Even If You Run Away

“If ending this troublesome matchmaking and letting my parents live peacefully is all it takes, I don’t care whether you’re the daughter of the Haesong family or a woman begging on the streets. Just thinking about the commotion between our families if I have to expose your father’s disgrace already gives me a headache.”

“……”

“All my family ever wanted from you was one thing: the family name. My father wants you, and I have no ambitions about marriage. I just need a woman to sit quietly by my side, without causing a fuss.”

Every word was clear and pragmatic. It felt as though he spoke like this everywhere, to everyone, without hesitation. He seemed utterly indifferent to how miserable his words might make the listener feel.

“Mr. Kwon Tae-heon, your parents…”

“They won’t suspect a thing. All you need to do is sit there and act prim, like a proper lady from a respectable family.”

“…So you’re saying I have to deceive them.”

Tae-heon’s lips twisted into a wry smile, as if amused by a joke. A faint laugh escaped him, and Ye-in’s cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

“You’re surprisingly naïve, especially for someone who isn’t even a rich girl.”

“Then are you saying it doesn’t bother you to deceive your family for the rest of your life?”

“Family?”

“They’re your parents. And once we marry, they’ll be my family too.”

Tae-heon’s smile deepened, and Ye-in frowned at the blatant insult.

Before this blind date, she had despised the idea of being forced into marriage. Now, she loathed the thought of marrying Kwon Tae-heon even more. Within less than an hour of sitting across from him, she had come to understand just how arrogant and heartless he was.

“Your family—or rather, your father—seems to think we’re fools. But don’t underestimate us. We’re not so incompetent that we couldn’t uncover the truth about your origins, Lee Ye-in. Even if you had planned to deceive us, it wouldn’t have been easy. But if I’m the one doing the lying, that’s a different story.”

Ye-in thought the same. No matter how well she tried to hide it, her life had left behind traces. Did her father truly believe that something as significant as marriage could remain a secret forever?

Maybe it didn’t matter to him. As long as he could grab hold of money now, everything else was irrelevant. After all, it would be Ye-in who would bear the consequences.

“So, the one who’s actually lying wouldn’t be you—it would be me. And I don’t mind. Whatever games my father plays with your family’s lies, it’s no concern of mine.”

Ye-in frowned again. Though Tae-heon claimed it didn’t matter, he seemed to take some perverse pleasure in the situation. His tone grew sharper whenever he mentioned his father.

The idea that he wanted to marry her simply out of annoyance was suspicious. To Ye-in, a spouse wasn’t something you casually tossed into a shopping bag like a box of snacks.

“Are you saying I should let the grandmother who raised me suffer and die just because I don’t want to deceive your parents?”

Tae-heon’s tone grew mocking as he observed her reaction.

Under the table, Ye-in clenched her hands into fists. In truth, she didn’t even have the luxury of questioning Tae-heon’s family relationships. Her one and only family member was currently lying in a hospital bed, wasting away in loneliness.

“Isn’t it cowardly to bring up my grandmother to persuade me?”

“I’m telling you to think realistically. Hospital bills will keep piling up.”

“I’ll handle it myself.”

Even though Ye-in knew Tae-heon was right, she stubbornly resisted. She could already imagine how exhausting it would be to take on more and more debt while staying by her grandmother’s bedside.

But was hiding her past and marrying a stranger really a future she could live with? She didn’t trust him.

“I don’t want to become family with someone I don’t even like.”

“Stubborn, despite how you look.”

Tae-heon, who had been leisurely assessing Ye-in, let his smile fade. To him, none of this seemed to matter. It was different for Ye-in, whose very life was at stake.

Suddenly overwhelmed by sadness, Ye-in took a deep breath. Why did life distribute its burdens so unevenly? Could hers not have been just a little lighter? Even a tiny bit more manageable?

“I believe I’ve made my position clear.”

Ye-in stood from her seat. Tae-heon merely lifted his gaze to follow her, his expression unreadable.

“I’m sorry, but I hope your family will agree to call off this engagement.”

She clasped her hands together and bowed before leaving the café. Tae-heon offered no reply, but even so, her steps quickened as if she were a deer being pursued. Her heart raced, and she couldn’t shake the feeling of his gaze following her like the sharp aim of a hunter’s rifle.

It wasn’t until she neared the exit that the nervous tension began to ease. Why had she left so hastily? Embarrassment surged as she crossed the threshold, only to be greeted by a wave of dampness. The humidity clung to her skin, soaking in like a realization she couldn’t escape.

“Ah… my umbrella.”

She had left it behind.

Clenching and unclenching her empty hand, Ye-in stared out at the rain. What had started as a drizzle had become a torrential downpour. Even if she managed to hail a taxi, stepping outside now would mean getting drenched.

Should she go back to retrieve it? The thought of enduring Tae-heon’s gaze again made her throat tighten.

Resolutely, Ye-in stepped into the rain. The downpour hit her skin with such force it stung.

She dashed toward the roadside, hoping to catch a taxi as rainwater quickly soaked through her clothes.

A deep blue sedan passed by her. In its rear window, she caught a glimpse of Tae-heon’s profile. The moment their eyes seemed to meet—though perhaps it was her imagination—Ye-in bit her lip.

The raindrops seemed to slow briefly. It had to have been an illusion. The car splashed through a puddle and disappeared.

The rain continued to beat down mercilessly. Wiping her wet face with a trembling hand, Ye-in finally flagged down a taxi.

Her heart pounded in her chest. Pressing a palm against the damp fabric over her heart, she leaned her forehead against the rain-streaked window.

She resolved not to think about him anymore.

The spacious, pristine foyer still felt unfamiliar. Though the walls were lined with built-in shoe cabinets, there was no place for Ye-in’s shoes. She carefully placed her pair in a corner before catching her breath and stepping inside.

“I’m home.”

No one would answer, yet the greeting escaped her lips as a force of habit. She was about to head straight to the bathroom when she stopped in her tracks, sensing something in the living room.

Two people were waiting for her on the sofa: her stepmother, Baek So-jung, and her half-sister, Lee Se-rin. Just the sight of them made her chest tighten uncomfortably.

“You’re back?”

Se-rin sprang up, grabbing Ye-in’s arm. Even though it was obvious her clothes were soaked, Se-rin didn’t let her leave.

“Come, tell us about it.”

Shivering from the cold, Ye-in allowed herself to be led to the sofa. Her stepmother’s sharp gaze followed her every move.

“So, how was it? Did he really look like a gangster?”

Se-rin, sitting Ye-in down between them, asked excitedly.

“That’s just talk about the father. I hear the son has a master’s degree from the U.S.”

“Doesn’t matter. A gangster’s son is still a gangster. Scary. If you marry him, won’t he beat you up?”

Se-rin dramatically covered her mouth, sneaking glances at Ye-in. Her sly, curved eyes sparkled with amusement.

Ye-in, too, had heard of Kwon Tae-heon’s family.

His family originally built their fortune on loan sharking. According to her stepmother, they were “lowly thugs.” Though they had managed to claw their way up, they were still people no one respectable would associate with.

“Se-rin’s not wrong. No matter how much time passes, their roots won’t change. That’s why they’re so desperate to marry into our family—to buy a noble lineage.”

As expected, her stepmother eagerly chimed in. The more Ye-in listened, the clearer the picture became: her stepmother and Se-rin despising this marriage prospect, and her father, determined to snatch up the money offered by the other family, using Ye-in to achieve it.

“Still, they say he’s handsome. My friends saw him at a party and were stunned.”

“If looks were all that mattered, why didn’t you go instead?”

“Oh, come on, Mom. I’m not about to live my life getting beaten up by a thug.”

Did he seem like someone who would hit his wife? Ye-in pondered over her earlier impressions.

He was undeniably handsome—almost startlingly so—and there was something peculiar about him, an aura that made him stand out. His presence was so chilling it bordered on frightening.

When she recalled his deep, penetrating eyes—eyes that seemed capable of stripping her bare with a glance—her stomach quivered.

He was unlike anyone she had ever met. Even thinking back on him now left her with an inexplicable feeling.

The frosty silence around her pulled Ye-in from her musings. Two pairs of eyes bore into her, demanding she say something. Anything.

They wanted her to describe her impressions of Kwon Tae-heon.

She knew exactly what her stepmother and Se-rin wanted to hear, yet she found herself unable to speak.

If she exaggerated his harsh demeanor or threw out a few insults, they’d be satisfied. She knew this, but the words refused to come. She didn’t want to.

“He seemed like a good person. If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to wash up and head to the hospital.”

Ye-in tried to stand and escape, but her stepmother grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

“Where do you think you’re going without permission?”

It was clear she wouldn’t be let go easily. Ye-in pressed her lips together and sat down again.

She had upset them. Idiot. All she had to do was lie and flatter their egos.

“Who cares if that man’s a ‘good person’? What matters is whether he was interested in you.”

“I’m not sure… It didn’t seem like…”

“Didn’t seem like?”

Her stepmother cut her off sharply before she could finish.

“Do you know how much it cost to transfer your grandmother to a new hospital?”

At the mention of her grandmother, Ye-in’s head bowed low.

“I’m grateful for that. I really am.”

“Who asked if you were grateful? If you’re so thankful, you should have done this properly. Do you even understand how much this marriage means?”

“……”

“Let’s be real—what do that old woman and her troubles have to do with us? She’s the one your mother abandoned us for.”

“…And that’s why I’m here, isn’t it?”

Before she even finished speaking, a blinding flash burst before her eyes. Her head snapped to the side, and for a moment, Ye-in blinked in a daze.

“How dare you talk back to me? Who do you think you are?”

Her stepmother stood over her, still seething, her hand raised. The cheek she’d struck burned instantly. The sensation was all too familiar.

This was how it had been ever since Ye-in was brought into this house at the age of seven. For ten years, her stepmother had bristled at her very existence. A parasite. Having something like that in my house makes me sick. Just seeing your face drives me mad with anger.

“You should be grateful for a match like this. Say what you will about them being thugs, but their family built their wealth on legitimate businesses, and they own more than a few buildings. You should know your place and appreciate the opportunity. Stop sulking around like you’re being dragged to your doom.”

She had grown used to the verbal blows. And yet, for reasons she couldn’t understand, every time it happened, her chest burned anew. If only her heart had grown calluses by now.

“I’m sorry.”

Lowering her head to hide her expression, Ye-in mumbled her apology. In her mind, an image of Tae-heon’s impassive face surfaced—cold as ice. Not the kind of ice that melts in a coffee cup, but something massive, like a glacier with deep, unyielding roots.

He seemed untouchable, impervious to harm.

Right now, she wished for a face like his.