The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 32

“Hello, I’m Tae Ieum.”

As soon as she heard the name, Ji-hye looked at Hayeon. Her eyes were filled with hundreds of question marks.

When Hayeon nodded slightly, Ji-hye’s eyes widened as if the question marks had turned into exclamation points.

“Say hello. She’s a new friend I made.”

At Hayeon’s awkward introduction, Ji-hye’s mouth dropped open.

She looked like she had a lot to say, but thankfully, she seemed to remember that Ieum was in front of her.

Ji-hye lowered herself to meet Ieum’s eye level.

“Hi, nice to meet you. I’m Kang Hayeon’s friend, Lee Ji-hye. You can just call me Auntie.”

“Auntie?”

“Auntie is the best when you want to get close quickly. It works well at restaurants too. If you call me Auntie, they give you a lot of side dishes.”

Ieum smiled brightly as she took Ji-hye’s outstretched hand. It was the first time Ieum had smiled since seeing Director Jang off.

“This is a photo studio.”

Ieum, curious about the unfamiliar objects, took Ji-hye’s hand and looked around the studio. Thanks to Ji-hye’s natural sociability, the two of them quickly became friends.

After finishing another shoot, Director Baek came in and taught her how to operate the camera, and Ieum played around, taking pictures herself.

Sitting next to Hayeon a little distance away, Ji-hye shook her head as if she still couldn’t believe it.

“To think Tae Yoonjae had such a pretty daughter. I can’t believe it even though I’m seeing it with my own eyes.”

“Sometimes she looks exactly like Yoonjae. I guess blood is thicker than water.”

At times, Yoonjae’s face could be seen in Ieum’s face. Most of the time, she resembled Lee Joo-rin, which made for painful moments, but the more time she spent with Ieum, the more those feelings faded.

“Who would have known that the person Tae Yoonjae was so desperate to save was his daughter.”

“Shh, stop it, Ieum will hear you.”

Hayeon cautioned Ji-hye, worried that Ieum might be hurt if she heard. Watching Hayeon, Ji-hye sighed softly.

“Are you okay?”

Ji-hye asked cautiously. She couldn’t bring herself to say that she was shocked and groaned when she found out about the child’s existence.

She couldn’t say that she wanted to run away, but she was back where she started. Hayeon forced a smile, knowing that Ji-hye would worry.

“I have to be okay… It’s not the child’s fault. Especially not when she’s sick. Tae Yoonjae is already living in hell because of that.”

“Well… they say parents’ hearts break even at a small scratch on their child’s body. Still, Yoonjae, that bastard, seems really cruel to you.”

“I wanted to destroy everything. I guess a happy ending or a cool revenge isn’t in my destiny.”

Hayeon smiled bitterly.

“But you can’t stay in that house forever.”

Ji-hye was right.

Even if she got along well with Ieum, she couldn’t continue to live in such an uncomfortable situation.

To get out of his house, she felt like she had to dig up the wounds she had buried deep inside because she didn’t want to bring them up.

“So… I’m going to recover the old cell phone I used to use.”

“Hayeon… that’s…”

Ji-hye, who knew all the contents of the phone, sighed deeply.

“When Director Jang comes back from vacation… I’m going to tell him everything this time, what I couldn’t tell him seven years ago. I’m going to show him all the photos and messages Lee Joo-rin sent me… what happened the day I lost Tantan.”

Even as she was having a serious conversation, Hayeon’s eyes were on the child. She smiled to reassure the child when their eyes met.

“I’m going to get out of that house soon. It’s not a place for me… it’s uncomfortable.”

“Yeah, a house should be a place where you can relax and rest. No matter how I think about it, Yoonjae’s house doesn’t seem like a place where you can be comfortable.”

“I have a promise, so I’ll donate blood. She wants to protect such a pretty daughter…”

Hayeon gave a bitter smile as she watched Ieum laugh while looking at the photos she had taken with the camera.

“Oh, right, about that Yoonjae fan cafe I told you about. I finally got in touch with the cafe manager.”

“You really got a reply?”

It was an unexpected gain.

She didn’t expect to get a reply to a message sent by a stranger, but Ji-hye managed to do the difficult thing.

“Who do you think I am? I’m Lee Ji-hye. First, I’m approaching her as if I was a fan of Yoonjae. I’m using the Yoonjae article I got from the reporter last time to great effect. I’m planning to meet her soon.”

“Is that possible?”

“I have to make it possible.”

Ji-hye was confident.

“According to the email the cafe manager sent, she’s still in contact with a member who was close to her in the fan cafe back then. Everyone seems to be curious about where Yoonjae is and how he’s doing now. I’m going to use that as bait.”

“Thank you, Lee Ji-hye.”

“If you’re thankful, hurry up and get out of that house and hang out with me. I’m so bored these days. Seon-woo must be busy these days, I can’t get in touch with him.”

Hayeon had forgotten too.

She hadn’t been able to answer the phone call from Seon-woo last time. She was in the garden with Ieum, so her hands were a mess, but she didn’t want to pay attention to anything else when she was with the child, so she put the phone on silent.

Later, she found out that Seon-woo had called and tried to call him back, but it was too late, so she couldn’t call him. After that, she had completely forgotten about Seon-woo.

“Teacher, be my model. I want to take your picture.”

Ieum called Hayeon with the camera in her hand.

“Instead of me, how about Ieum being the model?”

“I’m not a model. I don’t want to.”

At Ieum’s words, Ji-hye whispered softly to Hayeon.

“She wants to… but she’s saying she doesn’t.”

“You can read minds too? How can you know right away?”

“I don’t know… maybe it’s because she’s Yoonjae’s daughter… she’s just easy to read. It seems like she learned how to endure for the sake of adults… there are lies that aren’t bad lies, you know. White lies.”

Ji-hye noticed it right away, even though she had only met her for the first time today, something that Hayeon had figured out a long time ago.

“The real expert was here.”

“You should ask Teacher Kang to join us at times like this. She’s a professional model, so she’ll lead you well.”

It was advice from a real expert.

“Lee Ji-hye, you’re the best.”

Hayeon chuckled and approached Ieum.

“Ieum, Teacher wants to take pictures with Ieum.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, come here.”

Taking Ieum’s hand, Hayeon walked towards the place where the lights were set up.

“Pose naturally, relax your shoulders. That’s right. Lips… do it like Teacher does.”

“Like this?”

“Our Ieum is really good. You could be a model right away.”

Ieum smiled brightly as Ji-hye, who was standing next to her, praised her. At the same time, the sound of the camera shutter and the lights flashed. Ieum, startled, hugged Hayeon, but the smile never left her face.

“Let’s take pictures with different outfits like a real model. We have some clothes that were left as samples when we shot a couple item with a mom and child last time.”

At Director Baek’s suggestion, Ji-hye quickly grabbed the clothes.

“Yeah, try this on. The size seems to fit Ieum perfectly.”

Unlike when she first suggested taking pictures, Ieum excitedly took the clothes.

“I feel like I’ve become a real model.”

“Then, shall we take pictures wearing these clothes?”

“Yes, I like it.”

The two of them wore short-sleeved dresses and stood in front of the camera again. As they stood side by side holding hands, Director Baek kept pressing the camera shutter.

“The two of you look much better together than when we shot with the child model last time.”

Ieum smiled even brighter as Director Baek praised her while checking the pictures he had taken.

With Hayeon’s lead, Ieum was soon natural in front of the camera. After changing clothes about three times and taking pictures, Ieum’s eyes were slightly red.

“Ieum looks tired.”

Ji-hye noticed right away and whispered softly so that only Hayeon could hear.

“Yeah, I can see it too. I think we should go home.”

Ji-hye lowered her upper body to match Ieum’s eye level.

“Ieum, let’s stop shooting here today. Auntie has a shoot tonight and has to move.”

Ji-hye spoke so that Ieum wouldn’t be upset. But even so, Ieum’s face quickly fell.

“I want to play with Auntie more…”

“You can come play again next time.”

“Really?”

“Of course, tell Teacher that you want to play with Auntie. You’re welcome anytime except when I’m working.”

Ieum smiled brightly at Ji-hye’s words.

“This is a gift to commemorate our first meeting.”

Ji-hye gave Ieum and Hayeon not only the clothes they wore, but also all the couple clothes in the studio.

Ieum smiled brightly when she saw the shopping bag filled with clothes.

“Am I a couple with Teacher?”

“Yeah, you two are a couple. If you’re bored playing with Teacher, come play again. Okay?”

“Yes, Auntie.”

Ieum was sad to say goodbye to Ji-hye, but she repeatedly confirmed the promise to meet again next time, even hooking her pinky twice.

After Hayeon and Ieum left, the studio felt empty.

Director Baek was organizing the photos he had taken today in front of the computer and admired Ji-hye’s extraordinary sociability.

“Ji-hye, I knew you liked kids, but after seeing you today, I think you’re amazing. You play with them well, and you seem to have a natural talent for knowing exactly what a child is thinking.”

“I like kids, so I play well with my nephew too. And Ieum is like a child I’ve known for years. I can see everything she wants just by looking at her face.”

When she first saw Ieum, she was just surprised that she was Yoonjae’s daughter, but as time went on, she felt more familiar than surprised.

Ji-hye was quite close to Yoonjae, if not as close as Hayeon or Seon-woo. She thought that was probably why she was able to get close to Ieum so quickly.

“Ji-hye, you chose the wrong profession.”

“I’m going to be a kindergarten teacher when I quit the agency anyway.”

Director Baek laughed out loud at Ji-hye’s words.

Director Baek, who was organizing the photos, tilted his head.

“Don’t you think Hayeon and Ieum look alike?”

“Ah… yes, they might look similar.”

Since she’s Lee Joo-rin’s daughter, who looks like Hayeon, it’s only natural that they look alike.

“I’d believe it if you said they were mother and daughter.”

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