TIN 62
by Emerlyn“He doesn’t hit me.”
Although I had thought it might be better if he did hit me, I hadn’t been physically abused. The only time he had harmed me was when he choked me in the swimming pool. So I answered immediately, but Lee Yuna continued to look at me with suspicious eyes.
“Really?”
Her casual query was meaningful. Though no other questions followed, I could guess what she was thinking. She probably wanted to ask if I had experienced other forms of abuse but decided against it.
“It’s not something for you to worry about, Ms. Yuna.”
Isn’t this good for you? This was a relationship of sorts, and if I had seduced him, then I had seduced him. Of course, since it wasn’t in the direction she had hoped, it was uncertain whether or not it would yield the results she wanted.
“Don’t be so cold. We’re in the same boat, after all.”
“Since when have we been in the same boat?”
“The enemy of my enemy is my friend, you know.”
Lee Yuna retorted, wrinkling her nose as if she intended to tell me she was hurt too. As if I was being ungrateful after she had shown concern. It wasn’t even that much concern, to begin with, but it was amusing how she called us allies and acted friendly.
“Well, never mind. Want to eat something? Don’t drink the alcohol since we don’t know what’s in it, but the food should be fine. He probably doesn’t starve you, but it’s rare to have a chance to eat things like this.”
She pointed at the lavishly prepared food, talking excessively. Was it called an invitation buffet? These were the things the host had boasted about as being rare delicacies.
Telling me not to drink alcohol was similar to Joo Do-hwa, I thought to myself as I asked her, “Are you going to stay here?”
“Huh?”
“Shouldn’t you go greet other people?”
What was the point of staying by my side when Joo Do-hwa wasn’t even here? Conveying that meaning, I spoke, and Lee Yuna smiled as if she understood what I was trying to say.
“You want me to stop bothering you and get lost?”
I had no intention of denying it. It wasn’t that she was bothering me, but I did mean for her to leave. Lee Yuna snorted and looked around.
“There’s no one to greet. I didn’t like these kinds of events originally.”
Then why did you come? I swallowed those words and just blinked silently. She really did have similarities with Joo Do-hwa. I didn’t totally get the psychology of doing things they didn’t want to do.
“Don’t look at me like that. Today, I just came to watch.”
“Watch what?”
“They said an interesting person would come.”
Could she be talking about Yoon Ji-soo?
I didn’t have time to ask about the thought that had briefly crossed my mind. The entrance to the party venue suddenly became noisy, and Lee Yuna quickly pointed in that direction.
“Ah, there he comes.”
“…”
Slowly, I turned my gaze to where she was pointing. My heart was beating irregularly due to fear and tension about the unknown person. Hoping that the “maybe” would become “indeed,” or that hope would become reality.
But reality was reality because it couldn’t be a dream.
“Chairman Wang of Hwayang Tobacco.”
The suit with a reddish tinge imprinted itself in my mind. Under the fedora pulled low, snake-like cold eyes were visible. His sunken cheeks looked even fiercer than when I had seen him before, and his twisted lips moved slowly as if about to exhale cigar smoke.
“That bastard wore a hat to cover up his stitches.”
I couldn’t even laugh at Lee Yuna’s muttered words. After all, I was the one who had caused those stitches, and I was right here.
“I heard he got about seven stitches on his head…There’s a rumor he almost got screwed over for causing trouble at an establishment.”
It was the first time I’d seen those lips not holding anything. I couldn’t remember a time when he didn’t have either a cigar, a glass of liquor, or at least a rag in his mouth. Wang Wei exchanged greetings with the host, his face completely fake-looking.
The problem was that the hand he used to shake hands was his left, not his right. I could guess why he was wearing gloves and why he deliberately used his left hand, and it felt like all the blood in my body was turning cold.
“I don’t know who did it, but I had to come see that snake-like bastard get what he deserved.”
Lee Yuna, who had no way of knowing it was me, giggled mockingly at Wang Wei. I didn’t know what happened between her and Wang Wei, but it seemed like their relationship wasn’t good, to begin with. She kept saying nasty things like “he got what he deserved” and “he should suffer more.” In the middle of her spiteful comments, Wang Wei looked up.
“…”
“…”
The sudden silence around us wasn’t just my imagination. Wang Wei, who had been smiling cunningly, suddenly stiffened his expression. His lips, which had been stretched into a grin, dropped downward.
“Huh.”
A short, derisive laugh entered my ears. Despite the distance, that sound was too clear. Along with the people who turned to look at me, Wang Wei took a step forward.
“That bastard…”
His harsh voice and rapidly approaching figure were ominous. Although he wasn’t particularly large, he was tall, so the closer he got, the more intimidating he became.
As I instinctively stepped back, Wang Wei, who had come right up to me, grabbed my collar with his left hand.
“Eek!”
Someone nearby let out a small scream. Feeling my throat suddenly constricted, I groaned softly and grabbed his wrist. I tried to shake him off with all my strength, but it was impossible to overcome an alpha’s power.
“Ha…I can’t believe this fucking bastard is here.”
Whether the guests were murmuring or not, Wang Wei glared at me with furious eyes. The threatening pheromones emanating from him seemed to show how angry he was. His pupils, usually dilated from drug use, were now clear like those of a beast’s.
“How have you been, huh?”
“Ugh…”
He shook me violently by the collar, grinding out each word. My head was shaken so much that everything seemed to be spinning. His strength was overwhelming—as he forcefully pulled me up, I staggered even more.
“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?”
Surprisingly, it was Lee Yuna nearby who tried to stop Wang Wei. Though startled by the sudden situation, Lee Yuna grabbed Wang Wei’s arm without hesitation, trying to pull him off me.
The problem was that this action caused Wang Wei to shout angrily.
“Who the hell do you think you are, butting in?!”
He shoved Lee Yuna away roughly without even checking who it was, and she fell to the ground with a thud. There was no way Yuna could overcome the strength that even I couldn’t resist. Her slender body was pushed back helplessly.
“…”
At that moment, I clearly saw Lee Yuna’s expression harden. And only then did the bystanders who had been watching from afar urgently try to restrain Wang Wei.
“Mr. Wang, please stop this…”
There were two things I hadn’t expected. One was that Lee Yuna was not the type to back down from something like that. And the other was that Wang Wei was too agitated to even recognize Lee Yuna.
“Are you crazy? Do you know where you are, causing such a scene?”
As Lee Yuna asked this, angry pheromones began to seep out from her. It was such a fierce energy that even I flinched, let alone Wang Wei, who was an alpha. Feeling my breath catch, I stiffened my shoulders, and Wang Wei, who had also paused, let go of me as if throwing me aside.
“Cough…”
I thought it was over. That was until Wang Wei turned to look at Lee Yuna with reddened eyes.
“You little bastards, both of you…”
Whether his pride was hurt from being startled by the omega pheromones or something else, Wang Wei chewed out curses with a face alternating between red and blue. The ominous atmosphere was palpable to anyone watching, and a sense of foreboding crept up my spine.
Surely not, right? No matter how out of his mind he was, he couldn’t possibly lay a hand on the heir of Gold Road Liquors.
“Want me to show you what crazy really is? Huh?”
But Wang Wei raised his left hand as if he had momentarily lost all reason. It looked exactly like he was about to strike her cheek, so I couldn’t help but block Lee Yuna’s front.
“…!”
A sharp sound rang out. Along with a gasp, a heavy silence fell as if cold water had been poured.
“…”
It was such a strong impact that it felt like my eyeballs would pop out, and for a moment it seemed like my brain was shaken. Not only was my skull ringing, but for a brief moment everything went pitch black.
Ah, damn. I bit my tongue. As I clenched my molars with that thought, I heard Wang Wei sneer.
“Damn, are you two an item or something?”
“Hey, you…”
Lee Yuna’s shock behind me wasn’t important. The problem was that Wang Wei raised his hand again, despite having already hit me once.
I blocked Lee Yuna with one arm and squeezed my eyes shut. The last thing I saw before closing my eyes was Wang Wei swinging his hand once more.
“…”
However, even after waiting for a while, I felt no pain on my face. The atmosphere was so quiet you could hear everyone breathing.
What on earth was happening? As I slowly opened my eyelids, I saw someone grabbing Wang Wei’s left hand.
“Ah…”
The long sigh that escaped contained a unique composure and leisureliness. Eyes so light in color they seemed almost transparent gazed steadily at my face. As his lips barely moved, a deep voice flowed from his bright red mouth.
“So many men here.”
“Joo…”
Joo Do-hwa. But I couldn’t call him that. I looked and saw that he had firmly grasped Wang Wei’s wrist.
And with a crack, he bent it backward.