With an expression and tone she had never seen since meeting him, Ha Jun poured out words she had never thought of before.

“Marriage… with another man…?”

Lee Ha Jun marrying another man? Leaving me?

The moment he imagined Ha Jun happily smiling in another man’s arms, wearing a dazzlingly white wedding dress, Yi Hyun felt his breath catch.

His mood turned utterly foul, beyond control. He didn’t even want to think about it.

“No.”

At the sharp, resolute voice, Ha Jun quietly rose. Sitting with her back to Yi Hyun, who was leaning against the bed headboard, Ha Jun’s eyes were filled with all sorts of gloomy emotions.

After taking a deep breath for a moment, Ha Jun erased the dark emotions and turned to look at Yi Hyun.

“Why not? You’re going to marry another woman too. A good woman your family chooses.”

“…”

For a moment, Yi Hyun couldn’t say anything. The truth was, he had forgotten.

He had already heard about marriage from In Hwa or Il Jun, but he had never thought deeply about it.

To him, marriage was just a formal business that he could take or leave, nothing of greater value.

“It’s okay for Kim Yi Hyun, so why not for me? Because I’m in debt? Because the debt I owe you is my shackle? What exactly do you want from me?”

A trembling voice asked Yi Hyun again. But this time too, Yi Hyun couldn’t easily open his mouth.

Was I such a selfish and bad guy? Why did I think Ha Jun would stay by my side so naturally? What kind of nonsensical confidence is this?

It was astounding.

Looking at Yi Hyun’s expression that seemed to understand everything without saying a word, Ha Jun pressed down on her painfully churning heart.

“I want to live an ordinary life. I want to be happy.”

“…I’ll give you everything.”

“What? A house? A car? Luxury goods? Jewelry?”

“Everything you want.”

“What I want is just to live normally like others.”

“Can’t you do that by my side?”

“Of course not. Because I’m not a woman in a position to be by your side. Don’t tell me you want me to stay like this even after Kim Yi Hyun gets married? Is that what you wanted?”

The end of the resentful voice trembled terribly.

Yi Hyun’s gaze sank deeply.

A life where another woman labeled as wife is by my side, and Lee Ha Jun is hidden in an officetel, only meeting at night like now? Is this really what I want now?

No, it wasn’t. Helping her was just a method to completely tie Lee Ha Jun to his side.

It wasn’t acts done out of sympathy. The most important thing to him was the desire and greed to possess Lee Ha Jun.

So, what happened after achieving that?

Claiming to be a creditor, I visited every day to spend time together at night. And then…

And then…

Ah! That was all. All Yi Hyun had done with Ha Jun was just.

It felt like someone was hitting his head hard with a hammer.

Is this what I wanted? What do I really want from Lee Ha Jun? What am I hoping for?

Is it just a little time spent with this woman, as it has been until now? Is that all I need?

No, that’s not enough.

I want to have meals together, chat about trivial things, see her face smiling brightly.

I want to proudly walk down the street holding Ha Jun’s hand under the bright sunlight.

Yes. I want to… live all my time with this expressionless woman.

Yi Hyun felt the inexplicable irritation that had filled his mind whenever he saw Ha Jun dissipate all at once.

And he was certain.

What I truly want is everything about Lee Ha Jun.

In an instant, only one conclusion emerged from his organized thoughts.

“Then how about as my wife? Is this the ordinary position Lee Ha Jun wants?”

Ha Jun’s mouth fell open. What on earth was this man saying now?

“What do you…? Are you saying you’ll marry me? Even though you don’t love me?”

“No. I love you.”

“…That’s impossible!”

“What is? That I love you is impossible?”

“Yes, it’s impossible. Love… It can’t be that.”

Yi Hyun sat up abruptly and stared directly into Ha Jun’s clear eyes.

“Just looking at you makes me want to hold you so badly, when you’re not in front of me I miss you, I want you all to myself. Just the thought of you looking at another man drives me crazy. How is this not love?”

“…It must be possessiveness or obsession.”

“Those emotions are only possible with love. What madman would be obsessed without love? I know because I’ve experienced it.”

Yi Hyun’s tone was firm. His eyes, filled only with certainty, bound Ha Jun’s entire body like invisible ropes.

Ha Jun felt dizzy. He will soon become another woman’s man.

Having heard the love confession she had longed for so much, she felt like falling into an endless abyss.

She clutched her pounding heart and slowly shook her head.

“I… don’t suit Director Kim Yi Hyun.”

“I’ll decide who is suitable to be by my side.”

“No. The chairman and CEO will surely oppose it.”

“What if I persuade them? Will you be by my side then?”

“…”

Faced with the incredible attack that showed no sign of retreat, Ha Jun finally revealed her own greatest wound.

“I’m a doll, aren’t I?”

“What?”

“A doll that Director Kim plays with out of pity. Isn’t that right?”

At the calm, emotionless words, Yi Hyun bit his lip hard. He clearly remembered saying something like that once.

However, regardless of when or why, he couldn’t deny that those words had come from his own mouth. And that Ha Jun, who had heard them, had been deeply hurt.

“No. That was just…”

Seeing Yi Hyun’s desperate gaze for the first time, Ha Jun’s heart ached. Her eyes stung with sadness.

But Ha Jun couldn’t just accept this situation as it was.

The man who had been childishly expressing only his own desires until now might change his mind at any time. Wasn’t he the man who had treated her like a doll?

Moreover, Yi Hyun is a member of Jaein Group. He belongs to a different world from herself, who has nothing but debt.

Although it was once Yi Hyun’s love that she had longed for even in her dreams, Ha Jun had long since decided to push him out of her heart.

“It doesn’t matter. It’s not wrong anyway.”

“I want you to smile at me, Lee Ha Jun. That’s all I wanted. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I realized my feelings too late.”

Ha Jun could no longer look at him and turned her head away.

Then Yi Hyun embraced Ha Jun’s slender body from behind.

“It was like that from the beginning. I was always conscious of you and wanted to reach out somehow. I’ve been in love with you from the start. Ha Jun…”

I… I loved you too…

Because you were my salvation.

“Wait just a little. I’ll take care of my family. My brother will inherit the company anyway. I’m the son who can live as I want, so it doesn’t matter. Or should I just give up everything? Hm?”

No, I don’t want you to have a hard time because of me.

“I might seem crazy saying I love you suddenly, but believe me. This is the first time in my life I’ve felt such uncontrollable emotions. If it weren’t for you, I probably would have lived my whole life not knowing what this is, what love is.”

Me too. I learned about these feelings for the first time because of you…

“When that bastard Choi Se Ho looked at you that way, it felt like my blood was boiling. I won’t let anyone do that to you again. I’ll protect you. I’ll love you by your side and protect you for a lifetime. Let me do that. Okay?”

The fast, desperate heartbeat felt from behind and Yi Hyun’s voice, tinged with a slight tremor, became a large hand that tightly gripped and squeezed Ha Jun’s heart.

Ha Jun couldn’t say anything.

In the silence, Yi Hyun held Ha Jun endlessly. Then suddenly, he asked Ha Jun in a low, subdued voice.

“Can I… kiss you?”

At the cautious voice seeking permission anew, Ha Jun’s head slowly turned back.

Meeting the trembling eyes filled with desperation, Ha Jun unconsciously moved closer to Yi Hyun.

Ha Jun’s small lips lightly touched Yi Hyun’s.

Although it was the usual kiss, it felt quite different from other days.

Yi Hyun carefully embraced Ha Jun’s lips.

A gentle touch cupped Ha Jun’s chin.

As if caressing her heart, the affectionate kiss continued, and Ha Jun’s body naturally turned to be held in Yi Hyun’s arms.

So this man knew how to treat a woman so gently. It was a fact she learned for the first time after being together for months.

“I love you, Ha Jun. Lee Ha Jun. I love you.”

After acknowledging what he had dismissed as an unknown emotion and deliberately ignored as love, and even confessing it, a wave of intense passion swept through his body, starting from his chest, almost taking his breath away.

It was love. The confusing emotions, the burning thirst he felt whenever he saw Ha Jun, were all love for her.

Yi Hyun’s overwhelming emotions, his uncontrollable joy, were all conveyed to Ha Jun.

“I love you. So stay by my side.”

Hot lips pressed firmly against the soft cheek, as if stamping a seal.

Ha Jun still said nothing. No, she couldn’t.

Her mind was in a pitch-black tangle. She should have said that we can’t, that I can’t be with you. Because that would be the right ending.

But a corner of her heart was still pounding unstoppably for Yi Hyun.

She wanted to keep feeling Yi Hyun’s warmth, his desperate gaze.

“I need time… to think.”

“Alright, I’ll wait.”

Yi Hyun carefully held Ha Jun in his arms. Ha Jun also did not reject such Yi Hyun. Just for this moment, she wanted to feel Yi Hyun without any thoughts.