Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#3

Su-i swallowed without realizing it.
Where Beom-jin’s fingers touched burned hot.
Truly, this obstinate, thoughtless man had no sense of distance—not then, not now.
When it suited him, he hung about like a sloth, but then sometimes he’d slip in like this, cradling her face and jaw in his grip, locking eyes with that deep, probing intensity.
Then he’d search her depths with a relentless gaze that felt like it reached straight into her chest, calling her name.
Like now, in a voice low and burning enough to set her whole body alight.
“Working late again?”
That low, rough voice stirred something in her throat, and she shook her head firmly, feigning composure.
“No, no. My Team Leader isn’t that heartless.”
My Team Leader.
At those words, Beom-jin’s eyes narrowed.
Su-i’s superior was already married with children. He knew how devoted a family man he was.
He also knew that the Team Leader thought of Su-i like a younger sister.
But there were moments, like now, when something twisted inside him.
When Su-i spoke of another person.
When Su-i leaned on another person.
When the thought crossed his mind that someone other than him occupied her thoughts……
He found it harder and harder to bear.
“Hey, what—what are you doing?”
Beom-jin brushed his thumb slowly across her lower lip.
Su-i tried to slip from his grip, but unlike usual, he didn’t let go easily.
He couldn’t tear his eyes from her lips, soft and yielding beneath his touch.
He wanted to touch. To taste. To possess.
“Just.”
He wanted to slip through that delicate opening and mark her with himself.
“I thought something was on you.”
Something very filthy and obscene.
“What? I can clean it.”
Watching her cheeks flush a soft pink, Beom-jin drew a deep breath and slowly withdrew his hand.
If he touched Su-i any longer, he’d lose control entirely.
“It’s fine. All gone.”
“What was it anyway……?”
“I’ll pick you up when you get off work.”
Su-i hesitated as she tried to avoid his gaze and agree.
“Actually…… I remembered I have something to do.”
“What.”
“That floral frame design renewal I mentioned before. There’s so much to handle if I do it alone.”
“Bring it home and work on it. I’ll help.”
Su-i laughed lightly.
“How could a major corporation’s general affairs employee help me?”
……
“I appreciate it, but I need to do this myself. Everything I need is at the office.”
“What time do you think you’ll finish?”
“Um, I’m not sure. Probably not too late.”
“Call me. I’ll pick you up.”
Su-i bit her lip. Heat crawled up her throat.
So that was the problem—every time Beom-jin said such things so naturally, her heart raced far too wildly.
But this time too, Su-i forced herself to turn away from what she felt.
Beom-jin was far too important to her. That was why she absolutely could not cross that line.
Because if she did, they’d have to part.
Like her parents did.
“No need. I won’t be here past the last bus. Just go home and rest. You just got back from that business trip anyway. You said you were exhausted from being stuck with that senior you can’t stand.”
That was……
Beom-jin closed his mouth, whatever he’d been about to say left unspoken.
In the silence that followed, the two of them arrived home.
Su-i gave Beom-jin’s back a light pat.
“Or you’ll be late. Go on.”
“Call me.”
Beom-jin held her eyes as he spoke.
“I’ll wait.”
“I told you I don’t need—”
“I’ll be in front of your office. Until you come out.”
Really. Su-i took a deep breath and, feigning nonchalance, nodded.
“So stubborn. Fine, but that’s not my problem if you get tired, understood?”
Only then did Beom-jin’s face relax, and he nodded with a faint smile.
Su-i turned away without thinking. Her cheeks burned.
‘…Beom-jin is just like a younger brother. That’s all he is.’

***

After watching Su-i enter the house, Beom-jin drove back toward the office.
The black sedan arrived at Kangho Group Headquarters and headed toward the executive parking area.
Click. As Beom-jin opened the car door and stepped out, the employees in black suits standing at attention all bowed at once.
“Welcome, sir!”
A harsh-looking man with a high bun stepped closer to him.
“Welcome, Executive Director.”
Beom-jin nodded lightly as though it were expected and asked.
“Where is he?”
“Waiting in the basement, sir.”
As the Secretary Director spoke and Beom-jin began to move, everyone except the valet attendant followed in his wake.
Beom-jin entered through a small door at the side of the parking lot and immediately descended the stairs before pushing open a dilapidated door.
Creeeak—
Light crept in gradually with the sharp screech of metal, illuminating the darkness inside.
A man sat in a chair with blue tape sealing his mouth and his hands and feet bound. At the sight of Beom-jin, his eyes widened and he began to thrash.
“This bastard sexually harassed Su-i?”
“Yes. A week ago at Jeongsan Funeral Culture Center where he attended the funeral of Assemblyman Yu Geum-bok’s father, he requested a business card from Guide Su-i, then attempted to drag her by the wrist in the parking lot.”
Beom-jin’s face twisted as he recalled his conversation with Su-i from a week prior.

“Why does your face look like that?”
“I was dealing with a difficult client for so long—I’m exhausted. Have you eaten?”
“Yeah, had something while I was out.”
“Good. Then I’m going to rest early tonight. I want to shower and sleep quickly.”

Su-i was weak against adults her parents’ age.
For some reason, those filthy creatures with vile intentions could sniff out her tender heart like ghosts, approaching her with predatory focus.
She acted tough, claiming she didn’t even blink at most things, but Beom-jin knew the truth.
He knew how fragile and delicate the always-spirited Su-i truly was.
“Remove the tape.”
“Yes, sir.”
Riiip—!
The middle-aged man screamed as the blue tape tore away, taking skin with it.
“That sound is revolting. And we haven’t even broken anything yet.”
“Shall I quiet him?”
“No, never mind.”
Beom-jin looked down at the trembling wretch with cold, indifferent eyes.
“They say you have quite a reputation for being gentle. Your image management is impressive.”
“Why, why are you doing this? Did, did that funeral guide lie about me?”
“Lie.”
“Yes, that’s all a scam! She knew I was the president of a mid-sized company and deliberately approached me! Those worthless girls with pretty faces do that all the time!”
Ah.
The Secretary Director’s expression turned pitying. The black-suited men lined up behind him shared the same look.
That man had just crossed a line from which there was no return.
“Worthless girls.”
Beom-jin let out a soft laugh.
The atmosphere grew colder, more desolate.
Beom-jin’s silence would have been preferable.
This superior of theirs, sometimes you couldn’t tell if he even had human emotion—when rage boiled up to the crown of his head, he would instead laugh lightly like this.
Just as he was doing now.
“How exactly do you think she slandered you?”
“I’m truly innocent! I only meant to encourage a girl who reminded me of my own daughter, struggling as she was!”
“Encourage.”
At that word, Beom-jin laughed again softly, tilting his head as he continued.
“Then if my father grabbed your daughter’s ass and failed, got embarrassed, spewed curses, and blackmailed her out of the industry, that would be fine too, right?”
The middle-aged man’s face went white in an instant.
But Beom-jin paid no mind. He pulled out his phone and showed the man a photograph on the screen.
“Lee Yu-mi, second-year Dance major at Chungang Women’s University. Should I call her here?”
“No, no! Please, not my daughter, not Yu-mi, please don’t touch her, please……!”
The man transformed in an instant from a contemptible middle-aged pervert into a father overflowing with paternal devotion, and began to wail.
“This is why you shouldn’t go after people who are just doing their job well, you goddamn bastard.”
Tsk. Beom-jin clicked his tongue and nodded.
The muscular man waiting in the back applied fresh tape to the middle-aged man’s mouth.
“Mmph! Nngh-nngh! Wah-wah!”
So he’d tried to touch Su-i’s ass while asking her to be his girlfriend?
“Close the door.”
Beom-jin’s eyes flashed.
“Today I’m going to make sure this bastard loses either his tongue or his hands. One or the other.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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