RMH 06

chapter 06

“Mom. About the injury on my cheek.”

Hyeok‑jun spoke in a pitiful voice as he stroked the gauze stuck to his cheek.

“Huh? Oh, right, son. How did that happen? Hm? Who dared put a mark on that handsome face—”

“Shin Yuseong did. She suddenly slapped me out of nowhere. Said she didn’t want to get married.”

“…Is that so?”

The air froze instantly. At Myeongsuk’s chilling glare, her secretary quickly lowered her head.

“Contact that family. Tell them we’ll be visiting shortly.”

The woman’s lips twisted upward as she finally found a target to vent her anger on.

While waiting for him to finish washing up, Yuseong gazed at the Han River spread beyond the panoramic windows.

Her mind was still in chaos.

Every sense in her body was on guard against that man.

Yet she had no choice but to follow him.

She simply had no other options.

‘I will make Kwon Suhyeok my husband. No matter what.’

As she clenched her fists and made her vow—

“Your expression’s fierce. You’re not planning to eat me alive, right?”

Suhyeok emerged from the bathroom, snapping her out of her heavy thoughts.

His hair was damp.

And he had nothing on but a black bathrobe draped over his bare torso.

“Um… aren’t you going to put on clothes?”

She had been flustered even when he said he felt grimy after the long flight and was going to take a shower.

But she hadn’t expected him to come out looking like that, so the tips of her ears turned slightly red.

The trail of water running down his chest was far too noticeable.

“First time seeing a man’s naked body?”

…Well, yes, actually.

But isn’t it abnormal to come out dressed like that when someone else is in the room?

As soon as he sat across from her, the sudden waft of body wash made her swallow her saliva.

She adjusted her posture and placed her fists neatly on her knees.

It was finally time to get to the main point.

“May I ask you some questions now?”

Her solemn tone made Suhyeok blink in surprise before he nodded.

“What’s your relationship with my father?”

“Well… love–hate, I guess?”

A vague reply. Yuseong’s eyes narrowed.

Seeing her reaction, he gave a short laugh and replied in a dry tone.

“Your father is the one who saved my life. And he also let Chairman Shin beat me to death. Practically until I was about to die.”

If he said saved his life…

Then it was connected to the event over twenty years ago.

The Kwon Group mother‑and‑son suicide case.

A mother and child who jumped into the ocean together and drowned.

The child’s body was never found, but Kwon Seong‑jae’s ex‑wife, Im Yeo‑jeong, left a will that was discovered, and the case ended with a joint funeral.

Though sensational at the time, it eventually faded from the public eye like most chaebol scandals.

But unlike the official story—

Kwon Suhyeok was very much alive, right here in front of her.

“…This has something to do with the case I know about, doesn’t it?”

“Probably.”

His deep eyes locked onto hers.

“Don’t ask any further.”

Seeing his firm attitude, Yuseong moved to her next question.

There was no benefit in provoking him.

“Then… did you also know about the marriage contract my father made with Chairman Kwon Seong‑jae back then?”

At her question, Suhyeok stared at her for a moment before letting out a faint laugh.

“Of course.”

Naturally—he had been the one on the other end of that contract.

When Suhyeok miraculously survived and chose an orphanage instead of returning to the Kwon family—

Byeong‑oh, who visited him once a week, once said while smoking a cigarette:

“Hey, Suhyeok. Did you know?”

“…Know what?”

“When Yeo‑jeong was pregnant with you, she and I promised that if I had a daughter someday, we’d marry the two of you.”

“What? Why would you make that kind of promise?”

“Right? What are you gonna do about it? I had no choice. Yeo‑jeong pressured me into it and even made me stamp a contract.”

“…Without the consent of the people getting married?”

“Kid, don’t be so serious. I’m never getting married anyway. Don’t worry. Unless a daughter falls from the sky, that contract’ll never matter. Hahaha!”

And then, one day—

“Sir, are you rich?”

“…What?”

“I heard from someone. That you’re rich.”

A sharp‑tongued little girl had fallen straight into Byeong‑oh’s life.

As Suhyeok wandered through the memories, a clear voice pulled him back.

“I don’t know exactly what happened, but… don’t you want revenge?”

“Revenge….”

At that word, his gaze darkened completely.

There was a time when he lived only for revenge.

Because there were people he wanted to kill.

His father. And that woman—

The woman who had been his mother’s personal secretary… and his father’s mistress. Ha Myeongsuk.

The woman his mother trusted more than anyone.

She deliberately seduced his father and humiliated his mother.

Even when his mother and he were home, she entered the master bedroom with his father and didn’t come out until morning.

When his father wasn’t around, she hurled insults and threats at his mother—and she once poured boiling water over him.

“Ha… she said it was an accident. Can’t you see she’s shaking? Just stop it, okay?”

“Honey… whose side are you on right now?”

Because his father shielded that woman, a long burn scar formed on the boy’s back.

“I saw it clearly! She poured boiling water on our Suhyeok on purpose! If he hadn’t moved away—!”

“I said stop—!!”

SLAP—!

His mother’s head snapped to the side at the vicious sound.

“What… what are you…”

“Im Yeo‑jeong. I know you hate her, but don’t use the kid to frame her.”

His so‑called father whispered into his mother’s ear as she lay on the floor clutching her reddened cheek.

“You’re acting insane. It’s scary.”

His mother trembled in shock, and his father’s eyes brushed over him with cold indifference.

And… Ha Myeongsuk watched it all with a smile she barely restrained.

The child was forced to etch every moment into his memory.

His mother, who had married into the wealthy Kwon family without any backing of her own, had no power to protect her son.

“Rather than letting that woman kill us, let’s die first. Yes… let’s end it ourselves…”

So she chose to run away—with him.

The once bright and confident mother was gone.

She suffered from nightmares.

Dreams of her and her son being murdered by her husband and that woman.

Dragging a screaming Suhyeok along, Yeo‑jeong walked silently toward the ocean of death.

He cried that he didn’t want to die, that he wanted to live—over and over.

But her mind was already half‑gone, and together they sank into the dark water.

When he opened his eyes, it was the pitch‑black night.

Cough—! Hack—!

He was on cold ground.

“Suhyeok! Suhyeok! Do you recognize me? Kwon Suhyeok—!”

The first thing he saw was Shin Byeong‑oh, his father’s closest friend, crying with a twisted face.

He had told him that he searched for two days without sleep, diving into the ocean trying to find his body.

And then he miraculously found him lying on shore.

He remembered what he said as Byeong‑oh hugged him tightly, sobbing.

“I… I want to live, uncle.”

Yes… he said he wanted to live.

Those were the first words he spoke after waking up.

“Then live, Suhyeok. I’ll protect you. I promise.”

And so Byeong‑oh allowed the boy to live not as Kwon Suhyeok, but simply Suhyeok.

For the head of an underground organization, it had been a simple task.

From the moment he survived that night, Suhyeok had prepared to destroy the Kwon family.

Byeong‑oh silently supported him.

‘I’m different from my mother. I’ll survive to the end—and destroy those two.’

But that resolve didn’t last long.

While preparing for revenge, his life revolved entirely around Kwon Seong‑jae and Ha Myeongsuk.

“Tell me. Tell me now—!”

“A‑ah… please, I don’t know anything, hic…”

Without realizing it, he had become a monster like them.

Realizing that, he had abandoned everything.

Finishing his recollection, Suhyeok looked at Yuseong with a hardened expression.

“Shin Yuseong.”

“Yes.”

“There’s a saying: the best revenge is not becoming like your enemy.”

A famous quote from an ancient Roman emperor.

Since then, he had focused not on revenge but survival.

His mere existence was the greatest revenge.

“I have no intention of diving back into the trash on purpose. So whatever revenge you’re talking about, I’m not interested.”

At his almost enlightened tone, Yuseong thought for a moment before speaking.

“Then how about this?”

“What.”

“The best revenge… is making your enemy become like you.”

“…”

“No—shoving them into a filthier sewer than the one you crawled out of.”

There were plenty of sayings that discouraged revenge, but this was the first time he had heard someone encouraging it.

“Who said that?”

He frowned.

“Me. Made by Shin Yuseong.”

Her bold, shameless answer hit him head‑on.