The Bitter Sting of the Betrayer
You dumb bastard. How much did you spend on Shin Yu-won, and why are you still poking at it over and over?>
Kim Hak-yeon was snarling like a cornered animal.
He wanted to turn the golden goose into a goose that laid golden eggs? He couldn’t even stomach a single drop of jealousy?>
Kim Seung-ju stared at his father the way one would regard a maggot and said nothing in return. He was the kind of dog that wagged its tail for Vice Chairman Lee Min-gyu on the betting board just to keep its life strung together, and now the man was giving him lectures. Seung-ju knew every filthy detail of how his father and Lee Min-gyu had shattered Shin Yu-won’s family and swallowed her father’s company whole. Whenever he thought of her, something hot and vicious burned just beneath his ribs. Her thin, fragile frame could fit only a handful of fingers, and those light brown eyes held a strange, hypnotic power. From the moment he first saw her, his obsession and greed had been absolute. He would possess her completely. Yet a gulf of silence had always lain between him and the precious daughter of her employer. She had never once given him the opening to cross it, and to a man who had barely finished high school she was no more than a dream he could never reach. Until one day, like a cruel joke, she fell straight into the filth where he lived. The factory had passed into the hands of Kim Hak-yeon, and Shin Yu-won had endured every humiliation and exploitation from that man while still trapped at his mother’s bedside, unable to escape. He had felt nothing but delight at her misfortune. Her contemptuous gaze toward him had been of no concern.
Let go of me, you filthy animal—!>
Even when his cheek was stinging from the slap and his hair was twisted in his fist, she still looked at him as though he were garbage. The first crack of pure terror in her eyes, however, filled him with something almost delirious. So she would break a little more, suffer a little more. Until she belonged to him forever. ***
Thwack, thwack.
The sharp slap of bare feet against the wooden floor cut through the quiet office like a blade. Occasional cracks of knuckles colliding with the air punctuated the rhythm. Thud, smack— Woo-jin pressed Cheong-hun mercilessly, the air around him vibrating with barely contained violence.
“Ugh.”>
A short grunt escaped Chief Secretary Cheong-hun when the ruler struck his ribs. He wore a protector, but this was not a match; this was Woo-jin’s fury unfiltered. Exhausted, Cheong-hun drew another ragged breath and clutched the ruler tighter. Though his own score stood higher, he was being driven back.
“Please, CEO. Just treat me as you always have. That day… I was in a terrible state. I wasn’t thinking clearly… Please, just forget it.”>
Shin Yu-won’s trembling voice rang in his ears like a persistent echo. Every time, the left hand gripping the ruler tightened until the knuckles ached.
“Next time, I hope you meet someone who truly meets your standards.”>
Heat flared in his chest. He had never felt such inefficient anger before. Why couldn’t she be like other women—easy, pliable? Just seeing her smile at some other man twisted his insides. Thwack! Again, the ruler slammed down vertically onto Cheong-hun’s head. This time there was no cry of pain; Cheong-hun staggered backward, clutching the weapon and breathing hard. Woo-jin shrugged off his suit jacket and snatched a half-liter bottle of mineral water from the shelf, gulping it down in a single swallow. “Is there a problem, CEO?” Cheong-hun asked, peeling the wet jacket from his shoulders. “Perhaps because of the Celesta contract?” Woo-jin answered with nothing but a tightening grip. With a sharp crack the plastic bottle crumpled like discarded trash. The exclusive contract with the French fragrance atelier Celesta—once a carefully negotiated, seemingly perfect fit for Moment’s premium scent line—was hanging by a thread. The atelier was neither a large studio nor a household name in Korea. The negotiations had been conducted in absolute secrecy, and Woo-jin had personally chosen Celesta as the only partner worthy of his vision, demanding conditions that would have made any other company balk. The atmosphere during the final adjustments had been almost electric with promise. Then, without warning, the other side had changed its stance entirely. There could be only one explanation. Lee Min-gyu’s doing.
“There is definitely someone inside feeding information to the other party.”>
Cheong-hun’s eyes sharpened like daggers. Woo-jin slowly loosened the knot of the ruler. The rat that had slipped into Moment’s walls was growing more troublesome by the day—alongside Shin Yu-won herself, who kept pushing him away with all her strength. Which one disturbed his composure more? He couldn’t decide. “Start with the people who’ve been in private contact with Vice Chairman Lee Min-gyu.” Actually, he already knew. The source of his unease was unmistakably the latter. “Start with the betting board.” “Understood.” Cheong-hun lowered his head. After a cold shower, he was waiting when Woo-jin stepped out of the locker room, impeccably dressed once more. “Shall I take you home, CEO?” The memory of Shin Yu-won’s promise to stay late yesterday afternoon resurfaced. So did her shameless lie about overtime the last time he had been sent to a blind date. He had only smiled when he saw her slip into the marketing-team assistant Kim Jun-woo’s arms and head toward the café. They were still inside the car when she had mentioned the blind date again. “To the office.” The image of Shin Yu-won gently placing a hand on Kim Jun-woo’s forehead at the pop-up shop site also flickered across his mind. If she was lying today as well… perhaps it was time to remove her from his sight altogether. He arrived at Moment just after ten o’clock. Most of the lights were already off; the building was hushed and empty. He stepped off the elevator on the ninth floor, walked slowly down the dark corridor, and paused before his own office. Shin Yu-won’s desk lamp still burned, but the partition hid everything beyond it. As he walked, he imagined Kim Jun-woo and Shin Yu-won facing each other, laughing, reaching for each other’s hands. His fists clenched until veins stood out along his forearms. His pace quickened. In his mind he saw them kiss, and suddenly there she was—slumped over her desk, fast asleep. A soft, rhythmic breath escaped between her slightly parted lips, the cheek pressed against her arms. For a moment the boiling rage inside him simply ebbed. On the desk lay research folders and customer-analysis sheets, and beneath them, the diary she always carried like a treasure. Under the LED light her skin looked almost translucent, the blue veins visible beneath her forehead and beneath her eyes. He reached out and gently brushed aside a strand of hair that had fallen across her face. The silky skin beneath his fingertips brushed gently against his own. Yet the same fierce heat did not ignite. Woo-jin simply stood there for a long time, watching her sleeping face. *** Shin Yu-won stirred at the sound, sitting up with a gasp. The monitor showed the screensaver’s rotating droplets. Had she slept through the night? She stretched her stiff limbs until her spine cracked. The digital clock on the desk read 11:17. Kim Hak-yeon had sent her a new caregiver for her mother, but she still could not go home. She did not know when Kim Seung-ju would strike again. Despite her statement and the diagnostic report, he had been punished only with a tiny fine. Kim Hak-yeon—almost certainly Vice Chairman Lee Min-gyu—had pulled the strings. She had refused to give up. With gritted teeth she had gone to the Western District Court and filed an injunction against approaching her. She prayed that Lee Min-gyu’s influence would not reach that far. A sigh escaped her as she glanced at the sandwich and takeaway cup on the desk. “…?” Who could have left them here? She shot upright and scanned the room. Only darkness surrounded her. It was impossible for anyone to be in the building at this hour. She touched the cup. The liquid inside still radiated warmth. Assistant Kim… She thought of all the kindness Kim Jun-woo had shown her and turned the cup in her hands. Even if it was only to repay him, she wanted to excel at the plan he had given her. No, that was a flimsy excuse she told herself. She knew the real reason she wanted to succeed. Yet the materials were insufficient, and her lack of on-the-ground experience left her constantly running into walls. While lost in thought she pulled out her phone. The screen was cracked like a spiderweb from the beating Kim Seung-ju had given her, but the phone still worked. She scrolled through the contacts until she found the old number. She pressed send. A moment later a familiar voice came through. “Yu-won? It’s been so long!”