The Pawn
Her brows twitched.
“What a face!”
“What part of this mug have you seen, Sa Hee-eon?”
She squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them again, the name Sa Hee-eon still ringing in her ears like a slap. Kim Ui-jae straightened, released the fistful of hair he’d been holding, and let out a low whistle.
“Shit, things are going according to plan.”
“Um… Mr. Lawyer.”
She tried to push forward, but Kwak Dong-cheol stepped in front of her. Kim Ui-jae raised a hand to stop him.
“The size is perfect. Let’s bring Jeong Yeon-jae in.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’ll assign you to the I-ryeong case.”
Exactly as the world always did—screwing her over. The place she’d come to destroy Kim Ui-jae was now right under his palm. She squeezed her eyes shut, wishing, please, let this be a dream, then opened them. The world hadn’t changed, and the smile on Kim Ui-jae’s face was even more twisted than before.
“We still haven’t found it yet. It’s a relief to know it’s somewhere close now that you’re out.”
“You… you put that mark on me, and I won’t forget it. I’ll expose everything.”
“Of course you will. I’d be grateful if you did.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“Let’s team up. The ones who were eating out of the same pot with you—revenge. We’ll make money.”
Revenge…
Kim Ui-jae flicked his chin, and the thick hand gripping her shoulder loosened. Jang Han, standing closest, steadied her as she staggered. She slapped his hand away coldly.
Kim Ui-jae returned to his seat, lit another cigarette, and inhaled until his cheeks hollowed, blowing out the smoke a beat later.
“Your expression still doesn’t look like you’ve figured it out.”
He took a credit card from his wallet and flicked it toward her.
“You know what this is, right? Who Yoon Jun-mo is.”
“Former Sahwa Group chief of staff… the bastard who framed me.”
“Exactly. But Yoon Jun-mo had a mistress and a daughter with her—Yoon Jun-hee.”
“…Yoon Jun-hee?”
“Read the case file. Don’t play dumb. Lee I-ryeong’s daughter, Sa Hee-eon’s ex-wife, died suspiciously.”
Her lips trembled. She lowered her head, ran her fingers through her hair, and took a shaky breath. The tangled mess in her head still hadn’t sorted itself out. Draw the family tree, Yeon-jae. Do it now.
“Everyone else, out. I have something to say to this man alone.”
“Kid, don’t.”
“Team leader… please… let me go…”
Kim Ui-jae met her burning eyes with a smirk that lifted the corner of his mouth. The lascivious tilt of his head made her clench her fist tighter.
“We’re finally talking. Not barking like a dog. All right, let’s have a nice conversation, just you and me.”
She bit down so hard on her teeth that her jaw ached.
Kim Ui-jae nodded to the others. Kwak Dong-cheol and the rest filed out of the office one by one.
Alone now, she marched straight up to Kim Ui-jae. The credit card he’d tossed lay crushed under her shoe.
He clicked his tongue, frowning. “That card was expensive. Don’t trample it like that. Not everyone can get one of those.”
“I don’t need the one you’re handing out. Tell me—what did you do to me back then?”
Her body shook as if a cold wind had swept through. The rage that had been simmering for months boiled over like molten lava.
“What exactly? The one the police let you go after? Or the one you slipped into my house when I was wearing slippers? Or maybe… the one that got me out of a one-year-two-month sentence as a model prisoner?”
Got me out… You? The one who shoved me into the abyss…
“Don’t be ridiculous!”
Her eyes went wild. She lunged at him, screaming. The chair crashed over as she climbed halfway on top of him, raining fists on his arrogant, perfect face.
“You took my sister from me!”
“You abandoned my family!”
“You made sure I could never climb those stairs!”
“Aaaah! You bastard!”
Kim Ui-jae didn’t dodge even once. She wanted to kill the man who looked down on her. To twist that face until it was ugly, until it was ruined, until it was shattered and pathetic.
Driven by fury she couldn’t control, she grabbed a nearby glass cup and smashed it down on his head.
CRACK!
Red blood streaked across his forehead as she was suddenly yanked back by both wrists.
“Enough. Using weapons is against the rules.”
The blood from his forehead and bridge of his nose slid down to his lips. She panted, spitting curses.
“Fuck you!”
It wasn’t enough. She wanted to carve his ugly mug into that broken glass, but strength alone couldn’t win.
In the end, nothing had changed—yelling until her voice tore, nothing else.
She swallowed the rage, shoved him off, and stepped back. Pain flared from the cuts on her palms and fingers, but the deep ache in her ribs remained the same.
Seeing blood on that bastard’s face eased her anger just a fraction.
But the relief was brief. Kim Ui-jae wiped the blood from his forehead with the back of his hand, muttered another curse, and kicked her stomach.
She couldn’t even scream. She flew backward and curled around her belly.
“I saw blood, but you’re still standing. How inconvenient for you.”
His eyes were completely glazed. He grabbed her arm, and she slapped his hand away while still clutching her stomach.
“Why…? This time, are you trying to kill me? I swear I didn’t do anything!”
“Famous saying—innocent until proven guilty. What can you do? People without money or backing always lose.”
“Hah… fuck… you’re right. You really are a brilliant lawyer, Mr. Lawyer.”
“Thanks for the compliment, but let’s get straight to it. You weren’t put in prison by me. It was Yoon Jun-mo.”
She pushed him away and limped to the sofa, wiping blood from her jeans, then gently rubbed her bruised ribs while glaring at him.
“You and that bastard are the same to me.”
The pain in her stomach worsened with every passing second, wrinkling her brows. She reached for the whiskey bottle on the console behind her, popped the cap, and gulped it down. She wiped her lips and asked,
“How far have you figured it out? You didn’t come here to chase after Cho Sung-jun and Yoon Jun-mo, did you?”
He soaked a handkerchief in the water from the dispenser, wiped the blood from his face, and watched the crimson drops stain the white collar. Yeon-jae’s eyes widened in disbelief.
“Nothing came out of it. You kept everything so tightly hidden.”
“Don’t get too sensitive. From what I can see, putting you in that cell was my doing… but it was all Yoon Jun-mo’s plan. You were just thrown into the mix at the perfect time—along with me.”
“So you got the back of the head too?”
“Back of the head plus a wrist for good measure. I’m right on the verge of losing my head myself. So how much have I suffered?”
“I’ll send you a funeral wreath at the funeral.”
She laughed bitterly and slumped against the sofa, her nerves still jangling. Kim Ui-jae’s face, which had been relaxed, suddenly cracked with a faint smile.