Chapter 01
From blind date to marriage—just two months.
There was no love; it was a union forged by strategic alliance. But the story known to the world was a little different.
They met for the first time at the Seon Group Foundation Day, and afterwards, their families frequently interacted with each other. Then, when Jian went on a solo backpacking trip to celebrate her twentieth birthday, she met Dogun, who was on a business trip overseas. They dated for a year with mutual affection, which led to marriage.
That was the love story produced by the Seon Group’s PR office.
The union of Seon Group, a corporate giant, and TS Law Firm, a behemoth in the legal world.
That was the reason why Jian, only twenty-one, became Seo Dogun’s wife.
“Tteok…? Where’s the Vice President? Huh?”
Woof! Woof!
“He already went to work? It’s only six o’clock…”
Seo Dogun had returned home past midnight, and at the crack of dawn, he would get up, exercise, and head to work.
In the early days of their marriage, Jian had tried waiting for him, but his work hours were irregular, and after hearing that having someone wait for him was inconvenient, she no longer waited—nor was she allowed to.
Only once a week, on the day of the dinner at Myeongheonjae, did Dogun come home early.
“Is this really a honeymoon?”
Woof!
Jian looked down at her hand. She wore a splendid wedding ring, but her husband was rarely by her side.
“You think so too, don’t you?”
Scanning the bedroom that felt too large for one person, Jian wore a sulky expression. The only one greeting her in the room was the soft, fluffy Tteok.
“Mom said if I didn’t want to get married, I didn’t have to…”
Jian muttered while stroking Tteok. Of course, if she had actually said she didn’t want to, the family patriarch, Grandpa Beom, wouldn’t have left her alone.
In the end, it was a marriage that had to happen one way or another. Still, Jian was glad her partner was Seo Dogun.
She had fallen for him the moment she first saw him long ago, and since then, she had waited every year for the Seon Group Foundation Day. To him, she was probably just a child…
“I must be the only bride who hasn’t even spent her wedding night. How can that be!”
Even on their honeymoon, Dogun had spent his mornings visiting branch offices and handling business schedules, and in the evenings, he worked on his laptop.
Jian went sightseeing alone, and in the evenings, she returned to their luxurious suite to drink wine or swim.
One day, when she came back after visiting a unique attraction, Dogun looked her up and down, and Jian felt she knew exactly what he was thinking.
What is this child?—that was the expression on his face.
Jeans, a white tee, a backpack. A damp raincoat hung over her arm.
The raincoat she had bought in a hurry because of the rain told him exactly where she had been.
Universal Studios. His eyebrows twitched at the sight.
Perhaps that was why—Dogun kept his distance throughout the honeymoon, not laying a hand on her. To Jian, Dogun was her first love.
“Still, I’m glad I have you, Tteok. I would have been so lonely without you.”
Stroking Tteok’s soft, white fur, Jian rubbed her cheek against his warm body.
It was already approaching six months since she married Seo Dogun. Did all couples in arranged marriages live so distantly?
Jian wanted to get along with her husband. To have a child that resembled both of them.
Setting down the fluffy Tteok from her arms, Jian stretched. Today was a day packed with classes from the first period straight through to the afternoon without a break.
***
The strategy planning meeting was tense as thin ice.
The sole heir, Seo Dogun, and the chairman’s illegitimate son, Seo Taehyung—born from love.
Chairman Seo Gyujeong had brought the illegitimate child to the annex of Myeongheonjae and bolstered Seon Mulsan, and Taehyung was steadily expanding his influence.
He constantly interfered with Dogun’s Seon Electronics projects, trying to trip him up numerous times, but in the end, it always backfired on him.
Even that had turned into an advantage for Dogun after his marriage to Jian, as he fully took over Seon Electronics shares.
“Electronics will withdraw from the Qatar project.”
Dogun raised both hands. Smiling as he scanned the board of directors, he shot a piercing look at Taehyung.
Qatar was a large-scale project pushed by Mulsan. It was also a major deal that Taehyung needed to close.
Cheong Wa Dae was also keeping an eye on it, but for Electronics, it was not necessarily beneficial.
“Vice President, this project will bring profit to the Seon Group. If successful, for at least a few years…”
“And so, Director Jang? What benefit does Seon Electronics get? It seems we only take losses. Financial loss, not to mention the risk of technology leakage. Isn’t this just Electronics playing second fiddle to what Mulsan is doing?”
“Vice President Seo Dogun.”
“Yes, President Seo Taehyung. Is this really for the good of Seon? That contract looks like you’re selling the company out for a bargain.”
Without Electronics’ help, it would be difficult to push the project through, so this time, Taehyung would ultimately have to back down.
That’s why Dogun played another card.
“Suspension of restructuring. That’s what Electronics wants.”
Mulsan’s restructuring could easily invite the displeasure of Cheong Wa Dae. Seon Electronics still needed Cheong Wa Dae’s support, and for that, they were out day and night attending government-invited events, standing in the photo lines.
They were socializing tirelessly, and recently, Mulsan’s restructuring had become a topic at dinner tables.
It was probably pressure to stop.
Because the two brothers constantly differed in their investment perspectives, the strategy planning meetings were always tense.
In the end, they would tear at each other and then reach a conclusion that looked like cooperation for their respective interests.
In the meantime, the directors on each side were the only ones uneasy, sweating coldly, unable to do this or that.
After finishing the meeting, Dogun changed his tie in his office. He was scheduled to visit a semiconductor plant.
After adjusting his tie pin and cufflinks, Dogun received a tablet from Chief Kim Hyeon-woo. He glanced over the afternoon schedule once more while listening to Kim’s report.
“We’ve confirmed that the Madam attended her classes well. Today is a day she has consecutive lectures without a break in between. She declined the driver’s offer and used public transportation to get to school.”
“Public transportation?”
Dogun, who was reviewing the documents, looked up.
“Yes.”
“Tell her not to.”
Public transportation. Her face hadn’t been publicly revealed through the marriage, but if someone was determined enough to find her, it would be possible to deduce.
Dogun rubbed his face with his hands.
Twenty-one years old…
He never imagined he’d have that Han Jian as his wife.
‘Oppa, I’m Han Jian. Jian.’
A child in a princess-like dress who told him her name. A girl who came to the foundation day celebration and nibbled on sweets.
He had watched her every year as she reached the age to wear a school uniform and gradually grew into a young lady.
He was always amazed by how much she changed with each passing year.
‘Oppa, I’m twenty now…’
Her clear, flushed cheeks, a shy smile.
Even though she was shy, she seemed to want to make sure he knew—last year at the foundation day, she had even drunk champagne in front of him.
‘Now I can drink things like this too.’
Just a few glasses and her eyes were already hazy.
More excited than usual, she asked for his number and timidly sent him a few texts.
That Han Jian had become his wife. He had no idea how to handle his young wife, who still had peach fuzz on her cheeks.
“It seems tracking the Madam’s movements is not easy.”
“Why?”
“She disappears even on her way to school, and she often skips out before the last afternoon lecture ends… She says she’s going to the greenhouse, but then she’s at a cafe ordering croffles and cake with her classmates. Recently, she’s even joined a club.”
“…”
“Currently, she says she’s at a friend’s house near the university working on an assignment.”
Han Jian had taken a gap year and entered Hankook University, and she was a freshman this year. She had been attending rather quietly in her first semester due to the marriage, so he thought…
Dogun held his throbbing forehead.
Should he let this be, or not?
For a freshman like Jian, this was a natural life, but as the wife of Seon Electronics Vice President Seo Dogun, it was inappropriate. He couldn’t decide where to draw the line.
Still, for now, Dogun wanted Jian to enjoy the romance of college life that she could only experience at that age.
“Just let her be. But keep the security detail on.”
“Yes, understood.”
That was the best he could do for now.
