TIOAWN Chapter 8

Stepping barefoot on the heated sand, Ha-yoon stomped desperately, as if searching for an oasis.

 

Her anxious gaze swept through the small room over and over again.

 

Although she couldn’t fix the torn linoleum floor, she could at least clear away the rustling dust. She couldn’t do anything about the crooked window, but she could take care of the cobwebs.

 

With those thoughts in mind, Ha-yoon began searching for something—not a towel or a dishcloth—that the people who used to clean her room had carried around.

 

“There it is.”

 

What she found in the bathroom was a piece of pure white cloth.

 

“Ugh, my hands are freezing.”

 

There was no hot water. Even wringing out the wet cloth was difficult. Her hands were so cold that she dropped the cloth several times.

 

Kneeling down, she scrubbed the floor strip by strip, exhausting herself, but Ha-yoon did not stop cleaning.

 

Even when the dampness from the cloth made her socks soggy and water seeped into her thick dress, she kept repeating the same motions.

 

She scrubbed so thoroughly that her fingertips stung. Clutching the now-dirty cloth tightly, Ha-yoon surveyed the room.

 

“Does it look better now than before?”

 

Though small puddles of unwiped water remained and the room wasn’t exactly brightened, the dust seemed mostly cleared. Ha-yoon let out a sigh of relief.

 

“Cobwebs.”

 

Fixing her gaze on the cobwebs clinging to the crooked window frame, Ha-yoon exhaled deeply and slowly stretched out her arm.

 

Her thin arm trembled. The dark sky beyond the window seemed to beckon her.

 

Suddenly, dark eyes, as black as the night sky, came to mind. Thud. Ha-yoon dropped the cloth.

 

I have to do it. I have to show him something—anything.

 

With newfound determination, Ha-yoon picked up the piece of cloth.

 

Though she had never touched it before and recoiled at the idea of even brushing against it, she closed her eyes tightly and swung the cloth.

 

After meticulously removing even the cobwebs, Ha-yoon crouched in the bathroom to wash the dirty cloth. Her clumsy hands made awkward movements.

 

The wind was still bitter, and the floor icy cold. Yet, curling her body into a ball as if it were her home, she felt an overpowering drowsiness taking over.

 

Achoo. Achoo. The sneezing wouldn’t stop. Her forehead burned, and her entire body shivered.

 

Cold. It’s so cold. Her teeth chattered, and her arms trembled.

 

Yearning to hold onto something, anything, she moved her body and stretched out her arms. Ah, warmth. Something hard like the floor but warmer than her hands. Desperate to cling to the warmth, Ha-yoon groped around aimlessly.

 

She pressed her cheek against the warm surface and buried her face into it. Haah. A faint sigh escaped her lips.

 

Her mind was hazy, her throat parched.

 

When she sought warmth with her head, moving it back and forth, she felt something soft.

 

She couldn’t distinguish whether it was her own breath or something else. Where she sensed dampness, she instinctively extended her tongue.

 

“Where did you learn to do such things?”

 

A gruff voice, accompanied by a faint heat and irritation, grazed her ear. Even the whispered anger felt muted.

 

Instead of forcing her heavy eyelids open, Ha-yoon eagerly sought the liquid she craved. The dizzying sensation of being drawn in wasn’t as cold as a snowflake.

 

Rather, it was as fierce as a winter wind.

 

***

 

With a throbbing forehead, Moo-geon entered the rooftop room, on the verge of losing it. The place had been a dusty pit, yet there was Ha-yoon, curled up and sleeping on a polished floor, making his vision blur with disbelief.

 

I told her to prove her worth, and she cleans? How could this possibly equate to 13.9 billion won of value? Damn it. There’s a limit to how much someone can disregard me.

 

Gripping Ha-yoon’s limp shoulder, Moo-geon shook her. His anger toward Seo Myung-sik was about to boil over, but seeing Ha-yoon’s state redirected his fury toward her.

 

“Wake up, Seo Ha-yoon.”

 

Even though her shoulder must have hurt under his tight grip, Ha-yoon remained unresponsive. Her cheeks were flushed, and her serene sleeping face rendered him speechless.

 

The fiery sun burning within Moo-geon’s chest seemed to engulf him.

 

“So cold. So cold.”

 

Her faint voice tickled his ears. A small hand brushed his abdomen and moved up his firm chest. The coolness of her trembling lips gliding over his neck made his Adam’s apple bob. Moo-geon’s senses jolted awake.

 

Ha-yoon, sticking out her tongue, licked Moo-geon’s lips before devouring them.

 

“Seo Ha-yoon.”

 

If this is how you intend to prove your worth, we’ve got a problem.

 

Moo-geon abruptly grabbed her wrist. Her arm was so thin that it felt as if it might snap, and he quickly loosened his grip.

 

“Is this what you’ve learned? Really?”

 

Meanwhile, Ha-yoon’s lower body pressed against his leg. Her movements, clinging as if out of sheer survival, drew their stomachs together.

 

The corners of Moo-geon’s lips twisted. His pitch-black eyes reflected an unsettling gleam.

 

Such pathetic ploys were utterly repulsive.

 

He had no intention of playing with a girl, yet his thoughts kept skewing. Something was fractured, off-kilter, like stepping on shattered glass.

 

Moo-geon bit down on Ha-yoon’s lower lip. Ah. He ignored Ha-yoon’s groan as she swallowed the pain. Without hesitation, he shoved her away, grabbing her weakly flailing arms as if to crush them.

 

“Get a grip.”

 

His voice, heavy with emotion, was as sharp as a blade. Ha-yoon’s fluttering eyelids tried to meet his gaze, but Moo-geon only tightened his grip.

 

“Ah.”

 

The captured wrist turned red, and tears welled up in her clear eyes.  

 

“I told you to bring Seo Myung-sik.”  

 

The low voice carried no trace of mercy. Moo-geon’s Adam’s apple bobbed roughly. Still unsatisfied, he grabbed the trembling shoulders of Seo Ha-yoon.  

 

“Your worth.”  

 

Worth. That single word made Ha-yoon’s body instinctively shrink. But even that, Moo-geon didn’t permit.  

 

“I told you to prove it.”  

 

At a distance where their noses nearly touched and their lips were just shy of brushing, he muttered a warning.  

 

“Worth?”  

 

Mumbling drowsily, Ha-yoon didn’t even register the pain. Such a state was unlikely to escape Moo-geon’s sharp gaze. Ha-yoon’s sluggish response of quietly repeating his words only aggravated him further.  

 

“Repaying 13.9 billion like this?”  

 

So desperate to hide her father.  

 

Ha. A scoff formed at the corner of his lips and spread.  

 

Ha-yoon’s pupils didn’t leave Moo-geon’s. From the moment she heard the word “worth,” she couldn’t help but watch his every move.  

 

Contempt. She could easily read the emotion in his eyes.  

 

“I… proved it.”  

 

Her trembling voice was filled with fear.  

 

Her shoulders, gripped tightly, hurt as though they would break. The spot where his palm touched burned intensely, the heat doubling as their lower bodies pressed tightly together.  

 

“You proved it?”  

 

Moo-geon’s gaze pierced her, as if he wanted to consume her whole.  

 

“I… did. There’s nothing else I can do here, so… that’s why…”  

 

“That’s why you kissed and pressed your body against me?”  

 

Ha-yoon’s gaze dropped to where their bodies were so tightly pressed that not even air could pass between them.  

 

“Ah, so this is Seo Ha-yoon’s worth.”  

 

Just like her father—without shame, without hesitation.  

 

“I thought you were raised delicately, but I didn’t expect you to turn out this brazen.”  

 

Moo-geon spat cynically. His tone left no doubt of his disdain.  

 

If Seo Ha-yoon wanted to prove her worth, he might as well let her.  

 

“Strip.”  

 

Moo-geon leaned in closer, pressing his lips against her ear as he murmured.  

 

His voice was so low it sent chills down her spine. Ha-yoon’s rationality sank to the depths of the ocean.  

 

Worth. Proving. Pressing bodies together. And now, being told to strip.  

 

Is this what he wanted?  

 

“You said you’d repay with your body.”  

 

A voice that sounded like a cheap joke, an expression tinged with mockery, and rough hands.  

 

Moo-geon wanted Ha-yoon to sob, to beg through her tears that she couldn’t do it.  

 

“My… body?”  

 

Her lashes trembled faintly, pitifully.  

 

“Wasn’t your body all you had to offer when you pressed your lips to me?”  

 

Cover your ears, curl up, tremble in fear, and run away, Seo Ha-yoon.  

 

Moo-geon bent his knee and rubbed against Ha-yoon’s most intimate area.  

 

His twisted anger was as petty and childish as could be.  

 

“…”  

 

Caught off guard by the sensation, Ha-yoon swallowed hard, instinctively pulling her hips away. But Moo-geon grabbed her waist, drawing her closer.  

 

“Act with worth.”  

 

– Act with worth, Seo Ha-yoon.  

 

The words echoed again. Her shoulders flinched as if out of habit.  

 

Worth, worth. The suffocating feeling left her breathless and her throat constricted. She couldn’t move a single limb.  

 

Biting down on her tongue, Ha-yoon opened her mouth.  

 

“Paying with my body… Is that… an act of worth?”  

 

To you, is that really worth something?  

 

Ha-yoon’s innocent eyes met his as if she truly didn’t understand. The look made Moo-geon’s heart sting.  

 

“If it has worth.”  

 

Like a fragile flower grown in a greenhouse, she had no fear.  

 

Boiling hot anger surged to his head. Moo-geon painfully grabbed Ha-yoon’s chin and pressed his face close to her ear.  

 

“Then what will you do, Seo Ha-yoon?”