Chapter 6
The arrogant, intimidating man's aura triggered an instinctive revulsion. She could usually just let it slide, hearing it with one ear and letting it flow out the other, but her nerves—wound tight from one thing after another—wouldn't even tolerate that much.
Stroking his coffee cup languidly, he murmured his reply in a low whisper.
"Well. We'll see. How to handle her."
The way he spoke, as if he alone held the power to decide her fate, left her utterly speechless. A fleeting surge of anger nearly made her spit out an impulsive retort, but regret hit her instantly, and Ha-jin clamped her mouth shut. He drew her into those pitch-black eyes of unfathomable depth.
"Just play it smart. Yoo Ha-jin—you're good at that."
Tae-ju delivered the words coldly, without a trace of amusement, as he slowly scanned the woman seated before him.
Her eyes, steeped in fatigue and frayed nerves, harbored a faint disgust toward him.
The innocent girl he'd first met—sitting dazed on a filthy floor in a worn-out school uniform—was nowhere to be seen. Cleansed of grime and shadow, transformed into someone entirely different, she was still beautiful enough to turn heads. But those once water-bright eyes now brimmed solely with venom.
Every so often, the sight of those eyes stirred an impulse in him, a desire to make them well up like they had ages ago. He'd pondered the root of that urge before, but soon pinned it down easily enough.
It was the thought of that face—armed only with her pretty looks and sheer bravado—twisting in humiliation. The sheer pleasure it promised was intoxicating.
"If I'd left you alone, you'd have figured it out on your own, playing it smart. But you had to go and stir things up inside me... now I just want to buck the trend."
At his words, Tae-ju's elongated eyes narrowed with mocking amusement. The gaze pierced like it could rip out her vital spots. The look only someone utterly dominant could possess.
She knew full well that today mattered to Tae-ju just as much as it did to her aunt Soo-hee. His position made his love life and marriage a massive public fascination. The single leak he'd planted beforehand—"I'm dating someone with marriage in mind"—had caused ripples for days.
Even if this birthday party catered only to a select few VIPs, all eyes were on Soo-hee's event tonight. A single article about Tae-ju showing up arm-in-arm with her niece would unleash monumental fallout—plain as day.
"Did you drag me here just to spout that nonsense?"
"And if I did?"
She'd thrown the barb to needle him right back, but his instant comeback left her without a retort. He stared at Ha-jin openly, looking like a man purely enjoying the moment. Fury bubbled up in her, but not knowing where this man's line lay, she held her tongue.
The man crooked his sleek lips into a smirk and spoke first.
"Soon."
As Ha-jin shot him a sharp, pointed glare, he continued.
"I'm taking you to Wolsongwon, Yoo Ha-jin."
That single sentence made Ha-jin's shoulders twitch involuntarily.
The home of the Hosung Group's clan. Wolsongwon. What it signified was something Tae-ju knew—and so did she.
Wolsongwon's master, Chairman Baek Sang-guk. Head of Hosung, Tae-ju's father. The man Tae-ju himself stalked for a chance to sink his teeth into a weak spot. A beast far more ruthless than the viperish Tae-ju.
The moment she willingly stepped into that man's jaws was precisely what she'd craved above all else. An irrepressible thrill pounded through her chest. And as if reading her every thought, a crooked smile tugged at the elegant features of the man across from her.
***
Splash—
It was the late dawn in Las Vegas when the heat reached its most intoxicating haze. The hour when official clamor had died down everywhere else, but the Excelsior Hotel's infinity pool had awakened for one man alone.
A "Private Event" sign hung at the entrance to the shuttered pool, with security guards blocking the elevator to keep regular guests out.
Only the underwater lights illuminated the deep blue depths. A tall, powerfully built man—like a merman—cut across the long pool with forceful strokes.
His broad shoulders, sculpted with muscle, and prominently ridged shoulder blades rippled with life every time he powered through a butterfly stroke, like wings folding in flight. Reaching the far end at last, Joo-heon slicked back his wet hair and rose from the water.
He usually preferred early morning swims to bask in the sparkling ripples on the surface, but late-night dips like this had their own secret reason known only to him. Typically... when sex with a woman left him unsatisfied.
Grabbing the whiskey glass he'd left haphazardly on the tiles, Joo-heon leaned against the pool railing. Below his feet, neon signs from the casino and clubs flowed like rivers, but up here, the silence was chillingly profound.
"Sir, do you need anything else?"
A staff member waiting in the shadows approached like a ghost. Instead of answering, Joo-heon took a swig of whiskey. Clink. The ice scraping the glass walls echoed unusually loud.
Thud. He set the empty glass back on the tiles, and one of the quietly standing hotel staff moved to refill it. Joo-heon raised a hand lightly to stop him, then spoke in a voice grown languid with satisfaction.
"Manager Kang."
"Yes, sir."
"What time is it in Korea right now?"
The question, drawled out lazily, came out of nowhere. Manager Kang checked his watch, did some quick math, and replied.
"Probably just shy of 7 p.m."
"Ahh."
Letting out an ambiguous sound—sigh or acknowledgment—Joo-heon turned, draping his arms loosely over the deck edge as he looked up at Manager Kang.
"So, dinnertime."
"If you're hungry, I can arrange hotel service..."
"Not me."
"......"
"You, Manager Kang."
Only then did Manager Kang realize it wasn't just idle chatter. His mouth set in a firm line, and Joo-heon cocked one eyebrow.
"Even the women who strip and throw themselves at me don't cling this gooey all day long."
Slicking back his wet hair with a casual hand, Joo-heon rested his cheek on his arm draped over the deck and drawled his sarcasm softly.
"I'm not some mutt who'll die without a leash."
Manager Kang's composed face cracked under the biting tone. Joo-heon fixed him with a piercing stare that glinted cruelly, then burst into open laughter.
Splash—
Pounding the water's surface in his fit of guffaws sent droplets spraying up, soaking the hems of Manager Kang's pants.
"Loosen up that face. It was just a joke."
Manager Kang swallowed a sigh, looking like he'd taken a solid hit, and brushed off the scattered water droplets from his pants with a weary mutter.
"When you make jokes that savage, of course it chills the blood. Look, even if it's uncomfortable or unpleasant, if the Chairman insists I stick close, what choice do I have?"
"He just means to use some flexibility, some common sense."
Joo-heon crooked his wide, easy smile mischievously and—splash—deliberately flung more water at his feet.
"Look the other way now and then. Right?"
"If something happens in the meantime, the full blame falls on me. You know that."
A flicker of irritation crossed Manager Kang's face for the first time, his robotic stiffness finally cracking. Joo-heon, seeming even more pleased, propped his chin and tossed out casually.
"If you wanna stick to my side that bad, why not just marry me."
"Have you lost your—"
Manager Kang jolted in knee-jerk reaction, but glanced at the guards glaring sharply their way, then shot Joo-heon a look like he'd spouted utter nonsense, scanning him head to toe.
"...sir?"
And small wonder. He was a strapping adult man with a clear heterosexual orientation.
Chuckling and shaking his head, Joo-heon waved him off as if to say scram.
"I'll be heading out soon, so go down and rest first."