Chapter 37
“Why is this here?”
Ms. Kang frowned. What on earth had they done here for a button to be torn off? Her thoughts kept drifting in a negative direction.
“Ugh, really, ‘come on.”
Ms. Kang shook her head. It was a well-known fact, even among the stray dogs in the neighborhood, that Taeyun had liked Seorin for a long time. It seemed Seorin felt the same way.
When you forcefully separate people who like each other, why wouldn’t there be side effects like this? It was, in a way, an expected outcome from the beginning.
Leaving the warehouse, Ms. Kang headed towards the accommodation building where Seorin had gone. She felt she should at least warn Seorin. That path was a thorny one, and it seemed she and Taeyun were not meant to be, so she should not bring such difficulties upon herself.
However, Ms. Kang’s thoughts stopped there, interrupted by Youngsook’s voice calling her from afar.
“Ms. Kang! Ms. Kang!”
Ahn Youngsook was approaching, looking for her from a distance.
“Madam.”
Ms. Kang, startled to see Youngsook, quickly hid the button she was holding behind her back.
“Taeyun just walked from this direction… Where on earth did he…”
As she spoke, Youngsook looked at Ms. Kang, who was hastily putting her hand behind her back, with suspicious eyes.
“Why are you so surprised, like you’ve seen a ghost?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Ms. Kang tried to hide what she suspected from Youngsook. There was nothing good to gain from speaking up unnecessarily. She knew from long experience that pretending not to know and not to see was the best policy in such matters.
However, Youngsook was much quicker-witted than that. Realizing that Ms. Kang was hiding something, Youngsook questioned her relentlessly.
“What is it? Is it because of the pet?”
“It’s nothing, I told you.”
“Ms. Kang, have I known you for a year or two? There’s something, right now.”
Ahn Youngsook ultimately pulled Ms. Kang’s hand open. Seeing that what Ms. Kang had been hiding was just a single button, Youngsook tilted her head in confusion.
“This is a staff uniform button. Why would you…”
“It’s nothing special.”
Youngsook’s mind raced, connecting the sight of Taeyun earlier, the path Ms. Kang had walked, and the hidden button.
“…Where’s Seorin?”
“Seorin? Why Seorin?”
“I’m asking! Where is Seorin?”
Ms. Kang smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
Ms. Kang smiled awkwardly and shook her head.
“I don’t know, how would I…”
Taking a deep breath, Youngsook took large strides and headed somewhere. The direction she was heading was towards the accommodation building where Seorin was.
“Oh dear, something is going to happen today, it really is.”
Ms. Kang, her face pale, quickly followed behind Youngsook.
Back in her room, Seorin looked in the mirror. As she expected, her face was a mess. Her eyes were red from crying, and her blouse, which she had been holding together, was gaping open, revealing her chest.
The most difficult thing was the marks left on her neck and various parts of her chest. Red, flower-petal-like marks on her white skin—all of them left by Taeyun.
Those marks, carelessly branded as if Eun Seorin were his property, put her in a difficult situation. If someone were to discover them, it would cause a huge scandal.
Seorin bit her lip tightly and hurriedly took off her clothes. There was no time to hesitate like this. Youngsook had already been watching her closely lately. If she was absent for too long, Youngsook would surely come looking for her.
Seorin, half-naked, frantically opened the drawer of her dressing table and pulled out a concealer. As she was applying it with a brush to the marks on her neck and chest, the closed door suddenly burst open.
Seorin, startled, turned around and saw Youngsook, who had opened the door. Behind her stood Ms. Kang, looking helpless.
“Madam?”
Seorin, frozen for a moment to grasp the situation, realized a moment too late that she was almost naked. With nothing to cover herself, she quickly grabbed the clothes she had taken off and held them to her body.
“I’m sorry, Madam. I spilled something on my clothes. I was in the middle of changing…”
However, Youngsook had no intention of listening to Seorin. Youngsook quickly scrutinized Seorin’s appearance with her eyes and strode towards her. Then, she snatched the blouse Seorin was holding and threw it to the floor.
The marks she had tried to cover with concealer were visible in places. Youngsook silently stared at Seorin’s body for a moment, then reached out a finger and wiped away the makeup as if removing it. The red marks left on her delicate skin were revealed. Seorin didn’t know what to say.
“Um, Madam.”
But before Seorin could even finish her sentence, a sigh escaped Youngsook’s lips.
“So, you finally did it, you wench.”
Youngsook’s lips curled up in a sneer, and she suddenly clenched her teeth. Slapping Seorin’s cheek with a raised palm happened in an instant.
Smack! With a sharp sound, Seorin’s head snapped to the side. Her mind went blank. It took her longer to comprehend what had just happened than to feel the throbbing pain on her skin. Then Youngsook’s curses rushed in from a distance, like tinnitus.
“You crazy bitch!!”
“Ma-Madam!”
The sound of Ms. Kang rushing over and the sound of Youngsook heavily breathing were heard in succession. The stinging pain on her face descended belatedly.
Only then did Seorin finally understand what had happened.
“Even though I warned you so much! How could you do something like this, how could you!”
“Calm down, Madam.”
Ms. Kang held Youngsook’s arm and tried to restrain her. But Youngsook’s fury showed no signs of abating.
“Since when? Hmm? Since when did this happen? Was it from the very beginning? Yes, you never intended to listen to my words from the start, did you?”
Seorin covered her slapped cheek with her hand. The stinging heat from her palm showed how hard she had been hit.
Seorin stood there, covering her cheek with her hand, silently listening to Youngsook’s venomous words. Her mind was blank. She felt like she should say something to defend herself, but no thoughts came to her. Nothing.
“Crazy bitch! You ruin everything! You’ll drag my son down until the end!”
Youngsook, who had spewed out unspeakable curses, went to the closet. She pulled out Seorin’s suitcase and laid it open on the floor. Youngsook grabbed Seorin’s clothes from the hangers and crammed them into the suddenly opened suitcase.
“Get out. Get out right now! How can Taeyun not fall for you when you’re wagging your tail right in front of him? Ugh, to have let someone like this into my house.”
Even as Youngsook packed the clothes, she repeatedly hit her chest as if her anger was boiling over.
Seorin was still only wearing her underwear. She seemed too shocked to even think about covering herself. Seeing this, Ms. Kang took off her own black cardigan and put it over Seorin’s shoulders. She personally helped Seorin put it on and even buttoned it up before approaching Youngsook.
“Madam… please calm down.”
“Do I look like I can calm down? The girl I brought in to monitor him is now seducing Taeyun in my own house!”
Youngsook took all of Seorin’s clothes out of the closet and closed the trunk. After zipping it up, she shoved the trunk towards Seorin as if throwing it.
“Get out.”
Seorin looked at Youngsook with trembling eyes. But Youngsook was resolute.
“Didn’t you hear me say get out?!”
Youngsook pushed Seorin’s back with a ruthless hand. Seorin’s paper-thin body, unable to resist, stumbled.
Seorin fell to her knees and clung to Youngsook’s leg.
“I’m sorry. Please give me another chance.”
Her intertwined hands, begging, looked pitifully desperate. But Youngsook seemed completely unmoved, remaining cold.
“A chance? What chance? Letting you into this house was the last chance I ever gave you.”
Seorin silently wept. She didn’t know what to say or how to change Youngsook’s mind.
“Ms. Kang! Take that and follow me.”
At Young-sook’s harsh command, Madam Kang had no choice but to help carry the suitcase and follow behind them.
Fearing someone might see them, they chose a path that led from the lodging area to the outside. In the distance, faint sounds of people laughing and chatting could be heard. Pushed along by Young-sook, Seorin walked down a narrow, uneven path that hadn’t even been properly maintained.
Young-sook opened a small side gate—one Seorin hadn’t even known existed—and shoved her outside as if throwing her out.
Seorin tripped over a stone and fell to the ground, nearly collapsing. In her rush to leave, her mismatched shoes slipped off, and her scraped knee began to bleed.
Young-sook then threw the suitcase Madam Kang had dragged along at Seorin.
“Don’t ever show yourself in front of Taeyoon again. Ever!”
With that warning, Young-sook slammed the door shut. Unable to even get up, Seorin sat there, and hot tears streamed endlessly down her face.
