For years, Hayeon has watched Doyun Cha from afar, nursing a painful unrequited love for her handsome and capable senior. From their days in a college club to their current lives as coworkers, Doyun has always been the unattainable object of her affection. However, Doyun has no interest in romance; cynical about love, he seeks a marriage strictly for convenience to satisfy societal pressures without the emotional baggage.
When Doyun openly seeks a partner for a contract marriage, Hayeon makes a bold and impulsive decision: she volunteers for the role. To Doyun, she is the perfect candidate—a familiar, trustworthy junior who surely won't complicate things with emotions. Little does he know, his new 'fake' wife is hopelessly in love with him. Hayeon enters the arrangement hoping that proximity will eventually spark genuine feelings in his cold heart.
Painful but Desirable explores the tantalizing tension of a couple living a lie. As they navigate domestic life and office politics, the lines between their contractual obligations and genuine desire begin to blur. Hayeon finds that being Doyun's wife is both a dream come true and a daily struggle, as she attempts to seduce her husband while terrified that he will discover her secret. Readers will be hooked by the sizzling chemistry and the emotional stakes of a woman gambling her heart on a man who swore he'd never fall in love.
