What is the biggest advantage of being a second-generation chaebol?
The fact that you have a lot of money to spend.
"If I move things around carefully, I can probably pull together 100 million yen."
Anything beyond that would be difficult.
But this amount should be enough to cover an actor’s fee.
That’s about what a top Korean actor would normally get paid, right?
On the day Kim Donghu was getting changed for his Louis Vuitton x Supreme lookbook shoot,
Kiyao Kaito watched him, completely mesmerized.
The ideal image of a hero...!
And even in real life, he looked incredible.
The pride of Asian boxing.
The despair of Olympic amateur boxers.
A hitman in the ring—unstoppable.
The fastest and strongest heavyweight boxing gold medalist.
That was Kim Donghu.
What if someone like him starred in a tokusatsu series?
Wouldn’t it be possible to create a level of action never seen before?
I have to do this in secret.
If his father found out, it was over.
If his brothers found out, it was over.
He had to invest discreetly.
No one could know it was him.
Double-layered. Triple-layered cover-ups...
Some people said tokusatsu was childish.
And sure, that wasn’t wrong.
But at the same time, it was a ridiculous argument.
"By that logic, what isn’t childish?"
Every form of entertainment was childish.
It just looked sophisticated.
And how did something stop looking childish?
By throwing money at it.
By refining it to perfection.
People raved about superhero movies and lightsaber duels—
all because of superior production quality.
And in terms of special effects,
Japan’s Kamen Rider franchise could hold its own against any competition.
The only issue was the raw material.
If they had an actor with phenomenal talent and god-tier looks—
Even if he was from another country.
As long as they made it happen,
it was guaranteed to be a massive success.
Kaito was absolutely sure of it.
***
One Week Later – After a Well-Rested Break in Japan
After recharging for a week in Japan,
the Shall We Get Married? filming crew arrived.
"It’s hotter here than I expected."
Right then, Jaerin casually slid up beside me.
"But are you sure it’s fine to just fly to Japan like this?"
"Oh, we have a fan signing event here. The schedule lined up perfectly."
Of course.
That explained it.
I had been wondering—
why would her agency allow her to travel to Japan
just to film a mixed bathing segment on a reality show with a male celebrity?
Turns out, they had planned for her to handle other work while she was here.
"But did you come alone?"
"The other members will be arriving later. The fan signing event is in two weeks."
Two weeks, huh?
Unfortunately, I’d be filming True Hero by then.
"Too bad, I won’t be able to make it."
"Why are you apologizing? We already knew we’d have schedule conflicts when we signed up for this."
"?"
For a second, I thought, Wait... are we actually a virtual married couple?
"Oh, uh, yeah. Right."
The cameras were rolling.
The filming crew, quick as always, had started recording as soon as we started talking.
So that’s why she said that?
Three years into the entertainment industry,
and she already had perfect media-savvy instincts.
"But you will come to my concert in July, right?"
"Of course. Besides, we have our wedding at the end of July."
And after that, Shall We Get Married? would be canceled.
That was always the plan.
The contract had been set for that duration from the start.
Ending everything with the wedding felt ironic.
But anyway.
"Alright, let’s get ready for the shoot!"
To get straight to the point—
"Wow, the water is really warm!"
During the mixed bathing scene—
"Yeah, it’s definitely nice and warm."
"But now that we’re outside, it still feels a bit chilly."
"The nights are still cold this time of year."
"Then let’s stay close together."
"Huh?! Oh—uh—"
There were no suggestive moments like you’d see in movies or manga.
It was just actually cold at night,
Th𝗲 most uptodate novels are published on ƒгeewёbnovel.com.
so I naturally shifted a little closer to Jaerin.
For some reason, though, she had gone completely silent—
a total shift from when I had met her at the airport.
"Tired?"
"Huh?"
"You’re not talking much."
"Oh—uh—no, it’s nothing. But... aren’t you cold?"
Her gaze lingered on me a little too long.
Which, to be fair, made sense.
I had taken off my top before getting into the water.
Technically, I could have worn a swim shirt,
but since guys only really needed to cover their lower half,
I hadn’t bothered.
"D-Donghu... your body is... really nice."
Gulp.
...Did she just swallow hard?
Well, the weather is nice tonight.
The open-air bath had been designed in a private setting,
perfectly matching the concept of a newlywed getaway.
A cool breeze was blowing.
The moon was shining.
The sky was clear, with stars faintly twinkling.
Steam rose gently from the water.
My virtual wife was staring intently at me.
Naturally, I found myself looking back.
?
At that moment, a thought I’d had a few days ago suddenly resurfaced.
I want everything.
A deep, primal desire—
the urge to make everything mine.
It wasn’t just possessiveness.
It was possessiveness fueled by lust.
And my body reacted immediately.
Wait, wait, wait.
This was not the time.
This was not the place.
Emergency countermeasures:
I mentally recited the national anthem.
Gradually, my body calmed down.
Crisis averted.
Fortunately, I had been cautious enough to wear tight swimwear,
so even in a worst-case scenario, there would have been no visible signs.
"...Honey?"
"Huh?!"
"You suddenly went quiet, so I just wanted to check on you."
"Oh, uh... you’re just really pretty."
"...Are you seriously a player?"
If this had been a real trip,
just the two of us,
under these same circumstances—
And if we had kept silently holding each other’s gaze like this—
We probably would have kissed.
The atmosphere was thick.
Tension filled the air.
Our eyes lingered on each other for just a second too long.
Then, as if we both sensed it—
we broke away.
My instincts screamed at me—
Get out of here. Now.
"Maybe it’s about time for dinner?"
"O-Oh... yeah. Let’s go."
To sum it up—
nothing happened in the mixed bathing scene.
Nothing at all.
Really.
***
As June arrived, Kim Donghu’s filming schedule was nearing its end.
The media was going all out promoting every show he appeared in.
『Shall We Get Married? Takes a Bold Move! Mixed Bathing Preview?!』
『Viewer Ratings Surpass 20%! Is This a Historic High?』
『Our Fake Wedding Hits 25%! The Highlight Hasn’t Even Aired Yet—Why?』
『True Hero Nears Completion—What Kind of Film Will It Be?』
Among them, Our Fake Wedding had the most aggressive marketing strategy.
From rating pledges to dedicated social media campaigns,
it was blatantly obvious the network was pushing it hard.
KBC had multiple reasons for doing so—
one being that Kim Donghu was a guaranteed hit-maker.
But more than that—
『Who’s the Real Bride? Shall We Get Married? VS Our Fake Wedding』
The biggest factor was the rivalry between the two shows.
"You can’t even compare a drama to a variety show! Of course we’re the real ones!"
The phrase "Who’s the real bride?" struck a nerve with Kim Cheoldo.
"Come on, it’s free promotion. Why are you so worked up?"
Even Kim Youngmo PD, in his signature bucket hat,
was taken aback by how visibly annoyed Cheoldo was.
But—
"They’re trying to push them as Best Couple at the year-end awards. They want to cement the image of Kim Donghu’s wife."
"Huh?"
Having spent years in the industry,
Kim Cheoldo was seeing further ahead.
"We need to create our own Best Couple Award at the year-end ceremony. Give it to Donghu and Sujin."
"That’s not really my decision to make—"
"Oh, right. I’ll handle that separately. But seriously, these guys are getting cocky. They’re leeching off us."
"Leeching?"
"Think about it. Right now, the variety show’s ratings are lower than ours. If this turns into a rivalry, who benefits?"
"...The Shall We Get Married? team?"
"Exactly. If this becomes a direct competition, we lose. They’re using us."
"Call up the reporters. Tell them if they keep writing articles like this, they’re dead meat."
Cheoldo grumbled in frustration,
but then—
His expression darkened even further
as he spotted the real-time trending search rankings.
"...Turn on Shall We Get Married?, now."
"What?"
"I need to see why ‘Kim Donghu’ and ‘Ryu Jaerin’ are trending together. Now!"
What the hell was going on?
Curiosity filled the room as the TV was quickly switched on.
The screen lit up—
showing the hot spring scene from Shall We Get Married?
Kim Donghu and Ryu Jaerin in swimsuits, relaxing in the onsen.
It wasn’t an uncommon concept.
Plenty of shows had filmed similar setups before.
But—
"...Isn’t Donghu coming off way too sensual?"
Not to sound dramatic,
but the amount of raw sexual appeal in that one scene felt borderline concerning.
There he was, shirtless in the hot spring,
his gaze locked onto a woman.
The sheer impact of the image was insane.
And then—
that brief, intense eye contact.
There was no way this should have been rated 15+.
"...."
Kim Cheoldo silently checked the online reactions.
[Is this even legal?]
– There’s nothing explicit, but damn...
– He’s acting way too well.
– We know it’s scripted, but still... wow.
– Feels like I’m watching a full-blown romance film.
[What the hell was that eye contact?]
– The man didn’t even move, but it still felt dangerous.
– For a second, I thought he was about to pin her down.
– Same.
[So they just... went to eat dinner after that?]
– Are we sure they only ate food?
– Ryu Jaerin looked so nervous lmfao.
– Bro just oozes dominance. His muscles are insane.
– "He’s so alpha that I have no words."
– "The way his muscles tensed up scared me."
– "I’m a guy, but even I felt something."
– ????
[What did he mean by ‘You were so pretty’?]
– Pretty and then what? There had to be more to that sentence.
– There were no cameras after that scene, right? So...
– Bro. Chill.
– But seriously, there had to be more.
– "Now I understand why Louis Vuitton loves him. He’s the perfect mix of sensuality and refinement."
– "That was already proven with the lookbook. The internet went crazy the moment it dropped."
– "Did anyone else think he was about to casually stroke her thigh when he lifted his hand?"
– lmfaoooo
[Everyone, let’s not get carried away.]
– Kim Donghu did not touch Jaerin during the mixed bathing scene.
– They only went to eat afterward.
– Yes, there was a brief bed scene, but they both had their makeup on. It was just for the cameras.
– Yes, they woke up together, but they still had their mics on.
– Everything was staged. Nothing actually happened.
– "Damn. Almost fell for it."
– "Wow... I got caught up in my own imagination, huh."
– "This episode is already legendary."
The response was explosive.
"...Hah."
Was Shall We Get Married? actually trying to become a real rival?
Cheoldo let out a stunned chuckle.
***
Meanwhile—Elsewhere at the Same Time
"...Donghu, we have to go back to the hot springs. Together."
Under a blanket,
someone whispered softly—
while their fingers furiously typed away on their phone.