Chapter 109
109. Why are you so desperate to devour me!
2023.08.17.
Kim Tae-joon arrived at Bryce Canyon at dawn. From Sunrise Point to Bryce Point, he scoured the amphitheater area, which is the sunrise point of Bryce Canyon, but couldn't find Han So-eun. Tae-joon immediately returned to the entrance. He thought it would be better to stay where So-eun was likely to return rather than wandering around the vast canyon.
Clark, the owner of the Bryce Canyon mart, greeted Tae-joon.
"Oh, Jooton! You're back."
"Thank you for contacting me. But the video you showed me yesterday was blurry. Can I see the original?"
"Of course."
Without hesitation, Clark showed him the CCTV footage.
Han So-eun. It was definitely Han So-eun.
After checking the original, Tae-joon was certain it was So-eun.
"If she visited the mart at this hour, it means she stayed at a lodging near here."
"That's right."
Han So-eun doesn't have a driver's license, so she couldn't have rented a car and come alone. She must have come with a group or chosen a package tour.
"What tour buses came last night?"
"There's one over there. And the guide is there too."
Tae-joon ran towards the direction Clark pointed. A guide and a few tourists were standing there. They seemed to be starting their schedule for the day. Looking around, So-eun wasn't among the tourists.
"Hello. I'm looking for someone. Is there a young Asian woman in her twenties among the tour members? Her name is Han So-eun."
"There's no one named Han So-eun."
Hadi chimed in from the side.
"Could you be looking for Joy?"
Tae-joon wanted to hear more from Hadi, so he looked at him, and Hadi spilled the beans.
"There's an Asian woman named Joy Brown who left the tour about an hour ago. She said she was getting a ride back in another car."
"Is this her?"
Tae-joon showed the guide and Hadi So-eun's photos. One was from her company entrance photo, and the other was from the mart CCTV last night.
"Oh! That's her! This woman!"
Both the guide and Hadi nodded.
"But she left, you said."
"She said she was going back to Las Vegas."
Tae-joon turned his head, scanning the surroundings thoroughly. There was also a camera in the hotel parking lot. After asking Clark to check the parking lot camera, Tae-joon confirmed that So-eun got out of a black sedan about an hour ago.
The woman in the black padding!
It was the woman he had passed at Inspiration Point.
He felt suspicious about her attire, but he dismissed it because a foreign couple was taking care of her like a daughter. He had been backstabbed by them.
So-eun had rushed to the tour guide, talking frantically, and after talking to a guy named Hadi, she got back in the car.
I called her a rabbit, and she's really running away like a rabbit?
Tae-joon glared sharply at the CCTV screen.
The detective Tae-joon hired in the United States was very capable. When Tae-joon gave the detective the car number, the detective quickly provided the owner's name and home address. The owner lived in Henderson, a city right next to Las Vegas. Tae-joon immediately moved to Henderson.
Sharing his circumstances and asking for help from people who initially put up walls was no longer difficult for Tae-joon.
The Lyndon couple, who initially refused to reveal So-eun's whereabouts, eventually surrendered after hearing Tae-joon's story and learning why So-eun had come to Bryce Canyon.
*
She needed to move her body, to escape from his grasp.
Her body and mind seemed paralyzed. Only her tear ducts seemed to be working properly.
While she hesitated, the door opened. With her shoulders grabbed, So-eun was pushed into the room by Tae-joon.
Only after the door clicked shut did she belatedly come to her senses. Twisting her body, she broke free from his grip and pushed him away with all her might. But he wouldn't budge. She only moved backward as much as she pushed. Her foot caught on the bed, and she collapsed as if thrown down.
Kim Tae-joon had come.
A month after she had run away from him, he had found her.
Even facing his face, which seemed thinner and more haggard, So-eun couldn't offer a warm greeting. She had to desperately hold back the tears that would fall if she blinked. Her heart was racing as if convulsing.
"Don't come."
As he slowly moved closer, So-eun flinched and moved back a little more.
"Get out. Leave now."
The sun rising in Bryce Canyon, and the sun she had seen in the East Sea long ago, were not as blazing as his eyes. Despite her telling him not to come closer, Tae-joon quickly closed the distance.
"Why did you come here? I told you not to look for me again."
"The watch."
A large hand opened in front of So-eun, showing the palm.
"You don't have it?"
"...I sold it. I'll give you the money."
"No. It's precious because it holds memories."
At Tae-joon's answer, So-eun curled her dry lips inward.
She had tried to choose carefully. In the end, she had touched another of this man's memories.
Now that it had come to this, she should contact the chairman and tell him to return the watch quickly.
Tae-joon chuckled at So-eun's troubled expression.
"Do you even feel sorry about that?"
He found it amusing that she was at a loss over such a thing after turning his world upside down.
His head tilted as he lowered his eyes and scanned So-eun's entire body.
"The dress code is quite racy."
She had never shown him this side of herself, so she deserved to hear that. But now that they were strangers, she resented him interfering as if he were still her boyfriend.
"Why? It's my body, and I'm wearing it. What's it to you?"
"Fine. Wear whatever you want."
"......"
"Just don't catch a cold."
Tae-joon gave up his argument more easily than expected. Eventually, he strode up to her feet and settled on the edge of the bed. So-eun's shoulders twitched upward, as if she were hiccuping, at the weight of him sitting down. Even in the midst of that, So-eun shifted her hips diagonally to move a little further away from him.
"What do you think I am?"
So-eun didn't answer.
"A pushover, a sucker who does everything you want, right?"
His resigned voice was still tearing at So-eun's heart. She wanted to shout that he was someone who shouldn't be treated like this, but she resented the reality of having to keep her heart tightly closed.
So-eun had to work hard to control her expression, which kept distorting.
"Yeah. I admit it. But I can't do this. There's no breaking up."
"Why are you doing this? I told you I left because I was suffocating."
"I know everything that Grandpa did wrong to So-eun."
"No. No! I knew everything from the start too."
"......"
"Why do you think I went to K Electronics? I went there to get revenge. I resented you for separating a father and daughter. I wanted to ruin you no matter what."
So-eun made an absurd claim, saying that the information he had was wrong. If she could shake him off that way, she wouldn't mind being known as a heartless woman. Her heart, which could do anything for him, was still there. She could do anything to shake him off too.
However, such nonsensical claims from So-eun were unlikely to work on Tae-joon.
"What could you possibly do?"
"If I make a fool out of a man like you... I can also extort money from the chairman."
"Han So-eun, how can I believe that? I know you."
"Look. A man like you got so worked up that you dropped everything and chased me all the way here. I did it to see this."
"Fine. Then keep watching. I'll keep believing you."
"......"
"I'll live as your fool for the rest of my life. Just take all my assets, then. Would that be enough?"
As expected. An unprepared provocation was unlikely to work. Unintentionally, she had heard another confession. His surrender, saying that he still loved her even after she had left so coldly, was frustrating and sad.
It felt like she couldn't carve any wounds into his steel heart, but she needed to become an ax handle to break that steel and make him back down. She didn't have the cruelty to wield the ax handle.
"You were so good to me until right before I left."
"That's because I gave you everything! There's nothing more I can give you now."
"Are you stupid? Didn't you think that giving everything like that would drive a man crazy?"
"......"
"Why didn't such a meticulous person think of that? You should have expected it when I was with you, when I was crazy and only followed you. That I would never let you go until I die."
So-eun couldn't bear to look at his pleading eyes and turned her head away. The subtle sound of him getting up from the bed and approaching filled the room and echoed.
"Didn't you miss me?"
He asked, sitting back on the bed as he got closer. It was a gentle persuasion, as if trying to turn So-eun's gaze, which had turned away.
"I'll leave if you didn't miss me."
"I didn't miss you at all. So leave."
"Don't lie."
"I'm not lying!"
Why did he ask if he wasn't going to believe her anyway?
In the end, he made her turn around. So-eun pushed Tae-joon's shoulder away with all her might.
She had to be firm. The longer it took, the harder it would be. Because her expression would be revealed, and her true feelings would be exposed. She was already at her limit. She had to kick him out quickly.
"Why do you only believe what you want to believe?"
But he didn't budge. It was a futile act, like using force against a wall.
"You said you were leaving, so why aren't you leaving?"
Eventually, both of her arms were grabbed by him. The palms of her hands were intertwined with his, and his fingers were inserted between her fingers. She lost confidence in maintaining her expression when she faced him directly. She twisted her arms with all her might to pull out the hands that were grabbed by him. She felt sad that this man had approached so casually, while she had to move away with all her strength every time.
Thud. Her body fell onto the bed due to her desperate resistance. This terrible man didn't miss the chance and pressed his body against her again. He pressed down on the lower body of the woman who stubbornly showed her back, grabbed her slender wrists, and whispered in her ear.
"Look at me."
"......"
"Look at my face."
"No."
"Han So-eun."
Unlike his overwhelming strength, his voice was sweet and gentle. So-eun had to constantly fight against her heart, which wanted to turn around and hug him. No, the internal battle was even greater. With the determination to overcome this temptation and escape, So-eun forcefully tilted her head back and bumped Tae-joon's chin.
Ugh, Tae-joon, who let out a short groan at the sudden attack, raised his body. A gap was created for So-eun as well.
So-eun, who also quickly raised her body, confirmed Tae-joon's face, which was grimacing while holding his chin with one hand, and shouted fiercely.
"I told you to leave!"
On the one hand, she also wanted to check for signs of injury, wondering if she had bumped him too hard, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.
Why are you trying to hurt him?
I went through so much trouble, taking the train for 70 hours to come here. I abandoned everything and left, really, to not reach you, to never see your face again, so why are you chasing me!
Why are you chasing me!
"Why are you so desperate to devour me!"
"Because I can't devour you!"
Matching her enraged voice, Tae-joon raised his voice for the first time.
His desperate plea, which had burst out because he couldn't handle the woman in front of him, shook the air in the room.
In fact, he wanted to kneel in front of her and cry.
Why doesn't she know that?
You are precious to me. You are the most precious to me.
He thought she was a woman who wasn't even worth a bite. But she was a stronger woman than he thought. She was also too weak of a woman. He wanted to hold her in his grasp and control her, but he was nervous every moment, fearing that she would crumble if he held her even a little.
How great would it be if I could swallow you whole. If you were mine forever, never leaving.
He sometimes felt a wicked desire to lock her up somewhere and an evil desire to make her have his child. But he couldn't do anything.
Because he was afraid that she would get hurt, that she would collapse, because she was too precious, he couldn't even touch her carelessly.
You, who are so precious, will never be mine in the end, so I can only be desperate forever.
