TEOTW - 3

The tedious and boring time continued. Was this place always so stuffy? Taejo slowly exhaled into the air under a sapphire-blue parasol.

“Shouldn’t you start meeting someone?”

He never expected his mother, Seo Jung-joo, to bring it up this way, after she had hinted at it during a family dinner at Haeseungwon over the weekend. He had flatly told her he had no such plans in response to her subtle probing.

His mother, who never interfered with dating but always got involved in marriage, was coming back to him like this.

Taejo let out a hollow laugh at the bright-faced woman who appeared before him without warning.

Taejo’s eldest brother, Ryu Tae-jun, had an arranged marriage for mergers and acquisitions, while his second brother, Ryu Tae-han, fell in love with his sister-in-law, who was like a squirrel, and had a love marriage. They were both around Taejo’s age.

“Go see your mother. I won’t tell you twice.”

After he declined, saying he was too busy, Tae-han had contacted him again. He had assumed it was his mother’s message, and he wondered how much she wanted to brag about her youngest son’s return, but then he saw this.

A cynical laugh escaped Taejo’s smooth lips.

“I really missed you, oppa.”

It was the art center’s water garden, with a full view of Chiaksan Mountain. Since it was a weekday, the only people in the cafeteria were Taejo and the woman sitting opposite him.

The woman who had been a child in his memory had now become a lady. Taejo’s gaze fell on the woman, who was holding an espresso cup and sipping her coffee, pretending to be an adult.

“How have you been, oppa?”

“Fine.”

Despite his insincere and indifferent response, the woman just smiled brightly, as if she was happy with it.

Seo Ji-hyun. The daughter of the Hangyung Ilbo. She was the only younger sister of Seo Joon-won, with whom Taejo hung out, and was four years his junior.

“I heard you were drinking with my oppa over the weekend.”

“Yeah.”

“You should have called me. I like hanging out with you guys, too.”

That was something that had happened a few times when they visited each other’s houses as children. Even then, since she was his sister’s friend, he only let her sit with them for a moment when she came in without understanding the atmosphere, saying his brother’s friends were over. Even then, she would just follow the employee who brought cookies and refreshments, drink a glass of juice, and then disappear. That was only possible because Ji-hyun was an elementary school student at the time.

“It’s not a place for you.”

“I can drink now, too.”

“Drink with your friends.”

At his blunt answer, Ji-hyun smiled, with her eyes slanted, as if disappointed.

“Oppa, you haven’t changed at all.”

Unlike Joon-won, who was warm and affectionate to his sister, Taejo had a cold disposition from a young age. Among his brother’s friends who visited the house, he was the most difficult to approach and the most noticeable.

“You’ve changed a lot.”

“I’m an adult now.”

Ji-hyun raised her head proudly and smiled, as if she had finally earned some qualification. Taejo’s gaze flickered to Ji-hyun, but that was all. Nevertheless, Ji-hyun’s heart fluttered.

The man who sat there with an uninterested expression, as if he had no lingering attachment to the world, and cast his gaze around casually, was as cool as ever.

Even when he was in school, Ryu Taejo had something that made him superior to others. Even to a child’s eyes, the hierarchy and order among the dark-haired men felt clear. Unlike his brother’s other friends, who were rowdy, there seemed to be a subtle, overwhelming power in Taejo.

It was enough to instinctively know that he was a person from a good family, well-educated and well-raised. He was a person who exuded nobility just by standing still, and even his every movement was elegant and commanding.

Unlike her brother, who was constantly fuming with his overwhelming youthful energy, Taejo, who was beside him, was always calm. With the added weight of time, he now made Ji-hyun’s heart flutter even more.

His sturdy suit fit, which showed off his muscular body, was flawless, and his neat eyebrows, drawn as if with a brush, his sharp eyes, and his stubbornly set lips were all magnificent.

Ji-hyun’s gaze, which had been slowly scanning Taejo, fell to his hand, which had a finger on the demitasse cup. Even the thick, clean lines following his knuckles were beautiful, like an exquisite work of art.

Though she had visited the Haesin Art Center countless times, the sight of Ryu Taejo, sitting with Chiaksan Mountain as his backdrop, was the most magnificent masterpiece Ji-hyun had ever seen.

“It was worth making time to come.”

Taejo didn’t reply to her words, whose meaning was unknown to him. He simply lifted his wrist to check his watch.

Ji-hyun was trying to maintain a proud expression, but her slender eyes had already gone beyond a simple liking. The clear desire reflected in her eyes was even a little cute.

Ji-hyun, as if knowing his nature was not swayed by any flattery, continued to chatter on about herself without a care, and Taejo simply let it wash over him like the background music playing in the cafe.

Nevertheless, his ingrained manners and his occasional, brief words were pleasant to hear, and Ji-hyun was satisfied with that.

When Taejo spoke, it was like the wind was blowing. He was a man who had been indifferent to her from the start, but even after seeing him again after many years, he was a man who made her realize what desire was.

Unlike Ji-hyun, who was excited with the anticipation of seeing Taejo after a long time, Taejo looked on as if she was of no importance, and sipped the remaining coffee. Ji-hyun noticed his gaze occasionally going over her shoulder and turned to look around, but his gaze was only on the exhibition hall, where people rarely passed by.

“Oppa, isn’t it time for you to get married, too?”

“Not interested.”

“Oh, come on. Your auntie was worried that you were the only one left.”

“I don’t think so.”

Seo Jung-joo was tolerant of her children’s dating lives but strict about their marriages, yet she never explicitly expressed her wishes for her youngest son, Taejo. After having her two sons settle down early as if to fulfill a duty, Seo Jung-joo had subtly expressed her wish that Taejo would stay by her side for a long time.

“Are college students these days so free?”

He spoke as if to single out Ji-hyun, who was so at ease in a place like this on a weekday afternoon.

“I have the day off today.”

“You’ve got it made.”

“Thanks to that, I got to see you, too. What a stroke of luck.”

Come to think of it, he now understood why Seo Jung-joo had sent them to meet, telling him to buy Ji-hyun a meal.

She was the only daughter of the influential Hangyung Ilbo, one of South Korea’s news agencies. The first daughter-in-law, obtained as part of a group-wide harmony, and the second daughter-in-law, the daughter of an affiliate company’s CEO. If Seo Jung-joo were to get a third daughter-in-law, she must have thought that someone from the media side wouldn’t be a bad choice.

Seo Jung-joo had a special affection for Taejo, so she wouldn’t easily let him go. But if she were to marry him off, she would surely find a bride for him from a carefully chosen family.

“Oppa, are you not dating? Oppa Joon-won told me you’re not seeing anyone.”

“No.”

At his firm answer, Ji-hyun’s lips curved upward, unable to hide her joy.

“How long will you be here?”

“I’ll leave when you do, oppa.”

Taejo let out a shallow sigh at her cheerful answer.

“Actually, I come here often. Maybe twice a month? The scenery is nice, and the coffee is delicious. I came to see your auntie—I mean, the director—and then I heard you were coming today, so I waited for you.”

She looked around and let out a sigh of contentment, which was a little cute. Ji-hyun, with her sparkling eyes, looked like she knew nothing about the world. Maybe it was because she was so pure. Her bright smile, ignorant of the world, just made him think of her as a child.

“If I marry you, oppa, do I get all of this?”

“If you marry me, then yes.”

He answered indifferently, as if he had never thought about a future with her, even though she was talking about marrying him.

“Oh, right. I’ve been taking a flower arranging class through Unnie Seo-eun recently.”

Seo-eun was Tae-han’s wife and Taejo’s second sister-in-law.

“That’s a refined hobby.”

“It’s fun. You have to treat flowers with affection. It’s so amazing that even though they can’t talk, plants can feel that kind of affection. When I get a little better, I’ll give you a beautiful bouquet, oppa.”

“Sure. It’s good to do anything with passion.”

His answer showed no interest in Ji-hyun’s presence. Nevertheless, Ji-hyun was so infatuated with the fact that she was with Taejo that she didn’t notice his gaze constantly wandering elsewhere.

He looked at the cafe, then at the window. As he cleared his mind for a moment, the blurry figure he had seen earlier suddenly came to mind.

A woman who was standing in front of the large painting on the blue wall, as if she was pulled into it, completely absorbed in something.

Then, she suddenly broke her icy expression and smiled brightly.

A woman with slender, white legs that continued below a skirt that seemed to flicker like a flame, and prominent ankle bones on ankles that looked like they could be held in one hand.

“We break her pride on the third meeting.”

When the silhouette of Yoon Yiseo, whom he hadn’t thought about, naturally rose in his mind, an unexpected heat rushed down to his lower body.

“Oppa, after we finish our coffee, should we walk on Cloud Nine? It’s a really nice place. It’s so grand and sacred, like they built a city within nature. Oh, but I guess you’ve been here a lot.”

“Never once.”

Ji-hyun looked up with a surprised expression at Taejo’s unexpected answer as he shook his head.

“Really?”

“I don’t really like walking.”

He chuckled derisively at Ji-hyun, who quickly changed her mind after just a moment ago saying she liked Cloud Nine.

“Then what do you like?”

“I’d prefer something stimulating and aggressive.”

Ji-hyun’s eyes deepened as she listened. Taejo spoke slowly, as if to make sure she understood.

“Anything physical.”

Ji-hyun’s eyes trembled at his meaningful words, which did not apply to a friend’s sister. Her cheeks flushed.

“Interested?”

“Huh?”

The tips of the woman’s ears turned bright red as she realized the meaning. It was only for a moment that he thought it was kind of cute. How innocent.

Ji-hyun’s eyes, which were caught off guard while trying to be agreeable, shook with embarrassment. Seeing her flustered face at such a joke, he thought he should stop teasing his friend’s sister. This was because he thought of the scolding he would get from Seo Joon-won if he found out.

As a marriage partner, Ji-hyun wasn’t a bad choice. She was innocent and would obviously do anything he said, so it would be easy.

People say it’s easy to get married to a submissive partner, but for now, he wasn’t seriously thinking about marriage, nor was he interested in having fun with a submissive partner.

Taejo turned his head again and stared at the exhibition hall far away. The blue wall, visible through the large glass window, came into his sight like a tiny dot.

“Oppa, if you like art, would you like to go look at some with me?”

“I’m not interested.”

The words she had intentionally said because he seemed to be looking at the exhibition hall were abruptly cut off. Ji-hyun smiled awkwardly in embarrassment. She tried hard to close the distance, but as time went on, Taejo became as blunt as a person who had run out of patience.

Her heart sank at his indifferent eyes. Just as she was about to try to speak to him a little more, he opened his lips first.

“I think I’ve shown enough face for my mother.”

His cold gaze cut through the air, as if he had spent a lot of time with an unexpected unwelcome guest. As if he was bored, he glanced at the exhibition hall again and continued,

“It was nice to see you after a long time.”

“Oppa.”

“Go enjoy yourself.”

Leaving Ji-hyun, who was staring at him blankly with a flustered expression, Taejo got up from his seat.

________________________________________

The view in front of him was blooming with gold. Why was he staring at this for so long? From a distance, it was just a large work that felt nothing but intense.

Title: Paradise Artist: António Castelo Saramago

His gaze, looking for something, was sharp. The scale of the tile artwork, which filled the ceiling and wall, was indeed grand enough to be promoted as the art center’s signature piece. From behind Taejo, who had been standing there with his arms crossed and a skewed gaze for a long time, the sound of footsteps approached.

“Sir, would you like some help?”

When he turned his head, a staff member in uniform was standing there. When their eyes met, the female employee’s cheeks flushed. She was a staff member who had come knowing he was Seo Jung-joo’s son. Taejo stared at her eyes, which were easy to read, and spoke to the hesitant employee.

“Could you call one of your employees?”

“Who should I call for you?”

“Yoon Yiseo.”

At the name that came out of nowhere, the employee paused, bowed again, and disappeared.

A little while later, a presence seeped into the quiet space. Click-clack, click-clack. The sound of shoe heels, continuing at a steady interval, stopped behind his back.

“I was told you were looking for me...”

It was a neat voice. It was a perfectly ordinary voice, but the moment it seeped into his ears, it felt as if time, which had been at a standstill, was slowly starting to move.

Taejo turned around before Yiseo could even finish her sentence. When their eyes met, Yiseo’s eyes widened slightly before returning to their original state.

Her friendly face hardened ever so slightly. It looked as if she was subtly biting the inside of her lips. Her flinching movements stopped again. At the end of their slowly meeting gazes, a faint flicker of fire seemed to be stirring.

Taejo silently stared at Yiseo, who had fallen silent. With one hand tucked into his pants pocket, he gestured with his other hand for her to come closer. A flick of his finger. It was a gesture and a gaze as if he were calling an employee.

Her naturalness in being called like that made Yiseo step closer to him without realizing it.

In an instant, his scent enveloped Yiseo from her ankles to her head. It was a scent that seemed to hold a dense, tree-filled forest. It was a cool, heavy fragrance that she had smelled in a pine nut forest in Gapyeong.

A gaze like a sharpened blade poured down on Yiseo.

He didn’t seem to have any expression, but Taejo was holding a smile inside his mouth. Even though he was smiling, his gaze was still cold. The image that came to mind was something in between Perylene Green, which resembled a dark dawn forest, and Payne’s Gray, a bluish-gray color of a dark dawn.

It was a moment when she had forgotten what to say, momentarily captivated by the image of Ryu Taejo in front of her.

“You know me, don’t you?”

At his monotonous question, Yiseo slowly closed and opened her eyes.

His gaze was clear. She didn’t answer his question, but an expression of confusion appeared in Yiseo’s transparent eyes.

“You don’t?”

Staring at her tightly sealed lips, Taejo asked again.

The youngest son of the Haesin Art Center’s director, Seo Jung-joo. The confusion she had felt just a moment ago quickly vanished from the familiar face.

“I do.”

Yiseo spoke while maintaining a straight posture like a ballerina. Taejo’s lips moved faintly at her monotonous reply.

“But you’re speaking informally. Your courage is admirable.”

“You’re not my boss.”

Taejo chuckled at Yiseo’s attitude, which showed no signs of being intimidated or cautious.

Looking at her again, she did have the kind of looks that men would want to touch.

Her curvy figure and clear skin were visible even when she tried to hide them. Her gorgeous, full features and elegant neck to her soft earlobes. He thought the pearl earrings looked especially good on her almost-bare face with very little makeup.

He had a sudden impulse to peel her clothes off and devour her.

What if he took off her soft clothes one by one and left only the pearl earrings on her?

Looking at Yiseo’s eyes, which subtly revealed even her dislike, he asked again,

“Why are you here?”

“Because I work here.”

“Why?”

What should she say if he asks ‘why’? Instead of sighing at the suffocating question, Yiseo took a silent breath.

“Are you that good? My mother is very picky. Or are you an heiress who got in with connections?”

The mockery was obvious in his voice as he stared at her employee ID. He knew that it wasn’t easy to become a curator. He also knew that even with connections, one had to go through a rigorous official process and have difficult qualifications.

“Interpret this.”

Normally, art centers and museums had docents who specialized in giving explanations.

If it was about the artwork, it was their job, not Yiseo’s.

It was an outrageous demand, as it was something they might or might not do even if he politely asked.

However, Taejo was completely at ease with the whole situation. He arrogantly tucked his hands into his pockets and looked at her with an arrogant stare, as if daring her to do it.

“I need to know if you’re good at your job or if you just got in with connections.”

Who are you to judge that?

And so, an emotion unexpectedly rose in Yiseo’s eyes.

“The information about the work is written below it, so you can check it if you have eyes. If you want to know more, there’s a brochure...”

“I have eyes, too.”

His penetrating gaze deepened, as if to say, don’t you know what I mean? A flicker of interest finally appeared in his dark eyes. He seemed to enjoy putting Yiseo in a difficult situation.

Yiseo quietly lowered her gaze to read the title of the artwork and the text that was added to the explanation.

It was information that she had ingrained in her mind and memorized to the point where she could recite it without looking, as if the pages of a book were worn out from reading it every morning, at lunchtime, and whenever she had time.

Tomorrow is another day. The paradise will be yours. The sun will rise again tomorrow. That paradise will soon be yours.

The sunrise of Ushuaia was described and compared to the quote from a classic movie, Tomorrow is another day. A brilliant moment in life. And the “someday” that Yiseo longed for the most.

“I want to hear it from your mouth.”

As she was methodically listing the information in her head, his arrogant voice broke her thoughts.

She looked up and stared at him again. His gaze became persistent, as if he wouldn’t move a single step if she didn’t comply.

“Do it in a charming way.”

He was intentionally rude, as if his goal was to humiliate her from the start.

Yiseo’s expression disappeared at his outrageous words. Her face instantly hardened, filled with contempt. Her serious face was quite a sight to behold.

Yoon Yiseo’s eyes, which were biting the inside of her lips and catching her breath, became fierce.

Kim Sung-hyun was making such a fuss because of something that made her tremble this little? What a fool. Just as he was about to mock her, Yiseo, who he thought would snap back and turn away, calmly spoke as if she had collected her thoughts.

“This is a work by the Portuguese azulejo painter, António Castelo Saramago.”

Unexpectedly, her voice came out as clear as an announcer’s. Yiseo, who began speaking respectfully and with a composed tone, had a confident look in her eyes that was different from before. It was as if she was determined to show him what she was capable of.

“To put it simply, it’s a painting on glass tiles with a tin-glazed raw material. It’s a work that depicts the sunrise of Ushuaia on a total of 1,500 tiles, with each tile painted individually.”

Taejo’s lips crooked into a lopsided smile at her concise explanation. His eyebrows, which were raised in surprise, narrowed.

Interest was added to his eyes as he stared at Yiseo. It felt like an anticipation for some kind of event that was about to happen.

“In the past, azulejo used to be made by cutting glazed tiles. As an architectural style that used tiles, it was used not only for aesthetic purposes but also as a way to protect buildings from fire. You know the Alhambra Palace in Granada, right?”

Instead of answering, he gave a slight nod.

“That place was also built in the same way.”

“The anecdote about Manuel I, the king of Portugal, falling for azulejo at the Alhambra Palace and decorating the Sintra Palace is famous.”

Taejo cut off her smooth explanation and countered, as if to say he knew that much. Surprise appeared in Yiseo’s eyes, but she continued her explanation.

“Azulejo originated from Islamic culture, but it underwent many changes over the centuries. A representative example is the majolica technique, which means pottery made in Italy. In 1489...”

“A majolica painter named Niccolò Pisano began painting on pottery with various colors, and later started using chiaroscuro to express objects in a more three-dimensional way. I know that much.”

Taejo cut her off and spoke again. A serious gaze fell upon Taejo, who accurately explained the expression method of showing three-dimensionality through light and shadow. It was a moment when an unexpected curiosity shone in her eyes, which had not shown any anticipation before.

“Why.”

A sharp gaze once again grazed Yiseo’s cheek and met her eyes.

“No...”

Yiseo shook her head. To be honest, this level of art knowledge went beyond general knowledge. It was almost as if he was trying to confirm that he was the director’s bloodline.

But why, on purpose?

Why would he suggest she be his docent if he knew this much?

Yiseo stared at him for a moment with an unreadable expression. The information he had cut her off with and spewed out was knowledge that only a specialist would know. And yet, his eyes, which stared at her as if he had done nothing, were flawless. The moment she felt his gaze linger, Yiseo came to her senses.

“So, after that, azulejo patterns gradually became closer to a more elaborate art form. Influenced by Pisano...”

Yiseo tried to ignore his gaze and continued her explanation.

It was as if she was trying to purify her confused mind. She seemed to think that ignoring him was the right thing to do. She continued in a neat and calm manner, just as she had always done. It was a formal but not hesitant tone, and a rather gentle tone for a burdensome task. The impression that she was putting a lot of effort into this task was not bad.

So, he decided to listen to Yiseo’s explanation for a while. It seemed that she was glancing at him during her explanation, as if she was waiting for a chance, not knowing when Taejo would interrupt again.

His indifferent gaze passed over her tense cheeks and landed on her busy, moving lips.

“This style began to spread like a trend...”

Yiseo’s voice, which spread into his ears like a melody, was unexpectedly sweet. It was the sound made by her moving lips. Her plump lips, which were spewing out a moderate volume and pleasant tone, were soft and thick. They must be soft. They must be chewy. If he prodded them, they would let out a hot breath, and that breath would be sweet.

It was annoying. Those chattering lips in front of him. So much so that he felt the urge to bite them every time they moved. Would she still let out such a neat voice if he bit her lips until the skin was crushed and they were bright red? Until her red lips were about to burst and her white cheeks were flushed red? In his mind, Yiseo’s composure was broken. It was the moment that curiosity pierced through his head.

“...”

“...”

The words stopped, and the surroundings became quiet again. Yiseo, who had felt his gaze, had stopped.

“...”

“...”

Yiseo tightly bit her lips. The man’s eyes that were looking at her had lost focus. They were full of a twisted desire to somehow break her. It was a gaze she was all too familiar with.

The silence subsided. Instead of making a sound, she stared at him for a moment, and his focused gaze soon returned. Taejo’s eyes narrowed as they met hers, which were still and as if nothing was wrong.

“Continue.”

“Are you even listening properly?”

“Of course.”

“Where did I get to?”

“The part where that style spread like a trend, influenced by Pisano.”

She had thought he wasn’t listening, but Taejo accurately recited the words Yiseo had said, even with the breaks.

“Such azulejo remains a symbolic art form of Portugal today. People in the 16th century often borrowed subjects for art from religion, war, and mythology, and in the 17th century, there was an exchange with East Asia. As a result, works influenced by Chinese pottery, like blue and white porcelain, appeared.”

“...”

Blue and white porcelain, a mix of blue and white. Yiseo’s face, with a contrast as clear as that, lingered in Taejo’s mind for a moment. Her face was so white that it was as if he could be sucked into her dark eyes without even realizing it, and the bluish emotion that swirled above them was something new.

She didn’t need any further explanation to help him understand. This was truly a test. It didn’t take her long to realize that. However, she felt that if she hesitated in front of this man, he would steal all her words and she would be unable to avoid the stigma of being an heiress.

“I asked you to interpret it, not to teach me.”

A sharp, fragmented gaze pierced into Yiseo. At his sharpness, Yiseo hid her emotions instead. She thought that she wouldn’t give him the reaction he wanted.

“That was to help you understand. Most of our visitors don’t know as much as you do. You seem to know everything already, so should I continue?”

Yiseo’s expression changed, and a kind smile was etched on her lips. It was a kind but impertinent smile that did not cross the line. That smile, once again, touched his nerves with an unknown annoyance.

“You should.”

“Why?”

“Because I want to hear it.”

His face, which already knew everything, was arrogant.

“You know it all.”

“I don’t know art. I just memorized it.”

“Memorized?”

“Because my mother is the director of a museum.”

Taejo added nonchalantly, as if this was common sense to him.

“Ask me what you want to know. I’ll answer.”

“Not some boring theory you recite. Your thoughts on this work.”

Taejo stared at the magnificent “Paradise,” which was made of 1,500 tiles. It was the work that the Haesin Art Center proudly displayed. The grand, all-consuming golden light and the burning redness. Their gazes were side by side on the artwork. The images they each felt were different. So, the feelings they each felt were different, too.

“So, what about you?”

Taejo, who had removed his bored gaze, turned to look at Yiseo, who couldn’t easily take her eyes off the artwork. For a moment, Yiseo’s eyes, which had held the artwork, were faint, as if she had seen a dream.

“What do you think ‘paradise’ is?”

He didn’t know why he wanted to ask that, but the thought came out as words first. Her face, which couldn’t figure out the intention behind his question, soon became calm.

“Anywhere but here.”

Contrary to his expectation that she wouldn’t answer, it was a surprisingly docile reply. A place where there was no one else. A place where she could be completely alone. Even if it wasn’t Ushuaia, if there was such a place, she longed to go to the end of the world. For a moment, a look of longing appeared and disappeared on Yiseo’s face, which held those words.

At that moment, Taejo’s eyes slightly distorted.

It was as if she was saying that she didn’t want to be here with him. The man’s eyes became skewed. The skewed gaze stared intensely at her serene face.

Her attitude, which was polite but not submissive, seemed to be dismissing him instead. Did she actually dismiss him? No, Yoon Yiseo was polite from beginning to end. Then why did he feel this way?

In the feeling of his nerves being scraped away, Taejo soon found the answer. Even without intending to, Yoon Yiseo herself was that kind of person. A nail that was incorrectly hammered in, sticking out and catching on something no matter where it was placed.

Suddenly, Taejo let out a hollow laugh to himself, thinking, Kim Sung-hyun must have gotten angry at this kind of attitude.

“The end of the world?”

He turned his eyes back to the painting in front of him, which was like a fiery pit that would swallow the world, and then casually read the definition of “Paradise.”

Anywhere but here.

Yiseo’s nonchalant voice was imprinted on his ears again.

Was this her way of saying she didn’t want to associate with him? Well, from the way she was reluctantly standing by his side, there was a clear line that couldn’t be crossed. It was something that could be felt in the air. Yoon Yiseo, who seemed like she would consistently endure with that kind of expression and attitude no matter how much he poked at her. Looking at her, he suddenly felt a crack in his dry emotions.

Interest.

What broke through the slender crack was an emotion he thought he had lost. How long had it been since he had felt this way? It was a kind of thrill he felt when he found a very fun toy.

“So, only by overcoming pain, you can finally reach paradise.”

So this moment is pain, and if she gets away from it, it’s paradise.

Taejo’s eyes, which were arbitrarily interpreting her words, twisted coldly. Yiseo stared blankly at him as he muttered something she couldn’t understand.

“I thought you just got in with connections without knowing a thing, but you can recite things.”

A smile appeared on his face, as if he was sarcastically saying she was so admirable.

“I enjoyed your story.”

“Then.”

She didn’t want to see his sarcastic attitude anymore. It was time for Yiseo to turn around, as if her task was finally over.

“Where are you going?”

“...”

“You have to see me out.”

“What...”

He smiled at Yiseo, who had stopped.

“It’s the most basic of all things.”

Seeing a guest off. His eyes, smiling while talking about basic etiquette, were cold.

Instead of asking if he thought this was a restaurant, she sealed her lips and walked ahead.

The youngest son of the Haesin family, whom Director Seo cherished. After the days of being called the prince of Hanseong High School, she saw him in front of the hotel, and now here. Various memories were jumbled in her head.

As they reached the parking lot, Taejo pressed his smart key, and an SUV with a bold and macho design flashed its headlights. The majestic and sporty design of the four-wheel drive suited him well.

“Good job, pushover.”

“Who are you calling a pushover?”

Yiseo responded despite her resolve not to. How could he say a single word and make someone feel so bad? As she thought that and tried to ignore him, he spoke again as if to drive the point home.

“Besides you, who else is here?”

Of course, you.

With arrogant eyes, as if telling her to look around, he fumbled in his pocket and put a cigarette in his mouth. Smoke rose from the lit end of the cigarette. Suddenly, like a déjà vu, she remembered that time. The rainy day she had run into Ryu Taejo by chance in front of the hotel.

Was it the smoke that bothered her so much? Or was it the unpleasant gaze they had shared? As she tried to figure out which was more unpleasant, smoke with the exact same scent as that time drifted over and bothered Yiseo again.

“They say you’re so arrogant.”

“What do you mean?”

“The rumor is that you turn everyone down at blind dates.”

Yiseo let out a big sigh at his scoff.

She heard those things everywhere. Every time she broke off a blind date, or whenever she heard rumors from here and there. Even when she politely withdrew from a place she didn’t want to be in because the other person wasn’t a good fit, or when she turned down someone who was overly pushy, the reaction was always the same.

Because she didn’t accept their feelings or reciprocate their kindness, people would demand it as if she owed them, and if she didn’t, they would call her insolent.

And Ryu Taejo, who was in front of her, was no different.

Bringing up such rumors and acting rudely was no different from those people.

What did he even know about her to say such rude and disrespectful things?

And what did it have to do with him anyway?

To everyone who worked at the Haesin Art Center, Director Seo Jung-joo’s guests were no different from esteemed VIPs. Since that was the case for all her acquaintances, including employees of business partners, she knew that she had to be even more careful with his family.

However, there was no reason to endure this kind of abuse of power.

She had followed him to the parking lot to explain the artwork and see him out, as he had demanded. His behavior could only be interpreted as him enjoying a petty game.

“So, what do you want?”

He stared at Yiseo, who was standing there silently, let out a long puff of smoke, and opened his lips.

“That’s the expression you have, wanting to say that.”

He smiled again after shrewdly reading her and speaking his mind. His calm lips were now lazily turned up more than before. Yiseo’s eyes, which had been thinking of leaving as soon as possible, narrowed.

“That’s why I’m not going on a blind date with you.”

Even though he had probably provoked her to hear something like this, Taejo, who was taking a drag from his cigarette, stopped his action as if he hadn’t expected it.

“Because I’m arrogant.”

Her face, which was saying that she didn’t want to be in a forced meeting where she had to calculate her gains, or in a place where she had to be polite no matter what, was poised. The look in her eyes, which were clearly saying she wouldn’t hold back anymore, was audacious.

He tilted his head and lowered his gaze a little closer. A hollow laugh that was let out became more intense than before. He had worried that she might be too boring and rigid, but that was a needless concern. He fixed his clear eyes, which had not lost their smile, on Yiseo.

“So I’m going to.”

“...”

“Try to break you.”

He leaned down a little closer and whispered into Yiseo’s ear.

He had only slightly lowered his body, but the moment his voice reached her ear, she got goosebumps. He straightened up after saying those words, but the overpowering scent that had poured out from him still lingered around Yiseo. It was a deep green scent that reminded her of a lush forest. The heaviness, as if to leave a trace, was doubled and pressed down on Yiseo.

“How?”

She was annoyed even in her state of disbelief, and she found herself laughing in her annoyance. Yiseo slightly tilted her head and asked him, looking straight into his eyes.

“How are you going to break me?”

I’m not going to be broken or shattered.

She faced Ryu Taejo’s arrogant and impertinent gaze without avoiding it at all. At 170cm, Yiseo wasn’t short for a woman. However, Ryu Taejo’s eye level was a full hand-span above hers. His gaze, which slowly scanned her as he tilted his head, was emotionless despite being a declaration of war.

But his eyes were so deeply black that she couldn’t guess what was inside. Yiseo was unknowingly swept away by his gaze. The persistent gaze was too intense. Even when she tried to shake it off, she couldn’t move her head, as if her shoulder was being held.

Just as she felt sweat collecting in her hands, his hard gaze, which had been searching her eyes in silence for a long time, slowly traced her peach-colored cheek and came down to her pale neck, moving lower and lower.

It was a gaze that made her stomach feel unpleasant. The sensation that spread ticklishly wherever the gaze she didn’t want to receive landed, now spread from her head to her toes. A strange feeling and a subtle gaze. With a bizarre silence added to it, as they were tensely sizing each other up, Taejo let out a puff of white smoke and said,

“Wanna sleep together?”

It was as casual as asking for a cup of coffee, even though he had been looking at her as if he wanted to rip her apart. Yiseo let out a hollow laugh, “Ha.”

Is that all you could think of?

She was dumbfounded.

“With you?”

“Yeah.”

His insincere reply was indifferent, as if to say, it’s nothing difficult, and there’s nothing wrong with it. The smile that had spread on her face turned into a rigid expression again.

This crazy bastard.

Even though she had heard rumors several times that Director Seo Jung-joo’s youngest son was a good-for-nothing, and even though she knew that the youngest of the Haesin Group was wild before that, she never thought he would be this low-class. Of course, since she had seen and heard things when they were in the same school, she didn’t feel any sense of humiliation.

She was just reminded that Ryu Taejo was a scumbag who was so unreservedly casual.

“Why would I?”

He had been acting so indiscriminately that there was no trace of guilt on his face as he waited for her answer. It was a low-class question that didn’t even require a reason, but she suddenly felt a pitiful thought, why does he live like this?

“Because I want to break you.”

His smiling face was annoyingly innocent.

“If we sleep together, will I be broken?”

“You’ll find out if we do.”

A laugh burst out from Taejo at her cold, piercing reply.

Pride, what is it that it’s causing such a fuss?

She didn’t care about rumors that floated around, so she could just not listen to them. But to think she would meet a madman who would bring it up in front of her like this.

She really hated it. And she hated Ryu Taejo’s reaction, which was laughing with his shoulders shaking, even more.

Her face, which had been unfazed even after hearing words that were clearly meant to humiliate her, belatedly flushed with heat at his prolonged laughter. Now her cheeks were hot. She had probably been seething inside all along. Taejo opened his lips, which still held a faint smile.

“Is there a reason why we shouldn’t?”

“There’s no reason why we should.”

Yiseo answered him properly, and then added to Taejo, who was speaking casually as if sex was nothing.

“Even if I’m a pushover.”

At the word ‘pushover’, Taejo flinched and slowly opened his eyes. Yiseo, who was opening her lips that she had been biting, had quickly erased her previous embarrassment.

“Who knows? Maybe you’ll grow to like me after we sleep together.”

“Goodbye.”

Yiseo turned around and walked away, as if she would no longer reply to his nonsense. There was no hesitation in her steps as she headed towards the art center. Taejo shouted at her back, which was still neat even as she walked away in anger.

“The third time we meet, we’re sleeping together.”

He let out another laugh, unable to take his eyes off Yiseo’s retreating figure as she walked away and disappeared. The fluttering hem of her skirt, like a flame, was still annoying.