Chapter 10
Junhyuk tapped his fingers against the desk before pulling out a stack of developed photographs from the corner of a drawer.
He flipped through them one by one, then gave a self-deprecating scoff.
“I didn’t know I could make expressions like this…….”
A strange version of his own face—one he had never even seen in a mirror—was captured on the square pieces of photographic paper.
Until he had developed the film, Junhyuk had been on edge, worried that the Principal he was protecting might have been exposed.
But unbelievably, every single photograph on the film was of Junhyuk himself.
Not a single one was an exception.
He still couldn’t believe it.
The fact that the photographer had managed to capture his fleeting expressions meant that those eyes must have followed him for quite some time.
Those calm eyes of Yoon Seohah, carrying a lie that wasn’t quite a lie—that she couldn’t see.
“She took them before I even realized she was watching….”
There were plenty of things about the situation that he didn’t like.
But for some reason, that one fact pleased him.
Junhyuk picked up the smartphone lying on the desk.
His fingers leisurely tapped out an eleven-digit number across the screen.
By his calculations, there were still about thirty steps to the garden.
But when Dodam suddenly barked, Seohah stopped and cautiously bent down.
“Why? Is there something there………………?”
Whenever Dodam acted like this, it was usually because there was some unexpected obstacle or something in the way.
But this time, it wasn’t an object.
She heard the crisp sound of footsteps approaching.
Then a woman’s voice followed.
“Are you Yoon Seohah?”
At the unfamiliar voice she had never heard before, Seohah instinctively took a step back, becoming wary.
“My name is Kim Dohee. Starting today, I’ve been assigned by CEO Han Junhyuk to provide security for you.”
Of all the words the woman had spoken, there was only one that immediately lodged itself in Seohah’s mind.
Han Junhyuk.
Only then did she remember what Junhyuk had told her.
One of his people would be staying by her side.
“Security……?”
“From now on, I’ll accompany you on all of your outside activities. It may be a little inconvenient, but it’s necessary for your schedule, so I’d appreciate your understanding.”
Seohah couldn’t understand why she needed a bodyguard in the first place.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t think there’s any particular reason for me to need protection.”
“I suppose you’re right. It looks like you already have a bodyguard with you.”
Even though she knew the woman was joking about Dodam, Seohah remained tense as she asked,
“Could it be……………… surveillance disguised as protection?”
She could actually understand that much more easily.
Perhaps because the question had been too direct, the other woman was momentarily at a loss for words.
Then a phone began ringing loudly.
Seohah’s phone was always kept on vibrate, so it wasn’t hers.
Ironically, however, Kim Dohee urged Seohah to answer it.
“Could you take the call?”
“What? It’s not my phone.”
While Seohah blinked in confusion, Kim Dohee reluctantly answered the phone herself.
As though she already knew who was calling, she didn’t even bother with a greeting.
“Yoon Seohah is asking whether I’m here to protect her or monitor her. How should I answer?”
The bluntness of the statement startled Seohah.
Kim Dohee placed the phone back into Seohah’s hand.
“He wants to speak with you.”
Still unable to understand what was happening, Seohah hesitated before slowly bringing the phone to her lips.
“Hello?”
— Tell me which you prefer: protection or surveillance.
She had naturally assumed it was Han Junhyuk.
But the moment she heard his voice, her heartbeat sped up on its own.
She couldn’t tell whether it was because he was always so unpredictable, making her uneasy, or because of the vague feelings she experienced whenever she dealt with him.
Unaware of Seohah’s confusion, he pressed her for an answer.
“I’ll arrange it whichever way you prefer.”
“Um, you really don’t have to go this far……………….”
Before Seohah could even finish her sentence, Junhyuk caught the end of her words with clear displeasure.
— Who was it that walked out of my house of her own accord? What husband would just leave his runaway wife alone?
………………Runaway?
Seohah was dumbfounded by his bizarre choice of words.
She hurriedly protested.
“I clearly told you I had an important schedule and asked for your understanding. And technically, you’re not my husband yet.”
— Ah, you like things to be precise? Then have Dohee bring you over here. We’ll start with registering the marriage.
As expected, there was no such thing as an ordinary or normal sequence of events with this man.
It made no sense.
And yet, somehow, while listening to him, it made perfect sense.
It was a moment when Seohah finally understood why people were so easily deceived by con artists.
Even now, she couldn’t stop thinking about how naturally Junhyuk had used the name “Dohee.”
Seohah glanced sideways at Kim Dohee standing in front of her and let out a short sigh.
She had short hair and stood straight, and as befitted someone whose profession was protecting people, she appeared fairly tall.
Seohah wanted to examine her more closely, but with what she could see right now, it was impossible to determine much more.
With Han Junhyuk behaving so strangely, even her own mind seemed to be running wild, leaving her increasingly frustrated.
‘Getting out of that house was the priority. If he’s the one making a move like this first, things will actually be easier.’
After thinking for a moment, Seohah turned around.
Laughter could still be heard coming from inside the foundation.
The moment she went back in there, Seohah would once again become ‘Cha Miyeon’s adopted daughter,’ forced to cover her ears and keep her mouth shut.
Simply being unable to see wasn’t enough.
A pitiful daughter who lived on her adoptive mother’s love.
A person waiting for a miracle.
The protagonist of a story written by someone else, unable to decide anything about her own life.
At this moment, would it be too much of a leap to say that Han Junhyuk’s words sounded like an escape route?
Even so, this had gone too far.
‘Marriage registration all of a sudden…..………….
Does he really mean becoming legally married right now?
Surely he can’t be serious.
Judging by the way he’d acted until now, it had to be a joke.’
Seohah shook her head and let out a short breath before speaking in a resigned voice.
“What are you going to do if I actually say I’ll do it?”
After turning the matter over in her head, Seohah suddenly blurted out the question.
There was at least one certain benefit to going through with the legal procedure.
Even if Junhyuk changed his mind halfway through, neither of them would be able to simply back out.
Marriage registration in South Korea could not simply be canceled at will.
And compared to premarital cohabitation, a registered marriage offered endless possibilities for presenting the situation in a favorable light.
After a brief silence, Junhyuk gave an instruction.
— Put Dohee on.
For a moment, Seohah almost said no.
Even though she had thought he was merely making a passing joke, she was embarrassed that she had taken him seriously and accepted the bait so readily.
Trying to suppress her unsettled feelings, she handed the phone to Kim Dohee.
A clear, ringing voice soon came through.
“The vehicle is ready. Yes, I’ll do that.”
Kim Dohee relayed those words to Junhyuk without any further response and ended the call.
“This phone was given to me by the CEO to pass on to you, so you can keep it. It’s iOS-based, so you can control it by voice using AI.”
Seohah couldn’t help wondering whether Han Junhyuk had given her a smartphone designed to be accessible to visually impaired users simply by chance, or whether it was a thoughtful consideration specifically for her.
Reluctantly, she held out her hand and accepted the phone.
For some reason, it felt like she’d just acquired another smartphone with location tracking installed on it, which didn’t exactly please her.
“Shall we go, then?”
“……Where?”
“He instructed me to take you to Gangnam District Office.”
A tense breath slipped between Seohah’s lips.
She couldn’t even tell whether he was serious or joking, yet was he really telling her to go register their marriage right now?
Once again, Han Junhyuk had gone far beyond the limits of Seohah’s common sense.
After hesitating for a moment, she tightened her grip on the harness in her hand.
“Let’s go, Dodam.”
As Seohah began to move, Kim Dohee lightly took her arm and guided her toward the car.
No turning back.
Once something had been said, it could not be taken back. Once an action had been taken, it could not be undone.
The saying applied equally to both Han Junhyuk and herself.
Yoon Seohah, who had never even experienced a relationship, was on the verge of becoming someone else’s wife.
Without love.
With nothing more than a signature.
Kim Dohee blatantly glanced at the rearview mirror.
It was something she never did while carrying out a mission, no matter what.
Most Principals were highly sensitive to the eyes of others, so Kim Dohee had made it a habit never to give a VIP unnecessary attention.
‘Can she really not see?’
She had openly looked at Seohah several times now.
Under normal circumstances, another person would have instinctively met her gaze at least once or twice by this point.
But the woman sitting pressed against the far end of the back seat didn’t turn her head even once.
She simply stared out the window.
Kim Dohee unconsciously furrowed her brow as she recalled the sudden summons she had received that morning.
At the time, she had been lightly warming up with Team Leader Park Jaeman.
