’t want the “criminal” label attached to her scandal partner.

Oh Se Dong peered at Yoon Si Ah biting her nails and folded his arms over his gown.

“Why are you trying to deport me?”