Chapter 10

A couple of dates? With Taemoo Kang?

She was shaking her head in disbelief.

“According to my mom, married couples can never get to know each other fully even if they spend a lifetime together. How could just a couple of dates help me get to know you?”

“Is ten times enough?”

“Come on, you think that’s enough?”

“Then twenty?”

Uh oh.

If Hari kept going, she was actually going to have to go on many dates with him. She shook her head.

“No, that’s a complete waste of time.”

She found herself saying her favorite phrase. Taemoo was smiling at her.

“Okay, then! Back down to ten?”

“No! What do you mean, ten?”

“Then five?”

“What? No.”

“Four?”

“Th…three.”

Hari timidly put three fingers up. He squinted at her.

“If it’s only going to take you three dates, why not just decide now? This is already our second.”

Hari almost agreed with him, but stopped herself.

‘This is not what I was planning.’

She realized what she was doing was planning their next date. She had to never meet him again, but she was falling into his trap.

“This isn’t about the number of times.”

“Then it’s about how long! Is one year enough?”

One year!

“Or six months?”

Hari stopped herself again as she almost said three months. She was falling into his trap again, and felt like she was on the verge of going mad. He seemed unable to think of anything but getting married.

“Hey, Taemoo.”

“Yes, Youngseo.”

The name Youngseo stung Hari every time he mentioned it. If only he wasn’t looking at her so seriously. If he was to figure out that this whole situation was a lie, and that she was in fact his employee, he would be enraged. When she realized this involved both his and Youngseo’s family, her heart felt heavy.

I have to stop this marriage no matter what.

Hari took a deep breath.

“Didn’t I tell you last time how big of a party animal I am?”

I’m sorry Youngseo, I couldn’t keep your dignity. But if you want me to stop this marriage, this is the only thing I can do.

“You know how complicated it gets when it comes to me and my men.”

“Yes, and you said that you like women, too.”

He added on to what Hari was saying, keeping a straight face. Hari nodded in agreement.

“Exactly. And what is your reason for wanting to marry me when you know all that?”

“I am not the type of person who dwells on the past.”

“But guys usually-”

“I’m not like the other guys.”

My goodness, what an actual idiot!

“Hey, I told you the last time where I was coming from before meeting up with you. To be honest, I went clubbing the night before. I was a complete drunk and had a one-night stand. After all that, I went on that date to see you. What do you think about that?”

“I think you have a very strong sense of responsibility.”

What? How could you look at this situation like that?

“Okay, but usually guys-”

Taemoo seemed to be getting annoyed, trying to emphasize what he had said about him being different from the rest.

“I don’t think honesty is a turn-off. Lying is.”

Uh oh.

Taemoo looked at Hari with the expression that said, “I will kill you if I ever find out you’re lying.” Hari froze.

“Oh, I see. I was being too honest for no reason.”

Hari was crying inside, but Taemoo only nodded with agreement as if he valued her honesty.

“Can I say one more thing, with me being so honest?”

“Go ahead.”

“You aren’t my type, Taemoo.”

Taemoo scowled. Hari was scared, but she believed that, without bold strokes, things were only going to get worse and scarier with him. Hari bolstered her confidence and continued to talk.

“You also have to be my type in order for anything to happen between us. Unfortunately, you are not. I don’t want to marry you.”

This was the honest truth, not a lie. Hari tried her best to intimidate Taemoo. After staring at her for a moment, he began to speak.

“Let’s address the elephant in the room. If you are turning down the marriage because you still want to be a carefree woman and enjoy yourself out there, don’t worry. If you marry me, I’ll promise you you’ll have even more freedom. I’m always so busy with work that I’ll have no time to even know what you’re doing. All I’m trying to say is that, even if you become my wife, Youngseo, you’ll be able to be who you are. You’ll have all the freedom to meet both guys and girls and waste no more time on these boring dates. I’ll also make sure you have all the financial support you need.”

Goodness gracious! He’s the man of everyone’s dreams!

“How does that sound?”

Amazing, of course! Let’s get married right now!

Hari wanted to shout yes, but she painfully shook her head side to side.

“I’m sorry. You really just are not my type.”

He frowned.

“Youngseo.”

“Yes, Taemoo.”

“I’m not that bad.”

“What?”

“If you are thinking about that side of the marriage, I’m telling you, you do not have to worry.”

What side?

Even before Hari realized what he was talking about, she turned red.

“I’m good.”

What?

“If you want, we can prove it now.”

What??

Did he just try to tell Hari that he was good in bed? Hari shook her head ferociously. He frowned.

“Youngseo.”

“Yes?”

“You like men and women. So, why not me?”

“Sorry?”

Hari thought to herself that he seemed to be asking her what the problem here was.

Mom…this doesn’t feel good. I think I’m gonna have to actually marry him…

* * *

“Are you sure I don’t have to drop you off in front of your house?”

Of course. This isn’t Youngseo’s neighborhood, but Hari’s.

“Yes, it’s fine. Thank you for taking me home. Well, then…”

“So, how many dates is it going to take for us to get married?”

“What?”

I literally told him I don’t want to get married for a whole hour.

During the whole date and even on the way home, Hari made up the most ridiculous excuses to show how she was not interested in him. She told him that it was his facial expression, voice, fashion, and even the way his hands looked, but it seemed like Taemoo took that as her being honest, and felt more attracted to her.

I totally forgot that he’s not an idiot, but a perverted psychopath.

Something was actually wrong with him, feeling more attracted to someone the more they said no. Hari tried her best to smile.

“Hey, Taemoo.”

“Yes, Youngseo.”

“Why are you doing this to me when I told you that I don’t like you?”

He seemed to hesitate at first, but came off very straightforward.

“I like you.”

“What?”

“I like you, Youngseo.”

Taemoo was very serious, to the point at which Hari couldn’t even question him back. If Taemoo hadn’t added the name Youngseo at the end of his sentence, Hari would have fallen head over heels for him, too.

“I like you, but you don’t. Don’t you think we need to get to know each other so we reach the same conclusion, whatever it is?”

Hari really couldn’t understand what he saw in her. She was too scared to ask, because she thought it would be one of the weird traits that she’d made up to repel him. If she had gone on the date as herself, she maybe would have considered getting to know him, but she was not Hari, but Youngseo to him. And most importantly, they were from different parts of the world. He was rich, she was not. She had to stop the growing relationship between them, or else it was going to become real trouble.

“Taemoo, I…”

He stopped Hari as he looked away to check the time.

“I’m sorry. I have to get back to work.”

“Ah, yes. Please go ahead.”

“I’ll get back to you after I check with my schedule.”

“Wait, no…”

Taemoo got in the car and rolled down the window.

“I’ll call you.”

“Hey…hey, Taemoo!”

Hari stopped Taemoo he rolled up his window.

“I can’t do this anymore!”

As Hari shouted out of nowhere, Taemoo looked up at her, confused.

“I really can’t do this with you. Forget the marriage, I don’t even want to date you. So please move on and find someone else.”

“Is it because you want to find your true love, a destiny?”

He was remembering what Hari had said before. She tried her best to impersonate Youngseo.

“What? I mean, yes. I want love to be romantic. A blind date is not so romantic.”

“Don’t worry about it, then. Today was one of those days.”

“What?”

Taemoo smiled, looking unlike himself.

“I’ll give you a call.”

“No! Don’t. I…I won’t pick up.”

“Are you going to block my number again?”

“Yes. Even if this involves our families and even if the adults try to intimidate me into it, there’s no use anymore. I’m not going to fall for it again.”

Taemoo frowned.

“I wasn’t trying to intimidate you.”

You really weren’t trying to intimidate me? Then what was it, huh?

“If that wasn’t the case, please take back what you said to the adults. I feel so burdened I can’t even go home feeling comfortable.”

“If you are going to get married anyway…”

“That doesn’t mean I’m going to get married to you. Have some respect for me.”

And my taste, too. My type is Minwoo.

“I’ll leave it to you to take care of the mess you made. I’ll believe our business is done here now.”

Hari quickly turned away. She believed that Taemoo’s ego was not going to let him cling on to her anymore.

“Phew. I almost let him get to me this time, too.”

Hari knew that she had cut him off perfectly and walked around the neighborhood feeling accomplished. As her legs were getting tired, her phone buzzed.

[Did you take care of it?]

As Hari checked her message from her Youngseo, she sent a reply back with confidence.

[Yes. Perfectly.]