The Worst Mistake

The man's voice still dripped with the same old hatred. At the same time, pain flared from the wrist he had seized.

Heeseo gritted her teeth and twisted her wrist, but Choi Jinwook refused to let her go so easily. Instead he pressed closer, crowding her hard.

"Do you even know where you are? What makes trash like you think you can take a seat here? What, looking for revenge against me? What the hell are you after, washing your identity clean and sitting next to Kim Jeeon? Spit it out honestly. Before I go tell the Chairman right now that you're nothing but a fraud shaman running around pretending—"

His face, so close, was familiar and yet strange. In that instant Heeseo was seized by memories of the past.

It had been more than a decade ago, but it remained one of the few worst memories of her life.

Meeting you was the worst mistake I ever made.

"Before I make your life the worst, talk. Now."

A fraud like you.

"A fraud like you."

His voice clawed open the wound she had buried deep. The scar she thought had healed split open at once, raw flesh burning red. A sharp, stinging pain as if blood would burst out any second tormented her.

I thought I'd forgotten it all. I thought I'd overcome it……

"Choi Jinwook."

"Talk, hurry! What the hell did you crawl in here for, you?"

Choi Jinwook shook both her wrists as if he meant to hurt her any second.

Like her, he seemed incapable of normal thought. If any reason remained, he would never have used force to corner her like this.

"I……"

Heeseo took a moment to catch her breath. Meeting a figure she had worked so hard to erase, in a place she never expected, left her heart shaking and her insides boiling. She could feel her spiritual power scattering clearly.

This is what comes of insufficient training. Heeseo mocked herself as she twisted the captured wrist half a turn and seized Choi Jinwook's arm instead.

"To deal with a human piece of trash like you……"

"What?"

"Do I look free enough to crawl in here for that?"

Heeseo's eyes flashed in the darkness as she muttered low. Facing that gaze, Choi Jinwook felt a chill race down his spine, but he didn't show it and raised his voice instead.

"Lee Heeseo!"

"And Choi Jinwook. You. I warned you the last time we met, didn't I?"

But Choi Jinwook's threat was meaningless.

"You shameless—! Ugh, ack!"

Choi Jinwook's world flipped upside down in an instant. Thud! The adult man's body slammed face-first into the ground with the full force of his own weight.

Heeseo had grabbed his wrist, spun her body, lifted him over her shoulder, and slammed him down. It was a textbook-perfect shoulder throw.

But the shock for Choi Jinwook didn't end there. Heeseo still held his right arm and stomped barefoot onto his chest. Pinning an opponent under her full body weight was a habit of hers.

"Choi Jinwook. I already heard the news that you found yourself some rich girl and married well. But what? Where do you think this is? Who the hell do you think you are? You of all people—what are you?"

"This, fuck! Let go?! Let go! Lee Heeseo, let this go!"

"What, are you Chairman Kim Jonghyeop's mistress or something? If that's the case, I might understand."

Heeseo sneered as she pressed down with all her strength on the man who looked ready to flee any second.

Truly, a bad connection was a bad connection. For her, and for Choi Jinwook.

Meeting Choi Jinwook when her stress was already at its peak made endorphins explode instead, scrambling her brain. Heeseo twisted his arm even harder as she interrogated him.

"You answer first. What are you doing here?"

"Let go, you fraud bitch! Let go, hurry, fuck, before I call people, let go! I'm Seo Hyeon-a's husband! You wanna die?"

Seo Hyeon-a? If it's Seo Hyeon-a……

The woman who sat among Kim Jonghyeop's closest aides just like Kim Jeeon—Seo Hyeon-a.

Heeseo suddenly recalled that the seat beside her had been empty throughout dinner. Come to think of it, the one who barged in while they were squabbling over stealing Kim Jeeon's underwear had been her too. Kim Jeeon's maternal cousin, Seo Hyeon-a.

"Crazy bitch!"

In the moment her grip loosened while she was lost in thought, Choi Jinwook rolled his body and hastily escaped. But his right arm, which had been held by Heeseo, hurt as if it would come off, so he couldn't even charge and just kept his distance—it was almost funny.

How did I ever like something like that.

She had been young and foolish, but he hadn't been a bad catch in his own way. If she could go back, she'd smack her own head to stop herself.

Regretting a past that was already gone, unlike her usual self, Heeseo picked up the high heels that had fallen to the floor. She hadn't particularly planned to beat him with the shoes, but Choi Jinwook flinched and retreated another step in surprise.

"You wanted to find a fine woman and marry so badly, and you succeeded, Choi Jinwook. Seo Hyeon-a? Isn't she way too good for you?"

"Too good? 'Too good' is a word that suits a fraud like you. How the hell did you approach the Chairman and……!"

"Watch your mouth. The one who approached me was your oh-so-great Chairman."

"What?"

Somehow feeling a chill, Heeseo felt along her side. From suddenly exerting force, the side of her dress had torn about a finger's width. Even if it was a fake marriage, she wouldn't ask her partner to pay for the clothes, but either way her mood was thoroughly foul.

I really ought to beat that guy a few times.

Heeseo's face hardened in an instant under the dim glow of the night lights installed along the walking path. Pressed by a murderous aura as if she would tear a person apart, Choi Jinwook unconsciously retreated again.

"So……. If you're curious why I'm here, go ask your Chairman."

"You—you think I won't ask if you come out like that? Huh?"

"I'm telling you to go ask. And one more thing to add."

Heeseo took large strides after Choi Jinwook. Despite having retreated several steps, perhaps his pride was hurt, for he no longer moved and glared at Heeseo with wide eyes.

His appearance, thinner and more irritable than she remembered, made him feel like a different person. The face that had been somewhat decent was crushed by a neurotic atmosphere and held no charm at all.

Heeseo paused her breath for a moment, then lowered her voice to a whisper.

"You seem to be under some misconception. Back then and now, I have absolutely no intention of holding you back. So if you're thinking of spreading all sorts of rumors about me like last time……. This time I won't let it end quietly."

"What rumors did I—!"

"The rumor that a half-baked shaman who never even received a spirit descent approaches men while playing shaman—that was you who started it, wasn't it? Going to deny it?"

Even though she asked calmly, it was a rumor that had dealt Heeseo a huge blow in the past. To destroy someone most cruelly, a rumor needs a bit of truth mixed in—Heeseo had learned that through Choi Jinwook.

"You said you took pity and met me after I sold even my nonexistent parents to act pitiful, then I tried to ruin you by holding you back—you went around saying that, didn't you? Don't remember?"

Heeseo's gaze slowly turned downward. Choi Jinwook, as if entranced, followed her and lowered his head, only to find Heeseo looking at her own ankle.

"But Choi Jinwook."

At the eyes that flashed even in the dark, Choi Jinwook swallowed dryly.

"……If I grab your ankle, I'll just break it. So you'd better keep your distance on your own. Anyway, I don't plan to keep this marriage going for long either."

Spitting out words like a threat, Heeseo turned her body. Choi Jinwook seemed to say something behind her, but she couldn't hear it, and didn't want to.

Barefoot, she trudged on for quite a while, and there was no sense of Choi Jinwook following.

"Haa……."

Once the rage boiling in her head quieted, an indescribable fatigue washed over her. Being tormented by Kim Jonghyeop and Kim Jeeon since dinner wasn't enough—facing Choi Jinwook whom she'd forgotten for so long made her whole body feel like it was collapsing.

Even though she had clearly planned what she needed to do while Kim Jeeon slept, today was just impossible.

Just do it tomorrow, tomorrow. It's not like it's going to run away…… do it tomorrow. First, flop onto the bed and sleep.

If she had to pick the one good thing about living in Kim Jeeon's house, it was the huge, soft, cozy bed. Heeseo quickened her steps, thinking of diving into the bed any second.

But unfortunately, what awaited her was not a bed.