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‘Why are you looking at me like that?’
‘Is that really the whole reason?’
‘Should there be another reason?’
Hyun-soo didn’t fully understand her sister’s true feelings, but Kim Hyun-seo had casually mentioned being too embarrassed to come to this meeting. Hyun-soo couldn’t fathom why anyone would feel ashamed of expressing gratitude to their benefactor, but she couldn’t exactly repeat those words verbatim, so she made up an excuse.
‘I’ll ask one more time. Why did you come instead of Kim Hyun-seo? Is that really all there is to it?’
‘…Yes. My sister isn’t feeling well.’
A brief silence settled between them. Guk, who hadn’t taken his eyes off Hyun-soo, spoke over his shoulder.
‘Chief Jang, hand me your phone.’
As if he’d been waiting nearby the entire time, a man behind Guk immediately stood up, handed over his phone with a bow, and returned to his seat. The suddenness of it left Hyun-soo stunned, her mouth slightly agape. Meanwhile, Guk’s voice cut through the air.
‘Sometime last spring, Kim Hyun-seo started contacting me privately. I don’t know how she got my number.’
With an irritated expression, he scrolled through the phone screen using his thumb, seemingly reviewing their conversation history.
Hearing all this for the first time, Hyun-soo was utterly baffled. Guk observed her with narrowed eyes.
‘You really do look like you’re hearing this for the first time.’
‘That’s because I really didn’t know!’
‘There’s no way you didn’t.’
‘What do you mean?’ Hyun-soo retorted, bewildered. Guk thrust the phone toward her as if tossing it onto the table.
Their gazes tangled in midair once again. After a moment of staring at each other, Hyun-soo reluctantly lowered her eyes to the phone screen. The messages that greeted her were shockingly bold and cringeworthy. With trembling hands, she began reading.
Messages like:
- ‘I’ve been thinking about you nonstop after drinking…’
- ‘I’m at the hotel now. Next time, let’s come together.’
- ‘Help me pick out a bikini.’
- And even crazier ones, like: ‘My chest feels bigger today. I want to show you.’
But that wasn’t all. Each message came with selfies—explicit, revealing photos. Nude selfies from the neck down, pictures in swimsuits accentuating curves, and images that resembled a semi-nude photoshoot. There were countless such photos.
‘I can’t keep looking at this. I’m done.’
‘Finish reading it.’
Hyun-soo glared at him with reddened eyes, but unable to avoid his piercing gaze, she reluctantly picked up the phone again.
The most recent message appeared first:
[You must be curious since you’ve never seen my face, right?]
[Shall I show you?]
For heaven’s sake! From Hyun-soo’s perspective, it was unbelievable that her proud, self-righteous sister Hyun-seo would go to such lengths to appeal to him.
[If you want, I can do that.]
[Silence means consent, so here you go.]
Hadn’t she already sent him enough revealing photos? Hyun-soo felt a surge of frustration, wanting to scream at her sister for being so reckless as to send pictures of her face too.
[So, get ready.]
[3]
[2]
[1]
[Here it is.]
She actually went through with it. Unbelievable, Kim Hyun-seo! Furious, Hyun-soo scrolled further—but then froze in horror. The selfie staring back at her wasn’t Hyun-seo’s—it was hers.
For a moment, Hyun-soo sat frozen, staring blankly at the screen. Then, with trembling hands, she flipped the phone face-down onto the table. Her face flushed hot, the heat spreading to her ears. Even when she turned her gaze toward the window, the blood rushing through her veins refused to cool.
Kim Hyun-seo, Kim Hyun-seo. This crazy…! To think she even went so far as to use my face?
‘You’ve really improved at acting.’
‘What?’
‘You look genuinely shocked.’
‘Are you seriously suggesting I sent these messages?’
Hyun-soo was utterly dumbfounded. She stared at him in disbelief, and he met her gaze with a cold, hardened expression. A chilling aura lingered around his faintly upturned lips.
‘I gave you a house, money, everything, so you could live comfortably while waiting for me to decide what to do with you. And yet, this is how you turned out? What was lacking?’
He clicked his tongue openly, as if scolding a child for misbehaving. Hyun-soo’s face burned with shame, turning bright red. It was humiliating.
‘I supported you so you’d patiently await my decision. Did you not understand that?’
Still scrolling through the phone, he deleted the entire conversation history and then proceeded to reset the device entirely.
‘Oh, and by the way—surely you haven’t forgotten ‘that incident’?’
A frigid sensation ran down her spine like an icy blade slicing through her. Her lips dried instantly, and she couldn’t find the words to respond.
Seeing her freeze, Guk smirked and dropped the phone into his glass of iced coffee. The translucent brown liquid overflowed, spilling over the sides.
‘What do you want to say? Just say whatever you want.’
‘What I want to say? Fine.’
After wiping the splashed coffee from his hands with a napkin, he slowly rose from his seat. Hyun-soo’s anxious gaze automatically followed him.
‘For years, I’ve fed you, clothed you, and put a roof over your head with my money. And your sister? She’s still benefiting from it even now.’
‘...’
‘So, don’t you get it by now? Who holds your leash?’
‘You…!’
‘Get down on your knees. Grovel. If you’re feeling brave, spread your legs, but I’ll pass on that. Friends shouldn’t cross that line, right?’
The hand holding her juice trembled violently. It looked like she might throw the drink at him at any moment.
Guk’s eyes curved slightly as he looked down at her, clearly enjoying her humiliation and disgrace.
‘Think carefully.’
‘About what?’
‘Opportunities like this don’t come around often.’
‘What opportunity?’
‘Think about it. You’ll figure out what I mean.’
Tossing the used napkin carelessly aside, Guk left without hesitation. He seemed ready to depart without so much as a goodbye. But then—
‘Ah.’
He turned back abruptly. Approaching the table, he opened his wallet and indiscriminately pulled out checks and cash, tossing them onto the table in front of her. The amount appeared to be in the hundreds, if not thousands.
‘What are you doing?’
‘Pocket money for Kim Hyun-seo.’
‘What?’
‘She was practically going crazy asking for it.’
Hyun-soo glared at him, her body rigid with tension. Guk, unfazed, casually opened his wallet again and took out a credit card.
‘What? Do you need a card too?’
‘Yoon Guk.’
‘I’m doing this because I want to stop her from taking those cheap pornographic pictures. After all, she is your sister.’
Guk’s calm demeanor as he crushed her beneath his words was not lost on Hyun-soo. Her emotions surged uncontrollably, and her face twisted in anguish, as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
Just then, Guk’s phone rang. Without so much as a word of apology to Hyun-soo, he answered the call and turned away immediately.
He left the table, exited the café, and never returned. Ironically, that was the last she saw of him—utterly self-centered and dismissive.
Unsure of what else to do, Hyun-soo remained seated, waiting. Eventually, she let out a bitter laugh, feeling pathetic and foolish, her mood sinking into the mud.
The sunlight filtered through the trees outside, spilling brightly through the café windows. Summer was in full swing, and the daylight was radiant. Time had passed unnoticed; the ice in her glass had melted completely, leaving only small, round droplets.
In this bright world, Hyun-soo couldn’t help but feel like she was the only one trapped in a swamp. The reason was simple.
Someone hated her. Someone she had suspected all along clearly didn’t want her.
What kind of future, what kind of salvation, what kind of Yoon Guk had she been dreaming of for the past ten years? No—had she even dared to dream at all?
Hyun-soo had a foreboding sense of the opaque, sticky misfortune that lay ahead. That misfortune, like an inevitability, would not spare her or anything she loved.
Yoon Guk first entered Kim Hyun-soo’s world when they were both seventeen. It happened when news spread that her family was looking for a tight-lipped, quick-handed housekeeper. His mother arrived with her two sons in tow.
‘I know you’ll trust me since I’m from Busan, but...’
Young-ae, Hyun-soo’s mother, trailed off as she scrutinized the three of them from head to toe. The boys’ mother, Ah-san, stood with her shoulders hunched, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. She gently patted the shoulder of her younger son, who was hiding behind her legs.
Standing beside her was her taller, older son. Though all three were neatly dressed, there was something about them that felt overly sparse and modest.
‘I heard... he can’t speak?’
Young-ae’s blunt question made Ah-san nod hesitantly.
‘I asked for someone with a closed mouth, but it seems I got a mute instead,’ Young-ae said with a faint chuckle.
Guk stared at her intently.
‘Do you have something to say to me, kid?’
Guk clenched his fists tightly, but Ah-san quickly pulled him back, trying to restrain him. Watching the scene unfold, Young-ae spoke again, unfazed.
‘I said I was looking for a housekeeper, not an entire entourage of dependents.’
Ah-san nodded knowingly several times, then pulled something from her pocket and handed it to Young-ae. It was a folded white piece of paper. Young-ae glanced down at it, her expression souring slightly as she unfolded it.
After a moment, her eyebrows shot up as she read the carefully written words.
‘He can do the work of two or three people by himself?’
Ah-san nodded vigorously. Humming thoughtfully, Young-ae tapped the paper with her fingers before placing it on the table. If this was true, it would significantly reduce labor costs, which would be a boon for household expenses. Crossing her arms, she shifted her gaze to Guk.
‘So, this is the son who ranks first in his grade?’
Guk simply stood there, silent. He was taller than most boys his age, with delicate, refined features that seemed almost sculpted. Yet his piercing eyes shone with an intensity that set him apart.
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