Come Back

“I am the kind of person who can send these memories to the vice president or spread them on YouTube anytime.” Hongseo probably knows well. Right?

Lee Seokyung, who had spoken like that from above, grabbed Choi Hongseo’s hair and lifted her upper body. With a smile reminiscent of the chilling coldness of reptiles, Lee Seokyung looked down at Choi Hongseo and grinned.

“What will people think of Hong Seo when they see this?” After seeing this, will they still think of me as the diligent and refreshing leader of ‘Layered’ who puts in effort into everything?

“Huh… You… It’s what you did! I’m the victim… Why do I have to be blamed?

Physiological tears were flowing, but Choi Hong-seo was not even aware of it.

“Did I teach you that the world is so easy?”

Tsk tsk tsk tsk. Lee Seokyung looked down at Choi Hongseo with genuine pity, as if she found the situation truly pathetic.

“Just by looking at this, I can’t tell if you’re the victim or not, but…” Even if you are the victim, people won’t care about that, Hongseo. What stays in people’s minds is just this photo. This photo will soon become Choi Hong-seo.”

Lee Seokyung placed the phone next to Choi Hongseo’s face. She alternately looked at Choi Hong-seo’s face and the photo on the screen, as if comparing them.

“To my eyes, it’s just pretty, hmm…” People probably won’t see it as pretty, right?

“……”

“Let’s introduce our Hongseo with this photo and video… Then, whose house this is… Well, even if you just drop that much information, it quickly gets seasoned and turned into a whole story on YouTube. If I say I hung out with someone like this… The image of the exemplary heir and vice president, Lee Hae-sung, will get a tiny crack.

I shoulder-barged Lee Seokyung, who was frowning as if in regret. It felt like a few strands of hair were being pulled out, but it didn’t matter.

A few steps back, Lee Seokyung, rather than looking displeased, grinned with a look of interest and stared at Choi Hongseong.

Choi Hong-seo glared at Lee Seo-gyeong with eyes burning with venom, something he had never done before.

“Don’t mess with the vice president.”

“……”

“If you splash even a drop of that filthy shit water on the vice president, then I won’t be the one cowering.”

Pfft, phew. Hahaha… Lee Seokyung, who had been trying to hold back her laughter, soon doubled over with laughter.

“Ah…” Our Hongseo is barking up a storm. You haven’t seen me in a long time, right? What? What are you going to do if I’m not crumpled up?

“I’m going to self-destruct.”

“Self-destruct?”

“Until now, I’ve just been dragging myself along like a dead rat, trying to survive despite your antics…”

“Did you come?”

“If you splash mud on the vice president, it’s just, you die and I die.”

If Lee Seokyung had done some investigation about her relationship with Lee Hae-seong, it would have been useless to deny it. It was also true that this house belonged to Lee Hae-seong. The terrible lies that could be concocted from that fact were frightening. I was scared of Lee Seokyung’s shit that might splash on Lee Haesung.

I had never once stood up to Lee Seokyung. In my early twenties, I was so scared that my knees would tremble and I couldn’t muster any strength, to the point where I couldn’t even stand properly in front of Lee Seokyung.

However, even a powerless little mouse could bare its teeth at a cat once it realized there was nothing but a cliff behind it.

No matter how powerless a little mouse might be, when it comes to trying to harm something truly precious, it forgets the difference in strength and even dares to confront a lion instead of just a cat. I don’t know if Lee Seokyung knows that.

“Photo?” Video? Sure, if you want to spray it all, go ahead. If that happens, I… Anyway, there’s nothing more for me to lose, right? What you did to me over the past seven years, I will expose every single thing.

However, of course, Lee Seokyung didn’t feel the slightest bit affected. Lee Seokyung, who had been quietly observing, approached and poked Choi Hongseo’s temple with her index finger.

“This is what… “Have you read too many novels or watched too many dramas?”

Choi Hong-seo shook her head, brushed off Lee Seo-gyeong’s hand, and lifted her chin to stare directly at that disgusting face.

“I don’t know, damn it.” Yeah, I haven’t learned anything and I’m ignorant. So I was scared of you, and I thought there was no other way, so I did as you said and pretended to be dead. Someone like you… I thought you lived in a place where even the law couldn’t touch you!

“Yeah, I do live in a place like that.” Even though we didn’t learn anything, we’re still smart enough. But suddenly, why is he acting so foolishly?

“Even if the law can’t touch it, if idol ‘Choi Hongseo’ reveals that she was raped by Hanseo Group’s Lee Seokyung and was threatened for seven years while being forced into prostitution, at least…” Even if it’s just for the sensationalism, wouldn’t people be interested? How much people will be intrigued and entertained by this story, right?

A story that people will find interesting… In Choi Hong-seo’s eyes, which were fiercely glaring, hot tears welled up once again.

“Yeah, in the end, whether I’m the victim or whatever, they won’t care, and I’ll be buried along with it! But at least!” Still, at least! Can’t I at least splash a drop of annoying poop water on your pants? So, you’re saying we should die together.

“Is this really crazy?”

Only then did Choi Hong-seo see that he had finally made Lee Seo-gyeong truly angry for the first time. The tears that had been precariously welling up trickled down her temple.

“Yeah, I’m crazy.” Pushing someone to this extent, how can I not go crazy? So… If you don’t want to ruin those expensive pants by getting bitten by a rabid stray dog…

“……”

“Don’t mess with the vice president.”

Tears overflowed, blurring my vision, making it impossible to see Lee Seogyeong’s features, but I raised my head defiantly and stared hard at the spot where I thought Lee Seogyeong’s eyes would be.

“How dare you…” You, a mutt like you, shouldn’t even dare to speak of it… Ugh!

Lee Seok-kyung’s heavy fist struck Choi Hong-seo’s abdomen. Since he was a person who trained in various martial arts for self-defense, the punch he threw from close range was heavy. In an instant, Choi Hong-seo felt a twisting pain in his intestines and a choking sensation, causing him to collapse forward.

Even at times like this, the thought that he wouldn’t even hit her in the face was so very Seogyeong-like that, hugging the shopping bag and kneeling on the floor, a bitter smile escaped her lips.

It wasn’t about consideration for someone who works with their face; Lee Seokyung was that kind of pig. A pervert of a different caliber, unlike the simple hotheads who recklessly wield violence without rules.

Above the wrist, above the ankle, below the neck. The various types of scars densely covering every inch of Lee Seokyeong’s body, wrapped in clothes, would never be forgotten for a lifetime. It was the most disgusting scene Choi Hong-seo had ever seen in his life.

Lee Seokyung knelt down and sat facing Choi Hongseo, who had collapsed on the floor. Tilting her face at an angle, she rested her chin on her hand and let out a long sigh.

“Hongseo, you have to throw yourself into the fray just to get a drop of dirty water on me, but I can just throw away those pants and put on new ones.” Don’t you still understand that? The fundamental difference between you and me?

“Sniff, sniff…”

Groaning in pain, Choi Hong-seo kept staring straight at Lee Seo-kyung as if trying to engrave the memory deeply so as not to forget it.

“I’ve been really stressed out with business lately.” There are some kids who don’t listen, just like you. Today, Hongseo made things fun in various ways, and since I’m busy with work, I should get going now…”

Having said that, Lee Seokyung tapped the screen of her phone with her finger and continued speaking.

“If you keep this attitude up, my fingers are going to start itching?”

Then he stood up, adjusted his suit, and walked towards the elevator.

“Tell Manager Myung too.” Tell Mr. Myung that I came and went.

After tidying up her slightly disheveled hair and adjusting the position of her wristwatch, Lee Seokyung firmly pressed the elevator button. The eyes that coldly looked down at Choi Hong-seo, who was huddled on the cold marble floor with his shoulders trembling, gazed indifferently.

“But what are we going to do about Hongseo?”

“……”

“If the dirty water splashes on Lee Haesung, then that dirty water must be the dirty water of your past.”

“……”

“Oh, if you want to protect the vice president like that, erase your past.” Then that would be fine.

Lee Seokyung, who shrugged her shoulders with a smile, disappeared into the elevator.

Due to the lingering pain in her abdomen, Choi Hong-seo sat in the elevator lobby for a while, gasping for breath. Until the sensor light automatically turned off.

The scariest thing. The scariest thing I don’t want to admit.

It was the fact that Lee Seok-kyung was the real madman, the one who had been crazy since birth. The fact that he is a real lunatic, making it impossible to predict when or how he will act.

“Heuuu…” Huh… Hoo…

If I were to even slightly compromise my integrity, I would be prepared to live without dignity in Korea, to no longer be able to stay by your side, and to risk losing everything in order to expose the misdeeds of Lee Seokyung and Myung Dohun… Those words were all sincere.

Even though I hadn’t made a promise in advance, I could feel that I had gradually built that resolve within my subconscious during the time spent with the understanding.

Choi Hong-seo slowly lifted his body in the darkness. Holding her stomach, she carefully bent down and picked up the crumpled shopping bag with care. I wiped my tear-soaked face carelessly.

If I could just make it all go away, I would do anything, but I can’t.

A person who didn’t deceive, use, or try to control with money, but instead looked at me warmly and slowly approached to touch my heart. At least, I wanted to make sure that the fallout from those dirty deeds didn’t reach that one person. The only clean thing he had ever had since coming into this world, the only thing worth protecting.

Until just a moment ago, the sensor was definitely working properly. While Choi Hong-seo walked to the front door and entered the password, the light never turned on. As if it couldn’t detect the movements of a person named Choi Hong-seo.

In the dark hall where no light could seep in due to the lack of windows, Choi Hong-seo pressed the door lock password incorrectly several times. In the meantime, new tears kept flowing, and without caring at all, she wiped her tears with an expressionless face.

Because of understanding, I was able to bask in the golden sunlight even while residing in hell. No matter what awaited in the future, there was no regret for the happiness felt while closing my eyes in the warmth of that sunlight, even if just for a moment.

It was a fact several times more evident than the notion that Lee Seokyung was a madman.

Ding ding ding.

With a cheerful sound, the lock was finally released.