Juri

My eyes widened as he carefully placed his hand on my waist. In a swift motion, he let go of the umbrella, allowing the freezing downpour to fall onto us. The familiar scent of a rainy forest brushed against my nose a split second before he locked his lips with mine again.

His lips were relaxed and pillowy, a huge contrast to my desperate, rushed kiss. He deliberately tilted his head, deepening the kiss. My stomach churned as he gently guided me backward until the small part of my back pressed against the cold metal of his sports car, all while not breaking the kiss.

When he pulled away before the momentum peaked, we both stared at each other, breathless. The rushing adrenaline suddenly slipped away the moment I met his gaze.

His piercing eyes were ever so dark and cold. Not a single gleam of light reflected in them. I honestly didn’t know what I was expecting from the Ice King. However, I didn’t understand why a huge wave of disappointment hit me upon seeing his eyes like this.

What is wrong with me?

I had only known him for a week, and yet I could never get used to his distant eyes. It was almost terrifying.

Juwon’s heavy footsteps marched toward us, prompting Mr. Lee to lean down and whisper into my ear. The sound of his deep voice rumbled against my ear, “Let’s see how far you thought this through.”

I frowned. He was acting as if I had been the only one kissing, completely ignoring the fact that he had just kissed me back.

“What the hell?! Juri, what are you doing?” Juwon yelled, looking back and forth between the two of us.

I cleared my throat, stepped past Mr. Lee, and walked straight up to Juwon.

“Something I should’ve done a long time ago—”

“Have you completely lost your mind?! Kissing another man right in front of me? You wretched—”

I held my hand up right in front of his face. “Don’t you think you have something to confess? Because, as far as I'm concerned, I broke up with you a long time ago. You’re just too slow to realize it.”

His eyes burned with so much rage that I almost flinched. He had never looked at me with such intense resentment before. He lifted his hand to grab me, but in one fluid motion, Mr. Lee held his arm out in front of me and gently guided me back, completely blocking Juwon from reaching me.

Juwon glared at him, his fists clenching tightly. “And who the hell are you? I’ve seen you before. Are you her co-worker or something?” He then pointed a trembling finger past Mr. Lee's shoulder, aiming it right at me. I rolled my eyes.

He couldn’t even muster the courage to look the other man in the eye. What a coward.

“Juri, you wretched whore! How could you do this to me, knowing damn well you’ve been begging me to marry you?”

I gritted my teeth and threw myself past Mr. Lee’s protective barrier, aggressively closing the gap between Juwon and me.

I thrust a finger into his chest, forcing him to step back with wide, shocked eyes. “Don’t you ever put my name and that word in the same sentence when you’re nothing but a good-for-nothing, spineless Judas.”

His jaw slacked, “What?”

“I know about everything! About your affair with Nari, about her pregnancy, and exactly how long you've been lying to my face. You’re a disgusting human being. The only mistake I ever made was begging my parents for their blessing so I could marry you!”

I bit down hard on my trembling lower lip. Saying all of this out loud felt entirely surreal, especially with Mr. Lee standing right there. The whole situation was mortifying, and I refused to endure this level of disrespect for another second.

Mr. Lee just stood there. He picked up his umbrella, and it shielded him perfectly from the downpour as he watched the chaos unfold, his head slightly tilted and his hands buried in his pockets. He looked at us as if this whole screaming match was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. And to someone like him, it probably was.

Juwon slammed his hand against his own chest with a dull thud. “I only slept with her because I have needs! I am a man, Juri! There is no man out there who would wait eight years for something most people get within the first month. Where you sleeping with him instead—”

I whipped my hand across his face, striking his cheek with so much force that the impact split his lower lip. Blood immediately started to well up.

I should’ve done the same damng thing to Nari.

He pressed his thumb against his bleeding lip, staring at the stain on his skin before raising his hand to strike me back. But before his arm could even come down, Mr. Lee caught my wrist, pulling me backward out of harm's way as he stepped between us once again.

“That’s enough. Get in the car. I will drive you home,” Mr. Lee said, looking back at me.

I frowned fiercely. “I’m not done with him!”

“Now, Ms. Kim.”

I clenched my fists, throwing one last venomous glare at Juwon’s furious face. Mr. Lee pulled out his keys and clicked the button, unlocking the sports car behind us. Letting out a sharp sigh of defeat, I opened the passenger door and climbed inside, too consumed by pure rage to even process the fact that I had just stepped into the private vehicle of the heir of Elyvion.

Sunjae

Her ex-boyfriend scoffed upon seeing Juri enter my car. He shot a venomous glare at me before thrusting a finger in my direction.

“I don’t care who you are. A mere employee driving a car like that only means trouble. Just so you know, I’m an attorney, and I know people who can dig up whatever illegal activity you’re doing to afford it. Mark my words!”

I scrutinized the drenched, trembling man and smirked. “I look forward to seeing you try.”

With that, I turned around and walked back to my car. I was not going to waste another second of my time on someone like him.

Once I closed the umbrella and slid into the driver's seat, my eyes instinctively moved to Juri. She was soaking wet, staring through the side mirror at her ex-boyfriend as he violently stomped on his own umbrella in the rain.

This entire situation was turning into a massive inconvenience. I knew I shouldn’t have gotten involved in her personal spectacle. My tailored jacket was far less damp than her clothes, so I slipped it off and handed it over to her. Before she could say a word, I started the engine. She immediately buckled her seatbelt as I pulled away from the curb.

She removed her spectacles and rubbed them with the hem of her shirt before pushing back her dripping wet hair and letting out an exhausted sigh.

“That loser,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Where do you live? Put it on the navigation system,” I said. But instead of complying, she simply folded her arms and clenched her jaw tightly.

“Ms. Kim…”

“Sorry… I just need a moment,” she whispered. I immediately pulled over to the side of the road and turned to face her.

“You are incredibly impulsive.”

Instead of getting defensive, she let out a sigh of defeat. She then removed her chunky spectacles and covered her face with her hands, “I know.”

“Do you regret what you did?”

She clenched her fists and slammed them onto her lap, a fiery light appearing in her eyes as she whipped her head towards me.

“Of course not! In fact, I would do it over and over again!”

She paused abruptly, a dark crimson color flushed through her face, and she immediately averted her gaze.

“I apologize for doing that,” she muttered, “I didn’t have a choice.”

I let out a quiet sigh and loosened my tie before shifting the car back to drive.

“You can use me for revenge. It’s only fair considering I will be using you for power.”

She nodded slowly and bit down on her lower lip.

A habit I truly despised.