Chapter 30: I’ll do anything

“The person who tormented my mother by forcing her to make this kind of food, and who forced my brother to eat it every day after my mother died... is Chairman Park.” His voice, sunk deep in sorrow, was filled with grief. Soo-hyun’s face was so full of pain that Hae-in couldn’t meet his eyes, filled with regret. She shouldn’t have trusted Chairman Park so easily. In her belated remorse, the urgent desire to somehow smooth things over took over. Hae-in clenched her fist tightly, then knelt before Soo-hyun. 

“I... I’m sorry! I never dreamed it would be like this...” 

“Who would know? That a grandmother would enjoy torturing her own flesh and blood.” Hae-in desperately wanted to ease Soo-hyun’s pain. She already knew Chairman Park wasn’t a normal person, so why had she believed him so naively? It was her momentary excitement at being recognized by Chairman Park that caused the trouble. It was only natural that Soo-hyun, who had lived under such a person his whole life, didn’t smile. How dare she, with so little sense, make a promise to make him smile? She felt so incompetent. 

She felt sorry for Soo-hyun. “I’m really sorry. I was too naive.” 

As she poured out her apologies, she didn’t loosen her kneeling position. Soo-hyun stared down at Hae-in for a long time. But that was all, no reaction, no response. Her legs began to go numb. Still, Hae-in looked up at him, not loosening her posture. The gaze directed at her was full of anger. His fierce eyes fell vertically on Hae-in. 

Hatred. Anger. Resentment. Hostility. It was a look mixed with all kinds of hateful emotions. 

Seeing that, Hae-in’s heart was filled more with regret than resentment. Her self-blame for being deceived was greater than her resentment towards Chairman Park. Hae-in was that kind of person. “Please, sunbae. Just... say something. I’ll take it until your anger is gone.” She pleaded desperately, pressing her hands to the floor. Her hands trembled. What could she do to ease his pain? 

Soo-hyun didn’t say anything, so Hae-in begged, picking up any words that came to mind. She was anxious, afraid that he would leave the house and never return. Soo-hyun had the right to do anything, and he could. All she could do was her best to keep his heart tied to her. 

“......” Soo-hyun’s feelings as he looked down at the kneeling Hae-in were miserable. Chairman Park clearly wanted to drag him down to hell. No matter what it took. He knew he liked to destroy people’s hearts, but he never imagined he would be this persistent. To use the method that drove his brother to death against him again, and to think that he would send it back to him through his granddaughter-in-law, made him shudder. 

‘......Not family.’ Soo-hyun’s eyes were on Hae-in, but he wasn’t looking at her. He was looking back at the past, seeing something else. At least when ‘family’ existed by his side, this place wasn’t the hell it was now. But those days would never return. He would have followed them a long time ago if he could, but the only reason he clung to his wretched life was one thing. 

The desire to drag Park Yoon-hwa down with his own hands and make him pay for his sins, that one desire for revenge. Never forgive. Never. Among the thoughts that came and went, the clearest were the aimless anger and hatred. He clenched his fist and trembled, and Hae-in’s voice pierced his ears. 

“......Sunbae, please say something. Please?” When he came to his senses, Hae-in was still kneeling at his feet, looking up at him. Her eyes, filled with desperation, were on Soo-hyun. 

“Ha.” A sigh escaped him. The person who made you kneel before me like this is someone else. Or, do you not care at all? Whether I hate you or like you, as long as you achieve your goal? What’s the reason you’re kneeling before me now? What’s on your mind? 

“......You’ll do anything?” 

Finally, Soo-hyun slowly opened his mouth. 

“Yes. I’ll do anything. Until your anger is gone.” 

“Haha......” At Hae-in’s words, Soo-hyun laughed softly. At Soo-hyun’s laughter, Hae-in raised her head and looked at him. Her eyes, trying to interpret the meaning of his laughter, searched him busily. 

“There’s only one thing you can do, isn’t there?” 

“......?” 

“Pay with your body.” 

“Yes?” Hae-in, flustered, stared at Soo-hyun. “You said you’d do anything. Do you have anything else besides that?” “......” 

“So, you should use that.” 

“Ah......” A choked sound, unable to become a voice, escaped as a sigh. Soo-hyun was right. All she had was her body. 

“Get up.” Soo-hyun roughly grabbed Hae-in’s wrist, which was pressed to the floor with her waist bent. Pulled by his strong grip, her upper body was lifted. And before she could fully raise her body, she was dragged weakly by Soo-hyun, who was walking towards the bedroom. 

“Come on. Do what you’re good at.” Soo-hyun, who had dragged Hae-in into the bedroom, pushed her onto the bed. Her fragile body fell onto the bed like a leaf. Hae-in, who had fallen face down, slowly raised her body and looked back. Soo-hyun, roughly tearing off his tie, had a face that was different from the person she knew. Hae-in’s eyes, looking back, were filled with tears. Her eyes were full of water droplets, as if tears would fall at any moment. 

“I hate crying women.” Soo-hyun grabbed Hae-in’s head and slammed it into the bed. “Su... sunbae.” A sobbing voice was heard, but Soo-hyun didn’t respond. His heart was filled with uncontrollable anger and hatred. They were all directed at Chairman Park, but Soo-hyun was venting them on Hae-in, of all people. Even knowing that, he couldn’t stop. 

‘......Yeah, I’m a bastard.’ His boiling anger was so great that Soo-hyun thought he would be swallowed by it. Normally, it’s normal to try to hold back from venting your rising emotions on the wrong person. But he couldn’t hold back. He felt like he was going crazy with anger. 

The veins in his whole body were throbbing, and his blood was boiling. The emotions that felt like they would burst swept through his chest and wrapped around his whole body. 

Yoon Hae-in, you came here prepared for anything, right? So, it doesn’t matter. No matter what you suffer, it doesn’t matter to you. A vile excuse burst out from within. It was just a rationalization of himself, who was handling Yoon Hae-in according to his desire and emotions. 

“Sunbae, please......” Whether it was because of shame, Hae-in couldn’t dare to look back at him and only let out a cry mixed with sobs, her head down.

________________________________________

Soo-hyun, who raised his body, cast his eyes on Hae-in’s neck. Her white skin was all stained with the marks Soo-hyun had left.

Why did he feel so cruel?

He knew she couldn’t resist him at all. Every time he saw her just taking what he did, his sadistic desire grew stronger.

He thought she would be forever out of reach. To think that she would come into his hands so easily and take his every night,

From the beginning, he wanted to make her more quickly and ruthlessly like a nobody. So he desperately wished that she would become such a meaningless existence that would leave nothing in his heart.

Whether it was because of anger or excitement, he couldn’t calm down easily. Soo-hyun was half out of his mind.

It was a struggle to live.

The blackness in his chest was overflowing, trying to swallow him.

‘You’ll end up like me. You’re like me.’

Like an eternal nightmare that chased him day and night, Chairman Park’s words followed him endlessly.

“No.”

Words to himself kept leaking out of his lips.

Every time Soo-hyun found himself treating Hae-in cruelly, he shuddered, feeling like he was seeing Chairman Park in himself.

Even knowing that, he had no way to control the surging anger, and when he saw Hae-in, he just poured out what was in him like a madman.

Because he hated her, or because he couldn’t forgive her.

It’s all an excuse. It’s just a pretext.

When he came to his senses, regret remained. He held her day and night, only to rationalize his desire.

Every time the places that were bitten, sucked, and pressed increased on her body, Soo-hyun counted the days. He thought she wouldn’t last more than a month at most.

Yeah, maybe you brought it on yourself. You came in here on your own. I clearly warned you.

At first, he wanted to make her regret her decision. He tried to hold her and hold her until she got tired and ran away.

He thought Hae-in’s delicate body wouldn’t be able to handle him to the end.

“Ah......”

Even while biting her breath and barely holding on, Hae-in never refused Soo-hyun. Not even once.

“Ah, sunbae.”

Hae-in called him with a sigh. The red marks all over her body caught his eye.

“......You shouldn’t have done this.”

He whispered softly in Hae-in’s trembling ear. Would things have been better if Yoon Hae-in hadn’t walked into his life?

No.

From the moment he, born with Chairman Park’s bloodline, fell in love with her, everything was destined to be this way.

“......Is it all my fault?”

When my mom and brother died, shouldn’t I have followed them? If I had, Yoon Hae-in wouldn’t have been dragged into this house and ended up like this.

I should die. I should have died a long time ago.

Nausea rose. He was sick of this house. He wondered why he was living, seeing such ugly things.

When he decided to dedicate his remaining life to revenge, Soo-hyun wanted to prove that he wasn’t like Park Yoon-hwa.

“Do you know why I like you so much? Every time I see you, I feel like I’m seeing myself, it’s amazing.”

Like seeing a hallucination, his hazy eyes looked at Hae-in’s face. Soo-hyun’s hand went up to her white neck.