OTMG 9

Chapter 9

Inside his drawer, the portrait Chaeyoon had drawn of him and Chaeyoon’s self-portrait were still there.

“An exhibition…?”

“Yeah. Get attention, raise her value. There are quite a few promising new artists in Korea these days. She probably thought it was worth competing here.”

Juni watched Chaeyoon pursue her goals and dreams with quiet admiration. And he knew—she knew too—that Juni’s curiosity had always been directed at her.

But Shin Chaeyoon had a goal she had to achieve, and nothing outside of that goal mattered to her.

“No matter how much my family opposes it, I’m going to paint. After graduation, I’m going to Paris. I don’t need men, dating, or love in my life. Ah… correction. They’re just not important yet.”

Teenage Chaeyoon was impressive no matter how you looked at her.

Among people who had no dreams, no aspirations, and drowned themselves in hollow nihilism and empty bravado, Shin Chaeyoon stood firm. That was how she looked—to him, and to Gojun’s persistent gaze as well.

After Chaeyoon left for Paris, Gojun met a few women, but none of them ever received that same relentless attention.

To Gojun, no woman had ever come before work, taste, or hobbies. Perhaps Shin Chaeyoon had been the only one.

Juni asked calmly,

“When did you find out?”

“I heard she was coming back, but I didn’t know it’d be today. I was surprised too when she suddenly contacted me. But… she said she missed you. I thought I should tell you.”

If Gojun had ever had a first love, it was probably Shin Chaeyoon.

That was why he hadn’t told Juni anything about her after she left for Paris.

But Chaeyoon had said she missed him. The same girl who once insisted she didn’t need men at all, brushing off Juni’s gaze.

To his ears, it didn’t sound like simple friendship—it sounded like deep affection.

What did Gojun mean to Shin Chaeyoon now?
And what did Shin Chaeyoon mean to Gojun?

“So you’re taking me to her now?”

“I was going to leave you out of it if you’d looked blissed out after the blind date. But you looked like a guy who just got hit by bird poop on the street.”

“Bird poop… yeah. Sounds about right.”

It felt like the perfect description. Like a streak of bad luck barging in out of nowhere.

A sudden sense of discomfort, followed by an ominous feeling.

Even bad luck was still luck—enough to stir his sense of adventure.

“What’s with that ‘yeah’? Was she really that bad? You said she’d ruin your marriage, didn’t you?”

She was a woman with an unusually firm sense of purpose when it came to marriage.

At times she seemed like a clueless rich kid, at others like an illegitimate child acting as a family’s attack dog, and then—judging by her strange dialect and awkward styling—just a simple country girl.

Yet she proposed a contract marriage with unclear motives and even boldly went in for a kiss.

What on earth was she plotting?

His curiosity had been thoroughly provoked.

Because her provocation had worked.

The kiss had undeniably stirred his desire. Embarrassingly so—his lower body had tightened in response.

It had been an impulsive stimulus, unlike anything he’d felt recently.

“Madosil… do you have any more information on her?”

“I didn’t get much either. All I have is the schedule Chairman Lee gave me directly. Want me to dig deeper?”

“I don’t feel like it.”

“Why? Are you really thinking of marrying her? I mean, it’s something the chairman’s personally pushing… hard to cancel, I guess. But using her hand—doesn’t that bother you? Just use your specialty. Go full psycho, full asshole mode.”

Maybe she wasn’t the kind of opponent that would work on.

Gojun could change faces depending on who he was dealing with.

If it was a skill, it was one of his greatest.

He wasn’t inherently cruel, but he wasn’t kind either. Depending on the situation, he could be downright vicious—or impeccably courteous.

He switched masks so quickly that even those watching got dizzy.

Like changing masks at will—simple, yet endlessly varied.

Even someone who’d observed him up close for years occasionally wondered what Gojun’s true nature really was.

Right now, his expression was lost in a maze—impossible to read.

“What? Didn’t it work?”

“Not at all.”

“Oh? Met a worthy opponent for once? So that’s why you’re getting married?”

“Maybe.”

“Seriously?”

Instead of saying Why would I?, Juni paused in thought before answering,

“…Maybe I will.”

“Even with Shin Chaeyoon back in the picture?”

He asked sharply, aiming straight for the core.

“So what?”

The counter-question came back immediately.

But since Juni rarely revealed his true feelings, he pressed further.

“You really think Chaeyoon won’t bother you?”

“She’s not the type to leave me alone, even if I say she doesn’t.”

“What kind of twisted way of saying that is that? You mean she does bother you, whether you like it or not.”

Juni neither confirmed nor denied it—he just let out a quiet chuckle.

A deeply ambiguous smile.

Considering he hadn’t dated anyone seriously in all the years since Chaeyoon left for Paris, maybe Gojun was still hung up on her.

And Chaeyoon, without a doubt, was still hung up on Gojun. Even as she claimed she didn’t need men, Gojun had always shone in her eyes.

Then again, there wasn’t a woman who hadn’t once carried Gojun in her heart. He really was that exceptional.

But for Chaeyoon, dreams had always come before Juni.

Juni knew that too, which was why he never crossed the line.

Who had been more restless back then—Shin Chaeyoon, or Gojun?

Chaeyoon had hovered right at the edge of the line Juni drew. She’d hold a feather in her hand and constantly tease his nerves.

Enough to make it impossible not to be bothered.

The two men soon arrived at the airport and met Chaeyoon, who was waiting at the arrival gate.

Taebeom was slightly surprised. Chaeyoon’s hair, once always long, now stopped just above her shoulders in a neat bob, and her once-bold makeup had softened.

Her style—once flamboyant and striking—had become simple and clean.

Was it Parisian modern chic?

Her appearance was airy and delicate, almost pure, yet her fashion sense remained unique. It was as if vibrant colors had faded into monochrome.

But the radiant smile she gave Juni was unchanged.

That dazzling smile, like it held the sun itself. The same bright smile she always wore when she ran toward Juni.

“Oh wow, why are you both so big now? You’re built even more solid than Parisians. You’re really getting my heart racing, huh?”

Chaeyoon hugged Taebeom first, then briefly wrapped her arms around Juni before stepping back.

In that fleeting moment, he sensed a subtle difference in her touch.

She was bold and unhesitating with him, but when she reached for Juni, her hands hesitated—just slightly.

It was a blink-and-you’d-miss-it moment, but he caught it.

It had been like that in the past too. Chaeyoon had feelings for Juni, yet pretended she didn’t—calculating, acting, testing the relationship.

When Juni pulled away, she’d approach him, dripping with feminine allure.
When Juni tried to get closer, she’d draw the line and call him a friend.

He found her calculations distasteful.

“So… you’re really back in Korea for good?”

Juni greeted her with a short question.

When Juni wore a blank expression, no one could read his thoughts. Even someone who’d stood by his side for years found that face hard to decipher.

This time was no different. He couldn’t read what Juni felt as he looked at Chaeyoon again after so long.

“For good. I like Korea. Totally my style.”

Chaeyoon hooked her arms through both men’s and pulled them along as she answered, unfazed.

“Why are you so late? If the goddess has returned, shouldn’t her knights be waiting in formation?”

Since Juni didn’t answer, he responded with a joking tone instead.

“Where’s the goddess? I came to escort her, but I see someone else here.”

“Ah, Woo Taebeom, still good at getting on my nerves.”

“Taebeom only speaks the truth.”

Juni finally joined in the playful banter. Only then did Chaeyoon smile brightly and retort to Juni’s words.