The Fine Print

After returning home, Do-yeon sat down at her desk for the first time in a long while. It was the first time since the previous month, when she had drafted the business proposal to present to her father.

At first, concentration proved difficult. The blue bouquet resting on the nightstand kept snagging her attention.

“…….”

Had he known the meaning of delphiniums when he gave them? The trivial question drifted through her mind, stubbornly bothersome.

Only after she shifted the bouquet behind her back did the words on the page begin to come into focus. She carefully examined everything from the first page for a while, until a cautious knock interrupted her.

“Noona.”

Father wants you downstairs for a moment. Through the slightly open door, Jin-woo relayed the message with hesitant awkwardness.

What does he want to say this time? Do-yeon rose from her seat with a light sigh.

“Sit down.”

Following Jin-woo, she arrived at the dining room. Perhaps because of the chaos the day before, they seemed reluctant to face each other in the living room.

“I’ve narrowed down some candidates for the time being.”

The moment she sat, her eyes met Ju-ran’s across the table. At the woman’s urging glance, President Baek Seung-pil immediately pushed a thin file toward Do-yeon.

It was obvious what lay inside. Do-yeon did not even bother to pretend to open it out of courtesy.

“Do we have to rush?”

“Word’s already gotten around that you’re getting married. We need to switch partners and go through with it before the marriage path gets blocked.”

She had clearly directed the question at her father, yet the answer came from his wife.

Who started that rumor, anyway?

The only person Do-yeon had told about the marriage was her senior. And even that had been unavoidable, out of concern that it might inconvenience the flower shop’s schedule.

So the source was obvious. The very person who had strutted around boasting that they were becoming in-laws with Muyoung was now fretting about her marriage prospects. It wasn’t even funny.

“We’ll prioritize your wishes above all, so look them over and rank them in order.”

“Your father left out the remarriage candidates for your sake.”

Husband and wife were of one mind, to a ridiculous degree. The conversation that followed was even more absurd.

So there are at least two son-in-law candidates?

They seemed terrified of turning a profitable deal into a loss if any more time slipped by. Seeing straight through the anxious middle-aged couple’s true intentions, Do-yeon smiled with open contempt.

If only they knew who I met today.

“You should thank him.”

When Do-yeon offered no reply, Ju-ran added the words.

The tone as if coaxing a child, and the urging eyes that did not match it, both displeased her. She could not understand why the woman acted as though she were her mother.

“Is that really necessary? It’s not as if I’ve already been through this once, and I don’t have a child in tow.”

As she spoke, Do-yeon lifted her downcast gaze. When she said “child in tow,” she deliberately let her eyes skim over Jin-woo.

Are you saying I’m the same as you, who pushed your way in with an illegitimate child?

Fortunately, Ju-ran—longtime former secretary to her father—was quick on the uptake. Without needing the implication spoken aloud, she understood and glared at Do-yeon as if she meant to kill her.

“I’ll think about it and let you know.”

“Alright.”

That seemed to be everything that needed saying. Do-yeon offered a brief greeting only to her father and immediately rose from her seat.

She did not know when it would be, but before meeting President Kang Mo-jun again she needed to revise the business proposal. To secure the investment, she had to show as much sincerity as possible from her side.

And two evenings later.

The message she had been waiting for arrived sooner than expected.

The meeting place was, as expected, the Gwanghwamun main branch of Muyoung Hotel. Warm sunlight settled over the hands gripping the steering wheel on a bright, clear day.

As she entered through the main doors, a staff member waiting at the entrance came into view.

“Welcome. I will escort you to the CEO.”

The man who opened her car door himself bowed deeply and introduced himself as Secretary Kim, personal aide to CEO Kang Mo-jun.

The lawyer she had secured through an acquaintance was already waiting in the lobby. After a brief exchange of greetings, the three of them stepped into the elevator.

She had naturally assumed they would meet in a lounge, yet Secretary Kim pressed the button for the twenty-second floor.

“The CEO is waiting in the suite.”

It made sense. Even at the hotel where she had once worked, certain VIP clients deliberately preferred to conduct meetings in guest rooms. This was still a highly confidential deal that had not even been disclosed to the families; caution could only be wise.

Watching the numbers climb on the display, Do-yeon adjusted the strap of the bag in her hand.

The moment the suite door opened, her eyes met those of the man seated in the sitting room.

“You’re early.”

“Yes.”

When he rose from the sofa, the difference in their builds struck her anew. Even with a smiling face, he somehow pressed down on the air around him.

“This is the contract. Counsel, if you would review it separately over here.”

As Do-yeon approached the sitting area, Secretary Kim handed her the file that had been waiting on the table. The lawyer who had followed them was guided into the bedroom and disappeared.

“Please speak freely.”

After placing a cup of tea before Do-yeon and another in the bedroom, Secretary Kim likewise withdrew. Now only Mo-jun and Do-yeon remained in the sitting room.

The warmth of the teacup against her lips was comforting. After she had swallowed two sips, Mo-jun spoke first.

“Any particular trouble at home?”

She was glad he did not waste time on empty pleasantries. Unlike Director Kang Sang-jun, he also refrained from forced jokes that never landed.

“They shoved other matchmaking candidates at me, so I’ve been stalling for time.”

Thanks to that, Do-yeon could likewise keep her replies clean and limited to what was necessary.

Setting the cup down, she reached toward the seat beside her. From her bag she drew out a tablet PC and held it out across the table.

“This is the business proposal. Please look it over and give me feedback.”

The carefully revised version she had spent the past few days refining appeared on the screen.

Had she not asked, at their previous meeting, to be put in charge of the hotel’s VVIP wedding line? She had therefore attached a thorough analysis of Muyoung Hotel’s wedding venues alongside every wedding portfolio she had directed.

Yet Mo-jun merely accepted the device and set it straight onto the table. Watching him calmly lift his teacup again, Do-yeon asked with a touch of sharpness.

“You’re not going to review it?”

“Later.”

She had prepared it so carefully, and this was not some contest of wills. Do-yeon stared quietly down at the tablet.

Clack.

Mo-jun set his cup down and smiled faintly.

“We already reached a verbal agreement with the investment as the condition. As long as there are no major problems with the contract, this marriage will proceed as planned. Do I really need to look at it right now?”

At his words, the irritation that had flared for a moment quickly subsided.

She had no idea where that confidence came from, but for Do-yeon there was nothing to lose. All she needed was his signature on the investment contract.

Crossing his long legs, Mo-jun regarded her steadily.

“More importantly, the PR team says our marriage needs a narrative.”

A narrative? Do-yeon’s brow furrowed for an instant.

“Why would we need something like that? It’s not as if anyone doesn’t know this is business.”

It was unnecessary effort. Neither of them was a celebrity, and it was hardly a wedding that would draw intense public interest.

Above all, Do-yeon disliked the idea of press materials remaining behind. Who knew how many years they would even live together?

“Thanks to your family spreading the marriage news so widely, they’re concerned strange rumors might start circulating. As you know, image is everything in the hotel business.”

Yet at Mo-jun’s following words, Do-yeon’s expression turned humble in an instant. She had a mouth, but no rebuttal.

“It’s a joyous occasion for both families. We don’t need people calling it a groom-replacement ceremony instead of a wedding, do we?”

“……Ah, yes.”

Was it only her imagination that he seemed to place particular emphasis on the words “groom” and “replacement”? The tea that had tasted fragrant suddenly turned astringent.

“The narrative I’ve prepared is this: because of the close cooperative relationship between our families, we grew up as close as older brother and younger sister from childhood, and naturally developed into lovers.”

With a smile that looked painted on, Mo-jun continued. It felt a little cliché, yet the plausibility was more than sufficient.

In reality, Hanbit Construction had practically monopolized the construction of Muyoung Leisure’s hotels, resorts, and golf courses. Finding an exception would have been faster.

So, just as CEO Kang Mo-jun said, the two of them might well have crossed paths in the past—at someone’s inauguration, or a grand opening ceremony.

“The groom was me from the beginning, and Director Kang Sang-jun was simply the victim of a misunderstanding because his marriageable age was pressing.”

“Yes, that would be better.”

It was storytelling without a single flaw.

Do-yeon nodded at once. The public assessment of him as clean and airtight was no exaggeration; his handling of the matter was perfect.

“Have you already set a date somewhere?”

“Yes, at the temple my father attends. Why?”

“I noticed you chose April instead of May.”

“We were just trying to avoid each other’s busy seasons. The flower shop is hectic in February and March, and May is peak season.”

“If it’s an auspicious day, there’s no need to change the date. I’ll just need a new tuxedo.”

Once the most awkward issue had been addressed, everything else came easily.

But wasn’t an auspicious day supposed to be chosen according to the parties’ own four pillars of destiny?

A brief question rose, yet it was no great problem. CEO Kang Mo-jun seemed just as uninterested in superstition as she was.

Suitable silence and conversation alternated for quite some time.

“Miss Baek, a moment.”

A presence stirred behind her, and the lawyer called Do-yeon. The review appeared to have finished in the meantime.

Mo-jun gave a slight chin gesture toward the bedroom, indicating she should go in.

“There don’t appear to be any major problems. The important section is here—the alimony clause in the event of divorce…….”

The moment the door closed and she sat in the desk chair, the lawyer approached and held out the contract. The amount of alimony had been set far higher than the usual standard, she explained.

Please look through it carefully from the first page. Following the lawyer’s advice, Do-yeon scanned the contents quickly—until her eyes and hands stopped at one particular point.

“…….”

As Do-yeon flipped steadily through the pages, her mouth slowly fell open. They had written things like this in such detail?

But that was not the end of it.

As if shared meals and overnight restrictions were nothing at all, the pages that followed meticulously recorded clauses that made her face burn.