The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 12

“Hayeon, you know she filmed for over twelve hours that day. I told them I couldn’t do it because they wanted to film with a completely different concept than what we initially discussed. But Hayeon actually persuaded me, saying I should do it for the CEO’s sake. And now, out of the blue, they’re saying they’re going to scrap all the footage from that day… I mean, how can this even happen!”

Ji-hye’s voice, already agitated, grew louder and louder.

Hayeon thought she should step in before things escalated, but Ji-hye raised a hand, refusing her approach.

Because the call wasn’t over yet, Hayeon didn’t go any closer and just stood there, watching.

“Just yesterday, they were saying they wanted to sign Hayeon for an exclusive model contract with ‘The Witch’s Closet’! How can they change their minds like this in just one day!”

Even though Hayeon wasn’t directly on the call, she felt like she knew everything that was going on. She didn’t know if it was because of the model or a problem with the agency, but she fully understood why Ji-hye was so angry.

“Samsa World hasn’t just worked with us for a day or two. Tell them to see if they can even book any models in the future after pulling something like this in such a small industry!”

Even after hanging up, Ji-hye couldn’t contain her anger and cursed wildly. Hayeon made some coffee and handed it to Ji-hye.

“Lee Ji-hye, I roughly understand what’s going on… Calm down and let’s think this through.”

“Do I look like I’m in a position to sit here gracefully?”

Ji-hye wasn’t satisfied with drinking the cold coffee in one go; she put ice in her mouth and crunched on it.

“They’re scrapping everything we filmed last week!”

It wasn’t uncommon for this to happen when they didn’t like the photos they had taken. It was filmed after she had pushed herself too hard after donating blood. There would be couple outfits with the child and mother, and Hayeon was upset that her efforts, which she had put her heart into, had gone to waste.

But that didn’t mean she could go to ‘The Witch’s Closet’ and demand answers.

First, she had to calm Ji-hye, who was even more furious than she was.

“It’s rare, but it’s happened before.”

“Yeah, it has happened sometimes. But that was always with big shopping malls or large corporations. Small shopping malls don’t do this because of the costs involved. And you know what else?”

“There’s more?”

“Samsa World canceled today’s shoot too. I talked to them this morning to confirm the schedule, and they didn’t say anything. But to unilaterally cancel just ten minutes before the shoot? And when I asked about rescheduling, they said they wouldn’t work with our agency anymore. Does that even make sense?”

Cancellations did happen from time to time. But it was rare for them to be notified on the day of the shoot.

There were times when shoots were canceled due to problems with the clothes or other unavoidable circumstances, but it was the first time a contract itself had been nullified, so Hayeon was also taken aback.

She understood why Ji-hye was angry, but Hayeon couldn’t afford to fuel the fire.

“If they don’t like the photos, they can do that. Samsa World might have found a better model…”

“No matter what, it doesn’t make sense, that’s why I’m like this. Do I not know the owner of ‘The Witch’s Closet’? There’s no way that cheapskate would do that. She’d rather do a lot of retouching in Photoshop than reshoot.”

Unable to understand, Ji-hye approached Chief Baek.

“Chief Baek, please take another look at the photos we took last week.”

“‘The Witch’s Closet’ took all the original files.”

“When?”

“This morning.”

It was an action they could take to prevent the designs from being leaked. It was a bit suspicious that they took them a week later, not on the day of the shoot.

“A man who said he was sent by ‘The Witch’s Closet’ came. He checked for any remaining photos on the computer, deleted them all, and even formatted it. I was surprised at how thorough he was.”

Beyond suspicious, an ominous feeling was growing.

“But the strange thing is… he only deleted Hayeon’s photos.”

Chief Baek tilted his head, also finding it strange.

“Why is everyone suddenly doing this… Did they all eat something bad or something, ugh.”

Ji-hye roughly swept her hair back.

-Ding.

Hayeon took out her phone to check the message notification.

It was Seon-woo.

He should be in the middle of his afternoon class, so sending a message meant he had something urgent to say. Or maybe it was something he hadn’t finished saying about the job change he had mentioned to Hayeon earlier.

Hayeon sighed softly and checked the message.

[There’s an announcement that the sports center is closing down tomorrow. Tae Wang Group notified them that they’re tearing everything down here.]

Hayeon’s face turned pale.

“Hayeon, what’s wrong?”

“That’s…”

Before she could answer, the Symphony of Fate began to ring on her phone.

It was her mom.

It was suspicious that she was calling first when she didn’t even answer when Hayeon called. She hadn’t even processed Seon-woo’s message yet, but there was something she needed to confirm with her parents, who she had finally managed to reach.

“Hello?”

[Hayeon! People suddenly swarmed into the office and started putting seizure stickers on everything!]

As soon as she answered, she heard her mom’s urgent voice. Hayeon listened silently to what her mom was saying, unable to get the words she wanted to say out of her throat.

[I signed because they said they were investing… but they’re putting red stickers everywhere, saying something about debt. And Dad was taken away by the police. They said it’s fraud…]

The phone fell to the floor with a thud.

She could hear her mom’s wailing, but Hayeon couldn’t pick up the phone.

She felt like she knew the reality of the ominous feeling.

Seo Yoonjae, no, Tae Yoonjae.

The model agency, the sports center, and her parents’ situation were all clearly Tae Yoonjae’s doing.

It was revenge for rejecting his proposal.

As Hayeon staggered, Ji-hye rushed over and quickly supported her.

“Hayeon, are you okay?”

Ji-hye’s voice, filled with concern, didn’t register in her ears at all.

“So, this is what it was going to be… This is what it was…”

“What do you mean ‘this’? What’s going on?”

Tae Yoonjae.

He was brutally cornering Hayeon, revealing his unwavering determination to protect his love.

She couldn’t tell Ji-hye anything.

She couldn’t because everything that was happening was solely to ensnare her.

After passing through many doors as she had yesterday, Hayeon stood before Tae Yoonjae again. She didn’t want to wait for him as he looked at the approval documents.

“You said everything would be easy… I didn’t know you’d resort to such despicable methods.”

The corners of his lips curled up in a round shape, but no words came out of his mouth.

Seeing his despicable smile made her stomach churn. Hayeon straightened her back, tightening her lower abdomen to avoid collapsing.

“The sports center, the agency, and my parents… Were you planning to tear down everything related to me? Just to protect your great love!”

The despicable smile instantly disappeared from his face. He placed the fountain pen he was holding on the desk with a thud and looked up. His gaze was so cold that the fine hairs on her body stood on end.

“So, this is what you meant by easy. Trampling on the weak with money and power.”

“What about it?”

“What?”

His lips curved into a pleasing smile again.

“Is it bad to do as I’ve been taught?”

He stood up from his seat and slowly approached her. With each step, the distance narrowed, and Hayeon felt like she was suffocating.

“I’m just doing what was done to me with money and power. Because that’s the easiest and most effective method.”

“Seo Yoonjae…”

“I told you, Seo Yoonjae doesn’t exist.”

His brow furrowed at the name that slipped out of her mouth like a habit.

“Who changed you like this? Why… Why did you change like this?”

At Hayeon’s words, he laughed out loud.

His expression and voice were clearly laughing, but it was a bizarre laugh that strangely felt like anger.

Hayeon narrowed her brow and looked at him. After laughing for a while, he grabbed Hayeon’s chin tightly.

“To ask that, are you out of your mind?”

Hayeon’s face contorted in pain from the rough and strong touch that showed no mercy.

“Ugh… You’re the one who’s out of your mind!”

Hayeon punched Yoonjae wildly. But he didn’t budge and squeezed Hayeon’s chin even harder, pushing her back.

Hayeon’s body was pushed back more and more by his overwhelming strength. Her heels touched the wall, and there was nowhere else to retreat, but he continued to pressure Hayeon with his strong force.

Trapped between the wall and Yoonjae, Hayeon glared at him.

“Don’t torment me like this, just kill me.”

“I can’t do that. Because you’re the only tool that can save my everything.”

A tool to provide blood.

Even though she knew that was why Yoonjae had found her, her heart ached. Even if it was fake, there was a time when he had looked at her with affectionate eyes.

Could it be that Seo Yoonjae, who had made Hayeon’s heart race with excitement, really no longer existed?

Was he really fake, the one who had given her joy with every touch?

Even as she faced his eyes filled with nothing but anger, let alone affection, Hayeon was still searching for Seo Yoonjae. It was such a miserable feeling.

Having fallen into the trap he had set, there was no way out. If she gave him what he wanted, he wouldn’t touch those around Hayeon anymore.

Hayeon now wanted to protect the people who had stood by her side all this time. No, only she could do it.

Kang Hayeon was the one who could stop Tae Yoonjae’s rampage.

To be exact, it was her blood.

“Is that what you want by going this far… The blood donation?”

“It would be even better if you were unhappy.”

Hayeon had been living unhappily enough since the moment she lost her child. She was once again reminded that she was nothing more than a substitute for someone else.

It was miserable.

The strength drained from her entire body. The hand that had been pushing him away fell limply to her side.

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