One Hundred Days
Heeseo let out a long breath without realizing it. Tension mingled with some emotion she could not name, and her fingertips tingled.
Just then the man lightly caught a fallen strand of her hair between his fingers. Even that faint contact made her knees twitch.
"I never imagined the bride Grandfather chose for me would be someone as much to my liking as you."
His voice was on the low side. Even nonsense would have sounded pleasant coming from it. Still, she had no desire to hear him whispering right against her ear. Strength entered Heeseo's hand where it gripped the sheets.
"I never imagined it either."
That's the same for me. This fake wedding—I've never imagined anything like it either.
Swallowing the words that would never reach him, Heeseo weighed her options.
Her reason for lying obediently on the bridal bed was perfectly clear.
The one thing she had to extract from him.
"Lee Heeseo-ssi."
The moment the man's low voice spoke her name, Heeseo did not hesitate. She reached out at once.
In that brief instant their gazes tangled. Without a trace of surprise, the man was smiling—the flower-like smile people always talked about, the one even she could not help agreeing with.
"……"
"I like it when you're proactive in bed."
He slowly, almost teasingly, stroked down the arm she had wrapped around his neck. The touch was delicate, like someone handling a fine instrument. Heeseo's tightly closed lips trembled so faintly it was barely visible.
His head lowered onto her cheek, where only a light powder scent lingered instead of heavy makeup. At the same time the open shower robe revealed a firm, muscular torso without reserve.
For someone whose days were filled with training, it was a sight she rarely saw, and heat flooded her face. From the man she still sensed the clear energy of water.
Are you crazy? If you don't want to be bewitched, snap out of it, Lee Heeseo.
She fought not to be swept away. She tried to focus on the clothes constricting her waist, the stuffiness of her tongue, the tiny hairpins pricking her scalp—anything. That was the only way to keep from falling under his spell.
"But before that, we should match our tastes first, don't you think?"
People said a handsome face was the only plausibility a romance movie needed. Heeseo understood the saying only after living it. A second earlier she had been fighting not to be bewitched; now she had nearly nodded, rendering all that effort meaningless.
He pressed a brief kiss to the strand of hair still caught in his fingers. Even so simple an act looked sacred on a face like his.
While she was distracted, he gently circled her waist. Unlike the heroines in romance films, her waist did not fit in one hand, yet he handled her as carefully as if she might fly away if he gripped too hard.
As if he were a man who loved her beyond all reason.
"By any chance……"
There was a strange power in his voice. The resolve she had clung to crumbled; before she knew it she had lowered her eyes and was listening only to him.
He kneaded her firm abdomen with his thumb and whispered,
"Do you like scary ghost stories?"
"……!"
In that instant the bedroom air turned cold.
Heeseo's eyes, which had let their guard down while she focused on him, changed in a flash. Even so, the man's flower-like smile never wavered.
"If you don't particularly care for ghost stories…… how about stories of exorcists who drive ghosts away?"
Damn it. I'm screwed!
The realization came fast. Heeseo sat up without hesitation. Unfortunately she was still locked in his arms.
"Ugh!"
"I have no intention of hurting you. Don't run."
He pressed her down, wrapping himself around the body that had tensed to leap from the bed. The one-sided position made escaping his grip nearly impossible.
Just as she was about to swing her elbow, a voice sweet as honey continued against her ear.
"Lee Heeseo-ssi. Let's make a deal. One hundred days. I'll give you one hundred days."
A voice that carried the same sweet scent as the apple Snow White was tricked into swallowing.
"Until then, try to discover my true identity. If you succeed, I'll do whatever you want."
As if he had anticipated the move, he caught the flying elbow in his palm and whispered again. Laughter was clearly mixed into the sound.
This bastard is really…… laughing at me right now, isn't he? Heeseo ground her teeth.
He pinned her with both arms and tugged the corners of his mouth upward. Even that painted-on smile left her gaze ice-cold.
"I don't want to be a husband who gets beaten starting from the wedding night."
Had he seen through everything from the beginning?
But how? Heeseo exhaled a furious breath.
Then the smile of the man who had kept a perfect poker face twisted strangely, as though he were enduring something.
Kim Jeeon—Heeseo's fake husband and the heir to GM Group—looked down at the woman who had married him in order to destroy him.
The blue light flickering in his eyes carried more intimidation than loveliness. The moment he showed an opening she would slap his face; he knew it. Even so, impulse pulled him forward.
As the distance closed and he felt her stiff breathing, Jeeon's lips settled onto hers.
A soft sound. His tongue pushed between the joined lips. Heeseo struggled, but he was faster.
A sharp crack. Only after someone drew blood did the mouths separate.
"Haa… haa…"
He spat. Something fell from Jeeon's mouth—a yellow paper soaked in blood and saliva. It was the talisman Lee Heeseo had been holding under her tongue ever since she lay down on the bed.
"I sensed it from the first moment I saw you, but your hands are excessively blasphemous. Even between husband and wife, unwanted contact is grounds for divorce. I don't know whether you're aware."
Heeseo's cool voice continued. Jeeon was still pinning her, and the act scraped against her pride.
The knowledge that everything had been exposed, together with fresh wariness toward him, hardened her again.
Even bleeding, Jeeon remained beautiful. Yet his shell could no longer shake her. His next words, however, forced her to swallow her surprise.
"This talisman seems to be the kind that reveals a ghost's identity once it receives the essence of someone possessed. Am I right?"
"……!"
"So that's why you lay down so obediently? Planning to seduce me and take my essence?"
The face that uttered such an embarrassing word was utterly shameless, as if he felt no pain at all.
"I expected you wouldn't be ordinary, but this exceeds imagination. Whether you're bold or simply lewd… Knowing I'm possessed by a ghost, yet waiting for me alone in a place like this without a shred of fear… Aren't you a little too fearless?"
The talisman she had held in her mouth was one so rarely used that even among shamans few could create it. Yet Jeeon, who should have been nothing more than an ordinary person, had recognized it at once.
He smiled at her startled expression, pulling up the corners of his mouth. It was a splendid smile, like a snake holding a flower between its teeth.
"If you truly want it, it's not as though I couldn't give it to you right now…"
His gaze flicked toward her thigh.
Only then did Heeseo realize something was pressing hard against her. She was hardly at an age innocent enough not to know what it was, yet her face flushed in an instant to an embarrassing degree.
Jeeon whispered low, holding back a laugh as if he found her reaction adorable.
"Let's be satisfied with this for today. Blood will be more effective than information, after all."
He unfolded the talisman he had spat onto the bed and wiped his torn lip with it. Even the dry parts quickly soaked through with his blood; the sight was almost indecently sensual.
"If our wedding night is a game of chess, my piece has taken the first square. I figured out your identity, after all. So let's say this talisman is a gift from me—to commemorate our marriage."
He laid the stained paper on her chest and whispered with sudden tenderness.
"So if you can, try to find something out with it. We have plenty of time, don't we? My lovely bride."