Chapter 33
The employees wanted to cry.
They were already swamped with work, so why did accidents keep happening? Earlier, a customer had spilled a drink, and now another customer had burned off his eyebrows.
If the customer hadn’t been someone who had come out of the private room the owner had specifically told them to pay special attention to, they would have called the police already.
“I’m sorry about this. My companion caused a bit of trouble. If you’ve suffered any damages, please contact me here, and I’ll take care of it.”
“Are you all right, sir? Should we call 911?”
“His driver will be here. Go back to work.”
The employees who had rushed over took the business card Seo Woo-hyun held out to them and couldn’t bring themselves to complain.
But the most shocked person of all was Byeol.
She awkwardly got to her feet and looked back and forth between Ji-hyuk, whose eyebrows had been completely singed off and were now a mess, and Woo-hyun.
“What happened? Why… You said he’s your companion?”
“Yes. He’s with me. I apologize for the trouble, Representative Choi. I’ve heard a lot about you from my grandfather.”
Woo-hyun bowed politely to Representative Choi.
But he completely ignored Byeol’s question and turned away.
Not long afterward, a man came rushing in and, looking horrified, helped Kim Ji-hyuk to his feet. He was the driver Woo-hyun had mentioned.
“Are you all right, Director? Please get up. We’ll go to the hospital.”
“Let go! I’ll kill that bastard! Let go!”
But the man easily subdued Kim Ji-hyuk, who was thrashing around half-crazed.
He then practically fled the restaurant with Ji-hyuk.
Having only recently received a suspended sentence for assault, Ji-hyuk would be in serious trouble if someone happened to report him to the police.
“Mr. Seo Woo-hyun!”
Byeol called after Woo-hyun as he walked toward the restroom.
But the man didn’t even turn around or acknowledge her.
Ignoring Representative Choi, who told her it was time to leave, Byeol ran after Woo-hyun.
She rounded the corner just in time to see him opening the restroom door.
The entrance was decorated with elegant Korean paper crafts.
After hesitating for a moment, Byeol steeled herself and flung the restroom door open.
Seo Woo-hyun was standing in front of a long sink.
He had been looking into the mirror, but when he noticed Byeol, he let out a cold sigh and pointed toward the door with his chin.
“Lock it. We don’t need any unnecessary misunderstandings.”
“What’s going on? Why are you here, Mr. Seo Woo-hyun?”
Following his instructions, she locked the door and glared at him warily.
Seo Woo-hyun and Kim Ji-hyuk.
It was a combination she never could have imagined, and she desperately hoped they had absolutely nothing to do with each other.
Kim Ji-hyukāthe man who had driven Chae-i to her death.
That man had used his money and power to cover up his crimes and manipulate the media.
He was the worst kind of trash, someone she never wanted to encounter again in her life.
And yet Seo Woo-hyun had introduced that man as his companion.
Technically, he hadn’t exactly introduced him, but Byeol still felt her heart grow heavy and miserable.
“As I said earlier, there was a gathering. But I have a question for you, too. Was that bastard you mentioned earlier Kim Chi-guk?”
Who was supposed to be angry here?
Yet Woo-hyun looked like the one who was angry.
Completely bewildered, Byeol strode over and turned him around while he was standing in front of the mirror.
“Yes, that bastard! He’s a murderer! But why were you with someone like him, Mr. Seo Woo-hyun? Don’t tell me… you were friends?”
“Friends?”
“You said he was an acquaintance. You said your acquaintance had caused trouble. If you’re not close at all, why did you burn off all his eyebrows?”
He stared intently at her face, then slowly shook his head before turning on the water and washing his hands.
“I’m a little… angry. Thinking about what you went through because of that bastard who isn’t even worthy of standing at my feet. I… don’t know anything unless Byeol tells me. So maybe I took my frustration out on him because I was upset. I hate the thought of there being some kind of connection between you two that I don’t know about, no matter what form it takes.”
He shook the water from his hands and dried them with a paper towel before taking off his soot-stained jacket.
Byeol could only move her lips silently as she watched him.
“Anyway, nothing will happen to you because of him. That’s also why I pretended not to know you. Men like Kim Chi-guk usually get their sense of catharsis from bullying people weaker than themselves.”
“…Knowing that you know that bastard, Seo Woo-hyun… Thinking that you might eat together or hang out with him makes me annoyed and angry. That you’re the same kind of person as him…”
There was hatred in her eyes.
Their gazes met in the mirror.
Woo-hyun’s expression didn’t retreat in the slightest either.
“I… may seriously like you, but being lumped in with people like him makes me feel bad. I’m not the same kind.”
“Then what are you?”
“Let’s just say he’s an idiot who isn’t even worth the dirt under my toenail.”
At Woo-hyun’s firm declaration that he drew a clear line between himself and Ji-hyuk, Byeol rubbed between her eyebrows and took a deep breath.
Strangely, all her strength seemed to drain away.
When she had been confronting Kim Ji-hyuk, her mind had actually been sharp and alert.
But now that she was facing Seo Woo-hyun, she felt completely the opposite.
“Have you eaten? From the looks of it, you left your meal unfinished.”
Without raising her head, she nodded.
Thinking about it carefully, this really wasn’t such a big deal.
What was more surprising?
A man like Seo Woo-hyun becoming involved with her?
Or becoming involved with Kim Ji-hyuk?
Everyone would choose the former.
After all, the only connection between her and Woo-hyun was that they had happened to go on blind dates on the same day.
“Let’s not fight, okay? Especially over a piece of trash like that.”
Woo-hyun gently stroked Byeol’s head and lifted her face.
Only then did she raise her head, her expression finally calming down.
“Shall we go eat something delicious?”
Woo-hyun acted as though nothing had happened.
A sigh escaped Byeol without her realizing it.
Her face turned miserable.
She was frustrated because she felt wronged and angry, yet she couldn’t bring herself to act unreasonable.
“Ugh, I really hate this…”
At her muttered words, almost as though she were talking to herself, he smiled and pulled her into his arms.
“I like it.”
“Don’t.”
“Don’t hold yourself back again…. If something like that happens again, pour hot water on him right there. I’ll take responsibility.”
Her eyes weren’t actually crying, but her eyelashes became slightly damp.
Seoul was frightening.
For a moment, she had forgotten just how frightening it could be.
But she couldn’t run away again.
She bit her lip, pushed against his chest, and turned to leave.
Then he turned her around by the shoulder and leaned his upper body toward her as though he were about to kiss her.
Byeol kicked Seo Woo-hyun’s shin with all her strength.
“Ow!”
He cried out and hopped on one foot while clutching his shin.
“We’re in the talking stage. You don’t just kiss someone whenever you feel like it when you’re in the talking stage. And besides… we’re in a restroom.”
“What did you say? Ha, this is driving me crazy.”
It probably hadn’t hurt that badly.
Even though she had kicked him with all her strength, she had slightly angled her foot away at the last second.
Byeol hurried out of the restroom, leaving him behind.
A man who had just been about to enter the restroom flinched and stepped back.
“I’m sorryyy.”
Whatever he imagined was probably worse than reality, but after glaring at the suffering Seo Woo-hyun as though he were a criminal, the man clicked his tongue and went inside.
However, when Byeol returned to the table, she was greeted by Woo-hyun’s secretary, who was holding her handbag and cell phone.
Recognizing Byeol, he smiled brightly.
“Director Seo told me to keep these safe. I’ll escort you. I heard the two of you are going to eat together? I’ll take you somewhere quiet and pleasant.”
What?
“…Where’s my companion?”
“Oh, he said he was going back to the office. Apparently he has an article to write.”
“An article. Ah… an article. Sigh…”
Byeol scratched her head vigorously as she accepted her handbag and phone from the secretary.
She could sense Seo Woo-hyun approaching.
Unable to bring herself to turn around, she merely shifted her eyes.
Woo-hyun came up behind her, effortlessly took her handbag from her, and walked toward the exit.
His expression was indifferent, yet he also looked thoroughly annoyed.
Was this really the same man who had been so cruel to Kim Ji-hyuk just moments ago?
“Why on earth is he taking my handbag?”
She muttered as she hurried after him.
As she passed him, she heard him snort and mutter to himself.
“The talking stage is supposed to be bold and aggressive. I’m planning to be very, intensely, passionately aggressive today. So this is temporarily confiscated.”
“Mr. Seo Woo-hyun.”
“Yes, I’m sulking. A lot. So what? We’re seeing each other, aren’t we? Right?”
The moment the disinfectant swab brushed over his skin, a string of curses burst from him like screams.
The doctors frowned as he threw every possible curse word he could think of into the air.
It was a burn, technically, but strangely enough, only his eyebrows and bangs had been singed.
They had thought he might have suffered a fairly serious injury because his skin was delicate, but it was only slightly red.
Of course, his chin had developed a large bruise, but it wasn’t serious.
Still, they couldn’t simply ignore the complaints of a successful chaebol third-generation heir.
“You don’t need a dressing. Just apply the ointment properly. Your eyebrows will grow back. Only the ends were burned.”
“Damn it! Is this how you treat patients? My family pours a fortune into this hospital, and this is all I get?”
Should they treat him as though he were dying from some fatal disease?
The doctor wasn’t holding back out of fear, but because dealing with him was simply unpleasant.
He forced an awkward smile and gave the nurse a meaningful look.
The nurse then came in carrying all sorts of strange medical equipment.
In other words, Kim Ji-hyuk wanted to look like he had come to the emergency room and undergone a serious examination, and the doctor decided to indulge him.
After attaching various wires to Ji-hyuk’s body, including an ECG, the doctor told him to stay for thirty minutes, then opened the curtain and left.
Ji-hyuk still wasn’t satisfied.
Every time his hand brushed against them, his singed eyebrows felt rough and irritated, and they even stung.
But there was nothing he could do about Seo Woo-hyun.
What the hell was wrong with that bastard that he had to pick a fight with him every single time?
And on top of that, he’d had to show himself in such a pathetic state in front of Byeol.
He’d rather bury his face in a bowl of water and die from embarrassment!
After once again hurling a colorful string of curses, Ji-hyuk made a phone call.
He hadn’t intended to go this far.
But this was all because of that woman.
Seo Woo-hyun and Byeol.
They didn’t seem to be particularly close…
It bothered him.
[Hyung! Long time no see. I guess you’ve come back to Korea?]
Although the man spoke standard Korean, his regional accent was impossible to hide.
Ji-hyuk flopped down on the hospital bed and spoke to him.
“A few days ago. But are you busy these days?”
[Come on, no matter how busy I am, I have to make time for you. Is there something you want me to do?]
“You… remember that woman from six months ago? Byeol. The reporter from Jeongui Daily.”
[Ah! That pretty one!]
“You bastard. Hey, dig up some information on her. I thought she’d quit being a reporter, but apparently she’s still in Seoul. And I’d like you to scare her a little. Make sure she doesn’t keep hanging around in front of me.”
[Oh, looks like that girl really got on your bad side. Got it. You know girls with big eyes tend to be scared easily, right? I’ll take care of it.]
“And Seo Woo-hyun. Find out what he’s been up to lately, too.”
[Huh? Seo Woo-hyun? You mean from Mooyoung Group? That’s going to cost a bit. There’s a difference in class, you know. Someone like Seo Woo-hyun is, like, an ultra-ultra-ultra S-rank target.]
“Do it. No more talking.”
The man chuckled, said thanks, and hung up.
Ji-hyuk had once considered hiring the guy when he was doing third-rate thug work at an errand service.
He had been easy to control with a little money, but apparently the man now ran a fairly successful private investigation agency.
Only then did Ji-hyuk give a dry chuckle.
“He died on his own, didn’t he? I didn’t kill him. Once you’re dead, that’s the end of it. You’ve got to be alive before you can say anything.”
Soon, the smile disappeared from his face, leaving behind a strange crack in his expression.
He rubbed his stinging brow and once again began shouting at the top of his lungs.
