Chapter 6 (Part 3)

The next day, morning in Cheongun-dong.

Hwa-woong, who woke up about an hour later than usual, opened the study door and called for Mr. Kim first.

“Mr. Kim.”

Mr. Kim, who was waiting in the living room, responded immediately.

“Yes, Sir.”

“My stomach feels terrible. Have them make some refreshing dried pollack soup in the kitchen.”

“Yes. If there’s no dried pollack, I’ll have them substituted with seaweed soup or bean sprout soup.”

Hwa-woong made a somewhat indifferent gesture as if to say that’s fine and then plopped down on the living room sofa.

After deciding with Chairman Won yesterday to move the wedding up by a month, he was in such a good mood that he drank without restraint, forgetting his age.

As a result, his stomach was now churning so much that it felt like the earth was spinning violently.

However, since the nausea was exchanged for future gains, he could happily endure it.

Hwa-woong chuckled slyly as he got up from the sofa, left the front door, and headed straight for the storage room.

He intended to tell Seo-hye to pause the painting for JC Department Store and to focus on creating a painting for Chairman Won, emphasizing the need to put effort into it once again.

Chairman Won was probably planning to gift the painting to someone, and if he requested it so discreetly, it must be a painting of considerable value.

A magnificent painting that wouldn’t be surprising to have an enormous price tag attached.

“Seo-hye.”

He excitedly called out to Seo-hye even before entering the backyard where the storage room was visible.

Despite his severe hangover, his steps were light, and his voice was full of energy.

“Hey.”

However, the closer he got to the storage room, the more something seemed off.

“…Hmm?”

The storage room door was completely open. He called out to Seo-hye once more.

“Seo-hye. Why aren’t you answering?”

But the voice that should have responded long ago remained silent.

Hwa-woong stopped in his tracks.

He recalled how Seo-hye had clung to his knee before he completely blacked out the night before.

The child who had pleaded so earnestly was not responding immediately.

Something was definitely wrong, very wrong.

Hwa-woong took another large step and looked into the storage room.

“!”

Hwa-woong’s usually droopy eyes widened in shock.

“…W-what is this…!”

Seo-hye was nowhere to be found, and the storage room was in chaos.

An easel with broken legs, brushes scattered everywhere, paint and footprints dirtying the floor.

A sense of unease swept over him at the disordered scene.

“Mr. Kim…!”

Hwa-woong hurriedly ran back into the house.

Too shocked to realize, he entered the house still wearing his slippers.

Desperately calling for Mr. Kim, he finally appeared from the kitchen.

“Paintor, did you call for me?”

“T-the storage room, what is that? Where has Seo-hye gone? Why is she nowhere to be found!”

Lee Hwa-woong’s face was so pale that it wouldn’t have been surprising if he had fainted from shock.

His mouth seemed dry as he continuously wetted his lips with his tongue, his hands trembling.

“Sir, please calm down and sit on the sofa. I’ll explain everything.”

Hwa-woong reluctantly released his trembling grip on Mr. Kim and went to sit on the sofa.

Mr. Kim stood right next to him and gave a brief explanation of what happened yesterday.

He conveniently left out the part about helping Seo-hye escape from the house.

“Sir, there was a major argument between Miss Hae-mi and Miss Seo-hye yesterday.”

“Why did Hae-mi do that again! I told her I even met with Chairman Won yesterday to arrange their marriage! Why did she go and pick a fight with the child again!”

“After the hotel class yesterday, it seems Seonghan’s grandson escorted Miss Seo-hye to the front of the house. Miss Hae-mi saw this.”

“…Oh….”

“So, Miss Hae-mi followed Miss Seo-hye, who had gone to the storage room to paint after leaving your room….”

“….”

“She harassed her. She even tried to harm her hand, saying that if she couldn’t paint, she would be useless in this house. Because of that, Miss Seo-hye suffered a severe injury to her hand.”

“What?!”

The enraged Hwa-woong sprang up from the sofa in fury.

Mr. Kim calmly continued his explanation, unfazed by the outburst.

“However… it seems that Seonghan’s grandson didn’t leave right away after dropping off Miss Seo-hye. He stayed in front of the house and, well, witnessed the whole scene. In the end, he took Miss Seo-hye with him.”

Hwa-woong stomped his feet on the floor in anger.

His face was flushed with excitement.

At that moment, Chae-seon, who had finished preparing for work, came into the living room.

“You couldn’t even manage Hae-mi, and now look at this mess you’ve made?!”

Startled by Hwa-woong’s outburst, Chae-seon shouted back.

“What are you talking about, Father! And what did our Hae-mi do! That insolent girl—”

“Quiet! Quiet!! If Seo-hye doesn’t come back, don’t think you and Hae-mi will be safe. If things go wrong, don’t expect me to sit still!!”

Chae-seon trembled with anger, slammed the front door, and left the house.

Hwa-woong, paying no attention to Chae-seon’s actions, clutched his forehead and anxiously paced around the living room.

“…Mr. Kim.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Try contacting the Deputy Director of Dae Han Newspaper.”

“Sir, you can’t possibly mean….”

“Given the situation, we have no choice, do we?”

Mr. Kim followed Hwa-woong’s instructions with a somber expression.

***

The next day, after completing his scheduled tasks, Do-jin was reviewing approval documents in his office when he called for Seok-young.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door, and Do-jin immediately invited him in.

“Secretary Yoo. There’s that chauffeur in Cheongun-dong, right? The one who manages the household affairs and even handles Paintor Lee’s work.”

“Oh, yes. I think I’ve seen him in passing. Isn’t he someone who looks to be in his 50s? Whenever I go to pick up Seo-hye from her classes, he stands at the entrance watching.”

“Yes, that’s him. Could you possibly get in touch with him? Let him know I’d like to meet him separately.”

“Yes, but Executive Director, while I can make contact, aren’t you trying to meet him without Paintor Lee knowing? It won’t be easy for him to meet you without the paintor noticing.”

Do-jin agreed with this point.

He knew that as Paintor Lee’s closest confidant, meeting Do-jin secretly could arouse the paintor’s suspicions.

Moreover, if Mr. Kim were to help Do-jin smuggle Seo-hye’s mother out, there was no guarantee he would remain safe in Cheongun-dong.

“Then let’s find out Paintor Lee’s schedule for this week. Let’s see if there are any times when Paintor Lee and that chauffeur might be apart.”

“Yes, understood.”

Seok-young quickly bowed and headed towards the door, showing his eagerness to carry out the task.

Do-jin called him back for a moment.

“By the way, Secretary Yoo, have you been getting any calls from the Chairman lately?”

“Oh, no. He hasn’t been calling me lately… It’s almost as if he knows I’m siding with you, Executive Director, since he hasn’t contacted me.”

“I see. Alright, you can go now.”

After Seok-young left, Do-jin checked the time. There was still an hour left until the end of the workday.

He was very curious about what Seo-hye was doing alone in the room, but he refrained from picking up his phone to contact her.

She was surely waiting for news about her mother, not from him.

If she expressed any disappointment upon not hearing the news she hoped for, her mood would surely plummet.

He picked up the documents he had been looking at, letting out a wry smile.

Since when did I start caring about other people’s feelings?

30 minutes later.

Seok-young came in with the information.

At Do-jin’s nod, he laid down a file that neatly summarized Paintor Lee’s schedule for easy viewing.

“When I mentioned that you wished to meet him, the chauffeur readily sent over Lee Hwa-woong’s schedule. It seems there might be something going on. It’s not common for someone to so easily give away information about the person they serve.”

Without responding to Seok-young’s comment, Do-jin immediately looked down at the file.

“If you look here, there’s a golf meeting every Thursday at 10 AM. I asked since it’s tomorrow, and it’s said to be a typical high-society social gathering.”

Do-jin nodded and asked in a low voice.

“In such a gathering, it wouldn’t be a problem if the chauffeur isn’t visible for a while, would it?”

“Yes, that’s correct. The chauffeur would typically wait outside. Shall I convey that you’ll meet at that golf course tomorrow at this time?”

“Yes, let’s do that.”

“Then I’ll move tomorrow morning’s schedule to another time or day.”

Do-jin thanked Secretary Yoo for his quick handling of the matter.

He then picked up the documents on the desk and read through the schedule Seok-young had prepared.

Suddenly, a question came to mind.

“Secretary Yoo.”

“Yes, Executive Director?”

“This is one thing. Separately, you’re continuing the search for Seo-hye’s mother, right?”

“Yes, of course. We are thoroughly searching the Gyeonggi-do Province area, but there’s no news. I thought it would be easy to find her since she was said to be receiving treatment with a new drug for a rare disease… It’s like she’s been hidden away somewhere very securely and isn’t showing up.”

Do-jin stared into space for a moment, as if contemplating something.

Despite starting the search immediately upon learning that Lee Hwa-woong had hidden Seo-hye’s mother, they still couldn’t find her…

“It might not be a hospital. How did it go when I asked you to find out if there were any medical professionals among Paintor Lee’s acquaintances?”

“Oh, about that. Among his friends from middle and high school, there’s someone who runs a large private general hospital in Seoul. While receiving the schedule from the chauffeur, I also asked if this hospital director and Paintor Lee were close. I should have received a response by now, just a moment.”

Seok-young excused himself and took out his phone from his jacket pocket.

He quickly scanned the phone screen with his eyes.

“You’re right, Executive Director. That hospital director is an old friend of Paintor Lee.”

Do-jin asked Seok-young to thoroughly investigate Director Park Dong-cheol by tomorrow morning.

After gathering detailed information about Director Park Dong-cheol, he planned to meet Paintor Lee’s chauffeur to inquire if Director Park had taken Seo-hye’s mother.

Asking that question would help determine, based on Mr. Kim’s response, whether he was lying or not.

It would also reveal why, despite being one of Lee Hwa-woong’s people, he was being friendly towards him.