The Grand Temptation (Completed Main Story) - Chapter 9

“Soon you’ll be my woman.”

A faint, almost imperceptible smile played at the corner of Jae Ho’s lips as he murmured, almost like a whisper.

“…Of course, it won’t be easy.”

Though the words weren’t meant for her, Yuli tensed for a moment and took a short, sharp breath.

Just then, the phone on the table rang.

“Excuse me a moment.”

Jae Ho checked the caller ID, picked up the phone, and stood from his seat. As he stepped outside to take the call, Min Woo immediately turned to Yuli, as if he’d been waiting.

“But why were you with Hyung?”

“I ran into him on my way home from work.”

“You just ‘ran into him’?”

Min Woo wore a skeptical expression.

Now that he thought about it, it did seem strange. Was it really just coincidence that he’d become an investor in “Bauhaus,” just happened to show up at the office at the exact time she was leaving work, and just happened not to have eaten dinner yet?

“Still, you didn’t have to eat alone together.”

“Hyun Kyung was with us too. She had to leave early because something came up.”

She left out the part about how Hyun Kyung had tactfully excused herself to give them some private time with Yuli’s first love. Only Hyun Kyung knew that Jae Ho had been that first love.

“I owed him dinner anyway—he got hurt helping me. Could you just stay put?”

“You should’ve told me first. I could’ve arranged something separately…”

“Didn’t I say yesterday I had something to talk about? You were the one who pushed it off, saying you were busy.”

It was true, so Min Woo couldn’t argue further. Fearing the conversation might escalate into a raised voice, he bit the tip of his tongue.

He always acted like a gentle lamb in frontow Yuli—but if his mask slipped even slightly, it would be a disaster. Trying to calm his boiling frustration, Min Woo poured the last of the alcohol into his glass.

“No.”

But before he could take even a sip, Yuli snatched the glass away.

“You have to drive—don’t drink.”

Had it been anyone else, he might have snapped in anger—but it was Yuli. Instead of shouting, Min Woo quietly set the glass back down.

But his leniency ended there. Everything would change once they were married. Yuli might dream of a picture-perfect couple, but he was certain that would never happen.

Heh, once they lived together, there’d be plenty of opportunities.

Pretending to sip water, Min Woo stole glances at Yuli from the corner of his eye. She usually avoided showing any sign of intoxication in public for the sake of appearances—but today, for some reason, she seemed a little more unguarded.

It wouldn’t matter even if she got a bit more drunk. In fact, he hoped she would.

The redder Yuli’s cheeks became, the more Min Woo’s lips curled upward as he watched.

[He said he’d be back within an hour, but he’s still not here…]

Woo Gyeol’s voice drifted through the phone.

“I’m sorry—it turned out this way unexpectedly.”

Jae Ho replied while gazing at the restaurant building. Through the noisy interior, he spotted Yuli and Min Woo seated by the window. His brow furrowed as he saw Yuli snatch the glass from Min Woo.

Their relationship was hard to define—close yet not quite intimate—but one thing was clear: they were comfortable with each other. After all, ten years of shared history wasn’t a short time.

[Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.]

Jae Ho snapped out of his thoughts at Woo Gyeol’s words.

“No, don’t. Just take a taxi.”

After ending the call, Jae Ho leaned his back against a streetlamp and looked up.

Was it the glare of the dazzling city lights? Not a single star was visible in the night sky—just like truth hidden beneath a glittering lie… Would the night sky in Malawi be different?

—I still remember the night sky we saw together back then. Wow, the stars in that black sky sparkled like diamonds…

“Heh.”

Jae Ho smiled bitterly, recalling Min Woo’s earlier words. If they’d known each other for over ten years, surely they’d shared even deeper memories than that…

Yuli was the perfect bait to manipulate Min Woo. If he could steal her heart, getting what he wanted would be easy.

Yet, for some reason, his mood felt unbearably heavy. His mind was tangled, and Yuli’s face—staring fixedly at him—kept flashing before his eyes. Was it her eyes, filled with untold stories? He just couldn’t shake her image away.

“Ugh, I don’t like how this feels.”

Muttering dryly, Jae Ho turned and walked back toward the restaurant.

By the time they finished dinner, it was already well past 10 p.m. Yuli was surprised when the manager informed her Jae Ho had already settled the bill—apparently while he’d stepped out briefly to take that call.

“Why did you pay already? I was going to.”

“No, it’s fine—you barely touched your food.”

“But…”

Before she could finish, Min Woo cut in abruptly.

“Yeah, whoever eats more pays. Take care, Hyung.”

Min Woo wrapped an arm around Yuli’s shoulders and turned her away from Jae Ho. It bordered on rudeness, but Jae Ho didn’t seem to care.

“Let’s go—I’ll drive you home.”

Min Woo tightened his grip around her possessively, as if making a show of it.

“Ah!”

Yuli winced sharply and halted mid-step—the spot Min Woo had grabbed earlier throbbed with pain.

Min Woo looked at her, puzzled, just as his phone began to ring. Seeing the caller ID, his expression turned panicked; he quickly released Yuli and pressed the answer button.

“Yes, Grandfather.”

[What on earth are you doing?!]

Chairman Kwon’s angry voice boomed through the receiver the moment the call connected.

[You, a senior executive, leave your juniors to handle everything and go home early?]

It seemed the Chairman had personally come by after hearing reports that Min Woo had been pulling all-nighters again for incident management—and found his post empty.

“I haven’t gone home—I just stepped out briefly for dinner.”

Min Woo scrambled for an excuse, but Chairman Kwon’s rage wasn’t easily quelled.

[Get back to the office immediately!]

“Grandfather, Jae Ho Hyung is here with me too. Remember yesterday, at the mall, when Yuli almost got hurt? He saved her, so we just came out quickly to have a meal together.”

Min Woo lied effortlessly, his expression completely unchanged. Maybe dragging Jae Ho into this would ease the Chairman’s anger… He hoped so.

[Did you say Jae Ho is with you?]

Fortunately, it seemed his guess was right—the Chairman’s tone softened slightly.

“Yes, Grandfather. I’ll take Yuli home first, then head straight back to the office.”

[Have Jae Ho drive Yuli home. You come back to the office right now.]

Having delivered his orders, Chairman Kwon abruptly hung up.

“Does that old man ever sleep?”

Muttering under his breath, Min Woo instantly regretted mentioning Jae Ho’s presence. Had he just made things worse?

At that moment, Jae Ho’s voice came from behind.

“I gave you thirty minutes—but Chairman Kwon won’t give you more than ten.”

Damn it! Annoying as it was—it was true.

“Yuli, I’d better go first.”

Min Woo finished his hurried goodbye and dashed straight toward the parking lot. Once he disappeared from view, Yuli turned back to Jae Ho.

“You don’t need to drive me. I’ll just call a designated driver.”

“If you’re calling one, I might as well drive you myself.”

“No, really, there’s no need.”

“We’re going the same way anyway.”

Since Chairman Kwon had explicitly told Jae Ho to take her home, there was no real reason to refuse. Honestly, she’d even wanted a brief moment alone with him—there was something she needed to ask him carefully…

But their earlier argument during dinner kept her tongue tied. Now she regretted overreacting to something so trivial.

“I was too flustered that day to notice properly…”

Only when they were nearly at her house did Yuli finally speak up.

“You weren’t wearing your jacket when the accident happened, right?”

The wound had been deep enough to require stitches, yet the jacket only had bloodstains—no rips. That meant he must have put it on after getting hurt. In the shock of the moment, she hadn’t realized—but looking back, he’d clearly been holding it in his hand at first. The dark color probably masked the bloodstains better than his white shirt did.

“Did you put on your jacket just to hide the injury?”

Jae Ho kept his eyes off her and gave a brief nod.

“Why?”

If she’d known he was hurt, she wouldn’t have just stood there dazed and helpless. She would’ve pulled herself together and at least tried not to be a burden.

“…I didn’t want you to cry.”

After a moment of silence, Jae Ho finally spoke slowly.

Didn’t want you to cry?

At those words, Yuli’s heart began pounding wildly. Her wine-flushed cheeks blazed even hotter, and she pressed the back of her hand firmly against them.

Get a grip, Chae Yul Ri! Weak just from a few glasses of wine?

Ten years ago, she’d burst into tears at the sight of Jae Ho’s injury—he must’ve thought she’d cry again this time.

It was probably nothing deep. He likely just didn’t want the awkwardness of her crying in that situation.

Yuli took a long, steadying breath to calm her racing heart.

When they finally reached her house, Jae Ho pulled over and turned off the engine.

“Rest well, then.”

“Wait a moment.”

As Jae Ho reached for the door handle, Yuli quickly stopped him.

“Just take the car with you for now, and bring it tomorrow when you come to see Manager Kim.”

He looked at her as if checking her sincerity, then silently nodded.

“Alright. I’ll do that.”

“Thank you for the ride. Please be careful going home.”

Yuli grabbed the door handle to say goodbye—but this time, Jae Ho stopped her.

“If you’re really grateful, will you do me one favor?”

“A favor?”

“Take off your jacket—just for a moment.”

“What?”

“Just for a second.”

As Yuli removed her jacket with a puzzled look, Jae Ho’s expression slowly twisted.

“That bastard Min Woo—I knew he’d do something like this.”

Yuli followed his gaze and looked down. Beneath her short sleeves, her arm was visibly red and swollen—the exact spot Min Woo had gripped tightly earlier.

“He didn’t know—he just didn’t realize. My skin’s sensitive; I bruise easily.”

She hurried to explain, but Jae Ho’s face remained stern.

“He’s known you for over ten years—and you’re telling me he didn’t know you bruise easily?”

His voice sharpened with anger, and the veins on his hands stood out as he clenched the steering wheel.

Yuli had almost said, “You don’t need to get this upset,” but instead bit her lip and stayed silent. It actually didn’t feel entirely bad—someone worrying about her like this.

“I thought you’d cry from the pain…”

After a pause, Jae Ho spoke again, his voice low and calm.

“But even after this, you didn’t cry. Should I praise you for that?”

“No.”

She sounded louder than she meant to—feeling unfairly labeled a crybaby.

“I hardly ever cry these days.”

“Is that so?”

His flat, dry tone carried a hint of disbelief, so Yuli quickly added,

“Yes. I’m not the same as I was ten years ago. Back then, I was young—I didn’t know anything.”

She didn’t know anything back then, so she got moved by trivial things, her heart raced, and she gave everything meaning.

But everything changed after she discovered her stepmother and father’s hidden affair, and learned that Yoo Ri was her half-sister.

All of it happened less than a month after Jae Ho left for the U.S.

He couldn’t possibly imagine how deeply that betrayal by her own family had wounded her. Her endless tears eventually dried up, and her once-soft emotions hardened into something unyielding.

Compared to emotional pain, physical pain was nothing.

As memories of that painful day returned, her eyes flickered uneasily.

Just then, Jae Ho reached out and cupped her cheek.

Yuli flinched and jerked backward—but the car was too small to escape. Her back met the cold glass window.

“Oh? You said you wouldn’t cry…”

He whispered softly, gazing into her eyes.

“…!”

Only then did Yuli realize tears were welling in her eyes. As if betraying her, a single tear slipped down her cheek.

Jae Ho frowned, watching her bite her lips in embarrassment.

“Ten years ago… and now…”

He murmured to himself in a low voice.

“You haven’t changed a bit.”

For some reason, her tears—then and now—irritated him deeply.

Gently brushing away the tear with his thumb, Jae Ho leaned closer toward her.