Chapter 13
“How am I supposed to find him?”
“Search the places So Pilmo might go.”
“……”
His words made her palms grow damp with sweat.
Search the places Pilmo might go? Wasn’t he planning to look himself? But he didn’t seem to have the luxury of time.
“We’ll start tomorrow.”
“Start what?”
“The pursuit.”
The thought of tracking Pilmo by following his traces sent a chilling fear through her.
“W-what? Pu-pursuit?”
“We’re looking for your brother, aren’t we? If Ms. So Hye-yeon comes along, maybe you’ll recognize somewhere he might have gone.”
What is this man thinking?
It seemed like he intended to use her to find Pilmo directly.
What should she do?
Why would he want to use her for that? If he had already investigated, he should know Pilmo had no relatives or connections here.
“We don’t have any ties in Gangwon Province.”
“I never said Gangwon Province.”
“…!”
Her heart suddenly dropped. Hye-yeon’s mind felt like it was clouded over.
“How did you know?”
“Th-that’s….”
“I asked how you knew your brother’s villa is in Gangwon Province.”
Thud.
He set his glass down and glared at her coldly. Hye-yeon’s nerves tightened instantly.
It was a dangerous moment.
Cold sweat ran down her back and her throat went dry.
Stay calm.
Please—she just had to get through this moment.
“…I heard.”
“From someone who hasn’t even had a phone call with him for ten years? From whom?”
“From someone else who said they saw my brother. They said he was working in Gangwon.”
“Really?”
His eyebrow lifted slightly. Hye-yeon met his gaze steadily, refusing to lose her composure.
His eyes were suspicious. But she bit the inside of her cheek hard and continued acting in front of him.
“Yes. One of my brother’s friends stopped by my shop briefly and told me the news. Why? Do you want to bring him here for a face-to-face meeting?”
“Hm….”
He brushed his lips with his hand.
“I’m not lying.”
“Fine. Let’s say that’s true. I don’t have the energy to waste on checking that right now.”
“….”
Phew. Inside, she let out a huge sigh of relief.
“Then starting tomorrow, you’re coming with me.”
Hye-yeon thought she must have heard wrong. Once people entered this house, most of them couldn’t freely leave. Guards were stationed everywhere to prevent anyone from running away without paying their debts. It would definitely look suspicious.
She bit her lip.
“The others will…”
“Forget about the workers. Or… act like my girlfriend.”
“Wh-what?”
Hye-yeon flinched and stared at Seok-woo.
“If it looks like the kind of relationship where you share a bed, it’ll be easier to take you out.”
He twisted his lips slightly in a faint smirk, and it felt almost like he was mocking her.
What is he trying to do? He’s not seriously trying to sleep with me, is he? Didn’t he clearly say before that wouldn’t happen?
Her mind went blank. Just imagining taking off her clothes in front of him made her feel nauseous.
“I can’t do that. As you know, I’m a mother.”
“Is there some rule that mothers can’t lie with men?”
“Hey, Kang Seok-woo. Right now—”
She tried to stand up, unwilling to listen anymore.
But suddenly a long arm shot out and grabbed her chin.
She gasped in shock. His cold hand touched her jaw, and the look in his eyes carried clear anger. She had offended him.
“I’m not giving you a choice.”
“……”
“I’m telling you to cooperate with my work.”
The oppressive atmosphere made her heart pound violently. He stared at her with chilling eyes.
“Do you think I’m easy to deal with just because I’m speaking politely to you?”
“……”
“Let me remind you again—you have no right to choose. I don’t care how it looks to others. Wherever I say we go, we go.”
His words were overwhelming, making her shrink involuntarily. She knew she could no longer argue with him, but she still gathered her strength and slapped his hand away.
“Fine. I’m your hostage anyway.”
Once again, her chin was seized.
This time he pulled her face even closer than before.
His lips were right in front of her nose.
For a moment, she felt like she couldn’t breathe. Despite the rough life he must have lived, his face was as smooth and flawless as porcelain.
I’m crazy.
Is this really the moment to admire his looks?
His breath brushed close to her, carrying a pleasant scent. Even though he had been drinking wine, there was no strong smell of alcohol. A man so handsome it almost didn’t seem human—yet she was sure that beneath that appearance he was terrifyingly cruel.
“The one who should be angry is me.”
“Let go.”
Hye-yeon tried to turn her face away, but he pulled her even closer.
She swallowed hard.
“If you’re a hostage, then act like one—”
At that moment, something flashed strangely in his eyes. The sensation spreading from her chin across her skin sent a strange shiver through her body. Hye-yeon slapped his hand away again and shifted back to create distance.
“Fine, I understand. If you say crawl, I’ll crawl. Is that enough? But protecting my body is my freedom.”
“Hah….”
“You said you wanted to drink, right? Fine. If you need a drinking partner.”
Hye-yeon grabbed the wine glass in front of her and drank it down.
The wine’s strong aroma rushed up, but right now nothing seemed better for cutting through the suffocating atmosphere.
Perhaps pleased, he touched her chin and watched her.
“It’s a strong wine.”
“I can drink well. Watch.”
Before he could pour for her, she filled her own glass and drank again. She forced the wine down, gulp after gulp, yet she didn’t feel drunk at all.
If she lost her senses now, she wouldn’t be able to protect Pilmo—nor her daughter Yerim. The thought that she must never become weak burned firmly in her mind.
I won’t lose.
Even if I’m your hostage, you can’t control everything.
You need me too.
And I know your life will be in danger if that secret reaches the chairman.
Hye-yeon glared at Seok-woo and kept drinking.
Even though she was doing exactly what he had asked, something about it seemed to bother him. His eyes narrowed.
She was drinking because he told her to—yet he was the one getting angry.
Suddenly—
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her into his arms.
Crash!
Glasses and plates tumbled to the floor in a messy clatter.
Thump, thump, thump.
Her heart pounded wildly.
“You have quite the talent for provoking people.”
“Let go.”
“Aren’t you afraid of me?”
“Yes!”
In truth, she felt like she might collapse from fear.
But if she showed fear, she felt her position would fall even lower.
Becoming his nighttime partner was something she absolutely refused to do.
She glared at him defiantly.
When his hand wrapped around her waist, a scream escaped her. As he slowly stroked her lower back, a clear sensual desire was evident.
Hye-yeon froze, overwhelmed by a sensation she had never felt before.
“Liar. You’re trembling like this.”
“Ah….”
“Or maybe you’re reacting somewhere lower instead.”
His words snapped her back to reality.
She pushed against his chest. At this rate, her chest would be pressed against his.
“Hey!”
“You’re no different from other women. When you see a handsome man, you heat up like this.”
His finger traced down firmly along her waist, and it almost made her lose her mind.
She knew she should push him away, but her body refused to obey. Just as Seok-woo seemed to notice, her entire body was heating up.
A slow, heavy warmth spread through her.
“D-don’t talk nonsense! I have my own type—”
“What kind of type?”
He tilted his head as if genuinely curious.
In that moment, Hye-yeon finally regained her composure.
“…A kind man. And someone without tattoos on his body.”
