Not Bad - Episode 15

She appeared in her dream.

A woman with a smiling face after such a long time, she held a chubby baby against her chest and said coldly, “Kwon Hee-jae. Don’t block my path. Raise it yourself.”

She had already planned to do this the moment she said she was having a child. She had been talked into giving up the child with money, and she sent it away without a second thought.

And every time she met the child and played the role of mother, she filled the woman’s pockets.

She gave her designer bags and cars, jewelry and cash, making sure she couldn’t leave her side.

Was it obsession?

The woman hung herself and disappeared right in front of him. Her obsession had stolen the mother from the child forever.

When he learned later that it was murder, not suicide, anger swelled in the place where despair had been.

As the child grew, the evil inside him grew as well. Afraid that the evil inside him would be revealed to the child, he lived desperately.

In the dream, the woman stroked his head. That hand that said thank you for saving him felt sad and uncomfortable, so he pushed her away coldly and woke up.

“Ha… damn…”

His eyes stung from the cold sweat. Kwon Hee-jae wiped his face clean and sighed while looking around the unfamiliar room.

Then he remembered himself lying on Lee Woo-hee’s bed last night.

Why had he fallen asleep here, trusting what?

And why had that woman slept on the sofa without waking him? A dry chuckle escaped him.

“Scary as hell.”

He sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, and quietly stared at the sleeping woman’s face.

The sky outside was white with dawn approaching. A hazy twilight was breaking.

A strand of hair fell over one cheek. When her eyes were closed, her face felt warm and close, but when she opened them, the atmosphere changed completely.

“Really that similar?”

Yesterday’s words spoken by Ju Seung-eon in passing lingered in his mind.

But in his eyes, it wasn’t that way at all. The mother of Yeon-woo, a former successful actress, had always carried an image delicate enough to awaken anyone’s protective instinct. Her personality was also immature for her age, which made her intriguing.

On the other hand, Lee Woo-hee carried the opposite image: a classic beauty, unfailingly cheerful, or perhaps aloof. Plus she was twenty-six, and the atmosphere around her was already quite mature.

So they were the same age?

He rummaged through his memory. Twenty-six. The age of the woman who had placed a pregnancy test in his hand saying she was pregnant.

He sighed and self-mocked himself.

It felt wrong to look at a child and keep thinking like another woman.

He pushed himself up. Da-in was curled up sleeping on the sofa, so he braced his hands on the armrest.

He trapped her between his arms, taking in her face hidden by her hair once more.

Even though he was certain there were no similarities, why did she feel so familiar?

Cautiously he slid his hands behind her neck and the back of her knees. Even if her legs were inconvenient, he had enough strength to carry her.

So when he pulled her close, her arms snagged his hair.

It happened in an instant. Her upper body straightened, and his center of gravity shifted. His body toppled backward.

Thud. His nape buried in the soft sheets with a soft sound.

“Ha… ha…”

In the faint light, her murderous eyes fixed on his neck, breathing close.

Her eyes sparkled like a beast’s, and her fist aimed at his throat. He couldn’t tear his gaze away from hers even to breathe.

Death had swept through him in an instant.

Her focus slowly returned. Her lips parted only after she realized what had happened, and she startled, raising both hands.

“S-sorry!”

Kwon Hee-jae clamped his hand around her waist to stop her from escaping. Then he slowly raised his upper body and pulled her hands behind his back.

“Stay still.”

“I-I’m sorry…”

“Just stay still. If your heart’s beating too fast, your eyes might be spinning. Am I crazy?”

The harsh whisper scattered against her nape. Until now he had thought her heart was racing wildly, but it wasn’t.

Right now it was his own body trembling.

“Ha… against a normal person.”

Da-in blamed her body for reacting on instinct even in her sleep. If she had been carrying a weapon, she might have hurt him.

It was the result of training instincts during the best time for relaxation: sleep.

Da-in dropped her forehead against his shoulder and stroked his back as if soothing a child. Kwon Hee-jae’s entire body trembled faintly, as if he suffered from caffeine sensitivity.

She hugged him tighter, as if she had climbed onto his thighs.

There was no faster or more reliable way to share body heat than this.

Her skin was damp. Had the room warmed up? Or had she sweated? Heat radiated from the skin touching his forehead.

“You shouldn’t have slept in my room.”

At some point his voice, with her face buried against his nape, had returned to its usual tone.

“Don’t say weird things. Well, what am I supposed to do.”

“What are you?”

Da-in’s expression, which had lightly parried it, hardened for a moment. Damn it, Da-in.

When she straightened her upper body, her hands dug into the back of his head. Clinging to his hair so he couldn’t escape, she pressed their foreheads together forcefully.

“You… what’s your real identity. Lee Woo-hee.”

“Ah, I’m going crazy.”

Why no reaction at all?

For days now, Da-in had been carefully avoiding Kwon Hee-jae, watching his every move.

Breakfast was eaten together, but lunch and dinner were handled separately. Strangely, they all gathered in the morning to share the day’s schedule.

That was why Da-in sat as far from Kwon Hee-jae as possible, finished breakfast quickly, handed Yeon-woo over, and slipped out of the villa.

Her excuse for Kwon Hee-jae that day had been flimsy and obvious.

She claimed she learned self-defense while living abroad, but wouldn’t the man himself know that?

He had grown up among thugs. He might have been a thug himself. No one who had survived in that world would believe he had just learned self-defense.

So until she found a solution, Da-in had decided to avoid Kwon Hee-jae.

“Ms. Woo-hee!”

She had just finished preparing for work and was about to take out her bicycle when Han Chae-ah came running toward the single-story house.

She was a woman who was hard to see because Ju Seung-eon held her tight, practically glued to his side.

More than that, Da-in had never seen Han Chae-ah moving alone. Ju Seung-eon was always within twenty meters of her, and she never went out alone.

Because of that, Da-in scanned the surroundings and reflexively found Ju Seung-eon first.

“Hello, unnie.”

Han Chae-ah, smiling brightly with a natural charm, handed her the book she was holding.

It was the fairy tale book she had made for Yeon-woo. She had translated the English book into Korean so he could read it.

“This is the book Ms. Woo-hee made, right?”

“Yes, but…”

“Yeon-woo keeps asking me to read a different book. I’m confused whether my interpretation is correct, so I’d like some help.”

“Your boyfriend is pretty good with English too.”

“Ju Seung-eon says he’s good at everything. He only says he’s good at everything, so I don’t trust him.”

Ah, that was the way of it.

The two of them were like a classic ant-washing couple.

Da-in caught Ju Seung-eon’s silhouette in the distance and, after work, left a message in Yeon-woo’s room that she would see him later, then climbed onto her bicycle.

Avoiding Kwon Hee-jae was uncomfortable enough; Ju Seung-eon was an equally uncomfortable presence to her.

“Uncle! Yeon-woo wants to go to the beach!”

The moment she started pedaling, Yeon-woo’s voice rang out behind her. It was a voice she wouldn’t hear so much longer.

Adults kept handing over goodbyes to a child who carried trauma from being left behind. Even though she knew there was no relationship without goodbye, Da-in still felt uneasy.

[I’ve picked up movement from the Philippines and New Jersey. The guys watching over them are the same ones who have a record of stealing drugs while pretending to be mafiosos. Stay alert from today on.]

From the earphone on her bicycle pedal, Yoon Tae-jung’s voice came as she descended the hill.

“Chief, I’ll handle that? Or should Team Leader do it?”

[You recognized Dan as Team Leader? Well done, Da-in.]

“Don’t say weird things. Lately I’m in a really bad mood, so I need to unwind, okay?”

The bicycle’s speed kept increasing. The right amount of humidity and temperature wind brushed her face.

[Why are you in a bad mood? Did the kid refuse to listen?]

“The kid looks like his father.”

[Oh, that’s bad. Kwon Hee-jae’s not the usual kind. Has he already collided with you?]

“I don’t know. Once we finish processing those guys, is the mission over?”

[No. The mission doesn’t end until we get the signal from Korea. Don’t tell me it’ll take years.]

“Are you crazy? What kind of law student takes a leave of absence and wastes years on part-time work? Isn’t that too sloppy?”

[That’s why I told you to get close to the kid. If the kid catches you, you can last longer. Your anchor is Kwon Yeon-woo, didn’t you know?]

Profanity slipped out nonstop through her tightly clenched teeth. When he stopped listening, Yoon Tae-jung ended the call, saying he would send the information.

Da-in let out a long sigh and pedaled even harder. The morning of that day still made her face burn and her head dizzy.

The voice that had asked about her identity, the heat of the body that had clung to her, and the clear male desire that had pierced her eyes.