By Zephyria Jo Seong-hyeon smiled broadly, seemingly satisfied with Choi Hong-seo’s reaction. He clearly imagined Lee Hae-sung having a hobby of burning Choi Hong-seo’s body with a lit cigarette during sex.
Lee Hae-sung’s hand covered Choi Hong-seo’s hand, which he had pulled under the table, broadly. The firm yet gentle grip was comforting him, telling him he didn’t need to hold anything in, that he didn’t need to engage with such people.
He knew intellectually that he didn’t need to care if such a person didn’t acknowledge it, but the thought that such a person was demeaning Lee Hae-sung’s love made him furious and exasperated.
What kind of spots were these?
It was a place where, even knowing it was useless, Lee Hae-sung meticulously applied ointment twice a day. Even though he might find them unsightly, he would deliberately kiss each spot more during their lovemaking.
His eyes welled up hotly, but he felt he would be even more enraged if he showed tears. He held Lee Hae-sung’s hand tightly and endured with all his might.
“How would people like you understand? What kind of wound this is.”
Jo Seong-hyeon sighed and shook his head at the expression and tone of the hateful ‘Yoon Hye-an’.
“Hah… that. I should have taken a picture when he was begging, naked, saying ‘Don’t throw me away,’ and ‘I love you.’”
Jo Seong-hyeon spoke with an expression of unbearable regret, then raised his eyebrows, looking at Lee Hae-sung.
“If that’s not a cigarette burn, then what is our Vice President’s preference? Even though he can do whatever he wants with the prettiest ones, he wouldn’t act like a prince.”
“The desire to control someone by paying money likely stems from an insufficient fulfillment of the desire for conquest in daily life. But in my case, that’s not so.”
No matter how much Jo Seong-hyeon shook it, Lee Hae-sung’s water glass remained steady and did not overflow. Jo Seong-hyeon seemed like someone who couldn’t stand it.
“I’m curious, so I’m asking. You haven’t seen the video of Hyean and me, have you?”
“Do I need to see it?”
“Indeed. If you had seen the video he sent me, the one taken with Go Ji-woon, you wouldn’t have dared to watch the video with Hyean. It’s a hobby that’s a bit overwhelming for a normal person.”
Jo Seong-hyeon spoke boastfully, as if proud of his appearance in the video.
“If you’re so proud of it, you wouldn’t have needed to come here to prevent its leakage.”
Lee Hae-sung had not checked a single one of the countless videos and photos left by Lee Seo-kyung as blackmail material. He had avoided them even more if they were Choi Hong-seo’s. Although he had the urge to see for himself how cruelly he had been treated, he felt that child, Hong-seo, wouldn’t want that.
Furthermore, even if he obtained a video of Yoon Hye-an, with whom he had no connection, he would have no interest. The reason he was trying so hard to prevent the leakage of that video now was because it could interfere with Choi Hong-seo’s new life. That was the only reason. Jo Seong-hyeon mistakenly thought Lee Hae-sung was trying to protect ‘Yoon Hye-an’, but…
Lee Hae-sung could no longer stand it and sighed. It was a small sigh, as if he were unbearably bored.
“Look, Mr. Jo Seong-hyeon. If you’re here just to provoke me, I’ll call off the negotiation and leave. Surely you don’t think I proposed negotiations out of fear?”
“If not out of fear, then what is it?”
“Because it’s bothersome.”
“……”
“If both sets of footage are released, who would be at a disadvantage? I have my money, power, and connections. I will mobilize everything to stop the spread of Hyean’s materials and retrieve them. I will simultaneously flood the news with articles claiming the materials were maliciously fabricated and that Yoon Hye-an is the victim. While there will undoubtedly be people who believe what they want to believe initially due to the sensational scandal, it’s the same in business as it is in the entertainment industry. The side that pushes forward and endures will ultimately survive. After lying low for two to three years, Yoon Hye-an will re-emerge as the victim of a false scandal and continue his activities. There are precedents for this in the entertainment industry. I can do that, and I will. But what about you, Jo Seong-hyeon?”
Lee Hae-sung, having laid out his long explanation without pause, looked at Jo Seong-hyeon with cold eyes.
“However, escalating things to that point is a bit troublesome for me as well. This meeting was arranged to resolve it with minimal energy. If you’re not interested, you can leave.”
Jo Seong-hyeon kept his gaze fixed on Lee Hae-sung and extended his hand towards the lawyer seated to his right.
“I will sign.”
The agreement was reached quickly, without further delay. It took less than 20 minutes for everything to be finalized.
After the lawyers, acting as representatives, left to complete the notarization process, Jo Seong-hyeon, who had been lingering, called out to Lee Hae-sung as he was about to leave the conference room with Choi Hong-seo.
“Can we talk for a moment, just the two of us, Vice President?”
Lee Hae-sung hesitated for a moment, and Choi Hong-seo looked up at him with a displeased expression.
“We’ve finished signing the agreement, can’t we just go?”
“It’s fine. There’s no harm in knowing what they’re thinking. It might even reveal a loophole that could benefit us.”
Patting Choi Hong-seo’s back, Lee Hae-sung signaled to the escort waiting down the hall. He then personally escorted Choi Hong-seo to the middle of the hallway and handed him over.
He brushed Choi Hong-seo’s hair, neatly swept back from his ears, with his fingertips, tilted his head, and gave him a brief kiss on the cheek.
“Wait in the drawing room with the security team, okay?”
Choi Hong-seo nodded, but he kept looking back multiple times until he had completely disappeared towards the living room with the escort. As Lee Hae-sung watched him go and returned to the conference room, a TV mounted on one wall was playing a video.
The TV seemed to be connected to the tablet Jo Seong-hyeon was holding. It was a sex tape of Yoon Hye-an and Jo Seong-hyeon.
“Even so, I thought Vice President should see it at least once.”
Jo Seong-hyeon, spinning his chair this way and that, looked as innocent as a child who had finally gotten what they wanted. It seemed like the happiest moment of Jo Seong-hyeon’s life.
“Ah, isn’t this a breach of contract? It’s not a leak since I’m showing it to Vice President.”
Lee Hae-sung watched the video with an unchanging expression. In the video, Yoon Hye-an appeared to be a completely different person from the Choi Hong-seo in front of him now. Even with the same features, they had different personalities, different expressions, and different thoughts, so perhaps it was natural.
He had held the current Choi Hong-seo, who had the same face, several times. His expressions, moans, and reactions during sex were also completely different.
The video was, in fact, reinforcing the fact that the person by his side now was truly ‘Choi Hong-seo’.
It was strange that Yoon Hye-an in the video appeared as a completely different, individual person from the current Yoon Hye-an. Lee Hae-sung quietly watched the video, and the unfamiliar Yoon Hye-an within it.
And when he had savored that fact sufficiently, he turned his gaze back to Jo Seong-hyeon.
“You couldn’t resist the urge to humiliate me one way or another, could you?”
“I have a bit of a wild streak. Unlike some people, I clawed my way up here with my bare hands. I’m different from those who just wag their tails and flatter Vice President.”
“It seems you want to slip back down from the place you climbed up to with such difficulty.”
Lee Hae-sung said, tracing the edge of the table, a sigh mixed in his voice. Jo Seong-hyeon stood up from his chair and slowly approached Lee Hae-sung.
“Even if I slip, I can’t give up the thrill of the moment when I get what I want.”
Stopping a few steps away, Jo Seong-hyeon handed the tablet to Lee Hae-sung.
“The last copy is on this tablet. Whether you delete the video after watching it, destroy the tablet along with it, or keep it secretly and enjoy it… that’s up to you, Vice President. Just know that this is the meat I used. Enjoy it.”
Lee Hae-sung glanced down at the tablet he received, and Jo Seong-hyeon placed a hand on Lee Hae-sung’s shoulder before leaving the conference room.
Lee Hae-sung paused the video, put down the tablet, and took out his phone to call Manager Kang.
“As soon as the other party signed the documents, they violated the contract. Specifically, the clause stating that no copies exist in any form. I can’t trust the terms of our agreement.”
[Shall we proceed with the plan we prepared?]
Manager Kang’s tone over the phone held neither excitement nor despair. Lee Hae-sung’s expression was the same.
Lee Hae-sung’s gaze, which had been directed towards Seoul outside the window, shifted to the paused screen on the tablet. Manipulating the tablet with his long fingers to hide the video, he made his decision.
“It must be carried out without the VIP knowing. Be careful.”
After a brief reply, Lee Hae-sung ended the call, picked up the tablet, and disconnected it from the TV. As he turned off the TV power with the remote and was about to leave, a guard with a stiff expression appeared at the open door.
“Vice President, the VIP is feeling very unwell.”
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