The Cruel Beast’s Desire - Chapter 9

Hayeon stood before a building that stood out even among the towering structures.

Even with her head tilted back, she couldn’t see the top of the building, which was the headquarters of the Taewang Group. The towering building, as if it touched the sky, made her feel small.

“Haa…”

But she couldn’t back down now. Hayeon straightened her shoulders, stood up straight, and entered the building.

When she told the security guard that she was there to see Executive Director Tae Yoonjae, she received a cold look. The way he looked her up and down, and then up again, seemed to say, “You’re not someone who can meet him casually.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

“Please tell him Kang Hayeon is here. He’ll know.”

“Please show me your ID.”

Hayeon was annoyed by how difficult he was being, but she was the one who had to yield. She took out her wallet from her eco-bag and showed him her ID. The security guard looked her up and down again.

She shouldn’t have worn the old, faded T-shirt she usually wore comfortably in her haste. She should have dressed up a bit more, she regretted belatedly.

The security guard looked back and forth between the photo on the ID and Hayeon before picking up the intercom.

“Yes, this is the lobby. A Ms. Kang Hayeon is here to see Executive Director… Yes, I understand.”

The security guard put down the receiver and then handed her a file with a pen.

“Your ID has been verified. Please fill out the guest book.”

“Haa…”

She felt like she would collapse from exhaustion before even meeting him. Hayeon picked up the pen and filled out the guest book.

Name, address, phone number.

After writing the basics, she felt breathless at the visiting department and purpose of visit sections.

After writing Tae Yoonjae’s office, she couldn’t think of a suitable word to write for the purpose of visit.

“Just write ‘private business’,” the security guard said, as if throwing the words at her, but strangely, she didn’t want to write that. She couldn’t ignore the strange smirk on the security guard’s lips.

It felt like she was being treated like a woman Tae Yoonjae had played with and discarded.

She had come this far, and she still had some pride left.

After some thought, Hayeon wrote ‘debt consultation’. The security guard raised an eyebrow, but she didn’t care since she had written the truth.

“Here’s your visitor card. You can use the elevator at the far right.”

“Yes.”

Hayeon did as she was told without complaint. She passed through the door that only opened with the card the security guard gave her and stood in front of the elevator. As she pressed the button and waited, Hayeon was reflected in the golden, shimmering door.

The line down the middle of her reflection was as terrible as her current mood.

The doors opened to reveal a golden, shimmering interior, and Hayeon was reflected again. It was as if another Kang Hayeon had popped out from inside the split Kang Hayeon.

“Haa.”

Hayeon took a deep breath and got on the elevator.

There was only one button. Hayeon hesitated and then pressed it.

At the sound of the doors closing, Hayeon closed her eyes tightly. And when she heard the sound of the elevator doors opening, she opened her eyes again.

Passing through door after door, what blocked her path was another door. How many doors did she have to go through to meet Tae Yoonjae?

When he was Seo Yoonjae, meeting him was so easy for Hayeon.

Even if she didn’t want to meet him, she could always see him at the swimming pool, the gym, or the cafeteria. But she never knew that meeting him would become so difficult after he became Tae Yoonjae.

Moreover, this time, a secretary was blocking the door.

“What brings you here?”

“I’m here to see Executive Director Tae Yoonjae.”

“Are you Ms. Kang Hayeon?”

She didn’t have the strength to think about the intention behind asking even though she knew. That’s what secretaries do.

“…Yes.”

Barely answering, the secretary knocked on the tightly closed door twice and then turned the handle.

Finally, the last door opened.

“Please go in.”

Hayeon took a deep breath without making it obvious and went inside.

As the door closed behind her, her mouth felt parched, and she looked down at her feet.

Slowly raising her head, she saw Tae Yoonjae, who matched the mahogany desk and luxurious interior perfectly.

As if to show how high his current position was, the sky looked so close outside the window.

The rooftop room where she lived was also the highest place in that building, but his office was on a completely different level.

The rooftop room she had to live in because she had no money and the top floor of the building that only the head of the group enjoyed.

There was no comparison.

Even though he knew Hayeon was there, he didn’t take his eyes off the documents on his desk. The way he scanned the documents with sharp eyes made his face as unfamiliar as the name Tae Yoonjae.

He held a fountain pen instead of exercise equipment and signed approval documents instead of record sheets with a flourish. Hayeon stood still until he finished his work and raised his head.

“You’re later than I expected.”

It was a statement that he had expected Hayeon to come.

It also contained a rebuke for being late despite being the daughter of a debtor.

The reason he sent the debt confirmation was that he wanted Hayeon to come to him of her own accord. If he wanted to receive the money he had lent under the guise of investment, he would have presented the debt confirmation with her parents’ signatures on the day he came to the rooftop room.

He probably wanted something more, but at least one thing seemed to have gone as he planned. Because Hayeon was standing in front of him now.

“I’ll skip the greetings.”

She knew she wasn’t in a position to be stiff. But she didn’t want to be servile and grovel either. Because his intentions were impudent from the start.

Hayeon took out the white envelope she had put in her eco-bag.

“I don’t know when you sent it, but I just saw this.”

No matter how much she tried to control her mind, Hayeon’s voice trembled slightly.

“I’ll pay back the money your parents took somehow.”

“How?”

Hayeon was speechless even though he was just repeating what she had said.

How, indeed?

Of course, she would work hard and pay back the money she borrowed. What else could there be?

“How long will it take you to earn 2 billion won and pay it back?”

Hayeon closed her eyes tightly and opened them again.

She felt so suffocated by the number 2 billion.

What were her parents thinking when they accepted this money? No matter how she thought about it, it didn’t make sense.

They knew better than anyone what they had done to Seo Yoonjae. And her parents, who had witnessed their last moments, how could they accept money from Yoonjae? The more she thought about it, the more absurd it was.

She even doubted if they were her real parents.

It wasn’t like she could undo what had happened now, so Hayeon had come to him to do what she could.

“That’s…”

“As I said last time.”

“…”

Yoonjae cut off Hayeon’s words and said with a mocking voice.

“Now that I’ve become Tae Yoonjae, everything is so easy that I keep laughing.”

“!”

“Kang Hayeon, who didn’t show a single hair when I was looking for you, is standing in front of me of her own accord.”

She had no intention of becoming his plaything. She didn’t know what he wanted, but he must want something from Hayeon to be doing this. Whatever it was, she wanted to give it to him quickly and never see him again.

“What do you want? Surely… you don’t want revenge, do you?”

“Revenge?”

At those words, Yoonjae laughed out loud as if he was dumbfounded.

“You said I abandoned you last time. If you’re not taking revenge with resentment, then what’s the reason for doing this? When you set a trap and push someone in like herding sheep, it’s because you want something.”

“That’s right.”

He didn’t deny that he had thrown out bait for Hayeon to fall for, even though it wasn’t revenge.

Yoonjae, who had been sitting at his desk, got up and approached Hayeon with slow steps.

“Give me what you want.”

“What is it that you want so much that you’re doing this?”

“Your blood.”

“What?”

Her brow furrowed because she couldn’t understand why he suddenly needed her blood.

“Donate blood for me.”

If it was a designated donation, it meant that the recipient had a special blood type like Hayeon.

Suddenly, the face of a woman who resembled her flashed through her mind.

“What’s the reason…?”

“There’s one thing that’s been the hardest for me, whether I was Seo Yoonjae or I’m Tae Yoonjae now.”

“If you’re suddenly trying to gain sympathy with a weak voice, it won’t work. You already have the power to completely crush someone like me. I’m the one who should be selling sympathy, not you.”

Hayeon deliberately dragged out her words because she didn’t want to become weak. It was also a request to herself, not Yoonjae. Don’t become weak.

“Protecting the person I love.”

“!”

“I’m confident, but it’s also the most difficult thing. Because there are areas that humans can’t touch. But I want to protect the person I love no matter what.”

“Haa…”

Yoonjae wouldn’t know.

How cruel the words he just said were.

“Do you think you can protect the love you couldn’t protect back then… now?”

She glared at Yoonjae, straining her eyes to keep from crying. Despite her efforts, she kept feeling a stinging pain around her eyes.

“Why do you think I couldn’t protect it?”

“!”

“I protected it when I was Seo Yoonjae. The person I love. I used everything I had to protect it until the end.”

It was a confirmation that that love was not Hayeon.

Hayeon had to clench her fists tightly to keep from staggering. She had to put all her strength into her body to keep from falling, even though her nails were digging into her skin.

“Donate blood for me.”

His words became a dagger and pierced her heart. Hayeon closed her eyes tightly.

Support The Cruel Beast’s Desire