Chaebol Fate

THE REPUTATION

He took my hand and kissed it. "Let me hold you tonight. Let me hold you every night. Nothing more. Just let me hold you in my arms. Let me show you that you can trust me. And when you're ready, I'll gladly show you how much I love you in other ways. All I ask is that you not tempt me like you did tonight."

I wiped the tears from my eyes and took a deep breath. "You promise? No strings attached?"

"None. Just cuddling like we've done in the past. I promise to be a perfect gentleman."

"I guess I can agree to that."

He suddenly grabbed me by the waist, pulled me toward him, and kissed me on the forehead. "See! A perfect gentleman. I'll leave now so you can change."

I changed into my flannel pajamas and joined him in his bedroom. I hesitantly slipped into his bed, and he pulled me close to him, spooning me.

"I love you, Ji-Hye," he whispered. I rested my arm on his and he laced his fingers with mine. We fell asleep and slept soundly all night long. It felt so good to sleep in his arms.

I woke to find him playing with my hair. I turned to look at him.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," he smiled.

"Good morning, Jimin. How did you sleep?"

"I slept great. I got to hold you in my arms all night long."

"What time is it?"

"It's a little past seven."

"Don't you have somewhere to be today?"

"I called in sick. I want to spend the day with you."

"But, I have plans, Jimin. I'm meeting with the design group of our furniture division to discuss the latest home decor trends for our spring line this morning. I'm meeting with a potential sponsor for my YouTube channel for lunch. I have a ton of video editing to do, plus, I need to plan my future product review videos for the month."

"So, you're too busy for me?"

"Please don't make me feel guilty, Jimin. You brought this up at the last minute."

"Okay. I don't want to make you feel guilty. I'll just take a day for me. But how about dinner? I want to take you out. Will you be up for that?"

"Sure. I might be a bit tired, but I'd love to go to dinner with you."

When I got home after my long day of debating with the design team, schmoozing the sponsor, video editing, and plotting out my video schedule for the month, I dreaded the idea of telling Jimin I was tired and just wanted to stay in. I sucked it up, changed into a sexy dress, and fixed my hair and makeup.

"Ji-Hye, are you ready?" Jimin called to me.

"Coming!" I walked out to meet him and it was like deja vu.

"You're not seriously going out dressed like that, are you?"

"Jimin, when are you going to learn?"

"You should be happy."

"Happy? Why?"

"I don't want other men to look at you."

"Are you afraid they'll try to steal me away from you?"

"Yes."

"Try to spin it in your head. Instead of worrying about other men trying to steal me away, enjoy the fact that men envy you because you have a smoking hot wife who is in love with you."

"That, I do. Okay, I'll give it a shot," he smirked.

We had a delicious dinner, but Jimin noticed I was having a difficult time holding a conversation.