Chapter 9.1

KyungHyun entered the hotel room and stopped in his tracks. His sharp eyes looked around the room, but it was deserted and bleak. Just as it had been when he left it in the morning.

“……”

He loosened the tie that seemed to be choking his neck. He took off his jacket and undid the cufflinks on his wrists. The splatters of blood were vivid against his white shirt. It must have happened when he fought off the surprise attack in the elevator just now.

His opponent was definitely a henchman sent by SungHo. Even though he was disguised as a hotel guest, this man couldn’t hide the sense of danger that was exuding out of him due to his many years of being a gangster.

As this man charged at him from behind to stab him with a knife, KyungHyun kicked him down right away. Inside this narrow elevator, he had to conduct hand-to-hand combat. When the elevator door opened in the middle of this, a normal guest caught a glimpse of the bloody man and screamed, so KyungHyun had to stop.

He left it to the hotel manager to call the police and settle this matter before heading up to his room. Thanks to Lieutenant Han, who had alerted the police beforehand, KyungHyun didn’t have to be called in to fill out the tiring report.

“Whew…”

KyungHyun angrily swept his hand through his hair. It was difficult for someone to attack him in the hotel because it was crawling with YongSung’s men.

However, SungHo had sent an expert assassin anyway. The reason was simple. Realizing that KyungHyun never left the hotel, SungHo believed that Lee EunHa was there as well. Only half a day had passed since KyungHyun had reported her death to him in the morning. However, SungHo was already on the move.

‘…Is it because he doesn’t believe me?’

KyungHyun walked into the kitchen as he recalled the way SungHo had screamed curses at him through the phone. He poured himself a glass of water and gulped it down. Something felt strange since a while ago. After slowly emptying the glass, KyungHyun slowly walked around the spacious living room. He didn’t see any hidden intruders.

Holding the empty glass, KyungHyun sharply glanced at the closed bedroom door. Because of the sudden appearance of an unwelcome guest, KyungHyun’s body was still tense even though the scuffle had ended. He didn’t like that. He placed the glass cup on the marble island counter and walked towards the bedroom EunHa was staying in.

He felt that once he saw her safe and sound inside the room, he’d feel better. Once he opened the door, he finally realized the cause of this strange feeling.

“You’re back?”

Unlike him, Eunha looked relaxed as she sat inside the room. However, she wasn’t sitting on top of the bed.

“Lieutenant Han left urgently, so I thought something happened. You’re back earlier than I expected.”

Perched on the table, EunHa pressed a long cigarette down onto the ashtray as she grinned at him. KyungHyun frowned and took a step towards her. Suddenly, EunHa picked up the handgun on the table and held it up. It was the handgun he kept in the safe.

“If you come any closer, I’ll shoot.”

Her lips stretched into a smile. KyungHyun’s heart raced inside his chest and the blood rushed to his temples.

“Do whatever you want.”

KyungHyun didn’t stop and continued to take slow steps towards her. His dark eyebrows furrowed as his cold face twisted into a frown. He didn’t even want to know how she had gotten out of her handcuffs. How she had managed to get his handgun out of his safe wasn’t important either.

“I’m not going to shoot you. I’m going to shoot myself.”

KyungHyun stopped in his tracks as EunHa raised the muzzle of the gun so that it pressed underneath her chin. She gave him an innocent smile.

“If I shoot from this distance, I’ll probably blow my head off, right?”

“…Don’t do anything dangerous.”

KyungHyun’s face twisted horribly as he spoke in a soft voice. His head throbbed and he felt like he was going to vomit. His mouth was completely dry.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to do it either. So if you have any guns on you, place them on the ground now.”

“I don’t have any.”

“Take off your jacket.”

KyungHyun didn’t hesitate and did as he was told. After taking off his suit jacket, he raised his hands up above his shoulders and turned around in a circle.

“You really don’t.”

After making sure KyungHyun didn’t have any guns on him, EunHa chuckled.

“If you’re doing this because you feel frustrated from being locked inside, this isn’t a good idea.”

EunHa raised an eyebrow.

“Superintendent Shin, are you very shocked right now?”

KyungHyun frowned. He wanted to get that muzzle away from her chin, but he couldn’t charge at her right now. He was afraid she would accidentally pull the trigger if he tried to take it away by force. His heart raced so hard in his chest to the point of pain. As his mind was in turmoil, EunHa looked at him and spoke up.

“If I truly wanted to escape, I would have gotten out of the handcuffs, grabbed the gun, and escaped before you returned. Don’t you think?”

KyungHyun swallowed, and his Adam’s apple slowly shook. The thoughts in his mind flew around at a dizzying pace. The solution to this problem didn’t come easily to him.

“Then what do you want?”

He needed to think. If her wish wasn’t to leave this place, then what did she want? KyungHyun’s brows furrowed even deeper.

Did she want to kill him?

It was possible that she had come to hate him because he had ignored her pleas to leave and kept her confined in here for nearly a month.

“I want to talk to you.”

Every morning and evening, he held her and gave her pleasure, causing her to moan in a shrill voice. In the end, he’d continue to hold her until she’d meet his eyes and tell him she wanted him in panting breaths. He’d thought that they had bared themselves to each other in the most primitive way, but was it all a lie for Lee EunHa?

“What do you want to talk about?”

KyungHyun scolded himself for thinking about useless things at a time like this. He bit his lower lip. If EunHa laughed at him and called him an incompetent police at this moment, he wouldn’t be able to refute it.

“Why don’t we sit over there?”

EunHa pointed the gun over to the bed. It was about 1 meter away from the table. As KyungHyun moved, he thought about snatching the gun away from her. However, he was too afraid an accident would occur in the process.

It wouldn’t be too difficult to take the gun away from her, but if she got hurt in the process… The moment of opportunity passed by as he hesitated, and KyungHyun sat down on the edge of the bed. The mattress springs let out a soft groan underneath his weight.

“Well done. Thank you.”

EunHa smiled prettily. She spoke to him as if she were complimenting a child. She began to shake her crossed legs.

“Did Lieutenant Han unlock the handcuffs?”

“Of course not. I tried to make her feel bad for me, but it didn’t work at all. As expected of your subordinate.”

He didn’t think Lieutenant Han would have done something like that either.

“Then?”

“That’s a business secret, so I can’t really tell you.”

“Why didn’t you run away as soon as you got out of the handcuffs?”

“Are you being like this because you can’t shake off your cop habits? I’m the one who wanted to talk, so why do I feel like I’m being interrogated right now?”

“It’s because I can’t understand why you’re being like this.”

KyungHyun crouched down and placed his elbows on his lap and licked his dry lips. Acting relaxed, KyungHyun folded his hands together to hide his damp hands. He couldn’t figure out what it was that she wanted.

“Send me back to Kang SungHo.”

As EunHa cut to the chase, KyungHyun looked up at her and frowned.

“…I don’t think you need my permission in a situation like this.”

Just as she said before, if she had wanted to leave and go back to Kang SungHo, she would have escaped the hotel before he’d returned.

“No, I need it.”

“Why?”

“Because when you’re carrying out a plan, you need to communicate with your colleagues.”

KyungHyun’s frown deepened at her unexpected answer.

“Colleagues?”

“Yes, colleagues.”

“Why are you saying this?”

“I want to move on with your plan. I’ll pretend I escaped from here and return to Kang SungHo. After telling him about your plans, I’ll draw him out to China. As you know, Serim needs money right now, and… there’s no way Kang SungHo will let an opportunity of this size slip by. He isn’t going to want any room for error, so there’s a high chance he’ll go there personally. Then you can be on site and arrest him. Isn’t that what the police wanted?”

KyungHyun’s eyes pierced into EunHa, unable to understand the gist of what she was saying. EunHa turned over KyungHyun’s gun in her hand as she looked it over. Then she continued to speak.

“No matter how much of a rat bastard Kang SungHo is, Serim and Kang SungHo won’t be able to weasel out of it if he’s caught red-handed in the middle of a black market drug trafficking site. If you’re worried that I’ll go back and kill Kang SungHo, don’t worry. I won’t do that.”

“…So what’s in it for you?”

KyungHyun asked her a question similar to the one asked by Lieutenant Han. At his soft question, EunHa took her eyes off the gun and looked straight at him. There was a strange gleam in her eyes.

“I’d get my revenge. I thought about it, and if I kill him with one stroke of a knife, I’d be relieved, but I’d also be a bit disappointed. Compared to the 10 years that bastard toyed with me, it’s too light of a punishment.”

“…So?”

“I imagined the shocked face he’d make when he realized I stabbed him in the back. Then I came to the conclusion that this route would be much more satisfying. How would Kang SungHo look like when he realized that the little child he thought was in the palm of his hand was the one who turned on him? Just thinking about it makes me giddy. Haha.”

KyungHyun watched her eyes sparkle as she laughed like a lunatic. He wondered whether she was telling the truth or not. He couldn’t tell if she was being honest at all.

“Even if that’s what you want, returning to Kang SungHo in this situation is extremely dangerous.”

“I won’t die.”

EunHa looked him dead in the eyes as she smiled.

“And I’ve decided that there are some things I want to try with a man named Shin KyungHyun in the future, so I refuse to die just yet.”

“…Don’t play with me.”

KyungHyun blurted out bitterly. His eyes trembled imperceptibly. EunHa had dug into the crack between them without realizing it.

“Use me. I’ll help you return to your rightful place.”

“Why would you do that?”

“Because I want to.”

A peculiar gleam entered KyungHyun’s eyes as he looked at her with his cold, smooth face. It wasn’t because EunHa was now pointing the gun at him. His head felt stuffy and dizzy. KyungHyun swept his face with his large hand. Covering half his face behind his hand, his black eyes looked up at her.

“You look very confused.”

“I am confused.”

“You said you had romantic feelings for me.”

“Yeah.”

It was the truth.

“Can’t I feel the same for you?”

That was a lie. But why does my heart waver and my mind turn into a mess at your obvious attempt?

KyungHyun frowned as he reproached himself when EunHa interrupted his thoughts.

“I’m not saying that I’m crazy in love with you or anything.”

Even though it was disappointing to hear, it sounded a lot more credible. KyungHyun gathered his hands as if he were praying and began to press his index fingers together.

“But I do think that I want to have a fresh start with you.”

EunHa looked straight into his eyes. Like a suspicious cat, her eyes had been glancing around the room this whole time, but now they were clearly looking at him.

“I think I want to get to know you better.”

KyungHyun felt that this wasn’t a lie. Feeling a migraine wash over his temples, he grit his teeth.

“But in order to do that, I need to end this ill-fated connection between me and Kang SungHo.”

“Didn’t I tell you I’d make that happen? I never say anything I don’t mean.”

His voice was now so low that it sounded husky.

“Yeah, so there’s no need to walk in circles to get there. There’s already a trap that has been set thanks to all your time and effort.”

As EunHa spoke to him softly, KyungHyun took a deep breath. As his wide shoulders went up and down, his eyes were boiling as if they were on fire.

“I want to see Kang SungHo gnash his teeth from the betrayal. I want him to trust me until the very end. So that when he finally realizes that I’ve stabbed him in the back, he’ll want to kill himself from the shock of it.”

“It’s too dangerous.”

“I’m not as inexperienced as you think. I think it’s time I show you that.”

EunHa held on to the gun as she jumped off the table. Then she slowly began to walk towards him. She placed the muzzle of the gun onto his forehead. KyungHyun stayed absolutely still. He merely pierced her with his characteristic gaze. His symmetrical lips began to move.

“Kang SungHo will kill you as soon as you return. Are you telling me to just sit back and watch that happen?”

“I won’t die that easily.”

With the gun still on his head, EunHa slowly lowered her face to his. Her lips almost touched his.

“Haa… Really…”

Letting out a sigh that almost sounded like a moan, EunHa began to rub him through his pants with her free hand. A muffled groan escaped KyungHyun’s lips.

“How can you be aroused in a situation like this?”

EunHa asked as she laughed. She lightly pressed her lips against his. His cock, which had been at half-mast, was now fully erect. KyungHyun remained on the bed and was as still as stone. He didn’t lay a single finger on her.

“Seriously… You’re not a normal man.”

EunHa spread her legs and plopped onto his lap as she faced him. KyungHyun’s muscular body was hard and tense. As the mattress began to sink, KyungHyun raised his knees so that she wouldn’t fall off.

“Do you remember how you put the gun up against my head like this at the KeumOh founding party?”

Along with her whisper, KyungHyun could hear the small sound of her finger tapping against the trigger of the gun. The handgun in her hand was loaded. If she accidentally pulled the trigger, it would blow off his head.

“But you didn’t shoot in the end. I wonder why.”

“…I never intended to shoot you from the beginning.”

He had only meant to scare her, but he never expected her to act out like that.

“So I’m asking you why.”

“……”

“Because you had already fallen for me by then.”

EunHa answered for him as the veins in KyungHyun’s neck stood up. Feeling the hardness underneath her, EunHa grinned.

“You’re starting to like me more and more, aren’t you? No matter how many times we have sex, it’s not enough. And you don’t want to let me out of your sight, isn’t that right? If you can be aroused in a situation like this, aren’t you confused about the loose screws inside your head?”

When he didn’t respond and merely frowned at her, EunHa began to rock her hips as if she were on a swing. His racing heart now felt like it was going to explode out of his chest.

He wasn’t sure if he was so aroused because of the thrill of the moment or if it was due to her body rocking on top of him. It might have been both.

“I understand. You’re not the first man to act like this in my life, you see.”

EunHa wrinkled her cat-like eyes at him, and KyungHyun felt hot desire pulse through his blood stream. He finally realized what it was. The reason why his heart raced like crazy in side his chest and why his blood boiled inside his veins was because of this woman in front of him. This suffocating feeling inside his chest was definitely jealousy. He felt like he’d become a childish man who couldn’t stand it when another man was mentioned from her lips.

“…So let me go back.”

KyungHyun raised his chin, and his hard chest rose and fell with every heavy breath he took. He lifted his hand and tightly grabbed her bottom.

“Huh?”

EunHa flinched as she let out a short exclamation. EunHa frowned when she felt his body heat through her clothes.

“I’ll shoot if you move.”

“Then just go ahead and shoot.”

KyungHyun murmured in a husky voice. This kind of behavior from him made her flush. Instead of grabbing her bottom, he could have disarmed her by grabbing her wrist, but KyungHyun didn’t do that. Whether it was because he was completely relaxed or because he was very bold, she didn’t know. However, her breath caught in her throat. His dark eyes bound her to him like rope. EunHa sighed and let out a soft laugh.

“Other than you, I know one more person who becomes incredibly excited in the face of danger.”

“Who is it?”

“Kang SungHo.”

His sculpted face frowned terribly. His long eyes gleamed dangerously.

“In your eyes, am I the same as Kang SungHo?”

“No, you’re the exact opposite.”

“Then what did you mean by that?”

KyungHyun spit out his question. EunHa felt his heavy breaths puff against her face as he tried to hold back his anger.

“Kang SungHo tried to kill me, and you tried to save me.”

“……”

“But how can the two of you be so alike?”

EunHa faintly laughed. Her eyes gleamed like a wild cat that had caught its prey.

“You both started out in opposite places, so isn’t it obvious that I will react to you two differently?”

“…Seriously, what should I do with you?”

KyungHyun mumbled bitterly in a pained voice. EunHa lowered her forehead to his.

“Of course, you look a lot better than him too.”

“…Are you joking around with me right now?”

KyungHyun frowned and bit down painfully on her lips. EunHa pitifully brought her hand to her bitten lips.

“I’m serious.”

EunHa lowered her hands after rubbing her lips a few times.

“Here. Will this be proof enough?”

She took his hand off her bottom and placed the gun in his hand. KyungHyun’s eyes narrowed.

As soon as he gripped the gun, KyungHyun released the magazine and let it fall to the floor. Then the empty gun followed after it. EunHa shook her open hands as she held them up for him to see.

“Now I don’t have anything left. If you want to handcuff me again, do it. Both hands, both feet, it doesn’t matter.”

“……”

“But next time, I won’t give you a farewell.”

KyungHyun wasn’t so naive as to not understand what EunHa was saying.

“This is your only chance to make a decision. I’m telling you this now.”

KyungHyun’s sharp jaw tensed.

“…Who taught you to threaten a policeman?”

“Whether you’re police or a gangster, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m just giving you a chance to make a choice. Even though you’re a bit arrogant at times, I’d be a bit disappointed if I never saw a man as handsome as you ever again.”

“You’re joking around until the end, aren’t you?”

KyungHyun wrapped his arms around her back and embraced her as he bitterly murmured. EunHa shrugged her shoulders and laughed innocently.

“That’s why you fell so hard for me.”\n