Sleeping With The Enemy

Failure to Launch

Choe Min Hyeon sat in the library of Seoul National University, pondering his conquests. People around him observed him furtively but he paid no attention to them. He was always being observed by people of all genders – male, female and every other gender in between. Money called to them like flies to a honeypot. In his case? Near unlimited money. He curled his lip with disdain at all the girls (and some men) who threw themselves at him. There was no shortage of supply in women but one woman in particular stood out. He didn't even know her name. All he knew was that she had turned him down.

Sitting across the aisle at the lecture for Political Science this morning was a woman dressed in the tallest heels he had seen. She was tall and had the kind of legs that he liked. Min Hyeon could tell from undressing plenty of other girls that this one had an excellent figure. Unlike the other pretty ladies who were staring at him during lectures, this one actually seemed to be listening to Dr. Kang. Her profile looked elegant as she took notes. Min Hyeon loved nerds. They were easy access because they never had any man pay attention to them before. So, when the lecture ended, he walked behind the tall woman and overheard her dissing the lecturer. Feisty. He liked that. Then the unthinkable happened – she had dissed his masculinity and walked away from him like a model off a runway. Walked away! Min Hyeon still fumed at the embarrassment. If anything, it made him more determined for payback.

Min Hyeon paced the hallway in his house in Seoul. The mansion was huge, there was no one who noticed him pacing except for the servants. His parents lived in another wing if they came to Seoul, so this was literally his private pad. He was preoccupied with his plan of making the girl notice him. Offhand inquiries among his classmates had gotten him some information. Koo Seo Ryeong from Busan. Winner of the highly prestigious King's Scholarship in Arts for 2001. Some jealous classmates said that she used her looks to win the scholarship. He pitied the beautiful Eun Rim who had whispered that bit of gossip into his ear. Eun Rim tried to ingratiate herself into his circle of friends but she didn't know how pathetic it made her look in his eyes.

Min Hyeon picked up his phone and got through to KU Group's private secretary in one ring. His request was simple but it seemed to shock Secretary Kim – a background check on Koo Seo Ryeong. He had never requested a background check on anyone. He had plenty of faith that he would find something skeletons in her cupboard that he could use as leverage against her one day. Secretary Kim was highly effective that way. He went to the gym after that to hone his physique. The barb from Koo Seo Ryeong ssi about his stamina had hurt more than he admitted to anyone. He couldn't recall the last time anyone dissed him to his face like that. He gritted his jaw and started lifting the barbells.

The next morning, he drove his Aston Martin instead of his Range Rover to the university. His friends asked him why he bothered attending any lectures if he was going to graduate anyway. It irked him that they had to ask. Min Hyeon knew the responsibility that awaited him as the heir to KU Group. It would be terribly annoying and embarrassing if he could not helm the company when his time came. Unlike Hwangje pyeha who had to learn Kingship on the job, Min Hyeon had the luxury of time. His father was still perfectly capable. KU Group was the largest chaebol-controlled empire in Corea. It had fingers in the semiconductor industry, building, property, energy and basically everything that made money. While others like Lee Shin Kyeong and Lee Joon Nam got a free ride on their chaebol express, Min Hyeon did not want to look like an idiot when he inherited the company. There was a lot at stake and his pride was on the line here. The fact that there was an elusive woman who attended every single lecture was an added bonus. He wanted to annoy her as much as she annoyed him.

He leaned against the wall outside the lecture hall before World Economics looking like he did it all the time. His friends tried to get him to enter the lecture hall with them but he gestured at them to enter the hall first. They obeyed as they were wont to do. Everyone followed whatever he asked them to do. It was almost 9 in the morning and then Min Hyeon realized belatedly that Koo Seo Ryeong must have already entered the lecture hall. He entered the lecture hall and chose a seat haphazardly while scouting the crowd for her. She was seated alone across the aisle, three rows from the back of the hall. The sight of her reassured him and irked him at the same time. The haughty way she sat made him itch.