Chapter 9.3

“It will be in your best interest not to do anything useless.”

“I’m only telling you the truth.”

Just as EunHa mumbled in a low voice, the cellphone from SungHo’s desk vibrated loudly.

“Boss, it’s a call from Shin KyungHyun.”

After checking the phone for the caller ID, YongJoon called out. The scar on SungHo’s brow twitched as he frowned. EunHa let out a raspy laugh as the blood continued to drip out of her swollen lips.

“I didn’t just shoot Noh HyungChul. I did everything you asked, Ahjussi. I put my heart and soul into it and managed to seduce that bastard. Just like you wanted, that man is now completely crazy for me.”

Vrrr. Vrrr.

The phone continued to vibrate on the desk and almost fell off. YongJoon grabbed it and walked over to SungHo as he asked.

“What should I do?”

“Turn it off.”

YongJoon did as he was told as SungHo’s lips silently stretched into a smile. His snake-like eyes sparkled as they looked at her. His slitted eyes gazed down at her as he spoke in a thin voice.

“…Tell me everything the bastard did to you from start to finish.”

“What are you going to tell Kang SungHo when he asks you why I didn’t kill you?”

“I’ll tell him the truth.”

“Which is…?”

“Shin KyungHyun-nim has completely fallen for me. So even though he knew I was a spy sent from Serim, he didn’t kill me and kept me locked away in the hotel as he licked and sucked me day and night.”

“Lee EunHa-ssi.”

EunHa looked SungHo dead in the eyes and spoke to him in a steady voice.

“After being shot and losing consciousness, I woke up and found myself at the hotel. At first I thought they were going to kill me, but that wasn’t the case. Shin KyungHyun kept me locked away in the hotel and embraced me every single day. Half the time, we had sex twice a day. No, it was even more than that.”

SungHo’s eyes gleamed at her, almost as if he wanted to choke her. However, EunHa continued to speak with even more vigor.

“You ordered me to make him fall for me completely, and I followed your order word for word, Ahjussi. Shin KyungHyun is absolutely crazy about me, and I even got him to shoot his own men at YongSung!”

“Do you think Kang SungHo will believe you?”

“Um… probably?”

SungHo took a cold finger and slowly drew it down her face. His thin lips smiled crookedly.

“Our little rag princess… were you born with the talent to seduce men?”

EunHa didn’t avoid his finger even though it felt like a cold bug crawling down her cheek.

“I learned it all from you, Ahjussi. How to survive, how to tempt men, all of it.”

“Then you should have just lived next to Shin KyungHyun’s side. Why did you put yourself in such danger by coming all the way over here? Did you not enjoy living as his lover? Was his dick ramming into your loose lips not enough for you?”

As SungHo continued to press her with questions, EunHa let out a dejected laugh. Her watery eyes gave off a dim glow.

“Having sex is something I can do with anyone. Every son of a bitch will move their dicks around until they’re satisfied and leave when it’s over. But…”

“…But?”

“No matter how much of a mess I become, I only have one home to return to.”

“Lee EunHa-ssi, you cannot approach Kang SungHo when your safety isn’t guaranteed.”

“Just like you said, Lieutenant, I know what excites Kang SungHo. I know it very well.”

EunHa silently gazed at SungHo as a nasty smile stretched across his face.

“Shin KyungHyun told me that everyone in YongSung believes I’m dead. He told me nobody from Serim was looking for me. He told me not to even think about going back.”

EunHa blinked her large eyes at SungHo. Behind her tangled hair, SungHo saw two large eyes staring back at him. It reminded him of when he met her as a little girl.

“I thought it was all bullshit, but…”

EunHa’s eyes filled with tears. SungHo watched her as he stretched his hand out to grab a cigarette from the desk. After lighting it, SungHo let out a long breath through his teeth. EunHa continued to mumble through the smoke.

“I… I thought I only had this place to return to, so I came back. But should I have not come back after all?”

EunHa mumbled with blood still running down her lips and her throat swollen from SunHo’s hand.

“My parents are dead, and when no one stretched out their hand, the one who saved me was you, Ahjussi… Serim is now my home… If I come back home and you ask me what I’m doing here, how am I supposed to answer that?”

The tears that had been welled up in her eyes finally began to trickle down. EunHa grit her teeth. Frowning, SungHo stared at EunHa as she blurted out her words. Her voice sounded thin and hoarse as it wavered.

“I really thought you believed I was dead. I thought that there was no way you wouldn’t try to get me out if you thought I was still alive. I thought you’d get me out no matter what.”

“Hey, it’s not like Boss didn’t send anyone all this time…”

Crash!

YongJoon stopped talking as the crystal ashtray and liquor glass smashed onto the floor. After flipping over the entire table, SungHo bit down on his cigarette as he took a deep drag.

“I thought that after Shin KyungHyun had his fill of me, that bastard would just kill me like an animal. So… I barely managed to escape, but… I thought I’d try and get any information I could while I was locked away, but… was it all for nothing…?”

EunHa bit her lip and cursed under her breath. SungHo watched her, but his expression remained the same. EunHa took a deep breath.

“Maybe it would have been better if I just died there.”

She murmured with dazed eyes. She grabbed SungHo’s discarded knife off the dirty carpet. Suddenly, someone grabbed her hair and pulled her head up.

“Aagh!”

She felt like her hair was being pulled out by its roots. She trembled in pain as SungHo asked her a question in a gloomy voice.

“What information did you get out of that bastard Shin KyungHyun?”

“It doesn’t matter anymore, right? You won’t even trust whatever I say.”

Her sharp eyes were filled with resentment as she murmured bitterly.

“I trust your skills. Who do you think raised you?”

“……”

“The young brat who didn’t know how to do anything but cry… Who do you think raised her and cared for her up until now?”

“Kang SungHo is the most excited whenever he feels superior. He gets his rocks off whenever he steps on his opponents.”

“Answer me. Before I rip your scalp off your head.”

EunHa winced in pain as she answered him.

“The business YongSung is developing in China isn’t a new type of medicine.”

“…Then what is it?”

“Philopon.”

“What?”

Suddenly, SungHo’s brows furrowed deeply and the scar on his eyebrow twitched.

“They combined forces with the Chinese mafia and established a lab in Shenzhen. Now they’re developing the drug in large quantities. YongSung is the one funding it, and they’re planning on smuggling it in before distributing it in the country. That’s why they met with Kim MinSung. They’re going to ship it in containers, and they needed him to deal with customs.”

SungHo’s stare pierced through her in silence. She couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

“I overheard it before I shot Noh HyungChul. Originally, Noh HyungChul was planning on going to Shenzhen as well. However, now he’s lying in the hospital, so I think Shin KyungHyun will be going alone…Agh!”

SungHo’s grip on her hair tightened.

Damn it. Doesn’t he believe me?

EunHa swallowed, but her mouth was dry. Suddenly, he pulled her into his arms. EunHa panted for breath as she was pressed into his embrace.

“Aah… This is why it’s always best to talk to someone directly…”

SungHo mumbled softly as he rubbed her bloody, beaten skin. For EunHa, being in his embrace at this moment was even more unbearable than when she was being beaten to pulp. She felt the desire to stab SungHo’s neck with the knife boil in her belly.

“Our princess almost got into a lot of trouble just now… Hm?”

EunHa had never felt so shaken as she heard his thin voice murmur languidly.

“If you had only told me sooner, you wouldn’t have had to go through such a painful ordeal. Isn’t that right?”

SungHo’s scar twitched. His dry face cracked as his lips stretched into a smile.

“If I had only known about this earlier, I would have answered Shin KyungHyun’s call and listened to what he had to say. Haha. That would have been fun.”

His thin lips opened as he cackled.

“Historically, once a man falls in love with a woman, only humiliation awaits him… Isn’t that right, YongJoon?”

“…Yes, sir.”

Standing stiff like a screen, YongJoon answered curtly with his hands behind his back. SungHo licked his dry lips. He rubbed his hand over EunHa’s head with satisfaction.

“Good work, Lee EunHa. Well done.”

EunHa’s body shook inside his embrace. He had been beating her like crazy just a moment ago, but now he was patting her back like a complete lunatic. She felt as if her body was going to burst into flames with rage. She raised one of her arms and hugged him back.

“Eugh…”

A suppressed cry burst through EunHa’s gritted teeth.

“Are you that upset that I didn’t trust you?”

“Ugh…”

“Haha. It’s been a while since you cried like a young brat. It’s okay. It’s all over now. You’ve endured it well.”

Her ten fingers pressed into his back and trembled. She bit her lips as rage and sorrow mixed together, causing her to moan out. She couldn’t stop the cries. She couldn’t control herself anymore. As SungHo caressed her open wounds with his hands, he felt a burst of desire.

“YongJoon.”

“…Yes, Boss?”

“Since our princess has come back after having worked so hard, why don’t we have a party at someplace nice today?”

His voice sounded bright and satisfied. EunHa held back the urge to bite her tongue and continued to repeat the same thing over and over to herself.

This is all for her own purposes. This was all the steps necessary for Kang SungHo to feel the intense shock at her betrayal. The ending credits weren’t rolling just yet, and her revenge was currently in progress. Her life wasn’t some new-school drama. It was a satisfying action movie. It wasn’t a tragedy. It was a comedy. So she still had the ability to laugh whenever she wanted.

“How does that sound, Lee EunHa?”

“…I’m looking forward to it.”

EunHa’s voice was hoarse, and her face was covered in tears and blood.

“Take her away and let her gussy up. She needs to live up to her title as Serim’s princess. Call Madame Jung and tell her I’ll be heading over in the evening. Tell her to prepare ten girls for me.”

SungHo’s lips pressed onto her forehead. EunHa felt as if a centipede was crawling on her skin. She tightly shut her eyes.

“…Are you alright?”

Seeing that EunHa was being dragged to a different location, General Manager Cha suppressed his anxiety and asked quietly. The owner of this old building was suspicious when they offered to rent out this mold-infested room, but when General Manager Cha took out the bundle of cash, the owner immediately handed them the keys.

“I’m fine.”

Focusing the gun on Kang SungHo’s head through the window without moving a muscle, KyungHyun suddenly got up from his seat. His white shirt was drenched in sweat.

“Let me go and get you something to drink.”

“Why?”

Even though cold sweat was dripping off the sharp lines of his face, KyungHyun didn’t realize his current state. He continued speaking in a low voice.

“If you go out now, you might be caught by the men at Serim. We’ll move once the sun goes down.

If they were worried for her safety, following EunHa to this place was something they shouldn’t have done. They had injected a tracker into EunHa’s inner forearm, and they thought their surveillance of her would end there. No one expected KyungHyun to follow after her himself.

When Kang SungHo took off his belt as soon as he caught sight of her, General Manager Cha immediately glanced at KyungHyun. Aiming his gun, KyungHyun’s shoulders stiffened.

When Kang SungHo turned off his phone at KyungHyun’s call, the air inside the room froze. The verification chip in EunHa’s body didn’t have an eavesdropping function. KyungHyun threw his phone onto the ground and aimed his gun at SungHo’s head. His expression looked like he was ready to kill at any moment.

“General Manager Cha.”

KyungHyun took a drag of his cigarette and slowly parted his lips. His voice was as steady as always, but General Manager Cha could tell that he wasn’t happy at all.

“Yes, what is it, sir?”

“I heard that you applied to this team because of Lieutenant Han.”

“…That’s true, sir.”

“Haven’t you ever thought of quitting this dangerous work and just going back home?”

He was speaking about the fact that General Manager Cha and Lieutenant Han had been engaged for 6 years but haven’t gotten married due to their work. General Manager Cha hesitated before answering his question.

“…It’s not only up to me, and the other person isn’t planning on doing that anytime soon.”

KyungHyun exhaled the gray smoke as his eyes narrowed.

“If something happened to Lieutenant Han, I know that you won’t be able to bear it even more, General Manager Cha. Not with your personality. Is that okay with you?”

After entering Serim, KyungHyun was sent into YongSung and found his footing in KeumOh. Around this time, his superiors ordered for someone else to go undercover and assist him by his side. The frontrunner for this position was Lieutenant Han, a police officer who had majored in criminal psychology as a profiler.

However, team member Cha JoongWon stepped up and vehemently volunteered. It turned out these two had been in a long-term relationship starting from their 20’s. When the superior officers learned of this, they tried to change their decision.

“No, of course not.”

There was no way he was okay with that. KyungHyun knew this answer, but he still asked the question. General Manager Cha realized why and spoke up.

“But since this is what Lieutenant Han wants, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“Isn’t that frustrating?”

“Even if it is, there’s nothing I can do about it.”

General Manager Cha looked at him and smiled bitterly.

“I’m the one to blame for liking a woman like that.”

KyungHyun knew this feeling very well. He leaned his head back onto the wall and took another deep drag of the cigarette. Intense agony was mixed in with the thick, gray smoke as it left KyungHyun’s lungs.

“I think Lee EunHa-ssi is doing a good job.”

General Manager Cha earnestly spoke up. He noticed this during their emergency meeting last night as they were figuring out their plan. Lee EunHa had nerves of steel and was intelligent and incredibly observant.

“There’s one thing I’ve been wondering about.”

“What is it?”

“General Manager Cha, are you dating Lieutenant Han?”

EunHa suddenly asked this unexpected question while they were in the middle of planning their next move. Everyone was taken aback.

“I think that question has nothing to do with our work…”

“Ah, I was right. I was just curious, that’s all.”

Lieutenant Han frowned and KyungHyun covered half his face as he silently laughed. Grabbing her fourth slice of the pizza they had ordered through room service, EunHa didn’t seem nervous at all even though she knew she would be put right in the middle of danger. It was truly a shame to let her rot under Kang SungHo’s thumb.

“Call Shenzhen and tell them I want to move the date closer.”

KyungHyun’s soft murmur broke General Manager Cha out of his thoughts. Their actual D-day was in 2 weeks.

Lee EunHa’s job was to get Kang SungHo to take the bait. When Kang SungHo left the country, the surveillance on EunHa would lessen, allowing them to extract her. It wasn’t that General Manager Cha couldn’t understand KyungHyun’s desire to take her out of a dangerous situation as soon as possible, but this plan was risky.

“Shin KyungHyun-nim, Im SungJoon might find that suspicious. He’s very observant.”

Even though the boss, Noh HyungChul, was currently in critical condition in the hospital, leaving the country now was unreasonable. Right now, Im SungJoon, the one in charge of operations in Busan and Kyungnam, had sent his men to aid in the caretaking of the boss along with KyungHyun’s men.

Once Noh HyungChul gained consciousness, he didn’t enforce disciplinary action on KyungHyun. Instead, he decided to send Im SungJoon to Shenzhen along with KyungHyun. On KyungHyun’s end, it was actually for the better. Even though he had lost considerable influence within YongSung, Im SungJoon was still a force to be reckoned with and was an important figure within the organization.

“It doesn’t matter. Even if he finds it suspicious, there’s nothing for him to find out.”

“I understand. I will request the cooperation of the Chinese public security department and the Hong Kong police.”

KyungHyun seemed to be set on this decision, so General Manager Cha merely nodded his head and walked out of the room.

Whoosh, whoosh. The ceiling fan blew a soft breeze into the room. KyungHyun leaned his head against the wall. His racing heart didn’t show any sign of slowing down. His hands were damp with sweat. He felt that he had sweat so much that his underclothes were drenched as well. The blood was circulating so quickly in his body, and his lips were dry. KyungHyun swept his face with his hand.

General Manager Cha wasn’t wrong when he said EunHa was doing a good job. The problem was KyungHyun himself.

“……”

Until now, he had never completely put himself into something. Afraid of becoming addicted as a gangster, he cut off alcohol, drugs and gambling. He made an effort so that he wouldn’t get too involved in one thing or another.

Like a butterfly risking its life as it threw itself into the flames, this woman was being beaten to pulp by Kang SungHo. In the final moments, KyungHyun watched as she was pulled into SungHo’s embrace with tears rolling down her face. KyungHyun felt his blood run cold. No, maybe it was the opposite. He felt rage flow through his veins, and his blood felt like it was going to boil out.

This is a serious sickness.

Even though he had asked EunHa to refrain from killing Kang SungHo, he was the one who had been pointing a gun at his head, ready to blow it off at any second. To be honest, his hands were still shaking as he suppressed that urge even now. Until now, he had killed many men in order to progress with this mission. What was adding one more to the list? KyungHyun seriously considered this.

Revenge was Lee EunHa’s life. He could imagine how she felt when she had realized the truth after enduring everything for 10 years. This was the only ting that kept him from completely losing his reason.

He wanted to give her anything she wanted. However, if he had to witness something like that with his own eyes again, he didn’t think he could endure this any longer.

KyungHyun moved his piercing gaze to the building next door, and a mumble left his dry lips.

“…It’s crazy to feel jealous in a situation like this, right?”

He didn’t want to act like a besotted punk, but it was easier said than done. Is this what it felt like when one’s reason and body no longer functioned together? His heart continued to race inside his chest.

“I… knew that you’d end up making me crazy in the end.”

He didn’t have the luxury of being disappointed with himself. He didn’t care about this mission anymore. All he could think about was how to extract EunHa out of that dangerous situation.

“Fuck…”

His body throbbed, and he felt like his head was boiling. It seemed that he had completely lost it now. KyungHyun shut his heavy eyelids and put his forehead against the dirty window. He thought to himself.

Don’t make me endure this for too long, Lee EunHa. Don’t make me completely lose my mind.\n