A swift wedding to the hell

Dawn had barely broken when Min ho paused outside the room where he had left Shin hye the night before, the cold and his thoughts joining forces to keep him from rest. He’d paced the house, haunted by the memories of the empty rooms, waiting for the sun to rise on the day when he would see Gyeonggi mansion and lands restored to its right and proper owner.

The solution was marriage. A quick one. And with that marriage, the passing of Gyeonggi. Gyeonggi, and Shin Hye.

A different man would feel remorse at the unfortunate role Shin Hye was forced to play in this game, but he knew better. He was using her, but was that not how marriage worked? Were not all marital relations devised on that very reason—mutual benefit?

She would gain access to his money, his freedoms, and anything else she wished.

He would gain Gyeonggi Mansion.

That was that. They were not the first to marry for land, nor would they be the last. It was a remarkable offer, the one he’d made her. He was rich and well connected, and he was offering her a chance to trade her future as an unmarried woman for one as a wife to a chaebol, though he was ripped from the inheritance, he still had the name in this country, he was well known. She could have anything she wanted. He’d give it to her with pleasure.

After all, she was giving him the only thing he’d ever really wanted.

Not quite. No one gave Min ho anything. He was taking it. Taking her.

A vision flashed, large brown eyes set wide in her plain face, pleasure and something more blazing there. Something too close to emotion. Too close to caring.

That was why he’d left her, strategically. Coolly. Calculatingly.

To prove the marriage would be a business arrangement. Not because he had wanted to stay. Not because removing his mouth and hands from her had been one of the most difficult things he had ever done. Not because he’d been tempted to do just the opposite—to sink into her and revel in her, soft where women were meant to be soft and sweet where they were meant to be sweet. Not because those little sighs that came from the back of while he kissed her were the most things he’d ever heard, or that she tasted like innocence.

He forced himself to move away from her door. There was no reason to knock. He’d be back before she woke, ready to take her to the local office. He already got the marriage licence they only need to sign it. Then, they would return to Seoul and live their separate lives.

He took a deep breath, enjoying the sting of the crisp morning air in his lungs, satisfied with his plan.

That’s when he received a call.

“Yeobasayo?”

“YOU SON OF A ! What the hell this is about? You marrying my daughter? Where is she? WHERE IS SHE NOW?”

Min Ho expected this call. Mr Park can easily get in contact with him and now that he seen the news and obviously found out about the missing Shin Hye in his home, he has called him than the police. After all his family name is in stake.

“We are marrying later on, Abeonim”

“Abeonim, my ” He heard him bellow down the phone, “You don’t deserve her. You only using her”

Min ho didn’t reply.

“Where is she?? Give the phone to her now!”

“Ofcourse”

He went to Shin Hye’s room. Before he could knock, the door swang open and there she stood like a soldier ready to walk into a war zone. He held the phone up, “It’s your father”

Her eyes widened for a minute before she took the phone.

“Oh appa”

Silence.

“Appa, I’m marrying him”

“De appa”

Silence.

“I understand”

Silence.

“I’m sorry appa”

She hanged up and handed his phone back as she looked away. Min Ho felt his heart crushing seeing the expression on her face but he didn’t want to ask. Asking means she will think he cares. And thats not what he wants.

He his heels to leave but Shin Hye’s voice stopped him.

“You need to make a deal with me”

“What?”

“Find a good prospect for Yoo Bi, I will marry you”

“What?”

“You heard me”

He stare at her for a minute bfore giving in.

“Deal, it’s not hard anyway”

..............................................

(In the evening)

I’m married.
I’m Mrs Lee now.

She was travelling in a limo styled car and would soon be in Seoul, where she would live, with her new husband, in his town house. Min Ho oppa was her new husband. Which meant, she would share her wedding night with him. Perhaps he’d kiss her again. Touch her again. It was what husbands and wives did, after all.

She hoped.

Aish Shin Hye, you ert.

The thought was enough to make her wish she had the courage to throw open the door to the limo and toss herself right out of the vehicle. They’d been married so quickly and so efficiently that she barely remembered it—they didn’t make any vow, it was all in a paper. Her signature next to his. He’d married her for land and nothing else.

And it did not matter that he’d touched her and made her feel things she’d never imagined a body could feel. In the end, this was precisely the kind of marriage she’d been raised to have—a marriage of convenience. A marriage of duty. A marriage of propriety.

He’d made that more than clear. He sat opposite to her and was ignoring her, his silence easy and annoying. He couldn’t even feign interest in her.

Maybe, if she weren’t so consumed by nervousness at the events of the day, she might have been able to remain quiet herself—to match him silence for silence.

Maybe.

But Shin Hye would never know, because she was unable to remain silent for a moment longer.

She cleared , as though preparing to make a public statement. He opened his eyes and slid his gaze to her but did not move otherwise. “I think it would be best if we took this time to discuss our plan.”

“Our plan?”

“Chamnaa!! You forgot? The plan to ensure that my sister, Yoo Bi, have a successful marriage. You do remember your promise?”

Something she couldn’t recognize played across his face. “I remember.”

“What is the plan?”

He stretched, his legs extending even farther across the limo. “I plan to find chaebol husbands for your sister.”

She blinked. “You mean suitors.”

“If you like. I’ve two men in mind.”

Curiosity flared. “Chincha? What are they like?”

“They have money.”

“And?” she prompted.

“And are bachelors.”

He was exasperating. “What about their personality?”

“Both are male and unmarried?” 

Her eyes went wide. He was serious. “YAH! Bichaeso?? Those are not qualities.”

“Qualities?”

“The characteristics that make for a good husband.”

“You are expert in the subject,” He dipped his head, mocking her. “Please. Go ahead and tell me.”

She pulled herself up, ticking the items off on her fingers as she went. “Kindness. Generosity. A little of good humor—”

“Only a little of it? Bad humor on say, Tuesdays and Thursdays would be okay?”

Her gaze narrowed. “Good humor,” she repeated before pausing, then adding, “A warm smile.” She couldn’t resist adding, “in your case, I would accept any smile at all.”

He did not smile.

“Do they have these qualities?” she prodded. He did not reply. “Will my Yoo Bi like them?”

“How would I know.”

“Do you like them?”

“Not really.”

“You are so irratating.”

“Consider it one of my qualities.”

He turned away, and she raised a brow in his direction. She couldn’t help it. No one in her life had ever irritated her quite so much as this man. Her husband. Her husband, who had abducted her, without remorse, from her life. Her husband, whom she’d agreed to marry because she did not want her family to suffer another blow to their reputations at her hands. Her husband, who had agreed to help her regain some pride to the family by the form of a good marriage for her sister. Only now did she realize that by help, he’d meant, arrange another loveless marriage.

She wasn’t having it.

She couldn’t do much, but she could make certain that Yoo Bi had her chance at happy marriage. The chance she hadn’t had.

“First, you don’t even know if these men will agree for a marriage date with Yoo Bi.”

“They will.” He leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes once more.

“How do you know that?”

“Because they owe me a great deal of money, and I will forgive their debts in exchange for marriage.”

Shin Hye’s jaw dropped. “Chakama... you will buy their commitment?”

“I’m not certain that commitment is part of the bargain.”

He said it without opening his eyes—eyes that remained closed for the long minutes during which she considered the horrible words. She leaned forward and poked him in the leg with one finger. Hard. His eyes opened.

There was no room for triumph in her as she was too full of outrage. “Ani,” she said, the word short and sharp in the small carriage.

“Ani?”

“ANI,” she repeated. “You gave me your word that our marriage wouldn’t ruin my family reputation.”

“And it will not. Marriage to any one of the man I choose would make your family bring their status back in society.”

“Marriage to the man who owe you money and might not be faithful will ruin my family and Yoo Bi in other ways. In the ways that matter.”

One of his dark brows rose in that irritating expression she was coming to dislike. “The ways that matter?”

“De. The ways that matter. Yoo Bi will not have marriage built on stupid agreements related to gaming. It’s bad enough that I have one of those. She shall choose her husband. She shall have marriage built on more. Built on—” She stopped, not wanting him to laugh at her.

“Built on . . . ?”

She did not speak. Would not give him the pleasure of a reply. Waited for him to press her. Oddly, he did not. “I guess you have a plan to capture a man with those qualities?”

She didn’t. Not really. “Eo? DE! I do!”

“Go on, tell me”

“We shall make it public of our marriage. Properly. Prove to them that our marriage was not forced.”

He raised a brow. “Your dowry included my land. You think they will not see that I married you for my land? Reporters are not that dense.”

She worried her lip, hating his logic. And she said the first thing that came to her mind. The first, ridiculous, utterly insane thing that came to her mind. “We must really make it look like a love match.”

He showed none of the shock that she felt at the words and said sarcastically. “Kure? — Something like we met aboard? I saw you waiting outside your friend’s house one night and you didn’t ha