TKFT 04

Chapter 04

“So… you’re saying I really have to… do that with Eun Ji-an?”
Yoo-geon’s thick eyebrows twitched as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Ha… damn it… it’s suddenly so hot. Is it because of the milk?”
He pressed his fist to his mouth and coughed unnecessarily.
“Well… from what I saw back then, she seemed to like me quite a bit. Hmm…”
Judging by how shocked she looked at the idea of a loveless contract marriage.

“Ah, right. Eun Ji-an, being a ceramics teacher, probably has refined tastes. She must have had a lot of expectations for married life with me. Doing this, doing that, with a good-looking guy like me… Hah, can’t help it, really.”
Even his cheek muscles twitched uncontrollably.

The thought that her feelings might be a bit deeper than those of other arranged marriage candidates made him quite pleased.
“Would she secretly look forward to the first night if she knew we had to make a child? Then I’ll make it a good memory for her. Look how considerate I can be. Could she end up falling even more for me? Ah… that would be troublesome.”

Yoo-geon, grinning rather than troubled, leisurely got up.
Even though it was “for making a child,” he planned to set a bit of mood.

With light steps, Yoo-geon headed to the second floor.
There, besides the couple’s bedroom and his study, was Ji-an’s personal space.
He intended to get some clues about her tastes.

After Yoo-geon, who had been tossing and turning beside her, left the bedroom, Ji-an opened her eyes.
She had been pretending to sleep but hadn’t actually been able to.
Her heart felt unsettled because Yoo-geon had left the dress room with a completely neutral face after briefly pausing at the sight of her naked body.
“How can he not even blink an eye…?”

Feeling down, Ji-an stared at her own chest.
“Was it… not enough?”
No, that couldn’t be.
Her underwear size hadn’t changed.
“Then… despite all that, am I not attractive as a woman?”

Her eyes welled up at what seemed like the most plausible possibility.
She felt so upset, so hurt… she even felt a little angry at him.
Ah! Ji-an buried herself under the covers up to her head.

Suddenly, she vividly recalled what had happened in the car earlier.
After the party ended and he escorted her into the car, he had suddenly flinched his hand away.
Ji-an had felt hurt by that.
“Yes, that must have been genuine… more than the tender demeanor at the party…”

She realized how foolish she had been, ignoring reality, seeing only what she wanted to see, and boasting to Philbeom.
“…It’s frustrating. I want tteokbokki.”

Tteokbokki was her soul food.
But she had given it up months ago to maintain a slim figure that suited Yoo-geon’s tastes.

Sighing with a heavy heart, Ji-an peeked her head out from the blanket. Her eyes were slightly red like a rabbit’s.
She got up, intending to go to her personal space to write in her diary and clear her mind.

Though called a diary, it was more like a letter—to Cha Yoo-geon from her childhood self.
Writing letters was her stress-relief method, a substitute for tteokbokki.
Pouring her heart out as if writing to him always lightened her mood.
It didn’t make her gain weight, and it allowed her to think about Yoo-geon in a healthy way.

Ji-an left the bedroom.

For the first time since their marriage, Yoo-geon entered Ji-an’s personal space. He looked around the neatly arranged room.

He first examined the bookshelf.
Most of the books were about ceramics, with a few gentle essays.
“She seems to like soft, gentle vibes, huh? Okay, noted.”

Muttering, he scanned her desk, noticing a hardcover notebook lying there.
On a whim, Yoo-geon picked it up and opened it.

A date was handwritten on the page—just a few days ago.
Below it, the text continued.

[To You.]

At that first line, Yoo-geon tilted his head.
The term “You,” written neatly, felt both polite and strangely tender.
‘Who exactly is “You”?’

He continued reading.

[My first love, I love you.
I say this every time, but…
There are really no words other than this to express my feelings.
They say love means ‘longing for and passionately liking someone.’
Then truly, the word “love” is my heart itself.]

“What the…”
Yoo-geon frowned at the heartfelt confession.
A memory suddenly flashed.

“…Sir. I love you. I’ll hang up now.”

Right, that stupid “I love you” from earlier had blown a fuse in his head.
That’s why he had barged into her dress room without knocking.
The memory of seeing Ji-an’s naked body was so intense he had completely forgotten.
The “you” mentioned in the diary must have been the same guy Ji-an had spoken to on the phone earlier.

Yoo-geon’s smooth forehead creased. His thick arms tensed, blue veins standing out.

“Wh-what are you doing right now?!”

Startled, a voice called out.
Looking up, Yoo-geon saw Ji-an standing at the door with a shocked expression.
She strode forward and snatched the notebook from his hands.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?! Why are you looking at someone else’s things without permission?”
Ji-an’s face flushed red as she yelled.

[How can you be so handsome? I sometimes secretly watch you sleep and am amazed—you don’t know that, right? Sculptures even leave the museum at night and go to sleep.]
[Could you wear a shirt at home? Every time you wander around naked, I get flustered… No, never mind, don’t wear one. Actually, wear one. No, never again… confiscate his T-shirts at home…]

‘Crazy…! I left all sorts of nonsense in here! Did he see it all? Oh no, I forgot to put it back in the drawer…!’

What would he say? Creeped out? Teasing? Laughing?
Feeling humiliated, she wanted to burn the diary immediately.

Or, if he realized she truly loved him, and then said they should divorce…
Please… not that!

Ji-an’s heart pounded.

“Eun Ji-an, what is this? Have you forgotten your position? Loving another man while married… that’s unacceptable, isn’t it?”

Yoo-geon brushed back his slightly wet hair and spoke in a cold voice.
“Wha…?”
Ji-an’s eyes widened.
Loving another man? Who? Me?

“What are you…”
“Are you pretending not to know? You wrote it there. You love that ‘You.’ Just like you said on the phone earlier.”

His crossed arms and sharp gaze bore into her. It was the look of someone who knew everything.

Normally, Ji-an would have been excited by his cold, model-like demeanor and the taut muscles of his bare torso.
But now, she just blinked, thinking, What is happening right now?

‘Ah… could he be talking about the phone call with Dad from earlier?’
She realized he must have misunderstood the “love letter” in the diary as referring to that call.
How could things get so twisted…!

“Wait… that’s not it… please, just let me explain…”
“No need. You’re married, a married woman, and yet you love someone else. That’s adultery. Am I wrong?”

Yoo-geon’s mouth twisted coldly.

Strangely, the thought that her heart was aimed at another man made a hot surge rise in his chest.
Meanwhile, Ji-an’s heart sank at the word “adultery.” It felt as if it had cracked.
Adultery? He actually said “adultery”?
She had loved only Cha Yoo-geon since forever, and suddenly she had become an adulteress.
‘How did he usually see me…!’

Ji-an’s lips trembled.
For the first time, she felt disappointed in him, almost feeling a surge of hatred.

“Even worse, you don’t even try to hide it. Saying ‘I love you’ to another man in the dress room attached to our bedroom… is that for me to hear? Do you enjoy the thrill?”

Ji-an’s tightly clenched fists trembled at his taunts.

“To betray our trust like this… Eun Ji-an, I didn’t expect you to be such a terrible person.”

“Ha, really…! That’s not…”

“You said you liked me during the arranged meeting, but now adultery after marriage? I’m stunned. Understand?”

Yoo-geon fired his words like a machine gun.
Ji-an glared fiercely.
Did he even believe what she said back then about liking him? He dismissed it, saying all women say that. He didn’t even listen then!

Anger boiled in her; she could no longer hold back.
“…Fine! I do love someone! But what’s the problem with that?! Whatever I feel, what does it have to do with Cha Yoo-geon?!”

She exploded. She didn’t even want to admit it was him. He wouldn’t listen anyway.

“Our contract doesn’t forbid liking someone else! As long as I don’t beg for love in this relationship, it’s fine, right? So as long as it’s not Cha Yoo-geon, I’m allowed to like someone!”

Ha! Yoo-geon let out a hollow laugh at Ji-an’s defiance.
Looking so fierce, squinting his eyes…!

“So now you claim you’ve done nothing wrong? Forgotten? There’s a clause forbidding problems in married life due to romantic issues, right?”

“So! Has anything happened in this marriage yet? Except for you invading my privacy by snooping through my diary!”

Yoo-geon was annoyed yet speechless.
She was right—liking someone else wasn’t prohibited, and no scandal had occurred.

“Still! Don’t you think problems could happen later? In that sense, it was lucky I saw that diary! What if someone working at home had seen it? Then the whole country would know you’re an adulteress, you know?”

He blamed the household staff to justify his outburst.

Ha! Ji-an smirked.
Even if the staff saw it, they would have realized that “You” referred to Cha Yoo-geon.
Yet he assumed she was an adulteress and blew up.

Even if I died in an accident, he’d be like, ‘What about the contract, boohoo!’
Exactly. He doesn’t see me as a woman.
I really am just… that to him.

“I’ll make sure there’s absolutely no problem, so don’t worry! I have no intention of ruining this marriage I’ve managed to maintain! How hard has it been to endure being next to someone like Cha Yoo-geon!”

Even in a contract marriage, she had been happy to be by Yoo-geon’s side. Her heart fluttered daily.
But right now, she hated him. So she said something she didn’t mean.

“What? Someone like Cha Yoo-geon? Hardship?”

Yoo-geon repeated her words in disbelief.

This was the moment the thin thread of his reason snapped completely.

“Hey! Have you ever seen a man like me? The one you love, does he even come close to my feet?”
Whoever it is, obviously not!
Look at this face! These pectorals, abs!
Exceptional! Rare!
Everyone’s desperate to have me!
But you find being next to me a hardship and still love someone else?

Yoo-geon’s face flushed bright red as he asserted his superiority.
Unlike before, when his attitude toward Ji-an was no different from toward employees,
At this moment, Yoo-geon was exactly like that brat from his childhood who threw tantrums at Sun-young.

A brat in the middle of the night, shirtless, caught snooping through someone else’s diary, suddenly losing his temper.