Obsessive Marriage - Chapter 5

The current Yu Kwon was not a man unusually sensitive to smells or peculiar, unlike his usual self.

Yes, this must be a dream. There’s no way Cha Yu Kwon would appear before me like this, especially at a time like this.

Da Eun, who had been blinking her eyes slowly, furrowed her brow and said,

“Don’t smile like that.”

Eight years ago, when Yu Kwon, who had always worn a mask in front of her, genuinely smiled just once, that strange moment when the dark surroundings brightened had been cherished in her heart for a long time. Fearing that memory would resurface, Da Eun hastily shook her head.

Unaware of her feelings, Yu Kwon chuckled incredulously.

Suddenly, Da Eun noticed that there was no one else around.

“Why is there no one here?”

“I rented it.”

“I’ve seen chaebols rent movie theaters or amusement parks, but this is the first time I’ve seen one rent a food stall.”

“Don’t you like it?”

“It’s new.”

Da Eun said this and then chuckled to herself.

What a strange dream. I must be really struggling.

Lost in thought, Da Eun murmured with her eyes half-closed,

“Elder brother, you’re really a bad person.”

Yu Kwon, who had been listening quietly, looked surprised.

It was because Da Eun, who had always maintained a distance since they met again, called him ‘elder brother’ like she used to.

“Did you think it was karma? That my marriage fell apart.”

“What?”

“You said it, didn’t you? How dare I get married. It hurt when I got married before you, but you thought it was good that it fell apart, didn’t you? You thought I got what I deserved.”

After experiencing a shocking broken engagement, Da Eun became brave. Affected by both the shock of the broken engagement and the influence of alcohol, Da Eun feared nothing.

So she spoke words she would never have said normally. Even though she knew it was forced, she couldn’t stop.

Perhaps she needed someone to vent her anger on. Once she started pouring it out, it felt somewhat refreshing.

To think that she would say things to Cha Yu Kwon that she couldn’t say to her upset mother, her childish younger brother, or her cousin who called frequently out of concern – it was quite a thing to witness.

“You’re right that I thought it was good that it fell apart.”

Although she hadn’t expected an answer, surprisingly, one came.

Da Eun narrowed her eyes to look at him, shook her head, and then downed the remaining soju in her glass.

As expected, what a wicked mindset.

Yet, she didn’t dislike it. That someone was here with her at this moment, allowing her to fully immerse in her sorrow, whether it was about the broken engagement or the 100 million won.

“You.”

Just as curiosity was about to arise at his low voice, he continued.

“Did you think you could marry another man?”

Da Eun, who had almost dropped her glass, carefully placed it on the table and examined his face. Was he such a mean person to mock someone who was struggling?

Perhaps due to being drunk, she couldn’t read the emotion in his expression. It probably would have been the same even if she wasn’t drunk.

“…What do you mean by that?”

Da Eun asked, squeezing out her voice.

“There’s no way I would let you go so easily. Not after we met again like this.”

Words she would never hear, from a person who would never say them, flowed from his lips.

Da Eun, who had been blinking blankly, closed her slightly parted lips.

It was a statement that could easily be misunderstood.

She was drunk, exhausted, and because of that, the walls she had built up in her heart had crumbled. Enough to be swayed by such words from Cha Yu Kwon.

“Don’t cross the line.”

Yu Kwon was quietly looking at Da Eun with his chin resting on one hand. With a relaxed and arrogant expression.

“What if I do?”

Yu Kwon playfully responded to Da Eun’s whining words.

“I’ll fall apart.”

It was almost a whisper to herself. For a moment, the smile on Yu Kwon’s face disappeared. Da Eun tapped the floor with her foot. This caused the red plastic chair to wobble precariously.

Just as Da Eun was about to fall backward, Yu Kwon stood up and grabbed her shoulders. Her head tilted back completely, bringing her face almost close enough to touch Yu Kwon’s.

Yu Kwon chuckled incredulously.

“I’m curious, how you’ll fall apart.”

His low voice tickled her ear.

Da Eun’s gaze lingered on the red lips that had come close to her nose.

She had stolen a kiss under the influence of alcohol before, hadn’t she?

Da Eun, who had been staring blankly at Yu Kwon, reached out and grabbed his neck, pulling him towards her. Their wet lips met without a gap.

Soon, Yu Kwon pulled his lips away. Da Eun’s eyes opened involuntarily.

What have I just done, should I apologize? Or should I pretend it didn’t happen, she wondered, when Yu Kwon’s lips, glistening with moisture, opened.

“Part your lips. Relax.”

Surprised by the direct expression, Da Eun unconsciously parted her lips. Soon, Yu Kwon kissed her deeply. His hot breath, entering deeply, stirred inside her mouth.

As she tightly closed her eyes, her complicated mind went as dark as if the power had gone out.

[This is the timeline separator]

The next morning at dawn, Da Eun opened her eyes. She pressed her throbbing forehead and got up, searching for her phone first.

“What time is it……”

Da Eun tilted her head at the hoarse voice that came out of her mouth. Why was her voice hoarse?

Ahem, she cleared her throat and was about to leave the bed when she noticed something strange. At this hour, sunlight should be filling the room, but it was pitch dark all around.

She couldn’t remember how she had fallen asleep yesterday. Da Eun carefully got up and slightly opened the blackout curtains. A streak of light brightened the room.

Only then did she realize that until just now, she had been lying next to a man.

As his broad back came into view, Da Eun sat down with a thud.

Song Da Eun, what on earth have you done?

She wondered if she might be dreaming right now.

Da Eun tightly covered her mouth, trying not to make even the slightest sound.

It wasn’t a dream.

Soon, the memories of last night played back like a video. His breath sweeping over her entire body, her own figure desperately clinging to his lips flashed by. Even the lingering pain that felt vivid despite being drunk.

“Open your eyes, Song Da Eun.”

At that moment, a low voice crossed her mind. It was clearly Yu Kwon’s voice. Unlike his gentle lips that coaxed and soothed her, it was passionate.

She seemed to have lost consciousness after he wouldn’t let her go even when she begged with tears. As she recalled up to that point, the nape of her neck became hot.

You’ve gone crazy, Song Da Eun.

Da Eun gathered her clothes, which she didn’t know who had taken off, and went into the bathroom. Afraid that turning on the water would wake Yu Kwon, she barely put on her clothes and left the bedroom.

Her heart was beating wildly. After passing through the long corridor, she picked up her bag that had fallen at the entrance and left Yu Kwon’s house.

Although no one followed her, Da Eun returned home like someone being chased. Fortunately, Geum Suk was sound asleep.

Even after washing with hot water and getting ready to go out, she couldn’t calm down. As the alcohol in her body disappeared, her shame doubled.

I told him not to cross the line, but I crossed it myself. And quite strongly at that.

Da Eun bit her lips hard, which already had dried scabs.

[This is the timeline separator]

After arriving at work, Da Eun kept sighing. There was nothing suitable among the reasons for resignation she was choosing.

She couldn’t exactly say she was quitting because she had unavoidably slept with her boss.

There was also the reason that the only way to repay the debt to her boss was with severance pay, but that too was inappropriate to state.

Of all days, today the secretary team meeting ended earlier than usual, and Yu Kwon came to work earlier than usual. Unlike Da Eun, who seemed to have a few screws loose, Yu Kwon looked impeccable. Annoyingly so.

Da Eun handed Yu Kwon a sheet with the weekly schedule organized for easy viewing and a list of gifts to be sent to business partners.

He glanced at the files briefly and tossed them aside. Then he leaned back in his chair and looked at Da Eun.

How could looking up feel like being looked down upon?

Feeling his piercing gaze, Da Eun exhaled fragmented sighs into the air.

“Did you run away?”

With Yu Kwon’s single sentence, the heart she had been barely holding onto fell with a thud.

“Rather than running away……”

They couldn’t exactly have a friendly breakfast together and part ways, could they? They weren’t lovers.

Da Eun running away was the best choice. It was also a choice for Yu Kwon’s sake.

But she couldn’t say it straightforwardly. In fact, she couldn’t even look at him properly. Because she kept remembering his face looking down at her intensely.

While her lower body was suffering from muscle pain to the point where even walking was difficult, her lower abdomen tingled with a strange feeling.

She hated herself for constantly recalling how those long fingers tapping the table disapprovingly, those lips too red for a man, had tormented her, and how hot his temperature was.

She also hated remembering herself begging to be held deeper with a flushed face. Why didn’t memories come back all at once instead of in pieces, she really wanted to find a mouse hole to hide in.

“Why are you standing so far away?”

“I drank too much yesterday.”

Da Eun used the smell of alcohol as an excuse to keep her distance from Yu Kwon. She felt like he would find out if she got too close. Whatever it was.

“You bit and sucked so much yesterday, and now suddenly.”

“……I did bite and suck, but I would be very grateful if you could watch your language.”

“Let me correct that, it wasn’t me, it was Secretary Song.”

“……”

“Seems like you remember everything.”

“……I don’t remember most of it.”

Yu Kwon looked at Da Eun, who was pretending to be calm, as if she was cute.

“Then shall I make you remember, all of it.”

In response to Da Eun’s confident lie, Yu Kwon replied slyly and loosened his tie while unbuttoning his shirt.

“W-what are you doing? This is clearly a company, doing such embarrassing actions……”

When Da Eun had said that much, Yu Kwon pointed to his own collarbone as if mocking her. More precisely, he was pointing to the kiss mark on his collarbone.

In fact, Da Eun remembered everything. Her own figure kissing that spot multiple times, and all her actions after that.

Even though she had said she wanted to avoid it because it was uncomfortable. Even though she had maintained such boundaries because she didn’t want to get involved personally.

Drunk, she had ended up pouncing on her boss. And that boss didn’t seem to have any intention of letting yesterday’s incident slide.

Da Eun bit her lips again, tasting blood. Yu Kwon, who had been staring at Da Eun’s lips, slightly furrowed his brow.

“Your entire body is covered in marks left by Secretary Song, yet you say you don’t remember?”

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

 

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