CS Chapter 17

After digging up the personal information of the woman Cha Minjun was to marry, Shin Haeri’s mood sank even further.

 

She had managed to find out every piece of information possible – her name, date of birth, height, weight, family relations, and so on – yet not a single aspect of it was even remotely decent.

 

‘Getting married in three months?’

 

A displeased look covered the woman’s radiant face. She had even received the couple’s wedding date in advance through a media hotline.

 

It was a marriage between the Grandson of the Daehan Group and a common woman who seemed to have come from who-knows-where. It was a story that deserved to be splashed across the headlines immediately, yet the world was still quiet.

 

The media source added that the bride-to-be was scheduled to take her GED exam next month, and Chairman Cha Jinwoong had directly ordered an embargo, concerned that she might become mentally distracted.

 

‘A GED exam means she’s a middle school graduate… seriously.’

 

If there ever was a Cinderella story, this was it, and the woman named Ji Seowoo was even more pathetic.

 

No matter how important one’s astrological compatibility was, Cha Minjun, who was going through with the marriage without being able to sway the old man’s stubbornness, was also disappointing.

 

However, on one hand, she thought that maybe it was because it was Cha Minjun that this absurd marriage was even possible. He was a man who had no particular expectations or attachments to people in the first place, so marriage, even this marriage, was just a joke.

 

Shin Haeri stared at the woman’s photo, which she had received from the reporter, for a long time. It was a photo taken of her going in and out of the newlywed home in Itaewon.

 

162cm (approx. 5’4″) and 43kg (approx. 95 lbs). Ji Seowoo looked almost like a middle schooler because she was so small and gaunt. There was nothing about her that felt like a woman.

 

‘Is Cha Minjun a pervert or what?’

 

Suddenly, Cha Minjun’s voice saying that she might be different when naked came to mind, and Shin Haeri’s beautiful brow furrowed in a crunch.

 

Whenever they were intimate, Cha Minjun was particularly obsessed with full breasts. Even right before climaxing, he’d bury his face in the ample mounds and suckle, showing just how obsessed he was with breasts.

 

‘She doesn’t even have breasts to bury himself in… What’s he going to do?’

 

Or had he developed a new preference? Shin Haeri snorted with laughter.

 

Unable to bear the sinking feeling, Shin Haeri eventually headed to the G Department Store in Cheongdam. She was a VVIP at that department store, spending over ₩300 million (approx. $225,000 USD) annually.

 

Of course, the G Department Store was a fierce competitor of her father’s, Nakwon Department Store. Nevertheless, she frequented the place like a regular because her favorite French luxury brand was only available at G Department Store.

 

As Shin Haeri headed to the luxury goods section of G Department Store, her personal shopper came rushing out unprepared to greet her.

 

Soon after, a private shopping session began in a private room, exclusively for her. The personal shopper laid out several items before her, claiming they were new arrivals for the season.

 

If it had been a normal day, she would have shown interest and tried on various things, but strangely, she felt no excitement at all. It seemed that she was more concerned about the woman named Ji Seowoo than she had thought.

 

“How about this item, ma’am? It’s this season’s color and a very popular item among our VVIP clients.”

 

“Well…”

 

When the VVIP’s reaction was lukewarm, the dedicated personal shopper quickly signaled to the staff. A rack of clothes worth tens of millions of won was quickly whisked away, and new arrivals filled the space in an instant.

 

Leaning back on a wide sofa, Shin Haeri scanned the clothes hanging in a row on the rack with a cold gaze. Even after hangers relentlessly appeared and disappeared in front of her, her eyes showed no sign of satisfaction.

 

“Okay, that’s enough. I’ll just look at it here.”

 

Ultimately, Shin Haeri, leaving behind the disappointed staff, started walking again. It was at that moment that she felt a pang of self-pity, seeing her wandering aimlessly, unable to find a place to settle her heart.

 

“Huh?”

 

She saw a woman’s face that was all too familiar. It was a face that she had been looking at on her phone just moments before, so she couldn’t possibly mistake it.

 

“You’re Ji Seowoo, right?”

 

Without hesitation, Shin Haeri blocked the woman’s path.

 

***

The bustling crowd made her mind feel scattered. It was her first time at a department store, except for when she was very young.

 

Seowoo’s destination was none other than the food court in the department store. A few days earlier, she had been on the phone with Jinwoong when she mentioned in passing that she wanted to eat umeogi.

 

At first, she didn’t know what umeogi was, so she looked it up and found out it was a type of fried rice cake made by mixing glutinous rice flour with rice wine. It was a local food of the Gaeseong region, also called Gaeseong Juak.

 

It just so happened that a pop-up store selling traditional Korean sweets, including Gaeseong Juak, was being held at the department store, so she came directly to visit.

 

Recently, she had gotten all her IDs and bankbooks reissued, and she still had some of the money she had earned from her part-time job.

 

Although it might not seem like much, she wanted to express her gratitude to Jinwoong and Minjun in her own way.

 

Even though she was chosen for marriage due to compatibility based on their birth charts, she was still grateful. Above all, she was most grateful that they had considered her schedule to hold the wedding after her high school equivalency exam.

 

She had been wandering around the department store for a while when suddenly, a woman with striking and flamboyant features waved at her with a welcoming smile.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Her voice asking who it was naturally had a wary tone.

 

“You’re Cha Minjun’s bride-to-be, right?”

 

“How did you know that…?”

 

The moment the woman uttered Cha Minjun’s full name, her wariness deepened. Seowoo pressed down on her pounding heart and continued in a cold tone.

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Sorry for the late introduction.”

 

After taking a moment to choose her words, the woman smiled sweetly.

 

“How should I introduce myself? Cha Minjuns’s sex partner?”

 

“……!”

 

“Is that enough of an explanation?”

 

At the explicit words, Seowoo’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. At the same time, she remembered a name that kept circling in her mind.

 

-Cha Minjun. You haven’t been contacting me much lately, am I upsetting you? Are you cheating on me, maybe??

“Shin Haeri, the great Shin Haeri, is upset?”

-It’s not like I have a choice. Is there any difference just because it’s me? All women’s hearts are the same.

Seowoo swallowed hard and looked up at the woman, asking,

 

“Are you by any chance… Shin Haeri?”

 

“Oh my, you know my name too? I’m flattered.”

 

“I heard you talking on the phone with Cha Minjun.”

 

“Oh, is that so? I heard your birth chart is a ‘scapegoat’ chart, that you’ll extend that man Cha Minjun’s lifeline for a long time. That’s why he’s marrying you.”

 

Listening quietly to the woman’s words, Seowoo’s expression gradually hardened. Shin Haeri’s tone naturally conveyed a dismissive attitude towards Seowoo.

 

Indeed, unlike herself, Shin Haeri emanated a mature aura. She briefly imagined the woman standing next to Cha Minjun. Sadly, the two looked quite well-matched, and one side of her heart sank coldly.

 

However, Seowoo had a rather clever side to her. She immediately realized why this woman had appeared in front of her, making trouble.

 

Although she had coolly introduced herself as a sex partner, the woman before her clearly seemed to like Cha Minjun. Therefore, a bride-to-be who had suddenly appeared would undoubtedly be a thorn in her side.

 

“Did you do some kind of background check on me? You seem to know quite a lot about me?”

 

“Well… I just heard it from Cha Minjun.”

 

“I see. If you don’t have anything else to say, can I go now?”

 

Since she clearly had the upper hand, Seowoo calmed her mind. She also had no desire to continue the argument. After all, she was the one who would be marrying Cha Minjun, no matter what anyone said.

 

“Ji Seowoo, I’m just giving you a heads-up in advance.”

 

“What… are you giving a heads-up about?”

 

“That your husband will have sex with me even after marrying you?”

 

Seowoo scoffed in disbelief at the woman’s ridiculous remark.