Chapter 8
***
Do-geon leaned against the wall, arms crossed. Warm eyes stared out the window, downward.
Jae-yeon, clad in ivory quilted padding, put on slippers from the floor. She walked toward the pond, a few steps from the floor, leaving the built-in bench and perching on a nearby boulder.
Reaching for a cigarette again. Do-geon thought dryly.
But in Jae-yeon's hand was a cell phone, and she pressed down hard on the screen, dialing somewhere.
The lamplight illuminated the woman in the dark.
Soon, the caller picked up, and a faint smile formed on the side of Jae-yeon's face. She stood still and nodded for a moment, then opened her mouth to speak.
A man.
The muffled call reached him. Do-geon looked at her, somewhat annoyed, and tapped his index finger on the crossed forearm.
Jae-yeon picked up a pebble at her feet and threw it into the pond. It rippled across the cold surface, and she watched, holding her phone to her ear.
Suddenly, Do-geon’s phone buzzed. When he turned it on, he saw a message from Mr. Yoon. He opened it immediately. He skipped the formal greeting.
[Jeong Jae-yeon, 31 years old.]
The information he'd heard on the phone earlier was organized in a little more detail.
Do-geon read down the email, glancing at Jae-yeon from time to time. Jae-yeon threw another pebble into the pond.
The water refracted the light. Just as the ripples subsided, another ripple formed. Jae-yeon continued to throw pebbles throughout the call and after she hung up. There were at least twenty of them.
As he read through the email, Do-geon’s gaze lingered on one word. It was the name of the business where Jae-yeon worked.
[LAMER.]
"..................?"
A small sigh escaped his lips.
Do-geon knew this place. It was a nightclub where Han Dong-woo, the second son of Chairman Han and father of Han Do-seok, was a regular customer.
As befits the man who passed on his lecherous temperament to his son, Han Dong-seok, Han Dong-woo regularly came and went from the establishment. It was mentioned frequently by reporters.
It was up to his aides to clean up the mess. It was 11 years ago that Han Dong-woo came out clean in an article about the 'L establishment' where sex entertainment in the Korean entertainment industry took place.
11 years ago................... Jeong Jae-yeon was around 20 years old.
[Apparently, as soon as she became an adult, she worked as a waitress at LAMER owned by an acquaintance of Hong Mi-jin*.] ( Hong Mi-Jin is Jae-yeon’s mother)
Same place, same time.
A coincidence?
Do-geon’s eyes turned cold, and he turned his head back to the window. By now, Jae-yeon had risen from her seat. And beside her was another person.
Do-geon frowned.
They were talking about something, but Jae-yeon's expression was as stoic as ever, and he couldn't deduce what they were talking about.
He watched her carefully, then turned to his phone and went into his contacts, saving the number in the first paragraph of the email.
[Jeong Jae-yeon.]
After hitting the save button, Do-geon slipped his phone into his pants pocket and left the room.
****
Dogan walked down the stairs and opened the door to the outbuilding. He could hear the sound of horses rushing about. Jeong Jae-yeon stood in front of the floor leading to the main building, near the pond.
In front of him, a woman sat cross-legged on a built-in bench, smoking a cigarette. It was his cousin, Han Jung-yoon.
"..................I honestly don't want to know, and I don't need to know, but.............. Ah, Do-geon."
Han Jung-yoon looked up from her cigarette. Although they were different in appearance, their piercing eyes were similar.
"Where are you going, to see grandfather?"
"No."
Do-geon thought for a moment and came up with another excuse.
"I'm going to .................. to get some bourbon."
"Booze?"
Jung-yoon smirked. Do-geon didn't answer, but asked casually.
"It's cold, what are you doing outside?"
"Can't you tell? I'm smoking."
"Smoking?"
"Oh, well."
Han Jung-yoon added, exhaling smoke.
"Just talking.”
Do-geon glanced between them. Jae-yeon didn't say anything, but Jung-yoon’s face showed the irritation and disdain he couldn't quite erase.
Jung-yoon gestured at Jae-yeon with her chin.
"Have you met her before? Not at the dinner table."
"I have."
"Really? And you didn't spill the beans?"
It was a sarcastic voice.
Do-geon looked down at Han Jung-yoon expressionlessly, and then at Jae-yeon. She was staring at him with glassy eyes.
"What are you talking about all of a sudden?"
"You know, how she got in here."
"...."
"She's just a whore."
The mood sank cheaply.
Jung-yoon took a deep drag on her cigarette, exhaled, and slowly stood up. Jae-yeon is not a small person, but standing at over 170 centimeters, there was quite a difference in eye level.
Jae-yeon's heart was pounding, but she could only manage a faint smile. Like a mannequin with no flaws. Han Jung-yoon stood stiffly with her arms crossed, a cigarette between her fingers, as if she was fed up.
"She's flirting with brother Do-joon, too. She must be every man’s woman. How stupid does she have to be to do that to a married man? Look at her, she's laughing at him without understanding the mood."
At first glance, the words sounded like they were directed at Do-geon, but the target audience was clear.
"Miss Jae-yeon."
"Yes."
Jae-yeon replied to Jung-yoon’s call.
"And if I ask you, 'Jae-yeon, why are you spilling it all over the place?' You'll say that you never do it. It's just because you have a pretty face, right?"
"Miss, I'm................"
"What do you think, I'm just jealous because it makes me sick to my stomach that you're stealing all the men in this house? It's just human nature, annoying."
“I never did that."
Jae-yeon's face still remained unchanged, and she replied as if she'd memorized a practiced line, causing Han Jung-yoon to chuckle in disbelief.
"Wow."
Do-geon, who had been watching with his hands shoved in his pants pockets, sighed.
"Okay, enough of that, let’s go in."
"Dude, she's doing that shit to you too, right? Because I see you're asking her back when she says no."
"Don't make a big deal out of it..................."
"She said she didn't, she said she had never done anything, fucking abomination."
Jung-yoon muttered through gritted teeth. Cigarette smoke billowed over Jae-yeon's face. Jung-yoon dropped the cigarette to the floor and stubbed it out with her foot.
“I’m leaving it alone so that the Chairman doesn’t get upset.”
With a pop, her index finger pushed hard against Jae-yeon's chest. Jae-yeon swayed slightly.
"You can't keep up with the crude habits you learned outside."
Thud.
"To the grandfather, to his sons, to his grandsons."
Thud.
"Go away, go away, go away."
Jae-yeon was pushed back a little. Do-geon stopped trying to stop Jung-yoon and just watched. Honestly, there was no reason to take Jae-yeon's side.
He was also curious to see what she would do.
"Let's be human, huh?"
Jae-yeon's foot caught on the edge of the stone wall surrounding the pond, but Han Jung-yoon didn't care, and pushed her roughly with her finger.
Jae-yeon's body lost its balance and tumbled backward against the stone wall. Her closed lips parted slightly, but no scream came out.
Plop!
The fall was swift. The water splashed high, and the woman's body sank downward. Do-geon reflexively flinched out of the corner of his eye.
There was a brief moment of silence.
The next moment, Jae-yeon coughed and struggled to her feet. Water dripped down her face as a spasmodic cough poured out of her.
Han Jung-yoon laughed out loud at the sight.
"What, you're going to the chairman?"
"Ack, ack, ack."
"Come on. Do it."
"Ack, ack, ackkkkk..................."
Jae-yeon coughed frantically and fumbled, reaching out to grip the stone wall. After a few slips and fumbles for balance, she managed to climb out of the pond.
"Grandpa's going to die soon anyway, and I don't really care about the shares...... Oh well, not that you're worth that much to the chairman."
Jung-yoon looked down at Jae-yeon, who was slumping at her feet, and spoke softly.
"Stay dead and go, I'm sure you don't want the chairman to hear about you flirting with his sons and grandsons."
"..................ack."
"Slutty bitch."
Han Jung-yoon spat out coldly and turned away.
***
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