Chapter: 09
“It might actually be better this way. Kang Tae-gyeong is obsessed with women. If someone with your appearance emphasizes that you have no experience, he might really start talking without holding back.”
Se-yeon spoke as if this was actually a good thing.
However, Seo-ah could neither accept nor deny Se-yeon’s words.
She could not openly ask.
How did she know? Did she perhaps know that Dong-ha was gay?
Without saying anything, she examined Se-yeon’s face.
But perhaps it really had been her imagination. Her cousin’s expression was exactly the same as always—one filled only with concern for her.
‘Of course. There’s no way Unnie would…’
Seo-ah shook her head strongly, as if trying to throw away the improper thoughts.
That was when it happened.
It seemed Se-yeon had something to show her, as she searched through her bag.
“Seo-ah, wait a moment. There’s something I want to show you.”
Se-yeon took out a photograph from her bag and placed it on the table.
“I don’t know who took it or for what purpose, but someone from the upper management of Taeyu Motors gave this to me.”
Seo-ah pulled the photograph closer and checked it.
Her eyes trembled violently.
The person in the photograph was none other than Dong-ha’s father, Lee Se-jung, the representative of Dong-ha Motors.
“Why……? Why is my father-in-law?”
Se-yeon took the photograph back, checked something, and then held it up in front of Seo-ah’s eyes again.
“You can see the date, right? Exactly one year ago. It means he had already met with someone from Taeyu and discussed something back then. One year ago means this was before confidential information from Wonjeon Electronics was leaked.”
Seo-ah slowly nodded.
Her heart pounded as if it would burst.
She did not know who the person standing with her father-in-law was, but the enlarged upper body in the photograph clearly showed a Taeyu Group badge attached to his jacket.
“Someone you know gave this to you?”
“Yes. That person said they also received a tip from someone else and traced it back.”
Whether Se-yeon’s words were true did not matter.
At least the scene captured in the photograph itself could not be a lie.
Seeing her father-in-law, who had apparently planned everything with Taeyu beforehand, made Seo-ah feel as if her heart was being torn apart.
Seo-ah thought of her father, who had opposed their marriage from the beginning.
There must have been a reason why her father rejected the marriage proposal even though it could have saved Wonjeon Electronics from shutting down.
If she had not stubbornly insisted back then and had rejected the offer, even if Wonjeon Electronics had closed down, wouldn’t things have been better than they were now?
If that had happened, wouldn’t her father still be beside her?
You stupid woman. The most foolish woman in the world.
Because of you. Because of your stupidity, Dad…… Dad……
Seo-ah’s anger was directed toward herself.
And now, there was nothing she could not do.
“Unnie, I’ll do it.”
“Are you…… sure?”
Se-yeon asked in a worried voice.
“Yes. I can do it.”
Unlike her calm voice, Seo-ah’s bloodshot eyes were filled with countless emotions.
“Okay. Let’s try.”
At Se-yeon’s pitiful expression, she quietly nodded.
This time as well, Se-yeon’s performance seemed to have succeeded in deceiving her only audience.
However, Seo-ah did not know.
That no matter what happened inside the hotel room, Se-yeon had no interest in it at all.
What she wanted was simply one woman who could become involved with Kang Tae-gyeong.
One week later, Se-yeon’s red sedan stopped at the back entrance of the largest hotel in downtown Pyeonghan.
In the passenger seat sat Seo-ah, who looked completely different from usual.
Her long straight hair had been styled into large curls, and her face was covered with heavy makeup to the point that it was difficult to remember what her bare face looked like.
It was as if Jin Seo-ah had been completely erased.
The appearance was awkward and did not suit her at all.
Looking over her outfit, Se-yeon smiled with satisfaction.
“Today, you are ‘Rin,’ who works at ‘Edge.’”
Seo-ah slowly nodded.
“They said Kang Tae-gyeong entered his room thirty minutes ago, so you just need to go up.”
Se-yeon placed a pen-shaped recorder she had prepared into Seo-ah’s hand.
It was an old black recorder that started recording when the middle of the pen was pressed.
“Turn it on just in case. There might be conversations that could become evidence.”
Seo-ah’s expression became visibly tense as she accepted the recorder.
The day had finally come when she would meet Kang Tae-gyeong, someone she had only heard about through Se-yeon.
If she made even one mistake, everything would be over.
She tightened both hands, trying to calm the anxiety that refused to disappear.
Watching her, Se-yeon lightly tapped the back of her hand.
“Don’t worry too much. You won’t get caught. Even if Kang Tae-gyeong personally calls Edge, we have someone on our side, so don’t be too nervous.”
Someone…… on our side?
She probably meant there was someone who would confirm that they knew Rin.
It was meant to reassure her, but those words did not completely erase her anxiety.
“Ah, okay.”
“Seo-ah, don’t forget. The truth is in Kang Tae-gyeong’s hands.”
Seeing her unstable expression, Se-yeon quietly smiled while emphasizing her purpose and motivation.
“Yes. I know.”
Seo-ah forced the corners of her mouth upward into an awkward smile, and Se-yeon nodded.
“Good.”
The pitiful expression of an older sister worrying about her younger sister was an added touch.
In front of Tae-gyeong’s hotel room.
For ten minutes already, Seo-ah had been unable to press the bell of room 2101.
She thought that if she delayed any longer, everything might end before it even began.
However, her trembling finger refused to move.
“Phew…… I can do this.”
She repeatedly encouraged herself.
Finally gathering her courage and reaching toward the bell, the door of room 2101 suddenly swung open.
“……?!”
Startled, Seo-ah stepped backward, and her heel wobbled.
“Uh……?”
At that moment, the man who had opened the door grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward.
“What is it?”
Using his firm hand for support, Seo-ah’s twisted ankle barely returned to its proper position.
Then a rough voice came down from above her.
“I asked who you are.”
The man’s voice sounded somewhat irritated.
Apparently, he was displeased by the woman suddenly blocking his doorway.
Flustered by his tone, Seo-ah forced her dry throat to work and raised her head.
“Ah, yes. I, I am……”
And the moment she properly faced the man in front of her, Seo-ah doubted her own eyes.
The man was definitely someone she knew.
‘Huh? Where have I seen this man before? His name was……’
While Seo-ah stood there silently, the man raised one eyebrow in annoyance.
Then he repeated the unfinished words she had just spoken.
“I am?”
“……!”
When the voice she heard again overlapped with his actual appearance, Seo-ah finally remembered his name.
“Ka…… Kang Tae-gyeong!”
Without even realizing what had come out of her mouth, she stood frozen for a moment.
“‘I am Kang Tae-gyeong?’ Who? You? Kang Tae-gyeong is me.”
The man mocked her by piecing together her broken words in an annoyed tone.
“……What?”
“I’m Kang Tae-gyeong, not you. No matter how I look at it, there isn’t a single thing about you that resembles me.”
“Ah……”
Lowering her gaze, Seo-ah tried to organize her confused thoughts.
So the Kang Tae-gyeong Unnie talked about was this man?
Then who was the man she saw at the funeral?
“I’m Kang Tae-gyeong. Since you asked who I was.”
As the memory returned, Seo-ah tightly closed her eyes.
That voice definitely belonged to this man.
The musk scent around him, his long narrow eyes without double eyelids, and his tall figure that could belong to an athlete or a model.
It had only been a brief moment, but the Kang Tae-gyeong in her memory and the man before her were the same person.
That was when Tae-gyeong, unable to stand watching her dazed expression any longer, spoke.
“Are you a spy?”
His unexpected question startled Seo-ah, and she lifted her head.
“What?!”
“Did you come here to investigate me? For a spy, your style is a little…… excessive.”
Tae-gyeong’s gaze moved up and down as he examined her.
Although the top she wore had long sleeves, it was a sheer bolero that only reached above her waist.
Because of that, the short slip dress underneath appeared even more revealing.
Under his direct gaze, Seo-ah finally became aware of her appearance and quickly returned to reality.
“I’m…… Rin.”
“Rin?”
“Yes. Edge sent me.”
Even while saying the name of the place Se-yeon had told her, she worried whether he remembered what happened at the funeral.
Because of that, she kept her head lowered while only raising her eyes to glance at him.
Ironically, that behavior made her look even more suspicious.
However, Seo-ah herself did not realize this.
After observing Seo-ah carefully for a while, Tae-gyeong asked dryly.
“How long have you been working?”
It was strange, but Seo-ah felt relieved by his question.
Since he was asking something like this, it seemed he did not suspect her disguise.
“On, only a few days. This is my first time serving a customer…….”
Even though she was relieved that he did not seem suspicious, her words still did not come out properly.
Her heart continued pounding, and even her breathing became unstable.
