Bound by a Deal

Tae Hyun

The meeting room felt heavier than usual.

I had walked in confident — prepared — but halfway through the presentation, I could already feel the deal slipping through my fingers. The Chinese CEO listened politely, yet his silence carried more weight than words. Every missed question, every hesitation from Woo Jin beside me, only deepened the sinking feeling in my chest.

When it finally ended, he smiled — calm, courteous, distant. “Mr. Park, I believe your proposal has potential,” he said through the translator. “But my board will need more assurance before signing. Let’s take a week to reconsider.”

A week. That was the polite way of saying you didn’t convince us.

I forced a smile, bowed slightly, and watched him leave the room. As soon as the door closed, the silence that followed was deafening.

Woo Jin placed a hand on my shoulder. “It’s okay, Tae. We’ll figure it out.”

I didn’t answer. The only thing echoing in my head was the sound of failure. The kind I couldn’t afford. Not when half the board was already waiting for a reason to pull me down.

Back in my office, I threw the file on the desk and loosened my tie. My reflection in the glass wall looked nothing like a successful CEO — just a man too young to be taken seriously and too stubborn to give up.

The phone buzzed.

Mom.

I hesitated, then answered.

“Tae, I’ve sent you the details. She’s the daughter of—”

“Not again, Mom,” I sighed.

“Tae, you can’t just keep saying no. You’re thirty, you’re running a company, people talk—”

I closed my eyes, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Mom, please, not now.”

“Fine,” she huffed. “Then at least meet her once. You never know—”

“I already have someone.”

The words slipped out before I even thought about them.

Silence. Then her surprised tone. “You… do?”

“Yes,” I said flatly. “So please, stop arranging these blind dates. I’m not interested.”

And before she could say another word, I hung up.

The room was quiet again, except for the faint buzz of the city outside. I leaned back in my chair, exhaling sharply. I didn’t even know why I said that — maybe because I was tired of people deciding things for me.

And that’s when the knock came.

Min Seo

I stepped into the office nervously, holding the folder I’d been asked to deliver. Ms. Kim from HR had told me the CEO wanted to review my final documents personally. My legs felt stiff as I walked in.

He was sitting behind the massive desk, sleeves rolled up, tie loose, looking nothing like the composed man I’d seen earlier. His expression was unreadable — somewhere between irritation and exhaustion.

“Miss Min,” he said without looking up.

“Y-Yes, sir.”

“Close the door.”

The sound of it clicking shut made the air feel heavier. I walked closer, placing the folder on his desk. He finally looked up, his sharp eyes locking onto mine.

“Do you know how much loss your little accident caused this morning?”

My heart skipped. “I— I didn’t mean—”

He cut me off with a quiet laugh that wasn’t really a laugh. “Of course you didn’t. No one ever does. But intentions don’t change outcomes, Miss Min.”

I stood frozen, unsure what to say.

He leaned back in his chair, fingers tapping lightly on the desk. “The documents you spilled contained parts of our deal proposal. Sensitive data. And thanks to that, we didn’t close the deal today.”

My stomach dropped. “I’m… really sorry, sir. I’ll do anything to make it right.”

His gaze sharpened, as if those words meant more than I realized.

“Anything?”

I blinked. “Yes, sir.”

A long silence followed — only the faint hum of the air conditioner between us. Then he said, almost too calmly:

“Then you’ll pay for my loss — not with money, but with a deal of your own.”

I frowned, not understanding. “A… deal?”

He stood, walking around the desk until he was standing just a few feet away from me. “My mother has been forcing me into arranged meetings,” he said simply. “I told her I already have someone.” His eyes met mine — steady, deliberate. “That someone… is you.”

My breath caught. “What?”

“You’ll be my contract wife,” he said, as if stating a business arrangement. “In name only. For six months. You’ll help me end these ridiculous blind dates and in return, I’ll make sure your position here stays secure — and your career doesn’t suffer for what happened.”

I stared at him, speechless. “You can’t be serious.”

He smirked faintly. “You said you’d do anything, didn’t you?. "Either you pay for my loss or you sgin this contract"

The room went silent again, but this time, it wasn’t just tension — it was the beginning of something neither of us understood yet.

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