Chapter : 44
Saturday Morning
Yoon Iseol woke to her phone vibrating and checked the number.
She hadn’t saved it, but the last digits matched the direct number she’d received from Choi Mugwang the last time.
No way…
She answered, and just as expected, Choi Mugwang’s voice came through.
—Come down for a moment. Let’s see each other’s faces. I’ll be at the café across the street.
“What?”
Had she misheard?
—Let’s not waste each other’s energy. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.
What kind of sin must she have committed in a past life to get tangled up with someone like Choi Mugwang?
“Then please wait. I just woke up and haven’t gotten ready yet.”
—Oh? I’m curious what Ms. Yoon Iseol looks like right after waking up.
Ugh.
A shiver of discomfort ran down her spine.
—I don’t have much time, so you’d better hurry.
Iseol hung up and got out of bed.
When she returned from the island yesterday, she’d found that the front door had been replaced with a steel one fitted with a digital lock, and security bars had been added to every window.
As she went downstairs, she glanced toward the neighboring house.
There was no sign of anyone, though Taesin had said he’d be coming last night.
He hadn’t shown up in her room late at night like before.
Had he come and she just hadn’t noticed?
Iseol tilted her head in mild confusion.
Down in the shop, her grandmother and Kanghoon were getting ready to open.
“That rotten bastard’s here again. What’s he sniffing around this neighborhood for, like a dog in heat?”
Her grandmother muttered as she seasoned the tteokbokki, glaring at the tattoo-covered gang members loitering nearby.
Across the street, Choi Mugwang sat arrogantly by the café window in a tailored suit, legs crossed, looking her way.
As always, Manager Lee stood solidly behind him, glaring daggers at Iseol.
Choi Mugwang waved at her from inside the café.
“Where are you going?” her grandmother asked.
“I’ll just go talk for a bit.”
“Didn’t that talking end last time?”
“Seems like he still has something to say.”
After barely reassuring her grandmother, Iseol crossed the street and sat down across from Choi Mugwang.
He slid a cup of coffee toward her.
“Thanks, but I’ll pass.”
“If you’re not gonna drink it, I might as well toss it.”
He reached for the cup as if he really meant it, and Iseol hurriedly picked it up.
“I’ll drink it.”
Crazy bastard.
He waited until she took a sip.
“So, have you given it some thought?”
“My answer hasn’t changed.”
“I thought you were smart, but are you bad at math? I’m not asking to sleep with you—just to have a meal together. What’s so hard about that?”
The coffee went down the wrong way.
Choi Mugwang held out a handkerchief.
Iseol wiped her lips with the back of her hand, and he calmly put the handkerchief away again.
“I told you I don’t want to.”
“Well, can’t be helped then. Manager Lee, starting next month, collect the principal too. Two million won a month. And ‘next month’ is only a few days away.”
“Understood.”
Just the interest alone was already several hundred thousand won. If she had to start paying back the principal as well, making ends meet would be impossible.
For the first time, she regretted becoming a civil servant.
The paycheck was stable, sure—but side jobs were forbidden, so there was no way to earn more.
She’d need at least a second job to manage it all.
At Choi Mugwang’s flick of a finger, Manager Lee placed a small gift box on the table.
“What’s this?”
“Open it.”
Inside was an elegant wristwatch.
“I picked it up on the way, so don’t feel burdened.”
As if she’d believe he just “picked up” a watch like that.
“I’m not shallow enough to be swayed by a gift like this.”
“Then throw it away.”
Choi Mugwang buttoned his jacket and stood up.
“I’ve got business in Seoul today, so I’ll be off. If you change your mind, call me anytime.”
He waved his phone once, then got into his car and drove away.
Of all days, he had to be going to Seoul today too.
She tried to leave the gift behind, but the café owner pressed the box into her hands.
“Ma’am, please take it.”
“If I keep it, who knows what kind of trouble it’ll bring. You hold onto it. Return it later if you want.”
Not wanting to inconvenience her, Iseol took the box back with her.
“Why does that bastard keep coming around? What does he want?” her grandmother asked.
“It’s nothing, Grandma.”
“Is he threatening you to pay back money?”
“I’m running late. I need to get ready and head to Seoul.”
Her grandmother watched Iseol go upstairs with deep concern.
When Iseol returned to her room, Taesin was unexpectedly standing by the window.
He knew the door lock password.
From her window, the street below was clearly visible.
“Oh—when did you get here?”
Had he seen her with Choi Mugwang?
Taesin turned around.
Instead of answering, he asked, “What’s that?”
Iseol placed the box on her desk.
“He said it was a gift. Told me to throw it away if I didn’t want it, so I brought it back. I was planning to return it later.”
Taesin stared at it silently, lips pressed into a straight line. He opened the box, checked the contents, then set it down.
After letting out a quiet sigh, he spoke again.
“I have something to ask you. It may be sensitive, but I need to confirm it.”
“Ah… okay.”
“Your father had a mistress, didn’t he? Myung Hyunju. Is it true she embezzled tens of billions of won from the company and disappeared?”
“How did you…?”
Right. He’d investigated her.
So he really knew everything.
“I found her.”
“What? Really…?”
She couldn’t believe it.
They’d even hired private detectives and searched the entire country without finding her. How could he have?
“We won’t be able to recover all the money she stole, but we should be able to get some of it back.”
Get the money back?
Was that really possible?
Even part of it would be a huge amount.
She could pay off her debt and stop being played by Choi Mugwang.
She wouldn’t have to spend two-thirds of her salary repaying loans anymore, and her grandmother wouldn’t have to suffer so much.
The ray of hope he offered was so dazzling it almost scared her.
“Where is she now?”
Despite securing evidence, witnesses, and records tracing the flow of funds, they’d never found the decisive accounting books or the culprit herself, and the case had eventually fizzled out.
“She’s living quite well—in Seoul.”
“In Seoul?”
She’d assumed she fled overseas.
How could someone who committed such crimes live comfortably in Seoul?
“She changed her identity and even altered her face through plastic surgery. That’s why she was hard to find.”
“Then how did you find her?”
“I have a friend who knows the CEO of Blue Line Private Equity. The CEO was close to Myung Hyunju, and he mentioned that she vanished without a trace around the time Ever Dining was taken over by the fund. Now she’s planning to acquire another company at a bargain price under the name Kim Hyesun.”
“So Kim Hyesun is Myung Hyunju?”
“Yes. We confirmed her fingerprints with the prosecutor’s help. Even if you change your face, fingerprints stay the same.”
That explained why she’d never been found.
All this time, she’d had no idea the woman was living well in Seoul.
“But how do we recover the money?”
She’d heard that even if embezzlers were caught, recovering the funds was incredibly difficult.
They often hid the money cleverly or blew it on loan repayments, shopping, gambling, and the like.
Even if money remained, it could take over a year through court proceedings to get it back.
“Don’t worry. There’s a way.”
The moment she heard that, Iseol found herself hugging Taesin without realizing it.
She sobbed, unaware that her tears were soaking into his chest.
She didn’t know how to thank him, or how she could ever repay this debt of gratitude.
Taesin gently stroked her back.
Only then did Iseol feel embarrassed. She pulled away and wiped her tears.
“Thank you.”
“You can thank me after we get the money back.”
“Even if we don’t recover it, just finding her and sending her to prison would be satisfying enough. That alone makes you my benefactor.”
Taesin reached out and lightly lifted her chin.
She tried to turn away, not wanting to show her tear-streaked bare face, but her gaze inevitably met his.
He wiped away her tears with his thumb.
“You’re pretty even when you cry. Makes me want to make you cry again.”
At a time like this—how could he say something like that so casually?
His glossy black eyes made her heart feel like it might burst, and Iseol turned away, facing the other direction.
“You should get ready to go.”
“What time is the wedding?”
“Five in the afternoon. Junpil sunbae will pick me up in thirty minutes.”
“I’ll follow right behind.”
Taesin left, and the door closed.
After calming her racing heart, Iseol wiped her tears and began to put on her makeup.
