Chapter 84
- He's a Very Dangerous Man
2023.07.23.
So-eun opened her eyes at the expected time.
The previous day had been difficult, but after a deep sleep as rewarding as it was exhausting, she felt hardly any fatigue. Unlike the first time she spent the night with Tae-joon, her body seemed to be gradually getting healthier. Tae-joon's cautiousness since learning about her surgery was also a factor.
'But yesterday was a little different.'
So-eun's face flushed as she recalled the events of the previous night.
For some reason, she felt his strength, his grip, had become stronger. Even though she would be caught quickly after trying to escape, there was usually some room to break free, but yesterday, even that freedom was not allowed. As if he didn't want her to be away from him for even a moment, Tae-joon's touch was relentless and persistent. He was also disconcertingly silent.
In the end, she also wanted it, so it couldn't be called forced, but she wished he would have been a little more relaxed.
After a light wash, So-eun left the bedroom and strolled leisurely through the house. The large house was quiet. Tae-joon must have gone out for a workout.
After looking around, So-eun's feet stopped in the living room. She hadn't noticed it yesterday, but there was another ceramic piece next to the moon jar and Joseon white porcelain. It was a stylish celestial globe vase with a harmony of white and blue. Tae-joon would never buy something like this to decorate the house, so it was definitely a gift from someone.
Come to think of it, Tae-joon tended to neglect the house. If So-eun hadn't taken an interest, this broken moon jar might have been thrown into the trash without hesitation.
He neglected things he wasn't interested in, but he was full of passion for something he focused on. These days, he seemed to be working out hard.
And, me.
So-eun was now certain that Tae-joon cherished her.
Thinking about it, that drunken talk about getting married seemed to be his true feelings revealed with the help of alcohol. Because he liked her. Because he felt like he could do anything when he drank.
The certainty of being loved felt good.
While she was looking at the three ceramic brothers with a pleasant smile, she heard the sound of the front door opening. A moment later, Tae-joon came in.
Tae-joon seemed surprised to find So-eun in the living room.
"You're up early?"
"Yes. Did you go for a workout?"
"Yeah."
"But you're dressed neatly today?"
Tae-joon tensed up for a moment at So-eun's innocent question.
"I just went for a light jog today. I'm hungry, what should we have for breakfast? I have ramen, should we make ramen?"
Tae-joon smoothly changed the subject, and So-eun was quickly swept away.
"Shall I make it?"
"No. Sit down. I'll do it."
Tae-joon breathed a sigh of relief and leisurely walked to the kitchen. Drrr, his phone vibrated as he walked. Tae-joon stopped and picked up his phone.
"...What's wrong?"
So-eun, who quickly noticed the slight change in his expression, asked.
It was a report from the counselor. Yang Hee-wook's father had passed away.
The timing was bad. He had passed away as soon as that guy left his apartment. Yang Hee-wook, that ignorant guy, would surely create a causal relationship between the two events.
"Just work. My grandfather called,"
Tae-joon made another smooth excuse and put his phone in his pocket.
\
The funeral home was emptier than expected.
The news that Hee-wook's lawyer's license might be revoked had already spread in the company, and despite it being the weekend, his fellow lawyers didn't show their faces. Only the representative lawyer from the law firm had sent a wreath. As if they had been preparing for it.
Hee-wook's sister Heejin kept crying in the corner, and Kim Mal-hee fainted from sobbing and was sent to the bereaved family lounge.
Hee-wook sat blankly, guarding the incense burning room alone. He turned his head to the left and stared blankly at the empty seat.
It was the seat that Han So-eun should have been in. Even if the family was falling apart like this, Han So-eun would have steadfastly comforted the family and volunteered to do what she could.
He had lost such a Han So-eun, his family was ruined, his lawyer's license was also in jeopardy, and his father had passed away without any reward for spending money on hospital bills in their poor circumstances.
Something was strange. Something was really strange.
After he went to find So-eun, his family was ruined, and after his mother went to find So-eun, his father had an accident. And as soon as he went to find Kim Tae-joon, his father passed away.
Everything became suspicious. On the day that Han So-eun's liver donation surgery was made public, how did the reporters who had been gathered in front of his house disappear in an instant? And why did that damn coin hit rock bottom on that day? How were the traces of his document manipulation exposed? The caddy who rode the cart with him was fine, but why did only his father pass away?
Thinking about it, Sunday was also strange. How did he know that he had come to his house and come out?
'He put someone on me.'
Kim Tae-joon was obsessed with Han So-eun and couldn't forgive him for hurting Han So-eun.
Hee-wook clenched his teeth and clenched his fist.
\
Time passed, and it was Thursday.
It was the day of the disaster response training at the company. It was an annual event that started at 9:30 AM and ended at 10 AM, so actual work started at 10:30 AM. The team leader, who was serious about disaster training, told them to act as usual as if they were doing real work until 9:30 AM, but no one was actually working except for Chief Jang Eun-pyo. So-eun was looking at travel photos and humorous posts when she remembered that she hadn't opened her personal email for a long time, so she accessed her personal email account.
It had been two weeks since she had last accessed it, so there were quite a few emails piled up. Almost all of the more than 50 emails were spam. Among them, one personal email caught her eye.
<From Kim Tae-joon>
Her heart fluttered at the email title. She felt a little uneasy about how he had even found out her personal email address, but she couldn't help but open it because of the title. So-eun clicked on the title. However, the content inside was different from what So-eun had imagined.
The person who sent the email was not Tae-joon. It was Yang Hee-wook impersonating Kim Tae-joon. He must have thought that So-eun wouldn't even open the email if he said it was Yang Hee-wook.
"So-eun. It's Hee-wook.
My father passed away. Last Sunday.
Exactly last Sunday morning, my father passed away right after I went to Kim Tae-joon's apartment and met Kim Tae-joon.
Something is strange with my family right now. Since the day I went to you, my family has collapsed and we have a debt of 2.2 billion. And the day after my mother went to your house, my father had an accident. And in the end, he passed away.
Kim Tae-joon brought me and Choi Hyun-ji close to separate us on purpose to take you, put someone on me to ruin my family, and even killed my father to warn me. He even went to the United States to promote the merger of our company to revoke my lawyer's license.
I went to Kim Tae-joon last Sunday to argue about that, and Kim Tae-joon appeared right away even though I didn't contact him. Kim Tae-joon was having people watch me. And that day, he even said that he would tear me apart and kill me. It's hard to believe, but it's really true.
A scary person who tries to repay ten or twenty times as much if he has a grudge. He's a very dangerous man, So-eun. Keep an eye on your surroundings. Maybe that man is watching you too. Don't trust him."
So-eun's eyes turned red after checking the email. Yang Hee-wook's father had passed away. That it was last Sunday morning.
She didn't believe Yang Hee-wook's words. But even if everything written in this email was a lie, the fact that his father had passed away would be true.
So-eun recalled the events of last Sunday morning. Tae-joon, who said he had been working out, was not as sweaty as usual and was dressed neatly. Now that she thought about it, it seemed like he had gone to meet someone instead of jogging. And, there was a time when his expression hardened briefly when he came home.
Was that when he confirmed that Yang Hee-wook's father had passed away?
She didn't think it was a big deal to blame him for that.
'Anyone can receive news.'
As she defended him in her mind, another memory suddenly flashed through her mind. She remembered Tae-joon laughing lightly, asking how to kill someone. She also remembered him confidently saying that Yang Hee-wook would never contact her again. He was so confident, as if he had Yang Hee-wook's freedom in his hands.
The fire alarm rang and the disaster response training began. So-eun quickly turned off her computer and followed the people. The employees on the first floor were more relaxed than the other employees, but So-eun was out of her mind with the shock of opening the email that Hee-wook had sent. The fact that someone she had known, even if it was only for a short time, had suddenly passed away was shocking in itself.
Before she knew it, the people in front of her had disappeared and So-eun was alone. As she moved blankly, she ended up going to the basement floor.
"Where are you going?"
Someone called So-eun from behind. At the grip that grabbed her arm, So-eun turned around and her body tilted as the other person pulled her. So-eun fell into his arms with a thud. It was Tae-joon, who had been difficult to see due to his external schedule.
A pleasant laughter echoed softly in his arms.
"It's a evacuation drill. Why are you going to the basement?"
Tae-joon straightened So-eun's body and teased her with a sunny smile.
"There's always someone who doesn't listen."
"......"
"Chief Han So-eun needs to get some special training separately."
His eyes seemed happy, as if he was glad to meet her like this during the boring work.
So-eun couldn't smile along with Tae-joon and stiffened, then quietly parted her lips.
"...Yang Hee-wook's father passed away."
His expression, which had been full of laughter, immediately sank. His lips parted slightly.
"Ah."
"Did you know?"
"How did So-eun find out?"
So-eun asked first, but he asked back without paying attention to it.
"...Yang Hee-wook called. ...With a different number."
Why did she have to lie?
Did she think that if she told the truth, he might look into her email? Subconsciously?
His gaze sharpened.
"You shouldn't answer any calls."
"...I'm, looking for my dad. My dad is said to be in the Philippines, but I lost contact with him a long time ago. So I told the Philippine embassy to contact my number if they find my dad. That's why I just answer numbers that aren't saved."
So-eun made up a plausible excuse. At So-eun's answer, his brown eyes took on a more ambiguous light. It was an expression that she couldn't read at all what he was thinking.
So-eun carefully asked a rude question.
"By any chance, is Director related to Yang Hee-wook's father's death?"
"No. Not at all."
"......"
"It's true. I don't do things like that."
He seemed uncomfortable with her reaction, and he built a more solid look in his eyes to his short answer.
So-eun nodded quietly.
She believed him. Absolutely.
So-eun also knew that she had to believe Kim Tae-joon, not Yang Hee-wook.
But she didn't know why she felt uneasy. It seemed like he was still hiding something.
