“Are you crazy! W-What are you saying?”

This time, it was the flustered Ha Yeon who raised her voice. Yu Jin, who enjoyed teasing the innocent Ha Yeon, giggled.

– Pretending not to know what it means to seduce someone? Next time we meet, this older sister will properly teach you the art of seduction.

Suddenly getting a headache, Ha Yeon pressed her temples while groaning.

“My friend, let’s not talk about such things.”

– Tsk, what if you lose Kang Min Je and regret it later, hitting the ground?

After that, Yu Jin went on about all sorts of worrying things, but Ha Yeon couldn’t focus well.

– Make sure to call me soon. Got it?

“Okay, okay, I got it.”

After hanging up the phone, Ha Yeon sat on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.

‘Seduce that man?’

Just thinking about it made her feel like heat was spreading throughout her body. At the same time, she recalled what happened at the campsite.

Their lips were definitely close enough to touch. Was he really trying to kiss her?

It felt like she kept going back to that moment when his breath seemed about to touch her.

Just as Ha Yeon was about to kiss Min Je in her imagination, she suddenly heard a knock and jumped up, startled.

“Are you in there?”

It was Min Je’s voice. Ha Yeon paced around anxiously a few times, then bit her lip and hurriedly approached the door.

“Yes, I’m here.”

As she opened the door with a click, her heart started racing at the sight of Min Je’s face.

‘If the chance comes, seduce him.’

Yu Jin’s voice seemed to keep replaying in her ear. Why did she have to say such things? Ha Yeon blamed Yu Jin inwardly as she barely managed to open her mouth.

“What is it? Did something happen?”

“I suddenly couldn’t see you. I thought you might not be feeling well.”

Min Je’s gaze examining her complexion was like a burning sunset. That gaze mixed with Yu Jin’s voice, causing indecent thoughts to keep unfolding in her mind.

‘Am I possessed by a lustful demon? Why am I like this?’

Ha Yeon struggled to compose her uncontrollable expression as she spoke.

“N-No way. You know how sturdy I am.”

As Ha Yeon moved busily to prove how lively she was, Min Je’s hand touched her cheek.

With a start, Ha Yeon froze like a broken machine and blankly looked up at him.

“Your face is so red. I thought you might have a fever.”

If you touch me like that, I’ll really have a fever. Ha Yeon couldn’t bring herself to answer that way and just nodded slightly.

Min Je clenched his other hand that wasn’t on her cheek into a fist. Only today did he realize how difficult it was to control his own reason.

The moment he thought about wanting to touch her flushed cheeks, his hand was already moving on its own. Even after realizing this, his hand remained stuck to her cheek as if glued there.

He couldn’t let go of the cheeks that turned even redder at his touch. The desire to cup her face with both hands and taste her ripe lips arose like a flame.

“Do I have… a fever?”

Ha Yeon’s voice trembled as she asked, clearly nervous.

“Yeah, I think you might have a fever.”

What do I know, I’m not even a doctor. Min Je inwardly mocked himself, but still stroked her soft cheek with the back of his hand.

Ha Yeon looked so pretty, even the fine hairs on her face standing up from how nervous she was.

“T-That’s strange. I feel… fine…”

Her fluttering eyelashes and shifting eyes that avoided his gaze kept stimulating his senses.

As she anxiously bit her lip, Min Je couldn’t resist the urge to move his hand to her lips.

“You’ll hurt yourself if you bite so hard.”

At the feeling of his fingers brushing her lips, Ha Yeon nearly collapsed as her legs went weak. It seems the heat is coming from him, not me. Otherwise, how could his fingers on my lips feel this hot?

Min Je gently caressed and released her lip from between her teeth, then chuckled and murmured.

“Good girl.”

At his tone that sounded like he was praising Ji Hoo, Ha Yeon blinked rapidly, not knowing how to react.

“I’ll put Ji Hoo to bed today, so get some rest.”

“Ah, really, I’m fine.”

“If you don’t listen, I might not leave this room until you fall asleep.”

“What? That’s not…”

Ha Yeon resented how helplessly swayed she was by Min Je’s words, but his mischievous tone contrasted with his molten gaze, making her feel breathless.

In this moment, she wished she knew the seduction techniques Yu Jin talked about. Realizing she was suddenly agreeing with Yu Jin’s words, Ha Yeon startled and took a step back from Min Je.

“Th-Thank you. I’ll go rest then.”

“Oh… alright.”

As Ha Yeon hurriedly closed the door and hid behind it, Min Je glared at the innocent door.

He knew the problem was himself for not restraining himself and startling her, but he didn’t want to admit it. This was already barely holding back.

Whew, Min Je let out a long sigh, then rubbed his dry face before reluctantly walking away with lingering steps.

Lee Tae had never met someone he couldn’t have his way with in his life. Perhaps that’s why his first meeting with Ha Yeon was so deeply etched in his mind, refusing to fade.

‘What? She rejected me because of Kang Min Je’s son?’

The more he thought about it, the more unbelievable it seemed. That damn Kang Min Je, Kang Min Je! Unable to contain his anger, he slammed his fist on the desk.

Kang Min Je was like an obstacle that had intruded into his smooth-sailing life. No, Lee Tae thought of him as an impurity that must be eliminated.

After all, he was the one who had instantly relegated him to a supporting role in a life where he had always been the center of attention wherever he went.

Now, just hearing the name Kang Min Je was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach. Even when the arrogant Go Eun Mi, who lived off her own conceit, had fawned over Kang Min Je, he hadn’t felt this disgusted, but this time it left a particularly bad taste in his mouth.

He had thought that this time he would finally see Kang Min Je’s crumpled face, but things didn’t go according to his plan.

He couldn’t believe that a woman who was decent-looking but had nothing to her name and nothing to boast about could make him feel this way.

‘Damn it, I need to be able to approach her to do anything.’

He let out a bitter laugh and a sigh. Ha Yeon rarely went out alone. In other words, it meant he wasn’t even given a chance to try anything.

Perhaps that’s why Lee Tae was plagued by complex emotions whenever he thought of her. A twisted mix of jealousy towards Kang Min Je and distorted interest in Ha Yeon made him increasingly anxious as days went by.

Just then, a text message arrived on his phone.

‘Target outing: Destination City Art Museum.’

He had hired someone to report when Ha Yeon went out, so as not to miss any opportunities.

‘Finally, a chance has come.’

His lips twisted into a sinister smile.

Ha Yeon had a habit of burying herself in art museums when she had worries. After losing sleep because of Min Je, she decided to go to the art museum as a drastic measure.

Quietly contemplating while looking at artworks in the vast space helps her forget complicated thoughts. So after sending Ji Hoo to kindergarten, she headed to the city art museum.

“Ah, I feel like I can breathe now.”

As she entered the museum lobby, Ha Yeon took a deep breath, feeling as if her airways had finally cleared in the museum’s uniquely grand and aesthetic atmosphere.

As it happened, there was an exhibition by a French installation artist. Ha Yeon slowly toured the exhibition.

Most of the works in this exhibition used glass, so there was a notice to view the works from 30cm away to prevent injury in case of breakage.

Ha Yeon stopped in front of a painting of roses on a platinum-leafed canvas. The roses in this painting symbolized passion and power, while also signifying love and fate stronger than death.

Ha Yeon’s gaze deepened as she looked at the work. Is there really love and fate stronger than death? The thought suddenly occurred to her that perhaps she had been caught up in such a whirlpool of fate.

“Phew, why is it so hot in here? Don’t they turn on the air conditioning?”

As her face flushed hot at the thought of Min Je, Ha Yeon blamed the air conditioning and fanned herself with the pamphlet.

She had thought coming to the museum would keep her from thinking about Min Je, but that wasn’t the case, which was quite troublesome. As if determined to associate everything she saw with Kang Min Je, her thoughts kept racing towards him.

It was the first time her thoughts had become more complicated after coming to the museum, so Ha Yeon let out a long sigh before continuing on.

As she admired the sensual glass works and glass bricks that transmitted light, Ha Yeon soon stopped in front of a work made by connecting glass beads into a knot shape.

“Wow, how did this artist know my heart to make something like this?”

The intricately tangled glass bead knot seemed to represent her own heart. After all, her feelings for Min Je were tangled up like a knot she didn’t know how to begin untying.

As Ha Yeon was muttering to herself like that, someone spoke to her.

“We meet again here.”

Ha Yeon turned around in surprise. The person who had spoken to her was the man she had met before at Min Je’s gallery.

“Ah, you’re that…”

He had introduced himself and said his name before, but perhaps because she hadn’t paid attention, she couldn’t remember his name no matter how hard she tried. So when she inadvertently stammered, he spoke with a hint of disappointment.

“I’m Cha I Tae. I remember Jang Ha Yeon’s name, but you don’t remember mine.”

“I’m sorry, I’m not good at remembering other people’s names.”

At her words, spoken with an innocent face that showed no ill will, Lee Tae’s eyebrows twitched momentarily. Not remembering his name was proof that she hadn’t paid him much attention.

Lee Tae, who had never been treated that way anywhere, felt his pride wounded, but he forced a smile and packaged himself as a polite gentleman as he spoke.

“You said you’d make time for me if we met again, don’t you remember that either?”

Was there such a thing? Unable to answer, Ha Yeon just rolled her eyes, and Lee Tae laughed bitterly in disbelief. He had never felt his presence so insignificant in his life.

“Are you planning to reject me again today on the grounds that you don’t remember?”

Ha Yeon flinched at Lee Tae’s words.

So it really happened. Lee Tae smirked as he saw right through Ha Yeon’s thoughts. While thinking ‘what kind of woman is this’, he couldn’t help but laugh at her honest reaction.

“Ah, no. I think a cup of tea would be fine.”

Ha Yeon answered that way, feeling it would be impolite to keep refusing. It also felt wrong to coldly say no to someone who said he recognized her work and knew her name.

“That’s a relief. I was worried I might get rejected again today.”

Lee Tae smiled broadly, his eyes crinkling as if he was truly relieved.