A Colleague Who Joined the Company at the Same Time as Me, Known for Being Fierce, Proposed a Contract Relationship

After graduating from university, I joined a large corporation. Among the new hires who started with me, there was one woman who stood out in particular. She had beautiful features and an icy aura to match. The company was flooded with people trying to ask her out, but she cut every single one of them down with a single, merciless rejection.

Then one day, that same woman suddenly proposed a contract relationship to me.

My ordinary life began to twist completely out of shape from the moment those words left her lips.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

This cover was created using AI.

The story opens in the gleaming headquarters of Hansung Group in the heart of Seoul. New employee orientation had just ended, and the fresh faces of the twenty-something recruits still carried that mix of excitement and nervous tension. Among them, one person drew every eye without even trying.

Ihwa.

Even her name sounded cold and elegant. Long black hair that fell like silk, sharp eyes that seemed to pierce through anyone who dared approach, and an expression that never softened. She was beautiful in the way a well-honed blade is beautiful—something you admire from a distance because getting too close might get you cut.

I’d noticed her from the very first day of training. Not because I had any special interest, but because it was impossible not to. The men in our intake class kept finding excuses to talk to her. The women watched her with a mixture of envy and curiosity. Yet every single advance was met with the same flat, emotionless response.

That was it. No explanation. No softening ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of the blow. Just ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠those four words delivered in a voice so frigid it could freeze the air between them. After a while, people stopped trying. Even the boldest of the new hires learned to keep their distance.

I was different. I never approached her. I sat three rows behind her during lectures, kept my head down, and focused on taking notes. My goal was simple: survive the brutal probation period, get assigned to a decent department, and build a stable career. Romance had never been part of the plan. Especially not with someone like her.

So when Ihwa appeared in front of my desk after work one evening, I genuinely thought I was hallucinating.

The office was nearly empty. Only the low hum of the air conditioning and the faint glow of computer screens remained. I had stayed late to finish a report, and there she was—standing right in front of me with that same unreadable expression.

Her heels clicked once against the marble floor as she stopped. The scent of something expensive and cool drifted toward me. For a long moment, she simply looked at me. Those dark eyes scanned my face as if measuring something I couldn’t see.

Then she spoke.

The words hung in the air between us like a blade suspended by a thread.

I stared at her, certain I had misheard. My fingers froze over the keyboard. The cursor on my screen blinked mockingly.

"...Excuse me?"

She didn’t blink. Didn’t smile. Didn’t show even a flicker of embarrassment. Instead, she reached into her bag and pulled out a neatly folded document, placing it on my desk with the precision of someone sliding a contract across a boardroom table.

"A contract relationship," she repeated, voice calm and businesslike. "Six months. You pretend to be my boyfriend. In return, I’ll compensate you financially. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The terms are all written here. You can review them at your leisure."

I looked down at the paper. The heading was typed in a crisp font: Contract for a Temporary Romantic Relationship.

My mind went blank.

This had to be a prank. Or maybe I’d fallen asleep at my desk and this was some bizarre stress dream. The infamous Ice Queen of the new hire class was standing in front of me, offering to pay me to date her. It was absurd. It was impossible.

Yet when I looked back up at her face, there was nothing playful in her eyes. Only a quiet, almost desperate intensity that made my stomach tighten.

"Why me?" I finally managed to ask. My voice came out rougher than I intended.

For the first time, something shifted in her expression. A tiny crack in the ice. She glanced away for half a second before meeting my gaze again.

"Because you’re the only one who never approached me."

The answer was so simple it left me speechless. She continued in that same measured tone, as if she were presenting quarterly earnings instead of asking a man to fake a romance.

"The others are persistent. Even after I reject them, they find ways to linger. But you… you’ve never once looked at me that way. You’re safe. You won’t misunderstand. And you won’t expect anything real."

She tapped the contract with one perfectly manicured nail.

"Read it. Think about it. I’ll wait for your answer until the end of the week. If you refuse, I’ll never mention it again."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked away. The sound of her footsteps echoed through the empty office until the glass doors closed behind her with a soft click.

I sat there for a long time, staring at the folded paper like it might explode.

My name is Kang Woojin. Twenty-five years old. Just another ordinary employee trying to survive in a cutthroat company. I had no wealth, no powerful family, no remarkable talents. I was the kind of guy who blended into the background.

And now, the most beautiful and terrifying woman in the entire new hire class had chosen me—of all people—to be her shield.

I didn’t know it then, but that single moment was the beginning of everything.

The moment my painfully ordinary life began its slow, inevitable descent into obsession, darkness, and a love so toxic it would consume us both.