Chapter 41: The First Kiss of a Fake Marriage

“What do you suddenly mean by… that? There’s no way that’s true, Father.”

Even Go Ha-jin, who prided himself on having nerves of steel, felt a chill run down his spine at the voice and pressure behind those words.

Lee Ah-seong didn’t stop there. He rose from his seat and walked toward Tae Seol.

The only moment he acted oddly out of place was when he carefully set down the bag he had been holding to his chest like a precious relic. But even that ridiculous sight wasn’t funny enough to laugh at.

“What do I mean? You should know better than anyone. Didn’t I warn you never to siphon money out of this family again?”

Ha-jin wanted to leave first because the atmosphere was so uncomfortable. He had no idea what was going on, but even witnessing something like this secondhand made his stomach churn.

Unfortunately, Tae Seol and Lee Ah-seong were blocking the entrance completely, making escape impossible.

As Ha-jin awkwardly shifted his eyes around while pretending not to listen too closely, his gaze met Tae Seol’s. For an instant, coldness flickered in Tae Seol’s eyes. Maybe even resentment.

“That’s… it was my father’s birthday, so I wanted to give him something…. I got Jun-seok’s permission too.”

“Haah. Can’t earn even ten won outside, yet you’ve developed expensive tastes. Do you know how much money has already been wasted on that household? And now you’re using our money to buy gifts for them too? You’ve lost your mind.”

How could someone say such things with that posture and tone? It was astonishing.

Lee Ah-seong stood perfectly upright as he spoke to Tae Seol. He wasn’t particularly shouting or enraged, but somehow that made him even more terrifying.

It truly felt as though he was speaking to something less than human.

“Dad, that’s enough.”

“Woo-seok, stay out of this. This isn’t something we can just overlook. Do you know how much was spent today? Twenty million won. Twenty million. To indulge in luxury at a time like this, what would people say if they found out?”

…Meanwhile, the bag he himself had received as a gift cost thirty-nine million won, apparently without issue.

To Lee Ah-seong, the amount probably didn’t matter at all. The real problem was simply that Tae Seol had spent it.

Tae Seol bit down hard on his lip as the scolding dragged on. His eyes had already grown wet enough that it looked like tears might spill at any moment.

It was more than enough to stir sympathy in anyone watching, yet Lee Ah-seong didn’t so much as blink.

“Go return everything tomorrow. Bring me the refund receipts too.”

“…”

“Didn’t you hear me?”

“…Understood.”

At last, a single tear dropped from Tae Seol’s eye.

Even in that state, he still bowed politely before leaving the living room.

“Hyung, step outside for a moment. I need to talk with Dad.”

Chae Woo-seok also seemed strange somehow. Ha-jin already disliked the current situation, and Woo-seok’s mood didn’t seem ordinary either, so it felt safer to leave as told.

‘Seriously… there was never a single quiet day in this household.’

“Mr. Seol, are you okay…?”

After leaving the living room and walking down the hallway, Ha-jin spotted Tae Seol leaning against the wall and asked carefully.

But the way Tae Seol looked at him felt strange. Different again from how he had looked earlier in the living room.

“When someone begs you that desperately, was it really so hard to grant one simple favor?”

“…What? What are you talking about?”

“Hah. So you run straight to Father the moment we get home and tattle to him, and now you’re pretending innocence? I know you look down on me, but don’t live like such a snake.  have my own reasons for doing these things too, you know?”

“Seol-ssi, I think you’re misunderstanding something. I didn’t tell Father anything-”

“Take your hand off me. Haah… f*ck.”

Ha-jin had tried to calm Tae Seol by grabbing his arm, but Tae Seol violently shook off the hand touching him.

He glared sharply at Ha-jin for a long moment before turning and walking away.

A strange feeling settled over Ha-jin.

Somehow… it seemed Tae Seol wasn’t exactly normal either.

****

“What were you talking about with Father earlier?”

“Nothing important. You don’t need to worry about it.”

“Ah… okay. Want a beer?”

After washing up, Go Ha-jin set out a simple spread for drinks. There wasn’t much, just cold canned beer and a few pieces of cheese.

Chae Woo-seok came out after showering as well, shaking the water from his hair before sitting across from Ha-jin and opening the beer can handed to him.

Ha-jin was curious about the conversation Woo-seok had with Lee Ah-seong, but it was obviously related to Tae Seol somehow, and digging deeper probably wouldn’t do any good.

So he let it go.

“Did Team Leader Yang leave?”

“No idea. If she finished the laundry, she probably went home. She’s one of Father’s people too, right?”

“Be careful around her too. She’s someone Dad brought into the house when he got married. She’s not easy to deal with.”

“There seriously isn’t a single easy person in this house. It’s like the wild.”

“And who was the one bold enough to make someone like that hand-wash clothes? You’re impressive.”

Woo-seok reached across the table and lightly pinched Ha-jin’s cheek as if genuinely praising him.

“W-What do you mean impressive…”

Redness spread from the spot Woo-seok had touched. It was because of the sudden skinship.

The scent of body wash that drifted over the moment Woo-seok reached toward him. The soft touch brushing against his cheek. And maybe because he had just showered, Woo-seok’s face looked unusually fresh, his damp hair gleaming faintly under the light…

Looking at Chae Woo-seok for too long was dangerous.

Ha-jin deliberately turned his gaze away and gulped down his beer.

“Are you hot? Why are you so red?”

“Yeah. It’s extremely hot.”

To an outsider, that really did seem plausible.

Woo-seok simply assumed Ha-jin’s difficult day had finally caught up with him. So he held the beer can in both hands for a while until it became ice-cold, then pressed it against Ha-jin’s cheeks.

“Feels nice, right? This is your reward for doing well today.”

Internally, Woo-seok expected Ha-jin to pout and shoot back with something like, “Instead of this, why not reward me with money?”

He was already looking forward to it.

But even after a long while, Ha-jin’s loud mouth showed no sign of opening.

Instead, warmth slowly seeped into Woo-seok’s chilled palms, and even the parts of Ha-jin’s face not covered by his hands turned bright red.

“Are you actually sick?”

His expression was strange too. His lips were pushed out from having both cheeks squished, yet his face had gone stiff as a board.

Woo-seok finally gave up on teasing him and checked his forehead once with the back of his hand, then again with his palm.

“T-That’s not it at all, okay? Why are you kneading someone else’s face whenever you feel like it?!”

Only after a long pause did Ha-jin finally speak again. Then he abruptly sprang up from his chair, escaping Woo-seok’s touch.

“Ah.”

The huffing voice. The skin now flushed all the way down to the back of his neck.

Seeing that, Woo-seok let out a short laugh.

So he wasn’t sick after all.

“Our Ha-jin’s having weird thoughts again. You said you didn’t even have experience, so why are you this horny?”

“H-Horny? Me? Absolutely not. I definitely wasn’t imagining anything with you, Mr. Chae Woo-seok!”

What exactly had he imagined? What kind of scene had crossed his mind to make his face burn that red?

Woo-seok suddenly became curious.

“Dad was saying something like that too, actually. Asking if there’s some kind of problem with our married life.”

“What… are you talking about…?”

“Well. I don’t know exactly what he heard, but isn’t it obvious what he meant?”

“Th-That…?”

There was no way Ha-jin could misunderstand what Woo-seok meant in this situation.

What else could it possibly refer to?

S*x. S*x. S*x.

Nothing but s*x.

“How… would he know…?”

“Dad’s always been sharp. Or maybe there’s a spy hidden somewhere in this house.”

But Ha-jin couldn’t think of anyone suspicious. No matter how many eyes and ears this house had, there shouldn’t have been any chance for someone to witness that.

Especially since they had only just moved into the house.

“And now that I think about it.”

After finishing an entire can of beer, Woo-seok stood and walked toward Ha-jin, who was already on his feet.

Three steps. Two steps. One step.

Close enough that the fronts of their clothes nearly touched.

Then Woo-seok wrapped an arm loosely around Ha-jin’s waist and pulled him closer.

“If we really want to make this convincing, actually doing it might not be a bad idea. What do you think?”

His voice sounded heavy and low. At the quiet question, Ha-jin couldn’t answer at all.

For a moment, he almost agreed immediately. But then… something started bothering him.

He had entertained thoughts like that during the honeymoon, but quickly abandoned them.

No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason s*x should enter the contract between him and Chae Woo-seok.

Woo-seok already had someone in his heart. And since this marriage wasn’t built on love, there was no need for a physical relationship.

Besides, Ha-jin wasn’t even sure whether Woo-seok was truly capable of having s*x in the first place.

“Well….”

But then again, maybe the opposite was true.

The fact that Woo-seok was bringing it up this seriously could mean it was absolutely necessary.

Chae Woo-seok, who had someone he liked. Chae Woo-seok, who could easily sleep with anyone outside if he wanted to.

If a man like that was making this kind of proposal to someone he didn’t even love, wasn’t that proof enough?

Ha-jin’s thoughts tangled into a mess.

“What, are you nervous because it’s your first time?”

“It-It’s not my first time, okay?!”

“Well, refusing is fine too.
But if my parents notice and it causes problems later, you’ll have to take responsibility for all of it.”

Watching Ha-jin’s trembling eyes, Woo-seok figured this was probably enough teasing for now.

Really, where else could he find someone who reacted exactly the way he wanted no matter what prank he pulled?

Ha-jin always acted smart, yet sometimes looked unbelievably defenseless. Woo-seok found that strangely entertaining.

Maybe that was why he kept wanting to mess with him like this for no reason.

“…Okay.”

“Hm?”

“Let’s do it. S*x. Now that I think about it, we’re already married, so avoiding just that would honestly seem weirder.”

This time, Woo-seok was the one caught off guard.

He hadn’t expected Ha-jin to accept it this boldly.

Whatever resolve he had made, there was no longer even the slightest shake in his eyes.

Woo-seok tried to remove the arm around Ha-jin’s waist, but the hands suddenly cupping his cheeks stopped him cold.

“You, what are you-!”

Go Ha-jin slowly lowered his eyelids and rose onto his toes, leaning forward.

His destination was unmistakable.

Chae Woo-seok’s lips.

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