The aftermath of Hae-in's fierce, possessive kiss left Hyun-woo in a state of contented defeat. He wore the lipstick mark like a badge of honor, a public testament to his wife's love and his own vanquished pride. But as the initial euphoria faded, a new thought began to form in his mind. He couldn't let her win. Not completely. He had to regain some of his ground. He had to get his revenge.
He spent the rest of the workday mulling over his options, but his mind, so sharp and analytical in a courtroom, was a blank slate when it came to a playful retaliation. He considered a public declaration of his love, a grand gesture that would make her blush. But she had just done that to him. He considered leaving his own mark on her, a kiss in public that would show her he could be just as possessive. But that was too predictable. He needed something unexpected, something that would flip the script entirely.
That evening, unable to come up with a single good idea, he knew he needed help. He called the two people who knew Hae-in the best, the two people who had a front-row seat to their entire drama: his ever-blunt Aunt Beom-ja and his ever-discreet Secretary Na. He arranged for them to meet him at a quiet cafe, a neutral ground where they could conspire in peace.
The three of them sat around a small table, a sea of discarded sketches and half-formed ideas strewn between them.
"You have to be bold, Hyun-woo-yah," Beom-ja said, her voice filled with a dramatic flourish. "You can't just give her flowers. She'll roll her eyes and throw them in the trash."
"How about a public proposal?" Secretary Na suggested, ever the pragmatist. "In front of all her employees, you get down on one knee and ask her to marry you again."
Hyun-woo shook his head. "She'd just get embarrassed and yell at me. I want her flustered, yes, but not in a way that makes her want to rip my head off."
They went back and forth, their ideas getting more and more outlandish. A flash mob in the middle of a shopping center? A singing telegram? A giant banner on the side of the Queens Group building? None of them felt right. None of them were enough to counter the raw, unfiltered fury of Hae-in's public kiss.
"She's a woman of action, Hyun-woo," Beom-ja said with a frustrated sigh. "You have to be a man of action too. Not a man of cheesy gestures."
They sat in silence for a few minutes, their brains exhausted from the creative effort. The silence was finally broken by Secretary Na, who, in her usual blunt, practical way, said what they were all thinking.
"Well," she said, her voice laced with a weary resignation, "it's not like you can just kidnap her."
The words hung in the air, a final, half-joking suggestion of defeat. But as soon as they left her lips, something clicked in Hyun-woo's mind. His head, which had been slumped in his hands, slowly lifted. His eyes, which had been dull with exhaustion, began to sparkle with a newfound, terrifying excitement. A slow, mischievous smile, a smile that was both devious and a little bit crazy, spread across his face.
Beom-ja, always perceptive, was the first to notice the change. She leaned forward, her eyes narrowed with a curious anticipation. "Hyun-woo-yah," she said, her voice a low, theatrical whisper. "What is that look on your face? You look like you've just come up with the best idea in the history of ideas."
Hyun-woo chuckled, a low, satisfied sound. "I have," he said, his voice brimming with a confident triumph.
Secretary Na and Beom-ja leaned in, their expressions a mix of curiosity and impatience. "What is it?" they asked in unison.
Hyun-woo leaned forward, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I'm going to kidnap her," he said, a wide, triumphant grin on his face.
Beom-ja's eyes widened, her mouth hanging open in a silent gasp. Secretary Na's composure, usually as unshakeable as a fortress, finally broke. She looked at him in disbelief, a mixture of shock and horror on her face.
"You're going to do what?" Secretary Na hissed, her voice a panicked whisper. "You can't just kidnap the CEO of Queens Group, Hyun-woo!"
"Oh, but I can," he said, his smile never faltering. "I'm going to do it. And I'm going to do it very, very publicly."
Beom-ja, who had been listening with a mixture of horror and delight, leaned forward, a curious glint in her eyes. "How?" she asked, her voice a low, intrigued murmur.
Hyun-woo looked at them both, his grin widening into a satisfied smirk. "A princess carry. Just like the hospital. But this time, it's not an emergency. It's a kidnapping. And it's not to the hospital. It's to a date." He looked at Beom-ja and Secretary Na, a playful, victorious glint in his eyes. "This is the only thing that will beat the 'lipstick mark' of her revenge. She won't be able to stay angry. She'll be too flustered, too shocked, too… thrilled."
Beom-ja let out a loud, delighted cackle. She clapped her hands together, a sound of pure, unadulterated approval. "Oh, Hyun-woo-yah! That is brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! A public kidnapping! A dramatic rescue! It's the stuff of legends!"
Secretary Na, however, was less convinced. "I don't know, Hyun-woo. This could get you fired. Or arrested."
Hyun-woo just shrugged, a confident, nonchalant gesture. "A small price to pay for revenge. Besides," he said, his eyes filled with a loving, quiet confidence, "I know her. She'll love it. She'll pretend to be mad, but she'll love it. Because this is something only I would do. It's a bold, dramatic move. It's a declaration of love, a testament to our new dynamic. She'll see that I'm not just a man of words; I'm a man of action."
He had a plan. A crazy, reckless, and utterly perfect plan. He was going to kidnap his wife, in front of her entire company, and take her on a date. He was going to flip the script, take control, and, in doing so, show her that she was not the only one who could be a menacing, possessive force of nature. He was her sexy menace, and he was about to prove it.