“How may I help you?”

As Jeho entered the wedding dress shop, the employee guarding the front desk stood up.

“I heard there was a reservation made by KG Group.”

The employee stared at Jeho for a moment, as if enchanted by his voice as attractive as his appearance. Then, quickly regaining composure, she guided Jeho inside.

“Please follow me.”

At the mention of ‘KG Group’, the employee assumed without checking that Jeho was the groom-to-be ‘Kwon Minwoo’. As Jeho followed the employee, Nancy Song passed by with a phone in her hand. She gestured to the employee that it was an important call and headed to the office.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll prepare the attire for you.”

The employee opened the dressing room door, then disappeared with hurried steps.

Jeho stepped inside and wore a puzzled expression. Wedding dresses were strewn about here and there, as if another customer had used the room and left it untidy.

“What’s that?”

As Jeho looked around, he spotted a worn-out dress placed in the center. Among the glamorous wedding dresses, the shabby dress looked almost like a rag close to junk.

“Why is something like this here…?”

As he reached out to touch the dress, there was a click as the changing room door opened, followed by a familiar voice.

“Could you help zip me up?”

Turning around, Jeho saw Yuri standing there. It was surprising enough that she was here, but even more surprising was how she looked in a wedding dress.

She was breathtakingly beautiful. Her eyes, wide with surprise, were pretty, and her slightly parted, glossy lips were so pretty he wanted to bite them. From head to toe, there wasn’t a single part of her that wasn’t lovely.

The deeply cut neckline of the wedding dress accentuated Yuri’s slender neck and skin so fair it was almost transparent. His gaze lingered on her full bosom, then slowly traveled down past her slim waist to the gentle curves below.

Thinking that Minwoo would soon take his place beside Yuri in that wedding dress, Jeho’s fists clenched involuntarily. But he quickly regained his composure and asked in an indifferent voice.

“Are you asking me to help? To zip you up?”

“Yes, please help me.”

As Yuri turned her back, her delicate back appeared before his eyes. She seemed unaware of how seductive that sight was. For a moment, he felt the urge to touch her. What would it feel like to caress her with his palm? Would it be silky smooth, as if melting away? If he brought his lips to her tender skin, would it be unbearably sweet?

If he could do as he pleased, he wanted to pull the dress down rather than zip it up. But that was merely a dangerous impulse.

“If you wish…”

Jeho took a short breath and approached slowly.

“But what brings you here?”

“I came to get fitted for attire on the chairman’s orders.”

Before zipping her up, he brushed her long hair to the side, filling his vision with Yuri’s white nape. Her skin, barely touched by his fingertips, was soft as if it would melt away. Once again, an inexplicable pain pierced his chest.

As Jeho zipped her up, he caught sight of Yuri’s reflection in the mirror. She wore an anxious expression, as if his touch made her uneasy.

Wondering, he grazed her skin ever so slightly with his fingertips. Her cheeks flushed red. Realizing he wasn’t the only one feeling tense, a smile involuntarily rose to his lips. But the smile didn’t last long.

There was a blue bruise on one of Yuri’s arms. It was clearly where Minwoo had roughly grabbed her in his excitement last night. The moment he saw the bruise, Jeho’s hand reached out without thinking.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

As he gently stroked it with his thumb, her body trembled slightly.

“…Ah, no. It just looks that way.”

At those words, a dark shadow fell over Jeho’s face. He couldn’t understand Yuri covering for Minwoo. No, he couldn’t understand her accepting the arranged marriage itself.

Why, just why.

Why, of all people, Kwon Minwoo?

“Let me ask you once more.”

This time, he truly, sincerely wanted to ask her. Jeho leaned close to Yuri’s face and asked in a whisper.

“Do you really have to go through with this marriage?”

Their gazes met heatedly in the mirror.

Do I really have to go through with this marriage?

Yuri hadn’t expected to be asked the same question again. She was just as flustered now as she had been before.

It wasn’t that she was happy about marrying someone she didn’t love. But she believed it was the best choice given her circumstances. However, ever since meeting Jeho again, she had begun to question her decision.

Was this really the only way? The endless question with no answer continued to torment her. And now Jeho’s question shook her strongly once again.

An awkward silence fell…

Yuri slowly opened her mouth.

“Before I answer, let me ask you one thing first.”

Her gaze sparkled coldly as she looked at him.

“Is there any reason why I shouldn’t marry Minwoo?”

“Of course.”

“What is it?”

Yuri raised her eyebrows provocatively.

“Because you don’t love Minwoo. Because right now, you have someone else in your heart.”

I have someone else in my heart?

Did he somehow notice feelings that even I wasn’t aware of?

Yuri suppressed her trembling heart under Jeho’s persistent gaze that seemed to be probing her. Then she remembered that Jeho had overheard her conversation with Hyunkyung.

―Well, whether you marry another man while having a lover or not, it’s none of my business. You’re not my fiancée anymore.

He clearly still misunderstood that she had a hidden lover. But this time too, Yuri didn’t explain herself. She only glared at him with cold eyes.

“And what else?”

Jeho leaned in slightly, bringing his eyes level with hers.

“Well… What else could there be?”

He fell into thought for a moment.

Yuri might not know about Minwoo’s violent nature. Or she might be under the illusion that she could control him sufficiently.

Of course, right now Minwoo was infatuated with Yuri. He was so smitten that he would pluck the stars from the sky for her if she wanted.

But how long would such feelings last?

In elementary school, when Minwoo lost affection for a puppy he had cherished, he began to cruelly abuse it. The abuse continued until Jeho, unable to bear it any longer, took the puppy to his own home, almost snatching it away. Minwoo was always like that. Whether living beings or inanimate objects, as soon as his interest ended, he found pleasure in tormenting and destroying them.

On Chairman Kang’s orders, Minwoo had sessions with a child psychologist, but as far as Jeho knew, it ended inconclusively due to his parents’ complacency.

When he remained silent, Yuri swallowed dryly and spoke quickly.

“If not loving is the reason, I think I’ve already explained. I’m marrying for the right conditions. I believe in conditions more than love.”

Though she answered seriously in her own way, Jeho twisted his lips as if mocking her.

“We’ll see about that soon enough.”

“What do you mean?”

“Hah.”

As Jeho let out a short laugh and was about to continue…

“I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.”

The door opened, and Nancy Song, who had finished her phone call, appeared simultaneously with an employee carrying a men’s suit.

“Everything is ready.”

Nancy Song approached with a bright smile, but stopped in her tracks when she noticed Jeho standing next to Yuri.

“Um, who might you be…?”

“I’m Kwon Jeho. I have an appointment at 7 o’clock today.”

“Ah, yes.”

Seeing Nancy Song’s flustered appearance, Yuri realized that Jeho had entered here due to the employee’s mistake.

Nancy Song politely apologized for the employee mistaking Jeho for Minwoo and guided Jeho to another room. However, even after Jeho disappeared from sight, Yuri couldn’t concentrate at all. In the end, she had to postpone the fitting, saying she would come back another time.

As she came out into the hallway, her gaze was involuntarily drawn to the opposite dressing room where Jeho had entered. For some reason, the door was left open.

Through the open door, she could see Jeho standing in front of the mirror, wearing a suit.

“…Ah.”

An exclamation of admiration involuntarily escaped her lips at his incredibly handsome appearance. To the point where she felt dejected anew that it wasn’t Jeho but Minwoo who would be her groom at the wedding…

Whoa, what am I thinking right now?

The moment she realized her absurd thoughts, Yuri covered her mouth with one hand.

I’m crazy. I must be crazy.

She quickly left the shop and hurried towards the parking lot.

Getting into her car, Yuri cupped her cheeks with both hands and buried her face in the steering wheel.

She thought her emotions would subside once she was away from him…

But the more she tried to shake him from her mind, the more vivid his afterimage became.

Why? She didn’t understand why her heart was pounding so much.

Even if he had been her first love once, it was already in the past…

Yuri couldn’t understand why she was so shaken. It should have been nothing more than a fleeting memory, like a midsummer night’s dream.

Just then, someone knocked on the car window. When she looked up, Jeho was looking down at her from outside the window. She hadn’t realized it, but quite some time had passed since she left the shop.

“Are you alright?”

He asked with a worried face.

Of course, she wasn’t alright. And the reason she wasn’t alright was because of him. But Yuri answered gruffly, trying to steady her cracked voice.

“It’s nothing. I was just making a phone call before leaving.”

Jeho tried to say something, but Yuri quickly started the engine.

“Well then, I’ll be going now.”

After a brief farewell, she immediately drove off. She could have looked at Jeho through the rearview mirror, but she didn’t. Fervently hoping not to see him for a while, she stared straight ahead as if her neck was in a cast.

Though her mouth turned bitter and her chest ached dully, Yuri ignored it and stepped hard on the accelerator.

Just a few more months until the wedding…

She had no luxury to look back on past memories.

After tossing and turning all night without sleep, Yuri woke up earlier than usual and headed to the company. In this mood, she didn’t feel like eating breakfast at all.

As she entered the office, Seonyoung, who had come in early, was sitting there with a haggard face.

“You’re here early?”

“Yes. There’s a lot to prepare…”

The reason for Seonyoung’s early arrival was soon revealed. Director Kim, who had completed all procedures, announced in the morning meeting that Kwon Jeho had become a partner.

“Kwon Jeho as in ‘Jay K’?”

The office atmosphere became animated.

“Why did he choose our company of all places?”

“They say he’s been close with the director for a long time.”

“Still, there must be something more to it, right?”

Instead of joining the conversation, Yuri pretended not to know and focused on her work. She didn’t know why he had chosen ‘Bauhaus’ either, nor how close Jeho and Director Kim were.

“Yuri, do you know anything?”

Jinman, the architect sitting next to her, asked, but Yuri just shook her head.

“He’ll probably just lend his name and not actually come to work, right?”

“Of course.”

“But he might show up occasionally, don’t you think?”

The accurate answer came only when it was time to leave work.

“Anyone up for dinner tonight?”

When Director Kim asked with a big smile, Yuri raised her hand while keeping her eyes fixed on the computer monitor. Though she was tired from lack of sleep, having a drink with colleagues seemed less taxing than going home.

“Great. Everyone’s okay with it then?”

Following Director Kim’s husky voice, murmuring sounds were heard. Exclamations of “Wow! Awesome!” followed one after another. Surprised by the suddenly excited atmosphere, Yuri lifted her head from the monitor.

“…!”

The reason was soon revealed.

The man standing behind Director Kim.

It was because of Kwon Jeho.