TTS Vol 1 Ch 1.1

Song of Songs 4:7-9:¹

 

My beloved, you are altogether beautiful, without a single flaw.

Your lips are like crimson threads, and your mouth, so lovely;

Behind your veil, your cheeks are like the blush of pomegranate.

 

My sister, my bride,

You have stolen my heart,

With just one glance from your eyes,

With a single jewel from your necklace,

You have captured my soul.

 

 

1. Prosecutor Park Chigyeong

 

From the phone held by Park Sihyun, a man’s voice, rough like sandpaper, resonated sharply, grating against Taeri’s eardrums.

“It’s not for distributing obscene material, hyung. Blackmail… I also didn’t do anything like that…”

Park Sihyun, who had never once looked intimidated in front of anyone, was clearly fidgeting. Seeing this, it was easy to tell how he viewed his older brother.

“Ah, screw it. The old man’s already here.”

The moment he hung up the phone, Park Sihyun, scratching the back of his head furiously, poked Taeri’s waist with a serious look on his face.

“Hey. Let’s settle this. I’ll match the amount you want. How much? A thousand? Two thousand? Three thousand? Five thousand? Just name the exact amount, and I’ll transfer it to you right now.”

While Park Sihyun logged into his mobile banking app, Taeri remained unfazed, her eyes fixed calmly on the detective, not showing any interest. Impatient by her indifferent reaction despite the large sums he mentioned, Park Sihyun raised his voice slightly.

“Look, let’s be real. If it were actually your naked body I saw and ended up in this mess, I wouldn’t even f*cking complain! But it’s just a d*mn made up image! Everyone knows it’s fake! I mean f*ck, anyone can tell just by looking that your chest isn’t a D-cup. How could they not notice? And it’s not like I f*cking went around spreading it everywhere, did I? I only showed it to a few close friends, that’s all. Do we really have to go this far between classmates from the same department? Even you must think this is seriously f*cking harsh, don’t you?”

“Has this b*stard been chewing a filthy rag in his mouth or something? Hey, do you even know where you are, swearing ‘f*ck’ over and over like that? Can’t you be quiet?”

The detective, unable to tolerate Park Sihyun’s shamelessness, eventually intervened, but Park Sihyun showed no sign of backing down.

“Who are you calling a b*stard right now? Detective, do you even know who I am?”

Instead, he glared even harder, raising his chin defiantly. This attitude was typical for him, which made his meek behavior in front of his brother all the more surprising.

“What? Detective? This tiny punk, did your tongue get cut in half or something?”

“Who do you think you’re talking down to, runt? Stop treating me like a kid, f*ck, it’s pissing me off. You know who my father is, don’t you? Huh? Do you know what my brother does?”

“What? Runt?”

“Oh, sorry. I meant pig².”

The detective scoffed as if he couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He rubbed his forehead with a frown, muttering under his breath.

“Wow, this kid’s hopeless, huh? Haa. You’re really hopeless.”

Amid the commotion, Taeri quietly pushed back her chair, stood up, and spoke for the first time.

“I’m not going to settle. Please proceed according to protocol.”

After bowing respectfully, Taeri straightened up, attempting to leave the room. But just then, the door to the investigation room burst open with a loud bang, stopping her in her tracks.

Although she didn’t intend to, her eyes were automatically drawn to the tall man who had just entered. The first reason was his height—he was exceptionally tall. The second was that she had never believed in the concept of a person having an “aura,” but this man made her feel something akin to that. He exuded an oppressive, overwhelming presence.

“H-Hyung³…”

Hyung…

As soon as Taeri’s gaze met the man’s, Park Sihyun’s face suddenly drained of all color and he fell to his knees with a loud thud, and began to beg desperately in front of her. It was a sudden and complete change in his behavior.

“Hey, Ta-Taeri, I-I was wrong, okay? I really messed up. I’ve committed a grave mistake. I promise I won’t ever do it again, so please, just this once—can’t you forgive me this one time? I’ll delete all your pictures right in front of you. I swear I haven’t shared them anywhere! I only have three photos of you on my laptop! Isn’t it good to have classmates getting along? Right?”

His voice, now frantic, and his terrified expression were starkly different from the casual and relaxed demeanor he had maintained earlier. Taeri, too, looked somewhat surprised.

Even though she didn’t know much about him, she had heard that Park Sihyun came from an influential family. A family that, supposedly, spoiled this delinquent kid rotten. They said he was a precious late born child⁴ or something.

So, seeing Park Sihyun like this felt unfamiliar. A guy who was supposedly so pampered by his family…

The man, whom Park Sihyun had called as “hyung,” tore through the suddenly tense air of the silent investigation room as he approached. The closer he got, the paler Sihyun’s face became, almost as if all the color was draining out of him.

“Hey, Taeri… c-call the police…”

This is the police station, you idiot, she felt the urge to retort, but the thought faded as quickly as it came.

“You always seem to forget what “hyung” does.”

The man stopped right in front of the kneeling Park Sihyun, glancing down at him as he slowly removed his expensive-looking wristwatch.

“If your grades are that pathetic, Sihyun, you should stay at home and study like you’re supposed to. Not use the laptop we bought you for studying to make obscene photos.”

“H-hyung…”

“Yes, Sihyun. Do you have anything to say to me?”

The man bent down and gently placed the metal watch into Park Sihyun’s hand, whose eyes were now welling up with tears.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Taeri’s eyebrows lifted slightly. It was her first time seeing Park Sihyun, who feared no one, look like this. His expression was that of a powerless prey facing a predator, too terrified to run yet desperate not to be devoured.

“Sihyun.”

The man crouched down in front of Park Sihyun, lowering his body to meet his eyes. He reached out, adjusting Sihyun’s disheveled collar with a gentleness that contrasted sharply with his cold gaze.

“If you know it’s wrong, you just don’t do it. Isn’t it that simple? Or is it so hard for you to understand?”

“Ah, n-no, hyung! I-It’s not hard at all! It’s really not! I really mean it! I-I swear I’ll never do it again!”

“How many times is this now, Sihyun, saying you’ll never do it again?”

Despite the gentle voice of the man who he had called “hyung,” Park Sihyun continued trembling uncontrollably, and it wasn’t until later that Taeri understood why.

The man’s hand, which had been tidying Sihyun’s collar, suddenly tightened, and when Taeri noticed the prominent veins standing out on the back of his hand, she guessed what was coming next. Those large hands were certainly about to strike.

Her guess proved correct.

With a sharp, resounding slap, Sihyun’s face snapped violently to the side.

“Are you his guardian? That’s enough, come over here now.”

The detective called out, sensing the unusually tense atmosphere as he stood and motioned with his finger. However, the man paid no mind and landed another hard slap on Sihyun’s cheek.

Smack.

“Your head,”

This time, he struck on his opposite cheek.

“—if it’s bad—”

And again, on the other side.

“—at least your character—”

Park Sihyun’s face kept getting slapped by the man’s hand.

“—should be upright.”

The sheer force made one wonder if this was truly an older brother disciplining his sibling.

“Is it really that difficult? Huh?”

Park Sihyun, who had been standing firm, could no longer endure the blows and collapsed to the side with a loud thud. The wristwatch he’d been holding slid across the floor, stopping right in front of Taeri’s sneakers.

Having grown up sheltered for 22 years in the warm greenhouse of her parents’ love, Taeri had never witnessed such a violent and brutal scene before. She instinctively flinched, her shoulders hunching slightly, and without thinking, she bent down to pick up the watch.

“Taeri…”

As she stared at the watch in her hand, her eyes shifted to Sihyun’s pitiful hand clinging to her ankle.

“If you don’t agree to settle… I’ll die… I’m serious… Please, think of it as saving someone’s life… okay?”

The face that had once been as pale and smooth as a young lord’s was now a mess. His lips were split, his cheeks were swollen, and blood seeped from his torn mouth.

Swallowing dryly, Taeri glanced nervously at the man behind Sihyun, as if afraid to lose sight of him. Her eyes followed Park Chigyeong, the man whom Sihyun called his brother.

“No matter how bratty he is, you can’t just beat your brother like that. It’s not like the old days anymore. Things aren’t like they used to be. Even if it’s family, you can’t just lay your hands on them.”

“Let me see the photos.”

The man dismissed the detective’s reprimand with a casual wave and walked over, picking up the laptop from the desk without asking permission. He sat down and placed the laptop on his thigh as he inspected the photos.

“Are these the photos of the victim? Is it just one person?”

“Come on, you can’t just touch things as you please!”

The detective exclaimed, clearly annoyed.

Instead of responding, the man pulled out his ID card, waving it in front of the detective’s face. The badge, issued by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office, clearly displayed the name Park Chigyeong.

“Oh… You’re a prosecutor?”

The detective’s tone quickly softened, adjusting his attitude before the man. It was fascinating for Taeri to see how this man seemed to control everyone around him, from Sihyun to the detective.

So, he was a prosecutor, not some thug…

Taeri couldn’t take her eyes off Park Chigyeong, as if attracted to him by a magnet.

The composed and leisurely air he carried himself with began to etch itself into her mind, capturing her attention completely. She thought, “This is the kind of man you can’t help but be drawn to.”

While tapping the space bar on the laptop, Park Chigyeong paced to glance at Taeri, who was standing nearby. And for the first time, their eyes met. Taeri held her breath as if she’d forgotten how to breathe. It was a strange experience she had never felt before.

He glanced at the laptop once, then looked back at her. His gaze was indifferent, but Taeri felt a tightening sensation as if her entire body was being squeezed.

After setting the laptop back on the desk, Park Chigyeong walked over to Taeri, who was still holding his watch. He closed the distance between them with just a few steps.

It was the first time in her 22 years of life that Taeri realized that when overwhelmed by someone’s presence, you couldn’t even step back. All she could do was swallow dryly, feeling utterly powerless.

“……”

Standing before her, Park Chigyeong tilted his head down slightly, looking at her as he grabbed the strap of his watch from her hand. The brief touch of his fingers sent a choking sensation through her, making her feel as though she was suffocating even more.

Yet, despite this, Taeri didn’t avert her gaze, and neither did Park Chigyeong. Slowly, he leisurely strapped the watch back on his wrist without breaking eye contact.

Amid the intense, suffocating atmosphere, he finally spoke in a low voice.

“Shall we have a cup of coffee together, student?”

Park Chigyeong, after fastening his watch, smoothly stepped away from Taeri.

The moment he moved, the air around her lightened, and only then was Taeri able to exhale the breath she had been holding. Her heartbeat, which she hadn’t felt until then, began to pound intensely.