By Zephyria 
That night, Eun-myeong could not fall asleep for a long time. It was largely because his Noona’s expression kept floating across his retinas whenever he closed his eyes.
A sleepless night. After tossing and turning on the bed, he pushed away the man’s arm that was pressing down on him and sat up.
Eun-myeong sat in the darkness and watched the man. Because the man had injured his hand, Eun-myeong had to fill the bathtub and bathe him on his behalf. Afterward, the two of them shared dinner, had sex, and then collapsed onto the bed and closed their eyes.
Of course, only the man had actually fallen asleep.
The man, who was always alert and sharp-eyed, only breathed so deeply and slept so soundly like this when he was holding Eun-myeong in his arms on the bed. Huu, huu. With every great breath he drew in and exhaled, the muscles in his thick neck bulged. He looked like a predator in hibernation.
The man had closed his eyes while keeping Eun-myeong tucked tightly against his side. Normally, Eun-myeong would have found that scorching body heat and heavy frame very welcoming, but…
“…….”
He carefully lowered his hand to touch the man’s cheek. Though the blue bruise had faded in the meantime, a burn scar remained on the back of his hand. Eun-myeong let out a soft sigh. He didn’t know why his chest felt so stinging today of all days.
Eventually, Eun-myeong stepped off the bed. He thought he would step out for a moment of fresh air to escape the man’s hot embrace, but he was startled out of his wits when a hand suddenly gripped his elbow from behind.
“…Ah!”
Turning around, he saw that the man had opened his eyes in the darkness. Eun-myeong felt his heart pounding as if he had encountered a goblin on a mountain in the middle of the night.
“When did you wa—”
He tried to ask when he had woken up, but the man cut him off with a question in a voice as rough as if a fishbone were stuck in his throat.
“Where are you going?”
Eun-myeong frowned slightly. He squirmed because the grip on his elbow was too painful. However, the man pulled Eun-myeong back sharply, as if he had absolutely no intention of letting go.
He was a ridiculous man. During the broad daylight, he had let him go so readily, telling him to go to his Noona if he wanted to.
Yet, in this raw state where he hadn’t fully woken up and his reason hadn’t returned, he gripped him fiercely. Eun-myeong couldn’t help but feel confused by the gap between the two behaviors.
“I’m just going to the terrace for a bit of air.”
The man’s eyes glowed intensely in the dark. He stared at Eun-myeong like the luminescent eyes of a large feline in the dead of night, and then finally loosened his grip. Eun-myeong slid out of his reach.
Rubbing his elbow with his other hand, he went to the terrace. The still-chilly sea breeze brushed against Eun-myeong’s side. In the night sky, a crescent moon hung, looking somehow lonely.
Squeak. He pushed the door shut and quietly took out his cell phone in the darkness.
“…….”
He gazed at the cell phone, which fit perfectly in his hand, for a long time. He wondered with what feelings his Noona had bought this and given it to him. His heart was so turbulent that he simply couldn’t close his eyes.
[Noona, it’s Eun-myeong]
He typed the message. It felt as though countless words were pouring out, but it wasn’t easy to fit them all into this small screen. Amidst a tangle of complex emotions, Eun-myeong wrote the three most prominent words.
[I’m sorry]
I’m sorry. I’m sorry for not being smart enough, for disappointing you. His gaze fell upon his own thighs.
At an hour when the whole world was asleep in darkness, naturally, there was no reply. His Noona would certainly be asleep by now.
In the deep night, the company building kept its white lights on until late, staring into the darkness like a monster that stayed awake to guard the night.
2:00 AM. It was the time the company went into a total blackout. The security Mister walked around with a flashlight, checking if anyone was inside.
Only after the flashlight illuminating the darkness had receded into the distance…
Eun-joo secretly slipped out from behind the front desk where the secretaries sat.
Fearing the sound of her footsteps might be heard, she limped barefoot across the rug. She moved stealthily, killing her presence as much as possible. As she stood before the door and pulled out her cell phone to turn on the flashlight, she saw a message from Eun-myeong.
[Noona, it’s Eun-myeong]
[I’m sorry]
How much agony must he have gone through to send this message? Feeling that sentiment, Eun-joo bit her lower lip hard. Why is that your fault, Eun-myeong?
Did he come to have such terrible thoughts because the only hand he had held since he was a tiny baby was his own?
Eun-joo steadied her heart once more. When she pressed the button to turn on the flashlight, the darkness dimmed.
Gangseong Capital had one single advantage to the fact that its roots were in a gangster company: there were no CCTVs on the top floor where the CEO’s office was located. Eun-joo curled one side of her mouth into a bitter smile. CCTVs are only beneficial if a company is running properly. In a trashy den like this, they were nothing more than cumbersome machines.
As she lightly turned the doorknob of the CEO’s office, the door slid open as expected. She didn’t know what kind of confidence he had to leave the place wide open, but she had anticipated it.
Kangsung had a corporate creed, and one of them was that office doors must never be locked. The CEO’s office was no exception.
It felt as if he were saying, If there’s any little loach that wants to come in, come in by all means. It felt like walking right into a set mousetrap, but…
Eun-joo gripped her cell phone tightly. As long as she secretly took the bait and didn’t get caught in the trap, it would be fine.
‘Where should I start looking?’
She intended to search the CEO’s office to see if there was anything that could lead her to the Director.
There was money for medicine that she hadn’t received from that son of a bitch, the Director. Since the Director was a man obsessed with money, he must have hidden it somewhere. If she had that, she could pay off the debts and get Eun-myeong away from that man.
“…….”
Eun-joo examined the items on the desk one by one. The nameplate, a lion statue, and other such things. Then, she discovered an object that didn’t seem to fit.
There was a picture frame. Moreover, it was turned upside down. When she reached out and picked it up, she found a clipped photograph inside.
Moonlight was streaming through the curtains, and the pale light was illuminating the face of a child. Eun-joo stared down at it, dumbfounded.
‘This crazy pervert, seriously.’
A child with pale skin and red cheeks, whose smile was particularly clear. A child who had awakened Eun-joo’s sense of guilt because he looked so pitiful and miserable… it was a young Eun-myeong. She could tell where this had been clipped from. Why on earth did President Kang have a photo taken at the orphanage?
A strange thought suddenly popped into her head. A chilling sensation swept down her entire body.
…If he does this, it almost seems like he actually has feelings.
Startled by the crazy thought she had suddenly conjured, Eun-joo shook her head violently. Goosebumps broke out all over her arms. Don’t make me laugh. There’s no way that bastard understands or knows such human emotions.
Eun-joo scratched her elbow vigorously and tried to flip the frame to take the photo out. Truly, this pervert was a bottom-of-the-barrel piece of trash. If he were a car, he should have been scrapped long ago; if he were trash, he should have been incinerated already.
Trash like you has no right to have this photo. With that thought, she was about to take it for herself.
Then, from somewhere, she heard a clink.
Eun-joo startled and scanned her surroundings. Fortunately, the area remained silent. When she carefully shone the light on the floor, she saw a key lying there.
It had been hidden behind Eun-myeong’s photo and had fallen out. She had a very strong feeling that this was related to the Director. She quickly picked up the key.
What is this? Which door does it open?
Eun-joo looked around rapidly. It didn’t look like a safe key, and the size didn’t match the locks of the drawers containing documents.
That was when a certain door caught her eye. An old door located on one side of the CEO’s office.
Eun-joo approached it. When she gripped the doorknob, it only made a clack, clack sound and would not open.
“…….”
From the looks of it, it seemed to be a small storage room attached to the office.
Eun-joo actually had a trauma regarding places like this. When she was young, she had been dragged by the Director and locked in a boiler room—a narrow, dark pit—more than a few times. Since then, she never even glanced at places similar to that. She had never set foot in one.
However, her intuition began to trigger with an odd intensity. When she held the key up and looked closely, the size seemed to match.
She slowly slid the key into the keyhole. It fit perfectly, as if they were one. At the sound of the clunk, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end.
There is definitely something here.
As that thought entered her mind, a chill seemed to race through her entire body.