TIN 80

My mouth snapped shut. Due to my dazed state, I couldn’t immediately comprehend what he had just said. He gazed steadily at my lips and added, “There’s an anti-eavesdropping system in place in that room.”

It wasn’t a strange thing to say. Such a system would naturally be operating in the Sae Group chairman’s house. No, not just Chairman Joo’s house, but right here in Joo Do-hwa’s house as well.

“If you overhear by mistake, you’ll go deaf.”

He tapped his ear with his index finger. His blinking eyes softened as if he had never been angry in the first place.

“I have no idea what conversation took place there.”

“…”

I almost believed him for a second there. That he really didn’t know anything—that this was just the result of some sort of misunderstanding.

“…Don’t lie.”

But as soon as my head cleared, the thought that came to mind was the conviction that ‘It can’t be.’ You crazy bastard, at least make up a believable excuse. To pretend to be innocent with just the excuse of not eavesdropping wasn’t good enough.

“It was your assistant who took me there. There’s no way that person didn’t tell you anything.”

My belief that Joo Do-hwa knew everything wasn’t just because I believed he eavesdropped. I judged that his assistant Henry, who followed him around like a shadow, would be his eyes and ears.

“…Why don’t you believe me?”

Joo Do-hwa muttered softly, curling up the corners of his mouth. Unlike his earlier sneer, there was a hint of more amusement on his face this time. His voice, tinged with laughter, was the same.

“Henry must have told you to keep it a secret…”

The slowly uttered beginning was as good as accusing that he and Henry were accomplices. At least it meant he knew about Henry’s misdeeds.

“But why do you think I’ve already received a report?

“…I didn’t hear him tell you to keep it a secret?”

“That’s the lie.”

The clumsy attempt at driving a wedge between us failed in just one sentence. I didn’t expect it to succeed in the first place, but I learned that he must trust Henry in some way.

“I know my hyung did well.”

Joo Do-hwa, speaking gently, caressed my lower lip with his thumb. It stung the torn flesh that I had bitten down hard on. He clicked his tongue lightly as if feeling quite regretful.

“But if you did well, why are you acting so rebellious?”

“…”

It’s because of you.

Anger welled up, but I couldn’t argue. If I did, the same situation as before might repeat.

Fortunately, Joo Do-hwa backed off easily, unlike how he would go about things normally.

“I won’t do more, so stop crying.”

When did he spout nonsense about me being prettier when I cry? The touch of his hand wiping away the remaining tears was unbearably disgusting. No, before that, hadn’t he said something mean about hating whining?

It had been a while since I stopped crying, but Joo Do-hwa still hadn’t removed his hand from my face. After rubbing my eyes and stroking my cheeks, he touched my lips again like before. When I parted my lower lip in response to the stinging pain, his persistent gaze peered inside.

“…It’s red.”

Of course, it’s red. There’s blood. I couldn’t even say that. His golden eyes were becoming increasingly moist and sinister. I tried to recall something. Like that time he suggested trying something new if I was going to seduce him with my body.

His finger, slowly tracing my lips, subtly pushed inside. His straight index finger then gently touched the hidden lower teeth. And then slowly, his face began to draw closer.

“…”

I thought he was going to kiss me. At the same time I thought that it couldn’t be possible, I had a feeling he was going to press his lips against mine. His lowered eyes, the breath that suddenly was coming close—everything could only mean one thing.

So just before our lips touched, I reflexively turned my head to the opposite side. A sense of crisis like my heart sinking and an instinctive feeling of rejection suddenly surged up from within me. Along with the premonition that if I closed my eyes now, something irreversible might happen.

“…”

“…”

An awkward silence fell between us. Neither I nor Joo Do-hwa said a word to each other.

In the heavy silence that was almost suffocating, Joo Do-hwa was the first to react.

“…Ah.”

With a small exclamation, he froze his expression as if turned to stone. His eyes looking down at me turned cold as if hit by ice water. I expected a chilly response right away, but surprisingly, Joo Do-hwa immediately got up.

I didn’t have time to stop him. Joo Do-hwa, who got off the bed, left the room without looking back. The door that slammed shut didn’t open again for the rest of that night.

* * *

Throughout my life, there have been many people who tried to kiss me. Theo did it, Kei secretly wanted to, and the customers at Oceans were all the same. Whether driven by lust, or interested in my appearance, for whatever reason, it wasn’t a rare occurrence.

However, no matter how I thought about it, there was no reason for Joo Do-hwa to kiss me. To him, I was just a stand-in for his hyung, a thing bought with money, and just a beta that he had to deal with reluctantly. None of these were conditions that would make him desire me.

If he was just physically hungry, it might be understandable, but even the daily sex wasn’t just for satisfying lust. At most, it was a means to show his superiority, as beasts often did. Furthermore, kissing didn’t even serve as such a means, which meant ‘that’ Joo Do-hwa had no need to want such a thing from me.

Yeah…But why, then?

I didn’t think I misunderstood his actions. I wasn’t so stupid as to not read the suggestive atmosphere. The sensation in that moment was real, and these things ultimately led to discomfort and irritation.

Just how capricious could he be?

He said he didn’t want sex, but he changed his attitude as easily as flipping his palm, like just earlier. He didn’t treat me like his hyung as he promised and occasionally treated me like a male prostitute. And now, he was even doing inappropriate things that didn’t suit him.

That bastard, what does he want me to do? If he’s going to be like this, he should have been honest from the start like other guys. Or if not, he should honestly say that what he wanted was my body instead of pretending otherwise.

Even after coming to a vague conclusion, the fundamental anxiety showed no signs of dissipating. The inexplicable discomfort and fear perhaps stemmed from the worry that he might want more from me. Every time he showed erratic behavior, I felt like I was walking a tightrope.

When I went down to the dining room the next morning, Joo Do-hwa was eating with an indifferent face. Henry was standing behind him, hands behind his back, waiting—a sight I hadn’t seen in a very long time. Henry glanced over at me, then looked straight ahead again with a disinterested face.

After observing for a moment, I sat down across from Joo Do-hwa as usual and started eating. The menu was Western, and forks and knives were placed identically in front of Joo Do-hwa and me. I couldn’t skip meals just because of my mood, so I planned to finish quickly and go back to my room.

But as soon as I picked up my utensils, Joo Do-hwa suddenly spoke without any warning.

“There were people who got drugs from my father.”

“…”

From the first words he uttered, it felt like I was going to choke. As I slowly raised my head, he continued talking without even looking at me.

“It’s Father’s hobby. He gives that medicine to the person I bring and tells me to make them take it.”

‘Our Do-hwa needs to take medicine because he’s sick, but the child is so suspicious that he won’t listen to me.’

Chairman Joo’s words flashed through my mind. As I thought, I wasn’t the first. It seems he had done the same to all those who had been stand-ins until now. This fact wasn’t particularly surprising, but I felt cautious about the sudden topic.

“What could I do when the chairman orders it? Of course, I had to make them take it.”

Isn’t that too stupid? If something goes wrong, Joo Do-hwa could die.

I reflexively looked at Henry. Henry was still standing there with a robotic face, showing no sign that he heard any of this. It was admirable to the point of being shameless, but what followed caught my attention.

“After taking it a few times, I put it in water.”

He actually took it a few times? I was shocked for a moment that he had actually taken unknown medicine. Then I realized the meaning of what he was saying.

“…You put it in water?”

That water…Could it be the other person’s water? In regard to my question, Joo Do-hwa smiled slightly.

“It’s precious medicine, we should share it.”

As soon as I heard his gentle voice, I could almost see Joo Do-hwa revealing this fact to the other person. Telling them that since he was made to take it, he put it in his hyung’s water too, with a bright smile on his face.

“Some vomited, some trembled saying they were sorry, and once, someone even foamed at the mouth begging for their life…”

The trailing end of his sentence was meaningful. He stabbed a piece of meat with his fork and said without emotion, “In the end, they committed suicide.”