A Fair Price for Silence

Ryu Ah-reum's eyes rolled back in fury.

The moment Jin Dong-chan came charging at her with no chance to defend himself, she seized him by the hair.

"Ah! Ah... Ah-reum. W-wait, just hold on."

"You son of a bitch! What the hell did you just say? 'Release the stagnant blood'? You called me a disposable toy!?"

Her one-sided barrage of punches and scratches was, frankly, vicious.

Seol-hee took a step back to keep clear of the two filthy animals, then watched the spectacle with genuine interest.

"No, it's a misunderstanding. Calm down."

"Calm down? You want me to calm down while I'm being treated like this!? Do you want to die? And to think I ever called you my man—treat me like THAT!"

Ah-reum showed no mercy in her assault.

Seol-hee glanced around slyly, half-hoping someone might appear and put a stop to the beating.

Fresh claw marks bloomed across Dong-chan's face and neck in seconds. When pleading failed to make Ah-reum stop, his patience finally snapped.

"You crazy bitch! I told you to stop!"

He grabbed both her wrists and slammed her to the floor.

Thud—

The dull crack of her skull against the floor echoed through the room.

Ah-reum's thin frame crumpled, limp and powerless.

Startled, Seol-hee parted her lips.

Furious down to the roots of his hair, Dong-chan spat out vulgar words, his face flushing crimson.

"I let you get away with it because you were pretty to look at, and you dare draw my blood?"

Blood spread from the scratches on his neck. It was hardly surprising—Ah-reum's nails were practically weapons.

"You think I dated you for free? Did we have some grand love? You met me for the money too. The broadcasting station connections, the ad deals—that was all MY network. Without me you'd be nothing, you trash. Aaagh! What the fuck is this! One filthy bitch and it's all falling apart!"

venting at the air didn't seem to satisfy him, so he strode over to Ah-reum where she lay sprawled on the floor.

"You might not know your place, but there are limits. Want me to teach you exactly where you stand?"

He lifted one leg, about to drive it into her—

Now.

Beep—

Ah-reum's wide, startled eyes and Dong-chan's rage-filled glare both snapped to Seol-hee at the same instant.

She pressed the stop button on her phone's recorder, then turned the screen toward them, revealing the send-to-all-contacts button, ready to fire.

"Go ahead. Keep going. I'll take this and blow your political career to pieces."

"What? Hey, Woo Seol-hee! You—!"

Stomping down the leg he'd raised, Dong-chan lunged straight for her. She stood her ground without an inch of retreat.

"Take one more step. I'll send this to every single person in my contacts. And I happen to have quite a few numbers of people from the Shinwol Foundation—people you hate so much."

Dong-chan ground his teeth, fists clenched tight.

"Are you blackmailing me right now? Isn't this what you wanted? Didn't you want me to break up with Ryu Ah-reum?"

"Me? I wanted a breakup this way? No. Not at all."

Seol-hee answered slowly, breathing evenly, her voice calm and low.

"Listen carefully, Jin Dong-chan. You could be reborn a hundred times and my heart still wouldn't turn back. And what you were about to do just now—you were about to destroy this woman's life. Her body and her mind, both."

She felt not the slightest impulse to take Ah-reum's side.

It was only that the sight of Ah-reum collapsed on the floor, gasping under the weight of betrayal and shock, overlapped with her own past self. That was why she'd stopped him.

Before the regression, she had witnessed their affair with her own eyes. And that day, she'd been left exposed to Dong-chan's fists and kicks until her soul shattered to pieces.

No one had come to help her then. The misery, the helplessness—she remembered it all with painful clarity.

So this time, she had decided to end it differently.

"Then what the hell am I supposed to do!?"

As Dong-chan raged and raked his hands through his hair, Ah-reum, still sprawled on the floor, staggered to her feet. Blood beaded on her lips.

"Hey, Jin Dong-chan!"

The murderous light in her eyes hadn't dimmed one bit.

Only then did Seol-hee realize she'd grossly underestimated Ryu Ah-reum.

She'd assumed the woman would cower and shrink away. Instead, Ah-reum charged straight back at Dong-chan and slapped him across the face.

Crack—

"How dare you hit me! Try to kick me? Fine, I'll throw my whole career away if I have to. Let's put the two of us on the front page of society news, see how you like it!"

The two lunatics collided again.

They seized each other's hair and all hell broke loose. The brief ceasefire of moments ago evaporated as if it had never happened.

Seol-hee heaved a deep sigh.

No wonder they're so perfectly suited for each other.

Their antics were exactly the same then as now.

Click-clack—

Just then, the sound of heels echoed from the far end of the corridor.

Yeo In-ok appeared.

She had come looking for her missing son.

Just as in the past. She strode up to Ah-reum, seized her by the shoulder, and slapped her across the cheek.

Smack—

Where on earth did a woman her age get that kind of strength?

If the fight between Dong-chan and Ah-reum had been a mutual brawl, Yeo In-ok's intrusion was out-and-out one-sided violence.

Ah-reum's body swayed.

The beige dress that had been immaculate when she entered the venue was now a dust-caked mess. Her stockings were torn, her hair ripped loose—she was a wreck from head to toe.

Clutching her slapped cheek, Ah-reum stared at her in stunned disbelief.

"M-Mother..."

"Why would I be your mother, you shameless thing. Look what you've done to my son!"

Dong-chan crept to his mother's side.

"Mommy..."

"Oh, my precious boy. Just look at the state of you. Why on earth would you let a creature like that hit you and do nothing? Honestly, you're too soft-hearted—you don't know how to put people in their place."

Could she really not see what Ah-reum looked like? Yeo In-ok's venomous gaze—doting on her son and her son alone—slipped past Ah-reum and landed briefly on Seol-hee.

"Was it you? Did you orchestrate this? I've forgiven you time and again, but this I cannot forgive. Why would you make the situation worse? What exactly is your grievance?"

It was absurd—she was asking as if she genuinely had no idea.

"If you'd just stayed quiet, your family would have been covered for your father-in-law's surgery bills too. You could have lived your whole life in comfort, free of money worries, with your husband waiting on you hand and foot while you served your in-laws. That's all you had to do."

Yeo In-ok clicked her tongue as if faced with something beyond comprehension.

"Trying to grab your own fortune with both hands—really, it's just heartbreaking."

Yeo In-ok heaved a sigh, then softened her tone into something cloying and coaxing.

"Seol-hee, dear, since it's come to this, I'll set everything straight. You know how Dong-chan is—so impulsive. What if he goes out and meets those girls from the establishments, running wild out there? I'd rather he settled on one person than stir up trouble he can't control, so I gave my permission for it. So let's stop this now, shall we?"

In-ok cast her a wounded look, eyes brimming with manufactured sorrow.

"Let it go, dear. I meant to keep it hidden from you. Ah—I never imagined things would turn out like this and hurt your feelings. I'm so sorry. So let's hold the wedding once things calm down, and for now, let's just register the marriage with Dong-chan first. Look at him, Seol-hee. This is what happens because you refuse to marry him."

It was so absurd that even anger failed her.

Seol-hee exhaled a long, weary breath.

What was the point of raging at people who barely qualified as human? They would never understand. But keeping her mouth shut and swallowing it—that she refused to do.

"All right."

Seol-hee nodded. At her answer of assent, Yeo In-ok's and Dong-chan's eyes lit up at once.

"Seol-hee. Really?"

Dong-chan clasped his hands together, overcome with emotion, and emerged from behind his mother.

In-ok, basking in the satisfaction of having resolved things herself, relaxed her shoulders and broke into a bright smile.

"There, see? Good girl. I knew you weren't the kind to be so stubborn. You'd never turn your back on Dong-chan. Of course not."

Dong-chan nodded along eagerly.

"Right, our Seol-hee would never do that. Completely unlike certain people."

With that, he glanced sideways at Ah-reum—lower lip trembling, fists shaking—and promptly hid behind his mother.

"In return, I have a few conditions. You can agree to them, can't you? Mother."

At Seol-hee's honeyed tone, In-ok seemed relieved and agreed enthusiastically.

"Of course. You're our daughter, and it's a mother's job to give you what you want. So tell me—what would you like?"

In-ok stepped closer, ready to grant anything. Seol-hee opened her mouth with a smile.

"First, return the Hannam-dong mansion you're living in now. Put it in my name."

"What? What on earth are you saying all of a sudden?"

Seol-hee raised a hand to cut off In-ok's interruption.

"And the thirty-three hundred million won in slush funds sitting in your safe. The Cheongdam-dong building you bought under your brother-in-law's son's name at the end of last year, and the Apgujeong villa as well. Add those to my name too."

The color slowly drained from Yeo In-ok's and Jin Dong-chan's faces where they stood. In the end, In-ok swayed on her feet, her legs giving out beneath her in shock.

It was problem enough that Seol-hee was brazenly demanding their assets—but what stunned her more was that Seol-hee knew the details of all that hidden wealth.

"Wh... what? No—how do you know all of that? Don't tell me—Dong-chan, did you tell her?"

"N-no, I didn't."

Seol-hee stepped forward until she stood directly before Yeo In-ok.

"Let me know when you're ready to give an answer. And... consider this a deposit, paid in advance."

With those final words, Seol-hee walked up to Dong-chan, who stood there defenseless, and slapped him hard across the face.

Crack—

Silence fell.

Seol-hee regarded their stunned faces and said, briefly:

"Now we can finally have a real conversation."