The Grip Tightens
The moment the sender appeared on the screen, Yu-won's body stiffened like a board. How could she have thought it had been quiet for days, only for it to start again?
["It's overtime. CEO Woo-jin is there too."]
Yu-won rejected the call and immediately sent a message instead. If Woo-jin was with her, Kim Seung-ju would never dare to act freely. Fortunately, the vibrations stopped.
["I almost got caught by Woo-jin. Please make sure I never have to come near the company again."]
After the last incident at the office, Yu-won had immediately told Kim Hak-yeon everything her son had done. As for such matters, Kim Hak-yeon had long served as Yu-won's shield.
Of course, he was not doing it out of affection for her. He simply wanted to milk her for longer and more efficiently. She was a precious card to be worn out as his son's plaything.
Yu-won tried to enter the company but finally turned her steps around. Since she had claimed she was with Woo-jin, Kim Seung-ju would not come looking. Yet she had no will to concentrate on work.
She boarded the bus heading home. The bus was packed with office workers leaving their jobs. Yu-won leaned against the handrail, exhausted, and closed her eyes. She had been walking the evening streets for a while, almost forgetting herself, almost convincing herself she was just another ordinary employee. Planning documents weighed on her mind, and she grumbled about overtime like any typical worker. But Kim Seung-ju's call dragged her back to reality, a warning that her seat was right here and she must never forget it.
She stepped off the bus at the stop and walked for some time before reaching the dilapidated villa at the end of the dark alley.
“........!”
The instant Yu-won spotted the figure in the shadows, she froze in place. She turned her gaze reflexively toward the wall where she had installed the CCTV. This time she would record every curse and outburst from Kim Seung-ju and hand the footage to the police.
“Hah.”
A low chuckle escaped Kim Seung-ju. He thrust his hand from behind his back. "Yu-won, you looking for this?"
The broken remains of the CCTV lay in his open palm. Yu-won gasped. "You said you were doing overtime with Woo-jin."
Kim Seung-ju stepped closer to her. His feral eyes slowly scanned her from face to toes. "Our Yu-won sure has been telling a lot of lies."
“What does that have to do with anything?”
Yu-won slapped his hand away when he reached for her cheek. Yet Kim Seung-ju only smiled faintly, as if watching some trivial tantrum from a pet. "Stay calm, Shin Yu-won. Call the police first—”
“Ah!”
Her thought cut off. Kim Seung-ju had snatched her phone from her hand. "Even a report?"
The smile vanished from his face. He raised the hand holding the phone high, then gazed at her paling expression as if savoring it before slamming the phone to the ground with all his strength.
CRACK—
The shattering sound echoed down the alley. Yu-won forced strength into her trembling legs while clearing her throat, choked with fear. "What kind of uncle are you? If you ruin my job, Vice Chairman Lee Min-gyu won't leave you alone either."
A sharp slap cracked across her face. Her body lost balance and collapsed to the ground. A huge hand had struck her cheek without mercy, burning as if seared by fire. Blood seeped into her mouth where her lip had split, a ringing filled her ears, and her vision blurred. "You should know that even pampering you has its limits."
Yu-won could not tell where the button had been pushed, but Kim Seung-ju’s eyes had already rolled back. "Dad is Dad, and I am me. Damn it, what makes Lee Min-gyu so special?"
Muttering under his breath, he looked down at the struggling Yu-won. "Ah!"
A massive hand seized her hair. The scalp-tugging pain brought instinctive tears. "Let go, you bastard—"
Her voice was choked. The old villa at the end of the alley was deserted. "Come with me. You’ve been caught today, Shin Yu-won."
Kim Seung-ju spat through gritted teeth and tightened his grip on her hair. She dug her heels into the ground, arms braced against his iron-like hold, but to no avail. Dragged along, her knees scraped the pavement, leaving blood. Fear and pain blurred her mind. The arrogance that she had once believed the twisted affection he harbored could serve as some minimal safety net now seemed laughable. Those were things one had to expect from people. "Who’s there?"
At that moment, a figure approaching the villa stopped dead in its tracks. A tall man’s silhouette. Could it be Woo-jin? Her heart raced to the point of bursting. Without knowing, her voice caught as she called out. "CEO—"
***
Eight o'clock in the morning. As Woo-jin headed toward his office, an unease suddenly stopped his steps. He quickly understood its source: Shin Yu-won, who had risen every morning at the desk in front of his office and greeted him with a neat bow, was nowhere in sight. He stared at the empty chair for a moment. Then urgent footsteps sounded behind him. He turned slowly and looked at her with cold eyes. "Sorry I’m late."
Shin Yu-won approached, head lowered in haste. Her official start time was eight-thirty, so technically she had not been late. Because he arrived early every day, she had matched him by coming early as well. He kept her greeting and stepped into his office with a sharp slam of the door. Heat rose in his neck; he tugged at his tie in irritation. He had finally noticed the blue bruise on Shin Yu-won’s cheek that makeup could not hide. Swallowing his curses, he narrowed his eyes and recalled yesterday’s events. His suspicion that her clumsy resistance might be because she was a marketing-team deputy was confirmed the moment he saw her entering the cafe in front of the company with him. To erase the discomfort, he had sat across from an unknown second daughter of Oriental Logistics for a full hour. Then he had returned to the office, worked past midnight, but Shin Yu-won never appeared, claiming she was doing overtime. She had fled so thoroughly, yet the only mark she had brought back was such a bruise. Woo-jin leaned on his desk and let out a long breath he had been holding all night. The discomfort that had barely calmed stirred violently once more. Knock knock. At the sound, Shin Yu-won entered carrying a tray with an espresso cup, closing the door carefully. Startled by the unusual sight of him, she placed the coffee on the desk and approached. Yet she kept a proper distance, an action that grated on his nerves. "Sorry I’m late. I’ll be careful not to do this again."
Her waist bent in a proper apology. "Hah."
Woo-jin let out a low chuckle and stared at her. He could no longer read a woman’s true nature—whether she was innocent or cunning, or something else entirely. Was she the type who enjoyed deceiving one man after another? He stepped forward and closed the distance until he stood right in front of her. Her gaze, previously fixed on the floor, slowly lifted. Watching the faint confusion spread through her light-brown eyes, he caught her small chin. “.........!”
Shin Yu-won’s shoulders trembled; her eyes widened in shock. Yet Woo-jin remained calm. He turned her head upward with a careless hand, then examined the ruined cheek from every angle. He slipped his thumb between her tightly pressed lips. Yu-won shot upward as if struck by a bullet, but he ignored her and probed the soft inner flesh of her mouth with relentless thoroughness. "It’s torn inside too."
The bruise on her cheek had been bad enough, but the inside of her cheek was far worse than the outside. Frozen, Shin Yu-won twisted her head to resist. Woo-jin slowly released his right hand. Her head slipped free from his grip. "Why are you doing this?"
Shin Yu-won looked up at him with an expression mixing shame and resentment. "I’m the one asking."
He smiled and tilted his head. "Again, that bastard."
He was curious too. Why was Shin Yu-won acting this way toward him, and why was he acting this way toward her? "......"
"Or was it Marketing Manager Kim Jun-woo?"
“What does that—!”
The mocking words made Shin Yu-won’s shoulders twitch once more. Her face flushed with shock and embarrassment. She tried to look away, but he blocked her path. He brought his lips close enough to feel her breath and spoke again and again. "Shin Yu-won, do you have any idea how much you disgust me?"