TIOAWN Chapter 3

“130…and 9 billion?”  

 

She stammered, as if unable to believe it.  

 

It was an amount so large that she couldn’t even grasp its magnitude.  

 

“It’s 13.94 billion won. That’s the principal amount, without interest,” Kang-heon corrected the figure precisely, glancing at Moo-geon, who was always sensitive to numbers.  

 

“The debtor, Seo Myung-sik, has disappeared. So, who should we get the money from?”  

 

The voice carrying the question was suffocating. Ha-yoon pressed her hand against her chest as if to calm her racing heart. Moo-geon’s dark eyebrows twitched slightly.  

 

“I… I don’t have any money…”  

 

It was true. She had never had money to begin with. Naturally, she had never bought anything herself, nor had she ever truly needed anything.  

 

All she had ever wanted were art supplies, and even those had always been provided in abundance before she could even ask.  

 

What should I do?

 

Ha-yoon bit her lower lip anxiously. She frantically rummaged through her clothes but couldn’t find even a single card.  

 

“W-wait a second.”  

 

She stood up and began opening drawers here and there. Maybe there was money somewhere. For the first time in her life, Ha-yoon desperately searched for money.  

 

Moo-geon watched her movements with a dry expression, his arms crossed.  

 

What was she so earnestly looking for? The drawers and even the contents inside were things he was going to confiscate anyway. Clicking his tongue, Moo-geon approached her and closed the drawer with his hand.  

 

“Ah.”  

 

Ha-yoon staggered out of the room, her movements unsteady. As Kang-heon tried to follow her in haste, Moo-geon stopped him with a glance, leisurely trailing behind her.  

 

Ha-yoon, who had been moving frantically as if she would find something any moment, froze as soon as she stepped out of the room. The scene outside was pure chaos.  

 

Broken picture frames, a vase shattered on the living room floor, a console and drawers left wide open as if someone had rifled through them—they were all in disarray.  

 

“I-I don’t have any money,” Ha-yoon repeated herself, half out of her mind.  

 

“Then we’ll have to sell everything: the house, the belongings, and…”  

 

Moo-geon trailed off as he tore a red sticker off a fallen picture frame.  

 

“…even you, Seo Ha-yoon.”  

 

The bright red sticker moved to Ha-yoon’s pale forehead.  

 

“Though I’m not sure if you’d be worth much,” he murmured indifferently as he pressed the sticker firmly onto her forehead with his thumb.  

 

The force made her stumble, but she managed to steady herself by gripping the edge of the sofa. Ha-yoon stared blankly at Moo-geon.  

 

“Can you handle it?”  

 

Leaning forward, he lowered his upper body, his gaze piercing into her as if to probe every corner of her thoughts.  

 

Sell… me?  

 

Where? How?  

 

“No.”  

 

There was no way she could handle it. Ha-yoon shook her head, her face ashen.  

 

“Then bring me your father…”  

 

Moo-geon, who had been replying in a strangely measured tone, suddenly spat out coldly.  

 

The atmosphere grew so oppressive it felt as though the air had thickened. Moo-geon lowered his face so close that their eyes nearly met, delivering what felt like a final warning.  

 

“Bring me Seo Myung-sik.”  

 

It felt as if she had been slapped. Her mind went blank, her tears dried up, and her reasoning dissolved like vapor.  

 

“Take her out.”  

 

Moo-geon’s command followed swiftly. Before Ha-yoon could even react, Kang-heon was at her side.  

 

“Wait, wait, please!”  

 

Take her out? Throw her out? What did that mean?  

 

Ha-yoon thought she must have misheard. She flailed her arms in resistance, but it was futile. Kang-heon firmly grabbed one of her arms and dragged her with unyielding strength.  

 

“I don’t know where my father is! It’s true! Please believe me!”  

 

Her desperate voice didn’t even make Moo-geon glance back.  

 

“This is my father’s house. If not here, then I have nowhere else to…”  

 

…go.  

 

Her words faded into nothingness.  

 

As if he had heard something unusual, Moo-geon paused briefly before leaving the front door. Tilting his head slightly, he turned back and approached Ha-yoon.  

 

“Nothing in this place belongs to Seo Myung-sik anymore.”  

 

His dark pupils gleamed coldly, sharper than any blade.  

 

“Make sure that sticker doesn’t come off,” he said, his tone devoid of emotion.  

 

Moo-geon pressed the sticker stuck on Ha-yoon’s forehead with strong force once more.  

 

“This house, these belongings, and you, Seo Ha-yoon as well. I am now the owner of all of it, so keep your mouth shut and behave yourself.”  

 

“Because If something has no value to be kept, I will dispose of it mercilessly.”  

 

The heavy thumb pressing against her forehead delivered a sharp warning.  

 

Reality hit Ha-yoon hard, making her vision blur. The sticker-marked forehead burned as if on fire. The broad shoulders moving away from her seemed unrealistically large.  

 

Her feet dragged, and before she knew it, she was outside the house.  

 

“It hurts. Let me go.”  

 

Her arm felt as if it might be torn off. Ha-yoon pleaded desperately, but Kang-heon followed Moo-geon’s command as though he couldn’t hear her.  

 

The fierce wind tousled her hair into disarray. Her body trembled, and her shoulders hunched involuntarily.  

 

“I’ll sell it all. This house, these belongings, and you too.”  

 

The dry voice lingered in her ears like the biting wind piercing her skin.  

 

Even with socks that reached her ankles, the soles of her feet stung. The cold from the stones seeped deep into her bones. Feeling her hair stand on end, Ha-yoon shivered.  

 

Without proper shoes, Ha-yoon staggered across the stone steps and was eventually thrown outside the gate.  

 

Bang.  

 

The heavy gate closed right in front of her eyes, as if it were the most natural thing.  

 

“Two days.”  

 

Those were the last words from the man who had held her arm painfully.  

 

When she turned her head at the sound of an engine starting, red taillights entered her vision.  

 

Despite her overwhelming desire to run away, the unexpected intruder left the house immediately.  

 

No, it felt more like she had been tossed outside like an unwanted guest.  

 

Ha-yoon collapsed where she stood, her heart racing unnaturally fast.  

 

“Ah.”  

 

She pressed her left hand over her heart and laid her right hand over it. Her clear, bright eyes gazed resentfully after the departing car. For a moment, the brake lights flickered red, then disappeared entirely.  

 

The serene winter night was illuminated beautifully by the moon, as if reveling in the stillness. The stars scattered across the sky shone with indescribable brilliance.  

 

Though the world was so peaceful, Ha-yoon’s heart thudded noisily.  

 

***

 

Moo-geon, now in the car, leaned his head back and closed his eyes.  

 

A body trembling like a frightened puppy. Pure, teary eyes on the verge of breaking. The innocent face, as pristine as a snowflake flaunting its purity in the biting cold, hovered in his mind, causing the veins on the back of his hand to protrude.  

 

“I don’t know anything. I truly know nothing.”  

 

The sensation of her resisting his touch with those gentle, innocent eyes was still vivid.  

 

His anger surged and subsided, then boiled over again only to dissipate. Like waves failing to reach the rocks, his emotions scattered messily.  

 

The fact that she was Seo Myung-sik’s daughter was reason enough to crush her, yet how delicately she had grown.  

 

Even when she stood before him with her hair gripped, she seemed pathetic, clutching at her torn stomach without an ounce of hostility.  

 

A burning sensation spread through him. His dry, cracked skin split further, exposing raw flesh.  

 

Moo-geon placed his hand on his abdomen and pressed down hard.  

 

The stubborn past clawed deeply at his wounded stomach.  

 

“Damn it,” Moo-geon muttered under his breath.  

 

Of all things, the stab wound was at the very spot Seo Myung-sik had pierced 15 years ago.  

 

He laid a hand over his forehead and exhaled deeply.  

 

“It must hurt.”  

 

The soft, gentle voice fell over his wound like a white bandage.  

 

How could such a simple statement momentarily weaken the grip he had on her hair?  

 

That wasn’t right. It shouldn’t be.  

 

Neither Ha-yoon worrying about him nor him showing her any mercy made sense.  

 

Those were impossibilities.  

 

“…Vice President Song Woo-jin… tomorrow morning… then lunch with the executives of G Construction…”  

 

Kang-heon’s concise report failed to fully reach Moo-geon’s ears, cutting off intermittently.  

 

As his nerves stretched to their limit, Moo-geon roughly loosened his tie, threw it aside, and unbuttoned his shirt.  

 

“Open the window.”  

 

The wretched feeling of swallowing scalding sand under the blazing sun suffocated him. The oppressive sensation pressing on his throat made him feel as though he was choking.  

 

“Yes, sir.”  

 

The driver, Kiseok, cautiously rolled down the window, sensing Moo-geon’s mood.  

 

“Wait, she collapsed?”  

 

Kiseok’s muttered words mixed with the winter wind.  

 

“Stop the car.”  

 

Straightening his upper body, Moo-geon gave a reflexive command.  

 

Collapsed? Seo Ha-yoon?  

 

Realizing that his subconscious had reached that thought, Moo-geon let out a heavy sigh.  

 

“Who allowed you to collapse, Seo Ha-yoon?”  

 

“Sir?”  

 

Kang-heon, who had been watching Ha-yoon’s condition through the side mirror, turned his body to observe Moo-geon.  

 

“Who’s still there?”  

 

“Pardon?”  

 

“Chief Ji.”  

 

As if he wouldn’t repeat himself, Moo-geon, who had quickly regained his composure, asked in a low voice.  

 

“Inside the estate, Hyun-ho is on watch, and Jaegyu is stationed outside.”  

 

“Tell them to make sure Seo Ha-yoon doesn’t die.”  

 

Make sure she doesn’t die? Not to monitor whether she dies but to ensure she doesn’t?  

 

The nuance was oddly different, enough to delay Kang-heon’s recognition by half a beat.  

 

“…Understood.”  

 

Well, it wasn’t surprising. His boss was not one to tolerate losses.  

 

With this much at stake, it made sense to ensure she stayed alive to extract value, Kang-heon thought as he quickly took out his phone to send a message.  

 

“If you track down Seo Myung-sik, report immediately.”  

 

No matter how heartless Seo Myung-sik was, he’d show up upon hearing that the daughter he had raised so delicately was abandoned on the street.  

 

It would be even better if the refined Ha-yoon sought out her father in desperation.  

 

Even though he had thrown her out without a penny or even a phone, Moo-geon was unperturbed.  

 

If she didn’t want to freeze to death, she’d have to walk all night to find one of Seo Myung-sik’s lackeys.  

 

If not, she could cling to Oh Jaegyu’s trousers and borrow a phone to call Seo Myung-sik.  

 

Ultimately, she wouldn’t last even an hour before asking Oh Jaegyu for help.  

 

Confident in this, Moo-geon sank deeper into his seat.  

 

“Should we head home?”  

 

Noticing the faint scent of blood and Moo-geon’s damp shirt, Kang-heon searched his phone for Dr. Yoon’s number as he spoke.