TIN 74

Perhaps because I left the mansion with Henry, the security guards didn’t try to stop us from leaving. They glanced our way but turned away as if understanding. If only they’d do this whenever I went out alone. But that was probably a vain hope in the end.

Henry put me in a black sedan parked in the lot. He even opened the door for me, and I got in without a word, fastening my seatbelt. It was my first time in the passenger seat, so the view through the windshield felt strange, but what surprised me more was that Henry himself got in the driver’s seat.

No conversation passed between us until he started the engine and began driving. I didn’t ask where we were going, thinking it wouldn’t change anything even if I did. I assumed Joo Do-hwa had called for me. That was the extent of my thoughts.

I realized something was wrong after Henry’s car had been driving on the road for about 30 minutes. Just as I noticed fewer and fewer cars passing us by on the road, Henry, who had been silent all along, said this, “Everything you see and hear from now on is a secret.”

It was an odd thing to say. I had heard something similar from Joo Do-hwa before.

The problem was who I was supposed to keep this secret from.

“Young master must not know about this either.”

“…”

I turned my head to look at Henry, startled. He was still focusing on driving, staring straight ahead. The scenery passing by suddenly felt unreal to my eyes.

“Didn’t…Joo Do-hwa call for me?”

I had naturally assumed Joo Do-hwa had ordered this. Henry was Joo Do-hwa’s assistant and had nothing to do with me. To Henry, I was just a beta Joo Do-hwa had bought, so there was no reason for him to have business with me except to relay instructions.

“Didn’t you know?”

But Henry brazenly asked back. He said it was unfortunate if I didn’t know, casually turning the steering wheel. How did he expect me to know when he just told me to come somewhere without offering any explanation?

And in the midst of that, he even warned in that polite tone of his, “You shouldn’t get in a car without first asking the destination.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. Is that something to say when you’re practically kidnapping someone?

“You say that as if you would have told me if I had asked.”

As I spoke, glaring at his pointed nose, Henry glanced at me with just his eyes. He quickly looked back at the road as he was driving, but that response was enough.

“Does Joo Do-hwa know about this?”

“I just told you it’s a secret.”

Why is this person being so unreasonable today? He was never friendly, but today he seemed to be answering particularly carelessly.

“Don’t worry. Nothing will happen if you stay quiet.”

“…”

As soon as I heard those words, I felt even more ominous. So does that mean something will happen if I’m not quiet?

While I didn’t want to go to Joo Do-hwa, if he wasn’t at our destination, the situation became even more serious. Leaving the house without permission was one thing, but I had no idea what would be at the place Henry was taking me. What if something bad suddenly happened to me?

“This is kidnapping.”

“It’s not called kidnapping when you followed me on your own accord.”

“Then let me out. I’m not going.”

Knowing it was reckless, I immediately unfastened my seatbelt. As soon as I did, a loud beeping warning sound went off. I was going to open the car door and get out, but unfortunately, the already locked door showed no signs of opening.

“You’ll cause an accident.”

At that moment, Henry suddenly reached out toward me. Without even looking at me, he indifferently fastened my seatbelt again. The beeping warning sound abruptly stopped. I tried to at least unlock the door in a hurry, but Henry’s words stopped my actions.

“It’s double-locked, so it’s useless. Don’t waste your energy.”

“…”

I wondered if he realized he was talking like a villain. I thought about trying to break down the door and get out, but it was obvious I’d be caught quickly on a road like this. No, I wasn’t even sure if I could get out unharmed in the first place.

“Why are you doing this to me?”

I asked, feeling absurd, but no answer came for a while. Henry just focused on driving with his mouth tightly shut.

After a slight pause, he opened his mouth with a light sigh.

“I don’t want to do this either.”

“…”

“So please just stay still.”

Ridiculously, the voice that came out sounded really tired. The reason I couldn’t retort that if he didn’t want to do this, then he shouldn’t, was because Henry showed an expression of being utterly fed up. He just slightly furrowed his brow, but it stood out more because he was someone who usually showed no change in expressions.

‘I won’t be home today.’

Why did that bastard have to be out on a day like this? No, did he deliberately choose a day when he’d be away?

It would be good if I had a cell phone, but unfortunately, I had no means of contact. Even if I had had a cell phone, I didn’t know Joo Do-hwa’s number anyway. If only they had bugged me like last time, then Joo Do-hwa would know about this situation.

As I thought this, I frowned, feeling a subtle sense of dissonance.

“…”

If Joo Do-hwa knew about this situation, then what?

Joo Do-hwa wasn’t a safe person either, and I couldn’t be totally certain he would help me. It would be fortunate if he just punished Henry for taking me away without permission and didn’t hold me responsible for following on my own accord. Yet here I was, hoping Joo Do-hwa would help. Clearly, something was wrong with my head.

“Will it really be okay if I just stay quiet?”

Feeling a surge of irritation, I asked Henry while trying to suppress my stifling feelings. Sensing something in my voice, Henry finally showed a barely perceptible change in expression. Then he answered in a firm tone.

“Yes, I guarantee it.”

Regardless of how we got here, it was a believable statement. Or at least, it had to be.

Afterward, silence ensued. Neither Henry nor I made a sound, just staring straight ahead.

The car passed through an open road and crossed a deserted path, eventually entering an estate along towering walls. The tightly closed main gate opened left and right as if on cue when Henry’s car approached.

As soon as we passed through the gate, a well-landscaped garden and statues came into view outside the car window. The enormous scale of the mansion made me feel the same intimidation I felt when I first entered the child’s family home. The lavishly decorated mansion, likely belonging to someone very important, completely erased one worry I had secretly harbored on the way here.

“…”

It wasn’t Wang Wei he was taking me to after all.

It may have been a stupid thought, but I had worried briefly for a moment there. What if Henry was acting on Wang Wei’s instructions to bring me here? Thinking about it, someone like the heir to Hwayang Tobacco probably couldn’t bribe a person from Joo Do-hwa.

“We’ve arrived.”

While I was warily looking out the window, the car stopped in front of the mansion’s entrance.

There were at least three times as many security guards at the entrance compared to Joo Do-hwa’s house, no exaggeration. As Henry and I got out of the car, the guards who had been standing with their hands behind their backs came up to us and began searching our bodies.

As Henry had instructed me to behave, I didn’t resist at all and spread my arms wide as they directed. The guard methodically checked my shoulders, waist, legs, and ankles, and finally allowed us to enter the mansion only after removing and examining my shoes.

“Don’t forget what I told you.”

As we crossed the mansion’s lobby heading inside, Henry warned me again in a voice low enough for only me to hear. Who could it be that he’s being so cautious about? As I was thinking about this, Henry stopped in front of a massive wooden door.

Knock knock. His knocking gesture was polite. It felt excessively formal, but the reason became clear when I heard his next words.

“Chairman, it’s Mark.”

“…”

A chill ran up and down my spine. Just one word from Henry’s mouth—”Chairman”—and because of the large man visible through the crack of the opening door.

Beyond the door opened by an employee, a middle-aged man sitting at an enormous desk looked in our direction.

‘Listen to me carefully.’

‘Let me ask you one favor.’

‘Since Do-hwa seems to follow you well…’

My heart started racing madly. A voice I had heard sometime in the past echoed endlessly in my ears. The gaze looking down at me, the overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere, the cold intentions hidden behind a face pretending to smile kindly.

“You must be tired from the long journey.”

It was Joo Do-hwa’s father. The man who was once vice chairman but now chairman. One of the few dominant alphas with eyes that glinted gold when hit by light.

“You always work so hard.”

I wanted to bow my head but couldn’t. The fear that had crept up from my toes froze me stiff from head to toe. It was then that the man, who had been smiling at Henry, slowly turned to look at me.

“You are…”

“…”

Our eyes met. Though there was a reasonable gap between us, I could clearly see his expression change. The moment his round eyes lost their smile, and his pupils filled with shock.

“…Ji-soo?”