CHAPTER 81

“I tried calling, but since you didn’t answer, I got worried about what might be happening. It’s not like the old days when you lived in the dorms, and a pretty girl like you living alone in this rundown studio apartment, I can’t help but worry if some strange guys are bothering you.”

While the person that Leeseo should be most concerned about right now is him, Minhu, with his brow furrowed like he’s genuinely concerned, rambled as if to say that he has every reason to worry. He seemed completely oblivious to the fact that he might be the most strange and dangerous one in this situation. His face showed an overly serious expression, overly immersed in the role of a kind and caring senior worried about her.

“Just in case, did you set a password with more than eight digits? While waiting for you, I tried a few, fortunately, it didn’t open. If it’s four digits, it wouldn’t take long to figure it out, so always be cautious.”

He didn’t even bother to hide the fact that he attempted to open the door by combining passwords.  Until encountering him in this corridor, Leeseo had thought of him as someone not entirely bad, just found it hard to bear her rejection.

“How did you know about this place?”

She asked calmly, trying to keep her voice calm enough not to provoke him. It was essential not to turn abruptly or give him any excuse to get agitated and rush at her. She had to handle this situation with caution.

Her whole body was tense with nervousness as she couldn’t predict when or how Minhu, with his eerily normal and kind face, would change. Her throat felt dry and she had to put on her best face and pretend to be receptive to conversation, and then wait for the right moment.

She tried to keep her composure, but her fingertips trembled involuntarily. She tightened her grip on the umbrella pole.

“I never told you where I live.”

Minhu’s gaze flickered from Leeseo’s rain-soaked shoulder to her face. Despite his seemingly innocent tone, Minhu understood the underlying accusation in her words and chuckled briefly.

“Why, afraid I might have been stalking you?”

The whispered words that followed carried no hint of laughter.

“So, before going through all the trouble of secretly tailing me, it would have been nice if you politely asked.  I answer my phone promptly. Why do you make people so uncomfortable?”

In the end, it seemed he had not only secretly followed her but also managed to find out her home address, breaching even the security door on the first floor without permission. Minhu’s face, with lips gritted, came close in the blink of an eye.

“You should have accepted me when I said something so nice. Or at least never smiled at me from the start.”

Although it was a distance close enough to be caught when he reached out his hand from the beginning, there was a huge difference between thinking about it and actually experiencing it. Her whole body stiffened as if paralyzed, rendering all the times she had rehearsed to handle the situation calmly useless. It felt as if her feet were nailed to the ground, and she couldn’t move as she wished.

Minhu’s face, the corners of his mouth twisted up in a cynical smile, was partially shaded by the light pouring from the ceiling. Leeseo spoke with a voice that barely escaped her dry throat.

“I’ve never smiled at you. It must have been a misunderstanding on your part.”

“Yeah. You didn’t smile much. But that’s what turns people on. So, it’s all your fault that we ended up like this. It’s because you look so sexy and turn people on.”

Minhu closed his eyelids and took a deep breath, as if to stifle the excitement that was rising to the top of his head. It had been a while since she’d noticed the bulge in the front of his pants under the lights, but she never lowered her gaze. Opening his eyes again, Minhu shook his head slowly and spoke in a wistful voice.

“I didn’t mean for this to happen either. If you had just accepted me, we could have been a good couple. Maybe even go as far as marriage. Even if all you had was that pretty face and an amazing body, I was prepared to persuade our parents to bring you home.”

Minhu suddenly extended the corners of his mouth and chuckled, as if wandering through a dream.

“Oh, did you receive the picture I sent you last time?”

As if riding a roller coaster, it was impossible for her to catch the erratic flow of consciousness peculiar of this crazy person.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about….”

“The picture I took of you, how was it?  I sent them to the mansion where you used to live, and I thought I was going to die out of curiosity because I couldn’t see your reaction. It was beautifully taken. When I showed it to my mom, she said to enjoy dating without thinking about marriage.”

He chuckles, and his even teeth are revealed in the pale light. The sight of those white, glistening teeth sent a chill down her spine. She remembered the photo that had been mixed in the mail the day before she left the mansion.

Her face slightly flushed from the heat, slightly wrinkling brows, her hand shielding her eyes from the sun, her gaze gazing off into thin air, unaware that she was being photographed, and the crooked writing on the back of the photo.

[From your love.]

Herheart thumped. Leeseo’s lips parted in shock. The back of her neck tightened with a chill.

It was something she hadn’t considered that he might be the culprit who sent the photos. She had assumed it was someone else, likely Jingyeom, who had also sent some pictures to the Chairman over time.

Why didn’t I suspect him? 

The photos that came in an anonymous letter were reminiscent of the one-sided gift bombardment that had once been sent to her dorm.

Besides, Minhu was the only one at school who knew she lived in the mansion. The realization that she’d been so easily fooled by his good-natured seniority made her blood run cold, and she felt self-conscious.

“You suddenly took a leave of absence, ignored all my attempts at contact, and that made me realize how much I liked you. Do you have any idea how profound my pure affection for you is? Do you know what it feels like to have a one-sided crush you haven’t even touched for over a year?”

Minhu grabbed the fabric of Leeseo’s T-shirt, twisting his face into a grimace.

“I wanted to see you for even a moment, and the time spent wandering the streets aimlessly, desperately longing for you, was wretched. But getting one photo of you compensated for all the empty hours. I didn’t even resent you for ignoring me like this.”

The thought of him secretly lurking around her to take that one photo sent shivers down her spine. Her tongue stiffened, and she couldn’t utter a word. The only thought that filled her mind was the need to get out of this place.

“I had hope that things would work out back then…”

As if peering into her inner thoughts, Minhu opened his eyes wide and sneered harshly.

“But damn, you treated me like s**t, making me feel like garbage. I can’t stand this injustice. I have to strip you down and put you in your place.”

Slowly, he reached out his arm. His hand aimed for Leeseo’s shoulder and spread out like a hook. Just as he was about to grab her shoulder, Leeseo swung the umbrella in her hand with force.

It was her first and last chance. Despite the fear, without taking her eyes off the target until the end, she struck Minhu’s forehead with the umbrella.

Whack!

She heard a loud crack and felt a heavy vibration in her hand. The umbrella shaft, forcefully driven into his skull, bent at an odd angle.

Minhu, evidently not anticipating a physical counterattack, recoiled in shock, clutching his forehead, and bent forward at the waist. With his disheveled face, he blinked his eyes rapidly, trying to understand what had just happened to him, Leeseo kicked him in the groin with all her might.

The sound of a puck echoed through the hallway, accompanied by the unpleasant sensation of something being crushed. Ugh. Emitting a strange moan, Minhu grabbed between his thighs and knelt down on the floor, wincing.

The tumultuous noise was so loud that it echoed in the silent corridor, creating an overwhelming atmosphere of despair with no one in sight. Nevertheless, without hesitation, Leeseo turned her back on him and thrust her foot out.

Meanwhile, the elevator had ascended to another floor. Waiting for the elevator to come down was a luxury beyond reason in the urgent current situation. Glancing back briefly, she saw Minhu, with his hands and knees on the floor, glaring at her with bloodshot eyes.

“Hey, you, f… my balls…  Argh, damn it. What the f*ck do you think you’re doing……. What the f*ck……. Come here?”

One by one, vulgar curses spewed from his mouth. He now completely abandoned the facade of pretending to be a good person, revealing his true, repugnant nature. The Minhu she knew seemed completely different from this person.

Damn it.

Breathing raggedly under his curses, Minhu cautiously reached into his pants to see if his balls were intact. Pain shot through his balls like they were going to split, causing his legs to involuntarily close.

Minhu’s face contorted in agony in an instant. The fear of potential damage to his reproductive capabilities cast a dark shadow before his eyes.

“Ugh… damn, it hurts so much. Leeseo, I’m in so much pain. I need you to take a look at me to make sure it’s not broken. Come here while I’m still saying nice things. Then I’ll forgive you. Where the f*ck are you going? I’m in pain!”

His voice, stained with anger and agony, roughened as he pleaded. Minhu, who screamed until the blood vessels in his neck stood out, pushed himself to her feet, his hands on his knees, body shaking

Urgently kicking the floor, Minhu stared at the direction where Leeseo ran down the stairs. He ground his teeth, and thick veins bulged and writhed in his temples.

“From now on, we’re playing a game of tag. If you get caught, you have to take a hit without complaining, okay? You have to keep your promise, Leeseo. Got it? Huh? Do you get me?”

The voice, filled with a ferocious intensity, pierced through Leeseo’s eardrums. Gasping for breath, she rushed down the stairs,  her mind in disarray.