Prey - Chapter 48
“…..”
Jeonghan lifted his glass in silence. As Suhyeon watched his handsome face, eyes still on her as he brought the glass to his lips, she continued with a serious expression.
“The reason Seol Huinam is so afraid of you, it’s related to that, isn’t it?”
Clink.
Jeonghan placed the glass down on the table.
“It’s late. Let’s go.”
Jeonghan stood up without a trace of the drunkenness he had shown earlier, his composure intact.
“W-wait a minute.”
As Jeonghan moved to leave, Suhyeon hurriedly stood and grabbed him.
“Am I right? You married me on purpose?”
“…..”
Jeonghan, standing tall, looked down at her as she grabbed his arm.
…Huh?
His gaze suddenly felt icy, making Suhyeon flinch.
Unconsciously, she hesitated and tried to step back, but Jeonghan swiftly grabbed the hand that was about to release his collar, holding it firmly.
“!”
Suhyeon’s eyes widened as her hand was abruptly seized.
“That’s right. That.”
The coldness in his eyes quickly turned into burning intensity, and Suhyeon’s eyes filled with confusion.
“Do- Do Jeong…”
“I married you on purpose. That’s right.”
“…Ah!”
Jeonghan tightened his grip on her hand and pulled her sharply toward him. With their faces suddenly close, Suhyeon’s dark eyes trembled slightly.
“Because…”
Jeonghan stared at her with fierce intensity.
“Because it had to be you, Seol Suhyeon.”
“…!”
Suhyeon’s eyes revered greatly. His voice, suppressed and strained, spilled from his lips.
“Because it had to be. That’s my answer.”
* * * * *
A few days later.
Jeonghan entered the neat inner quarters of a traditional Korean-style restaurant. Ma Taewoo greeted him cheerfully.
“Do Jeonghan!”
Jeonghan’s usually sharp gaze softened more than usual upon seeing Ma Taewoo.
“It’s been a while.”
“Yeah, it’s been a long, long time! Ever since you became the chairman, you’ve been so busy, huh? It’s hard to even see your face!”
Ma Taewoo’s voice boomed, quite large for his build. In his youth, he had been quite slim, but now, with time, his belly had grown a bit.
Still, for someone in his 50s, he was well-maintained.
“You seem to be enjoying some free time, hyung.”
Jeonghan responded coolly as he sat down across from him. The table was already filled with an excessive amount of food for what was supposed to be just lunch.
“I’ve got plenty of free time these days. The guys below me are the busy ones. Anyway, it’s been a while. How have you been?”
“I’ve been well.”
“It’d be great if we could grab a drink together this evening, but since we can only have lunch, I guess it can’t be helped. Even if it’s disappointing, I’ll have to bear with it.”
Ma Taewoo took a sip of the tea that had been poured into his cup and grimaced.
“They always serve weird water at places like this. They want you to drink something that smells like flowers.”
Grumbling, Ma Taewoo pressed the bell and requested bottled water. Then he turned to Jeonghan.
“I still feel uncomfortable in places like this. There’s this tripe restaurant I go to often. When will I ever get to go to a place like that with you?”
Jeonghan looked at him with his complaint-like remark.
“We can go even now.”
“Oh, please. Everyone would be staring at your face, snapping pictures, saying, ‘Look, the chaebol (Rich Family) prince has arrived!’ Meanwhile, I’d just be grilling tripe like some squid next to you, getting caught in all those pictures in humiliation?”
As Ma Taewoo jumped at the idea, Jeonghan gave a slight smile with his composed face.
Ma Taewoo grumbled.
“Well, I guess it’s times like this when I can actually eat fancy food. Otherwise, when would I ever drink it… Ah, wait.”
Suddenly, Ma Taewoo’s expression turned serious as he pointed at Jeonghan with his finger.
“Don’t go sending me expensive meal vouchers again just because I said that, alright? My wife’s already suspicious, asking where all these fancy gifts keep coming from. She’s starting to give me these serious looks, like I’m getting something shady.”
Jeonghan lightly laughed at his serious expression.
“Don’t send any, alright? Got it?”
“Understood.”
Having received the answer, Ma Taewoo finally relaxed and picked up his chopsticks.
“This is also flowery,” he muttered as he raised the food, noticing that it was flower pancakes (hwa-jeon), and after a moment of grumbling, he popped it into his mouth.
“So, where have you been this time?”
