Chapter 21

In the end, even though hurting people was the very thing he did for a living, Lee-jin was still like that, paradoxically enough.

If someone was in danger right in front of her, her body moved first no matter who it was. Even now, when all she could do was trail behind other people to dig up information and get beaten up at Roxana.

[Someday, that pathetic sympathy of yours is going to get you killed.]

That was what Sang-pil had said to Lee-jin a year ago, after her body had been torn up so badly that she had only barely regained consciousness at the hospital after a week. Saying it was the first time he had ever seen such a stupid b*tch who would die trying to save someone else.

Lee-jin had thought that it was not a fitting thing for someone who had knowingly dragged her this far to say.

So that’s why I told you I didn’t want to do it, she had muttered, though she had no idea whether Sang-pil had heard her.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand. I had no choice.”

“What did you think would happen if I became Kwon Ki-joo’s life-saver instead of a wh*re?”

“You’re quick-witted, so I thought that no matter what method you used, you’d find a way to watch him from a position far easier than the one you’re in now. And probably……”

Wonjae, who had paused for a moment, glanced at Lee-jin to gauge her reaction, then muttered quickly as if speaking to himself,

“The Deputy probably wouldn’t have waited any longer. Boss Nam came here yesterday. I guess he still didn’t like the fact that Kwon Ki-joo was running around freely. He stayed for a long time saying he would rather hand the job over to someone else and that we should spit back the advance payment.”

So that was why Sang-pil had been pressuring them so hard to find out something, anything.

Competition was fierce in this line of work too, so when someone like Boss Nam came in half-crazed and waving around a huge sum of money, everyone wanted to take the job.

“I saw you get into Kwon Ki-joo’s car, but…… after that, nothing happened, right? Did Kwon Ki-joo act like he owed you?”

Wonjae asked again, watching Lee-jin’s expression. Since he had toned things down because he was worried she might get hurt, it seemed he was now worried the impact had been far weaker than expected.

“I heard Kwon Ki-joo hasn’t been paying much attention to his own security lately. Just hearing his name makes people tremble, so I guess he doesn’t feel the need to bother with such a hassle. But don’t tell me…… all I did was stir him up for nothing and make him more cautious…… right?”

“……”

“What did Kwon Ki-joo say?”

“He kept going on and on about me being his life-saver. Even though he doesn’t really think that at all.”

“So what did you decide to do?”

“We decided to date.”

“What?”

Wonjae let out a cry so close to a scream that it was probably the most shocked he had been all day. Feeling wronged after having worried the whole time, Lee-jin deliberately answered even more spitefully.

“Wasn’t this what you wanted, Oppa? If I need to watch him from up close, what could be better than being his girlfriend?”

“Lee-jin……”

“I said I was tired of acting like a stalker and asked him to date me. Kwon Ki-joo agreed too.”

At Lee-jin’s answer, Wonjae could not say anything more and simply shut his mouth.

At best, what Wonjae had been thinking of was probably not all that different from Lee-jin’s own idea: becoming a bodyguard, or getting a job at the most suspicious of Kwon Ki-joo’s hidden business sites that he had recently been uncovering.

“And still, this fast……. You should’ve talked it over with me before deciding. I told you that office running that private loan business under someone else’s name seemed suspicious.”

When Wonjae finally spoke again after a long while, it was in a resentful tone.

“You should’ve at least gotten hired there and……”

“Why bother going through all that trouble? If I become his girlfriend, then I can follow Kwon Ki-joo anywhere he goes.”

Cutting off Wonjae’s words, Lee-jin sneered.

It upset her that he had gone and done something like this without saying a single word to her, only to turn around and blame her instead. And it felt especially unfair after how anxious she had been the entire time she was with Kwon Ki-joo.

“But that’s only if things work out well. That Manager Kang person said to start by checking the CCTV, so won’t they catch you soon and then figure out that I was involved too? Then won’t this and that both be ruined?”

“You don’t need to worry. I’m not the one who put the trash there.”

“Then your wonderful friend?”

“Each shop’s part-time workers put that trash there. What I tampered with was inside the shop. The old crime-prevention CCTV cameras in that alley are being replaced right now. I moved during that window, so there’s no way I could’ve been caught on camera.”

“Then heaven really helped you out? How did construction happen at exactly this time?”

“I knew there was construction, so I set the whole thing up that way.”

At Lee-jin’s mocking words, Wonjae kept lowering his head like a guilty man. Seeing that, Lee-jin could not stay angry with him for long.

Wonjae was the person who had wanted more than anyone for her not to be driven to the point of throwing herself into Kwon Ki-joo’s bed. And in the end, she did not have the confidence to completely turn away from the anxiety he must have felt while waiting in that alley until she appeared.

“I should get going.”

In the end, Lee-jin stood up from her seat. While Wonjae’s urgent gaze looked up at her, Lee-jin picked up the paper bag and met his eyes.

For a moment she wondered if she should keep it from him until the end, but since she had to report to Sang-pil right away, it was only a matter of time before Wonjae knew too.

“That thing about being his girlfriend was a lie.”

“Uh…… what?”

“I’m going to be Kwon Ki-joo’s bodyguard. I asked him to let me accompany him, so I guess I’ll get to go to his house too. I might not be able to come here for a while. But I won’t forget to report to the Deputy.”

“H-hey, Lee-jin……”

Wonjae called out hurriedly, but Lee-jin left the office just like that. Even though there was no reason to think Wonjae would come after her, Lee-jin ran down to the first floor in one breath without seeming to breathe at all, then went straight out of the building. Only then did the tightness in her chest finally seem to break.

The streetlights all poured down on Lee-jin at once so dizzyingly that it was almost overwhelming. It was a sight she faced every day, yet today it felt more confusing than ever.

Lee-jin suddenly looked down at the paper bag in her hand. Inside it was a pale pink dress that did not suit her at all.

[You say you live alone, so how were you planning to unzip the back by yourself.]

That was what Kwon Ki-joo had said to Lee-jin, who had tried to slip away as soon as the concierge who had helped her put on the dress brought back her cleaned clothes. He said that if she had needed help putting it on, then naturally she would need someone else’s hands to help take it off too.

When Lee-jin, who had not thought that far, became visibly troubled, Kwon Ki-joo spent a while quietly enjoying the sight of her before turning her around where she stood in front of him and saying,

[Didn’t I tell you I’m one of the few gentlemen in South Korea. I’ll gladly show you some chivalry.]

Then he brushed Lee-jin’s long hair aside with his hand and slowly lowered the zipper, so slowly it was enough to make her impatient. Only down to the exact point where the bra strap could not yet be seen.

[This should be enough for your arm to reach now, right? Figure out the rest yourself. You’re flexible, so shouldn’t it be possible?]

[Th…… thank you.]

[And just in case, don’t think about cutting your hair or dressing as a man. I don’t think it would suit you very well.]

The moment his low laughter sounded from behind her, hot fingers briefly brushed across the bare skin of her back exposed between the folds of the dress. When Lee-jin shuddered in surprise, Kwon Ki-joo said he would step out and left the room first.

By the time Lee-jin came back out after changing in a fluster without properly thinking anything through, Kwon Ki-joo was alone, apparently having sent the big men downstairs.

When she repeatedly refused his offer to drive her home, Kwon Ki-joo looked at Lee-jin searchingly before getting into the car and said,

[I have to go somewhere for a few days. I’ll give you until then. If you still haven’t changed your mind when I come back, I’ll hire you.]

With a playful wink, Kwon Ki-joo got into the car just like that and left.

Lee-jin spent a long time thinking about her unease that Wonjae might have been found out, and about Kwon Ki-joo, who had so readily said he would hire her without even going through any sort of verification.

But even now, after having let everything out at Wonjae and come downstairs, she still did not know. She could only think that perhaps this too was just the whim of a man who feared nothing in the world.

As she made her way toward home, Lee-jin took her phone out of her pocket. Then she called Sang-pil right away.

What she had to do was already decided, so she had to move and think only within those boundaries.