RB - 10

Cornering the prey, cutting off any escape routes, and pressing down mercilessly from all sides.

Then, sinking blade-like teeth into the neck, tearing into it without hesitation, strangling the life out of them. Watching coldly as blood pours out, devouring the flesh without a hint of emotion.

This was Seoyeon’s assessment of Junghyeok as she observed him. Unfortunately, the prey in this particular hunt was none other than Han Seoyeon herself.

Seoyeon quietly muttered under her breath, just loud enough for herself to hear, “I really hate him.” Then, as if to contradict her words, she linked arms with Junghyeok, leaning into his embrace.

Junghyeok responded as if he had heard every word.

“Han Seoyeon, your mouth and body are completely out of sync.”

Despite Junghyeok’s sarcastic jab, Seoyeon didn’t flinch and began immersing herself in this absurd role-play. Even though her assigned role was that of a pitiful “mistress-to-be-in-training.”

Rewinding to earlier this morning, at a luxury multi-brand boutique in Cheongdam.

Seoyeon felt a heavy weight on her chest, as though the porridge she had eaten for breakfast wasn’t sitting well, but Junghyeok showed no mercy.

“Again? You want me to change again?”

She sighed in frustration as she asked, and Junghyeok nodded leisurely.

The young female manager of the boutique smiled politely as she opened the fitting room door.

This boutique housed a carefully curated selection of rare, sought-after pieces from various luxury brands. For Junghyeok, a VVIP customer, to bring a woman here? The manager wasn’t about to miss this opportunity.

She kept recommending daringly fitted dresses that accentuated Seoyeon’s slender waist, paying no mind to how Seoyeon’s face was growing paler with each passing moment.

It was the kind of scene one might only encounter in a dream, yet Seoyeon wasn’t the least bit thrilled. Maybe her feelings would make sense if you added the phrase “damned ex-boyfriend” to every situation unfolding right now.

He offers to buy everything in the boutique. Damned ex-boyfriend.

He showers her with compliments, saying she looks stunning in everything. Damned ex-boyfriend.

It’s all ridiculous and infuriating. Seoyeon resisted the urge to fling the dress she was trying on and clenched her teeth instead.

The stiff price tags made her heart shrink to the size of a pea, but more than that, she remembered what Junghyeok had said just before they came here.

—”The women I meet on matchmaking dates are experts at scanning people from head to toe to size them up. If you show up dressed like this, they’ll doubt the nature of our relationship immediately. So please, cooperate, Deputy Han Seoyeon.”

Seoyeon grumbled as she irritably buttoned up the dress.

“What’s wrong with my clothes? I got everything from department stores. When I wear them, people think they’re designer anyway.”

Muttering under her breath, she opened the fitting room door, only to be greeted by the sound of enthusiastic applause.

The young manager clapped her hands in admiration.

The simple green dress hugged Seoyeon’s curves perfectly, highlighting her graceful silhouette. Elegant yet alluring, the dress embodied Seoyeon’s very essence.

Even Junghyeok didn’t bother hiding the slow-spreading smile on his lips.

Thinking the dress-up charade was finally over, Seoyeon stood with one hand on her hip and glared at him. She intended to calculate just how much this ordeal of wasted time and energy was worth.

Now slightly less tense, Seoyeon plopped down next to Junghyeok. At their feet lay a pile of dresses she had tried on and discarded.

As Seoyeon shook her head and sighed, the manager tactfully broke the silence.

“Please take a moment to rest. I’ll bring you some sparkling water.”

Seoyeon watched the manager walk briskly away and then shifted her gaze to Junghyeok.

“Do rich kids do matchmaking dates like this? Isn’t a lunch or dinner meeting the usual thing? What’s this about meeting at a wine bar at 10 PM?”

“It’s the third meeting already.”

“She must really like you, then? Meeting you three times.”

“She’s in a bit of a hurry. Rumor has it her father’s business is on the brink of collapse. I guess she wants to repay her parents for raising her so well. By throwing me onto her bed, apparently.”

Seoyeon frowned with a look of disdain, but Junghyeok continued speaking unfazed.

“Well… to put it simply, she’s like Sim Cheong.”

“Ridiculous. So what, Shin Junghyeok? Are you the Indangsoo or the Dragon King?”

“Get a grip. Your role, Han Seoyeon, is to stop this Sim Cheong from jumping into the sea today.”

“Oh, sure. No problem at all, as long as you agree to make me a Biryu Scholar in return.”

“The fact that it’s reached the third meeting… means this Sim Cheong is extremely determined. Which also means you need to be prepared tonight.”

Seoyeon snickered, mockingly fanning her face with her hand.

“Didn’t you see what kind of life I had to survive back in high school? I was born with guts. I may not know who my parents are, having grown up in an orphanage, but my genes must be…”

“Must be what?”

“…those of an athlete?”

Seoyeon’s voice was calm, but the longing for her family, buried beneath her words, was unmistakable—so clear even someone as emotionally stunted as Shin Junghyeok could pick up on it.

Just then, as if on cue, the manager returned with a glass of sparkling water.

Seoyeon gave her a thankful glance and gulped it down in one go. The straw stuck in the glass was entirely unnecessary. Watching her unreserved demeanor, Junghyeok spoke quietly.

“You’ll defeat Sim Cheong. I was worried for no reason.”

After leaving the boutique, they picked out shoes and a bag, spent time over a decent dinner, and enjoyed the evening together.

The strikingly attractive pair drew countless envious glances. Seoyeon felt a strong urge to shout, “This guy is a total jerk. His personality is rotten to the core. He’s an entitled, insufferable bourgeois brat. Being with someone like him will ruin your life, I swear!”

“…No wonder the tale of The King’s Ears Are Donkey Ears was born,” Seoyeon murmured weakly. Junghyeok didn’t bother asking what she meant.

The orange sunset that had wrapped the earth in a warm glow transformed into deep darkness, enveloping the city skyline. But there was nothing to lament. The artificial lights of the city shone just as brightly as day.

Finally, 10 p.m.

Junghyeok’s sedan pulled up in front of the reservation-only wine bar. A valet stepped forward to take the car keys from him.

Junghyeok glanced at Seoyeon, then shifted his gaze to his right arm. Reluctantly, Seoyeon linked her arm with his, barely managing to suppress her look of utter disgust.

Led by the valet, they entered the dimly lit interior of the wine bar. The unfamiliar ambiance felt strange, but Seoyeon didn’t let it intimidate her.

Junghyeok looked down at her and asked, “Ready to capture Sim Cheong?”

“Can’t you tell? My concept right now is Madam Bbaengdeok.”

But just seconds later, Seoyeon found her confidence wavering.

The woman waving enthusiastically from a distance—the one who looked annoyingly cheerful, like she was missing a screw or two—that was Sim Cheong.

“A woman happily waving at the man she’s being set up with… even when he walks in arm-in-arm with another woman?”

As if sensing her thoughts, Junghyeok patted her back twice. It was a mischievous gesture, almost like cheering her on in jest.

Damn it. Seoyeon quickly reviewed her work life in her mind. Without a doubt, she always lost to the “brains full of flowers” type of people.

What could you possibly say to someone who doesn’t understand you? When cheerful, innocent people blink their eyes and say things like, “Oh my, I didn’t mean any harm. Really, I didn’t.”

Even Sima Yi and Zhuge Liang would probably throw in the towel, Seoyeon thought grimly.

Determined, she sat next to Junghyeok, directly across from “Sim Cheong.” Seoyeon quickly scanned her opponent.

Even under the dim lighting, the woman’s adorable dimples shone brightly. She looked to be in her early twenties, at most.

Breaking the awkward silence, Sim Cheong spoke in a bright, cheerful tone. Her voice was clear, but it sounded like several screws were missing.

“Oppa, is this her? The one you finally brought?”

Since Junghyeok didn’t respond, Seoyeon opened her mouth to answer.

“…Me? So, Junghyeok mentioned me to you?”

Sim Cheong clasped her cheeks with both hands, her eyes sparkling with delight as she replied.

“Oh nooo, of course not. But all chaebols have mistresses, don’t they? My dad had one too. And with someone as pretty as you, it’s obvious you’d be a mistress, right? With your looks… you’ve definitely got what it takes.”

If you can’t tell whether it’s an insult or a compliment… it’s definitely an insult.

The supposedly self-sacrificing Sim Cheong turned out to be sharper and more venomous than expected. The first blow always wins, and Seoyeon had just taken a hard hit—squarely to the back of the head.

Junghyeok, still silent, gestured to the waiter, who promptly brought a bottle of house wine to their table. Sim Cheong, laughing cheerfully for some reason, poured wine into her own glass and said with a friendly tone,

“My name’s Bora. Should I pour some for you too, unni?”

Her tone was so casual and warm that they might as well have been close college seniors and juniors.

Seoyeon chanted silently to herself, “Get a grip, you money-hungry fool. This is about the Biryu Scholarship.”

With a gleeful grin, Bora poured wine into Seoyeon’s glass, filling it to the brim, right up to the edge. The overfilled glass clearly carried malicious intent.

Seoyeon smiled faintly and said,

“…This doesn’t look like it was poured with love or anything.”

At long last, Junghyeok broke his silence, his deep voice carrying an air of gravitas.

“She’s the woman I’ve loved deeply for a long time.”

Bora wasn’t fazed. She hadn’t come here expecting Junghyeok’s love, so there was no disappointment.

“Oh, come on, oppa. I get it, I get it. But… she is a mistress, right?”

Junghyeok fell silent again. What’s this? Shouldn’t he say no? Why is he just sitting there quietly? Seoyeon was the one who felt indignant now.

Bora took a sip of her wine, smiled brightly, and took another jab at Seoyeon.

“What’s this? Can’t unni handle her alcohol?”

Seoyeon, who had always scorned people who flaunted their drinking skills and boasted about their tolerance, found herself replying,

“Wine just fills you up, that’s all.”

With that, Seoyeon lifted the glass in front of her and downed the brimming wine in one go. The strong wave of alcohol coursing through her body helped clear her muddled thoughts.

Indeed, Dionysus was truly great. Seoyeon blinked slowly as she gazed at Bora, her thick eyelashes moving gracefully up and down.

“So, Bora. The mistresses you know… they all just quietly lived off the money, were grateful for gifted apartments, and that’s it, right?”

“Pfft, do you think you’re any different, unni?”

Seoyeon moved her arm slowly, her hand resting casually on Junghyeok’s thigh. He smirked faintly, seemingly amused by her touch.

“Of course I’m different. Bora, do you like historical dramas? In those, there’s always a queen who kills all the concubines. Or a concubine who schemes to poison the queen.”

“Oh, please. What’s so different about that? Listen, unni! Do you think it’s easy for a mistress to harass the legitimate wife? Marriage is the union of two powerful families. It’s an iron fortress no mistress can breach. Do you know how hard it is for a concubine to kill a queen?”

“Oh, Bora, you’re so naive. Queens who fail to produce an heir usually meet bad ends, don’t they?”

Seoyeon gently placed a hand over her lower abdomen and continued,

“You’re right. It’s a cliché. But I’m pregnant with Junghyeok’s child. And it’s a boy.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me. Isn’t it a bit shameless to fake a pregnancy with that flat stomach? And why would a pregnant woman be drinking wine?”

Seoyeon lifted one corner of her mouth into a cruel smirk. She didn’t care whether Bora believed her or not.

All she needed to do was deliver the message: “You will never have Shin Junghyeok’s child.” For chaebols, lineage was far more conservative than for ordinary people. Surely, this Sim Cheong would be rattled by now.

Seoyeon moved the hand resting on Junghyeok’s thigh a little higher, in a dangerously slow caress, and said,

“Anyway, I’ve already confirmed it’s a boy, so Junghyeok will be getting a vasectomy.”

Before she could finish her sentence, Bora exploded in indignation.

“What surgery?”

What else could it be? A vasectomy, obviously.

“Honey, you’ll do it, right? …That thing.”

Seoyeon gave Junghyeok a playful wink, her brows slightly furrowed in an adorably pleading look.

He nodded in agreement, then pressed his lips lightly against hers for a brief moment before pulling away. His sly expression was so convincing it could put professional actors to shame, his ad-libs utterly flawless.

Thump, thump, thump.

Seoyeon’s heart pounded wildly, almost uncontrollably. Whether it was the joy of securing the Biryu Scholarship or the rush of alcohol coursing through her veins, she couldn’t quite tell.