MS Ch 12 part 2

Finally, when the recording ended, Euncho hurriedly wiped the tears streaming down her cheeks as if she were afraid someone was watching. However, tears continued to blur her vision.

She could finally define it clearly.

The two of them weren’t lovers. They weren’t affectionate nor did they have any kind of emotional connection.

It was just about money and transactions.

The scene she had accidentally witnessed on the rooftop several years ago flashed before her eyes like a photograph. Heejin-unnie returning to the villa in Ki Taeju’s car. The way she awkwardly bowed to him in a business-like fashion before entering the villa.

Yeah.

The two of them had exactly that kind of relationship.

In exchange for paying off her debt, she was used wherever he needed her.

And the target was Ki Cheonju.

Euncho stared listlessly at the phone screen that eventually fell asleep.

I’m going to die at this rate

I’m scared

I want to quit it all

Euncho covered her face with her hands. Her throat felt painfully tight. As if an invisible hand was strangling her.

The cause of the discomfort that had been crouching in a corner of her heart as it occasionally scratched at her conscience was now clearly revealed.

It’s what had been on her mind from the very beginning.

‘You shouldn’t lie to me.’

There was a possibility that Ki Taeju lied to her.

But… But it was the first time he spoke clearly without hiding anything. She was frustrated that she had no choice but to let it go, but on the other hand, there was still a glimmer of hope.

Unless Ki Taeju lied.

If… If he truly did not harm Heejin-unnie in any way, then who made her like that?

At one point, she didn’t want to know the truth, so she chose to avoid it for a long time. She wanted to delay the moment, even by a little. All because she was too afraid to face the truth.

So what was the result of all those efforts?

The police car that raced up the narrow hill and the flashing siren. The noise of the neighbors piercing through her ears. And the remains of the ice cream as it fell at her feet.

That was the result.

She didn’t want to go through that again.

No, never again.

Euncho took a deep breath. Then she dialed the number she had not yet blocked. More than anything, she wanted to know why Lim Kyujin had this. She was also concerned about what he had said before he sent the audio file.

What on earth does he know?

Click, the ringing stopped, and the call immediately connected.

“Tell me.”

“……”

“Why do you have this, Sunbae?”

After a moment of silence, the laughter that flowed from the other end of the call made her stomach churn.

— You’re finally answering my call.

“……”

— How have you been, Euncho? It’s been…

“I didn’t call to exchange trivial greetings. You know that better than anyone, right, Sunbae?”

A heavy silence descended upon them like a knife.

The one who couldn’t endure the silence was Lim Kyujin.

— Let’s meet. Let’s meet and talk.

“No. Let’s talk over the phone.”

— It’s been a while since I’ve seen you. I want to see your face and talk, Euncho.

“If you were me, would you want to meet?”

— I know. But I’m desperate, too. Please understand. That’s why I can’t tell you anything until we meet.

Both of them refused to back down.

Euncho gripped her forehead. The headache spread steadily until her entire body throbbed. Her thoughts were chaotic and disorganized. One thing was certain. Lim Kyujin knew something she didn’t.

She couldn’t let such an opportunity go to waste just because of her own selfishness.

Her brain hurt as if it were bashed with an iron pipe. The desperate feeling she had that day, the day when she wished her head would break, was coming back to her as if it were yesterday.

“Fine.”

— ……

“But I get to choose where we meet.”

— Okay.

Bang!

As soon as the disgusting phone call ended, her shoulders flinched. The loud noise from outside the emergency staircase had surprised her. Euncho carefully turned the doorknob and looked out through the gap in the door. She saw the back of Ki Cheonju as he walked towards the elevator, grumbling under his breath.

Euncho opened the door and headed to the private room after she confirmed that he had completely disappeared. She could see Ki Taeju’s back through the half-open door.

She stopped dead in her tracks.

How many times had she seen the view of his back?

Back when she didn’t know what kind of relationship he had with Heejin-unnie, she thought he was so awful and nasty. But after she saw him on the CCTV footage, she realized how different he was towards others compared to how he was with her.

And now…

She intentionally made a noise as she walked inside.

Ki Taeju smiled faintly, perhaps because he recognized the sound of her footsteps.

Euncho raised her hand and touched the scaly tattoo that was sticking out above the neckline of his shirt. Ki Taeju reached out and grabbed her hand.

“Shall we eat lunch together?”

It was a lighthearted suggestion that made the extremely tense atmosphere from just a moment ago fade away. Euncho didn’t say anything and merely rubbed the scales on his neck. Confused by her silence, Ki Taeju slowly turned his head and looked at her.

“Don’t you have to go back to work?”

“I’m playing hooky.”

Euncho continued to rub his tattoo. He pulled her towards him and sat her down in his lap.

“You said you wanted to eat that hamburger from the place out front yesterday.”

“Yeah.”

“And the french fries?”

When she nodded, Ki Taeju picked up his cell phone that was by his side and called someone. He was probably sending Secretary Choi out on an errand.

“And what’s with this coffee?”

After ending the call, he tapped the white coffee cup with his other hand.

“What’s wrong with it?”

“It tastes so damn bad.”

“…That’s because I don’t usually have to brew it. If I want to drink coffee, I just go to the cafe. Who brews it themselves these days?”

Euncho grumbled and glanced at the other side of the table. The coffee cup that had been given to Ki Cheonju was still there. Of course, it was completely shattered. Drops of red blood were still dripping down onto the clear glass of the table.

She already had a vague idea from the information she gleaned from Kang Seora, but this was the first time she was able to fully understand.

“You have an older brother?”

“Yeah.”

“And you two don’t have a good relationship?”

“As you can see.”

Euncho’s hand that had been wrapped around the back of his tattooed neck slipped down towards his abdomen.

“Did that person also cause this wound over here?”

“Yeah.”

“What a bad person…”

To her ears, her voice sounded lifeless. However, it must not have been noticeable to others because Ki Taeju merely burst out into a bitter laugh and leaned into Euncho’s arms.

Just as she thought when she saw his back, Ki Taeju looked a bit tired.

Euncho saw more of the tattoo as he leaned into her arms. The pitch-black paint wouldn’t come off even if she scratched it with her fingernails. It rippled as if it were a living creature.

“Is this a snake?”

“A giant serpent.”

“A giant serpent?”

“Some say it’s a baby dragon, and others say it’s an animal that later turns into a dragon.”

All sorts of things flashed through her mind like the Cintamani¹ and the Tudigong². However, Ki Taeju’s simple explanation etched the image of a dragon into her mind.

It was surprising that something so magnificent was merely the baby version of something else.

“Then you should have just tattooed a dragon in the first place.”

“There was a bastard that would have ripped my skin off for being cheeky enough to tattoo a dragon on my back.”

Before today, she would have been busy trying to guess who he was referring to. However, Euncho was now able to guess who it was right away. The ‘bastard’ was probably Ki Cheonju, the man who had sulkingly retreated a little while ago.

“I heard tattoos are really painful… Didn’t it hurt?”

“I don’t even remember.”

His voice gradually became quieter until silence settled over them. Euncho hugged him, rubbing her forehead against his shoulder, and stared out into the distance for a while.

The conversation she just had in the emergency stairwell reared its ugly head. Words she heard that held no real meaning were flying around in her mind.

Even though they were so close together, it felt like they were in completely different spaces. He was in a place she couldn’t reach.

After having received his instructions, Secretary Choi came right away.

While Ki Taeju was outside, giving him further instructions, Euncho cleaned the table where the coffee cup was. She tore off pieces of tissue and wiped down the remaining drops of blood, making it clean enough to eat on.

“Is this kind of stuff tasty to you?”

“Yeah. You don’t like it?”

It was a restaurant she had recommended with some pride, but Ki Taeju’s reaction was indifferent throughout the meal. After all, for a man who always looked for nutritious foods to eat, he wouldn’t be happy with food covered in oil like this.

Euncho smiled and put some french fries dipped in ketchup into his mouth. He grumbled but ate them well once she fed him. Of course, he seemed to be eating it because she was feeding it to him rather than because it was tasty.

“I’m going to take a half-day the day after tomorrow.”

“Where are you going?”

“Mm… To see my mom.”

Honestly, she couldn’t confess where she was truly going. It felt like her tongue was twisted inside her mouth. Euncho kept her eyes on the view outside the window. She felt that if she made eye contact with him, her true feelings would be revealed.

“She said it’s been so long since she’s seen my face, so we agreed to meet up for lunch.”

Even though he didn’t ask further questions, she continued to make false excuses.

“Where are you two meeting?”

“I don’t know. We haven’t picked a place yet.”

“Do you want me to drop you off?”

Euncho smiled at his calm offer.

“How can I make a person who should be in the office drive me around?”

“I’ll just slack off like I did today.”

He picked up a piece of hamburger and brought it to Euncho’s mouth. Euncho took a bite and then pointed to the window.

“Look at that. The leaves are changing color.”

The decorative trees surrounding the street lined with densely packed buildings swayed in the wind. The chill that caused her nose to ache this morning and now the burning colors of the leaves as they fell off the branches. They were all signs of autumn.

“This autumn is going by so quickly. Don’t you think so? I haven’t even been able to wear my trench coat ten times yet.”

“You can just wear it the day after tomorrow.”

“Yeah… That sounds good.”

She sipped the ice-filled cup of cola and looked back at Ki Taeju sitting next to her.

Ki Taeju loosened the tie that Euncho had tied for him every morning and threw it off because it was uncomfortable. He gave Euncho a bored look. She found it funny how diligent he was when it came to feeding her in this kind of situation.

Either way, he was a man who absolutely didn’t care about taking care of himself. But he was always so anxious to put one more thing into her mouth.

Euncho’s lips curled into a smile as she gazed at him and then looked out the window again.

She imagined how it would be when the temperature dropped so much that it pricked her skin. She imagined the moment snowflakes would begin to fall, one by one, as the temperature dropped below zero.

“I hate that fall is almost over, but I want Christmas to come quickly.”

“Why? Because you want to see Santa?”

“Aah, seriously. Do you think I’m a kid?”

“Seeing as how you’re waiting for Christmas, you still are a kid.”

“No, that’s not it… I want to light candles on a cake.”

Ki Taeju’s eyes narrowed as if he couldn’t understand.

“Can’t we just do that now?”

“No… There’s a certain vibe when it’s Christmas!”

He looked like he didn’t feel the same way at all, but he entertained her by saying, ‘Ah, really.’

“Then we can just do that.”

How would she have felt if she heard this yesterday?

Because of all the things that happened to her today… Her sudden encounter with Ki Cheonju, the suspicious messages from Lim Kyujin saying Ki Taeju was the culprit, hearing Heejin-unnie’s voice for the first time in a long time… She couldn’t openly reveal all her feelings to him.

“…I hope so.”

The day after tomorrow, when she met Lim Kyujin, she would definitely find something out.

The truth that was hidden beneath the surface.

Behind a certain curtain that she did not have the strength to reach on her own for the past seven years.

Her heart was still pounding. It felt irritating as it raced in anticipation.

Whether it was something good or bad, she’d learn more…

She truly hoped this was the case.

Not now, not the vague winter that was coming, but a future that was guaranteed. That was what she longed for.

A future with you.

A future that is not just a wish or an imagination.

Euncho stared out the window for a long time.

The tears she couldn’t bring herself to cry were still dripping inside her heart.