Title: The Public Claim
The moment the sun officially rose, Kang Bok Soo was back behind his mask. He handed me his card and keys. "Call Ms. Kim. Arrange a new flight for this afternoon. The storm's over. And Peter Bella?" His eyes were sharp, cold. "Forget last night."
The dismissal was brutal, yet predictable. It was his way of protecting his reputation and his anxiety. He wouldn't let a moment of shared vulnerability define him.
"Yes, Mr. Kang," I replied, my voice steady, my own mask firmly in place.
I spent the morning running errands, arranging the flight, and securing his luggage. When I returned to the agency, Ms. Kim met me with a high-stress update.
"Change of plans. The typhoon delay forced him to cancel a major press conference, but they moved up his appearance at the StarLight Charity Auction tonight," she whispered fiercely. "And listen carefully: Seo Min-Joo will be there."
Seo Min-Joo. She was the A-list actress who had been publicly dating Kang Bok Soo two years ago. The press had just started whispering about a reconciliation. Min-Joo was everything I wasn't—flawless, famous, and wealthy. A perfect contrast to my debt-ridden shame.
"Mr. Kang needs a strong front tonight," Ms. Kim instructed. "He needs to show the world he's uninterested in the past. Stay close, look professional, and ignore the flashes."
I nodded, feeling a familiar twist of anxiety. My job was to be his shadow, but tonight, I felt like I was being used as a shield.
That night, at the glittering auction, the air was thick with flashing lights and perfume. Kang Bok Soo was magnificent in a dark tuxedo. I was in a simple, borrowed dress, standing three steps behind him, clutching his water bottle and phone. I felt the familiar burn of inadequacy, but I focused on my mother's recovery.
Then, Seo Min-Joo appeared. She was stunning—a vision in ice-blue silk, cutting a path directly towards Kang Bok Soo.
"Bok Soo-ah, darling," she purred, taking his arm. The cameras went wild.
Kang Bok Soo smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Min-Joo. I didn't expect you."
She leaned in, whispering something in Korean that I didn't catch, but the look in her eyes was possessive and territorial.
Instead of pulling away from her, Kang Bok Soo did the unthinkable. He didn't speak a word. He didn't even look at me.
He simply reached back, his fingers closing around my wrist in a crushing, non-verbal grip, and pulled me forward.
He didn't introduce me as his assistant. He held my wrist so tightly I was forced to stand right next to him, his thumb resting heavily on my pulse point—the same sensual, dominating gesture he used on the sofa. To the press, it looked like a public declaration of intimacy.
He smiled widely at Min-Joo, his eyes burning with cold triumph.
"You look well, Min-Joo," he said smoothly, speaking only to her, while his intense, possessive gaze found mine, confirming that the gesture was entirely for me and him.
He held me captive for a long, agonizing minute while the flashes went off like explosions. Min-Joo's elegant smile finally cracked. She understood the message: the man she wanted was now publicly claiming someone else.
When the throng moved on, Kang Bok Soo released my wrist. The skin where his fingers had gripped was stinging, but a powerful, intoxicating mix of shock and illicit pleasure coursed through me.
He finally turned to face me. "You're shaking," he noted, his voice low.
"You publicly claimed me, Mr. Kang," I breathed, anger mixing with the unwanted heat in my cheeks. "Your past is not my job."
He looked down at my hand, then slowly reached out and adjusted the strap of the borrowed dress on my shoulder, his fingers lingering on the bare skin for a fraction of a second. The steamy, non-verbal flirtation was back, bolder than ever.
"Yes, Peter Bella," he murmured, his eyes locking on mine. "But you are mine."
He didn't wait for my response. He turned and walked away, leaving me dizzy, infuriated, and irrevocably pulled into the tangled drama of his celebrity life.