Chapter 14
“Hah.”
“So it’s not you. Alright?”
Hye-yeon pushed his body away again. Surprisingly, he let her go without resistance.
She began cleaning up the food that had fallen onto the floor. Trying hard not to be conscious of the way he kept staring at her back, she finished tidying the room and went downstairs.
Once she was out of his sight, the alcohol finally seemed to hit her. Strength drained from her legs, and she staggered slightly.
Good job. Just keep doing it like this. Never let him think you’re an easy woman. If you get involved with that man, it’s over.
Even though her situation was bleak, Hye-yeon praised herself for handling it well.
She looked at the clock. It was already 1 a.m.
The more the alcohol set in, the hotter her body felt. It seemed unlikely she would sleep tonight.
When she opened the door and entered the room with difficulty, she saw Yerim awake.
“Yerim, you’re up?”
“Mhm.”
Even though she was only five years old, Yerim was mature and never cried even when she woke in the middle of the night. To Hye-yeon, Yerim was hope—and love.
Even though she hadn’t given birth to her, she had fed her, put her to sleep, and raised her with her own hands. Lying down on the bed, Hye-yeon pulled Yerim into her arms.
“I’ll put you back to sleep.”
“Did you drink alcohol?”
“Y-yeah.”
“With who?”
Hye-yeon hesitated for a moment but answered honestly.
“Just with that man for a bit.”
“Ohh, that handsome uncle.”
“Y-yeah…”
The child, who knew nothing, seemed to think Seok-woo was simply a good person.
A nice house. A nice car. And a handsome man in the eyes of a child. That alone was enough for her to drop her guard.
“I like that uncle.”
“What do you like about him?”
“I just like him. He looks like a prince.”
“Yerim. You shouldn’t judge people just by their appearance.”
“Hmm… I still think he’s a good uncle.”
Hye-yeon gently closed Yerim’s eyes.
“Sleep now. You need a good rest if you want to go to kindergarten tomorrow.”
She didn’t want to hear Yerim continue saying she liked Seok-woo.
He’s a bad man. A gangster…
Maybe to a child he looked like a prince, but to Hye-yeon he was someone terrifying.
She had to remain on guard around him at all times. But…
A strange thought crossed her mind. The faint trembling she had felt in her body earlier—she couldn’t understand what it meant.
She had lived her whole life struggling to make ends meet, raising a child as a single mother. She had never even had the chance to date.
Hye-yeon had never once had a boyfriend. She had no idea what the reaction her body had shown meant.
Pat… pat…
Rain began to fall in the early dawn.
She tried to sleep while listening to the rain, but the alcohol and heat rising in her body made her groan softly.
Of all times—
She shook her head vigorously.
I have to stay sharp. If they discover my brother’s traces tomorrow…
Her body trembled. A sense of foreboding wrapped around her.
* * *
A shabby motel in Gangwon Province. Most of the guests were laborers working on construction at a nearby ski resort.
Since they were construction workers, most of them were people from other regions.
Moving Pilmo from the shack to the motel had been almost like a covert operation. They paid a large foreign laborer for the day and managed to move Pilmo into the motel.
Sea held Pilmo’s hand as he lay unconscious and kept crying.
“Honey…”
“At least he doesn’t have a fever, so that’s something. Could you bring some cold water?”
“Y-yes.”
When leaving the shop earlier, they had brought back some medical equipment Pilmo might need. It was a small device, but it could check his pulse and other vital signs.
The gunshot wound had not passed through his body, so it wasn’t too large. But he must have hit his head when he fell, because he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
“How did things end up like this… making such a huge mess…”
“Ugh….”
Sometimes Pilmo let out painful groans, but there was nothing more they could do.
Taking him to a hospital would be the last resort.
* * *
Shaa—
Shaa—
Seok-woo continued drinking wine while listening to the rain.
The veins throughout his body throbbed.
He looked down at his own hand. The dim air in the room felt strangely warm.
No.
It was clearly the desire he had felt when he looked at her lips. For a moment, he had wanted to bite her tongue.
How many people dared to look straight into his eyes and speak to him like that?
That spirit—one that didn’t seem like it would yield to any provocation—somehow stirred the desire within him.
“Interesting.”
Even though he knew she was a dangerous hostage who could slit his throat in a single moment, his body still reacted.
Of course, that desire was purely instinctive, without emotion—but she was clearly different from other women.
Unlike the women he had been surrounded by since birth, who reeked of perfume and cosmetics, she was like a blank canvas.
What kind of picture should he draw on that canvas?
If he completed the painting with Pilmo’s blood, he wondered what expression she would make.
“So Pilmo. Where are you hiding?”
“I’m holding the lifeline of your sister and niece. Come crawling out sooner rather than later. If you do, I’ll at least spare your life.”
Seok-woo lifted his wine glass again.
Bzzz—
His phone vibrated, and irritation rose in him.
It was that woman again.
The tiresome existence who had selfishly brought him into this world.
* * *
Hye-yeon was walking endlessly, feeling along rough rocks with her hands.
Tree roots twisted through the rocks in tangled knots, and the place where animal droppings mixed in was clearly a cave.
Drip.
Water from the ceiling rock fell onto the back of her neck, making her flinch.
Is this a dream?
Yes. She must be dreaming.
She was walking through the pitch-black cave, feeling her way with her fingers.
Then she heard someone groaning.
“Who…?”
“Hye-yeon…”
“O-oppa! Is that you?”
Startled, Hye-yeon ran toward the direction of Pilmo’s voice.
But no matter how much she ran, she couldn’t see him.
“Oppa! Oppa, it’s me—Hye-yeon! Tell me where those things are right now—!!”
Suddenly her feet stopped.
Pilmo stood there with a huge hole in his chest, crying tears of blood as he looked at her.
“You mustn’t find me.”
“Oppa…”
“If you find me… you’ll die.”
“Oppa! Oppa!”
Hye-yeon ran desperately toward him, but something suddenly wrapped around her feet.
Branches tightening from all directions separated her and Pilmo.
At the same time, the branches turned into blades and pierced through Pilmo’s body.
“Kgh—”
Bleeding, Pilmo stared at her.
The horrifying sight made Hye-yeon scream.
“—!!”
Her eyes flew open.
“Haa… haa…”
She breathed heavily and wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“It was a dream…”
Her body was still trembling from the terrible nightmare. Sweat soaked her entire body.
It felt ominous.
Dreaming something like this made it even worse.
They won’t find my brother today… right?
No. If he were someone they could easily find, they would have already done it.
Her head throbbed.
She looked at the clock. It was 7 a.m.
She hadn’t fallen asleep until 5 in the morning and had slept less than two hours.
Her head felt like it would split from confusion and a pounding headache.
Rustle.
Yerim woke up.
“Mom.”
“Yeah, let’s get ready for kindergarten.”
“Okay.”
Hye-yeon prepared Yerim for school and made breakfast for her.
A little later—
When she came outside with Yerim, she ran into Seok-woo, who was smoking in the yard.
The morning sunlight sparkled, and it seemed as if the light shone only above his head.
“Good morning.”
“Yeah. Yerim’s going to kindergarten?”
As soon as he saw Yerim, he crushed out his cigarette under his foot. At least he seemed to show some basic courtesy around a child.
“Yes! Thank you for letting me ride in such a nice car!”
“No need to thank me. Your mom will be busy today. Another uncle might pick you up from kindergarten.”
“Okay!”
Watching Yerim greet him sweetly with a bit of childish charm, Seok-woo’s eyes curved slightly.
What?
He can smile like that too?
It felt like seeing a completely different side of him, something she wasn’t supposed to witness—but it didn’t feel unpleasant.
She just hoped that, at least for Yerim, this house wouldn’t be a place of hostage.
She hoped they would treat her like a small, precious guest.
Yerim soon took the guard’s hand and went down to the garage.
“I’ll get ready.”
