The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 23

I truly didn’t expect Tae Yoonjae to be so brazen. There’s a limit to crossing the line, but he was leaping far beyond it.

The shock Hayeon received was so immense that she almost forgot her original purpose for being here.

His dark eyes, unreadable, stared at Hayeon.

“Why are you so agitated?”

The man’s face was utterly calm as he tossed out the words.

“Are you asking because you don’t know? This wasn’t discussed beforehand.”

“You’re the one who read and signed the contract.”

Hayeon tried to recall the words she had read. It had only been a few days since she signed, but she didn’t remember seeing anything about having to teach someone.

No, there wasn’t even a similar mention.

Hayeon could confidently argue against this unfair treatment.

“There wasn’t a single clause in the contract that said I had to guide or teach anyone.”

“Article 3, Section 2: Strive to form a bond with the recipient.”

“You’re going to do that through blood donation?”

“The recipient wants it. And I want it too.”

They’re both crazy.

Even if she fought back, it would be two against one. She was outnumbered, and to make matters worse, Hayeon was the ‘eul’ [subordinate party]. Even the fighting spirit she had was about to flee.

Hayeon was slowly trying to turn around when she didn’t see the water pooled on the floor and stepped on it. Someone grabbed the hand she was flailing to regain her balance. Her body tilted towards the strong pull.

She squeezed her eyes shut, expecting to plunge headfirst into the floor.

-Splash.

Instead of the pain of hitting the hard floor, cold water enveloped her entire body. Hayeon relaxed her struggling body and slowly rose to the surface.

“Cough, cough.”

Hayeon coughed, spitting out the pool water that had entered her nose. Hayeon, looking like a drowned rat, was reflected in the swimming pool’s glass window.

“What… what are you?”

“I saved you.”

“What?”

“If you had fallen backward like that, you would have at least fractured something or gotten a concussion, and in the worst case, you could have died instantly. I don’t want someone dying in the swimming pool I painstakingly built.”

Did he save her by letting her fall into the water, so she should be grateful? Her mouth felt bitter, and she didn’t want to exchange any more words.

Hayeon tried to get out of the pool, but her body wouldn’t listen, perhaps due to the successive shocks.

Every time she tried to climb out, she would slide back into the water.

“This is a real mess.”

She heard a short clicking of the tongue, and then her body lightly floated up. Thanks to Yoonjae grabbing her waist from behind and lifting her, she was able to safely get out of the pool this time.

“Haa, haa.”

Even after getting out of the water, Hayeon took deep breaths to calm her startled heart.

“Executive Director!”

The two people’s gazes turned towards the entrance at Madam Lee’s urgent voice.

“From the hospital… haa, haa.”

At the word “hospital,” Yoonjae quickly got out of the water. He rushed to Madam Lee, who had stopped, breathless, and snatched the phone from her as if stealing it, then quickly disappeared from Hayeon’s sight.

“Oh my, I’m out of breath, haa, haa.”

Madam Lee, having finished her task, approached Hayeon, breathing heavily.

“Oh my, haa. Why are Ms. Kang’s clothes all wet?”

“I slipped and fell into the water.”

“Oh dear, you should have been careful. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No.”

Madam Lee wrapped a beach towel around Hayeon’s body.

“The night temperatures are still very cold. You’ll catch a cold.”

“Thank you.”

“Go and take a shower with warm water quickly. I’ll bring you some warm jujube tea.”

“Yes.”

Hayeon got up with Madam Lee’s support.

After returning to her room and showering in hot water, she couldn’t help but worry about Yoonjae, who had rushed to the hospital.

News from the hospital at night was unlikely to be good news. By tomorrow, she would know what happened from Madam Lee’s endless chatter, even if Hayeon didn’t ask.

She deliberately went to bed early, trying not to think complicated thoughts, but Hayeon tossed and turned until dawn before finally falling asleep.

It had been a week since Yoonjae had come home. It also meant that it had already been a week since he had run out after receiving the phone call from the hospital.

For some reason, the words “Miss” or “hospital” were completely absent from Madam Lee’s mouth. Hayeon couldn’t ask first, so she had to remain with her curiosity.

Hayeon headed to the rooftop room to meet Ji-hye after a long time.

She opened the house door wide to ventilate and diligently mopped the floor. Even though she cleaned the house thoroughly, her troubled mind didn’t go away.

She took out a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator and went outside. As she sat on the platform on the roof and drank the water, she heard cheerful footsteps coming up the stairs.

When she turned her head towards the steel staircase, Ji-hye ran over with a bright smile.

“Kang Hayeon!”

“You’re going to fall. Don’t run, walk.”

Even though Hayeon warned her, Ji-hye skipped and jumped like a child and hugged her.

“It’s been so long! I missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

They used to see each other almost every day.

Even if it wasn’t for the part-time job, Ji-hye and Hayeon spent a lot of time together. Ji-hye treated Hayeon’s house like her own, so she often stopped by even when she didn’t have work.

It was understandable that Ji-hye, who hadn’t seen her for two weeks, was showing such an enthusiastic reaction.

Ji-hye, hugging Hayeon and jumping up and down, was just like a little kid.

“Stop jumping. The people downstairs will say it’s noisy.”

Hayeon barely managed to pull Ji-hye away, and the two sat on the platform. The excitement had passed, and now it seemed like it was time for exploration. Ji-hye scrutinized Hayeon with sharp eyes.

“Were you having a hard time? Your face looks gaunt since I last saw you.”

“It’s not like it’s a place where I can be comfortable.”

“Well… what’s it like at the Tae Wang Group Executive Director’s house? Is it magnificent?”

Ji-hye had been exchanging calls and messages with Hayeon every day, so she already knew that Hayeon was staying at Yoonjae’s house.

“It’s huge, quiet… just empty.”

“I knew it… it’s been really quiet every time I talk to you.”

“It doesn’t feel like a home where people live, so I don’t feel attached to it.”

“That’s a relief. It would be a problem if you got attached to that house.”

At the absurd conclusion, the two looked at each other and burst into laughter. Only now could they breathe comfortably.

“There aren’t many employees either. There’s Madam Lee, I told you about her, right?”

“Oh, the one who casually spills high-level information without a second thought, right?”

Most of their recent conversations had been about what to eat, but she was one of the people who knew the most trivial information about Yoonjae.

The most important information would be known by Yoonjae’s secretary, but he wouldn’t tell Hayeon. So, Madam Lee was currently the most important source of information.

“I didn’t expect it, but she gives me a lot of information and really takes care of me.”

“Really? She doesn’t act territorial or anything?”

“No, she’s not like that. She noticed that I was eating alone and told Secretary Kim first, so now I don’t eat alone.”

“She’s nosy, but she’s also meticulous, and she’s talkative. Madam Lee has all the perfect conditions to be an informant.”

Hayeon felt guilty for collecting what Madam Lee said while pretending not to know.

She also felt bad that she couldn’t accept the kindness of a good person as it was. But Hayeon had no choice if she wanted to achieve her goal.

“What about Tae Yoonjae…?”

“Haa…”

Just thinking about him made Hayeon feel like the breath she had barely managed to catch was becoming stuffy again, and she let out a long sigh.

“Has there been any progress on your planned work?”

“…How, how many days has it been? And he doesn’t come home often. That woman is still hospitalized.”

“Who’s that woman?”

The woman Madam Lee calls “Miss.”

“Lee Joo-rin.”

Hayeon struggled to say the three syllables of her name.

“Really… is it Lee Joo-rin?”

“Yeah, it’s her. Our blood types were the same. She said she had been neglecting Yoonjae because she wasn’t feeling well at the time.”

Ji-hye tilted her head.

“She only said scary, threatening things to me… I guess she’s kind to the people who work at her house. Everyone takes care of her a lot, calling her ‘Miss, Miss.’ They’re genuinely worried about her being sick and hospitalized.”

“Have you been to the hospital, by any chance?”

Hayeon shook her head vigorously.

“What do you take me for? I’m not going there. I don’t want to even if they ask me to. And if she gets discharged, I’ll see her at the house every day…”

Just thinking about it was horrifying.

Considering what she had done to her, she didn’t even want to give her blood. She had no choice but to sign the contract, but she resented her parents for putting her in this situation.

Besides, when she gets discharged, she will have to work on forming a bond to reduce her aversion to blood transfusions.

Yoonjae’s secretary even cited overseas papers that said the closer the relationship between the recipient and the donor, the fewer the side effects, emphasizing that it was more important than Hayeon maintaining a body condition that allowed her to donate blood.

It wasn’t just teaching members at the sports center, but gradually building up her weakened physical strength, but the more she thought about it, the more suffocated she felt.

“I think about running away more than twelve times a day.”

“Hayeon…”

“Even if I run away… it’s not Seo Yoonjae, it’s Tae Wang Group Executive Director, Tae Yoonjae. He’ll find me no matter what.”

The reality of having to wag her tail as he said was miserable.

“Something’s… strange.”

Ji-hye pursed her lips as if something was bothering her.

“What’s strange?”

“I was on the phone with a reporter a little while ago.”

“An interview request came in for an agency model.”

Ji-hye knew quite a few reporters in the entertainment department. Because of her natural sociability, Ji-hye became friends with even reporters she met for the first time.

Life is give and take, and there will be times when they can help each other, Ji-hye said.

“No… I asked him to find out about Lee Joo-rin. I can’t find anything even if I look for it.”

“Oh… I see.”

“I helped him out a lot last time. I asked him if he knew anything about the Central Hotel’s daughter, and he said he would check with the economics department.”

The give and take that Ji-hye had mentioned worked.

“He called me a little while ago…”

“What did he say?”

“That… he said he was still looking into it more accurately and he was saying strange things.”

Ji-hye kept trailing off, as if it was difficult to bring up.

“What is it?”

“That…”

It was strange that Ji-hye was hesitating this much.

“Ji-hye, I’m okay, so just tell me comfortably.”

Ji-hye took a deep breath as if she had made up her mind.

“Lee Joo-rin… died in a traffic accident seven years ago.”

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