The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 24

“That woman is dead…”

It was shocking news.

Hayeon, who had been sitting on the wooden platform, jumped up. She paced anxiously around the platform, biting her fingernails.

“No way…”

She was confused.

It was possible that there was another woman with the same rare blood type as Hayeon, besides Lee Joo-rin.

But what were the odds that she would become Yoonjae’s world, his true love?

“That’s why I asked if you’d gone to the hospital earlier. Because if you met her… you’d know.”

It wasn’t Ji-hye’s fault, but her voice trailed off.

“It was a shock when I first heard it… but the date of the accident, it was when… you know, that competition where Yoonjae won the gold medal.”

“The World Championships…”

“Right, the World Championships! Yoonjae announced his retirement right after that competition. The date of the accident is the same day Yoonjae announced his retirement.”

“The same day, then…”

It was the time when Hayeon was in the hospital after losing her child.

It was a time when she couldn’t escape the shock of being abandoned by Yoonjae, losing consciousness and groaning for days.

She had completely shut herself off from the world, so she only found out about Yoonjae’s retirement much later when Ji-hye told her.

Compared to the news of Yoonjae’s retirement, a promising swimmer, the news of a traffic accident that happened dozens of times a day was unlikely to become a hot topic. Even if she was the daughter of a hotel chairman, the news of an ordinary person’s accident wouldn’t be reported.

The more she thought about seven years ago, the more her hands trembled, and her head felt like a tangled mess.

“Hayeon, are you okay? You look pale.”

Ji-hye wrapped her hands around Hayeon’s trembling hands.

“Look how cold your hands are. This won’t do. Don’t stand there pacing, sit on the platform. I’ll go get you something warm to drink.”

Ji-hye sat Hayeon down on the platform and ran into the house. After a while, she handed her a cup of warm barley tea.

“This is all I could find. Even though you keep the house empty, there’s nothing to eat. Is this really a house where people live?”

“No one lives here.”

Hayeon gave a faint smile and joked, grateful for Ji-hye’s efforts to change the atmosphere.

“How about moving out? You’d save on rent, which is good.”

“I don’t want to. I don’t know how long I’ll leave it empty but this is my home. There’s a world of difference between having a place to return to and not having one.”

“When you’re free from there, you can come to my house, what are you worried about?”

Freedom.

Would that day ever come?

Hayeon gave a bitter smile and sipped the hot barley tea, blowing on it. The trembling in her body stopped as she drank something warm, but her head was still complicated.

“Oh, by the way, did you know?”

“What?”

“There used to be a Yoonjae fan cafe.”

“Really?”

It was the first time she’d heard it, but it wasn’t a surprising thing, so Hayeon replied listlessly.

Just as Hayeon was popular for her pretty looks as an athlete, Yoonjae was famous for his handsome face before his swimming skills.

“Pretty face as an athlete” was the phrase Hayeon hated the most. That’s why she gritted her teeth and improved her swimming skills. She proved her skills with a medal at the Asian Championships, but the only modifiers that followed Hayeon were ‘pretty face, perfect body’.

Thanks to that, she was able to work as a fitting model after quitting swimming, but it was a modifier of love and hate for Hayeon.

So, when Hayeon first greeted Yoonjae, she didn’t mention his appearance and only talked about his swimming skills. Because she thought that athletes would want to be recognized for their swimming skills first, like her.

She didn’t know that Yoonjae’s fan cafe existed, as Ji-hye said, but it wouldn’t have been surprising if it did. He was quite a popular athlete.

“There are many places where the entertainment department and the sports department are separated now, but in the past, there were many media companies that were grouped together as the Culture and Sports Department. Maybe that’s why, but even the entertainment reporters heard quite a bit about Yoonjae.”

“I didn’t think there would still be people who remember him…”

“He won two gold medals at the World Championships and was totally hot. He suddenly announced his retirement as soon as he became popular… it’s deeply ingrained in people’s minds.”

She still hadn’t asked why Yoonjae suddenly retired.

Even though they had sex, the distance between their hearts was as far as the gap in time. Moreover, in a situation where they both said they had been abandoned, it didn’t seem like the distance between them would narrow.

They might end up just having sex, but that’s what Hayeon wanted.

To mix bodies only, and never mix hearts.

That way, she could destroy his everything without hesitation. Even if his love wasn’t Lee Joo-rin, Hayeon’s plan wouldn’t change.

To do that, she needed information. There might be someone among the fan club members who knew information that Hayeon didn’t know seven years ago.

“Can you find out if the fan cafe is still running?”

“Who do you think I am! Of course, I checked. The cafe was closed a long time ago, but I found the operator’s blog.”

“You’re so capable! You’re worthy of being Agency Lee Ji-hye’s assistant manager.”

“I’ve already sent an email, but I don’t know if I’ll get a reply.”

She was grateful to her friend for taking care of all the difficult tasks. She felt sorry because she didn’t know how to repay this favor, or if she could repay it all in the future.

“Don’t feel sorry for me or anything like that. I’ve said it every time, right? Life is give and take. Me doing this now is repaying what I’ve received from Kang Hayeon all this time.”

“No way. I’ve received, not given… what have I given you?”

“Have you forgotten who covered all the jobs you bailed on?”

She didn’t know that Ji-hye was thinking this way.

“That’s because I had to earn money, so I said I’d do it. Anyone would think I volunteered for free.”

She gave her money regularly for the work she did, but Ji-hye said she was the one who received it, so she felt embarrassed.

“Do you know how many calls I make when you bail? Everyone refuses, there’s no one who says they’ll do it. Having someone I can trust and call is such a reliable backing for me.”

“Ji-hye…”

“No matter how well people like Madam Lee treat you, all the people working in that house are people Yoonjae hired. If you go around leaking evidence that you’re finding out about Yoonjae there, those people won’t turn a blind eye.”

Everything Ji-hye said was true. She was already conscious of talking to Ji-hye, let alone a reporter, it was impossible.

“I have a wider network and better skills than you.”

“Yeah, that’s right.”

“Trust me. I’ll find out little by little in a skillful way.”

No matter how developed the internet was, there was a limit to what you could find out with it.

The events of seven years ago were something you could only find out by running around yourself.

She was just grateful that Ji-hye was doing things that Hayeon couldn’t do in Yoonjae’s house.

“Thank you, Ji-hye.”

“If you’re grateful, take good care of yourself in that house. Eat well too. And don’t get hurt.”

“…I will.”

Both Ji-hye, who asked, and Hayeon, who answered, knew that they couldn’t, but they exchanged words like that.

She hoped that Hayeon, who was already full of scars, wouldn’t receive any more scars here.

Her steps were heavy as she headed to Yoonjae’s house. Hayeon wanted to return home as late as possible, so she headed to Jangchung-dong.

She was thinking of buying the Monaka ice cream that Madam Lee had mentioned a few days ago on a particularly sunny day.

It was also an excuse to go home late, but she wanted to repay her a little for her kindness in taking good care of Hayeon.

She leisurely looked around the store and picked out bread. And she bought the Monaka ice cream that Madam Lee had mentioned.

Even though she moved as slowly as possible, when she looked at the clock, the clock hands had barely moved a few spaces.

“Time really… doesn’t pass.”

It wasn’t even summer yet, but it felt particularly hot, and she desperately wanted to swim freely in the cool water.

She hated Yoonjae’s house to death, but she liked the fact that it had a nice swimming pool. The traces Yoonjae left behind had almost disappeared now, so she could wear a swimsuit without worry.

It seemed better to exercise than to waste time on useless things, so Hayeon headed straight to Yoonjae’s house.

The atmosphere in the house seemed more excited than before Hayeon went out.

Everyone was moving busily, so Hayeon quietly headed to the lodging so as not to be disturbed. As Hayeon crossed the garden and entered the lodging, Yoonjae was unexpectedly there.

“Oh… when did you come?”

Yoonjae, whom she hadn’t seen in a week, looked neat.

He didn’t have bloodshot eyes or look exhausted like last time.

The excited atmosphere was strangely the same as the atmosphere in the house.

“Where did you go?”

“I went to the house. I wanted to ventilate it and dust it off.”

“What are you holding in your hand?”

“Oh, this. It’s for Madam Lee. It’s Monaka ice cream… but Madam Lee seems too busy right now, so I think I should give it to her later.”

Hayeon went to the kitchen at a fast pace, worried that the ice cream would melt. As she opened the freezer door and tried to put the ice cream in, Yoonjae strode up.

“Is that all for Madam Lee?”

“Huh?”

“That ice cream. Is it only for Madam Lee to eat?”

Hayeon didn’t know how to react to Yoonjae, who was talking about ice cream out of the blue when she hadn’t seen him in a week.

The longer the silence between them, the more awkward it became. His persistent gaze was fixed on the ice cream, so Hayeon could only think simple thoughts.

“Do you want to eat ice cream?”

Even after saying it, she felt pathetic.

“Give me one.”

The person who asks if you want to eat ice cream and the person who asks for it.

Hayeon opened the box and took out one ice cream and handed it to Yoonjae. Even as she handed it over, she wondered if he would really take it, but Yoonjae grabbed it.

He peeled off the thin plastic and took a bite.

“You’re so stingy! How can you eat ice cream all by yourself?”

A spiteful voice rang in her ear as if to tear it apart.

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