TTILY CH 05

“Ms. Maria?”

I looked at the man who called my name in such a familiar tone.

There were about fifteen people here, just like before, but Lia didn’t look around. If yesterday had been Baek Gyuhyeon’s private arrangement, today she felt as though Baek Shinu had thrown her into a lion’s den. She interpreted it as his way of telling her to endure their ridicule and make some money while she was at it.

She couldn’t hide her bitter feelings. Perhaps it was better that Baek Shinu wasn’t the one openly orchestrating this. It made the situation a little easier to accept. Lia hoped he wouldn’t appear.

Baek Gyuhyeon held out the whiskey glass he had previously put to his lips and then spat the drink back into. She remembered the time he had told her to dip a cigarette in it before drinking.

“What was that thing called again?”

Rubbing the scarred spot between his brows with his index finger, he frowned at one of the people beside him.

“The one where someone else drinks alcohol for you.”

Lia’s expression hardened. She remembered hearing that he had a hobby of throwing money at people for degrading purposes. Lia clenched her fists and stared at Baek Gyuhyeon.

“Five hundred thousand won for finishing it in one shot. Or, if you slowly savor it with one ice cube at a time, a hundred thousand per cube.”

He turned to the person beside him, trying to get them to agree that it was an incredibly tempting offer.

“It’s not even hourly pay. That’s practically free money.”

Similar comments erupted from different corners of the room.

Inside this den, Lia had been reduced to a woman who would do anything for money. It was because of what had happened that day, but she didn’t blame Baek Shinu for it.

Just as he had taken out a bundle of cash that day, Baek Gyuhyeon pulled out some bills and placed them on the table.

When their eyes met, he smiled brightly and pointed at the whiskey glass in front of her.

Her stomach churned.

She wanted to run out immediately.

Lia glanced sideways and saw Baek Shinu reflected in the window. He was watching the entire situation from behind, arms folded.

Ah.

Even if he hadn’t directly arranged this, this was what he had wanted.

Lia finally understood what he was expecting from her.

Her hand trembled as she picked up the whiskey glass.

Baek Shinu continued to watch from behind.

With trembling hands, Lia raised the glass to her lips. The sharp scent of alcohol stung her nose.

She closed her eyes.

She had just decided that she would drink it slowly, eating one ice cube at a time—

“You little bastard. I loosened your leash a bit, and now you’re getting cocky.”

Baek Shinu approached, muttering a low, rough curse.

He snatched the whiskey glass from Lia’s hand and threw its contents into Baek Gyuhyeon’s face.

“Ah, fuck! What the hell are you doing?”

Baek Gyuhyeon wiped the whiskey from his face and glared at Baek Shinu.

“I liked her, so I thought I’d have a little fun.”

Baek Shinu replied expressionlessly.

“I never gave you permission.”

His firm tone carried an unmistakable sense of intimidation.

Baek Gyuhyeon stood and casually patted him on the shoulder.

“Does your permission matter? She looked ready to follow a man to bed if he just gave her money. I was just going to give her some spending money. What’s wrong with that?”

Baek Gyuhyeon wiped his face with a handkerchief and acted arrogantly.

Lia’s entire body burned with humiliation.

“On my turf, with my employee?”

Baek Shinu’s low voice made Lia desperately want to leave.

The reason these brothers were fighting was humiliating enough.

“I told you, I’m interested in her. I thought I’d try to seduce her. What’s wrong with that?”

At his shameless question, Baek Shinu threw the whiskey glass he was holding straight into Baek Gyuhyeon’s face.

It happened so quickly that no one around them had time to stop him.

Baek Gyuhyeon fell to the floor, and Baek Shinu pressed his shoe against his face.

Lia flinched.

Her lips moved, but no words came out.

Her chest tightened, and she felt the blood drain from her body all the way to her toes.

“Watch yourself depending on the situation.”

“Fuck! Get off me! I won’t let this go.”

“You’re getting cocky just because I let you have a little fun.”

Baek Shinu tapped Baek Gyuhyeon’s face repeatedly with the toe of his shoe, almost as though striking his cheek.

Lia could barely breathe. She stood frozen.

“You bastard. Know your place.”

Baek Gyuhyeon refused to back down and continued provoking Baek Shinu.

But Baek Shinu told him to keep talking and then pressed his shoe against his mouth.

He lifted his foot.

Then—

Thud.

A brutal impact followed.

Lia covered her mouth with both hands at the sight of his violent actions.

She couldn’t tell which version of Baek Shinu was the real one.

Not a single person among their party tried to stop him.

When Lia saw Baek Gyuhyeon’s split lip, she was reminded of the nightmare from that day—the way he had grabbed her hair without warning and slammed her head against the table.

The day she had cried while tasting the metallic tang of blood.

Lia spoke in a trembling voice.

“Stop… please, stop.”

Baek Shinu stopped.

For a moment, only his harsh breathing could be heard.

Then his foot came down over Baek Gyuhyeon’s face again.

“Ahh! Fuck!”

Baek Gyuhyeon cried out in pain, coughing up blood.

His swollen lips spilled fresh blood.

Lia slowly backed away, but stopped when Baek Shinu slightly turned his upper body.

His sharp profile gave her an order.

“Follow me.”

Even as Lia followed him, she glanced back at Baek Gyuhyeon.

Only after Baek Shinu left and she heard the others checking on him and talking about calling a doctor did she feel even slightly relieved.

Baek Shinu turned his body to check whether she was following.

His expression remained emotionless as he walked quickly, and Lia practically had to run to keep up.

Soon, they arrived at his room—the one she had visited once before.

The sound of the door slamming shut made Lia flinch involuntarily.

He sat on the sofa, put a cigarette between his lips, and lit it. Then he took some documents from a drawer.

He gestured for Lia to sit.

She carefully sat where he pointed.

“Are you divorced?”

“What?”

Lia repeated the question in surprise.

What he had taken out of the envelope were her documents—her resident registration certificate and résumé.

Lia’s heart sank.

The one thing she was grateful for was that she had registered Yoon-i under Okja’s family registry.

Finding a job as a single mother wasn’t easy.

Since only her child was listed on her family registry without a spouse, many people blatantly looked down on her or sexually harassed her.

Strangely enough, there were even people who tried to reduce her salary.

Of course, such offers often came with disgusting conditions attached.

Once, she had been so upset that she cried while complaining about it. That was when Okja registered Yoon-i on her own resident record as a cohabitant.

‘The world is still a harsh place. I hate the thought of Yoon-i’s mother being treated that way outside. You have nothing to apologize for. It doesn’t even cost anything.’

At that moment, Okja had felt more like a benefactor than anyone else in the world.

“It’s clean.”

Baek Shinu’s additional remark brought Lia back to reality.

He was asking because there was no trace of a husband on her records.

Lia’s heart ached as she remembered the past, when she had reported him for having an affair.

“Lia.”

His coaxing voice made her hesitate for a moment.

“I hear girls like you are called gold diggers.”

“……”

“In vulgar terms, a vixen.”

Tap.

He flicked away the ash and took a deep drag from his cigarette.

The smoke he exhaled twisted upward like a snake before dispersing into the air.

“Did I interfere unnecessarily?”

He seemed to be asking about what had happened with Baek Gyuhyeon, but Lia didn’t answer.

“If you regret it, I can call him.”

That bastard.

She quietly studied his eyes, but still couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

Lia firmly shook her head.

For a moment, the corner of his mouth seemed to twist upward.

After putting out his cigarette, he glanced through her registration documents before looking at her.

“You said you never had a husband?”

Of course she hadn’t.

But Lia remained silent.

“What did you do with the settlement money?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I have the right to ask. It wasn’t a small amount. I gave you a huge settlement—hundreds of millions of won.”

“I gave it to the man I was seeing.”

Are you satisfied now?

She looked at him as though asking the question with her eyes.

Baek Shinu’s face remained as expressionless as an inanimate object.

It seemed as though he wasn’t even breathing.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Even after what he did to you, you still liked that bastard?”

Lia’s body flinched.

She didn’t want to remember what she had looked like at the police station that day.

Instead of answering, Lia simply nodded.

A disbelieving laugh escaped through Baek Shinu’s teeth.

He called her name gently before speaking.

“Lia, I’m going to ruin you.”

“……”

“If you don’t want to be ruined, run.”

At his bizarre warning—giving her a chance to escape while simultaneously announcing what he intended to do—Lia clenched her fists tightly.

“But, Lia.”

She looked at him when his voice softened.

“Run if you’re confident you can avoid getting caught.”