The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 13
“I will.”
At Hayeon’s answer, the hand gripping his chin lost its strength.
Hayeon didn’t miss the moment and slipped out from between the wall and Yoonjae. A cool breeze swept across her chest.
“The designated blood donation… I said I’ll do it.”
As soon as he declared his surrender, he maintained his overbearing attitude and showed Hayeon a slight kindness.
“Sit.”
He pointed to the sofa in the middle of the office.
“It’s okay. Just tell me the date I need to donate blood, and I’ll go to the hospital on my own.”
“What makes you think I’d trust you?”
At his mocking words, Hayeon sighed.
The debt confirmation he sent to her house came to mind.
A verbal agreement could be overturned at any time.
Hayeon sat on the sofa for the first time since she came to his office. It was an expensive sofa, but she felt like she was sitting on thorns.
Yoonjae, sitting across from Hayeon, tossed the documents onto the table.
“It’s a consent form, read it.”
He had anticipated what choice Hayeon would make and prepared it in advance. Swallowing a bitter smile, Hayeon unfolded the documents.
It was nothing more than a contract disguised as consent. Hayeon slowly read the words filling the paper.
Everything was irritating, but the moment she saw the unexpected clause about moving into a designated place, she frowned deeply.
“Move in? Are you going to lock me up in a prison?”
“As I said before, what makes you think I’d trust you? You have to show up on the promised date. Our trust is thinner than paper, you know.”
“So, what you came up with is… putting me in a prison without bars and watching me twenty-four hours a day?”
“Because it’s necessary.”
She was so dumbfounded that she couldn’t speak.
“And I need to manage your health.”
“I’ve always taken good care of my body. And I will continue to do so.”
“Is that why you were so well taken care of that you couldn’t move for a week?”
“That’s…”
She had no excuse. More than anything, she was surprised that he knew about something that had happened just a few days ago, and Hayeon bit down on the inside of her cheek.
“Did you put someone on me?”
“I don’t think I need to answer that.”
“Ha…”
She felt suffocated, even though she wasn’t being strangled.
She didn’t know how much he knew, but the thought that a monitor he hired had followed her to the place she went yesterday made her face burn.
“Since when have you been watching me?”
He smirked at her accusing question.
“Have you forgotten… it’s not strange that I know why you didn’t come to work for a week.”
“Ah…”
Since the Tae Wang Group had acquired the sports center, he would have received basic reports. Letting out a sigh of relief, Hayeon continued to read the documents.
Living in the place he designated wasn’t a big deal if she thought of it as working. Hayeon put down the documents in her hand and looked at Yoonjae.
“I have one question.”
“Ask.”
“Asking for blood donation means you need a transfusion… I’m curious about what’s wrong with you.”
“Hemolytic anemia.”
He answered unexpectedly readily. Then he slid a pen across the table in front of Hayeon.
“My secretary will go tomorrow.”
He dismissed any further questions with his closing statement.
Hayeon picked up the pen he offered and stared at it blankly.
“Ha…”
She had braced herself for this.
Hayeon picked up the pen like someone who had given up everything and silently signed where her name, Kang Hayeon, was written.
Her footsteps up the iron stairs were heavy. Ji-hye and Seon-woo were waiting for Hayeon in front of her house.
“Kang Hayeon! Where have you been? Do you know how worried I was when you went out like that?”
“Hayeon… are you okay?”
Hayeon gave a weak smile as she looked at the two people pouring out their worries.
“I’m okay. I’m hungry, have you guys had dinner? If you haven’t, let’s go eat meat. I’ll pay today.”
“Are you talking about eating meat now?”
“We work to live, let’s go.”
Hayeon grabbed both of their arms. Once she followed the secretary Yoonjae sent tomorrow, it would be hard to say when she would see them again.
It wouldn’t be imprisonment, but she wouldn’t be free.
She was glad she could see them today. Because she could buy her friends, whom she saw every day, a meal.
Hayeon picked up the well-cooked meat with tongs and placed it on Ji-hye and Seon-woo’s plates. Their eating speed was slower than Hayeon’s hand movements, so the meat kept piling up on their plates.
“Where did my friends who were so aggressive in front of meat go, huh? Eat quickly. It’s not good when it’s cold.”
“Can you even eat meat right now?”
Ji-hye put down her chopsticks with a clatter.
“I know.”
Seon-woo, who hadn’t even picked up her chopsticks, sighed and only drank cold water.
“It’s nothing. I’ve solved everything, so don’t worry.”
“Tell me how you solved it. Then I’ll believe you.”
No matter how much she reassured them, the two didn’t believe Hayeon’s words. Hayeon’s heart ached that the usually noisy atmosphere of the three had subsided.
“Anyway. The place I mentioned earlier has nothing to do with Yoonjae, so go to work there from tomorrow.”
“I heard everything from Seon-woo while waiting for you. Do as Seon-woo says this time.”
Hayeon put down the tongs she was using to flip the meat.
She couldn’t tell them the whole truth about what happened with Yoonjae, but she had to reassure her friends.
Hayeon carefully brought up the story she had come up with on the way home.
“I got a job.”
“What?”
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
It was natural for them to be surprised.
“Where are you going to work and what are you going to do?”
Seon-woo asked more persistently than Ji-hye.
“I decided to be a live-in trainer.”
The two’s lips closed into a straight line. Hayeon quickly continued.
“I didn’t tell you because I thought you’d worry… I had an interview last week, before I got sick. I was worried because if I became a live-in trainer, I wouldn’t be able to do the fitting model part-time job.”
“Why are you telling us that now?”
Ji-hye raised her voice as if she was upset. In contrast, Seon-woo was just listening quietly.
“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t know if I’d get it or not. I’d be embarrassed if I told you and then got rejected.”
“What’s embarrassing between us!”
“I got a call on the way home saying I was accepted. And of course, I said I’d do it.”
“Since when?”
Seon-woo, who had been quiet, looked at Hayeon with suspicious eyes.
“From tomorrow.”
“From tomorrow… what’s the rush?”
“It’s good to start right away. I can make money faster.”
Hayeon forced a smile and picked up the tongs again. She picked up the meat placed on the edge so it wouldn’t burn and placed it in front of her friends in turn.
“Is it something Yoonjae told you to do?”
Hayeon’s hand stopped at Seon-woo’s words. If her actions looked awkward here, both of them would definitely be suspicious, so Hayeon quickly smiled.
“No. It has nothing to do with Yoonjae.”
“Really?”
“Why would he find a job like that for me? Right?”
“I’m glad if that’s the case… you’re not lying to us, are you?”
Even with Hayeon’s answer, Seon-woo still didn’t let go of her suspicion.
“Why would I lie? To you two of all people.”
Hayeon acted as naturally as possible.
“Okay, I’ll believe it if Hayeon says so. She doesn’t lie to me.”
Hayeon sighed in relief inwardly at Ji-hye’s words. It wasn’t a complete lie, nor was it the truth. Right now, reassuring the two was the priority.
“Hayeon doesn’t lie to me either.”
Seon-woo added.
“Both of you, stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.”
“Okay, let’s think positively, Seon-woo. If it’s a job that Yoonjae doesn’t know about, he won’t be able to interfere anymore. Hayeon can work more comfortably than now.”
Hayeon wrapped a piece of meat in lettuce and put it in Ji-hye’s mouth. It was an unusual display of affection, but she didn’t suspect it and moved on.
“Why don’t you give me one?”
“Okay. I have to give one to Kim Seon-woo too.”
Hayeon quickly wrapped a lettuce wrap and put it in Seon-woo’s mouth as well. Only after forcing the atmosphere up could they eat as usual.
She thought she had completely fooled them, but Ji-hye, who sent Seon-woo home first and followed her home, took out beer and looked at Hayeon with fierce eyes.
“That live-in trainer thing. Tae Yoonjae, that bastard told you to do it, didn’t he?”
“N-no.”
“You can fool everyone else, but you can’t fool my eyes. Your ears turn red when you lie. Did you know that?”
Hayeon rolled her lips inward. She didn’t realize that Ji-hye would know something she wasn’t even aware of.
No wonder the lies that worked on other people were always exposed to Ji-hye. Thanks to that, she now knew her habit.
“Have I only known you for a day or two? It was obvious that you were lying.”
“Does… Seon-woo know too?”
“I don’t know about that. Whether she knows it’s a lie but is pretending to be fooled… how would we know unless Seon-woo says something.”
She felt embarrassed at the thought that Seon-woo might know everything.
“Yoonjae, what did that bastard say? I know the sports center is his work. Don’t tell me he interfered with the model agency job too?”
“That’s probably right.”
She didn’t ask exactly, but judging from the fact that Yoonjae didn’t deny it, that was probably right.
“Is there anything else you haven’t told me?”
“My parents borrowed money from Yoonjae. I’m going to work to pay it back.”
“This is really driving me crazy. How could they borrow money from Yoonjae? It would be much better to use loan sharks! How can they be parents and… how can they do that!”
Ji-hye poured out harsh words without stopping.
Hayeon swallowed a bitter smile and drank the beer that Ji-hye had taken out. Her stuffy stomach didn’t get better even though she swallowed something bitter and cold down her throat.
“What is that bastard thinking, hiring you as a live-in trainer? He must have some ulterior motive.”
Ulterior motive.
Thinking about that made her heart ache again.
“He said he wants to protect what he loves.”
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