Chapter: 02
The Surest Revenge
“…I can no longer work for you after today, Director. As soon as I get to the office, I’ll submit my resignation.”
At Yuri’s unexpected declaration, Seola’s eyes widened as she raised her voice.
“What? Are you crazy?”
“No. I’m perfectly sane. And I’m also calling off my marriage to Jang Hyunwoo, so don’t worry about me or hold yourself back. Go ahead and do whatever you want.”
Yuri desperately suppressed the trembling that was spreading from the tips of her toes throughout her body. Then, deliberately pretending that everything was fine, she even bowed politely to Seola before closing the door behind her and walking out.
“Th-that… crazy bitch. Jin Yuri, you! Stop right there!”
She could hear Seola screaming at the top of her lungs, but Yuri didn’t even look back as she opened the front door and stepped outside.
“Hng…. Disgusting.”
Only after leaning her back against the closed door did tears finally well up in Yuri’s eyes. But she blinked hard, holding back her tears. Then, as though this was nothing at all, she dusted off both hands and walked toward her car with an indifferent expression.
Hyunwoo, who had hastily thrown on some clothes and rushed outside, grabbed Yuri by the shoulder just as she was about to get into her car.
“Where are you going? I told you I wanted to talk.”
Yuri roughly shook his hand off.
“You disgust me. Take your hand off me.”
“What? Ha…. Fine. I understand how you feel. That’s why I’m asking you to talk.”
Hyunwoo felt that Yuri’s behavior toward him had gone too far.
Even if I made a mistake, how dare she shake my hand off like that?
An insult almost slipped from his mouth, but he clenched his molars so tightly that his jaw stood out. He desperately suppressed his temper, though he ultimately couldn’t hide his displeased expression.
The moment Hyunwoo touched her body, Yuri felt goosebumps spread all over her.
If she had to keep looking at his shameless face, she felt like she was going to throw up, so she quickly opened the driver’s door.
Hyunwoo grabbed Yuri by both shoulders and forcefully spun her around to face him.
“Ah. That hurts.”
“Sorry. We really just made a mistake while we were drunk. Seola and I have been calling each other oppa and dongsaeng since we were young, so whenever she was going through a hard time, she leaned on me. Yesterday, she was having an especially difficult time, so I was comforting her, and after we had a few drinks….”
“That’s great. Keep comforting her from now on. Like that. With your bodies.”
Yuri was disgusted by how shamelessly and confidently Hyunwoo tried to convince her that what happened was no big deal.
Only now did she realize that the image of him always smiling and treating her kindly had all been a lie.
Once she finally came to her senses, regret and resentment flooded over her. She wondered why she had lived like such a fool all this time.
As expected, Hyunwoo, who had been acting submissive just moments ago, immediately revealed his true colors at a single sarcastic remark from her.
“Hey! What makes you think you’re so great? You don’t have a damn thing to your name. Frankly, where are you going to find a man like me to marry? Seola is going to get married soon anyway, so let’s not make this into something bigger than it needs to be. If Madam Joo and my father find out, it’ll just become a headache.”
“Then marry Baek Seola. What makes you so great, anyway? You’re not much different from someone like me who has nothing, considering you can’t marry the woman you actually love.”
“……”
Yuri had never once expressed what she truly thought out loud. Perhaps Hyunwoo was flustered because she had seen straight through him. He couldn’t say a word and merely blinked.
Hyunwoo had liked Seola since childhood, but her father was the chairman of Royal Hotel, while his own father was her father’s secretary. Just as Yuri had said, because of the difference in their social status, he couldn’t even dream of dating her, much less marrying her.
In that sense, they were both in the same boat.
Stunned by this unexpectedly blunt side of Yuri that he had never seen before, Hyunwoo stared at her for a moment before speaking. He figured that pushing any harder would only bring about greater consequences, so he decided to back down for now.
“Well, yeah…. You’re right. We’re in the same situation. So just understand me this time. It won’t happen again.”
Yuri’s anger shot straight to the top of her head at Hyunwoo’s excuse that barely even qualified as an excuse.
“No. I can’t understand you. How could someone who’s about to get married do something like that…. You know how shameless you’re being, right?”
“First of all, I’m really sorry. So let’s just let it go this once.”
“No. I’m not getting married to you.”
Yuri forcefully shook off Hyunwoo’s hand, quickly got into her car, and locked the door. Then she immediately started the engine.
“Jin Yuri! Are you crazy? Get out right now!”
Bang, bang.
Ignoring Hyunwoo pounding on the door with wild eyes, Yuri stepped on the accelerator. The sudden acceleration startled Hyunwoo, and he recoiled from the car.
“Crazy bastards. How can they be so shameless…. Sob.”
Her anger had reached its limit, and the tears she had been holding back began to fall on their own.
She felt like she was going crazy from the injustice of it all.
It wasn’t the fact that they had cheated on her that hurt the most. It was the fury of realizing that she had been played by them all along.
Hot tears streamed down both of her cheeks, and Yuri quickly wiped them away with her hand.
Her mind was a mess and her chest felt unsettled, but for the first time, she had finally said aloud all the words she had kept bottled up inside.
At that moment, she felt an exhilarating sense of release, as though a blockage inside her had suddenly burst open.
She had always thought about the things she wanted to say, but she had suppressed those impulses and carefully chosen her words.
She had never imagined that the day would come when she would express her true feelings to Seola and Hyunwoo without the slightest hesitation.
I don’t know why I put up with everything for so long when it was this easy.
Yuri vowed that from now on, she would never hold back again. She would repay them in exactly the same way they had wronged her.
But how?
Yuri struggled with the question amid her confusion, then shook her head vigorously.
At that moment, Seola’s cruel words flashed through her mind.
‘Why? Are you upset? Then why don’t you try doing something like this yourself? Though with your abilities, I doubt you could.’
Right. Just because someone tells me to do it, you think I can’t?
In an instant, Yuri’s desire for revenge burst into flames.
The man Seola desperately wanted more than anything.
Park Hushin!
Could seducing that man, just as Seola had suggested, perhaps be the surest revenge against her?
It was a dangerous thought, but it crossed Yuri’s mind.
Ten Years Ago.
Yuri first met Hushin at Seola’s birthday party after Seola had entered university.
He was a man who never revealed his emotions, maintaining an impassive expression throughout the entire evening.
Looking at him, Yuri felt as though she were looking at herself.
She saw her own life reflected in him—a life in which she had hidden her true feelings behind a mask and pretended to be someone she wasn’t.
His first impression was visually perfect, but there was such a chill about him that it was impossible to find even a trace of warmth or humanity.
When their eyes briefly met, Yuri had the strange feeling that his gaze was scanning her.
Afraid to meet his eyes properly, Yuri secretly stole glances at Hushin. But contrary to her expectations, his gaze was directed somewhere else.
That’s strange…. Was I imagining it?
Yuri was beginning to grow tired of staying beside Seola, who was too busy enjoying herself to pay attention to anything else, so she headed for the quiet second-floor terrace to get some fresh air.
She thought no one was there, but Baek Youngsoo, Chairman Baek Dohoon’s son from his previous marriage and Seola’s stepbrother, was there.
Youngsoo had always made advances toward Yuri, and perhaps because he was drunk, he openly blocked her when she tried to leave.
With unfocused eyes, Youngsoo stared at Yuri before forcing her back against the wall, pinning her arms and body so she couldn’t move.
When Yuri saw Youngsoo move closer as though he intended to force a kiss on her, she was terrified. She tried to scream and struggle free, but the loud music rendered her resistance useless.
‘Ugh. No….’
Just as his foul breath and the reek of alcohol were about to engulf her—
‘If you’re drunk, go sleep it off somewhere.’
‘Ugh. You bastard. Who the hell are you?’
In an instant, Youngsoo was pulled away from Yuri, and Hushin appeared before her.
One hand was tucked into his pocket, while the other was gripping Youngsoo by the back of his neck.
The moment Yuri saw him standing there, an inexplicable sense of relief washed over her.
Overwhelmed and disoriented, Yuri couldn’t even thank Hushin before fleeing as far away from the terrace as she could.
From that day onward, Yuri began to notice even the slightest glance Hushin directed her way. Without realizing it, she developed a habit of secretly stealing glances at him.
Before she knew it, she had begun secretly admiring him in her heart—the young master of a chaebol family.
But when they met again after graduation, he had become Seola’s fiancé.
Whenever Seola, who lived for shopping, found something she thought would suit Hushin, Yuri, as her secretary, had to immediately deliver the gift to him.
Seola’s instructions knew no time or place, and there had even been times when Yuri had to visit his house alone late at night.
That day, Yuri found herself alone with Hushin for the first time since the terrace incident.
She felt his gaze settle entirely upon her.
Then she had to hear a shocking remark whose intention she couldn’t understand.
‘It seems that if Director Baek Seola told you to die, you’d actually die for her, Ms. Jin Yuri.’
‘What? What kind of nonsense is that….’
At the same time Hushin casually uttered those words, his blatant gaze swept quickly from Yuri’s face all the way down to her toes.
Suddenly, a burning heat rose throughout her body.
‘It’s something I’ve always noticed, but it seems like you do anything Director Baek Seola tells you to. Just look at today. She sent you here alone this late at night…. You came to a house where a man is alone just because she told you to run an errand. Do you have any idea what I might do?’
Hushin gave a mocking smile as he stared directly at Yuri.
‘I’m… merely carrying out my duties faithfully as Director Baek’s secretary. I haven’t done anything that would warrant being humiliated by you like this, Vice President.’
‘Interesting. I think I’m the one who has been teased by you, Ms. Jin Yuri.’
Hushin took a step closer and brought his face right in front of Yuri’s, meeting her eyes.
Feeling overwhelmed, Yuri immediately looked away.
‘…I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve delivered the item Director Baek asked me to give you, so I’ll be going now.’
When Yuri hurriedly turned around, Hushin instantly grabbed her arm and spoke.
‘Surely you didn’t think I hadn’t noticed you secretly watching me all this time?’
‘Ah….’
Yuri’s face turned bright red as though he had exposed her deepest secret.
She had been so careful.
She had never imagined that he had noticed.
