The Grand Temptation - Chapter 27

You can’t see from the outside!

Yuri stared at the living room wall made entirely of glass with bewildered eyes. Minwoo was on the phone just a few steps away. If she just turned her head slightly, she would clearly be able to see both of them. As if knowing why Yuri was anxious, Jeho spoke again.

“It’s special glass.”

It meant that while you could see clearly outside from inside, the light was reflected from outside so you couldn’t see inside. Moreover, the garden was now brightly lit like daytime, making the interior even darker than outside. Then the transparent glass wall occupying the entire living room would look like one giant mirror from the outside.

“Are you cold?”

Bending down to rest his chin on Yuri’s head, Jeho asked softly.

“Should I turn on the heater?”

As he tightened his embracing hands, their bodies pressed even closer together. Feeling his firm chest against her back, Yuri unconsciously squeezed her eyes shut. Her heart felt like it was dropping with a thud.

This is crazy. Minwoo was right in front on the other side of the glass wall. If she was in her right mind, she should push away Jeho’s hands right now. But she couldn’t push them away. His warm embrace felt so cozy and comfortable. She couldn’t believe this was the same man who wouldn’t even make eye contact with her just moments ago.

But Yuri soon changed her mind. It wasn’t right for her to act this way when she had warned Minwoo to behave properly.

“No, I’m not cold.”

Placing her hand on top of his, Yuri loosened the large hands embracing her. Jeho let go obediently and leaned his left shoulder against the glass wall at an angle. As Yuri turned around, he met her gaze and gently curved his eyes.

How can a man’s smile be so pretty? she thought. But she couldn’t just stand there admiring his beautiful smile.

“More importantly, how’s your shoulder wound?”

As Yuri tried to casually change the subject, Jeho laughed with a “pff” sound. But he answered her question compliantly.

“Well, it’s so-so.”

He nodded lightly and leaned towards Yuri. As the distance closed until she could feel his breath, a subtle scent wafted to her nose. Feeling the appropriately mixed citrus and musk scent, Yuri clenched her hands.

“Can you already drive?”

Instead of stepping back, Yuri stared straight into his eyes as if challenging him. Though she was attracted, she didn’t want to be the weak one in front of him.

“It’s uncomfortable having to borrow other people’s cars.”

Was it her imagination? The way he looked at her seemed so affectionate. Why did he suddenly change his attitude when he was so cold just moments ago? Was it because Minwoo was away?

Yuri turned her gaze to the garden. Minwoo was still on the phone with his back turned. The call seemed to be taking longer than expected.

“We should tour the house together when Minwoo returns. I’ll just wait here.”

“My, are you trying to roleplay as the dutiful bride-to-be?”

It was clearly mockery, but Yuri didn’t retort. When there was no reaction, Jeho’s lips curved into a gentle smile.

“…Hmm, this is different from when you boldly came into the house and told me to take off my clothes.”

Her face instantly flushed red, but this time too, Yuri bit her lip silently instead of arguing back. His words weren’t entirely wrong after all.

Finding her restraint amusing, Jeho chuckled lightly and tapped Yuri’s bitten lip with his fingertip. A tingling sensation spread across her lips as if electrified, and Yuri’s eyes widened. Jeho laughed briefly again, seeming pleased with her reaction.

“Whew, my. Do you know what kind of eyes you’re looking at me with right now?”

Jeho leaned his head closer to Yuri. Thanks to that, their eye levels became equal. His deep, dark eyes gazed at her as if they would suck her in. The man’s neat lips moved slowly.

“I really don’t understand. Why are you trying to marry someone like Minwoo? Because he’s a third-generation chaebol?”

He twisted his lips and shook his head lightly.

“No, that can’t be it. What would the daughter of Assemblyman Chae Hyungsik, who’s even mentioned as a potential presidential candidate, lack? Right?”

“If you’re asking whether I absolutely have to go through with this marriage…”

Jeho always asked Yuri the same question. Her answer was always the same each time. It would be the same this time too.

“No.”

Jeho frowned and straightened up from the wall he was leaning on.

“I’m not asking you right now.”

“…If you’re not asking, then what exactly-”

Before she could finish speaking, he placed his hands on the wall on either side of Yuri, trapping her in his arms. Suddenly enclosed by his firm arms, Yuri stiffened with a surprised expression. Her neatly styled hair fell forward as if expressing her state.

– What do you mean you’re changing the plan?

The image of Woo Gyeol looking at him with a shocked face last night flashed through Jeho’s mind.

“You’re not just trying to interfere with the wedding, but prevent the ceremony from happening at all?”

Woo Gyeol’s expression said he absolutely couldn’t understand.

“No matter how I think about it, it’s not Minwoo.”

“What do you mean it’s not Minwoo? Why do you suspect someone else behind the car accident?”

“No, that’s not what I meant…”

When Woo Gyeol misunderstood his words, Jeho quickly shook his head.

“Even if it’s a political marriage, I can’t let her marry a man like Minwoo.”

“What?”

Woo Gyeol frowned, trying to figure out who the omitted subject in the sentence was.

“Are you… worried about Yuri?”

“Yes.”

“Why so suddenly?”

“I don’t know either.”

He wasn’t avoiding the answer – he truly didn’t know. But one thing was clear. He couldn’t just stand by and watch her become unhappy when it was so obvious. Just recalling her tear-stained face and lips bitten to keep from trembling made acidic bile rise in his throat.

Wasn’t that reason enough?

Emerging from his reminiscence, Jeho smiled gently and tucked Yuri’s hair behind her ear with his fingertip. Then he whispered:

“Don’t go through with this marriage.”

When Yuri blinked as if she hadn’t heard properly, Jeho repeated, emphasizing each word:

“I said, don’t get married.”

“What right do you have to say that?”

Unfortunately, the conversation ended there. Minwoo had turned around after finishing his call, and soon the sliding door opened. Jeho stepped back very naturally. But Yuri couldn’t. She glanced at Minwoo nervously, then turned her gaze back to Jeho. His expression had already become impassive.

“Sorry, the call took a while.”

Minwoo’s expression was very stiff, as if the contents of the call hadn’t been good.

“It’s fine. I think we’re done with the first floor, let’s go upstairs.”

Jeho spoke curtly and headed for the stairs connecting to the second floor. As she was about to follow him to the stairs, Minwoo wrapped one arm around Yuri’s waist as if it were natural. Yuri, whose whole body suddenly bristled, reflexively slapped away Minwoo’s hand.

“Ah.”

Minwoo let out a short exclamation of surprise.

“Sorry.”

Yuri apologized with an embarrassed face to Minwoo, who was staring at her in shock. Yuri was just as surprised by her own reaction. She didn’t know why. The moment she felt Minwoo’s touch on her waist, it was unbearable. Even though Jeho’s hands had been there just moments ago…

“It’s a bit hot in here.”

Yuri fanned herself with her hand and turned away from Minwoo. For a moment, her eyes met Jeho’s, who was looking down from the top of the stairs. A faint smile seemed to appear on the man’s neat lips, but she couldn’t confirm as he immediately turned his back.

Honestly, after that, she couldn’t remember clearly in what state of mind she toured the house. Throughout the tour, Jeho’s words kept echoing in Yuri’s mind.

– Don’t go through with this marriage.

It felt different from when he used to ask teasingly if she really had to get married. This time, there was a determination to prevent the marriage by any means.

After touring the entire mansion, Jeho asked them to organize and let him know which parts they liked, saying he would reference it for the design.

After parting with Jeho, Minwoo drove Yuri home. Until they arrived at her house, the two maintained silence without much conversation. Both of their minds were full of other thoughts.

“Ha!”

It was when she was about to go to bed that Yuri realized her necklace was missing. Sitting on the bed, as she was absentmindedly massaging her nape, Yuri felt that her neck was empty. The familiar sensation that should have been felt by her palm was not there. Yuri jumped up from the bed and approached the mirror on the dressing table.

The bare neck without the necklace was reflected in the mirror. Yuri sat down in place, cupping her neck with both hands. Where on earth did she lose it?

It was her mother’s one and only precious keepsake. She couldn’t give up so easily. As she carefully retraced her memories, she recalled her reflection in the glass window. Even then, the necklace had been hanging neatly around her neck.

“Ah, that’s right.”

Remembering another scene, Yuri got up and picked up the phone on the dressing table. There was a photo she had taken in front of an interior decoration she liked. It was a photo taken with her upper body visible to gauge the actual size. Yuri quickly zoomed in on the screen with her fingertip.

“It’s gone!”

In the photo, the necklace was not visible on her neck. Then she must have dropped the necklace somewhere in that house, or in the garden.

What should I do?

Yuri bit her lip hard with a troubled expression.

After dropping off Yuri, Minwoo was heading home but changed his mind and turned the steering wheel towards Shin Daeri’s house. His mind was too complicated, he needed someone by his side. He didn’t want to fall asleep alone feeling like this.

“Ah, shit. Because of that bastard.”

Recalling the phone call with President Park of Moa Development Industry, curses spilled from Minwoo’s mouth. How dare a gangster speak so loudly… He couldn’t stand how unpleasant it was. You’re supposed to use ignorant ones moderately and discard them right away, but it was a mistake not to cut ties in time and let it drag on.

Moa Development Industry took care of everything from demolition, handling all the work that KG Construction avoided. At first, they were grateful even when thrown a few coins, but as they gradually got full and grew in size, they started eyeing things beyond their means.

A loan shark gang wants to be reborn as a respectable company? Then at some point, they started pressuring Minwoo in various ways. Instead of money in exchange for doing dirty work, they wanted shares in KG Construction. They also wanted to open a high-end spa salon on the top floor of Arcadia Mall.

At the time, Minwoo, who urgently needed help, verbally promised President Park without even Director Kwon, his father, knowing. However, as he kept postponing the promise day after day, they seemed to get anxious and started contacting him annoyingly frequently lately. Then today, President Park finally called directly.

“Anyway, that bastard, he’s quick-witted.”

Unless he’s gone mad, there’s no way he’d hand over the top floor of Arcadia Mall to gangsters. After persuading with appropriate excuses, it would be enough to arrange a place at one of the provincial resorts.

He believes that once Chairman Kwon steps down and he takes the chairman’s seat, bypassing his father, there will no longer be a need to associate with such vulgar ones.

Minwoo let out a sardonic laugh and stepped hard on the accelerator.

All day Sunday, Yuri was torn over whether to contact Jeho or not. She couldn’t just lose her mother’s only keepsake like this, but she also couldn’t boldly contact Jeho and insist on going to the mansion. Then she realized that even if she wanted to contact him, she still didn’t have his phone number.

In the end, Yuri had no choice but to wait until Monday. But even after arriving at the company, she couldn’t easily approach him. It was only after lunchtime that she approached Jeho.

“I’m sorry, but could we go back to the house we visited on Saturday?”

“Why, is there something else you want to see?”

“Well…”

“I’ll only have time after work, is it okay even if it’s late at night?”

“Yes.”

It would be difficult to find the necklace when it gets dark, but this was not a situation to be picky.

“Ah, and…”

Jeho called out to Yuri as she was about to return to her seat. When she turned around, he had a playful smile on his lips.

“We’re going just the two of us.”

He whispered seductively in a sweet voice.

“Without Minwoo.”