RMH 08

chapter 08

Yuseong was just a baby when she first entered the orphanage where Suhyeok lived.

She stood out immediately because of her doll‑like appearance.

Everyone tried approaching her first.

“Yuseong, want to play house with me—?”

“Don’t come near me! Get lost!”

“H-Hiik! She’s a little witch!”

Her temper was as sharp as a chihuahua’s, and the kids backed off quickly.

And some began to resent her for choosing to isolate herself.

“Hey, you know her, right? Shin Yuseong?”

“Oh, that rude brat? Yeah, I know. But honestly, isn’t her face insanely pretty?”

Around then, the boys who had grown older started hanging out with the rougher older kids, learning to smoke, picking up filthy language and behavior.

With no guardians to discipline them, their behavior became more brazen and rotten.

Downward, endlessly downward.

“Hic, l-let go! I said let go of my skirt!”

“Oh? Are you crying right now? She’s a crybaby~”

They even laid hands on a newly arrived baby.

During that time, Suhyeok, who had become a middle schooler, was brutally taught how to fight by the newcomers.

He was often seriously injured, sometimes beaten nearly to death.

But thanks to that, he grew strong enough to protect his own body.

“U-Urgh! What the hell?!”

So beating up boys his age was as easy as crushing an ant.

With emotionless eyes, Suhyeok struck the garbage in front of him.

“S-Suhyeok, I’m sorry, ugh, argh… sorry….”

“Why the hell are you apologizing to me?”

“H-Hhk… sorry….”

And he hit again.

“I really can’t understand your way of thinking.”

“K-Khahk—!”

He kept hitting until the boy foamed at the mouth and passed out.

When he finally came to, five or six boys lay on the ground in grotesque condition. His fists and T‑shirt were soaked in blood.

The kid must’ve been terrified. Probably ran already.

He turned around with a dry thought—

“How… how are you so strong?”

A tiny kid was sitting there, hugging a teddy bear tightly, eyes sparkling.

“Please teach me too!”

She wasn’t scared at all. She clung to his shin and shook him, a very strange child.

“Hey, kid. Do you like money?”

“I like it! A lot! This much!”

Telling that extraordinary kid about Shin Byeong‑oh’s true identity was the result of a rare impulse.

“You know that scary-looking man who comes on Saturdays? He’s super rich.”

“R-Really?”

Eventually, that bold little girl became Shin Byeong‑oh’s daughter—and at the same time, Suhyeok’s fiancée.

Things ended up this way partly because of him.

When the time came for Yuseong to leave for Byeong‑oh’s house, Byeong‑oh held the young girl’s hand tightly and spoke to Suhyeok.

“Suhyeok, you said you wanted to repay my kindness.”

“Tell me. Anything.”

“When Yuseong is in danger… go back to your place.”

“….”

“You deserve to enjoy things too. I can’t watch some other guy enjoy them in your place. And one last thing.”

With fierce eyes, Byeong‑oh gave him a chilling warning.

“You’d better control what’s between your legs. If you don’t, your uncle will kill you.”

How could he forget that terrifying warning?

“Finally, I’m repaying the debt.”

He never imagined the day would come when Yuseong would seek him out on her own.

He also never imagined that seemingly immortal Chairman Shin would collapse.

Seven years ago, after impulsively laying hands on Kwon Hyukjun and getting caught by Ha Myeongsuk, he had cut contact with Chairman Shin.

“S-Stop! Who the hell are you! Why are you doing this! Who sent you!!”

“Just someone here to punish you.”

Fortunately, his identity was never exposed, but since then he had heard nothing of Byeong‑oh or Yuseong.

And he thought he’d never see them again.

Only Kwon Seongjae, Shin Byeong‑oh, the deceased mother, and he knew about the marriage contract.

Byeong‑oh had always kept the contract in his personal safe.

So who was it?

Who would break the safe on purpose and hand the contract to Hyukjun?

Only one name came to mind.

“Shin Gyeonghee. That woman.”

While investigating Yuseong, he had found a record showing that her aunt received a large transfer from Ha Myeongsuk in exchange for covering up school bullying.

She had probably broken into the safe the very moment Chairman Shin collapsed.

“U-Um, sorry, but I think I need to go. My uncle’s calling.”

How should he deal with that trash?

Suhyeok’s eyes sharpened as he recalled the faces of his now in‑laws.

Meanwhile, at the Shin household—

“Hic, h-hiic, it hurts— it hurts so much! Why do I have to suffer because of that bitch Shin Yuseong!”

Yuna was sitting on the floor, crying loudly, both cheeks swollen. Right beside her—

“Oh my goodness, my poor daughter… Look at your pretty face… how could someone do this? Huh?!”

Gyeonghee sat next to her daughter, stroking her messed‑up face.

“Argh! That hurts!”

“Oh dear, Yuna… what do we do… hic.”

One hour earlier, Ha Myeongsuk—Yuseong’s future mother‑in‑law—had visited the Shin house.

Gyeonghee and Yuna greeted her with utmost sincerity, but out of nowhere—slaps.

Smack!

“Ahk!”

“M-Madam! Why are you doing this!”

“I heard my son was slapped by his fiancée.”

“W-What?! H-How did you—!”

“Oh? So you knew? Then you need even more slaps.”

“Argh! Why are you hitting me!!”

Hyukjun must have tattled right away. Myeongsuk already knew Yuseong had struck her son.

So she began slapping Yuna, saying it was punishment for raising her niece wrong.

After Myeongsuk left—

Gyeonghee, sobbing over her daughter’s ruined face, hurriedly called her husband Daeho.

Now—

“Dad… ugh, I’m so upset… why did I get hit… hic.”

“Damn it, she hit someone else’s daughter? My daughter, Oh Daeho’s daughter?! That bitch Shin Yuseong—how dare she!”

After summoning Yuseong, the fuming Daeho turned to the line of Yuseong’s personal security team.

“Hey, you guys. Her exclusive protection team is disbanded. From now on, protect my daughter instead.”

At that order, the team—security chief Kim Sucheol and the twins Youngmin and Changmin—looked bewildered.

“Confiscate their phones. Don’t let them contact that brat Shin Yuseong.”

“Yes, sir!”

A subordinate immediately began patting down Youngmin without permission, searching for his phone.

“What do you think you’re doing? Take your hands off me!”

“You bastard, you dare defy the vice chairman?”

A fist struck Youngmin immediately after he refused the order.

Sucheol and Changmin froze.

Under Chairman Shin Byeong‑oh, no violence ever occurred in the household.

It was thanks to his blood‑soaked effort to shed their past as a gangster‑type organization.

But now—

“I’m not like my brother. Beasts who don’t understand human words need discipline.”

“You’re absolutely right!”

The former Shin‑yang clan members, who had been steeped in violence and coercion for years, secretly rejected the boss’s peaceful approach.

These men, who had spent their whole lives fighting, naturally rebelled when suddenly told to perform office work.

And they resented being told to deal with matters peacefully, with words and written procedures.

Why bother, when quicker methods existed?

They felt their very identity was being denied.

And the reason Shin Byeong‑oh had softened in the first place was ultimately because of Shin Yuseong.

The boss’s suddenly adopted daughter.

Though they treated her well outwardly because she was Byeong‑oh’s child, most of them resented her inside.

“Come in, boys.”

At Daeho’s words, dozens of big men entered the living room, each holding a terrifying weapon.

With Byeong‑oh still unconscious, and the main power now shifted to Daeho—

“Today, we finally get rid of that useless girl who’s been a thorn in our side.”

“…!!”

The very cause of their suppression could now be eliminated without consequence.

Normally, family was off‑limits in their world.

But a toothless tiger lying unconscious wasn’t considered family anymore.

Miss… please. Please don’t come home today.

Sucheol broke into a cold sweat, praying with all his might.

He had no religion, but no one prayed harder than he did in that moment.

But before his prayer even finished—

“…What’s everyone doing here?”

“A‑Ah! Miss!”

Tragically, Yuseong entered alone.

“Wow, looks like at least thirty people. Why are so many gathered here?”

She was smiling so sweetly.

They hadn’t expected her to come alone—especially after such a threatening phone call.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? And why are you holding hammers and knives… such dangerous things?”

“Miss. Please stand behind me. Now!”

“Huh?”

Twin brothers Youngmin and Changmin immediately positioned themselves in front of her.

At this point, the three of them would have to fight with their lives to protect her.

…They might really die.

Chairman, this is your fault for raising her so preciously.

Sucheol shut his eyes tightly at the sight of dozens of men before him.

Behind him, he failed to see the sneaky smile on the girl’s face—

Or the tiny badge on her jacket, gleaming as it caught the light.

Hotel balcony.

Fwoo—

Listening to the situation through a wiretap, Suhyeok exhaled smoke with an expression devoid of emotion.

“Thirty nobodies with hammers and knives… damn, they really put effort into trying to kill a single girl.”

He crushed the cigarette into the ashtray.

The butt warped hideously under the force of his fingers, losing all shape.

“Alright. Let’s go take a look at those bastards’ faces.”