TTS Vol 2 Ch 10.1

It had been over two hours since Taeri started shopping at the department store with Gong Yunseon.

Being with Gong Yunseon, a VIP at this department store, meant receiving special treatment everywhere they went. Taeri felt like a queen reigning over the place, and she learned another lesson about the power of money.

“Pretty girl, what do you think of this? Does it suit me?”

Gong Yunseon, holding up a 5 million won¹ blouse, turned to Taeri and asked. Taeri couldn’t help but wonder why she was here with this woman instead of her own mother, but she still responded willingly.

“I think that color would suit you better.”

“What? That one? Pink? Oh, no. Our Prosecutor Park doesn’t like that color. He says it’s not sophisticated enough.”

“Ma’am, can I ask you something?”

Gong Yunseon flipped through the clothes hanging on the rack and asked, “What is it?”

“Why are you so conscious of what the Prosecutor thinks? He’s your son.”

“Oh, I don’t know, pretty girl. I was really bad at studying, you see? And my father was far from scholarly either. So maybe that’s why? Whenever I’m around someone well-educated, I feel so small and intimidated. It’s a sickness, really. So, on the one hand, I’m so glad Sihyun’s a knucklehead.”

Gong Yunseon giggled playfully. Taeri thought she looked like a carefree teenager.

Taeri laughed along with her, but then her expression turned somber as she recalled last night’s events.

‘You’re not easy.’

Why was she so swayed by those words that she had initiated the kiss?

The whore and the gentleman. The gentleman who told the whore she wasn’t easy, the first and only man to do so. It wasn’t as if they were characters in some romance novel.

Now that she thought about it, everything he said was true. She was easy. When he called her easy, she cursed him, wishing him dead, but when he said she wasn’t easy, she fell for it and kissed him.

Perhaps she was so easy that she spread her legs for him. Just like he said, as long as he put on a decent facade…

“Pretty girl, this dress would look beautiful on you. Let’s try it on.”

A black, elegant dress was held against Taeri’s body. She flinched and brushed it aside, but Gong Yunseon insisted, holding the dress against her again.

“Oh, come on, try it on. I’ll buy you this dress, and in return, you can help me pick out a suit for Prosecutor Park. How about that?”

“A suit?”

“Yes, pretty girl. Our Prosecutor Park has a blind date tonight. But he left this morning wearing black again! I told him, does he think he’s going to a funeral? Let’s buy a nice suit here, give it to him, and then we can go home. Should we order some delicious food when we get back?”

Blind date. Taeri repeated the unfamiliar words, testing them on her tongue.

“Oh, but pretty girl, I’m so worried. You see, the girl he’s meeting is the daughter of a major law firm family. Not just any law firm, but a law firm chaebol family. Have you heard of Sejong? No, you’re too young to know, I suppose. Anyway, it’s a huge deal. Our Assemblyman Park is in his fourth term, right? He won’t be able to continue as an assemblyman much longer, so the Sejong family offered him a management position after his term ends. He must have met the girl a few times while discussing things with the CEO of Sejong. Our Assemblyman Park seemed to really like the girl, so he told Prosecutor Park to go on a blind date with her… and our Prosecutor Park is quite obedient to his father.”

“…….”

“The girl is a successful lawyer at Sejong. She’d be a good match for our Prosecutor Park, right? Oh, but what am I going to do with a well-educated daughter-in-law, pretty girl?”

We had animalistic sex in the car last night. He came inside me, even though he said he was being careful. He made me clean his semen and fluids off his penis with my mouth.

And yet, tonight, he’ll put on a nice suit, put on a handsome smile, pretend to be a gentleman, and deceive another woman.

Perhaps it might be better for Taeri if he went on this date and got married. It was a perfect opportunity to escape him, and once he had a family, he would surely lose interest in her.

He was thirty-five. A suitable age for marriage.

But why… why didn’t she feel happy about it?

She felt momentarily dizzy, overwhelmed by a confusing mix of emotions.

She suddenly had a headache and wanted to go home, but she was dragged along by Yunseon, and before she knew it, they were in front of the Prosecutors’ Office.

Gong Yunseon called Park Chigyeong and asked him to come out for a moment, her voice dripping with aegyo. He told her to wait at a nearby coffee shop or something, and she replied, again in a cloying tone, that they would be there soon.

She seemed to be in a good mood, as if she had already made up with Park Chigyeong. It was hard to believe she was the same woman who was bedridden just last night.

After about 10 minutes, Park Chigyeong appeared at the entrance, walking down the steps. He was undeniably a handsome man who could capture anyone’s attention.

The dark blue lanyard around his neck, hanging like a tie, suited him particularly well. Taeri bit her lower lip, feeling a flicker of the same attraction she had felt when she was first drawn to his appearance.

“I told you to wait somewhere nearby.”

He spoke to Gong Yunseon but looked at Taeri standing next to her.

“Oh, our Prosecutor is so busy with official duties, so I should be quick. Here, wear this when you meet that girl later. Our pretty girl picked it out with her youthful sense of style.”

Gong Yunseon, placing a hand on Taeri’s back, smiled brightly and handed Park Chigyeong a shopping bag. His hand, reaching for the bag, hesitated momentarily.

Taeri saw him frown slightly. She didn’t understand why he was making that expression.

Taeri, as if having attained a well-trained sense of peace through repeated pain and resignation, smiled calmly.

“Have a good time on your blind date, sir.”

“Oh my, pretty girl. What’s with ‘sir’? That’s not a very nice way to address him. You should call him ‘Prosecutor.’”

“Yes. Have a good time, Prosecutor. I hope it goes well.”

Correcting her address as Gong Yunseon suggested, Taeri bowed her head slightly to Park Chigyeong. His hand, holding the shopping bag, seemed to tighten.

She wondered why he was making such a face when she had simply wished him well. He’s such an incomprehensible man, she thought, turning around nonchalantly.

Gong Yunseon linked arms with Taeri and asked, “What should we eat?” Taeri felt someone’s persistent gaze on her back, but she didn’t turn around.

Yes. It’s better this way. 

She could finally see the end of this relationship.

Her steps, as she walked away from him, felt both light and heavy, as if she were trudging through sand.

* * *

He was an hour late to the place Assemblyman Park had suggested. Such was the life of a busy prosecutor, where leaving work early was a pipe dream, but he didn’t feel the need to be on time anyway.

This was a formality, a relationship that would be over in fifteen minutes.

The private room, led by the hostess dressed in elegant hanbok, was quiet. The food on the table looked simple yet expensive. The woman waiting for him, Kim Jungha, was the same.

“You’re late.”

Kim Jungha checked the time on her watch, not bothering to hide her displeasure.

“Yes, I am a bit late.”

Chigyeong hung his suit jacket on the coat rack provided in the corner of the room, sat down, and smiled. He had changed into the soft-colored suit and tie that Taeri had chosen for him with her “youthful sense.”

“Since when is an hour considered ‘a bit’ late?”

“I apologize. I’m very late.”

Only after hearing his apology did Kim Jungha’s expression soften slightly.

“It’s alright. I know how busy prosecutors in the special investigation unit can be. I heard you’re in charge of the case that came down from above.”

“Sejong is always quick with information.”

Chigyeong held the menu, gave a perfunctory smile, and scanned her with his eyes.

Her hair was tightly pulled back, not a single strand out of place. The buttons of her shirt were fastened all the way up to her neck, and she wore a sharp, perfectly tailored suit. An extremely rational, conservative, meticulous, and and by-the-book type. Boring.

Having summed her up in a few words, Chigyeong dropped his bored gaze to the menu and asked,

“What are your hobbies, Attorney Kim?”

“I enjoy reading books. I also like watching movies and drinking beer. Walking my dog. That’s all I can think of right now.”

Kim Jungha gave typical answers to typical questions. The atmosphere was dry and lifeless, plain for anyone to see.

“What about you, Prosecutor Park? What are your hobbies?”

“Well, I don’t really have any hobbies.”

“You must have at least one. Everyone does.”

“Well…”

Chigyeong put down the menu, picked up his chopsticks, tapped them twice on the table, and then reached for the salad. He poked at it a few times, then turned his head to the side, coughed, and put down his chopsticks.

“It smells like… there must be peanuts in this. I’m allergic.”

“A peanut allergy?”

“Yes. It’s quite severe.”

“Oh, I apologize. I wasn’t informed.”

“It’s not something you should apologize for, Attorney Kim. So, about hobbies…”

Chigyeong repeated the question again, his voice flat, then answered in a low, slightly rough voice, tinged with fatigue.

“I enjoy physical activities.”

“You must like exercising.”

“I enjoy sex. That’s a physical activity, isn’t it?”

A sudden silence fell, and the atmosphere turned cold. The skin under Kim Jungha’s eyes twitched.