The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 38

“Oh dear, looks like we can’t go buy a bike today?”

At Madam Lee’s words, Lee-eum, who had been happily eating just moments before, instantly deflated.

“Daddy says I can’t get a bike?”

Father and daughter had been fiercely opposed over the issue of buying a bicycle. The father, worried she might fall and get hurt, and the daughter, who enjoyed challenges, wouldn’t budge, leading to a long argument.

Yoonjae had promised to buy her a bike if she wore protective gear properly, and that ended the long debate.

He hadn’t been thrilled about it, but Yoonjae had always kept his promises to the letter. He was especially thorough when it came to promises with Lee-eum.

It seemed something unavoidable had come up today, preventing them from going to buy the bike.

Hayeon was concerned about Yoonjae’s hasty departure.

“Is something wrong with the Executive Director?”

“It’s not that something’s wrong, but he apparently has to take Lee-eum to some resort over there.”

There hadn’t been a word about it until yesterday, but a resort was so sudden. She didn’t know where they were going, but the thought of not seeing Lee-eum while they were away made Hayeon feel a little sad.

“Ms. Kang, hurry up and eat and get ready.”

“Pardon?”

“Ms. Kang should naturally go with Lee-eum. Secretary Jang is on vacation right now.”

It was so unexpected that Hayeon barely managed to chew and swallow the rice in her mouth.

“Daddy says we’re going on a trip?”

Lee-eum, who had been disappointed by the news that they couldn’t go buy a bike, sparkled again at the mention of going to a resort.

“A trip? Hmm… I guess you could say that. He said we’re going to Gangwon Province.”

“Why Gangwon Province all of a sudden…”

“The Chairman has arrived.”

The only person Madam Lee would refer to as Chairman was Tae Juwang, Chairman of the Tae Wang Group.

Hayeon wasn’t pleased that Chairman Tae, who was supposed to be recuperating in some place with good air in New Zealand, had suddenly entered the country. Her plan to leave this house before the Chairman arrived had been thwarted.

“Even when he comes to Korea, he usually stays at a villa or a hotel… I wonder why he went to some resort this time. Since the Chairman is here, I guess you have to take Lee-eum.”

The rice she had barely swallowed got stuck in her chest and wouldn’t go down.

“You’re going too, Madam Lee, right?”

“Why would I? What would I be doing there, cooking?”

“Then…”

“The Executive Director, Lee-eum, and Ms. Kang. The three of you are going.”

She didn’t hear a word after that. If it were just her and Lee-eum, it wouldn’t be so uncomfortable. Going with Yoonjae felt like an extension of yesterday, when she had become Pinocchio.

“Teacher, let’s eat quickly. Let’s have fun there.”

She couldn’t bring herself to say she wouldn’t go in front of the excited child. She barely ate, feeling uneasy. More than anything, she was bothered by the fact that the resort where the Chairman was staying was in Gangwon Province.

When she went to see Tantan, the blue sea was still the same, but there was a resort on the low mountain at the end of the sandy beach that hadn’t been there seven years ago. She hoped it wasn’t that place, but she kept having a bad feeling.

Her hands were slow as she packed her clothes, feeling uneasy. Hayeon wondered if there was a way to avoid going and headed to the main house to talk to Yoonjae directly.

She stood in front of his study door, took a deep breath, and knocked.

At the low voice, she opened the door and went inside, where she saw Yoonjae looking at the monitor with a serious face. His gaze, which had been fixed on the monitor, shifted slightly, and when his eyes met Hayeon’s, one of his eyebrows twitched.

“What’s wrong?”

“I heard the Chairman is coming, so we’re going there.”

“If you heard, you should be getting ready. Why did you come here?”

His voice was sharp. It was as if seeing his gentle, sleeping face had been a dream; his eyes were as cold as frost now.

But she wanted to confirm it anyway. Hoping it wasn’t that place.

“I heard it’s in Gangwon Province… I just wanted to know where it is, at least.”

“Samcheok.”

Her bad feeling was right.

“Do I really have to go?”

She didn’t know what she was saying, as if her head had gone blank, and just blurted out whatever came to mind.

“Why are you asking something so obvious?”

It was the reaction she expected, but seeing Yoonjae’s stiff tone and distorted brow, Hayeon couldn’t say anything and bit her lip.

“I don’t know what the problem is, but you’re not in a position to argue about it right now, are you?”

Yoonjae’s gaze returned to the monitor.

Without even knowing who’s there.

“Can’t Lee-eum stay home? It’s not like it’s a well-sterilized place like home…”

Hayeon, who had scolded Yoonjae for trying to make the whole world a sterile room, was using sterilization as an excuse.

Yoonjae’s gaze shifted back to Hayeon, his face showing annoyance. He clicked his tongue briefly and sighed.

“I sent a sterilization company.”

“…”

She hadn’t expected him to be so thorough. Hayeon bit the inside of her cheek, having no more excuses to make.

“Is there a reason you can’t go there?”

“!”

“Even if there is, endure it. Like I said before, you’re not in a position to argue about it.”

Hayeon came out of Yoonjae’s study without getting anything and leaned against the wall in the second-floor hallway. Even when she closed her eyes tightly and took a deep breath, she couldn’t escape the thought of Tantan.

It was a child she had never held. She hadn’t even seen what he looked like when he came into the world, let alone held him.

It was the same for Yoonjae.

Yoonjae would never know what it meant to go to that sea, but Hayeon decided to think of it as an opportunity to show Tantan his father.

If she restored her phone and found out everything, Yoonjae would find out too. What kind of sea that sea was?

Hayeon returned to her room, finally calming down. And she checked the phone she had brought from home yesterday. She thought she had put it safely in her eco-bag, but she couldn’t find it no matter how hard she looked.

“Haa…”

Hayeon turned the bag upside down and emptied everything inside. Only the pouch where she had put her phone was missing.

Hayeon had been checking frequently yesterday to make sure the pouch was there. The last time she checked was in the car on the way home.

“Maybe… I dropped it in the car?”

Fortunately, she was going to the resort with Yoonjae, so she would be able to look in the car then and find it.

Just in case, Hayeon searched the path leading from her lodging to the garage again, but the pouch containing her phone was nowhere to be found.

But the car Hayeon was going to ride in wasn’t Yoonjae’s car.

She was going separately in the car they usually used when going out with the child. She was glad she wasn’t riding in the same car as Yoonjae, but she was anxious because she couldn’t look for the pouch.

Hayeon’s plan had been thwarted, but since she was in the same place as Yoonjae, there would be opportunities.

The car driven by the driver sped along the highway. Perhaps because she had been to the sea recently, the road to the resort looked familiar.

Lee-eum, excited to be going out again today, couldn’t hide her excitement and chattered away.

“I’ve never been to the sea before. Have you, Teacher?”

She heard that Lee-eum had been sick since she was about two years old, so she hadn’t been able to go on trips like this.

“Um… I’ve been a few times.”

“Really? They said the sea is really wide, is it really?”

Lee-eum spread her arms wide to both sides and said. Following the cheerful child, Hayeon also spread her arms wide to both sides and said.

“It’s incredibly wide. And it’s incredibly blue.”

Seeing Lee-eum giggle made Hayeon’s heavy heart feel a little lighter.

As they passed through tunnel after tunnel in succession, Lee-eum exclaimed as she saw the blue sea through the window.

“Teacher, the sea is really wide and really blue.”

This time, Hayeon burst out laughing.

She thought she would never laugh at the sight of the sea, but Hayeon’s wall crumbled at the child’s cheerful appearance.

The resort, with its white exterior and blue roof, blended with the blue sea, creating an atmosphere that felt like being in Santorini, Greece.

Yoonjae was there as they went up to the room with the staff’s guidance.

“Wow! You can see the whole sea! Daddy, it’s the sea, the sea!”

Lee-eum, her eyes stolen by the sea visible through the window, ran straight to the terrace.

Judging by the fact that the staff had left Hayeon’s luggage here as well, it seemed that Hayeon would have to stay here too.

She was living in his house now, but Yoonjae lived in the main house and Hayeon lived in the annex, so it was the same as living separately.

It was entirely possible to avoid running into him if she tried to. But no matter how much of a suite it was, she couldn’t avoid him here.

Moreover, it was a place with a clear view of the sea.

That alone made something hot well up in her chest from time to time, but dealing with Yoonjae on top of that was too much to bear.

“I don’t know how many days we’ll be here, but I’ll get a separate room. Ask for the room next door or somewhere not too far away. Call me when you need me.”

“Kang Hayeon.”

He broke half of Hayeon’s will with just one word. That in itself was already enough to make Hayeon explode.

“Lee-eum is here.”

It was Hayeon’s complete defeat without even a single act of resistance.

As if telling her not to say anything more, he turned around and went out to the terrace where Lee-eum was.

Yoonjae and Lee-eum were standing against the backdrop of the blue sea. The child was smiling brightly, and the father was looking at her with a smile on his face.

The sea visible beyond the two of them was so beautifully blue.

What she had barely been holding back finally exploded. Hayeon went straight into the bathroom and turned on the water in the sink.

At the same time, tears streamed down Hayeon’s eyes.

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