He Said It Just Like That
Even though he was wearing a 2XL T-shirt, the sheer size of his muscular frame made the garment look comically small. His physique was on full display, carved out by years of disciplined training.
Because it was white, the precise lines of his body stood out clearly. Lee Yusom stood frozen for a moment, stunned.
“Don’t even think about picking up that phone and running. Sit down.”
Baek Eun-geon pointed at the sofa with his chin. It was pure Baek Eun-geon—cold and commanding, the kind of instruction he handed out every single day.
“I-I’ll just grab my phone and go…”
Yusom desperately wanted to escape, but Eun-geon’s icy gaze locked onto her ankle, trapping her in place.
She had no choice but to shuffle to the very edge of the sofa and perch there awkwardly.
Wait, no way he actually looked at the photos inside my phone. All kinds of terrifying thoughts flooded her mind.
“About yesterday…”
Eun-geon sat on the matching sofa directly across from her and slowly swirled his whiskey glass. The only sound in the room was the clink of ice cubes.
Yusom waited anxiously for him to open his mouth. They were both going to pretend it never happened, so the longer she stalled, the more frustrated she felt.
Since middle school, she had known exactly how many girls had trailed after Eun-geon like a bunch of leeches. She knew it better than anyone.
Even after high school, when she had tried to distance herself, his womanizing reputation was legendary. Every time the season changed, the tabloids loved to feast on him.
Every quarter, there was always some new rumor. Even when the infamous female athlete B—who had supposedly slept with twice as many women as men—made headlines, everyone assumed the story was about Eun-geon.
“Let’s date.”
The words that came out of Eun-geon’s mouth completely missed Yusom’s expectations.
She was sure she had heard him wrong. Her ears were playing tricks on her.
“W-what?”
“Let’s date, you and me.”
Eun-geon said it as casually as if he were discussing the weather, his face completely blank. Yusom was speechless.
“W-why would we date?”
“Because we slept together.”
“Oppa, are you out of your mind? Do you actually think that makes sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it?”
Eun-geon’s answer was simple and straightforward.
But Yusom hadn’t expected anything like this, so shock left her momentarily speechless.
“Because it was just a mistake after drinking! It was a drunken mistake!”
“So?”
“Pretend it never happened!”
Yusom couldn’t understand why Eun-geon—someone who actually competed in official matches—would refuse to let her make it disappear.
If he was a national athlete, he should have accepted the easy out without question. Instead, the situation had completely reversed.
“I don’t sleep with women I’m not dating.”
“Wait, you’re basing an entire relationship on one time we hooked up? And Oppa, it’s not like this is your first time and you’ve had tons of experience anyway.”
They could just forget about it. That should have been the end of the story.
Yusom’s head was throbbing. A bad feeling was creeping in.
Eun-geon had always been the type who fell hard and never changed his mind once he decided something. A reckless, stubborn guy who didn’t even listen to advice from others.
“So if you’re seeing someone—boyfriend or otherwise—handle it. Cut them off completely.”
“What kind of crazy thing is that! Oppa, you don’t even like me!”
“I do.”
Eun-geon spoke in a completely flat, emotionless voice. It was an obvious lie.
He could never say something like that to someone he actually liked. It was far too cold.
Yet even while she knew it was 100% fake, Yusom felt her heart racing for some reason.
“I like you. So if you have a boyfriend or partner, get rid of them. If they don’t listen to you, pass them over to me.”
It was ridiculous. There was no way Baek Eun-geon actually liked her.
Yusom figured it was either another prank or just another excuse to control her however he wanted.
“That’s absurd. What am I supposed to say if you hand me over?”
Even in the middle of this, curiosity sparked inside her. She wanted to figure out where this insane confidence was coming from.
Of course, Eun-geon’s weight class was already far beyond the average man’s, so no one would ever dare challenge him in a fight anyway.
“I’ll just say I was assaulted. Men forget about a woman who’s been touched by someone else in no time.”
Crazy bastard.
Thank God I don’t have a boyfriend. Yusom knew for sure that communicating with him was completely impossible after hearing such a nonsensical answer.
“And I’m really possessive, so be careful from now on. I don’t know what I’ll do if I get angry and something catches my eye.”
Eun-geon spoke with a menacing aura that made it sound like he was about to crush the person in front of him.
He had never been refined to begin with—rough and crude—but right then, Yusom felt genuine fear. She was terrified of him.
Why was this kind of obsession aimed at her?
This was the kind of thing you only saw in webtoons—some broken, pathetic male lead or underground miner getting that way.
Baek Eun-geon having a thing for marriage and obsession? If he actually had that kind of mental illness, he should have just gotten married long ago and indulged it to his heart’s content. Why was he fixated on her instead?
She wanted to argue, but the terrifying look in Eun-geon’s eyes made her decide to stay alive for now.
“Can’t I even contact him?”
“No.”
“He’s just a school junior, right?”
“If there’s no reason to, then you can contact him.”
Crazy. The standards were insane. Yusom was stunned.
Yusom mainly contacted her female colleagues, but she wasn’t completely friendless when it came to men either. Still, she was being threatened into giving up her rights with this absurd line.
The bigger problem was that Eun-geon wasn’t joking. Because Eun-geon was an unpredictable person to begin with, the national swimming federation had already given up trying to control him.
In fact, even though he had already won the competition, he had body-checked the opposing athlete right in front of the podium—clearly on purpose.
He had simply brushed shoulders and muttered “sorry,” but the tall, built Western player’s shoulder had dislocated instantly.
Of course, the opposing player had been injured for a while, but the timing was perfect.
Even overseas articles kept biting into the story, and Korean netizens still called it “refreshing” and “real punishment” and cheered him on.
And that wasn’t even the half of it. Even back when he was still in middle school, the first year, Eun-geon’s height had already jumped to over 180 centimeters.
He had beaten up the high schoolers who kept bothering him and chased them until they transferred schools, turning the entire place upside down.
Eun-geon had a terrifyingly stubborn streak—once he decided he wanted something, he wouldn’t let go.
Yusom suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. She felt like she was riding in a car with the brakes that had suddenly failed.
Now Yusom could only wait for Eun-geon to get sick of her before she could possibly escape.
Yeah, well, it would probably blow over in a month or two. Eun-geon’s personality and womanizing streak weren’t exactly built to last.
Yusom calculated it quickly in her head.
She would pretend to accept his offer first and buy time. She would stay as far away from his body as possible until he got bored and told her to leave.
No matter how crazy his thoughts were, she had no choice but to play along right now.
“…Okay. I’ll do what you said, Oppa.”
Yusom answered reluctantly. A faint, satisfied smile flickered at the corner of Eun-geon’s mouth.
She stood up. The conversation was over, so it was time to run. She didn’t want to be trapped in this suffocating space for even one extra second.
“Where are you going?”
Eun-geon grabbed her again.
“I-I have to go…”
“Stand here.”
Eun-geon caught her wrist and pulled her in front of him. Then, without warning, he grabbed the hem of her blouse and yanked it upward.
“Ahh! Oppa, what are you doing?!”
Yusom yelped and tried to shove his hands away, but he ignored her completely. He kept pulling the blouse up until it reached her chest. Her white lace bra and the full, perky breasts above it came into view.