Believe Your Husband

Hansu walked in carrying coffee and found Do-heon still glued to his phone, the same way he had been for a while now. The man even let out a quiet snort of laughter.

Curious what could possibly hold his attention so completely that he failed to notice someone entering, Hansu edged closer.

"Director, what are you looking at so intently? If it's something good, share it with me."

Imagining something far more scandalous, Hansu leaned in with expectant eyes. Do-heon flipped the phone face-down at once.

"It's nothing."

"It certainly looks like something. Miss Han Hye-won cut her hair, didn't she?"

It had clearly been a photo of Hye-won with a short bob. Hansu couldn't tell what had made him smile. She simply looked pretty.

His eyes narrowed. Lately he kept discovering new sides of Do-heon, and the confusion was worse than anything he had felt even during puberty.

He was muttering under his breath, "Anyone watching would think you were dating," when Do-heon finally lifted his head.

"Any special appointments today?"

The familiar cold mask was already back in place, radiating an aura that made personal questions impossible.

"There's a meeting of the affiliate company presidents at four-thirty. The vice chairman specifically instructed that you attend as well, Director."

"So I have time until four, then?"

Do-heon glanced at the wall clock as he asked.

"Where are you going? Do you have some schedule I don't know about?"

"I'll be back well before four."

Do-heon rose, fastened his cuff links, and shrugged into his jacket while Hansu could only stare blankly.

"Where exactly are you going? You have to tell me before you leave! I'm your secretary—how am I supposed to not know my own boss's schedule?"

"I'm going to propose."

"What?"

The answer was so far beyond anything Hansu had imagined that his eyes nearly popped out of his head. This was not the kind of news one expected to hear with only thirty minutes left of lunch.

"Propose? To whom? Don't tell me it's Miss Han Hye-won?"

He spun around, half-convinced he had misheard, only to find Do-heon already gone.

"He's actually going? In the middle of work? In broad daylight?"

Hansu stared at the empty doorway with a vacant expression and muttered,

"Just like that?!"

It was a day when the autumn sunlight seemed especially brilliant.

Sunlight settled over Hye-won's head as she sat quietly by the window, gazing outside. A staff member who had been clearing a nearby table came over and lowered the blinds.

Do-heon had asked her to meet him for lunch at the restaurant inside the hotel. This was already their third meal together here, yet she still felt nervous.

Of course it was no longer the anxious, restless kind of nervousness she had felt on the day of their blind date, when she had no idea how he might react to her. There was nothing left to hide now, and no bottom left to fall through.

"Have you been waiting long?"

The familiar voice cut in without warning, and Hye-won's heart plummeted. She looked up to find Do-heon already standing over her. Dressed in a crisp black suit, he looked as impressive as ever. The solid, mature presence of the man made her chest tighten.

"I only just arrived myself."

She forced the pounding of her heart down and offered a small smile.

"Spaghetti again today?"

He slid the menu toward her as he asked.

"Is that all right?"

She had ordered spaghetti last time as well, and it seemed she wanted it again today.

"And something else?"

He meant for her to choose one more dish. Do-heon leaned back in his chair and slowly surveyed the dining room. The place was famous for its dinner service, and the staff moved with an unhurried ease.

His gaze lingered for a moment on the ceiling fan turning overhead before drifting naturally to Hye-won. She was studying the menu with the serious expression of someone taking an exam.

The short hair suited her better than he had expected. He had already seen the photo, yet his eyes kept being drawn back to her. Beneath the newly cut ends, her pale, slender nape was fully exposed. Every small turn of her head as she flipped the pages made the straight line of her neck, connected to her delicate shoulders, shift with her.

A sudden impulse rose in him—to leave a bite mark on that nape that looked as if it would smell of clean soap. The mere thought tightened something low in his body and sent a slow heat coiling through his lower abdomen.

"Does it look strange?"

Sensing his stare, Hye-won looked up from the menu, and only then did Do-heon stop the impure thoughts.

Crazy bastard. Sitting across from the girl who used to be your student and thinking something like that.

"You look young."

Young enough that taking her home would earn him every curse imaginable. She was already young, and now her face looked even younger; he could almost hear the fierce criticism already. He might well be treated as the thief who had stolen her entire life.

"Like a child?"

"You are a child."

He knew she hated being treated like a kid, yet the way her lips pouted was so endearing that he deliberately emphasized it.

"Teacherrr~"

Just then the food they had ordered arrived. Do-heon pushed the plate toward her as if telling her to start eating.

"Listen while you eat."

"Yes."

Hye-won took up her fork and spoon and twirled the spaghetti. The generous tomato sauce made her mouth water; she swallowed hard and was just lifting a full bite to her lips when he spoke.

"Let's get married."

"Cough—!"

Startled by the sudden proposal, Hye-won choked on the spaghetti caught in her throat and began coughing hard.

"Don't eat so fast."

Do-heon poured water into a glass and held it out to her. She accepted it and drank, yet still coughed for a long while afterward. When she finally calmed enough to look at him, her eyes were complicated.

"What do you mean by that?"

He had told her to listen while eating, so she had assumed it would be something light. His expression had been dry as well. But marriage? She decided she must have misheard. Or rather, she wanted to believe she had misheard.

She no longer wanted that. She could not allow it. On the day of their blind date she had desperately wanted to marry him—wanted any way possible to escape her hellish reality by becoming his wife. But not now. She did not want to drag him into this sewer of a life. She alone was enough.

"Wasn't that what you wanted?"

"I wanted it then. I don't now."

He had not expected such a firm refusal at all. His brows rose slowly.

"…The reason?"

"You saw everything, Teacher. You saw how completely awful my situation is."

There was no telling what her money-crazed father, Jin-sang, might do. He would certainly demand endless sums in exchange for the marriage. She could not allow harm to come to a man who had nothing to do with any of it.

"You're worried about me? Afraid your father will bleed me dry like some sucker?"

As if the reason were that trivial, Do-heon swallowed a snort of laughter and continued with a nonchalant face.

"I told my family yesterday. That there's a woman I'm going to marry."

"Teacher."

Hye-won's face went white. Something irreversible seemed to be unfolding.

"I mentioned your age and nearly got beaten to death for it."

He slowly rubbed the surface of his glass and smiled.

"What are you going to do about it? You made me into a thief and now you're going to pretend you don't know me? I can't have that. Now I'm the one who's been wronged."

Once he understood exactly what she was afraid of, Do-heon decided there was no real problem and simply pushed harder. She was only worried about what her father might do to him.

"Why would you do that?"

A voice full of resentment burst from Hye-won. Her large eyes grew wet and shiny, as if tears might spill at any second.

"Who said I was going to keep you for the rest of my life? Only until you graduate. You ambitious little lady."

"No. I can't. You still don't know what kind of person my father is, Teacher."

Whether she spoke or not, Do-heon reached out and firmly pulled her pale hand toward him.

"From now on you only have to worry about me."

He took a small case from his jacket pocket, opened it with one hand, and drew out the ring.

"Starting today I'll be your husband and your guardian—everything."

The diamond-set ring slid onto the fourth finger of her hand.

"It's big. You'll need to put on a little weight."

He held her hand firmly with an expressionless face when she tried to pull away, and muttered the words.

"Teacher."

"There's no need to overthink it. It isn't a marriage for love, after all."

The hand she had been trying to free went still. His words were not wrong, yet somehow a dull ache settled in one corner of her chest.

Do-heon adjusted the slightly loose ring so it sat properly again, seeming pleased by the sparkle of the diamond, and only then released her hand.

"Just think of it as a contract. Like you said, it's a marriage I have to go through anyway, and doing it with you seems better. Through this marriage I fulfill my duty as a member of my family and gain my freedom at the same time. You finish your studies safely."

"It isn't that simple a problem."

"You really think I can't protect just one person?"

For a moment his terrifyingly resolute eyes felt solid and reliable.

"Believe me—your husband."

The voice that swept away her confusion and anxiety set Hye-won's heart pounding hard once more.