From Gentle Spring Breeze to Siberian Blizzard
It felt like the warm morning spring breeze had instantly morphed into a blizzard smack in the middle of Siberia.
"Sunbae-nim...? Um, are you listening to me?"
Lee Yujin, who had been holding out both hands in front of me, tilted her head in confusion when she noticed my gaze frozen solid on something behind her.
But I couldn't respond. No, my jaw had locked up completely—I couldn't even open my mouth.
Click, click, click.
The sound of heels— the most beautiful and terrifying in the world—echoed at a steady rhythm over the pristine marble sidewalk tiles, drawing closer.
The faint peach scent that had lingered at the tip of my nose had long since evaporated without a trace.
In its place hung the lingering notes of the finest custom perfume, exuding an untouchable elegance and a heavy, oppressive aura all at once.
"Oh my, who might you be, blushing like that in front of my boyfriend?"
A voice dropped from right behind Yujin—endlessly soft, yet chilling to the bone.
"Eek...!"
Yujin whipped around in shock. Her eyes locked straight onto the gaze of an absolute predator, one that had never bowed to anyone since the day it was born.
A bespoke suit tailored to perfection from head to toe. Deep eyes settled in cool serenity. And an overwhelming aura of vast wealth and power that dominated even the air around her.
Yujin's presence, which had shone so brightly just moments ago as the "goddess of the business department," withered instantly—like a tiny candle before the colossal sun that was Han Seol-ah.
"Wh-who are you...?"
Yujin stammered, stumbling back, her voice trembling. Instinctual fear shook her gaze violently.
Seol-ah didn't even bother answering Yujin's question. Her icy stare fixed solely on the pale pink letter and cute chocolate box clutched in Yujin's hands.
Her brow furrowed ever so slightly, as if she'd spotted the most repulsive trash on the roadside.
"You know, our Jinwoo doesn't like sweets much."
Seol-ah reached out slowly and flicked the chocolate box in Yujin's hand with a light tap.
"He wouldn't touch cheap sugar lumps like these."
The instant her fingertips brushed it, Yujin jolted like she'd been electrocuted, dropping the chocolate box and letter to the ground.
Thud, roll roll.
The pretty ribbon unraveled as the chocolates scattered across the pavement.
But Seol-ah didn't spare a glance at the fallen items. She stepped forward, tilting her head to look down at Yujin from a perfectly condescending angle.
"Business department, second year, right? What's your name?"
Seol-ah's voice remained calm. But I knew better. That calm was the deadliest stillness—the hush right before a storm unleashes its fury, the pause before colossal waves crash.
"L-Lee Yujin... that's me."
"Right, Miss Lee Yujin."
Seol-ah slowly drew a sleek, top-tier smartphone from her coat's inner pocket. Her long fingers tapped the screen a few times before dialing somewhere.
"Ah, Information Team Leader. It's me."
My heart plummeted at the words "Information Team Leader" from Seol-ah's lips.
"Right now—university business department, second-year Lee Yujin. Pull together everything on her parents' jobs, businesses, bank loans, the works. Send it to my tablet in three minutes. Put the affiliate legal team on standby if needed."
Seol-ah's orders were lightning-fast and merciless, leaving no room to breathe. All because this girl had dared confess to her boyfriend—she was declaring war to dismantle an ordinary college kid's entire family.
Yujin's face had gone ghost-white, like flour. She trembled and sobbed, too stunned to even grasp the situation.
"And send two HQ security guys here now. There's some trash on campus, but I'm not touching it myself—too disgusting."
"Seol-ah! Stop!!"
I sprang from the bench like a coiled spring, grabbing her wrist tight.
If I'd been even a second later, Yujin's family might've made evening news headlines for bankruptcy.
At my desperate plea, Seol-ah turned cold eyes on me without ending the call. Her gaze rippled with icy jealousy and fury: How dare you defend this girl?
"Hang up, Seol-ah. I'll handle it. Okay?"
I gripped her wrist firmly but gently, locking eyes with her.
If I didn't draw the line myself, my insanely lovable—and dangerous—girlfriend would turn this campus into a bloodbath.
Seol-ah stared into my resolute eyes for a moment, then tsked and killed the phone screen.
"You handle it. But if I hear even one answer I don't like—even for a second—that girl's family hits the streets by morning."
A brutal warning. But handing me control proved how much she trusted me.
I took a deep breath and turned to Yujin, who was practically collapsed on the ground, shaking.
"Lee Yujin."
My voice was lower and more serious than ever. She flinched, looking up at me through tear-filled eyes.
"I'm really grateful you liked me. And that you watched over me from my lowest, most pathetic days—I'll always treasure that."
Seol-ah's brow twitched at my polite opener, but I pressed on.
"But as you heard, I have a girlfriend."
I pulled Seol-ah's hand to mine, interlocking our fingers tight. Then I lifted our clasped hands slightly, making sure Yujin saw clearly.
"She's the one I love most in the world—the one I promised to spend my life with. No one else exists in my eyes, and never will. So I can't accept your feelings. I'm sorry."
No room for ambiguity—a perfect, ruthless shutdown.
Tears finally spilled from Yujin's big eyes at my firm rejection. She glanced desperately between me and our joined hands, then shakily picked up her letter from the ground.
"I-I'm sorry...! I didn't know... I'm really, really sorry!"
Yujin bowed a deep 90 degrees, then fled down the cherry blossom path, sobbing, without looking back.
A heavy silence blanketed the bench area until her slender figure vanished from sight.
I let out a huge sigh and tugged Seol-ah's intertwined hand toward me.
"See? I shut it down hard."
I glanced at her slyly. Seol-ah, who moments ago had been a tyrant of the Siberian tundra, slowly turned to me.
Her icy eyes melted like spring snow, and a smile slipped through her once-tight red lips.
"For real? What you just said. That you'll be with me forever, that I'm the only one in your eyes."
"Of course. When have I ever said empty words?"
No sooner had I answered than Seol-ah threw her arms around my neck and hugged me fiercely.
The terrifying corporate titan who'd nearly wiped out another girl's family was gone. In her place was a puppy rubbing her face against me, maxing out on cuteness.
"Aww, our Jinwoo is so perfect I could die! I was holding back 'cause we're outside, but when you called me 'the person you promised to spend your life with' in front of that girl—my heart nearly exploded!"
Seol-ah stood on tiptoe, peppering my cheeks with loud kisses.
"But Director-nim, didn't you say you'd be 30 minutes late? How'd you show up right on cue?"
I asked, wrapping my arms around her waist. She mumbled into my chest.
"I was in a meeting, but I kept thinking of you and got so anxious I lost it. Yelled at the execs, 'Bring back this garbage plan and I'll make you all check the Han River's temperature!' Then I just left. I held off landing my private chopper on the school roof."
"Whew... I can hear those execs' lifespans shortening from here."
I chuckled in disbelief, stroking her soft hair.
The fact that I was this incredible woman's top priority—not her company, not money—made my chest swell anew.
"Jinwoo-ya."
Seol-ah looked up at me. Her eyes shifted from cute to something thicker, stickier, laced with dense desire.
"Our Jinwoo did something so perfectly adorable today, so I have to give you an amazing reward, right?"
"Huh? Reward? You don't have to..."
"No, I do. I cleared my whole afternoon schedule."
Seol-ah took my hand and turned toward the parking lot.
Waiting there was a massive custom luxury sedan, flanked by sharply dressed bodyguards at attention.
"Let's go, Jinwoo-ya. To our perfect castle, just for us."
A bodyguard bowed 90 degrees and opened the thick car door for us.
This massive, ecstatic chain of capitalism that bound me. And the first love holding its leash—the scariest, most lovable woman in the world.
I chuckled and gladly slipped into the door she'd opened.
This afternoon, it looked like I'd be perfectly trapped in my wicked queen's sweet reward.