Chapter 6 (Part 2)

“……Mr. Kim. Get the car…….”

Chae-seon seated Hae-mi on the sofa and headed to the front door.

“Madam. Where are you planning to go?”

“… I need to see that girl, Hyo-young.”

It feels like only choking the life out of that woman will calm this rage.

“You can’t. Madam, she’s in the hospital-“

“You! Are you siding with her too?! Do you think I don’t know you liked that Hyo-young girl?! Take me to the hospital!”

Mr. Kim’s face turned paler than ever.

Chae-seon grabbed the car keys hanging by the front door and threw them at Mr. Kim’s face.

“Drive while I’m still asking nicely.”

“……The Chairman has moved Hyo-young to another place.”

“You bastard, you must know where she is. Take me there. Don’t make me say it twice.”

At Chae-seon’s venomous voice, Mr. Kim closed his eyes tightly.

Mr. Kim thought.

Hyo-young didn’t know that Seo-hye was treated as a nuisance in the family. Surely, Seo-hye had pretended to get along well.

Of course, Hyo-young didn’t want Seo-hye to find out how she came into the world.

So she also asked to keep it a secret from Seo-hye that she was a servant in this family and that she knew Mr. Kim.

Hyo-young and Seo-hye were barely getting by, comforting each other with the thought that they would be okay.

But if Chae-seon went to Hyo-young now, spewed curses, and revealed all the facts…

Surely, the shock could lead her to end her own life.

“Mr. Kim! Didn’t you hear me?! Pick up the car keys and drive!”

At Chae-seon’s shout, Mr. Kim slowly opened his eyes.

He rubbed his cheek, where a dull pain was throbbing, with his palm and met her gaze coldly.

“Madam.”

“Lead the way!!”

“I can’t. It’s not about Hyo-young.”

“What?!”

“I serve the Painter, so I only follow the Painter’s orders.”

Chae-seon widened her eyes as if they might flip over and grabbed Mr. Kim’s shirt tightly.

Unlike before, Mr. Kim firmly shook off her hand.

“Have you forgotten why the Painter keeps Hyo-young alive? She’s a hostage to keep Miss Seo-hye! But if something goes wrong…”

“……”

“If something goes wrong, do you think that Miss Seo-hye will stay in this house? Even I would be disgusted and go out to cling to Seonghan’s grandson!”

Chae-seon’s eyelids trembled. Seeing her pupils shake dangerously from side to side, it seemed she was seriously pondering Mr. Kim’s words.

It was probably an argument she couldn’t ignore if she wanted to marry her daughter Hae-mi into Seonghan.

Chae-seon let out a sigh and then grabbed her temples as if she had a headache.

“Go upstairs for now. When the Painter wakes up tomorrow, I’ll ask for permission from him.”

“……Do it right, Mr. Kim.”

“……”

“I still don’t trust you.”

Knowing his long-standing affection for Hyo-young, Chae-seon always used that as leverage to treat him with disdain.

Even now, Chae-seon’s tone was mixed with contempt and disdain.

“……Calm down and go inside to rest, Madam. I will keep trying to contact Miss Seo-hye.”

Chae-seon, feeling angry enough to curse that she wouldn’t live long, headed to her room.

Bang-!

Only after the door closed forcefully did Mr. Kim lower his shoulders, which had been tensed and raised, and head to the study.

In the study, Hwa-woong was snoring comfortably, unaware that Seo-hye had gone with Do-jin.

He felt an urge to pick up the orchid placed by the window and throw it at the face of the sleeping man.

The anger surged at Hwa-woong, who benefited from holding onto the poor mother and daughter, and Hwa-jun, who made Hyo-young like that.

But… it’s not the right time yet.

Won Do-jin. If that Seonghan grandson is truly sincere towards Seo-hye, maybe Seo-hye and Hyo-young could find salvation.

If he reveals the truth he’s held for so long for the sake of the pitiful mother and daughter, perhaps he could bring down this household.

Maybe he could grant them freedom.

Perhaps that is the first and last gift he can give to the woman he has liked for so long.

***

Do-jin and Seo-hye arrived at a hotel.

On the way there, when Seo-hye realized they weren’t heading towards the house, she asked not to go to Do-jin’s house if that was the case.

She was still feeling emotionally unsettled and frankly expressed that if she went to Do-jin’s house in such a state, she felt she might never be able to leave.

Hearing her, Do-jin did not push as he usually would. He empathized with her emotional turmoil.

Upon arriving at the hotel, the two headed to Do-jin’s private room, where they had visited last time.

Having been with him twice at the hotel, her body quickly recalled those sensations.

Her steps became unnecessarily heavy, and tension began to stiffen the muscles in her back.

They arrived at the room, and he opened the door.

However, for some reason, Do-jin did not touch her and headed to the sitting room first.

As Seo-hye stood there blankly watching his back, he stopped, turned around, and spoke to her.

“Why do you look so tense when you’ve been here before?”

“I’m not… tense.”

As Seo-hye timidly answered and took a step closer, he chuckled softly.

“Then are you disappointed instead?”

“What?”

“I was wondering if you were disappointed because we didn’t immediately jump on each other like last time as soon as we closed the door.”

“No… I’m not.”

By the time she reached right in front of him, Seo-hye avoided the persistent gaze fixed on her.

To hide her reddened face, she quickly headed to the sofa in the sitting room.

Do-jin slowly followed and sat next to her.

Seo-hye raised her head and looked around.

“……There are plenty of seats, so why sit here?”

“Now you’re even complaining about where I sit.”

Seo-hye lost her words and pressed her lips together tightly.

Do-jin watched Seo-hye quite openly, and when she continued to avoid eye contact, he gently wrapped his hand around her wrist.

Seo-hye tried to subtly pull her arm away, pretending not to be surprised.

But the more she did, the more tightly Do-jin held her, turning her upper body to face him completely.

“Why…?”

“You seem calmer. Like that day.”

When Do-jin smiled with a slight furrow of his brow, Seo-hye felt strange and instinctively lowered her gaze.

“You’re listening to me so well now because I said I’d help find your mother, right?”

“That’s part of it. But… I also feel sorry.”

“Is that all?”

Do-jin tried to draw her gaze by pulling her arm closer.

Seo-hye had no choice but to look up. As their eyes met, the blush on her skin deepened.

Do-jin looked at her with a somewhat affectionate expression and gently changed the subject.

“You said you wouldn’t go to my house yet, so stay here comfortably for a while to clear your head.”

After a brief pause, Seo-hye replied,

“Yes.”

She seemed to have a lot to say to him, but her thoughts were too jumbled to articulate anything.

For now, she decided to find her mother first, and then sort out her feelings towards Do-jin and discuss everything.

“Okay. Then you can go now. Thank you… for today.”

“I went through all that trouble, and you’re just telling me to leave?”

When he didn’t immediately say he would go, Seo-hye bit her lower lip and awkwardly glanced around.

Then she checked the time on the watch on his wrist.

“Are you hungry? If so, I could make you a late-night snack—”

“I’m not hungry.”

“……Well, then. Oh, you’ve been driving for a long time. You must be tired, so you should go to the bedroom and sleep. I can sleep here.”

However, Do-jin responded to her suggestion with a non-sequitur.

“Strangely, even though I ate earlier, I keep wanting more.”

“You said you weren’t hungry?”

He slipped his hand between the sofa and her waist, holding her tightly.

And he pulled her close to him.

“I’m not hungry. I was talking about you, Seo-hye.”

Seo-hye instinctively leaned back.

“We did it earlier… and it was long…”

“It might have been long for you, Seo-hye, but not for me. Look.”

His dark eyes dropped downward.

Seo-hye slowly followed his gaze with her own.

Looking at the taut front, Seo-hye was inwardly shocked.

Can he even wear new dress pants for more than a day like that?

Just as she thought that even intact pants would be ruined, her delicate chin was caught in his large hand. Soon, hot breath poured over her lips, and her upper body naturally leaned back.

The woman, trapped in Do-jin’s large frame, surrendered her body to him without a single protest.

As urgent as he was, his impatient hands dug below before above, pressing into the tender flesh.

He kneaded her until moisture seeped out, and then he inserted himself in an instant.

Beginning with an unrestrained, honest moan, a fierce movement ensued that pushed the sofa back.