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Episode 3: Shield
His tone remained calm, but his words carried an underlying current of profound indifference.
Haeyoung’s lips pressed into a firm line. Without realizing it, she had clenched her hands tightly. But she forced herself to maintain a blank expression and continued speaking.
“Then why did you bring me here in the first place? You could have just shown your face at the funeral home and been done with it.”
Taejun’s eyebrow rose slightly. She could feel the faint breath of what seemed like a scoff.
“That wasn’t my decision to make. I was just cleaning up the mess left behind because of your father’s request.”
Cleaning up the mess. He could have chosen a more refined word, so why did he have to use one that was bound to hurt?
“So, does that request end here?”
At this, Taejun tilted his head slightly. Then, a slow smirk tugged at his lips as he took another step closer.
As he angled his head down, he was close enough for her to feel his languid breath. His gaze, as he looked down at her, was cold and analytical, as if observing a strange object.
“Do you think being brought into this house is your right? Just because you were provided survival, do you think it’s something you’re entitled to?”
Hae-young’s eyes widened slightly, unfocused.
“I told you then.”
“…”.
“That staying put in this house would be the safest thing for you.”
Taejun warned her again, as Haeyoung bit down on her lower lip hard enough to draw blood.
“That still holds true.”
His lips brushed against her earlobe and then were gone. Before she could even flinch in surprise, Tae-jun’s body had already pulled away.
As he slowly created distance from Haeyoung and was about to turn away completely, a pitiful voice rang out from behind him.
No, that wasn’t quite it.
It was a plea, edged with desperation.
“…Please help me.”
A life enjoying peaceful routine, guaranteed safe days. There was no reason to leave this place, nothing to gain by fleeing this nest.
But wanting to leave this warm nest – was it simple rebellion? Or perhaps, a trivial provocation?
“That woman the Chairman brought in.”
Taejun listened silently to Hae-young’s words.
“That woman lived with us when I was twelve. She was my father’s wife for a year.”
“So?”
“That woman, the one who was my stepmother, is now living with your father. How am I supposed to endure staying here?”
Was enduring a better word than staying?
Her voice, choked with resentment, was suppressed, but Taejun cut her off sharply, as if he had no more time to listen.
“If that’s your reason for running away, it’s a pretty convenient excuse.”
All the heartless words Taejun spat out somehow dug deeper into Hae-young’s heart.
“I don’t want to cause any displeasure for the Chairman, who willingly took me in, even though I’m not his flesh and blood. If it weren’t for his connection to my father, I would never have dreamed of living in a place like this.”
She had vaguely sensed that Hae-young, knowingly or not, was wary of this family, who played in the underworld. But seeing her determination to seize the opportunity the moment it arose, Taejun saw her in a new light.
“For that, I really need your help, oppa.”
She didn’t back down. She didn’t avoid his eyes either. He could even feel her firm resolve, a determination not to yield an inch.
Her bloodshot eyes looked like tears might spill at any moment, yet she was deadly serious, as if desperately trying to swallow her emotions.
“So what you’re saying is, you want to use me as a shield.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Without a single attempt to deny or evade, Hae-young’s blunt admission that she needed a human shield left Taejun utterly astounded.
His lowered gaze quietly met hers.
“I think you, as an adult, can help someone immature like me.”
“You’ve got no fear.”
Taejun’s voice dropped threateningly.
His follow-up words were so provocative that Hae-young forgot everything she was about to say.
“Listen here, Ms. An Hae-young.”
Taejun raised his hand and gripped her chin. At his touch, her clear pupils trembled violently.
Hae-young couldn’t open her tightly sealed lips.
“I get it, you’ve lived softly, and I get that you plan to keep living that way, so stop clinging to me—.”
Pressed by the man’s deadly aura as he added this with a hardened expression, tears instantly welled up in Hae-young’s eyes.
Her voice, trembling faintly, filled the space.
“You don’t know.”
The tip of Taejun’s eyebrow twitched subtly.
“You don’t know what it’s like to lose your parents and be left alone in the world. You don’t know the feeling of such despair that the future seems pitch black. You don’t know the discomfort of having to live as a dependent in someone else’s house, whether you want to or not. You wouldn’t know any of that.”
The pent-up sorrow and anxiety in Haeyoung’s chest burst forth.
The grief that had been unjustly thrust upon her – Taejun found it deeply unpleasant.
He mulled over the events that had transpired under the guise of protecting Hae-young.
The reason Haeyoung wanted to leave the house was, after all, just one thing. Her stepmother, who had taken her father’s place.
Chairman Ki’s habit of swapping women was, if anything, more frequent and blatant than Ahn Dae-cheon’s, Haeyoung father. Weren’t they the kind of men who, as was the way in their world, didn’t hesitate to pass women around amongst themselves?
Chairman Ki’s taste was always predictable. He favored vulgar women, and he was so fickle that discarding a woman he’d brought in as his wife and replacing her with a new one was as common as changing toilet paper.
So, it was only a matter of time before the woman Haeyoung found so uncomfortable and wanted to avoid was kicked out. It was obvious that if she just waited a little, her peaceful daily life would return. This also meant that all problems would be solved without Haeyoung having to leave this house.
Unlike previous women, this one didn’t scream or resort to physical violence, nor did she try to kick Haeyoung out of the house out of spite for having to raise someone else’s child, not her own flesh and blood. On the contrary, she was careful not to provoke Chairman Ki, and thus showed no interest in Haeyoung whatsoever. She merely smiled calmly, slowly eroding Haeyoung’s spirit.
She would deliberately put a comforting arm around Haeyoung’s shoulder in front of Chairman Ki, or make a show of preparing food for her. That was probably what bothered Haeyoung the most.
Taejun understood better than anyone why An Haeyoung so desperately wanted to escape.
But just because Hae-young wanted it, he had no intention of letting her go quietly.
Whether what she wanted was emotional protection or simple survival – it didn’t matter which.
A few days later, Haeyoung stayed out late, drinking heavily with friends near the school, and returned home late at night.
Haeyoung wasn’t usually one to stay out late.
But since her confrontation with Taejun a while back, she wanted to avoid him as much as possible. Also, now that her heart had drifted away from this house, she found it hard to settle back down, and she simply didn’t want to go home.
If she could have her way, she would have boldly said she was staying at a friend’s house to work on an assignment and sleep over, then disappeared somewhere. But the only reason she had to suppress such urges was purely because of Chairman Ki.
If a child who had always been obedient suddenly acted out, given Chairman Ki’s sensitive nature, he might start monitoring her every move to uncover the reason for her change.
So, it was better to refrain from any rebellious behavior, lie low like a dead mouse, and wait for the right opportunity to move out.
That didn’t mean her hurt feelings towards Taejun had easily subsided.
She had run into Taejun several times over the following days, but he hadn’t given her a clear answer regarding her request.
If she let time pass like this, even the courage she had barely mustered would fade away without resolution. She wanted to do something, but she was afraid that bringing it up with Chairman Ki would only result in a scolding.
Chairman Ki was usually the kindest person imaginable, but when the child he had taken in and raised like family mentioned independence, he had gotten angry for the first time.
