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Psst! We're moving!
When he called Joo Sehee, her phone was off, and he was directed to voicemail. Wait a bit longer, move. His hesitation was brief. With his gaze fixed on the fifth floor, which was still dark, Kang-joon entered the villa complex. While waiting for the elevator, he made a call.
“If I don’t call you in 5 minutes, move immediately.”
He felt sorry for Joo Sehee, but guards she didn’t know were lying in wait nearby. On the day of the shareholders’ meeting, he had ordered an investigation and assigned people to Chairwoman Jo. And as soon as he received a report that Secretary Jeong’s movements were suspicious, Kang-joon took decisive action. He hadn’t let on, but he knew Sehee was systematically cornering Chairwoman Jo. Pulling her from her chairman and director positions at Inno Fashion, next forcing her out as the largest shareholder, and finally pressuring her to step down from her position as Chairwoman of Gayang Hospital. When cornered, even a mouse will fight to the death. Knowing full well who that mouse would bite, it was better to be safe than sorry.
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Sehee desperately wished this situation was a dream. But the rough hand covering her mouth and the pressure crushing her body were real. The moment she entered the password and opened the front door, two men burst out of the emergency exit. Of all things, the distance between the emergency exit and the front door was infuriatingly close. Unable to scream, without even resisting. Sehee was dragged into the house. She knew that resisting would only result in violence. If she had been alone, she would have fought to the death, but now Pré was in her womb. Her only thought was to protect the child from harm, no matter what. The door slammed shut with a bang, and the motion sensor at the entrance flickered on then off again. The man holding Sehee covered her mouth with one hand and twisted her delicate arm with the other.
“Hyung, this is too easy, isn’t it? This woman isn’t even resisting, how boring.”
As the man chuckled from behind, the putrid breath near her ear made her stomach churn. The man in front rummaged through her snatched handbag, took out her phone, and turned it off.
“What did I tell you? Those worn-out women are all the same.”
Sehee was now so terrified she could barely breathe. But she sternly composed herself, hiding her fear as much as possible. She knew all too well how cruelly fear-induced trembling tears stimulated the instincts of criminals. As Sehee boldly stared at him, the man opened his mouth.
“Why, are you happier to see a familiar face?”
The man behind her was unknown, but the man in front was a familiar face. The upstairs neighbor who always approached her familiarly, acting friendly and offering kindness despite her firm rejections.
“Well, you can be as happy as you want. Tonight, we’re going to become very intimate. Hey, tie her up first.”
While the man behind her taped her mouth shut and tightly bound her wrists with duct tape, Sehee’s gaze went over the man’s shoulder to the front door. There was something the men didn’t know. The door was firmly closed, but there had been no click indicating it had relocked. Her front door could be opened by entering the password, but to close it, she had to manually lock it herself. It was an obsessive compulsion for safety, developed from enduring all sorts of terrible things since childhood. A vulnerable girl, ignored and tormented by everyone, became a target for the neighborhood men. Countless men had tried to break into the house of a young girl alone. She had fiercely survived back then, and Sehee intended to do the same now. I will never be trampled by the likes of you. As Sehee stared intently at the man in front of her again, the man smirked.
“It’s your misfortune and my good luck that that bastard didn’t follow you today.”
She wasn’t struggling or trembling. As Sehee watched obediently, the man smirked.
“Oh, and I’ll tell you beforehand, don’t even think about reporting us, pretty girl.”
The word “pretty girl” automatically caused revulsion, and Sehee’s eyes widened.
“Why, you don’t like being called pretty? Then you should have played hard to get and told me your name.”
Following the unlocked front door, there was something else the man didn’t know. That Sehee was intentionally acting submissive to buy time. Even in this moment of overwhelming fear, there was something Sehee absolutely never forgot. Kang-joon, who would only leave after seeing her face beyond the terrace and the lights on in this house. That meant Kang-joon hadn’t left. No, you couldn’t have left. You must be on your way to me by now. The lights in this house aren’t on, and I haven’t shown you my face. Because it was you, Seo Kang-joon, who instilled that habit in me.
“What I’m going to do is, I’m going to record our pretty memories. Someone desperately wants to receive that video this week.”
So far, things were going as Sehee expected. As she acted meekly, as if in despair, the man relaxed, started procrastinating, and talked more.
“If you don’t want that video released, don’t report it. Well, even if you report it, it won’t really help. You and I in the video will look like an affectionate couple. A consensual relationship. Okay?”
The man, shaking a small bottle of pills in front of Sehee’s eyes, continued with an even more triumphant expression.
“Of course, if you don’t resist like this and cooperate obediently, I won’t force you to take this medicine. I’m not into women who’ve lost their minds either.”
Sehee’s long eyelashes fluttered, blinking as she looked at him with somewhat surprised, fearful eyes. As if asking, Really? But the bitter taste of blood was spreading in her mouth from biting down hard to suppress her fear. Every passing minute and second felt like an eternity. Please, Mr. Kang-joon, hurry. The moment his increasingly lecherous gaze felt like a crawling insect, the man stroked her cheek with the back of his hand.
“Wow, your skin texture is amazing too.”
Her whole body trembled in revulsion, and as Sehee closed and opened her eyes, she saw the doorknob slowly turning. ...Mr. Kang-joon? The man turned at the sound of someone, letting out a rough curse.
“Damn it, didn’t you lock the door properly?”
“I locked it! You saw me, Hyung!”
The man’s younger brother shouted as if wronged, but it was already too late. The front door was already open, and Kang-joon was occupying the lobby with his imposing physique. Unlike the two visibly flustered men, Kang-joon himself was calm and composed. His dark eyes slowly scanned the situation revealed by the brief light of the sensor.
“Your phone was off.”
His voice, slow and unhurried as if it were nothing, cut through the heavy air and reached Sehee. As always, Kang-joon had appeared again. The moment she heard Kang-joon’s voice, her legs gave way in relief, but Sehee stubbornly stood her ground.
“Ah, Hyung, what do we do?”
“What do we do? We take out this bastard first!”
What the two men pulled out of their bags were knives. They had intended to threaten Sehee with the knives if necessary, but since she was obedient and didn’t resist, they hadn’t bothered to take them out. Seeing the knives glinting in the faint darkness, the fear she had suppressed burst forth. The two men held weapons, while Kang-joon was empty-handed, and it was two against one. Hot tears welled up and spilled from her flushed eyes.
“Sehee, close your eyes.”
No, I won’t. I don’t know what will happen to you, how can I close my eyes? As Sehee violently shook her head, Kang-joon spoke again, low and firm.
“You shouldn’t see bad things.”
Even in the darkness, Kang-joon’s kind eyes still felt deeply present. Those eyes were whispering, I’m fine, trust me. Close your eyes. Her heart pounded as if it would burst. Before slowly closing her eyes, swallowing the pouring tears, Sehee saw. Kang-joon’s eyes, sharper than the blades the men held in their hands. The moment her trembling eyelids completely blocked her vision, Kang-joon’s low voice sounded once more.
“Don’t open your eyes, Joo Sehee. Never.”
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The moment he opened the front door, Kang-joon had already noticed the fire extinguisher nearby. The man who rushed him moved sluggishly, and his movements invaded Kang-joon’s vision like slow motion. The fire extinguisher, thrown with great force, struck the man’s face squarely.
“Argh!”
Kang-joon kicked the staggering man. Because both thugs attacked at once, when the front one fell, the one behind him also got tangled and fell. That was why he had deliberately stood in the narrow entrance hallway instead of going into the living room. The two men were no match for Kang-joon, whom even a kickboxing instructor, who was a national champion for five consecutive years, found difficult to handle. Kang-joon’s merciless fists and kicks rained down on the two men who had fallen on top of each other. And exactly 3 minutes later, the situation ended as guards burst through the open front door.
“We’ll take care of the rest.”
Aside from his slightly labored breathing, Kang-joon was no different from before. Sehee, leaning against the wall, thankfully had her eyes tightly shut. He had told her to close her eyes because he didn’t want Sehee to see this cruel side of him. Kang-joon carefully picked up Sehee and carried her into the bedroom, gently placing her on the bed. As he carefully peeled off the duct tape covering her hands and mouth, Sehee, her face covered in tears, cautiously asked,
“Kang-joon, blood on your hand...”
“It’s not my blood.”
Only then did Sehee cling to him, trembling like an aspen leaf. After comforting her for a while, Kang-joon slowly spoke.
“Give me 5 minutes. I’ll clear things up and come right back in.”
When he went back to the living room, the duct tape that had threatened Sehee’s mouth and hands was now binding the two thugs’ hands and mouths. The guards made the two thugs lie face down at Kang-joon’s feet, who was seated on the sofa. The one who had charged first with the knife was the familiar face. The man who lived upstairs from Joo Sehee, who had been quite irritating since their first meeting. At Kang-joon’s silence, a guard cautiously asked,
“Should we call the police?”
“Calling the police is what refined people do.”
It shouldn’t end so gently. The two terrified men looked as if they would spill everything they knew if the duct tape on their mouths was just torn off. But Kang-joon had no mercy to listen to the two men’s pathetic excuses.
“There are plenty of errand services that will take care of things without a trace if you just give them money.”
At Kang-joon’s calm words, the two men struggled in terror, making muffled sounds. Kang-joon, watching them with cold eyes, raised his index finger to his lips. Shhh, quiet. It would be troublesome if my Joo Sehee heard. At Kang-joon’s silent gesture, the guards quickly subdued the two men again.
“Do you have any recommended errand services?”
“There’s a place you might like. When should we hand them over?”
“Immediately.”
Giving the order, Kang-joon stood up and re-entered the bedroom.
________________________________________
Her pounding heart had calmed, and her tears had dried. Yet, the fear and terror she had felt moments ago were still growing inside Sehee. Amidst it all, her mind was diligently working.
‘Someone desperately wants to receive that video this week.’
The man had clearly been ordered by someone, and that someone could only be Chairwoman Jo. Blue light crackled in Sehee’s eyes, like her bruised wrist. She’s going to come at me like this, even though I gave her a chance to be quiet. Just then, Kang-joon re-entered the bedroom, sat on the bed, and opened his arms. Sehee, who had been huddled on the bed, burrowed into his broad embrace as if she had been waiting, pressing her ear to his chest. Only after being held by Kang-joon did she calm down. From his strong scent and the powerful beat of his heart. Sehee quietly closed her eyes and regulated her breathing. She had tried not to rely on Kang-joon’s strength, but now she couldn’t help it. It was time to set aside her pride and make a compromise.
“I was so scared I thought I was going to die.”
At her faint whisper, the hand stroking her back tightened gently.
“I want to forget, but it keeps coming back.”
The rough hand covering her mouth, the merciless grip twisting her arm. The horrifying sensation of a body pressed tightly behind her, and the putrid breath clinging to her ear.
“What can I do for you?”
At the low voice that settled above her head, Sehee looked up. Unlike his calm voice, his dark eyes seemed at a loss. Seeing those eyes, she thought that perhaps Kang-joon had been even more afraid than she was. Sehee had believed Kang-joon would come. But how must Kang-joon have felt? The lights in this house weren’t on, her face wasn’t visible beyond the terrace, her phone was off. And when he opened the door and saw the horrifying situation. Kang-joon was level-headed and calm in assessing the situation, but his heart must have been much darker than hers. Why did you have to love me so much? Her heart, aching as if it would burst, burned with an unbearable heat. Because of the love this man showed her, and because of her love for him. Sehee wrapped her arms around his firm neck and whispered in Kang-joon’s ear,
“Will you take me to your house?”
She wished this man would cleanly erase the nightmarish moment deeply embedded in her body and mind, and the wound that had festered for so long.
“So I can’t think of anything tonight.”
Sehee pulled away from Kang-joon’s embrace, looked at him with tear-filled eyes, and slowly continued,
“I want you to hold me.”
It was a tear-soaked temptation that made her heart ache.
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