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Chapter 8
“Of course, I won’t fall for it.”“Please make sure you don’t.”
His face twisted into a deep frown. Even though I’d given him the answer he wanted, he still didn’t seem satisfied.
“Then let go of my hand.”
“I’ll let go when I feel like it.”
The grip at the back of my head tightened. His crooked lips looked as if they were mocking me, but I pushed hard against his shoulder. He released me easily, yet I couldn’t hide my flustered expression.
“If someone’s going to let go, it’ll be me.”
“Haha….”
“Why are you laughing?”
“You and your sibling really are alike. No—perhaps you’re even bolder.”
“Even if I’m being held hostage, that doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want with me. I know your weakness too.”
“So you know how to threaten people as well?”
He chuckled under his breath, as if thoroughly amused. A threat? Fine. If it sounded like a threat, then it was a perfectly good weapon.
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.”
“This is getting more interesting.”
He ran a hand through his hair, and something sweet and dangerous seemed to press deep into my throat. It felt like a calm sea suddenly stirring with waves, and I became even more aware of him.
“Well then—”
“Go on. I still have to undress.”
“Ah, y-yes. Of course.”
The moment he slipped his hands toward his pants, I hurried out of the bathroom.
Flustered, I rushed out of the room and across the wide hallway. The more anxious I became, the more it felt like thousands—no, tens of thousands—of cells inside me were going wild.
Why.
Why.
Why is this happening?
Am I scared?
Yes. That’s it. I’m scared.
That man holds my family’s lives in his hands. But even so…
Why does my mouth move so recklessly in front of him?
When I should be groveling flat on the ground.
Why.
Why am I like this?
The firm skin I’d touched had been burning hot, like someone with a fever. The unfamiliar sensation made Huiyeon’s face crumple.
Please.
I need to get a grip.
Only then can my family stay safe.
Huiyeon couldn’t focus even as Yerim chattered cutely beside her.
Before she knew it, the moon was high in the sky.
9 p.m.
Ever since coming here, Yerim had been going to bed later and later.
“Mom.”
“Hm? What is it, Yerim?”
“I wanna eat tteokbokki….”
“Tteokbokki?”
She had barely eaten dinner and was already asking for a snack. It had been a week since Yerim last had her favorite tteokbokki.
“Yeah. The one you make.”
“Then let’s go to the kitchen.”
“Yay!”
Since Huiyeon insisted on preparing Yerim’s meals herself while she was still growing, she headed to the auxiliary kitchen with her.
The auxiliary kitchen was mainly used by the servants, so it was stocked with most ingredients. With practiced hands, Huiyeon quickly made the tteokbokki.
When she set the plate down, fragrant with its sweet and spicy aroma, Yerim immediately speared a piece with her fork and began eating.
Just watching her eat so prettily made Huiyeon’s heart swell.
Even though she wasn’t the child Huiyeon had given birth to, raising her from infancy was no different from true motherhood.
“Is it good?”
“Yeah! My mom’s the best!”
“Chew slowly, okay?”
Yerim nodded enthusiastically. As Huiyeon tried to calm her tangled thoughts while watching her, Yerim suddenly pointed.
“Oh! It’s mister!”
Startled, Huiyeon turned her head and saw Seokwoo leaning against the kitchen door. The auxiliary kitchen was for servants—why was he here?
“Ah, did you need something?”
“……”
Without answering, Seokwoo simply looked at Yerim. What was that? Was I the only one feeling awkward earlier?
His expression was still cold, but somehow the way he looked at Yerim was different. Yerim beamed brightly at the handsome man.
“Mister! Eat tteokbokki with us!”
“…Yerim.”
“Don’t embarrass the child.”
“……”
He sat down beside Yerim. She personally speared a piece of tteokbokki and held it out to him.
He popped the piece she offered straight into his mouth.
“My mom’s tteokbokki is the best, right?”
“It is. It’s good.”
For some reason, hearing him praise the food made her heart flutter. What is wrong with me? Just because he complimented the cooking, have I already forgotten my place?
Huiyeon silently cursed her own wavering heart.
After eating quietly beside the child for a while, he seemed to drift off into thought.
What is it?
What is that man thinking about…?
That was when it happened.
A shrill voice suddenly rang through the entire house.
“Seokwoo! Kang Seokwoo! Where are you?!”
The hand holding his fork froze midair.
Moments later, a glamorous woman in her forties stormed into the kitchen. The moment she saw Seokwoo, she raised her hand and slapped him.
Smack—
The first slap landed, but when she tried again, her wrist was caught in his hand. Huiyeon’s heart pounded in shock.
The middle-aged woman who had barged in at night was visibly agitated.
“What are you going to do, huh? Aeri took pills! Why do all the girls end up like that when they go to you? Are you holding a ritual to ruin my business?”
“Lower your voice.”
“Does it look like I can lower my voice right now?! She was the ace of our place! Do you know how many men were lining up to buy her—mmph!”
A guard rushed in and covered her mouth.
“Drag her out.”
“Mmph! Hey! Kang Seokwoo! You—mmph!”
She was practically dragged away like a dog. Seokwoo ground his teeth as he watched her go.
Before she could spew any more vulgar words, Huiyeon covered Yerim’s ears, but the child still looked frightened.
Soon after calming his anger, he looked at Yerim and smiled faintly.
“Kiddo, I’ll finish the tteokbokki later.”
Their eyes met briefly in midair.
Sensing it was best to leave, Huiyeon took Yerim back to their room.
Aeri… That was the name of the woman she’d previously heard was his dedicated keeper.
The ace of the shop. Then…
Was that woman earlier the madam of a bar?
With her glamorous beauty and tall frame—well over 170 centimeters—she certainly looked like someone from the nightlife world.
Huiyeon sank into complicated thoughts.
The woman dragged out to the garage was Seokwoo’s mother, Park Sunhee. Once the top ace who had dominated the nightlife scene. After giving birth to Seokwoo—whose father was unknown—she started her own business and eventually became the owner of one of Gangnam’s most exclusive establishments.
Park Sunhee glared at her son.
“You unfilial brat.”
“I was told the women you sent here already had their debts cleared.”
“Do you think I raise aces just to earn a few billion won?”
“Handle your business over there. Don’t come barging in here in the middle of the night.”
“Am I a stranger? I’m your mother.”
“This is the Chairman’s residence while he’s away. All outsiders must be controlled even more strictly.”
Seokwoo’s voice was ice-cold. He saw his mother only a handful of times a year, and there was no affection between them.
“There’s no son like you. I worked myself to the bone raising you, and my only son treats me like some street peddler.”
“Who raised me so disgracefully?”
Seokwoo bared his neat teeth slightly. As if fed up, she pulled out a cigarette.
Click.
The smell of her cigarette felt especially nauseating today.
“Hoo… Anyway, I saw a new face earlier. If she’s polished up, she’d be quite useful. Where did you get her?”
“Don’t touch her.”
“What’s with you?”
“She’s not that kind of woman.”
Seokwoo found himself defending Huiyeon without meaning to, even though he knew every woman brought here ended up in the same position.
Park Sunhee eyed him up and down.
“Tsk. Looking at you, it’s like you’d devour your own mother. Oh, and when is the Chairman coming out?”
“Soon.”
“He should hurry. I’ve got business plans to discuss.”
“He’s not in that line of business anymore.”
“Not in it? Then why would he leave you here? He can’t quit because it all turns into backdoor money. A dog can’t stop eating crap.”
He couldn’t refute that. He was Chairman Cha Myunghwan’s hunting dog. The money earned in the underworld became the chairman’s slush fund.
“Just go.”
“Tsk, fine. I’m going.”
Park Sunhee crushed her cigarette under her heel and started her car. The red imported vehicle roared down the alley, and irritation surged through him. Seokwoo clenched his fist tightly.
“Damn it… They’re all such eyesores.”
He thought of the tteokbokki he’d just been eating.
Instead of a proper meal, Park Sunhee used to toss him street-bought tteokbokki before going off to enjoy herself with married men. More than once, he’d nearly vomited from the lewd scent they carried.
He had rolled through the filth of brothels long enough to grow used to that smell.
But unlike himself—who had been dirtied since childhood—the woman who seemed as pure as a blank sheet of paper kept bothering him.
“So clean… it makes me want to dirty her.”
