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Cha-eon struggled silently, trying to lift her sinking body.
After a long while, she managed to get up, only to find the room empty. Suddenly, the fact that there had been an accident flashed through her mind. Director Choi. And Do-won. Even Do-won.
Despite her desire to run out, her body wouldn’t cooperate, and she collapsed onto the floor.
She quickly got up, roughly pulled out the IV, and tried to leave, but the men guarding the door blocked her way.
“I have to go.”
“Stay inside.”
Meeting Geon-ju, who was coming to the room, Cha-eon grabbed his sleeve and clung to it.
“How is Director Choi? What about Do-won...”
“Director Choi is in the ICU after surgery. Do-won is alive and has been sent back, so don’t bother and make things difficult for yourself. Stay inside.”
“Oh, that’s a relief. That’s really a relief.”
Genuinely relieved, she buried her face in her hands and took a long breath. Geon-ju clicked his tongue.
“If you cause trouble trying to see Do-won, it’ll be tiring for both of us, so stay put.”
“...Yes, I will. As long as he’s not seriously hurt. But what about the Director...”
“The boss will be away for a few days. Stay here like a dead mouse until then.”
If he was leaving for a few days despite Si-baek being so badly injured, it meant it was an important and urgent matter. She guessed he was probably going to find the person who did this to Si-baek, and she was sure she was right.
She was going to be stuck here for a few days.
Even if she got a medical certificate, she would probably have to give up on her grades for this semester. Actually, she didn’t have the face to see Do-won right now, so she wanted to stay here for a few days as Geon-ju said. And it would be more comfortable for Do-won if she wasn’t around.
It was obvious that his life would be difficult again if she was by his side.
People around her were always getting hurt and having a hard time. It was a better choice for Do-won if she pretended not to know.
She stayed in the room for two days, unable to leave.
Restless, she begged to see Si-baek’s room, and they finally allowed her. It was just around the corner in the same VIP ward anyway.
Fortunately, she heard that he had regained consciousness and was recovering quickly. This morning, she heard the good news that he had been moved from the ICU to a regular room.
The front of the room, guarded by men like the entrance to her room, was silent.
As she hesitated to go inside, Jong-seop, who was fidgeting with a cigarette he couldn’t light, approached her with a frown.
It seemed Jong-seop had been by Si-baek’s side, as he had left his post guarding her room.
“Hey. No, listen, pretty. Didn’t you hear you’re not supposed to be here? She’s not listening again.”
“I got permission because I wanted to see him.”
Come to think of it, neither Jong-seop nor Geon-ju had shown up for two days. She was seeing them for the first time today.
Jong-seop might have been in Si-baek’s room all day yesterday, so she might have missed him, but she was uneasy that even Geon-ju hadn’t shown his face.
She wondered if he had been with Kwon-seok all this time, since two days had passed and it was almost the third day. She wanted to ask, but there were too many eyes watching, making it difficult to speak.
Her question was neither light nor childish, but she felt intimidated just being around them, making her tongue feel heavy.
“The boss will be angry if he finds out, and we’ll all be in trouble. Huh?”
“Let her be. Who knows what she’ll do if she’s locked up, our sister-in-law.”
Speaking of the devil, the men standing around Geon-ju bowed their heads as he appeared.
“Go inside.”
Cha-eon entered the room and approached Si-baek, who was lying with his eyes closed.
“Why did you come?”
Si-baek said, his eyes closed, not even looking at her.
“Am I not allowed to come here? I was worried.”
“Worry about your own busted forehead.”
“Mine’s healing fine. You should worry about your own health, Director.”
At her rebellious retort, he opened his eyes and frowned at her. As he tried to raise his upper body, he clutched his chest, and the men guarding him helped him up.
The wound was deep, but fortunately, he had managed to grab the assailant’s hand and struggle, so the knife missed his heart.
“You’re getting bold, aren’t you?”
“You need the Director’s permission to hit me anyway, right?”
His eyes seemed to say, “I’d like to.”
“Just go. I don’t have the energy to argue with you.”
“I’m just... glad it wasn’t worse. But was it the people related to Kim Seok-won? The ones who kidnapped Do-won and called me?”
“Why do you have so many questions?”
“I was wondering if it was because of me. If you got hurt because of me.”
He scoffed. His cold eyes were always as icy as Kwon-seok’s. She thought Kwon-seok alone was enough to criticize and whip her for her childish and immature behavior, but Si-baek silently scolded her. In other words, she was always conscious of his gaze.
“Do you think you’re in a position to say that? Just because the boss has your back, you seem to think you’re something special, but don’t be mistaken. What can you do, you?”
He was asking if she thought she could hurt anyone in her position.
As always, she was struck by his sharp, incisive words. He was right. Who was she to hurt them or not, she wasn’t even worthy to make a scratch.
Cha-eon bowed and left the room.
Geon-ju followed her back to her room in silence, clicking his tongue.
All he had to do was say, “You don’t need to feel guilty,” but that was too difficult for him.
Seeing Si-baek’s sharp tongue, it seemed he had fully recovered.
Cha-eon couldn’t fall asleep until almost dawn.
Where was Kwon-seok, and when could she leave this place?
She felt like she was being held captive.
If she had bought a puzzle, she could have done that. The TV was getting boring, and being alone with her thoughts was tedious.
Men guarded her room day and night, and even when she tried to go out for a canned coffee, they followed her.
She wasn’t even sick, just a hospitalized patient, and it was obvious they were keeping her here to monitor her comfortably. What was so important about a small cut on her forehead that needed stitches?
She thought about calling Do-won to see if he was okay, but decided against it. Any contact with her, even a phone call, would cause him trouble again.
Was Ae-ran still safe and sound, avoiding capture? What was she doing? She hadn’t apologized yet. She hadn’t said she was sorry. And Kwon-seok...
Even when she tried to distract herself with other thoughts, her mind always returned to Kwon-seok. He hadn’t shown up or contacted her for three days.
Drip, drip, raindrops started falling outside the window.
Should she call Kwon-seok? The phone he gave her...
It was in her bag, which she had been holding during the accident. She couldn’t find her bag anywhere.
Sitting on the bed, watching the rain, Cha-eon put on her slippers to get a can of orange juice from the vending machine.
As soon as she opened the door, the men were there, as expected.
“Orange juice.”
“We have orange juice here.”
“I know... I want to walk a bit. I want to take a walk. I’ll just go to the vending machine.”
She walked down the hallway to the vending machine, jingling coins. The VIP ward had significantly fewer people than the general ward. This was likely because VIPs, who valued privacy, sent their assistants to do things for them.
People who couldn’t even imagine getting a drink from a vending machine. But she was just an ordinary person, so this was more comfortable.
Ordinary. When had she ever been ordinary?
It felt like the first time she had ever thought of herself as ordinary. Being around such extraordinary men made her feel like just another poor person passing by.
Cha-eon suddenly felt depressed, stopping halfway through putting in a coin.
Why wasn’t Kwon-seok coming? She knew he had gone to take care of urgent business, but she was worried.
Their relationship was impossible to define in a single word.
She worried when he wasn’t there, and she was scared when he was. When he wasn’t in front of her, she wondered if he was hurt, and then she thought, who could possibly hurt such a strong and ruthless man?
A tangle of emotions stirred within her.
She was still worried. Si-baek had been stabbed, after all. Though the men guarding her seemed calm, suggesting nothing was wrong.
If something happened to Kwon-seok, she would run to him again. Just like when she ran to find him, thinking she might never see him again. Just like when she dared to bite into the poisoned apple.
If he disappeared, she would be left alone again, abandoned in an empty world. There would be no one to come running, no one to hold her, just her, alone.
It was so lonely to have no one on her side. She didn’t know where the certainty came from that he wouldn’t abandon her unless she abandoned him, but she was certain.
He wouldn’t leave her behind. Not like her father, whom she didn’t even know, or her mother, who left when she was young and whom she barely remembered, or her sister, submerged in a bathtub full of blood. He wouldn’t disappear like that.
Kim Seok-won, and the forces trying to harm him, however powerful—they couldn’t even scratch him.
Sometimes, a feeling is the strongest evidence. Sometimes, what is unseen is more accurate than what is seen. Love, romance—such embarrassing emotions were impossible for him and her.
She immediately thought about going to Geon-ju and asking about Kwon-seok’s whereabouts.
As she put in the fifth coin, Cha-eon turned sharply. She dropped the remaining coins in surprise at the tall figure standing beside her.
The coins clattered and stopped at Kwon-seok’s shoes.
Kwon-seok, looking somewhat tired, stepped on the dropped coins and walked towards her. Just two steps.
“I told you to stay put.”
Why did her heart flutter so much just seeing his unharmed face?
Anyway, she was alive, and he was standing in front of her, breathing.
“What are you thinking?”
She wanted to say that she just wanted him to be alive, even if he wasn’t by her side. But she couldn’t bring herself to say such an embarrassing thing. Just thinking it was enough to warm her heart.
“Just... I’m relieved.”
“You came out here to get juice in the middle of the night?”
“A walk, too. I stayed put.”
He was silent, and in that silence, she looked at him, barely holding back her swirling emotions.
“I...”
For some reason, she felt like she was going to cry. He had told her not to cry. For some reason, she kept getting a stinging sensation in her eyes when she was with him. She didn’t know why, which made her feel even more upset. It felt like she was missing something, something only she didn’t know, a complex feeling.
“It’s okay if you’re not kind.”
She didn’t care about that. Just...
“Just... just stay by my side...”
Just stay by my side. Somewhere I can find him whenever I look for him, I just wanted him to be there.
When she looked up, she met his eyes, which were silently looking down at her.
His eyes, which suited the dawn, were looking at her. She thought that was enough. That was enough.
“Director, did something happen? You’re not hurt, are you?”
Cha-eon tried to ask brightly, trying not to cry. She wasn’t used to changing the subject, so she thought he would point it out, but for some reason, he let it slide.
But he would know what she meant. He was that kind of man.
He was a man who always saw the heart of the matter without being told. So, how could he not know her heart?
“I’m fine, except for a little hurt in the dick.”
“Yes? Are you okay? Is it a fracture or something?”
“What a pity. It looks like you won’t be able to have fun for a while.”
“Is that important now? How badly are you hurt? How did you hurt your dick?”
“While I’m healing, have fun with Jong-seop. You still need that kind of fun at night, don’t you? Make sure you use a condom. I don’t care about anything else, but I can’t have Kim Jong-seop’s baby.”
“That’s ridiculous...”
This was a trap. If she said yes here, she might really get a leg broken. One leg would be lucky.
“Suck Kim Jong-seop’s dick, do everything. Got it?”
“I don’t sleep with other men. That’s childish.”
“You haven’t been hit enough, have you?”
“But... are you really okay?”
“Does this look okay to you?”
Cha-eon followed him into the room as he grabbed her wrist. She was still relieved.
As soon as he entered the room, he went into the bathroom, washed his hands in the running water, and rinsed his face a few times. He looked exhausted, taking deep breaths. There were wounds on his hand, as if he had come straight from some urgent business.
Cha-eon put her hand in the running water without hesitation. Then, she lifted his hand. Fortunately, it didn’t seem like a big wound.
“It’s lucky we’re in a hospital. I think it would be good to put some ointment on it now. I’ll go get some...”
“What are you doing?”
“The wound...”
“I said my dick is hurt, what the hell are you talking about?”
“Yes?”
He pulled her hand away.
He sat on the bed and pulled her closer. Cha-eon hesitated.
“Shouldn’t you get treatment instead of me looking at it?”
She said that, but she was worried. If it was a fracture, it would be really painful, was he okay? Cha-eon looked for a tissue to wipe her wet hands, but he handed her a handkerchief with a small sigh.
Cha-eon carefully took the handkerchief from Kwon-seok and wiped her hands. His skin scent subtly stirred her heart. It was Kwon-seok’s familiar scent.
Cha-eon roughly wiped her hands and sat next to him. Then, she reached for his pants. Unlike him, whose feet touched the ground even when he was sitting, her feet dangled.
As much as the difference in their physical conditions, there was a big difference in the size of their lower bodies.
A man with an unusually large cock and herself, who was barely able to contain it.
She slowly pulled down his drawers and took out his cock. Unlike her worry about a fracture, the cock that popped out and stood up was as usual... no, bigger than usual. The swollen cock blatantly gaped its glans, dripping with pre-cum.
The strong pheromone scent of a male hit her. It was a sensual scent that was hard to describe.
“What is this?”
“What do you mean what is it? It’s a dick.”
“It’s not hurt.”
“Why do you talk so much? You can check by sucking it.”
That was it.
His voice, which was a little hoarse today. A voice that resembled the quiet dawn, low and calm.
But she didn’t want to push him away. It might be crazy, but she missed him a little, no, quite a bit. She missed him while he was gone. A man who had gradually seeped into her heart, which had always been lonely, like a waterlogged cotton ball.
Cha-eon lowered her head and bit the protruding glans. As she flinched a little at the sticky fluid that touched her tongue first, he pushed his cock into her open teeth, telling her to bite properly.
He was still criticizing her clumsy skills, but his hand, which pressed her head to prevent her throat from getting hurt, wasn’t rough. Cha-eon started to bob her head up and down, her mouth full of his cock.
She grabbed the base of his cock with her hand to aim properly and licked the glans from the top with her tongue.
Slurp, slurp. Saliva and pre-cum mixed, and the sounds of their skin sticking together quickly turned sensual.
“Ugh, um.”
She was sucking him deliciously when she heard a rustling sound as if the door was opening outside. Cha-eon was startled and threw away what she was holding, turning her back to the door and sitting next to him. Her panting breath flowed out of her throat as if it was about to burst.
The sound of his silent laughter disturbed her ears. A sensual voice that seemed to entice reason rather than sweetness.
His voice was always like that, strangely. A decadent tone that was somehow damp and sunken under the surface. There were definitely women who would like this voice, but it was also a voice that felt oppressive to her.
Maybe she felt that way because she was used to being intimidated.
He looked down at her, as if he was dumbfounded.
“Ugh, my head. Damn it, headache.”
He leaned his head on the pillow, as if he had a headache because of her. Thanks to that, his cock dangled, dripping with her saliva.
“Are you okay?”
“You threw it away without any pity after sucking it, would you be okay? Why don’t you learn? You don’t improve.”
“...You’re treating me like a kid again.”
“I don’t tell kids to suck my dick, so rest assured.”
“You always call me a kid...”
“It’s legal to have a preference, even if you’re a sinner, so don’t worry.”
It was so like Cha Kwon-seok that the only thing in his daily life that wasn’t illegal was perverse sex. Though, when they actually had sex, it didn’t always seem that way. Here, he held her, tormented her, touched her even when she said she didn’t want to, performing actions against her will dozens of times over. How could that be...
“...Then who told you to do it here?”
“Why are you muttering so much? I wonder when our little kid will learn. You’re only making it harder for yourself if we stay up all night.”
He was right. In the end, arguing was only to her detriment. No, only she suffered losses. It was a terribly uneven bargain, no matter how she looked at it.
Sucking his cock as he lay with his hand on his forehead, Cha-eon knelt and moved between his legs. To help him relax, who was closing his eyes to relieve his fatigue, Cha-eon quickly resumed bobbing her head. As always, the man’s strong skin scent and body odor smelled pleasantly.
Though he didn’t say a word, she felt like he had finished everything and returned while he was away from her side.
Without realizing it, she was diligently sucking his cock, losing track of time. She moved her tongue, changing directions, and focused on the glans, swirling her tongue around it and making sucking sounds. She also moved her tongue up and down the shaft and rubbed the base with her hand.
The tip of her tongue grew warm, and the wet cock flesh became sticky. Feeling the contact of their skin all over her body wasn’t unpleasant. She doubted anyone would come at this early hour, and she also felt a little more generous because the worries she had while he was gone had subsided.
“Ugh, ah... um. Slurp, hmm.”
She extended her tongue and licked from his testicles to his glans in a thick sweep. The feeling of the roughly protruding veins being crushed on her tongue was subtly stimulating. After sucking him several times, she trapped his cock in her mouth and rolled it around with the tip of her tongue, as if melting it.
“Why are you eating so deliciously today? Did you really keep your vagina under control while I was gone? Did someone open it up for you?”
“Ugh.”
When she narrowed her eyes in a pout, he smiled a little. Though he said that, his eyes showed he believed her innocence.
“Bullshit. You’re trying to be cute, which doesn’t suit you at all.”
As she moved her hips slightly, enjoying the taste of his cock, he told her to come up and sat against the headboard, opening his arms. Cha-eon understood immediately, but hesitated because of the men standing outside the door. It was an experience she couldn’t get used to, no matter how hard she tried—ignoring the gaze of others.
He took out his phone and seemed to make a call.
“Hey, Jong-seop. Get the guys out of here. They’re making it awkward for us to fuck.”
The man was elegant but rude, seemingly refined but vulgar. Even if she was naive by the standards of the world he lived in, it was clear that this wasn’t normal.
But why was she being swept away by him? He clearly was a man who would dissect and shatter her life, pushing her without giving her a moment to breathe. Yet, she couldn’t let go of him.
As he said, it might not be a relationship of love or romance, but he desired her, and felt something more than desire. That much was clear.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t be looking at her so intensely.
The man was cold, rational, and reasonable. He wouldn’t keep a woman so close just for lust as a mere sex partner. Or perhaps that was just her naive thinking.
She didn’t know the end of this strange relationship. She was actually afraid to say she wanted to know. Even if she did find out, could she handle it, as he said? Perhaps he was holding onto her, a wounded leaf swaying in the wind, easily broken. Even so, it was fine.
Sometimes, that was enough. Sometimes, just feeling good in her heart made everything good.
“What else do you need? Tell me, our little kid.”
“Nothing.”
She didn’t say anything more and climbed on top of him. There was no point in saying anything, it would only hurt her, like stabbing her own eyes.
Cha-eon took off her loose hospital pants and hesitantly removed her panties. Then, she aligned the glans, which she had diligently sucked and made wet, with her entrance and slowly lowered her hips. A sensual moan escaped her lips as the prepared cock slid deep into her vagina. It was a groan of satisfaction.
“Aah! Ah, ahh...”
“Spread your legs wider. You’re not going to finish before breakfast, are you?”
Was he going to do this until morning? A shiver ran down her spine at the ominous feeling.
“Ah, um! Hiss.”
She quickly took his cock, which clung to her more tightly than usual, and shook her hips.
He opened her buttons and took out her breasts. While she was shaking her hips, her nipples were his. He gently fondled her nipples and slapped her hips, telling her to suck his cock more deliciously. At some point, even that became an aphrodisiac. He slapped her hips and sucked his cock, inserting and withdrawing it as if he had made up his mind.
“Aah! Ahh, ugh, ahh! Aah!”
Sex with him made her unable to think of anything. Not even anxiety, self-blame, or fear for the future. His cock, devoid of any mercy, thrust into her roughly. Even as it thrust in as if it would split her in half, she couldn’t stop her hips from moving, making vulgar sounds as she took his cock.
“Hoo...”
He tilted his head back slightly and placed the back of his hand on his forehead. He seemed to be controlling his pleasure while groaning. Even his tired appearance seemed somehow...
“Hee... ah!”
“You never learn, even after being cursed at every time, do you?”
“Aah, hiss, aah! Ah!”
“Can’t you understand the words ‘relax your hole’?”
“It’s, heee, I can’t control it, aah! Ah!”
“You make me say the same thing every time I open your vagina. You’re only making it harder for yourself, you know.”
“Hoo, hee...”
The more she tried to relax her body, the more it creaked. Was it even possible to relax when something so big was coming in and stretching her hole? Only primal questions floated in her mind.
“It’s fine. If I keep fucking you, you’ll get better someday.”
She didn’t tell him, but the pleasure she felt was only swelling like a balloon.
How much better could it be if it was even better than this? Actually, that was even more frightening.
At his command to keep moving, Cha-eon repeated her hip movements, applying both pressure and friction.
Each time the bulging cock scraped the folds of her vagina and quickly withdrew, her lower abdomen trembled helplessly. Before that subsided, it thrust back in and rubbed the same spot.
The repeated movements, so stimulating they made her dizzy, caused both her legs to tremble. She now knew that this was a precursor to orgasm.
“Ugh, ah! Aah!”
“Is this supposed to be exciting? Hoo, shake it better. Shake your breasts deliciously, too.”
His hand brushed her cheek and touched her chin. Then, again, her lips, her cheek. She trusted his hand more than his words.
Without realizing it, her hips shook, and her exposed buttocks moved aimlessly. Her breasts swayed painfully, but she didn’t know what more to do. She wanted to resist, but the persistence of his gnawing at her hole and stretching her inside made her stomach churn.
She kept losing the rhythm, falling out of sync, and her speed became irregular. Nevertheless, the feeling of him pressing and rubbing hotly inside her vagina made her lose focus and her eyes glaze over.
It was a movement solely for pleasure. Their goal was the same, and therefore, they desired each other more desperately. High-pitched moans, unabashedly, burst from her parted lips.
Cha-eon, feeling the fading pleasure as her speed decreased, tightly hugged his neck and spread her legs wide. She aimed her vagina at his glans. Swallowing repeatedly, she hoped he would rush toward the pleasurable spot.
He understood her desire to move and began thrusting his cock. The incomparable speed and weight of his cock, the unbelievable intensity of pleasure, made Cha-eon open her legs wide like an animal and cry out shrilly.
“Aah! Ah, ahh! Aah! Aah. There, there. Ah!”
Tears welled up from the continuous, blurring pleasure in her head. It felt strange. Good. She couldn’t explain why, what, or how it was good, but the sensation was clear.
He groped her lower abdomen. It had been digested long ago, but he seemed to know she had eaten dinner. It was just, he seemed to know everything. That’s how it felt.
He embraced her head with his scarred hands, holding her, who was also covered in scars. Cha-eon didn’t refuse his warm embrace and snuggled into his arms.
“Hold me a little more.”
His languid voice massaged her ears. He hugged her, saying that if she didn’t let go, he wouldn’t let go either. Or, even if she pushed his hand away, she couldn’t go anywhere, he whispered. It was fine, even if it was an illusion.
Whether in bed or in everyday life, he was always commanding. But was it just her imagination? Even though he commanded, “Do this,” “Do that,” he was the one who reached out first, who hugged her first.
They just had different ways of expressing it, but they both knew what this form of attraction was, even without saying it aloud.
He held her silently for a long time after climaxing.
He hugged her head, breathed softly into her ear, like someone checking for life, like someone savoring the moment.
He said they weren’t special, but acted like they were. He said they weren’t special enough to share romantic feelings, but made it so she couldn’t share such emotional exchanges with anyone else.
He was too different from her. That’s why it was hard to catch up to him, hard to hold his hand.
Nevertheless, she chose his embrace, believing that their strides were different, but their direction was the same.
Dawn had passed, and the sun was just rising.
And that morning, a paper bag placed in front of her door contained her underwear and her bag, which had been abandoned in the wrecked car.
▷
Before going to the hospital.
Kwon-seok wiped his bloodied hands as he watched the man spitting blood, his teeth missing in places.
Judging from the way they were pulled, it was Jong-seop’s handiwork. Why did he always pull out teeth? He told him to use something else. What if he couldn’t speak properly and they couldn’t get the answers they wanted?
“So, Sung-tae, it was Kim Yun-gi, right?”
“Save me, please... Director.”
He pleaded, blood dribbling from his mouth, which he couldn’t close. His slurred pronunciation was hard to hear. That damn Kim Jong-seop.
“I’m curious about something. Kim Yun-gi can’t beat me anyway, you know that. But why did you do it?”
“They said they’d just give me some information, just a few bucks, that’s all. Director, I’m guilty, Director...”
“Yeah, I know. You needed money. I think I’ve treated you pretty well. Or was our idea of the amount different?”
“Director, I...”
“Or did Kim Yun-gi say he’d give you this position?”
The trembling man clasped his hands together and begged. Kwon-seok scoffed. It only mattered if he was still breathing. Was his head just for decoration? Unless he was wearing it because his neck felt empty, he couldn’t understand why he thought he could get what he wanted with such a reckless move. Even if it was a gamble, you only go all-in when you have a chance of winning.
“Good. Executive director. The position is good. But what’s the point after you’re dead? Don’t you think?”
A short sigh escaped his lips.
“Jong-seop, bring Yun-gi.”
Kim Yun-gi, dragged in with one eye pierced by a metal rod, already had one ankle mangled. Jong-seop, who could cleanly sever an Achilles tendon better than anyone, seemed angry. He was unusually violent today.
He had a gut feeling that Kim Yun-gi was behind it, but it didn’t matter even if he wasn’t. He was one of the people he had to eliminate anyway, and Chairman Sung wouldn’t turn his back on him just because he got rid of Kim Yun-gi.
Only one of them would survive. Chairman Sung knew that, and since Kwon-seok was the only one in his heart, it was a way for Chairman Sung to consolidate power within Moonseong without getting his hands dirty and prevent power struggles early on.
The problem was that it was too early.
Chairman Sung was still young to retire, and Kwon-seok’s power had grown too large, which was a headache for Chairman Sung.
But what could he do now? The power structure within Moonseong had already been decided in one direction.
Chairman Sung knew that Kwon-seok would never strike him first, even though he acted like a strongman within Moonseong.
He could easily commit an act of insubordination, but he didn’t want to set a precedent of betrayal, as he still considered Chairman Sung his elder brother.
He didn’t want to give his subordinates an excuse by showing them an example of betrayal.
Above all, Chairman Sung was an important person to him, someone he had spent almost half his life with. A superior he had to serve with his life.
As much as Chairman Sung cherished him, he cherished Chairman Sung. Important things had to be protected.
“Yun-gi, are you angry because I didn’t call you ‘hyung’? Is that why?”
“You fucking bastard, do you think you’ll get away with this? Huh?”
“Why do you care? It’ll be after you’re dead anyway.”
Kwon-seok silently lit a cigarette. Geon-ju, who had lit it for him, stepped back. He had told him to guard Cha-eon, but he had disobeyed his order and followed him.
He understood that he had a special relationship with Choi Si-baek, but he still disapproved.
“Geon-ju, what are you doing here?”
“Boss, I’ll just watch this bastard die.”
“Geon-ju, you’re responsible if Cha-eon gets hurt. Please, just do what you’re told. Huh?”
“I’ll go.”
“Good.”
Kwon-seok nodded to Jong-seop after getting the answers he wanted.
Thwack, the man fell sideways, a knife plunged into his throat. Jong-seop, who didn’t particularly like shooting, was particularly skilled at wielding sharp blades. Sometimes, he was sick of the smell of blood.
“Clean up and come back. If it’s mostly finished, have the others do it and go check on Choi Si-baek.”
“Yes, sir.”
After ordering the cleanup, he went outside and stood facing the sea.
About two years ago, he found Su-ji, who had cut off contact, at her home.
Kim Ju-seop, struggling with gambling debts, had gone to his mistress to borrow money, and eventually went to Jung Su-ji. She had seen her father’s face for the first time. She wouldn’t have known he was a monster.
Her whole body was bruised, and her underwear was torn. She could barely close her legs, unable to control her battered body. He carried her to the hospital as she lay dying, unable to even gather her strength. On the way to the hospital, he reported the situation to Chairman Sung.
A woman who had been beaten to the brink of death, her body and mind torn apart. She seemed to have resisted with all her might to prevent her money from being taken.
She stayed in the hospital for nearly a month but asked him never to contact her younger sister.
“Unlike me, she pretends to be strong but has a weak heart. I want to be the only one who suffers.”
He still occasionally remembered her calling Jung Cha-eon, telling her not to come home.
Even after being discharged from the hospital, she lived as if nothing had happened for a while.
He had seen her face right before she committed suicide, but he hadn’t noticed anything unusual.
Looking back, he realized she had been lost in thought for a long time when he told her he had taken care of Kim Ju-seop.
Kim Ju-seop had taken all her money, bags, watches, and anything else of value that she had received and saved from Chairman Sung, and she was only worried about her younger sister.
Kim Ju-seop.
He had been captured on Chairman Sung’s orders. The crime of touching Chairman Sung’s young mistress was punishable by death.
When he stabbed his eye, the man licked his shoes. He begged for his life, clasping his hands together and bowing low. His head touched the ground, and his hands stuck to the floor.
“Next time you meet your children, you’ll bow your head like this. Got it?”
“I’m sorry, it’s all my fault... please, save me...”
“Then say that to your daughter.”
He pushed aside Si-baek’s hand, which was aiming the gun, and drove the knife into the man’s head. Whether his apology was sincere, who knew. It seemed asinine to hope that a person would change.
Kwon-seok felt a little nauseous, remembering the smell of Kim Ju-seop’s blood that he had scattered in this sea.
Jung Cha-eon probably didn’t know, but he had first heard her voice at the convenience store in front of her university, where she worked part-time. A late-night convenience store. It was the day he had taken care of Kim Ju-seop.
He bought a pack of cigarettes and handed her a bill, and she silently took it.
At that time, she didn’t know her sister would die, and she was just working hard to escape her miserable fate. A hand accustomed to part-time work.
“Here’s your change, sir.”
Her round eyes were so clear that he felt irritated.
He couldn’t believe she was Kim Ju-seop’s daughter.
Why did he want to protect her then?
Why did he want to pull her out of this miserable, fucked-up world? Even though he was rolling around in the dirtiest place in the world, he approached her with such a patronizing desire.
He had no idea it would turn into love, just having such carefree thoughts.
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