FI - 15

Sa-ya, with her arm hooked in Ki Shin-je’s, walked with a spring in her step, like the soft spring breeze. Im Woo-jin and Park Seok-hyun followed about two meters behind, watching the two of them.

“They look so good together. Our director finally looks like a human being.”

Park Seok-hyun swaggered, lowering his voice as much as possible. Ki Shin-je walking on a street like this—it was almost unbelievable even seeing it with his own eyes.

“All my schedules have been messed up. I never thought the director would date, but I never imagined he’d do it so ostentatiously.”

Im Woo-jin kept switching his gaze between his phone and the lovey-dovey couple in front of him. He was busy. Rescheduling his messed-up plans was so difficult.

“Come on, Chief Im, a competent person like you, why are you complaining?”

“Back off a little.”

Im Woo-jin pushed Park Seok-hyun, who kept sticking close to him. Why did this guy have to join and make things even more frustrating?

Only Im Woo-jin was concerned about people’s gazes. Park Seok-hyun, like a street thug who had found his element, looked around and laughed.

“Oh, is that...”

Im Woo-jin stumbled, unconsciously poking Park Seok-hyun. The two people in front of them had entered a pojangmacha (street food stall) village located in a corner of Haeundae Beach.

“Wow, what a lucky day. Chief Im, let’s go control the crowd.”

Wow, this guy’s adaptability is the best in the universe. Im Woo-jin shook his head, watching the back of Park Seok-hyun’s head as he strode forward.

Does a person hum when they’re very happy? She didn’t know any songs, but a random tune was flowing from her nose. Her incredibly sore body felt light. Thanks to the reliable man next to her, she wasn’t scared of the unfamiliar place or the people. It felt funny that she was walking arm in arm with a man, just like the couples she had often seen on the beach.

A couple? Are the man and I a couple? Sa-ya tilted her head and glanced at the man.

“What is it?”

As if he sensed her gaze, he knew without even looking. He would pull Sa-ya in front of him whenever someone approached to prevent the woman hanging on his arm from bumping into them.

“Have you... ever walked like this before?”

At Sa-ya’s question, Ki Shin-je looked down at her and chuckled. The intention of her question was obvious. She was asking if he had ever walked arm in arm with a woman like this.

“You don’t think so?”

“...”

At his counter-question, Sa-ya pursed her lips and closed her mouth. Why even ask? How could a man as wonderful as him not have? Sa-ya felt disheartened for no reason and shook her head.

“I think you have.”

“I absolutely detest inefficient things.”

Ki Shin-je flicked Sa-ya’s forehead with his finger.

“Ouch!”

Sa-ya grabbed her forehead with both hands and gave Ki Shin-je a subtle glare, but the corners of her mouth were smiling.

“How cute.”

It was the truth. He had never done anything inefficient. He thought he would never walk on a beach like this in his entire life.

“Director, over there...”

Sa-ya quickly hooked her arm back in his and pointed. It was a pojangmacha village. They could see the noisy crowd inside the tents. Sa-ya’s eyes were full of curiosity. The sight of people laughing and having fun was fascinating. Is it a restaurant? Sa-ya looked at Ki Shin-je.

“You know, don’t you?”

Ki Shin-je asked abruptly.

“Huh?”

“You know that if you say you want something, I’ll do anything for you, and that I’m crazy about you.”

She didn’t even know she knew it unconsciously. That the man was constantly saying she was pretty and doting on her.

“Because you always call me pretty...”

“Right. Let’s see how I can spoil and pamper you then.”

Ki Shin-je led Sa-ya toward the tents.

Oh, this isn’t it. Sa-ya slowly blinked her eyes in surprise as she looked at the food laid out on the metal table. The various kinds of seafood were new to her, and it felt strange, making her wonder if they were edible and if she should eat them.

At the next table, Im Woo-jin and Park Seok-hyun, especially Park Seok-hyun, with an excited expression, was about to chug a soju bottle like a horn, then instead poured a glass full of it. Im Woo-jin’s expression said, Is he out of his mind in front of the director?

“This must be your first time drinking, too. Want to try some?”

Sa-ya stared blankly at the green soju bottle, the only familiar thing on this table. The name was different, but she knew the green bottle was soju.

“Maybe?”

“Hmm, go ahead and try.”

Ki Shin-je, who barely ever drank soju, poured it into his and Sa-ya’s glasses. Sa-ya’s face, experiencing this for the first time, was so expressive that he felt this wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

“Wasn’t this what you wanted to eat?”

He let out a low chuckle, seeing Sa-ya’s horrified face at the sliced but still-moving seafood. She clasped the wooden chopsticks tightly in front of her chest and frowned, as if she were the one being sliced.

I’d love to suck on those chewy white cheeks, Ki Shin-je muttered to himself and downed the soju in one gulp.

“This is a bit, um, they’re alive, Director.”

Sa-ya whispered quietly, as if no one should hear. At the next table, they were excitedly saying that the fresh seafood went perfectly with soju, but she looked like she would faint if she was told to eat it.

Sa-ya pulled the jacket Ki Shin-je had draped over her shoulders closer and hunched her shoulders. She liked the strong, familiar scent from the jacket he had given her, saying the night breeze was chilly.

“We eat them because they’re alive.”

“...”

Director, you’re so cruel, Sa-ya mumbled and gulped down the soju in one shot. She shivered from the burning sensation down her throat, picked up a carrot from a plastic plate, and began chewing on it with a crunch.

“Want to eat some ramen?”

“Yes!”

Sa-ya’s face brightened, and she smiled radiantly. Ki Shin-je was the one who said the words, but a hand from the next table went up to order the ramen. Sa-ya picked up the soju bottle and poured some into her own glass. It didn’t taste good, but it was drinkable. She felt a little, just a little, happier. Drinking isn’t a big deal. As she put the soju bottle down, Ki Shin-je smiled.

“Were you a heavy drinker?”

“No, I’ve only had one glass.”

“Sa-ya.”

“Yes?”

“How much do you know about the parents who gave birth to you?”

Hmm. Sa-ya puffed out her cheeks and rolled her eyes from side to side. The word “parents” was almost nonexistent for Sa-ya.

“...Just to the extent that I think I have them?”

The tasteless alcohol went down like water. It tasted a little bitter, but why did it go down so easily? Sa-ya turned the soju glass around.

“What do you think it would be like to have a father?”

This time, Sa-ya started thinking again, saying, Hmm. How could she have the word “father” when she didn’t have the word “parents”? Even if something that never existed were to exist, she couldn’t imagine it, and it didn’t feel real.

“I don’t think it would be anything. I never had one to begin with. I only have you now, Director.”

Sa-ya’s eyes curved gently. Ki Shin-je’s eyebrows twitched.

“Put that down, Sa-ya.”

“Huh? Why? You said anything was okay. You said you’d see how you could spoil and pamper me.”

They heard a spitting sound from the next table. That was followed by a reproach asking why he was so disgustingly spitting out good soju. Ki Shin-je swept his hair back and looked at her fair face, which was starting to get flushed. Haa, damn, I’m trying to pamper her.

“I don’t intend to have sex with a drunk woman just because I’ve been spoiling her.”

Pfft. They heard someone spit out liquid again from the side. And again, a grumbling voice followed, asking if his jaw was broken, saying he couldn’t drink with such a disgusting person.

“Huh? We already did that earlier, hup!”

Sa-ya stopped talking and covered her mouth with both hands. Her big eyes widened as if they were about to pop out. Ki Shin-je let out a low laugh and stood up. Sa-ya’s eyes followed him upward.

Next to them, the two men at the other table had their heads bowed close to the table.

“Im Woo-jin.”

“Yes!”

Im Woo-jin stood up abruptly in an unnatural way. Park Seok-hyun automatically straightened his back.

“Let’s set a date with Assemblyman Choi as soon as possible.”

“Yes.”

Ki Shin-je lifted Sa-ya, who was covering her mouth and blinking her eyes rapidly, with one arm. Sa-ya, dangling, mumbled that she was dizzy.

“Let’s go quietly while I’m asking nicely.”

Sa-ya then pursed her lips and nestled herself into Ki Shin-je’s arms, clinging to him quietly.

________________________________________

The dark house was desolate. Choi Beom, in contrast to his usual self, turned on all the lights in the house. As he looked at the vast space from the living room to the dining room and the bedroom, he suddenly felt a sense of loneliness, realizing how cold and silent the house was. He had lived alone like this for twenty years, but lately, he felt a surge of loneliness from time to time. His marriage to his wife, which happened a month after they were introduced, wasn’t a deep relationship. It was a marriage based on conditions, and it was even more so because they had no children. Maybe I should have adopted a child, as she said, a useless thought intruded. His heart was stirred for no reason by the few drinks he had.

Choi Beom loosened his tie and flopped down on the sofa. Whenever he was at gatherings, aside from work talk, people would inevitably talk about their children, and Choi Beom was always at a loss for words. He didn’t think he was like this when he was younger.

“Whew.”

He let out a long sigh and rummaged through the inner pocket of his jacket, pulling out a crumpled photo. He stared intently at Ki Shin-je and the young lady, Sa-ya, who was with him. The young lady, who greatly resembled Madame Yoon, looked clearer, more innocent, and more elegant than the Madame Yoon he remembered. Choi Beom recalled that Madame Yoon was the quintessential seductress. A woman who, like a fox, knew exactly what men wanted. She was so worn out from being used that she was easy to manipulate. Whose bloodline is she? Why are Ki Shin-je and this young lady a couple? These questions kept circling in his mind. And then,

‘What’s the possibility that she’s my bloodline?’

A heavy question arose. That question kept nagging at Choi Beom’s heart. Because the answer wasn’t a perfect one hundred percent, no. Choi Beom half-sat up, rested his arm on the back of the sofa, and looked at the photo again.

‘So, what if she is my bloodline?’

At that hypothetical question, his heart sank with a thump. A tingling sensation went down his neck and to his scalp. He wanted a bloodline, but he couldn’t just welcome her. Madame Yoon was a bar hostess, and he was a politician about to run for president. If a scandal about an illegitimate child broke out, it would be the end of not only his presidential bid but also his political career.

Choi Beom groaned and rubbed his temples. Then, as if he had realized something, his eyes flew open.

“...!”

Just then, his phone started ringing. Choi Beom fumbled in his pocket, took out his phone, and saw the caller ID. It was his aide.

“What’s the matter?”

- Assemblyman, the director of Je-ya, Ki, contacted me.

“What?”

Choi Beom sat up straight. Was there any reason for Director Ki to contact him?

- He said he’d like to meet you and asked me to arrange a meeting.

“...”

- Assemblyman?

“Arrange it as soon as possible.”

- Yes, I understand.

Choi Beom swallowed hard. He felt certain that Ki Shin-je would answer all the questions he had just been thinking about. Choi Beom’s body collapsed onto the sofa.

________________________________________

Sa-ya had no memory of a mother, nor had she ever enjoyed the things that children take for granted. Things like being held in a mother’s arms or the gentle touch of a hand patting her to sleep were some of those things. Perhaps because of this, when she started sleeping in bed with the man, she felt a strange, unfamiliar, and uncomfortable feeling, but at the same time, she felt a double emotion of being comfortable, cozy, and happy.

Sa-ya shifted her body restlessly, her heart fluttering at the lazy hand stroking her back.

“Go to sleep now.”

A low voice sounded from above her head.

“I’m not drunk. I’m perfectly fine.”

When Sa-ya mumbled this, a sigh came from above her head.

“I said go to sleep while I’m letting you sleep. What do you mean you’re fine? Do you want to not be able to get up tomorrow?”

“I’ll go to sleep.”

She answered quickly and burrowed into Ki Shin-je’s arms, wiggling around. Ki Shin-je’s jaw tightened. He clenched his teeth and hugged Sa-ya so hard it felt like he might crush her. Raising a child wasn’t all good things; it required this kind of absurd patience and inefficient waste of time.

“Mmm, I can’t breathe, Director.”

“...Honestly, everything with you, haa.”

Sa-ya wiggled and poked her face out from under Ki Shin-je’s firm arm. Her flushed face, panting for air, looked pathetic yet cute and arousing. The woman who made him do things he never thought he’d do was seducing him without even realizing it.

“...Um, Director.”

“It would be best if you just slept.”

“Why did you ask me about my parents and father just now?”

Sa-ya, with her face sticking out, clung to his arm with both hands, blinking her eyes in the darkness. In the quiet silence, the sound of her eyelids blinking could be heard. Their heartbeats touched as if they were being absorbed into each other’s bodies.

“Because you have a father.”

“...!”

The first thing Sa-ya thought of when the man said this was, Do I have to leave this person? And that made Sa-ya terrified. Her eyelids moved rapidly, and her heart dropped to the floor, then beat with a painful thump, thump, thump.

“What, do I have?”

Ki Shin-je lifted Sa-ya onto his body. Then he reached out and turned on the light. A moist sheen covered her surprised eyes. Misinterpreting this, Ki Shin-je hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should reveal that Choi Beom was her biological father. The truth was, he didn’t want to say that. He didn’t want Sa-ya to have a biological father or anything else. But he felt he had to reveal it because he couldn’t let Sa-ya be the only one who didn’t know something that most of the public would soon find out.

‘...I only have you now, Director.’

Yes, you should only have me.

“Are you going to send me away? Director, do I have to go?”

Her soft voice was trembling. Her heart could be read from her question and expression. Ki Shin-je’s cool, sharp eyes finally softened.

“Do you want to go?”

What a load of crap. He had no intention of letting her go even if she said yes. Ki Shin-je mocked himself and twisted his lips into a smirk. Sa-ya, who had a walnut-like wrinkle on her chin from pursing her lips, shook her head fiercely.

“No, no, Director. I don’t want to go. Don’t send me away.”

Tears welled up quickly and began to fall. He felt a base sense of pleasure. Ki Shin-je shivered at the thrill and stroked Sa-ya’s hair. How could he not claim something like this? It was a feat of willpower for him to resist chewing her bones.

“You remember the assemblyman we saw before, right?”

“...”

Sa-ya recalled the man she had greeted at the meeting. She had thought he was handsome for a politician. Her long eyelashes fluttered, and the tears that had been hanging there seeped back into her eyes. As she sniffled and nodded her head slightly, Ki Shin-je touched Sa-ya’s cheek.

“Is that... him?”

Ki Shin-je answered yes with his eyes. Their gazes met without wavering, and her tears continued to fall. Her crying face was so enchanting that it subtly stimulated his lewd desires.

“You’re going to use me, that... that thing...”

Her words came out in a jumbled mess. How clever. His finger traced Sa-ya’s plump lips and entered between her parted lips, feeling her teeth.

“...But you said you wouldn’t use me, that you needed me, and to stay by your side.”

Every time she spoke, her tongue touched the man’s finger. Unable to resist the temptation, Ki Shin-je put his finger in and pressed down on her tongue. Sa-ya’s eyes wavered.

“That’s why I’m telling you.”

Since she had been a non-existent entity to begin with, having a father now wasn’t important to Sa-ya. Furthermore, just like a bird that imprints on the first object it sees after hatching, Sa-ya’s world was completely Ki Shin-je.

Sa-ya, with a look that said she didn’t understand, sucked on his finger and the saliva that had collected in her mouth.

“I’m going to set up the stage for you to be greedy.”

He rubbed the lining of her cheek with his finger. Enjoying the soft texture, he then scraped the roof of her mouth, and Sa-ya narrowed her brows and moaned.

“Because I’m greedy, I’m going to properly own you. I’m doing this to ensnare you.”

Showing intense possessiveness in his dark eyes, he grabbed Sa-ya’s head, pulled it down, and swallowed her lips.

“Hup!”

His tongue, which had naturally taken over her mouth as if it were his own, lewdly sucked on her tongue that was following his lead as it had been taught. Their kissing, sucking on each other’s flesh, felt more like a primitive and decadent sexual act than a kiss.

Their rough breathing and tongues mixed, and the direction of their heads kept changing. They didn’t break the kiss until their entire bodies were hot and throbbing from sucking on each other’s saliva like mad. Sa-ya clumsily followed and sucked on the man’s tongue, clinging to him desperately. She was allowed to be greedy. She could live her life ensnared by this man. It was what she wanted. Tears of a different kind welled up and fell, mixing with their saliva.

________________________________________

The TV news was constantly abuzz with talk of Choi Beom, his hidden daughter Sa-ya, and the Je-ya Group. The story, meticulously crafted by Ki Shin-je, was adapted into a moving drama. Sa-ya became the biological daughter of Madame Yoon’s teacher-turned-sister on the family registry, and Choi Beom was portrayed as a man who had a passionate, sincere love affair with a woman who was battling an illness after his wife died. In this narrative, there was no trace of Madame Yoon. Sa-ya, who was now a teacher’s bloodline instead of a bar hostess’, was not exposed to the media. This was also done with the consent of both Ki Shin-je and Choi Beom. Choi Beom’s paternal love, aimed at protecting his one and only daughter, was well-received by the public. The result was a more than 10% lead over the second place in the presidential approval polls. The media play was so well executed that even Chairman Ki, watching the news, reportedly applauded without realizing it. And the focus, cleverly shifted away from Choi Beom, now moved to the love story of Sa-ya and Ki Shin-je of the Je-ya Group, which excited the younger generation.

“Assemblyman, it’s time to go.”

Choi Beom, who had been watching the TV, nodded and stood up. What a scary guy, he cursed inwardly, but the corners of his mouth were turned upward.

‘Are you curious about whose bloodline she is?’

Ki Shin-je, who had met with Choi Beom, was languid like a predator who had just eaten its fill. The arrogance and composure of a man who believed everything would go his way emanated from him. Despite being the age of his son, Choi Beom felt tense in the face of Ki Shin-je’s cold charisma, which was hard to deal with.

‘If I’m curious, will you tell me?’

Choi Beom asked bitterly, knowing that Ki Shin-je’s visit was the answer itself. He both hoped it wasn’t true and hoped it was. In front of Choi Beom, Ki Shin-je offered a transparent bag and a document envelope. To the man who stared blankly at the transparent bag containing a small yellow toothbrush,

‘As you suspect, she is your bloodline, Assemblyman.’

Thump!

His heart dropped as if in a freefall. His body felt like it was trembling from the kind of tension he had never felt before.

‘If you don’t believe me, you can have it tested again.’

How could it not be true? What kind of people are Chairman Ki and Ki Shin-je of Je-ya? Choi Beom let out a hearty laugh filled with various emotions.

‘...Does that child know?’

‘I’ve told her.’

‘Is she... resentful?’

‘She’s not the kind of child to feel that way. That’s why I’m telling you this, you probably won’t be able to meet her. It’s not because she resents you, but rather because she never had a father to begin with, so she has no particular desire to meet you.’

‘...’

‘If you think about it, it’s not all your fault. You didn’t know, did you?’

He just felt devastated. Ki Shin-je also provided the answer to his question about why Madame Yoon had never told him.

‘It’s her revenge. She thought of it as a form of revenge to give birth to a child you couldn’t have and then torment her, plunging her into hell.’

Choi Beom sighed deeply in despair. He felt helpless in the face of something he hadn’t anticipated. He had lived for twenty years without knowing any of this.

‘Now, Assemblyman. Shall we get down to business?’

Watching Ki Shin-je’s eyes flash with a savage glint, Choi Beom swallowed hard. He felt like he was a lion that had come to capture him.

“What was that thing I asked you to send?”

Choi Beom asked his aide as he left the room. He didn’t know because he hadn’t had one. He didn’t know that bloodlines weren’t so simply defined. Even if they couldn’t live like father and daughter, even if he couldn’t see her, the single fact that he had a bloodline in this world filled his empty heart.

“I delivered it this morning.”

He had said she liked books. Lately, even with his busy schedule, Choi Beom was absorbed in finding books that Sa-ya would enjoy. Thankfully, she didn’t reject anything he sent.

“What do young ladies like these days?”

Ever since he found out about his daughter, he no longer saw young ladies on the street as ordinary people. Especially if they looked to be around Sa-ya’s age, his eyes would be drawn to them, and he would buy various things.

“I’ll look into it.”

“Good.”

It wasn’t bad. He had a daughter, and the Je-ya Group was on his side.

‘Every time I see Director Ki, I think that if I had a daughter, I would want him to be my son-in-law. Are you not getting married, Director Ki?’

‘It’s a shame, Assemblyman. I’m sure your daughter would be very beautiful.’

That nine-tailed fox of a guy. Choi Beom took the photo out of his pocket. It had become a habit to look at it whenever he had a moment. He smiled regretfully at the eyes that resembled his own. Still, he wanted to see her, a lot.