Chapter 2

While being caught in front of the gambling den today and dragged to this shabby warehouse on the outskirts, Lee-jin had desperately tried to recall every piece of information she knew about Kwon Ki-joo. Everything their client, Boss Nam, had given them, and even what Wonjae had found out.

Kwon Ki-joo likes women. According to rumor, he sometimes handles several women at once in a single night. He can drink heavily, is a heavy smoker, and does not use drugs.

Ah, and according to Wonjae, he was also famously well-endowed.

Lee-jin had calmly organized in her head the businesses Kwon Ki-joo ran, how he had come to acquire them, and even his somewhat suspicious background, but the moment she actually faced Kwon Ki-joo, her mind nearly went blank from that strikingly handsome face and that atmosphere one could not deal with carelessly. It felt different again from merely watching him from afar.

So the only excuse she could offer was that she was an idiot infatuated with a handsome face. Since she had not yet left behind any real trace, it seemed possible. Because no matter who looked at him, it was simply true that Kwon Ki-joo was handsome.

“But you know…….”

Kwon Ki-joo, having flicked the cigarette he had finished smoking down by his feet, opened his mouth lazily. Though he had loudly called it consideration for a lady and had not even had her hands and feet tied, Lee-jin could not move a muscle.

Only Kwon Ki-joo’s gaze, that look so much like the persistent fixation of a predator stalking its prey, made a person unable to do anything at all.

“Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of people who circle around me like this, so I’m not especially moved. What, are you planning to throw yourself at me next?”

“No, I…….”

“You followed me around like that, so you must have known I prefer glamour, but somehow you…….”

Trailing off, Kwon Ki-joo slowly ran his sticky gaze over Lee-jin’s body as she sat on the uncomfortable metal chair.

The look, as if her slim body, kept lean so she could move easily, did not appeal to him at all, came to rest around her chest.

Seeing the strangely curved corner of Kwon Ki-joo’s mouth, Lee-jin pointlessly hunched her shoulders, making the futile attempt to cover her chest.

“Well, if I looked for somewhere usable, it’s not like I wouldn’t find one, but I’m not sure I need to go to that trouble.”

Kwon Ki-joo spoke again in a languid voice and crooked a finger. Then the pale-faced man in glasses, who had remained withdrawn the whole time, stepped forward. He was the suit-wearing man called Manager Kang.

He swept a flat gaze once over Lee-jin, then opened his mouth.

“The name is Song Lee-jin, twenty-three years old. Currently active as a female boxing athlete at Roxana Club, and on days without matches, does various part-time jobs. Affiliated with the Dohyang-dong Neighborhood Watch, and one year ago was hospitalized for about four months after being involved in a hit-and-run traffic accident. Was adopted at age nine, the adoptive father ran away from home six years ago and his whereabouts are unknown, and the adoptive mother died in a fire. There are no other siblings, but instead…….”

Manager Kang, who had been about to continue, shut his mouth at Kwon Ki-joo’s gesture and stepped back again. Cold sweat ran down Lee-jin’s back at the report that made it seem they had already looked into everything about her.

Still, there was nothing wrong in what Manager Kang had said. So she had to stay composed. If only for Sangpil and Wonjae, who had carefully built up her cover for her. It did not seem they knew her real identity yet, so she had to keep pressing on like this.

“You look too weak to be a boxer……. Though if it’s Roxana, what matters probably isn’t the match but the betting money.”

“…….”

“Still, making a living must already keep you busy, so you must have been pretty occupied, chasing after me on top of that.”

Though he spoke with a smile, there was no particular feeling in Kwon Ki-joo’s voice. Enough to make one wonder why he was facing Lee-jin in person instead of simply handing her over to his underlings.

But Lee-jin steeled herself so that she would not relax her guard to the very end.

If Kwon Ki-joo said only one word—‘Take her away’—then she would be stuffed into an oil drum and thrown straight into the reservoir right next to them. Just thinking that made her body tremble on its own and raised a prickling chill over her skin.

So Lee-jin decided to muster her courage again.

I fell for Kwon Ki-joo. The moment I first saw him, he stole my heart, and I followed a terrifying gangster around like someone who had thrown caution to the wind. Right now, he is the most important person in my life. If he thinks lightly of me, my life is in danger.

After repeating that to herself several times in her heart, Lee-jin slowly brought her hands together and looked at the man before her as if gazing up at some dazzling being.

Like the nameless classmate who had sat beside her in middle school whenever she talked about ‘Oppa.’ Hoping with all her might that her eyes would sparkle.

“To be honest, it wasn’t because I wanted anything from you, Boss. I just liked seeing your face……. To me, you’re basically like an idol.”

“What, an idol?”

All at once, Kwon Ki-joo burst out laughing. The sound was so loud it rang through the chilly warehouse, booming in her ears, and the thought that Kwon Ki-joo was laughing at her sent a chill all the way down her spine.

Lee-jin waited for Kwon Ki-joo’s laughter to die down, then quickly added,

“It wasn’t because I wanted you to notice me either, Boss. You’re just so handsome that I got curious, like looking at a celebrity…….”

“Well, it’s true, I am ridiculously handsome.”

“If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again. In the future, I will ne-eever catch your eye.”

As if she had come back to her senses again, Lee-jin spoke in a trembling voice, and Kwon Ki-joo bent his upper body forward and looked at her with a persistent gaze.

Lee-jin met that gaze hesitantly, hoping it looked only like fear in his eyes.

“If you live in Dohyang-dong, that means you followed me around even after hearing all the rumors about what kind of bastard I am, so aren’t you giving up too easily?”

“You seemed displeased……. I just thought that if I only watched you from far away, you wouldn’t know.”

Since nothing had actually begun yet, it was not entirely false. Though there was no knowing how Kwon Ki-joo would take it.

“But since it seems you dislike it, Boss, I won’t do it again.”

After Lee-jin’s last words, a strange silence fell. Kwon Ki-joo still only stared at Lee-jin with that tenacious gaze.

As if regretting her rejected feelings, Lee-jin lowered her eyes. In truth, she was so afraid of what Kwon Ki-joo might be thinking that the inside of her mouth had gone dry and everything before her eyes felt dark.

The moment Lee-jin thought that if she got out of here alive, she would hand the surveillance over to Wonjae, Kwon Ki-joo broke the silence that felt ready to burst and opened his mouth.

“Just keep doing it.”

“……Pardon?”

Lee-jin stared blankly at Kwon Ki-joo, wondering if she had heard wrong. Keep doing what exactly?

“I said keep up the stalker act. At my age, being treated like an idol feels pretty good, so why not.”

It seemed Lee-jin was not the only one shocked. Manager Kang, who had stepped back, visibly flinched, and even the other men standing like folding screens behind Kwon Ki-joo shifted their eyes, betraying their unease.

Only Kwon Ki-joo smiled as he looked at Lee-jin with an entirely composed gaze. It was impossible to tell whether what flickered in those jet-black eyes was playfulness or some unfathomable scheme.

Perhaps seeing Lee-jin’s dazed expression, Kwon Ki-joo leaned back again and smiled leisurely.

“I think this could be pretty entertaining too. Someone following me around because they purely like me—that’s never happened in my life, so it feels fresh.”

“…….”

“There’s no way someone like you, who doesn’t even look like you could handle a single blow, is passionately following me around because you actually dare to take my head. Right?”

When Kwon Ki-joo smiled so splendidly with that picture-perfect face, it felt to Lee-jin as if loud warning lights were flashing inside her head. The man across from her was looking at her teasingly with a languid gaze, as if there was nothing in the world he did not know.

Run away, it felt as if someone were screaming, but realistically it was impossible. The sheer number of men surrounding her made that true enough, and Kwon Ki-joo had already seen her face.

It meant that no matter where Lee-jin hid, it would only be a matter of time before she was caught.

“Wh-what do you mean by that……?”