The Growing Pains of a Prince

The Jae-hwi that Tae-rin remembered was so youthful it was hard to believe he was seventeen. He was roughly the same height as her—barely over 160cm—and so slight of build that he looked more like a tall elementary schooler than a high school student. Perhaps he had seemed even smaller because he was always shrinking back, looking cowed.

The brown hair that used to ruffle beneath her fingertips had been as soft as a child’s. His fair skin bore no trace of pores, let alone acne; it was just covered in fine, peach-fuzz down. Perhaps because he hadn’t hit his voice crack yet, his clear voice as he called her Noona sounded like a young boy’s.

It had been hard to meet his eyes as they peered shyly from behind horn-rimmed glasses, but Tae-rin had known that whenever she looked away, Jae-hwi’s eyes would sparkle as he watched her.

And then there was that smile. When she reached out to pat the head of the boy who couldn’t hide his yearning for praise, his cheeks would flush red as he beamed. He had been quite cute.

“Out of everyone I know, Noona, you’re the prettiest.” “Sure.” “I mean it.” “I know. I hear that a lot.” “…” “And you’re the cutest person I know.” “…” “Why the pout? It’s a compliment. Smile, Gu Jae-hwi.”

She had no siblings. That was why she had occasionally indulged the whims of Gu Jae-hwi—the troublesome youngest brother of her detestable high school classmate, Gu Jae-kyung.

But how long ago had that been? Ten years ago, while studying in the U.S. under her father’s orders, Tae-rin had cut off everything that interfered with her studies. Naturally, Jae-hwi was included in that blackout.

As far as Tae-rin remembered, the last time she saw him was before he left for Germany. She had heard he was entering university at a young age and told him to study hard. She thought that would be the end of it, but once in Germany, the boy called and messaged her incessantly.

She hadn’t disliked his innocent longing for her attention. Moreover, he seemed too naive and cute to be wary of.

So she let it be, but the frequency increased. Eventually, after she moved to the U.S. and changed her number, he began contacting her via email. Even that, Tae-rin eventually cut off to focus on her work.

And yet, here he was, dragging up words exchanged in the distant past—and doing so as a completely different person. A man so large he felt overwhelming.

“Whew…”

Earlier, as soon as she finished her work and returned to her office, Tae-rin had scanned the guest list to separate the people she knew from those she didn’t. She cross-referenced the personal details with the man who had acted so insolently toward her, eliminating names one by one until only GH Fashion’s Gu Jae-kyung remained.

Gu Jae-kyung was the eldest daughter of the late President Gu Yun-han and the eldest granddaughter of GH Group’s Chairman Gu Kwang-hyun. She was one year younger than her sister, Gu Jae-eun, and one year older than the youngest and only son, Gu Jae-hwi.

Gu Jae-eun, the Vice President of GH Fashion, had not attended the exhibition today. However, the pre-open invitations for the Gallery Won exhibition were transferable to immediate family. Thus, she reached the conclusion that the man she was looking for was Gu Jae-hwi.

The more she thought about the man who had left such a short but intense impression, the more absurd it felt. She couldn’t believe that the cute kid had grown so much she hadn’t even recognized him. But if her hunch was correct…

Tae-rin found the number she had saved as [The Brat] on her work phone, deleted it, and called him from her personal phone. Even as she dialed, she had a lingering doubt. Yet, it was the highest probability, so she called his name with conviction.

— “Wow… you remembered?”

At the sound of Jae-hwi’s voice, answering with undisguised joy, Tae-rin had to force her lips not to curve upward. She didn’t have the leisure to reminisce or feel glad about a reunion with a boy she had briefly found cute a long time ago.

So she said only what was necessary and hung up. But then, a comment he had slickly tossed out earlier suddenly came back to her.

“I wasn’t eavesdropping. I just came out for a smoke and happened to hear.”

It seemed Gu Jae-hwi was old enough to smoke now. The boy who used to pout and nag her that “smoking is bad for your health” just because he’d spotted a cigarette on his sister’s desk was now a smoker himself.

“Ha…”

Tae-rin gave a small smirk and opened her drawer. To forget the headache that had plagued her all afternoon, she took a painkiller with some water and closed her eyes. It felt as if the Gu Jae-hwi of the past was shimmering before her.

She had heard he remained in Germany after leaving to study abroad, so when did he return to Korea? Was it a short visit, or had he moved back for good? Either way, it didn’t matter, but… thinking of the way his eyes had shone while looking at her made her feel strangely uneasy.

According to Gu Jae-kyung, he had been “lacking” and was kept hidden behind a veil, with his public appearances strictly controlled since childhood. Despite being the only son of the next chairman of GH Group—one of the top three conglomerates in Korea—the group had thoroughly isolated him for some reason. They didn’t send him to school or let him appear at events. It was as if they were hiding him from something.

Rumors swirled that he was ill or physically weak, but nothing was certain. He was often called the “Prince of GH,” a figure of endless gossip, and Tae-rin hadn’t met him until her senior year of high school.

On a spring day when she visited the home of Gu Jae-kyung—who was participating in the same overseas internship program—she met the boy who had hovered around her awkwardly. Over the course of the following seasons, they had spoken a few more times.

She found his attachment to her strange, but she didn’t mind his cute antics and played along. Was the last time she heard from him that email asking to meet? He’d said he was considering getting his Master’s and Ph.D. in the U.S. and asked when they could see each other during his break. Tae-rin hadn’t replied.

“That was already ten years ago.”

Ten years. People say that’s long enough for even the mountains to change. But to her, having lived the last decade by splitting every 24 hours into frantic pieces, it felt short.

But in that time, Gu Jae-hwi…

— “…Won Tae-rin.”

He had grown enough that growling her name like a fierce predator didn’t feel out of place.

His height, his frame, his aura—everything was different from the Jae-hwi she remembered. She had even doubted her own memory.

“Just you wait. I’m going to grow a lot.” “Sure, sure.” “When we meet next time, you’re going to be shocked.” “Suuure.”

Whenever they met, he would be drinking milk and announcing that he was going to grow tall. Since he was barely eye-level with her back then, she had just laughed and thought it was cute. But…

“Just how much did he grow…?”

The Gu Jae-hwi she saw a few hours ago was truly massive. His body had blocked her entire field of vision, and he was so tall that even in high heels, she couldn’t see the lawn behind his broad shoulders.

Moreover, the way his Adam’s apple moved as he tilted his head and exhaled heavily felt strangely suggestive.

“Hmm…”

The seventeen-year-old Gu Jae-hwi, who was just beginning to shed his boyhood, had been cute. But the thirty-year-old Gu Jae-hwi, who looked down at her with a languid smile, was a stranger.

He was a man. One who didn’t hide the fact that he saw her as a woman. His gaze, his tone, his voice—everything about him exuded a blatant masculinity.

“You said you’d grow a lot. You certainly did. To a disgusting degree.”

Tae-rin summarized her thoughts on the reunion and opened her eyes. The office was silent; it was already past midnight. The long, long day was finally over.

As the Deputy Director of Gallery Won, she had been responsible for the pre-open party of the first exhibition of the New Year, filling in for her mother, Director Hong Won-young, who was on a business trip to Italy. Since it was an exhibition she had planned and prepared for over the past two years, she hadn’t slept properly for days while ensuring everything was perfect.

And then, this afternoon, a courier delivery had arrived at her office. It was a USB containing photos and videos of her fiancé, Se-hyun, in the middle of a heated sexual encounter with his lover, along with a short note.

[Please return Se-hyun to me. If you break up with him, I will delete the original files.]

The audacity was so laughable she almost read it out loud. She only felt sorry she couldn’t show it to someone and laugh together.

Lee Ha-yeon. Was she twenty-six? She had heard the girl graduated from university last year, spent some time drifting, and recently started running a cafe that Jung Se-hyun set up for her.

Which university did she say she graduated from? Tae-rin hadn’t been interested enough to look closely, but she had concluded that Lee Ha-yeon certainly wasn’t the brightest bulb in the box.