Chapter 31

“They say she got kicked out without getting anything, so if we lend a hand, it’s a win-win, right? Killing two birds with one stone.”  

“Well… that’s true, but…”  

“You don’t look convinced. Why? Feeling a little pull of blood ties?”  

The man chuckled. Yaein found herself listening without meaning to.  

Her mother sighed, perhaps because her son-in-law had remained silent.  

“I haven’t seen her in over twenty years. She doesn’t really feel like my child. Even as a kid, she only clung to her grandmother.”  

Every word rang out too clearly.  

The arrow wasn’t even aimed, yet it struck deep into her chest. And from the way it lodged itself, it wouldn’t be easy to pull out.  

“I don’t know… It just feels unsettling to get involved. I’m afraid things will get messy.”  

“Oh, for f*ck’s sake. What the hell does that mean?”  

The man raised his voice. The thick curse cut through their previously subdued conversation, tightening the tension in the air.  

“Shh! Keep your voice down. She might wake up.”  

“What, are you scared she’ll hear this when she came all the way here looking for her mother?”  

“Oh, god, are you drunk?”  

“Drunk? Hell no. Just talk to her, will you? There’s money to be made here. You know I’m in a tight spot. Every penny counts right now.”  

“That damn gambling debt. I’m sick of it.”  

“You think I racked up that debt for fun? Every cent was spent trying to make things better for us.”  

Their argument carried on behind the closed bedroom door.  

In the end, it was always about money.  

Yaein recalled how her mother would bring up money every time they spoke.  

Lying on her side, she blinked blankly. Her dry eyes burned. Every time she moved her lids, it felt like sandpaper scraping against her corneas.  

She curled up tighter under the thin blanket. Her spine curved like a shrimp.  

The living room felt unbearably cold.  

The wind whined outside.  

Yaein forced her eyes shut.  

Tomorrow, at first light, she would go out and find a new job.  

She had to leave this place.  

As soon as possible.

***

“Simple, easy, and fast. No job? Bad credit? Anyone.”

The bold letters on the glass window were large enough to be read from across the street.

Despite being the largest branch in the area, the building itself was unremarkable. The clean reception area was designed to lure in desperate customers drawn to promises of easy money. However, the deeper one ventured into the office, the shabbier and more outdated the interior became.

A man with a buzz cut sat slouched on a yellowed leather couch, his eyes darting around vacantly. Across from him, behind a desk adorned with a potted orchid, sat a balding man in his forties, staring at him in clear disapproval. He was the branch manager—the superior in every way to the buzz-cut man, who had no clue why he had been summoned.

“Hey. You went to school in Buwan-eup, right?”  

“Uh, yeah.”  

“You know the area well?”  

“Yeah, more or less…”  

“Go find someone for me.”  

“Huh?”  

“If we send too many people poking around, it might attract attention, and they might catch on. So just go and check if they’re in the area. By the way, what’s up with your shirt?”  

The manager grimaced at the mismatched buttons on the buzz-cut man’s shirt. Hastily, he began buttoning it properly.  

“I keep telling you to stop dressing like a thug,” the manager clicked his tongue in disapproval.  

The buzz-cut man chuckled as he straightened his rumpled shirt.  

“But who am I supposed to find?”  

Has someone run off with borrowed money? Calling him in so suddenly to track someone down—this must be serious. It wasn’t often that orders like this came from above. His curiosity was piqued.  

“A woman, in her twenties.”  

The first detail was already unexpected. The manager pulled up a photo on his phone and showed it to him. The image depicted a woman in a dress at what looked like an event, clapping.  

The buzz-cut man’s mouth fell open.  

“Wow. Sh*t. She’s gorgeous.”  

“Is she?”  

A voice came from behind.  

The buzz-cut man froze, his eyes darting from the screen to the manager’s face. The color had drained from the manager’s expression. Following his gaze, the buzz-cut man turned around.  

A sharply dressed man was standing behind him, looking down with a piercing gaze.  

Instinctively, he stiffened.  

The man was much taller than most, exuding an intimidating presence. His tailored suit spoke of effortless wealth and power.  

But more than his appearance, it was his eyes that made the buzz-cut man shrink. They weren’t just condescending—they carried a weight of danger, triggering a primal sense of unease.  

“Director, sir! You should’ve stayed at the hotel. I was just about to come and get you,” the manager stammered, jumping up to bow deeply.  

The buzz-cut man quickly followed suit, bowing as well.  

So, he’s the chairman’s son. The realization sent a chill up his spine.  

Taeheon didn’t acknowledge the greetings, striding deeper into the office. He ran his fingers along the nameplate on the manager’s desk as if testing its texture. The manager hovered nervously nearby.  

“We’ve already traced the taxi route. We were just about to send people to check if Ma’am is still in the area,” the manager reported anxiously.  

Taeheon picked up a heavily used ashtray, its surface littered with crushed cigarette butts. Beside it lay a green lighter.  

“It shouldn’t take long. It’s a small town, after all.”  

The manager spoke hurriedly, watching Taeheon flick the lighter. Once, twice—sparks flared up but didn’t catch.  

The buzz-cut man remained silent, watching the surreal scene unfold.  

The branch manager, notorious for his bad temper, was fawning over a man much younger than him. It was surreal.  

“Why aren’t you answering?”  

Taeheon’s voice cut through the tension like a blade.

Taeheon had been speaking to Bansak, who was too dazed to even realize he had been addressed. A lighter suddenly appeared in front of him, its flickering flame illuminating his vision like a hypnotist’s trick.  

Bansak flinched.  

“Is she pretty?”  

The flame moved closer to his nose. He swallowed hard. If he had bangs, they would have already been singed. His head instinctively leaned backward.  

“Uh, ah, that… well—”  

“You had no problem talking earlier. Why are you suddenly at a loss for words? It’s not a difficult question.”  

The tone was unnervingly calm, contrasting with the searing heat of the fire.  

But there was only so far he could pull his head back. His chin tucked in so much that his neck ached. The flame hovered just inches from his nose, threatening to scorch him.  

It was hot.  

His subconscious had already made him retreat. The back of his knee hit the edge of the desk with a sharp thud, causing him to let out a strangled yelp before he collapsed onto the desk. The flame suddenly disappeared.  

“S-sorry! I just meant that Madam is incredibly beautiful. I misspoke, yes.”  

Still craning his neck, Bansak hurriedly spilled out an excuse. The lighter, however, remained poised in front of his face.  

“Ah. A mistake.”  

Taeheon echoed the words as if he understood, his voice carrying a deceptive note of leniency.  

Was he letting it go?  

Bansak exhaled in relief and reached out to steady himself on the glass surface of the desk—only for the flame to flicker back to life.  

It licked at his nose.  

The smell of burning flesh filled the air.  

Pain exploded across his face as the burn spread up his nose bridge in an instant. Bansak shrieked and thrashed, desperately trying to escape.  

But Taeheon had already grabbed the back of his head.  

He wasn’t released until the fire had done its damage.  

Bansak tumbled backward, clutching his nose and wailing.  

Between his cries, Taeheon’s voice remained eerily steady.  

“Is this the one you were planning to send?”  

“He grew up in that town,” the branch manager explained quickly, trying to appease him. “Thought he’d know the area best, but if he’s not to your liking, I can send someone else.”  

Bansak didn’t hear a word. His ears were ringing. The only sound he registered was the sharp, repetitive click of the lighter’s flint wheel turning.  

Click. Click.  

Each time it sounded, the pain in his burned skin throbbed more intensely.  

“No need for that.”  

Taeheon stopped playing with the lighter and bent down toward Bansak, who hiccupped in fright.  

Ignoring the trembling mess before him, Taeheon casually slipped the lighter into Bansak’s shirt pocket.

“Bring her back carefully.”  

Taeheon gave the order curtly.  

Bansak, still clutching his stinging nose, nodded fervently. Without another glance, Taeheon left the office.  

Even after the door shut behind him, no one dared to speak.  

The branch manager was the first to move, yanking the gasping Bansak to his feet.  

“Get out there and find that damn taxi driver, idiot.”  

Clearly, the branch manager was feeling the same sense of impending doom—if they hesitated, things could go south fast.  

‘Why the hell did they dump this on me?’

Riding the elevator down, Bansak checked his swollen, reddened face in the mirror.  

‘F*ck.’

The curse slipped out on instinct.  

As the elevator doors were about to open onto the lobby, he suddenly ducked back inside.  

Taeheon was ahead of him, walking toward the building’s exit.  

The lobby doors slid open.  

Outside, Taeheon casually waved at a subordinate waiting by the curb.  

“Welcome back, sir.”  

“Hmm. Since I was here, I took a look at how things were running.”  

“Ah, is the Busan branch not doing well?”  

Taeheon didn’t bother answering. Instead, he walked toward the parking area.  

‘Pathetic.’

The management, the personnel—everything about this branch was lacking.  

He would be better off handling it himself rather than leaving it to these incompetent people.  

“They confirmed the last stop of the taxi she transferred to from Busan Station. Let’s head there.”  

But instead of responding immediately, the subordinate hesitated.  

Taeheon raised an eyebrow.  

“What?”  

“You may need to head back, sir.”  

His subordinate rushed to explain before Taeheon could grow impatient.  

“We just got word from Shanghai. They’ll be passing through Incheon Airport today, so they moved the evening meeting up.”

“Today?”  

“Yes, sir. Their schedule changed as well.”  

“They’re coming in suddenly. What else did they say?”  

“They brought up the new Zhuhai casino resort project. You remember the chairman backed a deal in Macau before?”  

“He did make a decent profit back then. So, they want to do it again, just among us.”  

“And there’s the existing business discussions, too. It seems they want to go through us for their explosive materials clearance issues.”  

“And they expect to discuss something that important without prior notice, just because they felt like moving up the meeting?”  

“They claim they just want to treat you to a meal.”  

Even the subordinate sounded skeptical as he relayed the message.  

‘A power play.’

They must’ve been irked when Taeheon declined their invitation and insisted on meeting in Korea instead.  

At this stage, it would be wise to yield a little. The other party was a valuable business partner, and the offer was tempting. He should be moving to meet them.  

Yet Taeheon’s instincts pointed elsewhere.  

‘Leaving now would be a mistake.’

‘The opportunity is right in front of me.’

He could almost hear the frantic breathing of the woman on the run, sense the pounding of her heartbeat, the strands of her hair scattering in the air, the fine hairs on her nape standing on end…