Chapter 3
The second night at the Kanghwa Hotel.
Though the place was unfamiliar, Soyu’s mind and body felt more at ease here than at home.
That is, until her phone started ringing non-stop—from Yeonok and Dahae, taking turns.
On the brink of a nervous breakdown, Soyu finally switched the phone off completely.
And just like that, a wave of freedom she’d never experienced before washed over her. It felt… good.
Was this what a late-blooming rebellion felt like?
Whatever it was, she wanted to savor the moment.
Refreshed, she finished her shower and flopped onto the bed.
Maybe I’ll watch a movie next.
She was making quiet plans to herself when someone knocked at the door.
“I didn’t order room service…”
Puzzled, Soyu opened the door without thinking much of it.
“Oh…”
If I’d known it was him, I would’ve pretended to be asleep.
Too late. The door was already wide open, and Taeoh had clearly seen her—awake and very much not sleeping.
“Your phone was off.”
“Yes. I was getting some… unpleasant calls.”
“You look better than I expected.”
“….”
She couldn’t explain it, but something about his tone unsettled her.
It almost sounded like concern.
Which made no sense—Taeoh saw their marriage as a business deal. And yet… Soyu couldn’t shake the strange feeling blooming in her chest.
She blinked, trying to refocus.
Taeoh casually raised the wine bottle in his hand.
“Can I come in? There are a few things we should talk about.”
She assumed he meant wedding-related matters.
If that was the case, she had no real reason to turn him away.
Besides, this was his hotel, and she was merely a guest here.
With a quiet nod, Soyu stepped aside, allowing Taeoh to walk in with his usual composed stride.
“Do you drink?”
“Not very well…”
He sank into the elegant sofa, smoothly uncorking the wine like it was second nature.
Soyu found herself wordlessly watching his hands—his movements—caught off guard by how natural and confident he seemed.
“So.”
Taeoh spoke without even glancing at her.
“Still hung up on what happened last night?”
The unexpected question threw her off.
“I mean—if not, maybe wear something more… appropriate next time?”
Only then did Soyu realize what she was wearing.
Fresh out of the shower, she was still in a loosely tied robe.
Her eyes widened. Crap.
She quickly tightened the robe around herself and rushed off to the bedroom.
While she was gone, Taeoh closed his eyes, calming the countless things that were threatening to rise inside him.
By the time Soyu returned—bundled in whatever modest clothing she could find—he was back to his usual cool, detached self.
Unfortunately, she was not.
She couldn’t shake the strange tension crackling in the air. It made her move stiffly, like a broken robot.
Taeoh sipped his wine, looking completely at ease.
“Um…”
He hadn’t even done anything, but his presence alone radiated something so dangerously alluring.
To someone like Soyu—naïve, inexperienced—he was a dangerous man.
“Can I… ask you something?”
She couldn’t take the silence anymore and finally found her voice.
Taeoh turned to meet her gaze but said nothing.
That seemed to be his way of saying, go ahead.
Soyu cleared her throat. It was something she’d really wanted to ask.
“Why… did you decide to marry me?”
But despite her best effort to sound calm, her voice trembled with nerves.
Embarrassed, she turned her face toward the night view outside the window.
Leaning back in his chair, Taeoh quietly observed the flush creeping up her pale neck.
The contrast was striking.
But the thirst he felt wasn’t in his throat—though wine was the only thing he could reach for now.
“My family isn’t exactly on the same level as the Kanghwa Group,” she added quietly.
Yeonok had paraded the marriage around as her own accomplishment, but Soyu knew the truth.
It wasn’t Yeonok who sought out Kanghwa—it was Taeoh.
He had approached first. He had proposed the marriage.
Yeonok had just latched onto the opportunity like a greedy bird.
“There must’ve been other women—other heiresses—who were more… equal to you.”
Taeoh paused, then answered simply.
“You looked desperate.”
Taeoh interrupted Soyu mid-sentence.
“What?”
“I was thinking about marriage, and then I saw you.”
Against the dark night sky, the city lights sparkled even more brightly.
Blinking against the sharp view, Soyu replayed his words in her head.
“Were you just tired of going on blind dates?”
“I told you. I saw you. That’s the reason.”
Still, it didn’t make any sense.
Why her, of all people? Why would simply seeing her be reason enough?
She wasn’t sure anymore—was she just prone to misinterpretation, or was Taeoh the one always saying things that invited it?
“What about you?” Taeoh asked, turning the question on her now. “Why do you want to marry me?”
Soyu reached for the wine glass in front of her and took a sip—forgetting completely how poorly she held her liquor.
“Because Madam Gong pushed you into it?”
Soyu didn’t agree or deny it.
“If she’d pointed to another man instead, you would’ve married him, wouldn’t you?”
There was something strangely anxious in Taeoh’s voice.
Soyu looked at him, her gaze a little slowed by the wine.
“Does it matter?” she said softly.
It wasn’t like she had the power to choose.
“But I am thankful to you. I wanted to say that.”
As soon as the words left her lips, her whole body began to heat up.
Her eyelids grew heavy.
“You alright?”
His voice was getting farther away, blurred and distant.
Noticing something was off, Taeoh moved to her side.
The moment he did, Soyu’s head fell against his shoulder—her body finally giving in.
“You really can’t drink.”
He glanced at her wine glass, still mostly full, and sighed in disbelief.
Soyu barely opened her eyes, struggling to stay awake.
“I have a favor.”
Even if she passed out in the next second, she had to say it.
“What is it?”
As he asked, Taeoh gently wiped a smudge of red wine from the corner of her lips with his thumb.
His pale finger was stained crimson.
That color—like a teenager’s first love—would linger like a mark that wouldn’t fade.
“I don’t completely understand you,” she whispered, “but I do know one thing. You need me for this marriage.”
“…And?”
“I’ll do whatever you ask.”
Soyu was offering a deal—staking her future on this strange marriage.
“Whatever?”
She said it, fully knowing how dangerous that word could be.
“Yes. Anything.”
Her voice faded, her strength slipping away.
“In return… please save my father.”
With those last words, Soyu fell asleep.
Taeoh adjusted his posture so she could rest more comfortably against him.
“Anything, huh?”
He looked down at her sleeping face—her features peaceful and calm—and gently brushed her cheek with childlike care.
For Taeoh, this was an overwhelming moment.
A feeling he hadn’t dared to hope for.
“…Even if what I ask is for you to love me?”
He had waited so long—too long—for this.
“Do you know? You might’ve been able to marry anyone. But for me… it could only ever be you.”
But there was no reply from the girl who’d already slipped into sleep.
A rare expression surfaced on Taeoh’s face—something soft, something unguarded.
“Long time no see, Hazel.”
He smiled.
A soft, genuine smile.
Anyone who knew him would’ve been stunned to see it.
Hazel.
That was the name of the only other Korean student at Taeoh’s American high school.
He’d confirmed it by checking the inside of her locker—decorated with hearts, teddy bear stickers, and all.
The school Taeoh attended was known across the U.S. as a place for the elite—brilliant students from wealthy families.
Naturally, it had students from all over the world, but curiously, only two were Korean.
Hazel stood out.
Her laughter lit up the room. She was adored by everyone.
She was the only splash of color in Taeoh’s otherwise grey-toned life.
Maybe that’s why, before he even realized it, his eyes always followed her.
One afternoon, after playing football with his classmates, Taeoh returned to the classroom and overheard a phone call.
“Dad, I’m doing great. Don’t worry. No one looks down on me here just because I’m Asian.”
Maybe it was because she was speaking Korean—his mother tongue—that he heard every word with perfect clarity.
“All my friends really like me.”
She sounded cheerful, as always.
Her long brown hair shimmered under the lights, and the plaid headband she wore made her look even more youthful and vibrant.
“…How are Mom and my sister?”
But her voice, and her eyes, darkened suddenly.
“It’s okay. If you’re happy, then I’m happy.”
At that moment, Taeoh had thought—
Maybe that bright-looking girl was hiding something heavy, just like me.
Maybe she was just trying her best not to show it.
Maybe, beneath the surface, she was kicking and struggling with all her might, in ways no one could see.
“I love you too. I miss you.”
His fantasy of the girl shattered in that moment—but strangely, his desire for her only grew stronger.
Something new had started to bloom inside Taeoh.
At first, he didn’t realize it.
Didn’t know why he suddenly wanted to protect that delicate girl.
Didn’t know why his heart—so quiet, so lifeless for so long—had started beating again.
“Hi! You’re Korean too, right? So am I! I’m Hazel. What’s your name?”
Looking back now… she was his first love.
He had fallen for her at first sight.
What he’d thought was just a sense of shared identity turned out to be something far more childish and purer—love.
For the first time in his life, he had found someone he wanted to treat as special.
A dazzling moment he never thought would come found him in the middle of an ordinary day.
“Noah.”
When he looked at her, all the pressure and burdens that usually suffocated him seemed to lift, just a little.
He could focus on the way his heart raced.
He could just be a nineteen-year-old boy.
“Wow, really? You’re seriously handsome! My friends all say you’re hot.”
That bright smile of hers had been his only paradise.
That first real conversation between them had also been one of the last, but every time he saw her from afar after that, his world got a little bit brighter.
So, when their parting came suddenly and without warning, his life became darker than it had ever been before.
She probably never knew—back then.
Maybe that’s why, when he saw Soyu again in Korea, Taeoh had been surprised.
She was a completely different person.
The girl who once smiled easily, always surrounded by friends, had become a woman standing alone—biting her lip to hold back tears.
Timid. Passive. Submissive.
Soyu felt like a completely different person than the Hazel he remembered.
“…What happened to you?”
Even in her sleep, a single tear slipped down from the corner of her eye.
Taeoh gently wiped it away, aching inside.
If I’d known… I would’ve reached out sooner.
I would’ve found you—no matter what it took.
He wanted to bring that bright smile back to her face.
He just hoped… it wasn’t too late.
“I’ll protect you now.”
He whispered it as he lifted her in his arms and carried her to the bed.
She was as light as a feather, and as he laid her down carefully, a stream of faces flashed through his mind.
Taeoh would eliminate them—one by one.
Unlike the gentleness of his memories, a fierce and terrifying expression overtook his face now—one that could freeze the air around him.
It was a side of Taeoh Soyu would likely never see.
“Soon, no one will ever be able to touch you again.”
It was both a promise to her—and a vow to himself.
Letting out a deep breath, Taeoh rose from the bed.
He had to leave. If he stayed by her side any longer, he might do something he couldn’t take back.
He left a note on the table, then threw his jacket over his arm.
It’s okay if you don’t remember me.
It’s okay if it takes time to open your heart.
Because I’ll keep walking toward you anyway.
