Lee Mansion…

“Keep in mind that when you are playing the C chord, for example, you don’t have to play the c below or the e below.” Park Shin Hye explained as she held Hyun Jun’s hands and gently pressed some of the keys on the piano. “You can put them in whatever order you want. Once you have A Minor, you can play a good proportion of pop tunes. Green Day’s ‘When I Come Around’ is a canonical example. It’s nothing but a repeating loop, C Major, G Major, A Minor, F Major, then back to C Major.”

Hyun Jun slowly processed what she said as he nodded and tried to play the keys that Shin Hye explained to him. Shin Hye smiled proudly and his head softly. “You are very smart and talented. If you practice more, you will improve very fast.”

“Thank you, eomma.” Hyun Jun smiled happily.

“Agasshi…”

Kang Chun Hwa’s voice interrupted them as Shin Hye turned to the older woman with a warm smile. “Yes?”

“It’s almost 6pm now. Doryeon-nim called five minutes ago that he is on the way back now to pick you up.” She said.

“Pick me up?” Shin Hye tilted her head before she widened her eyes when she recalled something. “Oh my god, the charity ball. I totally forgot about it.” She said as she quickly stood up of the stool. “Hyun Jun-ah, we will continue again tomorrow. Eomma need to change now.” And before waiting for Hyun Jun to reply, she ran towards the stairs and rushed to the room. She almost fell down when she tripped on her own leg.

Hyun Jun and Kang Chun Hwa laughed, looking at the clumsy Shin Hye.

Quickly putting on some light makeup, Shin Hye proceeded to the walk-in closet and took out the evening gown that Min Ho prepared for her few days ago. She was very busy this whole week with the exam preparation in the school and doesn’t have time to think about the charity ball. She doesn’t even remember to try the dress whether it’s fit or not.

She took the dress out from the closet and gently put it on. The dress that Min Ho prepared for her was a creamy-white colour, silk floor length gown with lace in a class fit and flare silhouette. The sweetheart neckline showed off a hint of her cleavage and the slender fit of the silk hugged her curves without too overly sensuous. She let her hair loose around her shoulders and falling down her back with a slight curl to it.  

Fumbling slightly, she tried to zip the dress up but her hand wasn’t able to reach the zipper at the back. She inhaled a deep breath and tried several times again but still not succeeding.

“Need my help?”

Shin Hye was startled when Min Ho’s voice suddenly filled the room. She looked up through the long mirror and saw her very handsome husband standing at the door of the walk-in closet. He has already fully dressed in a dashing black tuxedo. A soft breathy sigh escaped her lips. She must have been too rushing and forgot to lock the door. When did he come in? Did he saw her changing into the dress just now?

Min Ho smirked as he strolled over to her and stood right behind her, looking at her beautiful face through the mirror. “I know what you were thinking but too bad. Although I wish I could see something I haven’t seen before but you were already fully dressed when I came in.” Another smirk painted on his face when he saw her cheeks reddened.

Gently brushing her hair over her right shoulder, Min Ho slowly helped her to zip up the dress with his fingers brushing lightly on her smooth skin. He leaned over to her ear and whispered softly. “Done.”

The warm breath that was fanning against Shin Hye’s ear caused her to gasp nervously. “T-Thank you.”

“I beg your pardon?” Min Ho asked, trying to suppress a smile.

Shin Hye bit her lower lip and shook her head vigorously. She knows when she needs to thank him; she has to use a specific way to do it. “I mean…”

Min Ho chuckled. “Since we are running out of time, I’ll let you go this time.”

Shin Hye let out a sigh of relief before looking at him through the window. “I was practicing piano with Hyun Jun just now and forgot the time. I’m sorry.”

“Hmmm…” He uttered as he turned her around to face him. “A woman has every right to make a man to wait for her.” He paused and leaned closer. “Especially a beautiful woman.”

Shin Hye held her breath as they locked their eyes deeply into each other gaze. Min Ho looked at her with his mind fully captured by her. They both felt it; the pull between them was so intense and undeniable. Without realizing it, he naturally leaned over and wanted to kiss her. But just when their lips were almost touched, a soft giggle sound startled both of them and he quickly pulled away, knowing there was an intruder.

Min Ho took a step back from Shin Hye before turning to the front, looking at his son. “Yes, Hyun Jun?”

Hyun Jun continued to giggle. “I’m looking for eomma.” He said as he walked towards his mother. “Wah… eomma is so pretty. You are the most beautiful person who looks so pretty even with your face covered with colours. If not because Hyun Jun is still so young, I’ll sure marry you and won’t let appa have the chance.”

Min Ho smirked at what his son said. Should he be happy that Hyun Jun is still a kid now? If not, he doesn’t have much confidence to fight with him since he has his handsome face too.

Shin Hye laughed as she kneeled down in front of Hyun Jun and pinched his nose softly. “You must have inherited your father’s sweet mouth.” She said, stealing a glance at Min Ho at the same time. Both of them always have a way to make her heart fluttered.

Hyun Jun pulled her closer and whispered into her ear. “Eomma is right. Appa have a very sweet mouth. You better guard him carefully later and don’t let him say those sweet words to other witches.”

Although it was soft but it was still loud enough for Min Ho to hear what his son was saying. He cleared his throat and cut in. “You can continue to flirt with her after we come back tonight. If you don’t return my wife to me now, we will be late.”

Shin Hye and Hyun Jun laughed together at the same time.

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Hotel Grand Ballroom…

A lot of guests have already arrived the moment Min Ho and Shin Hye entered the ballroom. Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath and felt extremely nervous. Her hand was gripping tightly onto her clutch bag. First, this was the first time she attend this kind of event and secondly, she might be seeing Taec Yeon here. It will be very awkward for all of them if they meet again.

Min Ho felt her nervousness and give her hand a soft squeeze. “We will only be here for a while. We can leave after greeting some people.” He assured her.

Shin Hye let out a light smile and nodded.

Min Ho was still holding her hand tightly in his as he walked towards the cocktail area where some important people from the government sector were standing. He greeted them and introduced Shin Hye to them. Although he wasn’t comfortable with their hungry eyes staring at his wife, but he forced himself to stay calm. He regretted to approve his secretary for choosing this y dress for Shin Hye.

Just when Min Ho wanted to approach another person, someone called him from behind. It was Mr Chan, the Chinese client that he has been trying so hard to close the business deal with him for months. He pulled Shin Hye with him and walked towards that Chinese man with a smile. But just when they got near to each other, the smile on his face immediately disappeared the moment he saw the familiar woman standing beside Mr Chan. His grip around Shin Hye’s hand tightened the next second.

Shin Hye noticed his changes and followed his gaze. He was looking at the female partner that the man brought. The woman was staring at Min Ho too. She looks familiar. She remembered seeing her before in some fashion magazines. If she is not mistaken, that woman is a model.

“We meet again, Mr Lee.” Mr Chan spoke in Chinese as he shook Min Ho’s hand.

“Hi, Mr Chan.” Min Ho greeted him politely in his not-so-good Chinese.

Mr Chan moved his gaze to Shin Hye and his eyes were scanning her from top to toe. His gaze makes Shin Hye and Min Ho felt uncomfortable at the same time. Min Ho inhaled a sharp breath when his erted eyes stopped at Shin Hye’s revealing chest. Pulling her slightly to the back to lengthen a safe distance from that old man, he faked a smile on his face.

“Please meet my wife, Park Shin Hye.” He said and turned to Shin Hye. “This is Mr Chan from China. We are currently discussing a project together.”

Shin Hye smiled and nodded her head politely. “Hi, Mr Chan. Nice meeting you.” She greeted him in fluent Chinese. Her fluency in Chinese speaking surprised both Min Ho and Mr Chan. 

“Nice meeting you too, Mrs Lee. You speak very good Chinese.” He praised her.

Shin Hye smiled again. “Thank you.”

He then turned to Min Ho and smiled. “Mr Lee is so lucky to find such a beautiful and smart woman.” The man that was standing beside Mr Chan translates what he said in Korean to Min Ho.

“Thank you.” Min Ho smiled.

“Let’s meet my partner, Miss Go Ara. I think all of you should know her. She is a well-known model in Korea.” Mr Chan said as he pulled her slightly to the front.

Min Ho clenched his jaw when Go Ara shook his hand with a meaningful smile. Vengeance was clearly written on her face. She then turned to Shin Hye and let out a fake smile. Her eyes were burning with hatred.

“It’s a pleasure to finally have a chance to meet Mrs Lee.” She said as she stole a sideway glance at Min Ho before a grin spread across her face. “I used to be very close to Mr Lee. I wonder why he didn’t invite me to his wedding.”

Shin Hye raised her brows and felt something strange especially with the way she stared at her husband.

“Oh… please don’t misunderstand. I’m close to him because… I was a spoke person for one of DCM Corporation’s project last time.” Go Ara said with a satisfied smile when she noticed the upset expression on Min Ho’s face.

“I see.” Shin Hye maintained a kind smile without showing any sign of discomfort. “Min Ho oppa and I wanted a simple wedding. So he didn’t invite a lot of people during the banquet. I hope Go Ara-sshi wouldn’t mind that Min Ho oppa didn’t invite you. The wedding was meant for families and close friends.”

The smile on Go Ara’s face faded. And it was Min Ho’s turn to smile. Her pissing game becomes useless in front of his calm and smart wife.

Mr Chan excused themselves when he saw someone and walked away with Go Ara. After they left, Min Ho let out an exaggerated sigh. He could foresee thing will get complicated with Go Ara involved now.

Shin Hye looked up at him and squeezed his hand softly. “Are you okay?” She asked. He looked troubled and she guessed it has something to do with Go Ara.

Min Ho smiled slightly and nodded his head. “I’m fine.” He then looked at her with an admiring gaze. “I didn’t know you could speak Chinese.”

Shin Hye chuckled. “There are a lot of things that you don’t know about me. I’m sure this is just one of those.” She smiled. “I took a Chinese class during my university time. But I just studied for half a year. So I’m not too fluent and just know a little bit.”

Min Ho nodded and before he could respond, he caught a glimpse of Go Ara walking out of the ballroom. She glanced at him and gave him a meaningful smile. He inhaled deeply and turned back to Shin Hye. “Will you be alright to stay here alone for a while? I need to… go out for a moment.”

Shin Hye glanced around the ballroom, hesitated for a second before she smiled. “If it’s only for a moment, I think I’m okay.”

“I’ll be back very fast. Take some drinks at the cocktail area if you are thirsty.” He paused and glanced at the men around them. “Don’t simply talk to stranger, arasso?” He warned her.

Shin Hye smiled and nodded.

He took one lingering look at her before turning around and quickly walked out of the ballroom. And as what he expected, Go Ara was waiting for him outside. She grinned when she saw him and walked to the opposite direction, heading to another washroom that located farer away from the ballroom.

She stopped at the quiet hallway where the washroom was located and turned to Min Ho. “It seems like you are quite distracted by my sudden appearance.”

Min Ho slowly walked over and stopped right in front of her. “What do you want?” He smirked. “I’m sure money isn’t the only reason you get close to that Chinese man.”

Go Ara chuckled. “You are really smart and understand about me. Nothing can ever hide from you.” She paused and the smile on her face faded. “If you didn’t throw me away like garbage, I’m sure we can make a great couple.”

“Don’t waste my time.” Min Ho glared at her dangerously. “Be straightforward and tell me what you want?”

“Okay.” Go Ara smirked. “I know you want the project from China very badly. As what I know, DCM Corporation and OK Corporation are the final two candidates that Mr Chan is considering.” The smirk on her face deepened as she leaned forward, wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed herself tightly against him. “I’m sure you can see how much that old man wanted me. If I’m willing to help you, getting the project will be as easy as snapping your fingers.” She paused and bit her lip seductively. “But at the same time, if you make me unhappy, destroying your chance is as easy as that too. I’m sure that old man will not be pleased if he find out about our past relationship.”

Min Ho’s eyes darkened as his lips pressed into a thin line. “What do you want?” He asked again.

Go Ara smiled widely as she tightened her arms around his neck. “You… I want you.”

On the other hand, Shin Hye was still waiting for Min Ho in the ballroom. As what Min Ho predicted, a lot of men came to approach her when she was alone. She has already run out of excuses to reject talking to them. So to prevent her husband getting upset and accuse her for being flirty again, she decided to go out of the ballroom and hope she could see him outside. But there was no sign of him out there. She then walked to the nearest washroom to check her makeup but saw a ‘maintenance in progress’ sign outside hanging at the door.

“Agasshi, do you want to use the washroom? Something is wrong with one of the toilets inside. It might take a while. If you don’t mind please use the washroom at the other side.” The worker who was standing outside the washroom told her.

Shin Hye smiled and nodded. She walked away, looked up at the signage showing the washroom that the worker told her just now and followed the direction showed on the signage. That place was slightly farer than the one near to the ballroom. As she turned into the quiet hallway, her legs immediately stopped walking and froze in place. Her breath was hitched in when she saw Min Ho standing not far away from her and Go Ara was hugging him tightly. Their lips were just millimetres away from each other and if she didn’t reach there on time, she was very sure they have already kiss.

Min Ho and Go Ara turned to the direction where the footsteps came from and Min Ho quickly pulled away from her when he saw Shin Hye. Her face was pale and an obvious hurt expression was written on her face.

A satisfying smile was curled up on Go Ara’s lips. She crossed her arms across her chest and stared at Shin Hye with a gaze of victory.

“What are you doing here? I asked you to wait for me in the ballroom.” Min Ho asked in a deep voice. Although his face was showing a displease expression but deep inside his heart he was worried that she will misunderstand with what she just saw.

Shin Hye inhaled a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. “T-The washroom at the other side was… was under maintenance. I… I… I will go back in now.” And without waiting for Min Ho to respond, she quickly turned around and walked away. She needs to leave as fast as she can before they saw the pain in her eyes. Her whole body was trembling and a sharp pang hit her chest hard. 

So this explained why they looked so strange just now. They were related or maybe… still related. She was one of the colour-faced witches that Hyun Jun always said. Shin Hye’s mind was clouded with a lot of disturbing imaginations and didn’t watch the way she was walking. By the time she saw the waiter who was holding a tray of drinks in front of her, it was too late to stop and bump directly to him, causing one of the champagne fell onto her. 

“I’m so sorry.” The waiter panicked when he saw the champagne poured onto Shin Hye’s dress near to the side of her waist. Because the dress she was wearing is creamy-white colour, the stain was quite obvious.

The accident shocked Shin Hye and shook her off from her deep thought. She looked up at the waiter with an embarrass smile. “I-It’s okay. I was the one who didn’t watch my step. I’m sorry.”

The waiter bowed apologetically at her before he quickly walked away, leaving Shin Hye wiping her dress with her hand. Just then, a white colour handkerchief was handed over to her from the side. She looked up and her face immediately turned paler when she saw the man standing in front of her.

“Use this.” Ok Taec Yeon said as he put the handkerchief into her hand.

“T-Thank you.” Shin Hye stuttered, holding her head low while she used the handkerchief to wipe her dress mindlessly. His sudden appearance brought another shock to her messy mind. But no matter how hard she tried to wipe, the stain just remained on the soft fabric. She sank her teeth into her bottom lip and tightened the grip around the handkerchief. She was nervous not because of the stain but because she have to meet Taec Yeon like this. Tonight was the first time she saw him again after the ridiculous break up with him.

Taec Yeon heaved a deep sigh before ing his tuxedo coat and took it off. He then brought the coat to her and wrapped it around her body. Shin Hye was startled and wanted to take it off but he stopped her.

“I don’t…”

“The stain is already there. You wouldn’t be able to wipe it off. Just use my coat to cover it up.” Taec Yeon cut her off. There was an obvious hidden meaning behind his words.

Shin Hye took a deep breath before she nodded softly. “Thank you.”

“Where is your ‘husband’?” He asked, emphasizing the word ‘husband’. “I saw both of you came together just now.”

Shin Hye forced a light smile and looked up at him. “He…”

“Looking for me?”

Shin Hye’s sentence was cut off as she closed her eyes briefly before it fluttered open again. The familiar deep and dangerous voice from behind was obviously unkind.

After Shin Hye walked away from him at the hallway just now, he didn’t bother to continue the conversation with Go Ara but anxiously chasing after her. The whole scene that she saw was a misunderstanding. Even without her bumping into them, he will still push Go Ara away. He needs her to understand that nothing is going on between them.

When he saw the waiter dropped the drink on her, he wanted to rush over but Ok Taec Yeon was faster than him. He saw the whole incident and a strong wave of jealousy washed over him. Hearing his heart pulsing in his ears, he felt his blood rushing through his veins, made it harder to control his already worsen mood.   

Min Ho walked to them with his eyes glaring murderously at Taec Yeon. When he stopped beside Shin Hye, his angry gaze shifted to the black coat that was covering Shin Hye’s body and also the man handkerchief she was holding. A sharp intake of breath released through his lips. If this wasn’t a huge public event, he might already punch Taec Yeon in his face. Seeing him so close with his wife was driving him crazy.

Without any gentleness, Min Ho took the coat off of Shin Hye and threw it back to Taec Yeon. He glared at Taec Yeon’s hardened face. “I don’t like other man’s scent on my wife’s body.”

Taking a deep breath, Taec Yeon forced a sarcastic smile on his face. “A possessive arrogant man is the most annoying creature in this planet.” He paused and daggered his sharp gaze into Min Ho’s eyes. “Please be fair to your wife. If you can flirt with another woman in front of her face, I think you shouldn’t be over-reacting over a coat.” He said as he wore his coat back. The rage that was clouding Min Ho’s eyes makes him feel extremely good. This arrogant man should get a taste of his own medicine.

He arrived at the ball at least thirty minutes earlier than them. The moment Mr Chan came, he has already noticed Min Ho’s secret interaction with the woman that Mr Chan brought just now. When he saw Shin Hye walking out and heading towards where Min Ho and that woman was, he didn’t appear and stop her because he wants her to witness what kind of man she married to. He wants her to regret for choosing Min Ho over him.

Shin Hye sensed Min Ho’s body went stiff beside her and know that he might cause a scene if she doesn’t do something. She quickly took a step forward and handed the handkerchief back to Taec Yeon. “T-Thank you.” She cut in and looked at Taec Yeon with a pleading gaze, begging him silently not to provoke her husband anymore.

Just when he ignored her pleading and wanted to burn Min Ho’s fire further, his mother’s voice interrupted them.

“Taec Yeon-ah, what a