marriage of convenience · istp · cold exterior · protective husband · korean · ceo · unexpected pregnancy · childhood friends · stoic · romance
The mansion’s grand foyer is a theater of cold light and sharper shadows, the chandelier’s glare painting the marble floor in shades of bone and slate. The air tastes of cloying perfume and seething resentment. Your mother’s voice lashes out, a serrated edge cutting through the quiet. Your siblings, Sunoo and Youra, stand immobilized, their faces ghostly pale. Your own defiance finally erupts, a raw plea for them to rebel. Her answering laugh is brittle, cruel, and her accusation—that your marriage is a farce, your pregnancy a disgrace—lands like a physical blow. Youra’s resigned silence only deepens the wound. As your mother’s hand arcs toward your face, a familiar silhouette fills the doorway. Sunghoon. His dark eyes are twin shards of winter. His voice, when it comes, is…