Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 38

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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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#38

After the First Meeting, the CEO and his wife treated Sui even more kindly.
“You know I’ve always been fond of Sui, right?”
Oh Sang-chul sang the words with a wide, crescent-moon smile spreading across his face.
“Even before Beom-jin sent those pine mushrooms, wild ginseng root, and dasyatis akajei, I was already treating Sui well—you mustn’t forget that, right?”
“Oh Sang-chul? At this rate the CEO’s Office is going to explode. Could you lower your voice a bit?”
“My apologies, sir.”
He bowed his head with exaggerated formality, though only for a moment.
Oh Sang-chul turned to Pyo Yeon-su with an elaborate gesture of amazement.
“Goodness, but your face is especially radiant today. Could it be those cosmetics—worth at least five hundred thousand won a set—that Beom-jin sent yesterday?”
“No, no. It’s not the cosmetics. It’s that the love I have for Sui has finally shown through in my skin, you might say? Hehe.”
Sui closed her eyes and laughed at the couple’s playful banter.
“I’m so glad you liked it.”
“Make sure you tell Beom-jin how grateful we are, all right? Good heavens, how will we ever repay this? Honey, should we carry Sui on our shoulders to work every day?”
“Oh Sang-chul?”
Pyo Yeon-su snapped his finger sharply.
“Good idea. Let’s do exactly that.”
“Yes, sir! Starting today I really need to work on my strength training, right? No, wait—not that Sui is heavy or anything. I just mean I’ve lost all my muscle since I hit middle age. Don’t misunderstand, all right? Ahahaha.”
Pyo Yeon-su and Oh Sang-chul seemed genuinely fond of Beom-jin.
Apart from his remarkable appearance—a presence impossible to look away from—despite his impressive background, he seemed genuinely courteous and sincere.
Though it did appear they’d been more impressed by the gifts that arrived yesterday than anything else.
But what did it matter.
Seeing these two people, whom she regarded as family, taking to Beom-jin filled her chest with a quiet, contented warmth.
‘Though I have to admit, when I heard the price of those gifts, I was shocked too.’
Last night, as Beom-jin lay in bed holding her, he’d soon released his arms and, curling his large frame, begun nestling into her embrace.
And he’d told her he’d sent gifts to them both.

“I chose them thinking of them as my future mother-in-law and father-in-law. In truth, I wanted to do more, but I was afraid Sui would find it too overwhelming and run away from me.”

He’d smiled so brightly as he asked her to understand, and she simply couldn’t refuse him.
She’d seen Beom-jin smile many times before.
But what he showed these days felt truly genuine.
The ease and clarity of one who’d shed a heavy mask, the relief of no longer needing to hide—Beom-jin radiated something so luminous.
Dazzlingly so.
How had he managed to act so vacant, so blank all this time?
Her childhood friends came to mind—the ones who’d shaken their heads at him in exasperation—and she felt an inexplicable pang of guilt.
They must have known this side of him all along.
‘I should treat them to something nice next time we meet…….’
But then Sui faltered.
A thought she’d deliberately buried surfaced.
What if someone else already knew this side of him?
That perverted side, that is.
The way his lips found hers the moment their eyes met.
The way a kiss deepened and lengthened until his hand slipped beneath her clothes, stroking her skin with unbearable tenderness.
The way his tongue, his hands, his legs became inseparable, intertwined, surrounded by that immense warmth and relentless…….
“Stop!”
Sui suddenly sprang from her chair, and Pyo Yeon-su and Oh Sang-chul, still in the middle of their banter, snapped their mouths shut and opened their eyes wide.
“I really should go now. I think I need to pick up the sample designs in person.”
Watching Sui suddenly shift into something urgent and combative, Oh Sang-chul asked carefully.
“Did we bother you too much with all the noise?”
“I’m sorry, Sui. We were just so happy…….”
“No! It’s not that. I mean, um, I j-just want to finish early and head home.”
Only then did Pyo Yeon-su and Oh Sang-chul’s expressions shift, their eyes narrowing knowingly as they gazed at her with a meaningful look.
“You’re in that honeymoon phase, aren’t you? Well, well.”
“We had times like that too…… let’s drop it.”
“Wait, honey? Sir? Are you saying you’re upset?”
“Go on, Sui. And be sure to tell Beom-jin how grateful we are. You understand?”
“Yes, I will.”
Leaving the CEO’s Office, Sui found a corner and, wrapping her head in her hands, silently screamed.
Crazy. She was absolutely crazy.
She’d nearly exploded right in front of people trying to thank her.
All because she was imagining things about her fake fiancé’s past that she had no business thinking about.
‘Ugh. Why am I like this.’
This isn’t even a real marriage.
We’re not even a real couple.
We’re just people who agreed to a one-year contract before parting ways.
There was no reason to act this pathetically.
She had to control herself.
If she wasn’t careful, Beom-jin might get tired of her, and the moment the contract ended, so too would their friendship.
Yet even as she rode in Beom-jin’s car after work, heading to his place, her mind remained captive to those hollow thoughts.
“Honey.”
“…….”
“Sui.”
At the sound of his low, thick voice calling her name, she suddenly came to her senses, her eyes snapping open properly.
“……Did you call me?”
“I did. Several times.”
“Ah…… sorry. I was lost in thought for a moment.”
A tension settled into Beom-jin’s brow.
“Don’t say things like that anymore.”
“Things like what?”
“Apologizing.”
His large hands cupped her small face.
“You can do anything with me, and you can say anything you want.”
So there’s no need for apologies.
As he added the words softly, Sui bit down on her lip.
She couldn’t fully savor his tenderness.
‘Has he said things like this to someone else before?’
Is that why it feels so familiar?
The way he treats women.
‘No, what am I thinking!’
To Beom-jin, she was not a woman.
She was simply a female friend.
Beom-jin was fulfilling this contract not for personal satisfaction but for freedom in his life.
Very faithfully.
“…….”
While her mind reached these conclusions neatly enough, her eyes remained conflicted and uncertain.
Beom-jin’s eyes narrowed.
She seemed to be pondering something.
What could it be? Why would that be?
Judging from the way she’d subtly avoided his gaze since leaving work and coming home, it was clearly something related to him.
‘Is the gift too much of a burden?’
Somehow, he didn’t think so.
If Sui truly found it burdensome, she wouldn’t have relayed how much the CEO and his wife had appreciated it.
She’d clearly understood that he cares deeply for the people she holds dear.
‘What am I missing.’
While they were together, he would observe carefully and find out what it was.
Having made that resolve, Beom-jin wrapped one arm around Sui’s shoulders, drawing her into his embrace, while his other hand tapped steadily at his phone screen.
“It should arrive soon.”
“What will?”
“The clothes we picked out.”
……Clothes?
They’re arriving now? Here?
A vague sense of foreboding washed over her.
Just then, a chime sounded and the wall pad glimmered.
As Beom-jin pressed the button, the sound of a door opening came, followed by the sound of someone—or someones—entering.
Or rather, more precisely—
Someone and something.
And not a small amount of either.
“Good evening, madam. We’re from the Wedding Preparation Task Force, and we handle wardrobe.”
The very mention of a Wedding Preparation Task Force was startling enough, but they handled “wardrobe”?
So there were other people handling different things?
“We’ve prepared outfits for you to wear at tomorrow’s gathering, as you wished to review options.”
“Ah, yes…… I see.”
“Please make yourself comfortable, and we’ll show you everything as quickly as possible.”
As Beom-jin nodded, his arm still around Sui’s shoulders, the impeccably dressed team bowed to him and then moved with seamless precision.
“Let’s wait in the Bedroom, honey.”

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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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