Chapter 05
“Ha…”
“At the very least, you should guarantee the child’s right to study. She’s only five years old.”
Heeyeon looked straight into his eyes.
“Fine. Let’s do that. But only if she attends under my supervision.”
“Alright. Then I’ll go clean now.”
“Ms. So Heeyeon.”
“…Yes, sir.”
“Leave your phone.”
“Excuse me?”
“I need to make a cloned phone. If your brother contacts you, I should know immediately.”
“…!”
Heeyeon’s face darkened.
If her phone was cloned, she wouldn’t be able to hide her brother even if he contacted her. All of her private life would be exposed to him.
“You must have expected at least that much when you came here.”
“…Yes. I’ll give it to you.”
Heeyeon handed him her phone. Then she immediately ran upstairs.
There was a landline in his room.
She had clearly seen it earlier.
Since it was his private room and not the living room, no one would likely overhear.
Heeyeon quickly went upstairs and called her aunt to inform her that her phone had been cloned.
After hanging up, she let out a sigh.
All the strength seemed to drain from her shoulders at once. Housework itself wasn’t difficult.
But being a personal keeper for him of all things…
She glanced around Seokwoo’s room. The scent of expensive perfume and cosmetics lingered in the air. The stockings that had been lying on the floor earlier were nowhere to be seen.
“Seriously… This is insane. My brother… how could he run away with this man’s lover…”
She knew he was reckless, but he had practically risked his life for love.
What was he thinking?
Didn’t he consider the consequences at all?
His impulsive personality—jumping in without thinking—had already twisted his life countless times, yet he could never fix it.
She sighed deeply again.
Suddenly, she sensed someone’s presence.
When she turned around, she saw Seokwoo leaning against the doorway, watching her.
Heeyeon frowned, her entire body expressing discomfort.
“I’m cleaning.”
“Go ahead.”
“You should leave.”
“Just ignore me and keep cleaning.”
He walked in casually and sat on the sofa. Pulling out a large tablet, he started reading something. It was so distracting she felt like she was going crazy.
He was obviously watching her.
Cloning her phone wasn’t enough.
Heeyeon turned the vacuum cleaner to the maximum power mode.
Vrrrr—Vrrrr—
The loud motor noise soothed her nerves a little.
You also have a weakness in my hands.
A fact that can’t be known by the people here—that I’m a hostage.
For now, she might be Seokwoo’s hostage, but Heeyeon had also obtained a form of insurance to protect herself.
Why did he need to hide the fact that she was a hostage?
And why was he searching for Pilmo and that woman?
Was it because of betrayal?
Any woman would probably crumble before a man like him, but they had trampled on his pride.
Just what kind of woman… would leave a man who looks like that for my brother…
Heeyeon shook her head vigorously.
She couldn’t focus on her work at all, and that irritated her.
Meanwhile, Seokwoo left Heeyeon cleaning and headed to the study.
Out of habit, he poured himself a drink. Chief Joo approached him.
“We found the boat. There was a lot of blood spilled, so they probably didn’t get far…”
“Search quietly. Bring them to me. Alive.”
“Yes, sir.”
Seokwoo took a sip of his drink.
He suddenly remembered the stockings that had been lying in his room.
“The woman?”
“I sent her back to where she belongs.”
“I gave her another job because she cried and begged so desperately…”
The stockings in his room had belonged to Aeri.
Aeri, a debtor who used to sell her body, had begged him so desperately that he allowed her to repay her debt through other work.
But her real goal had been to become Seokwoo’s lover.
He felt disgusted by women who couldn’t accept their changed circumstances and instead stripped off their clothes and jumped into his bed.
“There are plenty of women who have a crush on you, sir.”
“I’m not into that kind of cheap taste.”
Naturally, Heeyeon came to mind.
Unlike the women who usually surrounded him, her makeup-free, innocent face felt refreshing.
Especially those lips.
Her bright reddish lips—like she was wearing lipstick—kept flashing through his mind.
Seokwoo drank again.
His eyes burned fiercely with the rage of a beast.
“Do you think he’ll contact her?”
“He will.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Just a feeling.”
When Seokwoo raised his empty glass, Chief Joo filled it again. He downed it in one gulp.
A knock sounded, and that woman came in carrying snacks.
Even though she was technically a hostage, she never seemed intimidated. She held her head high and placed the dishes under the table.
“If you don’t need anything else, I’ll go to sleep now.”
“Good night.”
He deliberately spoke in a gentle tone.
Immediately, her face turned angry.
Ironically, not treating her like a hostage seemed to irritate her even more.
She was completely different from the others who trembled before him.
The difference felt strangely refreshing.
Click—
Seokwoo watched her leave and close the door.
Then he suddenly chuckled.
Chief Joo shivered as if he had just seen a ghost.
That night, Seokwoo drank more than usual.
Pilmo had stabbed him in the back and run away, yet he found himself strangely calm.
At midnight, Seokwoo left his room.
Tonight, a full moon hung high in the sky. A pleasantly cool breeze blew through the garden, making him want to take a walk.
Then suddenly, he heard a beautiful voice.
Like the chirping of a little bird.
It was the little girl.
That woman’s daughter.
Without realizing it, he found himself walking toward their window.
“Mommy lion, daddy lion~~~ baby lion lalala~~~”
She was singing a children’s song everyone had probably heard at least once.
His lips curled slightly.
The child’s voice was incredibly cute.
Though perhaps that was simply because he rarely heard children.
“A twenty-six-year-old single mother… I wonder what kind of guy the father is.”
He let out a bitter laugh.
Now wasn’t the time to be moved by a child’s singing.
More importantly, Chairman Cha would be released from detention in one month.
If he couldn’t find the chairman’s mistress Jung Se-ah and the USB before then…
A few people would lose their lives.
Soh Pilmo, of course.
And his family wouldn’t escape either.
People who couldn’t repay their debts and were left with nothing but their bodies always ended the same way.
Of course, Seokwoo himself was one of those people.
He lit a cigarette.
As he walked while smoking, he heard the singing again.
This time, it seemed the woman was singing together with the child.
The next day.
Seokwoo visited the Seoul Detention Center.
Chairman Cha Myunghwan was the man who had taken in Seokwoo—a child born in a brothel to a father he never knew.
They met when Seokwoo was fifteen.
Seokwoo treated him like a stepfather and built a company alongside him.
The business that had once been a back-alley loan shark operation had grown into the number one company in the secondary finance sector, thanks to Seokwoo’s brains and Cha Myunghwan’s money.
Although they had abandoned the gangster lifestyle, they still mobilized underground organizations whenever illegal work was needed.
Chairman Cha frowned when he saw Seokwoo had come alone.
“Where’s Se-ah?”
“The swelling in her face hasn’t gone down yet.”
“Another surgery? I told her she’s already pretty enough. Anyway.”
It was a convenient excuse to hide Jung Se-ah, his mistress.
Fortunately, she was addicted to cosmetic procedures.
Seokwoo placed some documents in front of him.
“These are the approvals for this week.”
“As expected of you. You always take care of everything perfectly. I knew I had a good eye for people. Thanks to you, we’ve become a respectable business.”
“It’s all because of you, Chairman.”
Chairman Cha was the absolute ruler of this world.
He possessed the power to erase a person’s life from existence without leaving a trace.
If he ever discovered that his mistress had run away with one of his subordinates, even Seokwoo wouldn’t survive.
“That ability to read situations is exactly why I like you. I feel like you’d never betray me.”
“My life belongs to you, Chairman.”
“Good, good.”
Chairman Cha was known for being deeply attached to his mistress Se-ah.
That was why he trusted Seokwoo enough to let him handle even his most sensitive matters.
Though Seokwoo appeared calm while reporting, his insides were burning.
After the visiting time ended, Seokwoo quietly left after checking the chairman’s mood.
Chief Joo handed him a cigarette.
“Se-ah being addicted to plastic surgery is really a lucky break.”
“Feels like heaven is helping us.”
“We have to make sure the chairman doesn’t notice.”
“Yes, sir.”
Seokwoo ran his hand through his hair.
Even if they hide… they’ll eventually end up in my hands.
