The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 3

Hayeon entered the blood donation room familiarly. She weighed herself, leaned back comfortably in the chair, and closed her eyes tightly. Hayeon didn’t open her eyes while the nurse measured her blood pressure and temperature.

“It’ll sting a little.”

The entire process for blood donation was so familiar that Hayeon briefly opened her eyes to look up at the nurse.

“Hemoglobin level is normal. Platelet count is also good.”

Soon, the blood donation would begin. A thick needle pierced and entered her blood vessel. Hayeon closed her eyes again.

-Blink, blink

It felt like she had only closed her eyes for a moment, but she had a terrible dream. Looking at the clock, it hadn’t even been five minutes.

-Ting, ting

Notifications kept ringing on her phone. Looking at the app, it was emails and messages from the cafe.

[Urgent! Looking for CIS-AB blood. Please help. 010-0000-0000.]

It was a post that often appeared in the special blood type cafe. She was about to click to see what the situation was this time when the nurse approached.

“I’ll take the needle out.”

“Okay.”

“It’ll sting.”

The nurse skillfully removed the needle and applied a flesh-colored bandage.

“Avoid strenuous exercise today. Don’t lift anything heavy with the arm you donated blood from. You might feel dizzy for an hour or two. Stay for about 10 minutes before you leave.”

While pressing down on the flesh-colored bandage with her hand, a phone notification rang. She barely reached out to check the message.

[Urgent! Desperate!! Save me. Are you free? Tell me you’re free even if you’re not, please!]

A chuckle escaped her lips at the message.

“So many emergencies today.”

She knew what was going on without even asking. The model they had scheduled to work with had definitely bailed.

Ji-hye’s messages came one after another as she confirmed that Hayeon had read them.

[Cheongdam Studio by 3 PM. It’s Witch’s Closet work. Please, Hayeon, I’ll come pick you up.]

Hayeon quickly replied to Ji-hye, who must be tearing her hair out.

[Okay. Come pick me up at the hospital.]

[Kang Hayeon, the most amazing body in the universe, I love you!]

Ji-hye’s reply arrived as soon as she sent the message. As she put down her phone, the head nurse approached with a smile.

“Are you done with your blood donation?”

“Yes.”

“Isn’t it hard to donate blood regularly?”

“It’s for me, so I have to do it even if it’s hard. It means I’m that healthy.”

Hayeon took her hand off the bandage and picked up her bag. The head nurse stopped Hayeon.

“Kang Hayeon-ssi, I have something to ask you for a moment.”

It was a common occurrence.

“I suppose there’s someone who needs a transfusion.”

The head nurse smiled awkwardly.

Sometimes, when people with special blood types like Hayeon hadn’t stored their own blood or even the stored blood was insufficient, they would make a request like this.

“It’s a seven-year-old child… They need regular transfusions.”

At the word “child,” Hayeon gently bit and released the inner flesh of her cheek.

“Don’t they have a parent with a matching blood type?”

“I guess the mother had the same blood type… Unfortunately, the mother passed away when the child was born.”

“Ah…”

She felt a stinging sensation in her chest.

“The child had a very difficult time with the side effects of the last transfusion.”

She knew very well what the meaning behind the word “difficult” was. It was already heartbreaking that a young child needed regular transfusions, but to experience transfusion side effects as well…

The father must be raising the child alone without a mother, and his heart must be burning black.

“Hayeon-ssi is healthy, so you have a lot of stored plasma… I was just asking if you would be willing to donate the blood you donated today to the child.”

Hayeon was going to agree even if the head nurse hadn’t said this much.

“Give me the consent form.”

“Thank you so, so much.”

The head nurse handed Hayeon the file she was holding. Hayeon read it carefully and signed it.

“I’ll see you in three months. Take good care of your health.”

Hayeon left the blood donation room, escorted by the head nurse.

But it was when she was passing through the hospital lobby.

“Yoonjae-ssi!”

She heard a crashing sound in her heart. It was a man who had already become the past. Just hearing his name made Hayeon’s heart race like crazy and her body stiffened. Unable to even breathe, Hayeon hunched her shoulders.

“Tae Yoonjae!”

At the voice she heard again, Hayeon’s strength drained and her shoulders slumped. The name was the same, but the surname was different.

“Haa…”

Hayeon let out the breath she had been holding in. She was so surprised that her legs were shaking, so she rested her hands on her knees and lowered her head.

She was shaken like this every time by just one name. She had never encountered him once after they broke up.

It was as if he was deliberately avoiding her, and she hadn’t even seen a strand of his hair. There wasn’t even a common coincidence.

“I heard he went abroad…”

That was the last news Hayeon had heard about Yoonjae.

He won a medal and immediately announced his retirement. And he went to some foreign country she couldn’t even remember.

So much time had passed that everything about him was now fading, but she hated herself today for being shaken by the mention of someone with the same name.

“No, it’s because I had blood drawn… Let’s eat meat, meat.”

Hayeon slowly took a deep breath and stood up.

But the moment her face turned forward, a man with broad shoulders came into view. The back view of him holding the hand of a child wearing a patient gown was unmistakably Seo Yoonjae.

“It can’t be him. It must be someone who looks similar. Haa… I guess I really have to eat meat today. Get a grip, Kang Hayeon.”

Her heart was still beating violently, but she thought it was because she was surprised by the sound of someone calling a person with the same name as him. She calmed her wavering heart, telling herself that she couldn’t live in fear of shadows that resembled him forever.

But her gaze kept turning to the direction where the man who resembled him had disappeared. Even though she knew it wasn’t the real Seo Yoonjae, she couldn’t erase the image of him holding the child’s hand.

“Haa, what am I thinking.”

Tears suddenly welled up and streamed down Hayeon’s cheeks.

Ji-hye picked up a piece of well-cooked meat from the charcoal grill and placed it in front of Hayeon’s plate, raising her voice.

“Oh my god, don’t even say that name. It’s so unlucky.”

At the words that it was just the same name and that he just looked similar, Ji-hye widened her eyes and raised her voice even more.

“I’m just a little surprised.”

“I’m saying this because it doesn’t seem like just a little. It’s already been 7 years. Yeah… It’s been 7 years. Not only did you go through that ordeal and break up… Ugh, never mind. What’s the point of saying it now?”

Ji-hye sighed as she flipped the meat with the tongs.

“I know… 7 years… I’m usually fine, but when I see someone who looks similar or accidentally hear the same name, my heart still drops.”

“Let’s be honest. Do you even have time to think about the past? You’re so busy with the sports center and modeling work that you don’t even have time to sleep, let alone indulge in memories of the past.”

Ji-hye picked up her glass and emptied it in one gulp. She put the well-grilled meat in her mouth and sighed again.

“Where are your parents these days?”

“Haa…”

A sigh came out of Hayeon’s mouth before an answer.

“I can imagine. They took all the money you had saved up two months ago, so they’ll be quiet for a while.”

“It’s not that much… That money will run out soon. They knew there was no more money to get.”

The only thing those people called parents wanted from Hayeon was money, money, money.

They liked the money Hayeon earned from commercials, being noticed for her fame and looks as a swimmer, rather than her winning medals with good results in competitions.

“Well, what can you do when they spent 500 million won in less than a year? It’s a miracle if they don’t take out private loans.”

The amount of 500 million won was a sum that hurt deep inside her heart no matter when she heard it.

“These days, they only lend money if there’s something to get out of it. All you have is debt.”

Hayeon tried to smile.

“I’m more comfortable these days when they don’t look for me.”

She meant it.

She didn’t care if they called her heartless or unfilial. She just hoped that her parents, herself, that they wouldn’t look for each other.

Three months later, the day to donate blood came again.

-Rrrrrrr

Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 rang loudly. It was the ringtone she had set for her parents’ phone numbers.

It was the Symphony of Fate ringing for the first time in exactly three months. She didn’t want to answer the phone because she knew what they wanted. But she couldn’t ignore it because of the fact that they were her blood relatives.

If they were calling from in front of the sports center instead of the rooftop room where Hayeon lived, it would be better to answer.

Hayeon had no choice but to answer the phone.

“Hello.”

[Hey, is our daughter doing well? Nothing wrong, right?]

It was her mother.

Hearing her bright voice, it seemed that the business she had mentioned when she took the money last time was still doing well.

“Yes, I’m doing well. How are you and Dad?”

[We’re doing well. We met a good investor and expanded the business.]

A good investor wouldn’t be a loan shark, would they? She felt uneasy, but she didn’t have the courage to ask.

[Don’t worry. It’s not some guys who roll money around in the market. A real businessman invested, saying the prospects were good. You know the Taewang Group, right? It’s them, them.]

Taewang Group was the conglomerate that had acquired the sports center Hayeon was working at.

The new business her parents had started was selling exercise equipment that looked flimsy to her. It even looked like a pyramid scheme, so she thought they would lose money again and become penniless, but she couldn’t believe that Taewang Group had invested in it.

And they were investing in places that were bound to fail.

Their judgment was so poor that she was worried about the future of Taewang Group.

[Anyway… Has anyone been looking for you or anything?]

Hayeon’s brow furrowed.

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