Treat Her Well While You Have Her
Juhee stared dryly through the car window at the early evening scenery blurring past. From last night to this evening, an endless number of things had happened in the span of a single day.
She had fallen for the delusion that she would receive a proposal from Taemin. Full of anticipation, she had gone to the rice bowl restaurant only to come face to face with Yoon Jeha. Instead of a proposal, Taemin had offered her a department transfer. And on top of that, she had even met privately with Chairman Yang.
In truth, none of it amounted to anything. Not compared to what had happened on her long-awaited twenty-ninth birthday, when Han Taemin had slept with Joo Haena instead of her and proposed to someone else. That wasn’t merely betrayal. It was something vicious. Something cruel.
“……That fucking bastard, Han Taemin.”
After cursing him once more, Juhee closed her eyes, gritty with exhaustion. The large sedan Jeha had arranged for her had an almost tear-inducing ride quality. It moved like a boat gliding over water—quiet, heavy, and impossibly smooth.
That must have been why the tears she thought she had already shed completely came sliding down her cheeks again.
But the nausea rising in her stomach forced her eyes open soon after. Haena’s words kept echoing in her ears—how she had thrown herself at him relentlessly until dawn. The image of Taemin and Haena tangled naked on a bed kept flashing through her mind.
They’re both filthy. Disgusting.
When she looked out the window again, the car was passing through a brightly lit downtown area. Only then did she realize she hadn’t eaten properly all day. She needed to eat if she wanted her mind to function.
When Juhee asked to get out, the driver—who had been tipped generously by Jeha on the condition that he see her home safely—hesitated.
“I’d like to grab something to eat before heading back.”
Her gentle smile finally convinced him to pull over. The place Juhee wandered into without much thought was a dessert café.
“Two espressos and one slice of every cake you have, please.”
She claimed a seat by the window. Some time later, an employee pushed over a serving cart. Juhee ate the array of cakes arranged across the table with calm deliberation. Whenever the brain-melting sweetness became too much, she took a sip of espresso.
The combination of sweet cake and bitter coffee mirrored yesterday and today. She had plunged headfirst into a sugary illusion, only to taste the brutal bitterness of betrayal.
It was much later when she finally set down her fork and pulled out her diary and pen. Her expression was grave. She listed everything that needed organizing, tasks to complete, and plans for the future. After an hour of constant writing and crossing out, she at last put the pen down.
The very first thing she would do was call Chairman Yang’s secretary and declare that she would begin serving Jeha tomorrow. She refused to spend even one more day working for Taemin.
Without hesitation, Juhee dialed Manager Kang. When she explained that she would treat the time before signing the official contract as a probationary period, he told her to proceed as she wished. She immediately asked for all available information on Jeha.
Ten minutes after ending the call, an email arrived. The attached file containing Yoon Jeha’s personal details, professional profile, and complete schedule exceeded twenty pages.
“He acted like some idle rich boy, but he’s insanely busy? I knew he was tall, but… one hundred and eighty-eight centimeters? He plays as hard as he works.”
The more she learned about the things she hadn’t known about Yoon Jeha, the more the tangled threads of emotion in her chest began to unravel. The violent waves that had churned inside her slowly calmed.
Juhee read the documents on Yoon Jeha over and over until she could recite them from memory. Only after committing every last piece of information to heart did she set her phone down.
“Just wait, Han Taemin. I’ll show you how well I can live without you.”
Light returned to her eyes, which had been as dark as if someone had switched them off. Vitality began to stir once more.
The enormous VVIP room at the Hyatt Hotel club was split between a first and second floor. The lower level was a stage pulsing with dazzling lights and pounding beats, while the upper level offered seats that looked down over the entire spectacle.
Jeha’s welcome party, which had begun in the early evening, had completely lost its original purpose by midnight. People drunk beyond reason were thrashing about like wild animals unleashed from their collars.
Even amid the chaos, the only ones still somewhat composed were the DJ’s security detail, who danced and cheered along, Yoon Jeha—the guest of honor—and Taemin, who looked completely out of place.
Today, Taemin had no desire to drink, and even less interest in conversation. Normally, if he failed to blend into an atmosphere like this, he would have pretended to enjoy himself to avoid being dismissed as a pathetic poor bastard. Sometimes he even genuinely enjoyed it. But not tonight.
‘We’re done now.’
Juhee’s final words kept ringing relentlessly through his head.
Taemin knew Juhee’s personality better than anyone—how decisive, stubborn, and principled she was. That was precisely why he hadn’t discussed it with her beforehand. He had anticipated her explosive anger and resistance. Yet he had gone through with it anyway because of his unwavering faith in her. They shared a blind, absolute bond that neither could live without.
But the Juhee he had trusted so completely had uttered the word “done” to him today. Taemin rubbed his face roughly and muttered.
“……Fuck. What the hell does she expect me to do?”
Whose fault was any of this? Taemin was a man, after all. He had endured for more than twenty years. He had waited for the young girl to grow into a woman, resisted every temptation while studying abroad, and suppressed his desires.
Of course he knew. He had never once told Juhee—who had lived beside him like a sister and trusted him like an older brother—that he wanted to date her. So he had confessed before leaving for his studies. And when he returned, he had assumed she would be ready and waiting for him.
But that night he came back from abroad, Juhee had trembled violently in his arms. The eyes that looked up at him held fear instead of shy desire. Her body, which should have welcomed him with soft heat, had been as cold and rigid as a wooden log. Still, he had tried to understand.
He had made the reckless promise to wait until she turned twenty-nine. He thought that if he held back and pretended to be indifferent, the anxious Juhee would eventually come to him first. Back then, he had truly believed he could endure anything with love alone.
But once again, reality refused to follow his expectations. Juhee, unaware of his inner turmoil, had simply trusted that single promise and remained unchanged.
As Taemin climbed the ladder of success and his social standing rose, more and more women approached him. All of them came from better families and were more beautiful than Juhee. He had thought that rejecting them would make her realize something, but that too had been a miscalculation.
Watching Juhee declare that he was her entire world while making zero effort to appeal to him as a woman, Taemin had begun to wonder if she was simply a saint who felt no sexual desire at all—perhaps because of the terrible memories from her childhood.
Once he understood her issue, dissatisfaction came naturally. After everything I’ve done, is it fair that I have to spend my life with Gong Juhee, who makes no effort whatsoever and can’t even feel desire?
Taemin loved his princess. But he loved himself more.
It was around that time that Chairman Yang had brought up the possibility of arranging a meeting between Jeha and Joo Haena for the company’s benefit. But there was no chance the free-spirited Yoon Jeha would agree to a blind date. So when the chairman worried aloud, Taemin had volunteered to go in his place.
Haena’s powerful family and wealth that could support someone like him with nothing to his name, the strengthened alliance with her brother Seok-hoon, and the trust he would gain from both Chairman Yang and Yoon Jeha. Marrying Joo Haena had been an opportunity that killed two birds with one stone.
Time had changed more than just Juhee. The Joo Haena who appeared at the meeting had grown into a strikingly beautiful woman.
‘Spend tonight with me. I’m not asking for love, oppa, but you need to at least prove there’s some desire between us as a married couple.’
He admitted it. Her blunt honesty had shaken him, if only a little.
The youngest daughter of one of Korea’s most prominent chaebol families—a beautiful, seductive woman—confessing her love and actively seducing him. What man could possibly resist?
There had been no reason to refuse, and he hadn’t wanted to. So he slept with Joo Haena. Naturally, he had needed to drink himself senseless first.
With a heavy sigh, Taemin sent a message to his princess.
Normally she would have replied immediately, sharp as a knife. But today there was no response. Was she still that angry? Staring at his silent phone, Taemin smiled bitterly.
“She must be really pissed.”
Even so, he believed. No matter how long it took, Juhee would eventually understand and wait for him. If he just patiently did what he needed to do, she would contact him soon…
“Han Taemin.”
Pulled from his thoughts, Taemin turned his head. The moment their eyes met, Jeha grabbed a bottle of liquor.
“Have a drink with me.”
Before he could react, amber liquid was poured mercilessly into the glass he had unconsciously picked up. He wanted to say he wasn’t in the mood, but Taemin had no right to refuse Jeha. So he simply stared blankly at the glass.
“What are you doing? Drink it.”
Jeha spoke with a smile, and Taemin forced one of his own as he brought the glass to his lips. He downed the fiery liquid in one shot, cursing inwardly. Yoon Jeha, you son of a bitch.
This bastard had always been like this since they were young. He did whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. If he was in a good mood, you were his friend. If not, you were beneath him.
Even though he had received plenty of help from Jeha, the reason he found him so irritating was probably because of that. Still, he had no intention of letting Jeha go. Yoon Jeha was the only lifeline that could take him to the top faster than anyone else.
“You said you were getting married right after the engagement, right?”
Taemin’s brows furrowed slightly. They had spoken only once before he returned to Korea.
Jeha had asked if there was any good news, and Taemin had vaguely replied that it looked like an engagement would lead straight to marriage. He hadn’t been able to bring himself to say he was taking the arranged meeting for Jeha’s sake. He had kept it ambiguous, trusting that Chairman Yang would explain everything once he arrived in Korea.
Jeha hadn’t seemed interested then. So why was he asking now?
“……That’s the plan.”
Jeha let out a short laugh.
“You’re in such a rush. You must really love your bride.”
Taemin clenched his fist, wanting to smash that handsome face into pulp, when Jeha suddenly spoke again.
“You should treat her well.”
“Treat who well?”
“Treat the woman you’re marrying well.”
Meeting Jeha’s now completely serious gaze, Taemin nearly laughed out loud.
The meaning was obvious. Since he was a gold-digger marrying into a wealthy family, he should cherish and serve his wife properly. In other words, the sister of a friend he had never cared about was suddenly more important than a longtime friend.
Yoon Jeha, you son of a bitch. Taemin swallowed another curse and shot back coldly.
“I’ll handle my own marriage.”
“Of course you will.”
What an insufferable bastard. Taemin ground his teeth. That knowing look in his eyes, that arrogance radiating from every pore despite having achieved nothing on his own—everything about him was infuriating.
Jeha reached for the bottle again. When Taemin glared at him silently, he smirked. As if Taemin were pathetic. As if he were daring him to try refusing his hand.
Fuck this dirty world.
In the end, Taemin had no choice but to lift his glass again. Filling it to the brim once more, Jeha said,
“Let me give you one piece of advice as a friend.”
The moment Taemin opened his mouth to say he didn’t need it, the faint smile disappeared from Jeha’s face.
Jeha’s gaze rose slowly, sharp as a honed blade, carving the words straight into his heart.
It was the first and final warning.