Chapter 7 (Part 7)

Thanks to the police who stormed into Cheongun-dong, Lee Hwa-woong had to go to the local police station before even digesting his dinner.

This was because the person who kidnapped Seo-hye pointed to him as the one who ordered the crime.

However, when Hwa-woong paid the kidnapper an advance, he used an overseas account for the transfer and only contacted him using a burner phone.

In the end, he was quickly released due to insufficient evidence, but since the case wasn’t closed, he couldn’t be completely free.

He got into the car of Mr. Kim, who came to pick him up, and fell into deep thought.

How on earth did Seonghan’s grandson find out where he had hidden Seo-hye?

Isn’t he truly like a ghost?

With this, Seonghan’s grandson would protect Seo-hye even more strictly, making it difficult to bring her back for the time being.

As he sighed deeply, something came to Hwa-woong’s mind, and he let out a breath tinged with a scream.

“Mr. Kim.”

“Yes, Artist.”

“Check if Hyo-young is doing well.”

Mr. Kim glanced at Hwa-woong through the rearview mirror.

Hwa-woong was wiping the sweat off his face with his hand, showing an unstable appearance.

Mr. Kim quickly called Director Park Dong-cheol.

However, he didn’t answer the call and redirected it.

“Artist. Director Park might be busy, he’s not answering the phone.”

Unable to believe it, Hwa-woong took out his cell phone and personally called Dong-cheol.

But after a few seconds of the call connecting, it was turned off.

Panicked, Hwa-woong groaned and grabbed the headrest of the front seat tightly.

“This guy… I can’t stand this anxiety. Mr. Kim, let’s go to Dong-cheol’s house.”

Mr. Kim briefly answered and turned the steering wheel.

***

Hwa-woong was in despair.

When he went to Dong-cheol’s house, he was completely turned away by Dong-cheol’s butler.

He wanted to shout loud enough to shake the neighborhood to let him meet Dong-cheol, but he had no choice but to give up and return to Cheongun-dong due to his own dignity.

If the fact that Artist Lee Hwa-woong caused a commotion in some unfamiliar neighborhood were to become news, what he had done would surface in no time.

As Hwa-woong opened the gate to Cheongun-dong and returned home, his face was as pale as a corpse, without a trace of blood.

How could he lose both Hyo-young and Seo-hye in just a few hours?

If it was Seonghan’s grandson who took Hyo-young, then he no longer had any justification to keep Seo-hye.

In just half a day, Hwa-woong’s world turned pitch black, as if it had been drenched in ink.

His vision was so dizzying that he couldn’t tell whether he was standing on stairs or in a swamp.

At that moment, he heard the sound of a car door closing outside the gate, followed by the gate slamming open.

“Miss.”

At the voice of Mr. Kim standing beside him, Hwa-woong slowly turned around.

Hae-mi, completely soaked in alcohol, staggered and giggled at Hwa-woong.

Seeing his granddaughter, who was drunk and oblivious to the situation, made his insides feel like they were turning over.

“Gr, grand, pa, pa, pa!!”

Hae-mi, like a madwoman, called out to Hwa-woong and ran toward him.

Seeing her fall several times on the stairs, Mr. Kim, unable to watch any longer, ran down to support her.

With a furious face, Hwa-woong shouted at her to go inside quietly.

But Hae-mi, who had already surrendered her reason to alcohol, began to babble without distinguishing between things she should and shouldn’t say.

“Grandpa, hic, I.”

“Miss. You’re very drunk. All the neighbors will come out, please go inside quickly.”

“Let me gooo!!”

Hae-mi exerted her strength and shook off Mr. Kim’s arm.

“I just want to finish this drink and go!!”

Hwa-woong, no longer wanting to see the scene, glanced at Mr. Kim and then stepped onto the stairs first.

That troublesome eldest granddaughter was always causing trouble.

“Seo-hye’s birth, hic.”

As if the flow of the entire air had stopped, Hwa-woong halted in place.

“I told a friend about the secret of her birth.”

Hwa-woong turned around sharply and pressed Hae-mi.

“Hae-mi, what did you just say, huh? Say it again, quickly!”

“I told a friend about the secret of her birth.”

“…….”

“I fought with her. Hooo.”

Suddenly, Hae-mi began to wail.

“Darn, what if she reports it somewhere, hic, what do I do. Sniff.”

Mr. Kim, seeing Hwa-woong looking like he might collapse any moment, forcibly picked up Hae-mi.

“I am the daughter-in-law of Seonghan Group!!!”

Bang-!

After Hae-mi and Mr. Kim disappeared into the house, the yard was eerily quiet.

Whoosh-!

The early winter wind, fiercely brushing past his skin, mocked Hwa-woong.

As if asking what he would do now that all his misdeeds had been exposed.

He stood there for a long time, unaware of the cold.

***

Do-jin’s house was exactly as Seo-hye had imagined.

It was a place with an interior that naturally mixed navy and luxurious brown tones, representing his neat and calm image.

The mansion in Cheongun-dong wasn’t that small, but seeing Do-jin’s house made her think he must have felt the Cheongun-dong house was quite cramped when he visited, as his house was large and luxurious.

It seemed she had forgotten because he had treated her so casually until now.

That he was a person of the Seonghan Group, not someone just anyone could covet.

Seo-hye hesitated to step inside the house.

Standing at the entrance, unable to even take off her shoes, she wondered if she could really enter.

Do-jin, who had already entered the hallway, turned and called Seo-hye.

“What are you doing not coming in?”

Do-jin gestured with his chin toward the new slippers on the left, as if telling her to change into them quickly.

Even then, when Seo-hye stood still like a stone statue, Do-jin made a remark.

“Who safely took your mother to the hospital?”

“…I’m going, going. Don’t… boast. I just can’t do anything for you right now… okay.”

When Seo-hye replied awkwardly, Do-jin reached out, wrapped his arm around her waist, and pulled her to him in an instant.

As their upper bodies touched suddenly, a strange sensation quickly spread throughout her body.

“Who said there’s nothing you can do for me. From what I know, there’s a lot.”

His piercing gaze moved slowly from her eyes to her prominent nose, and then to her lips.

“Where exactly does it hurt?”

The proximity was so close that his breath tickled Seo-hye’s eyelashes.

Her eyes kept itching, so she blinked and managed to answer.

“…What…”

“I’m asking where it hurts.”

“…My lips and wrist…”

“And?”

“My back and right shoulder…”

“And?”

Not even knowing what she was answering, she responded truthfully as if entranced.

When Seo-hye stopped answering, the man asked in a peculiar voice.

“Done?”

“Yes, but why…”

“I’m going to eat everything except there.”

A peculiar feeling surged from below up to her solar plexus in an instant.

As Seo-hye groaned and tried to pull away, Do-jin lifted her up effortlessly.

He did not take his eyes off Seo-hye’s face even while moving.

“I don’t mind doing it like this.”

“……”

“Shall we wash first? What do you want to do?”

“……”

“Keeping your mouth shut means you’re okay with anything.”

Before he could even reach the room, he placed her down on the living room sofa.

Only then did Seo-hye wave her hands, trying to get up.

“Ah… no. I want to… wash. I think I need to wash.”

Her wrists and everywhere else were soaked in sweat and blood; she couldn’t mix bodies with him like this.

Do-jin helped Seo-hye up.

As Seo-hye quickly stepped towards where she assumed the bathroom would be, Do-jin followed her immediately.

Seo-hye glanced up at him as she walked.

… Surely he wouldn’t come into the bathroom with me, right?

But as if he had read her mind, he opened the bathroom door and stepped inside with her.

Before Seo-hye could turn around to tell him to leave, he grabbed her by the nape of the neck.

In an instant, the zipper on her back was pulled down, and her dress fell to the floor.

“!”

“You said your wrist hurts. I thought you might need my help.”

Before he even finished speaking, pleasantly warm water poured over their heads.

Whether it was because of that or the hot breaths they exchanged, steam quickly filled the bathroom.

As the mirror that had shown them so clearly turned foggy, Do-jin gently lifted her, took a few steps, and sat her at the edge of the bathtub.

The man’s face, wet with water, was overwhelmingly sensual.

As her breathing became more labored and her head started to spin, Do-jin leaned down and buried his lips into her neck.

As his lips clung warmly to her wet skin, the pulse throughout her body began to pound intensely.

The firm tongue that had been tormenting the neck area for quite some time swept across the water-filled collarbone.

“Ha, Do-jin, just a moment… please.”

Seo-hye tightly grasped his firm forearm.

However, Do-jin instead restrained her wrist and drew her chest, which was slightly lower, towards him.

As if trying to brand his mark, he slowly yet delicately took her fully into his mouth.

“Ha-uh… ah…!”

The stimulation, which seemed about to paralyze her mind, caused all the strength in her barely focused eyes to dissipate.