Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 40

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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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#40

The beige dress was elegantly designed.
It clung neither too tightly nor hung too loosely, with skin exposed only below the knee at the calves.
But the problem was Sui herself—she radiated light.
Her long, straight neck and squared shoulders, her slender arms and legs, her tapered waist and broad hips—nothing could be hidden.
Even her calves were beautiful, for heaven’s sake.
She might as well have worn her usual black suit.
……Though, of course, that was equally maddening in its beauty.
Whether her body was brazenly displayed or left to the imagination, either way was pure torture.
Should have just covered everything up.
But Beom-jin quickly changed his mind.
Wherever she is, Sui draws eyes. If attention is inevitable, then better to make it unmistakable from the start.
Let them see at a glance: Sui has a husband.
“Relax your expression. Anyone looking at you would think we came here to fight.”
At Sui’s words, Beom-jin rubbed the nape of her neck with his thumb and replied evenly.
“That’s not entirely wrong.”
“Really. You were just telling me I need to adapt well, and now you’re making it hard from the start? What am I supposed to do?”
Beom-jin paused at her words, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Sui.
“Hmm.”
“Why…… why are you looking at me like that? It’s scary.”
“Just thinking how wise my wife is.”
She still couldn’t adjust to hearing Beom-jin use the word “wife” so casually.
“You can’t talk like that in front of other people, you hear?”
“What should I call my wife, then?”
“That’s not what I—!”
The corners of Beom-jin’s eyes softened into a smile.
“So ‘wife’ is acceptable?”
……
“I’m glad that one’s become natural for you, darling.”
As Beom-jin whispered with a satisfied expression, Sui’s cheeks flushed crimson and she gave him a sharp look before pushing against his solid chest.
But of course she couldn’t escape his hold, and only found herself pressed deeper into his embrace.
“Should we just go home?”
Beom-jin took her hand and brought it to his cheek, then turned his head to place a kiss on her palm.
“I want to take your clothes off right now.”
“You’re insane……!”
Then it happened.
“Beom-jin! You made it!”
Han Jeong-o and Heo Dong-hun, spotting them, pushed through the crowd and approached quickly.
Sui hastily pulled her trapped hand free with a sharp tug and turned away.
“Hello, ma’am. How nice to see you again.”
“Oh, hello.”
Heo Dong-hun, feeling the attention shift toward them, greeted Sui in an deliberately loud voice to show off their connection.
“How have you been all this while?”
“Yes, I—”
Sui’s words caught in her throat mid-sentence.
What was this man’s name again?
As her confusion deepened, her eyes instinctively sought Beom-jin’s.
“Did I mishear something?”
For a moment, he stared at his empty hand with a hardened expression.
Seeing Sui’s eyes silently asking for help, Beom-jin let out a soft laugh, wrapped his arm around her waist, and tilted his head slightly.
“Ma’am?”
“Oh, no. I just thought, since, since she’s a friend’s wife…….”
“A friend’s wife.”
Heo Dong-hun’s mouth snapped shut, and he swallowed hard.
There was something suffocating in the way Beom-jin held his gaze steady and repeated back exactly what he’d said—a quiet, chilling pressure.
“Don’t you know you have to be careful with honorifics these days? Anyway, Heo Dong-hun. I heard you were downing cocktails thinking they were soft drinks earlier.”
Han Jeong-o threw out a lifeline, which Heo Dong-hun caught gratefully, forcing his trembling lips upward into something resembling a smile.
“Ah, r-right. That’s why alcohol is so dangerous. I apologize, Sui. I spoke carelessly…… eek.”
Heo Dong-hun couldn’t finish his sentence and began backing away.
Beom-jin’s eyes had darkened to a sharp point, and something like killing intent was visible in them.
“……Sui.”
“Oh, n-no, I just. I thought calling you ‘ma’am’ would be presumptuous—”
“I didn’t ask you to open your mouth.”
It felt like if he misspoke one more time, Beom-jin might tear out his throat.
‘God, ‘ma’am’ is wrong too, her name won’t work either. What the hell am I supposed to call her?’
Sweat trickled down Heo Dong-hun’s spine.
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
His parents had such high expectations.
When he mentioned he’d gotten a chance to strengthen his connection with Jeok Mu-wol, his parents had patted his back for the first time in ages, delighted.
On top of that, they’d quietly encouraged him to dig up dirt on their competitors.
The Kangho Group, they said, must have any number of secrets that could bring their rivals to ruin.
But this situation was impossible.
He’d be lucky if he wasn’t the one torn apart.
“Today, Kim Sun-jin’s crowd plans to approach your fiancée. Whether it’s for good or ill, I don’t know.”
It was Han Jeong-o who saved Heo Dong-hun from crisis yet again.
“They attended Korea University around the same time, and apparently saw her at a funeral a while back. That’s what they’ll use as an opening.”
Beom-jin glanced up briefly as Han Jeong-o continued smoothly.
“You know well.”
“I heard it at a drink gathering the day before yesterday. Everyone’s bloodthirsty for an invitation to your wedding.”
Beom-jin regarded Han Jeong-o with dry eyes and nodded.
“I was thinking of using Unsung Department Store for the bride price.”
Han Jeong-o’s eyes widened considerably.
“Really?”
“Their whiskey is quite good. The wine too.”
Beom-jin turned to look at Sui.
The dryness that had occupied his eyes moments before vanished, replaced by an intensity of affection so thick it was almost wet.
“Our darling loved it.”
Sui’s expression shifted to shock, her mouth falling open.
“Why are you looking at me like that? You did like it.”
“You, you’re not supposed to call me that in front of people, didn’t I tell you so many times……!”
“Got it. Then let’s go to the department store soon, honey.”
Having forbidden one term, he simply switched to another with mischievous charm, leaving Sui speechless.
Moreover, she could feel the eyes of the people around them, their expressions even more shocked than hers, and it was unbearable.
“I, I need to use the restroom.”
“It’s that way. Come on.”
“Just tell me where it is!”
“I told you, I’m not letting you out of my sight. I’ll wait for you up front.”
Beom-jin wrapped his arm around Sui’s shoulders, her face flushed crimson, and they left.
A moment of silence fell over those left behind.
“Hey. That is Jeok Mu-wol, right? It has to be.”
……
“I heard he’s so obsessed with that woman his eyes have gone mad. It’s true.”
Everyone nodded as if enchanted by someone’s remark.
But some bit their lips firmly in disagreement.
“Se-na……”
Her friend called gently, but Kim Se-na didn’t respond, only staring at the spot where Beom-jin had vanished.
She’d heard rumors here and there.
But she never thought it would be like this.
Jeok Mu-wol.
The man who had no interest in women, let alone people in general.
The man who wouldn’t blink an eye at any offer, no matter how tempting.
That cold, indifferent, icy man who seemed impossible to get close to.
Yet the Jeok Mu-wol beside that woman was someone else entirely.
In his profile as he looked at her with adoring eyes, affection and tenderness dripped like honey.
Anyone could see it.
How much Beom-jin liked that woman, no……
How much he loved her.
Love. Love, of all things.
“This isn’t possible…… it’s absolutely impossible.”
Kim Se-na clenched her fists, her jaw tightening.
Her long nails cut deeply into her palms, pain blooming there, but it paled against the ache in her heart.
How much I’ve worked to become the right woman for Jeok Mu-wol.
I’ve climbed this far with literal blood, sweat, and tears, and yet……!
“Who is that woman anyway?”
“A funeral director, apparently.”
Ha. She was too stunned even to laugh.
“He’s really going to marry someone like that.”
“Back at Korea University, everyone who ever made a move on that woman got retaliation. Hwamun Pharmaceuticals collapsed, and when Sun-jin even tried approaching her……”
Kim Se-na pushed her hair back irritably, letting out bitter laughs.
‘Why did I even come to Korea.’
I can’t let this happen and just walk away like an idiot.
“Hey, distract Beom-jin for me for a bit. I need to have a word with that woman.”

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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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