Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 45

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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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#45

Su-i’s eyes widened, as did Beom-jin’s and Jin Suk-yeong’s.
“What do you mean by that?”
Dok-go Hyeong-jun clicked his tongue at the sight of his grandson staring at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I say something I shouldn’t have?”
Dok-go Hyeong-jun lifted his teacup and spoke pleasantly.
“Quit the Mutual Aid Company effective immediately. Starting tomorrow, you’ll learn the business. I’ll assign people to help you.”
“Father, what are you saying?”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
When mother and son asked in identical expressions, Dok-go Hyeong-jun answered while sipping his tea.
“Why do you all look so shocked? You were the ones who said to welcome the new family member properly.”
“But……”
“It seems your mother is rather busy with various matters at present. So I intend to keep her by my side and teach her myself.”
Dok-go Hyeong-jun’s gaze turned toward Su-i.
“Do you object?”
“No, no! It’s fine—”
“If you ask so directly, how could I possibly say no?”
Beom-jin cut off Su-i’s words of acceptance with a cold, measured tone.
“Watch your tone with your grandfather, will you.”
Dok-go Hyeong-jun clicked his tongue and drank down his tea with a slurp before speaking.
“It’s a kind of test. To see whether you’re prepared to become part of the Gangho Group, or not.”
Su-i understood instinctively.
‘If I back down now, Beom-jin will have a very difficult time ahead.’
Not only would he be caught in the middle between her and his grandfather, but his judgment could be questioned for choosing a woman like her.
She didn’t want that.
Even if it was just a fake contract, she wanted to be of help to Beom-jin in some way.
“Yes, I understand. I will work hard to learn by your side going forward. However, I have one request, if I may.”

***

After the First Meeting Ceremony was complete.
Su-i collapsed onto the sofa the moment she stepped through the apartment door.
“Whew…… it’s finally over.”
“You did well.”
Beom-jin lifted Su-i’s legs and laid them across his thighs, then began to massage them.
“That’s enough. You must be exhausted too.”
“Not at all.”
Exhausted, though—he felt like he might fly away.
Though he himself cared little for formality or procedure, Su-i was different.
This kind, delicate woman had not shied away from the tedious and irksome steps, worried he might hear something unkind about her.
How could he not find her endearing?
Besides, recalling the moment she’d gathered every ounce of courage before his grandfather and opened her trembling lips, his heart surged with excitement.

“I’ll need about a week for the handover and transition. And…… I promise to work hard so I don’t bring shame to the Group or to Beom-jin, or, yes, yes, I’d be grateful if you’d think kindly of me!”

Her trembling voice grew louder and louder until, at the end, she’d startled so badly at the thought of his grandfather entering the room that she’d even spilled tea.

“Hm, truly…… for someone who looks so demure, I can’t fathom how loud her voice is.”
“Hoho, I think it’s charming, Father. Didn’t you say that if the conditions were the same, the one with the stronger voice was prettier?”
“That’s not what I meant at all!”
“Don’t worry too much, Su-i. It’s quite rare for Father to offer to teach someone directly. It seems he’s taken a liking to you.”

Fortunately, his mother seemed to have taken a liking to Su-i.
Then again, she’d always said since he was young that she hoped he’d simply grow up ordinary.
‘I’m not sure what Grandfather’s thinking, though.’
In any case, it wasn’t a bad sign.
Dok-go Hyeong-jun was the type to cut people down mercilessly without a word if they displeased him.
‘Then again, Su-i is so lovable.’
Beom-jin, smiling, worked his skilled hands over Su-i’s clenched calves and thighs, and she closed her eyes with a pleased groan.
“Mmm. That feels good.”
“You sound like an old man, but it’s still cute.”
“Oh, come on.”
Su-i’s face flushed at being called an old man, and she tried to pull her foot away.
As if. Beom-jin tightened his grip on her slender ankle.
“I’m joking. You’re incredibly cute and alluring.”
“……don’t you feel embarrassed saying things like that?”
“Why should I be embarrassed? I’m just telling the truth.”
In fact, he’d never met anyone as shameless as Beom-jin in his whole life.
There was the way he’d pretended to come from an ordinary family compared to the Gangho Group, and then there was this.
“But why did you come to this neighborhood anyway?”
Beom-jin paused at Su-i’s question, then resumed his massage.
“I liked this neighborhood. It’s quiet, peaceful. I wanted to live ordinarily somewhere no one knew me.”
It was a lie.
Before he met her, he hadn’t even known this neighborhood existed.
Everything was simply to be by your side.
But if he said that, Su-i would surely run away.
So Beom-jin decided to wait a little longer.
Until he’d completely captured her heart.
“I see……”
Su-i nodded her head.
Having met Dok-go Hyeong-jun in person today, she understood.
How much Beom-jin must have struggled.
Though he hadn’t spoken any harsher words than expected, his observing gaze had been cold and acute.
As if he would not tolerate even the slightest crack in her resolve.

“If a shower ran even slightly longer, he’d pick the lock and come in. He couldn’t spend more than ten minutes alone in a room.”

The present Beom-jin was indeed an adult no one dared to cross, blessed with appearance and bearing that commanded any room.
But at that age, he must have been nothing more than a boy forced to hold his breath before absolute power.
“……”
Su-i gazed quietly at Beom-jin, still smiling as he massaged her legs, then rose and embraced his neck.
“Did I do a good job with the massage? Suddenly rewarding me?”
“You must have had a hard time.”
“I said it wasn’t hard.”
“Not you. Young Beom-jin. Back then.”
Su-i gently stroked his hair.
“Now that I’ve met your grandfather today, I understand. How lonely and difficult you must have been.”
“……”
“You endured so much. You did well, Beom-jin.”
Her voice resonated warmly through the silence that had seemed so absolute before.
Beom-jin buried his face in the hollow of her neck and drew her slender form deeper into his embrace.
Yes, only her.
The one who saved my life, the only light that lets me move forward.
“……yeah.”
“Hm? I couldn’t hear you—it was too quiet.”
Beom-jin shook his head while still holding her.
“It’s nothing. Really nothing.”
He’d almost let it slip.
The depth of his feelings for her.
The thick, dark possessiveness that left him unable to see even a step ahead.
To Su-i, he was still just a childhood friend who’d become slightly closer than that.
So he would draw near slowly, but not so slowly that the moment passed.
“Come on, that’s boring.”
Yet Su-i continued to pat his back.
He nearly confessed again without meaning to.
That he loved her.
That his life was nothing without her.
“Do you want to keep working at the company?”
But he changed the subject instead.
Because the time wasn’t right yet.
But it wouldn’t be long.
Once they were married, Beom-jin planned to pull out every trick in the book to open Su-i’s heart completely.
Especially by making full use of his appearance, which he knew she found attractive.
“Well, I’d like to keep working with the CEO and the team leader…… but I’m also curious about learning something new.”
“If you’re holding back just because of me, you don’t have to. In this contract, you’re the one with the upper hand, Su-i.”
“No, that’s not it? I’m just curious what another world would be like.”
If she gradually broadened her horizons like this, couldn’t she find her father?
That was why Su-i accepted Dok-go Hyeong-jun’s offer.
“Besides, it’s the world you grew up in.”
At her answer, Beom-jin loosened his grip and met her eyes.
“Why?”
“I want to kiss you. No…… I want to kiss you first.”

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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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