Young Wife and Bad Things

Episode 2

**Smack! Thud!**

Beom Do-geon grabbed Hong-gyun by the back of his head and slammed it onto the table repeatedly.

Each time his head crashed against the table with a loud thud, blood spurted from Hong-gyun’s nose.

Seo I-jae froze, completely stunned by the scene unfolding in front of him.

Other customers hastily began to flee the area.

Do-geon released Hong-gyun’s head, letting it drop onto the table like a discarded object.

Hong-gyun’s mouth gaped open, blood and saliva spilling from his lips.

Sliding down with a sickening slurp, Hong-gyun’s face smeared against the table.

Seeing this, Do-geon casually lifted his foot and placed it on Hong-gyun’s cheek.

More precisely, he pressed his polished shoe firmly against Hong-gyun’s face.

“You didn’t seem to deliver Mr. Ko’s greeting in time.”

“Ugh… ah…”

“So I decided to come collect it myself.”

Do-geon ground his foot into Hong-gyun’s face.

Like someone putting out a cigarette butt in an ashtray, he twisted and pressed his foot into Hong-gyun’s cheek, making the man groan in agony.

“I-I was wrong… ah… I’m sorry… hngh…”

“Good, it’s only right to acknowledge people when you see them, isn’t it?”

Do-geon continued grinding Hong-gyun’s face into the table as he spoke.

“From now on, when you see someone from Mu-jeong, this is how you should bow. Understand?”

“Hgh… yes… I understand… please… please spare me…”

When Do-geon finally lifted his foot, Hong-gyun slumped helplessly off the table and onto the floor.

For a moment, Hong-gyun seemed dazed, unable to pull himself together.

Then, clutching his broken nose, he asked weakly, “W-when did you… when did you get here…? I-I didn’t realize… I’m so sorry…”

“I’ve been here since the Vice President was fretting about how the country was going downhill because of a thug like you.”

“…”

“I heard he couldn’t sleep, worried I might sell the country off too.”

“Hgh… I-I didn’t just say bad things… I also said that you’re… handsome and… capable… and amazing…”

“Sure, thanks for the compliments.”

Do-geon replied casually and turned his head slightly.

“Kyung-jin.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Take care of him.”

Kyung-jin grabbed Hong-gyun by the back of his neck and dragged him out of the room.

Hong-gyun was pulled away, leaving a trail of blood smeared across the marble floor.

Seo I-jae, who had witnessed the entire scene up close, couldn’t stop trembling.

“I saved you, so why do you look so upset?”

Do-geon clicked his tongue when he noticed I-jae’s pale face.

“Or… did I interrupt something you were happy to go along with?”

Do-geon motioned with his eyes for I-jae to follow him.

I-jae, as if hypnotized, stumbled after him.

The man walked fast, his long legs covering a lot of ground quickly.

Standing nearly 190 cm tall, Do-geon’s strides were impossible for I-jae, who was limping slightly, to keep up with.

Noticing this, Do-geon stopped and glanced back, his eyes settling briefly on I-jae’s injured left ankle.

Without a word, he slowed his pace to match.

“Um, Vice President…”

I-jae finally managed to catch up to him once they exited the hotel.

Do-geon seemed lost in thought for a moment, staring into the distance.

Then, he spoke.

“Alright. Let’s do it.”

“Pardon?”

“Let’s get married.”

It was shocking enough that Beom Do-geon had interrupted his blind date.

But now, even more unbelievable words came out of his mouth.

“Come marry me.”

—

### One Month Earlier—At an Upscale Restaurant

Seo I-jae carefully cut her steak into tiny pieces and put them in her mouth.

The meat felt stuck in her throat, refusing to go down.

Even so, she deliberately clinked her fork and knife together to create some sound, hoping it would ease the suffocating tension of the blind date.

**‘Hey, loser. Go to this blind date for me, will you? Dad’s making me meet some gangster for marriage, but I’m having too much fun with my new boyfriend to waste time on this.’**

**‘Who’s the blind date with?’**

**‘Dunno! Dad says it’s someone from the Mu-jeong Group. You know, that mafia organization. Total gangsters.’**

**‘…’**

**‘Bet the guy hits women too. But you don’t cry even when you get hit, so isn’t it perfect for you? Haha.’**

**‘…Mu-jeong Group? Fine. I’ll go in your place.’**

A man with no conscience, no morals.

A man infamous for being a heartless brute.

Seo I-jae had only one reason to attend a blind date with the notoriously ruthless Vice President of Mu-jeong Group.

Because he was I-jae’s first love.

Beom Do-geon was the only adult who had reached out a hand to help I-jae during a lonely and desperate childhood.

**‘Ah, I’m so nervous…’**

Her mouth felt dry, and she reached for her glass of water.

But when I-jae glanced at the man across from her, she nearly dropped the glass.

The heir to Mu-jeong Group, a man rumored to have the entire country in the palm of his hand.

A man who lived a life where making others kneel with a simple gesture and taking whatever he wanted was second nature.

A man with deep ties to the police and prosecution, so entrenched that even breaking the law had no consequences.

And if he desired, a man who could change the laws themselves.

Everyone understood his arrogance, and his influence extended to the highest levels of politics and business.

It had been three years.

Three years since Do-geon had appeared before I-jae following the sudden death of her father.

“I never thought I’d see you again, Vice President.”

Even if I-jae didn’t want to look at him, Beom Do-geon was a man who naturally commanded attention wherever he went.

Back then, he had already exuded the aura of a grown man.

But now, at 32 years old, having risen to the top of his organization, his presence was even more overwhelming.

His broad, perfectly V-shaped torso was wrapped in a black dress shirt.

His slicked-back hair revealed a sharp jawline that carried an intense masculinity.

His long, dark eyes were cold and piercing, and the bridge of his nose looked as though it had been sculpted by a god.

But most of all, it was his commanding aura that stood out.

Having grown up in his uncle’s household, Seo I-jae had met many of Korea’s most powerful people.

Yet no one I-jae had ever seen could compare to this man.

Just sitting there, Beom Do-geon seemed to suffocate the room with his mere presence.

“Baby.”

The nickname slipped unexpectedly from the man’s lips, making Seo I-jae blink in surprise.

When I-jae glanced around, Do-geon chuckled.

“Who else here would I be calling that, if not you?”

Hearing the same pet name Do-geon had used for him as a child made I-jae’s face flush bright red.

Then it happened.

Do-geon shifted in his seat, extending one long leg wrapped in a sharp black suit.

When his polished shoe landed on the edge of the table, I-jae’s eyes wavered.

The man’s rude behavior didn’t stop there.

He even pulled out a cigarette.

With a *click*, the flame of a Dupont lighter flared to life.

Do-geon lit the cigarette, inhaling so deeply his cheeks caved in.

“How old are you, baby?”

His low voice carried an almost mocking tone, as though he were speaking to a toddler.

“Are you deaf?”

His indifferent gaze fell on I-jae’s injured left ankle for a moment before returning.

Embarrassed, I-jae quickly hid her leg under the table.

“Twenty…”

I-jae’s lips parted hesitantly, but he couldn’t finish his sentence.

The man’s sharp gaze pierced her, leaving her words stuck in her throat.

Unable to bear the tension, I-jae struggled to answer.

When her hesitation stretched too long, the man frowned impatiently.

“…Twenty years old.”

“Not bad. For a baby, you speak well.”

He gave a half-hearted compliment, as if to say, *See, you’re not deaf after all.*

“I didn’t think I’d run into you again like this.”

Hearing that he remembered her made Seo I-jae’s heart pound in her chest.

“You’ve grown up well.”

“Twenty, huh…” he muttered lowly, smirking slightly.

It was as if he couldn’t believe he’d been set up for a blind date with someone so young.

“Did you know I was your blind date when you came here?”

“Yes. I knew. I’m the one you’re meeting today.”

Although her cousin Hyo-won had told her to pretend to be her for the date, I-jae didn’t lie.

She had a desperate reason to make this blind date succeed.

“I heard Mu-jeong Group is looking for a bride for you, Vice President.”

“…”

“Please… marry me.”

Seo I-jae struggled to steady her nerves as she spoke.

But judging by the way Beom Do-geon kept calling her “baby,” it felt like everything was already doomed from the start.

Even after meeting him again as an adult, did he still see her as the 17-year-old girl in a school uniform?

The man took another slow drag from his cigarette.

As he moved, the black shirt he wore stretched tautly over the muscles underneath.

“That Professor Seo is really something else,” Do-geon muttered.

“…”

“What does he expect me to do with a kid who still has baby fat on her cheeks?”

He exhaled a cloud of smoke as he looked at I-jae’s face, which still had a slight youthful roundness to it.

When she coughed from the smoke, he clicked his tongue in annoyance and stubbed out his cigarette on a white plate.

“So, after all this time, the first thing you say is, ‘Marry me’?”

“As I mentioned, I’m an adult now, and I can legally get married…”

Before she could finish, the man frowned and coldly cut her off.

“Do you even know what marriage is, baby?”

I-jae opened her mouth, but his blunt and explicit words left her speechless.

“A husband and wife stick to each other, day and night.”

“…”

“The moment they wake up, they stick to each other. While eating, they stick to each other. While showering, while working, and at night, they stick to each other until one of them passes out from exhaustion. That’s what marriage is.”

Stick to each other…? What does that even mean?

The man’s gaze briefly flicked to her flushed neck, visible between her shirt collar. Then, he spoke again.

“Do you think you can handle sticking to me, day and night?”

It was the first time anyone had said something so explicit to her face.

I-jae’s cheeks flushed bright red in embarrassment.

Seeing this, the corner of the man’s lips twisted into a cold smirk.

It was clearly a sneer.

“Well?”

“…”

“Do you really want to marry someone like me, baby?”

Do-geon asked, his cigarette now angled lazily between his lips.

His arrogant tone made it clear—he had no intention of marrying someone he considered a child, and this was a warning she shouldn’t forget.