🔊 TTS Settings
Chapter 16
Yeojakyung lowered her head and answered.
“Yes.”
“You don’t think I’m expecting too much from you, do you?”
Yeo Baekhwa suddenly asked with a cold expression.
“The location tracker I put on you every time you go out, and making you report your every move and schedule every single day—all of it is for your safety and convenience. You understand that, right?”
“Yes, Mom.”
Yeojakyung’s 24 hours were always controlled by Yeo Baekhwa.
She had to report every detail of her movements through a location tracker and daily logs.
“Locking your door too—it’s because I’m worried you might sneak into the kitchen at dawn and eat something you shouldn’t.”
“…I know.”
“Behave yourself. Your final semester grades and your weight management—none of it can be compromised. Your face is Hanyul’s face, and it’s also my face.”
Drip. After finishing her meal, Yeo Baekhwa stood up. She had barely eaten half of the prepared breakfast.
Passing by, she stopped in front of Yeojakyung and kissed her daughter’s forehead.
“My beloved daughter. You are my everything.”
“……”
Yeojakyung closed her eyes and endured the moment.
With a satisfied smile directed at her perfect daughter, Yeo Baekhwa left the dining room.
Only Yeojakyung and Manager Jang remained.
Yeojakyung stared blankly at the untouched breakfast spread Yeo Baekhwa had left behind.
More than three-quarters of the food was still on the plate.
Grrr.
Her stomach growled loudly.
Gulp. Yeojakyung’s throat moved as she looked at the food.
“Miss.”
A sharp voice cut in immediately, restraining her.
Manager Jang raised one eyebrow, giving her a warning look.
“I was going to leave.”
Yeojakyung replied while staring back at him.
Drip. She suddenly stood up from the table, then swayed briefly from orthostatic hypotension.
“Hoo…”
Only after a moment did her vision stabilize again.
Even as she struggled with dizziness, Manager Jang calmly began clearing the table.
“…I’ll bring your vitamins in the evening,” he said indifferently before heading into the kitchen.
After several seconds, Yeojakyung was finally able to leave the dining room without stumbling.
…A puppet-like life in a mansion that felt like a prison, where even a single bite of food was controlled.
That was the life Yeojakyung had lived as the only daughter of Hanyul.
Seo Taeju’s private residence, which also served as “The Home” office.
The sound of a TV echoed through the room.
[“…In Thailand, controversy is rising over tourist elephant shows involving baby elephant abuse.
They confine elephants from a young age to suppress their wild instincts. They are struck with sharp objects like iron rods.
If they try to escape, they are tied to tree stumps and beaten nearly to death.
Elephants whose will to resist is completely erased from childhood.
Even as adults, they cannot leave their abusers and are forced to perform dances or carry tourists after being fed minimal food, becoming profit-making tools for show businesses. The Thai government…”]
“Ugh! Those, those damn bastards.”
Lee Changshik, lying on the sofa, cursed while watching the news.
“Whether human or elephant, people who abuse children should just die. They should rot in prison for life.”
At that moment, Seo Taeju’s door opened. He came out fully dressed to go out.
“Oh, Taeju. You heading to class?”
“Yeah.”
Seo Taeju grabbed a water bottle from the table and glared at Lee Changshik sprawled on the couch.
“You just lounging around? Living the good life, huh?”
“Hey! I need rest too! You think I’m the only one busy? I’ve got a Taekwang internship, a full-time job at ‘The Home,’ graduation prep… I don’t even have enough energy if I had ten bodies!”
“Do better, Lee Changshik. Just do better.”
Seo Taeju pointed at him again in warning.
Then, as he was heading out, Changshik suddenly remembered something.
“Oh right, Seo Taeju! You’re still going to keep taking photos, right?”
Seo Taeju, putting on his shoes, looked up.
“What are you talking about? Of course.”
Changshik scratched his head awkwardly.
“I just thought… maybe you’d quit after doing it once.”
“Quit? Why would I quit? You just take photos wherever I tell you to. Got it?”
“Y-yeah…”
Damn, this tyrant.
He cursed inwardly, but couldn’t help feeling uneasy.
“Those photos you took last time… what did you do with them?”
“What else? Saved them properly on the camera memory.”
“Hey, Seo Taeju.”
“What.”
“What you do with them is your business, but… I’m a bit worried.”
“About what?”
“Yeo Jaekyung. I can’t really explain it, but… she gives off a bad feeling.”
“What are you even talking about?”
Hearing Yeojakyung’s name made Seo Taeju suddenly tense.
She had been stuck in his mind since last night.
“Huh? Taeju. Just don’t mess with Yeojakyung—”
“Lee Changshik.”
Seo Taeju ran a hand through his hair irritably.
“Hoo…”
He knew it was ridiculous, but even hearing her name from Changshik bothered him.
“About Yeojakyung, I’ll handle it myself. Got it?”
He warned sharply.
“Don’t worry about her.”
After snapping at him for no real reason, Seo Taeju left the house and headed to school.
The message that had arrived early that morning had already canceled Yeojakyung’s usual demand that he pick her up and drive her.
[“I’ll be at the Meditation Club room early this morning.
If you’re interested, C Building–103.”]
A blunt, declarative message.
Yet it was enough to lift his mood.
“This is… weirdly motivating to start the day.”
He chuckled in disbelief.
A strange woman who had suddenly appeared in his world.
At first, he only intended to use her to maintain his “delinquent” reputation.
And he also wanted to teach that arrogant, sheltered noble-like young lady a taste of reality.
But as time passed with her, Seo Taeju started to feel an odd sense that he was the one being pulled along instead.
“Yeojakyung. Are you trying to play with me?”
He stared intently at her message on his phone screen.
As if locking eyes with it.
Then, in the end, a laugh slipped out.
“What is it about you that’s so entertaining?”
Seo Taeju shook his head with a crooked smile.
Then suddenly lifted his chin arrogantly and declared:
“…Of course, that doesn’t mean you get to escape being my temporary toy. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
He pointed at the message from Yeojakyung.
Since he was in the car, no one could see him—otherwise they would’ve thought he was insane.
His one-man show continued for a while.
Inside him, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde coexisted.
“Hoo… enough of this. Stop getting shaken, Seo Taeju. Yeojakyung is just a disposable card to be used until Taekwang takes over Hanyul Steel, until I leak those photos and she gets torn apart socially…”
…said the rational Dr. Jekyll in his mind.
“But isn’t that robot-like tone kind of cute? Saying ‘Seo Taeju, Seo Taeju’ at the end of every sentence—it’s weirdly addictive…”
…whispered the sly Hyde in his ear.
“Ugh! Why is my head like this?!”
In frustration, Seo Taeju grabbed his hair and slammed the steering wheel.
Beep!
The horn blared, and the man in the car next to him looked over like he was staring at a lunatic.
Kids these days…
“Cough.”
Seo Taeju pretended not to notice and lowered his head.
An involuntary start of his one-sided infatuation he didn’t even realize had begun.
Ah.
The beginning of his suffering.
As the message had said, Yeojakyung really was in the university’s only Meditation Club room.
The official morning session had already ended, and students were leaving with yoga mats and towels.
“There are more people here than I expected for a meditation club.”
“…It’s all because of Jaekyung. She’s the club’s accountant and ace. She’s graduating soon, so it’s a shame.”
Who are you?
Seo Taeju turned toward the voice suddenly appearing behind him.
A male student stood there.
Wow. A completely unremarkable face.
Seo Taeju was mildly shocked by his bland, egg-white-like appearance.
“…Who are you?”
“Oh, I’m Gong Giha. Senior in the meditation club. And the president of ‘No Brain,’ the meditation club.”
A man whose presence matched his name—like air itself.
He was so forgettable that Seo Taeju felt he might forget him the moment he turned away, but he still offered a handshake.
“Nice to meet you, club president.”
“Y-yeah…”
Gong Giha replied awkwardly, as if he felt compelled to respond politely under Seo Taeju’s sharp gaze.
Seo Taeju folded his arms and looked him up and down.
“I have a question, president.”
“G-go ahead…”
“How much time does Yeojakyung spend in this club?”
“Jaekyung?”
Gong Giha adjusted his thick glasses nervously.
“Jaekyung is really busy, so she can’t lead every class, but she does attend the morning sessions three times a week as a meditation leader… so we’re grateful.”
“Three times a week.”
Seo Taeju nodded thoughtfully, then extended his hand.
With a faint smile, he said:
“Nice to meet you, president. Where do I apply for membership?”
