Chapter 4
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"You and Dong-jin are friends."
"Friends?"
Min-seong scoffed at Eun-jin's definition.
After all, Dong-jin thought of him as a friend, but Min-seong thought of him as a footman.
"After all the years we've known each other, I don't think you're going to......."
"Do you want me to take care of this asshole's fuck-ups? Do you think I'm doing charity work?"
"......."
"Do you think Dong-jin didn't know how his life will end while he was borrowing and coining?"
"You know, Dong-jin's frivolous......."
"That's none of my business, you should treat him the same, even if we're friends, it won't change anything, so I won't be embarrassed in front of the people downstairs."
Eun-jin lowered her head at the stern voice. Cho Min-seong was furious. The instantaneous change in his expression sent a chill down her spine.
"......Can't you at least give me a little time to figure it out?"
Eun-jin stood up with a pleading look on her face, and Min-seong chuckled when he heard her trembling voice. Eu-njin thought that what she said was still absurd.
"Because I met with you?"
"......."
The words sounded ridiculous even to her. There was no reason for Min-seong to look at her.
"Were you and Dong-jin such dear siblings?"
"You know why."
"Oh, because of your mother?"
Straightening his posture like he was being bothered, Min-seong walked briskly toward his desk.
"Is your mother well?"
"No, she's not well."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
Eun-jin felt a pang of resentment at Min-seong’s nonchalance. She remembered her mother's long scars, and the thought that it was all because of Cho Min-seong made her feel like slapping him wouldn't make her feel better.
"You made Mom sell her kidney. Didn't you make her do it?"
"Kidneys?"
Min-seong repeated in disbelief.
"I saw it, the cut wound on her side."
"Do you think Kyunggeum buys and sells organs for that much money?"
"...... I heard you used to do that."
"That's in the past."
Min-seong leaned back in his chair and looked at Eun-jin with poor posture.
“How much should I sell for your mother’s kidneys, as she is older?”
Eun-jin chewed her lip. Min-seong’s hot eyes swept over her eyes and nose, then down, stopping at her lips.
"Is there anyone who would buy it? Isn’t she old enough to have it taken off?"
At Cho Min-seong’s sarcasm, Eun-jin lowered her head.
"That's right. 2.5 billion won....... I won't see even if I die and wake up." (Eun-jin)
"Is that the kind of money you can pay back if I give you time?"
She knew there was nothing to be gained by stalling for time. Eun-jin cut him off mid-sentence, the story spinning like Mobius's belt.
"I apologize for taking up your time, but I'm in the wrong place."
Eun-jin bowed her head toward Min-seong. He leaned forward, bending his upper body over the desk, and motioned for her to come closer.
After a moment's pause, Eun-jin weakly walked toward him.
There was nothing more to say. There was no way she could pay back 2.5 billion won, at least not to her family, and certainly not to Eun-jin.
Her brother would probably get beaten to death by his friends. Death was a sad thing, no matter how much she hated her brother. But it wouldn't make a difference if Eun-jin wished her hands were feet; the Cho Min-seong she knew wasn't the kind of man who would blink an eye at such a thing.
"By the way."
Min-seong looked at Eun-jin with a changed look in his eyes.
"Have you ever heard of guilt by association, Eun-jin?"
Her skin tingled at the coldness of his question.
A stooge.
A filthy secular law that made you pay for your family's sins.
That shit had followed Eun-jin her entire life. Her mother had used herself as a weapon to keep Eun-jin tethered to Dong-jin.
It was always up to Eun-jin to fix her brother's wrongs. But she didn't want to clean up her brother's mess anymore.
It was over.
She was sick of him, sick of her mom, sick of everyone.
Why did it take her this long to realize that sometimes you need to isolate yourself from your family to survive, Eun-jin mocked her comedic late realization.
"You know full well that Korea doesn't recognize long-distance relationships."
"Are you being naive? I didn't see it that way."
Instead of answering, Min-seong turned to Eun-jin. She knew it was naive. There was no point in reciting legalese to a gangster.
But 2.5 billion....... was a ridiculous amount of money.
"Brother. I have nothing to do with the money Dong-jin spent."
"Why would someone with no relationship be here?"
“…”
Her mother's resentful face flashed through her mind.
If it weren't for her mother, who used Eun-jin's guilt as a weapon to grab her and shake her, she would have cut off her brother forever.
She hated herself for not being able to let go of her mother, even though each time she thought it was the last time. In the end, the same love brought her this humiliation.
But that would change from now on.
The moment she left Cho Min-seong’s office, she would no longer see or speak to her mother.
"I get it, the amount of money I'm asking for isn't enough to change things."
"That's not what we're talking about."
"Then what are we talking about?"
Before Eun-jin could ask, Min-seong spun her around and pushed her down on the desk.
Eun-jin's face paled as she collapsed helplessly on the desk.
"Brother, what are you doing!"
Min-seong crushed Eun-jin's back and wrapped his upper body around hers.
A sultry heat pierced her ears.
Min-seong's long fingers slid down Eun-jin's tiny spine.
Eun-jin struggled to get away, but she couldn't squirm in the big man's arms.
It was her own fault for coming here in the first place.
It wasn’t as if she didn’t know what kind of man Cho Min-seong was.
She hated her mother's tears for pushing her into the tiger's den.
"Let go of me!"
Cho Min-seong whispered in a low voice as he pressed his lips to the nape of Eun-jin's neck.
"The guilt by association.”
"......."
Eun-jin's protesting movements came to a screeching halt. Min-seong gently stroked her hair.
"I could make special arrangements for you."
Eun-jin's eyes fluttered open.
She felt ashamed.
It was obvious what her brother's friend was demanding in exchange for letting her out of a debt she didn't owe.
But even more shameful was the fact that she didn't feel like fighting back, even though she knew that what Cho Min-seong was about to do was outrageous.
"So. You want me to sell my body to you?"
"You're worth 2.5 billion?"
"If not, why are you even looking?"
"I’m not going to get the money anyway. It's a waste to let go."
"That's not what I came here for."
"You're not."
"......."
"You called me for this."
Min-seong didn't even bother to hide his sinister intentions.
It was better that way.
It was better to be honest with her than to push her out on a limb by pretending to love her like her mother did.
"I've been wondering, Eun-jin, what you taste like."
Eun-jin was tired. She was tired of cleaning up after her brother and her mom.
She could see what would happen if she rebelled against him now.
"What if I can't do it? Are you going to rape me?"
"No. I won't do anything like that, but I'm sure I'll end up eating you."
"How can you be sure?"
"I'll do it, so why not?"
Min-seong acted as if she knew this was going to happen.
The loan sharks would shake her, and she would shake herself.
After a moment of silence, Eun-jin turned to Min-seong.
"...... Once I do it. Are you sure you'll let me stay out of my brother's business?"
"Did you want to fuck twice, my Eun-jin?"
"Not that......."
"Yeah. I don't care if the kids downstairs sell Dong-jin to an island or chop up his organs. I won't let them touch you."
Eun-jin was swept away by the tidal wave, and no matter how hard she tried to grit her teeth, she couldn't afford to pay back the unfathomable sum of money.
"Really?"
Eun-jin asked helplessly. She relaxed her body as if giving up. Instead of answering, Min-seong, who had been stroking Eun-jin's hair, slid his hand down her back.
He patted Eun-jin's ass and released the pressure on her body.
"Go to the hotel first."
"......."
Cho Min-seong pulled away from her. As Eun-jin gathered herself, a thought flashed through her mind.
How could she trust a thug?
No matter how much he may be stepping up to help her, he had gangster blood running through his veins.
Eun-jin cautiously opened her mouth to speak.
"Just write me a contract that says you won't ask me or my mom for the debt."
Eun-jin's words made Cho Min-seong laugh in disbelief.
"If you want to."
"What ......?"
"You know that won't do any good. Do you really want to bother people?"
"Then I guess sleeping with you won't do any good either."
"I don't know. You're the one who will have regret, not me."
"......."
Eun-jin was at a loss for words.
Without any evidence to go on, Eun-jin's future would be dictated by Cho Min-seong’s whims.
***
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