The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 33

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

Ji-hye couldn’t just brush it off, coming from Chief Baek, who had been taking model photos for years.

“Is it that much?”

“Look at the photos. They look exactly alike when they smile.”

Ji-hye moved closer to the monitor and looked at the photos Chief Baek was showing her. With each photo she scrolled through, she was amazed at how much Hayeon and Ieum resembled each other.

Ji-hye belatedly realized.

How she knew Ieum, whom she had met for the first time today, was deceiving her and lying. She realized it by seeing Ieum’s ears turning red. It was the same as when Hayeon lied.

That wasn’t all.

Hayeon’s eyes would get slightly red under her eyes when she was tired or sleepy, and Ji-hye noticed Ieum was tired earlier when she saw her eyes getting red.

Ji-hye crossed her arms and hugged her shoulders, feeling strange.

“No way… It can’t be.”

Ji-hye lightly shook her head.

“I’d believe Ieum’s mother was Hayeon’s twin, they looked so alike.”

“Really? That’s a strange connection… Maybe Hayeon has a sister she was separated from when she was young?”

Ji-hye couldn’t laugh along with Chief Baek’s playful remark, accompanied by a chuckle.

She was saying that because she didn’t know what Lee Joo-rin had done, but Ji-hye didn’t want to associate her with Hayeon, even as a joke.

“Come on, Chief, your jokes are too much. That woman…”

How terrible were her actions?

Ji-hye couldn’t continue. There were many people who resembled each other and had the same blood type.

But if the blood type was a rare one that wasn’t common in Korea, it was a different story.

An appearance so similar that you could believe they were twins, and the same rare blood type. Ji-hye became suspicious of the very slim probability.

“Just a moment, Chief. Let me take a closer look at the photos. I’m going to pick out the best ones and make a frame for them.”

Ji-hye made up a random excuse.

“Then, Ji-hye, you can send these photos to Hayeon’s email.”

Sitting down in the seat Chief Baek vacated, Ji-hye carefully examined the photos taken today.

“This doesn’t make sense… I have a strange feeling…”

Ji-hye took a long breath.

Ieum’s face was radiant after meeting Ji-hye. Even after hearing Ieum’s story, Yoonjae didn’t say anything special about meeting Ji-hye.

Hayeon intentionally avoided spending time alone with Yoonjae, not doing her late-night swimming.

Weekdays when he went to work were fine, but weekends were difficult.

Ieum, wanting to show off the garden to her dad, dragged Yoonjae out to the garden on weekends. As a result, they naturally spent more time together as a trio.

After looking around the garden, the next thing on the agenda was riding the swing.

“Dad has to push me again today.”

Ieum took Hayeon’s hand and ran to the swing, sitting down. Yoonjae went behind the swing as Ieum instructed and slowly pushed her.

Hayeon shuddered every time his breath touched the back of her neck.

“Ieum, Teacher is going to get off.”

“Why? Is it because Dad is pushing too hard?”

“No, I forgot I had something to do.”

“Then, I don’t want to ride anymore either.”

Showing Yoonjae the garden and riding the swing on weekend mornings was Ieum’s favorite time. Hayeon felt bad that she said she wouldn’t do it.

“Is it urgent?”

Yoonjae’s words made his hot breath touch her neck. As Hayeon tried to get up, Yoonjae grabbed her shoulders and pressed down firmly.

“Just stay for five more minutes.”

“Dad, are you getting mad at Teacher again?”

Ieum frowned and turned to look at Yoonjae.

“I’m not mad… I’m asking her a favor.”

“No. You were definitely mad. I told you to get along with Teacher.”

He never dreamed Ieum would say such a thing.

Hayeon quickly changed the subject because she was uncomfortable with his hands on her shoulders and the current atmosphere.

“Ieum, I think I need to prepare and leave now if I want to go home and come back.”

Weekends were Hayeon’s official days off.

It was more humble than Yoonjae’s house, but it was a place where Hayeon could comfortably stretch out her legs and lie down.

“Um… Are you meeting Ji-hye again today?”

“No. Ji-hye is busy with a shoot today, so I don’t think I can meet her.”

She hadn’t even had time to talk to Ji-hye lately because of all the shoots. She wanted to meet her because she was curious if there was any progress on the investigation Ji-hye was doing, but she didn’t think she could today.

“Then… What time are you coming back, Teacher? Are you coming back late?”

Ieum asked, holding onto Hayeon’s sleeve tightly, just like she did last week.

“Do you have to go?”

Yoonjae stepped in when Hayeon hesitated to answer.

“I’ll talk to her.”

Yoonjae picked up Ieum and strode towards the inner quarters. Watching his back, she felt like her conversation with the child had been interrupted.

Even usually, when Yoonjae picked up Ieum and left, she didn’t feel good when she was left alone. But today, Yoonjae taking her away before she even finished her conversation with Ieum felt like it had triggered something she had been holding back.

Hayeon quickly chased after Yoonjae. When she stood in front of him, his brow furrowed.

“I wasn’t finished talking to Ieum yet. How can you just take her like that?”

“I said I would talk to her.”

“This was a conversation I was having with Ieum.”

As if the conversation was going to get long, Yoonjae put Ieum down in the garden.

“Ieum, go inside first. I’ll talk to Teacher and then go.”

“You’re not going to fight with Teacher, are you?”

“No, we’re not.”

Only after Ieum went to the inner quarters did Yoonjae look Hayeon straight in the eye.

“What were you going to say to Ieum there?”

“That’s…”

“You were going to say you’d be back soon, like last time. Right?”

As he said, Hayeon was going to say that.

Last week, Hayeon had promised to come back soon because she was worried about Ieum, and she had returned home in half a day.

“An adult’s time and a child’s time are different.”

“What?”

“You might think it’s only half a day, but Ieum does nothing but wait for you during that time.”

It was the first time she had heard that.

When Hayeon came home, Ieum was always the first to run up and chatter about what she had been doing, so she thought she was doing well.

“I didn’t know… She always told me she played with you.”

“You saw that Ieum was clinging to you much more today than last week, didn’t you? If you weren’t going to go, you should have left it to me. I told you I, as her dad, would talk to her.”

Whenever Yoonjae said things like this, it felt like there was an area that Hayeon couldn’t interfere with. And that was very upsetting. But she wasn’t in a position to say such things, so Hayeon just bit the inside of her cheek.

As the silence grew longer, Yoonjae passed Hayeon and went to the inner quarters.

Left alone in the garden, Hayeon was overwhelmed with an indescribable feeling.

Perhaps because the sunlight was hotter than last week, beads of sweat formed on her forehead as she climbed the stairs.

Instead of going inside, Hayeon sat on the porch to cool off for a while.

Coming home was a time to let go of the heavy heart she had carried for a week, but today, for some reason, her heart felt several times heavier than when she was at Yoonjae’s house.

“Hayeon.”

Hayeon turned her head at the heavy voice and saw Seon-woo.

“Oh… Seon-woo.”

“I’m glad. I was wondering what I would do if I struck out again today.”

Seon-woo approached the porch and sat down heavily next to Hayeon. Sweat was also on Seon-woo’s forehead, probably because it was hot.

Seon-woo handed her a coffee with ice, probably bought on the way here.

“It’s hot, right? Drink it.”

“Oh, thank you. But… What brings you here?”

“What do you mean, what brings me here… I came to see you.”

Seon-woo smiled, revealing his white teeth.

“How did you know I was here?”

“I couldn’t get in touch with you, so I asked Ji-hye and she told me. She said you come here every weekend. I came last week too, but it seems like we missed each other.”

She kept forgetting to contact Seon-woo.

“I’m sorry. I saw the missed calls, but it was too late, so I couldn’t call you.”

“It’s okay. It’s enough that I saw your face like this.”

“Do you have something to say?”

“Are we only supposed to see each other if we have something to say?”

Seon-woo was a friend she used to see every day, like Ji-hye. It was the first time she had seen him since Hayeon quit the sports center and went to Yoonjae’s house.

“It feels even more welcoming seeing you after so long, since we used to see each other almost every day.”

As Hayeon stirred the ice with a straw, Seon-woo stared at her.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Are you not very happy to see me?”

“I just like seeing you every day more.”

“I’m just saying. Why are you so serious, making me feel awkward.”

Hayeon felt awkward because Seon-woo kept staring at her, so she drank her coffee. She was happy to drink coffee after a long time, but it tasted bitter today.

“You’re staying over and leaving tomorrow, right?”

“No, I just need to clean up and leave quickly.”

She was thinking of skipping cleaning today if possible.

She was just going to find the old cell phone she used to use and go straight to Yoonjae’s house. The thought of Ieum waiting for her made her feel rushed even being here.

“Even if you’re a live-in trainer, they’re overworking you too much without even giving you weekends off.”

“It’s not like that. Everyone is so nice to me. And the child is cute.”

“Child?”

“Oh… There’s a child in that house.”

Hayeon quickly glossed over it, realizing she hadn’t told Seon-woo.

“You… You had a hard time being with children.”

Come to think of it, Hayeon had also done a shoot with a child model after the day she ran into Ieum at the hospital. It was hard being with Ieum because of the memories of Lee Joo-rin, but it wasn’t to the point where she was writhing in agony like before.

“I think I’m okay now.”

“That’s a relief. It’s been a while since we’ve seen each other, do you have time to eat together?”

Hayeon hesitated to answer.

Eating a meal with Seon-woo, of all people, wasn’t a difficult thing. But Hayeon couldn’t answer right away. She was worried about Ieum waiting for her.

“It’s almost lunchtime. Can’t you?”

“Okay, let’s eat. I’ll just give up on cleaning. Wait a moment.”

Hayeon quickly went inside and found the old cell phone she used to use and put it in her bag.

“What are we going to eat? Our usual barbecue place?”

When Hayeon opened the door and came outside, there was an unexpected guest on the roof.

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