“Are you a dance major by any chance?”

The attendant who was helping her dress asked, admiring.

“No.”

“I’ve never seen anyone with such a frame other than dancers.”

Eun Chae gave a light smile towards the employee through the fulllength mirror. This employee was quite good at flattery. It was why she had a good reputation.

In reality, Eun Chae, who couldn’t even feel an iota of interest in this wedding, was fascinated by her own appearance in the wedding dress. She had worn dresses when attending parties or events with Chairman Song Myung Hwan, but it was markedly different.

Eun Chae curiously looked at herself in the fulllength mirror. Then suddenly, the dizziness of getting married pressed against her solar plexus.

She had thought she would eventually do it, but she couldn’t even imagine it would be like this.

“With a tiara on your head, it will really suit you.”

The employee said fussily. At her words, Eun Chae smiled bitterly.

“I think you will like it.”

The employee added just before she drew the curtain. Probably referring to the prospective groom, Seung Yoon, but Eun Chae greeted her words with cynicism.

As expected.

As the curtain was drawn back, Han Seung Yoon was absorbed in a game on his phone. It just happened to be a moment when he was spouting lowclass curses, whether things were not going his way. Consequently, the employee, wrapped in embarrassment, looked at her first.

Eun Chae, on the other hand, had an unsurprised expression. Seung Yoon, alternating glances between her in the dress and his phone, spat out an insincere review.

“Oh, it’s nice. I like it, how about you, Eun Chae?”

While tacky bead decorations wrapped around her entire body. And he thought it was okay.

Eun Chae turned her body with an expression that said it was too bothersome to even point it out.

“Let’s try on a different dress.”

The employee, standing with an appalled expression, as if wondering why the groom’s reaction was like that, hastily closed the curtain at her suggestion.

Eun Chae straightened her spine, flipping back a strand of hair that had fallen loose. Even after that, she tried on a few more dresses, and the cycle of Han Seung Yoon taking a cursory look continued.

When she put on the second dress, the employee suggested that she walk in it. Eun Chae, who found it bothersome but was faithful to her duty, went out. She felt like she was starting to get a little tired.

Seung Yoon was nowhere to be seen. It seemed like he had left after receiving a call when she went to try on the second dress. She wasn’t particularly curious.

While sighing and taking a few steps, Eun Chae spotted Ki Joo. Seeing him standing with his eyes closed, leaning against a wall, Eun Chae thought.

To protect myself from my father, from Han Seung Yoon, I need a person. Knowing each other’s bottom line, Ki Joo was a better choice than anyone else. Even if it’s just a shell, I have to hold onto it.

The affair that started out of spite now even had a reason.

Eun Chae found this situation both funny and strange.

She stared fixedly at him, who, despite being swept up in the tumultuous world, was as calm as ever. As her hand touched the lips his hand had touched.

He might have smoked if it were before. But now, he seemed somewhat empty.

Why did he quit smoking, which didn’t suit him?

While scoffing inwardly at that, Ki Joo suddenly opened his eyelids.

Eun Chae approached him with a nonchalant face and opened her mouth. Every time she spoke, white breath rose between her lips.

“It’s about Kim So Hee. Go find out more.”

Ki Joo narrowed his eyes slightly.

“Why are you interested in that woman?”

“She doesn’t seem to give up easily.”

He took off his jacket the moment Eun Chae stopped in front of him. Without hurrying, he draped the jacket over her shoulders and spoke in a soft voice.

“I’m not going to do everything you tell me to.”

Eun Chae looked up at him, lifting her chin. He didn’t avoid it. Rather, he looked down at her even more intently. At the dress that, even though it was tacky with beads, still shone and highlighted her.

“…Pretty.”

Eun Chae’s pupils trembled momentarily, but it was only for a brief moment. She opened her slightly pursed lips.

“I thought of something to give.”

“……”

“You said you wanted to check something.”

Eun Chae took one step closer to him and snatched his tie. Ki Joo alternated his gaze between his taut tie and her. His face read, ‘What are you going to do?’

This roused Eun Chae’s competitive spirit. She yanked on the tie just like that.

He obediently came closer, and Eun Chae laid her lips on his cold ones. A heavy and cool fragrance wafted up. It was a bitter smell, similar to that of green tea.

Her heart pounded.

Thump.

Although it seemed like the sound of leaves being trampled far behind echoed, Eun Chae, who had lifted her eyelids due to an odd pain, could only exhale. He was staring at her with wideopen eyes. As if he had never closed them from the start.