David's Husband - Chapter 33

Yu Jin returned home and anxiously chewed her lip.

‘So did something happen or not?’

Since they both acted like nothing had happened, there was no way to know what occurred inside the storage room.

She couldn’t show her curiosity either. She had to avoid revealing that she intentionally trapped the two of them in the storage room.

“Ah, I’m really dying of curiosity.”

She fiddled with her phone, thinking about calling Ha Yeon to ask, but gave up and flopped down on the bed.

“Somehow I don’t think I’ll hear anything good.”

She probably wouldn’t get the answer she wanted and would just get scolded instead. Even though she should be grateful. Yu Jin grumbled and then opened the gallery app on her phone.

“So cute!”

Yu Jin squirmed on the bed as she looked at photos taken with Ji Hoo.

His face was completely adorable, but his words and actions were tsundere – this little guy had already shaken Yu Jin’s heart so much that she missed him already.

“Jang Ha Yeon, that lucky girl.”

Yu Jin muttered that, then unconsciously sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

Knowing how much Ha Yeon had struggled after her parents passed away, Yu Jin realized it didn’t quite fit to describe her as “lucky” and her expression hardened.

“All your hardships will be repaid from now on. I’m sure of it.”

For no reason, Yu Jin’s nose stung as she lay on the bed and renewed her determination. She wondered how to help her friend get together with her favorite idol.

[This is the timeline separator]

When Eun Mi didn’t hear anything from I Tae, she called him to her office.

When I Tae arrived, the secretary set down coffee on the table and left. Seeing him, Eun Mi didn’t hide her displeasure and pursed her lips.

“Has Cha I Tae’s popularity run its course?”

Seeing Eun Mi speaking so sarcastically, I Tae also furrowed his brow. He knew he’d only hear this kind of talk if he came, but considering what he’d received so far, he couldn’t not come.

“Our queen, I knew you were impatient, but I didn’t know you were this impatient.”

He smiled slightly and leaned back deeply into the sofa, crossing his legs. His mouth was clearly smiling, but his eyes were sharp, creating a rather strange expression.

“I’m just frustrated that you still haven’t seduced that woman.”

Eun Mi snorted, refusing to show any sign of admitting she was wrong no matter what.

‘If you’re so great, why didn’t you seduce Director Kang Min Je long ago.’

It had been over 5 years since Eun Mi started pursuing Min Je. Yet she didn’t seem tired, refusing to give up and using every method to try to win his heart.

I Tae hid his true thoughts and spoke calmly.

“I’ve already made contact several times and made a bold proposal, so she’ll give in soon.”

“Are you sure?”

Eun Mi gave him a dubious look, scanning his face. She seemed to think he was just spouting pretty words to get out of this situation.

“I offered her the best treatment in the industry and even a solo exhibition – is there any reason she’d refuse?”

“You said that? Well, I suppose it would be hard to refuse that much. You threw out quite strong bait this time, huh?”

Only then did Eun Mi smile, her eyes gleaming with interest.

“To deal with Kang Min Je, you have to be prepared to go that far.”

Seeing I Tae’s gaze sink coldly, Eun Mi burst out laughing.

“Right, right. A man who’s too perfect tends to make a lot of enemies.”

After going along with Eun Mi’s words for a while, I Tae left the office and walked down the corridor, wiping the smile from his face as if it had never been there.

‘Go Eun Mi, don’t delude yourself that you’ll stay in that position forever.’

Grasping high power means it will hurt that much more when you fall. Like a small crack left unattended until a dam finally collapses, her day was not far off.

I Tae exuded a sharp energy as he took out his phone and checked his call log.

It had already been three days since Ha Yeon said she’d contact him again. No contact after three days meant rejection. A woman who wouldn’t move according to his will easily irritated him.

“Nothing’s going my way.”

Damn it, he swept his hair up irritably as he took a step.

[This is the timeline separator]

Ha Yeon was working hard on her painting. Then her gaze met Min Je’s portrait placed beside her.

“Oh geez…”

Ha Yeon’s face flushed and she unconsciously twisted her body like a pretzel before suddenly coming to her senses.

“Focus! I need to focus!”

Ha Yeon slapped her own cheeks with a loud smack and tried to gather her thoughts and concentrate on the painting again. But in less than 5 minutes, her gaze flickered towards Min Je’s portrait.

She didn’t realize her patience was so thin. She gripped the brush tightly again and stared intently at the canvas, but in less than 10 minutes, her gaze moved once more.

“Is the problem me, or this bewitching man?”

Feeling it was utterly impossible, Ha Yeon stood up and went to Min Je’s portrait, turning it to face backwards.

“Huh? Did I just get rejected and turned away?”

Min Je, who was opening the door with a click, witnessed the scene and looked dazed, as if shocked.

“The timing is… impeccable.”

Ha Yeon let out an empty laugh, dumbfounded.

“I know I did something wrong, but I didn’t realize it was to this extent.”

Min Je’s eyebrows quivered, trying to gauge her intentions in turning the painting around. Seeing those eyebrows, Ha Yeon barely managed to hold back her laughter.

“I started it first, so I told you not to worry about it, Director.”

Ahem, Ha Yeon cleared her throat and avoided his eyes, feeling oddly embarrassed. Was it always this awkward to face someone after kissing? Ha Yeon felt shy and walked towards the canvas she had been working on, pretending nothing was wrong.

“Then, shall I start first this time?”

Min Je grabbed Ha Yeon’s wrist as she brushed past him.

Surprised, Ha Yeon looked up at him with round eyes. Just what was this man planning to start? Her pupils shook involuntarily.

The thrilling sensation of the kiss in the storage room seemed to rise like a heat haze from her toes, consuming her.

“T-That doesn’t seem like a good idea. Back then, I mean, I was caught up in the moment…”

Ha Yeon rambled, thinking she had to shake off this temptation somehow.

“The moment? The mood doesn’t seem too bad right now either, does it?”

But this man, whatever he was thinking, answered smoothly and grinned. As if he had come determined to kiss again.

Ha Yeon flinched, startled by the thought she had conjured up.

“Is your taste… a bit, you know? Closed off and unconventional? Something like that?”

Min Je spoke in circles with a smiling face, but the meaning behind it was clear. In short, he was asking if she had perverse tastes!

“No! Of course not!”

“Really?”

When Ha Yeon immediately denied it indignantly, Min Je questioned back, rubbing his chin.

What’s this? Why does he look disappointed? Ha Yeon let out an exasperated breath.

Seeing this reaction, she couldn’t help but think he liked her too. Does he really like me? Was it not just a one-time kiss swept up in the moment?

As Ha Yeon made a complicated expression, Min Je quickly changed his expression as if he had never been disappointed, and spoke enticingly.

“I’m fine with anything. I can accommodate whatever you want.”

What exactly can you accommodate? Ha Yeon’s mouth gaped, unable to ask that outright.

As if reading her inner thoughts, Min Je started explaining smoothly.

“Pure love? Melodrama? Drama? Erotic? Take your pick. Whether it’s all-ages level, 15+ level, or 19+ level, I can accommodate it all.”

Ha Yeon, who almost picked one of those options, barely came to her senses and shook her head.

“Why isn’t there an option to not do any of it?”

This time, Min Je looked flustered. He hadn’t expected Ha Yeon to reject all of these many options.

“There’s not much time left until KIAF. As you can see, I’m extremely busy.”

If he didn’t truly like her, it was right not to start this relationship in the first place. She didn’t want things to become awkward with him. She also didn’t want to miss the chance to exhibit at KIAF that she had seized like a stroke of luck.

Having concluded that, Ha Yeon took advantage of Min Je’s loosened grip to shake off his hand demonstratively and walked to stand in front of the canvas.

The confident man’s eyes suddenly grew gloomy. Ha Yeon’s heart wavered for a moment, but she resolutely picked up her brush.

“I didn’t know you were so serious about KIAF.”

At Min Je’s slightly sulky words, Ha Yeon felt like laughing but tried to answer calmly.

“How could I not be serious about an opportunity I got like this?”

As Ha Yeon spoke as if she had no interest in anything but painting, Min Je wrinkled his nose. He simply couldn’t admit that he was the one who had made her become like this.

Min Je crossed his arms and fell into thought for a moment. How could he seduce her?

Until now, he had never needed to actively seduce anyone. Women had always flocked to him saying they liked him, so he had never felt the need for seduction.

Min Je, who had only found such things annoying, was now intensely feeling the “shoe on the other foot”.

After pondering deeply, he walked behind Ha Yeon and looked down at her painting from behind her back, saying:

“Don’t the colors seem a bit different here and here?”

When he pointed out something about the painting, Ha Yeon narrowed her eyes, wondering what he was up to.

“Yes, yes, I got it.”

An intense reaction was probably what he wanted. She just nodded vaguely and added paint without even looking back.

“Hmm, the color feels a bit off here too?”

This man really…! Ha Yeon suppressed her rising anger and obediently corrected where he had pointed.

“It seemed better before, I think.”

But even patience has its limits. At Min Je’s teasing words, Ha Yeon finally exploded.

“Why are you doing this to me…!”

As she turned her head sharply with her eyes narrowed to ask, their lips met. Ha Yeon froze like a statue and looked up at him, dazed for a moment.

“Let’s go on a date on Saturday. If you say you will, I won’t interfere anymore.”

His eyes curved prettily, filled with seductive energy. Ha Yeon forced her fluttering eyelashes up and murmured.

“A date?”

It was an almost instinctive question to check if she had heard wrong.

“You heard right. A date, yes. You’ll do it, right? If you say no, I’ll keep interfering.”

Why is this man kissing me again and asking me on a date? Ha Yeon looked at the man who kept wedging his way in and breaking down her defenses, feeling a bit resentful.

“It’s okay if I interfere, right?”

He continued with another absurd threat. It seemed to mean he was that desperate, so Ha Yeon found herself nodding without realizing.

She didn’t know anymore. How this relationship would unfold.

The only thought that filled her mind was that if this man was determined to shake her up, she couldn’t stop it.

At her permission, Min Je’s emotions intensified slightly as he looked at her slightly dazed face, and he became troubled as a wave of heat rushed over him.

Her slightly parted lips entered his vision prominently. The urge to devour her lips again rose like a fire.

‘I’ve really gone crazy.’

He ran his hand over his face once, then composed himself as if nothing had happened and said with a smile.

“Good, that’s a good girl.”

Hiding his impure desires, he slowly caressed her cheek as if praising her.

“Well then, I got the answer I wanted, so I won’t interfere and I’ll be going now. Work hard.”

“Okay…”

Ha Yeon kept nodding to hide her flushed face.

Min Je left and the door closed with a click. And once alone, they both let out held breaths at the same time. Their hearts pounded loudly.