Chapter 105
*Throwback - Chapter 93*
"…It's… unfortunate that I didn't get the chance to properly repay you for everything you've done for me, Attorney Park. Please contact me again when you return to Korea!"
"As I mentioned, Mr. Kim, there's no need for that. I simply carried out Ms. Hwang's instructions. That's all."
"Even so… you're still the one who helped me in the end. You were willing to take the risk and come to my aid, even knowing who Yuna is. It's not easy to stand against someone like her."
"To be honest, Mr. Kim, she is indeed difficult to deal with. I was actually quite surprised that you managed to endure someone like her for so long."
"Well… ahaha."
"Alright, Mr. Kim. I think it's time for me to go."
"…I understand."
"But before I leave—"
*Park adjusted his posture, turned his back to the CCTV camera, and reached into his coat*
"There's something I want to give you, Mr. Kim."
…
"Hm?"
"Here. Take this. The address of my apartment is on the back, and the passcode is on the front, in case the card doesn't work."
"All the documents and evidence regarding Ms. Seo that you gave me are stored there."
*Haemin looked at him in confusion*
"Why are you giving this to me? Wouldn't it be better if you kept them instead?"
"Well, I might not be able to return to Korea for a very long time. So it's better if you keep it for the time being."
"But, it's not like you won't be coming back at all, right?"
*Park simply smiled*
"Who knows, Mr. Kim… Maybe I won't get the chance to."
…
"What do you mean… by that?"
*Attorney Park laughed lightly*
"Sorry. I'm just joking. Anyway, please keep this card safe. And of course, you can't tell anyone about this either."
"Anyone? Wait, Attorney Park, you're making it sound like there's something dangerous in there. It's just the evidence about what Yuna did to me, right? If anyone were to find out about it, it would only be Yuna, wouldn't it? Since no one knows about us."
"…"
"…"
"Mr. Kim…"
"I didn't say those were the only documents stored in there…"
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a loud knock coming from my apartment door.
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
I immediately got out of bed and peeked out from my bedroom.
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
Who could possibly be knocking on my door this late at night?
Was it Sera? But she had already gone home, right?
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
I didn't waste any more time wondering and quickly headed toward the front door.
*KNOCK*
*KNOCK*
"Yes, yes. I'm coming. Wait!"
Who could it be…?
I unlocked the door and pulled it open.
The moment I saw the person standing there…
"Y—Yuna?!"
She simply stood there in silence, staring at me.
"Yuna, what are you doing he—"
*Gasp*
*Mmh*
I didn't even have time to finish my sentence because Yuna suddenly grabbed the front of my shirt with both hands and crushed her lips against mine.
*Mmh*
My hands flailed in the air as I tried to keep my mouth closed, but she forced it open with her tongue, deepening the kiss without giving me any chance to resist.
*Pant*
Before I could recover, she pushed me inside and forced me against the wall, continuing to kiss me hard while pressing her entire body against mine.
*Gasp*
Without breaking our lips, she kicked the door shut behind her with her foot.
I tried to pull back, my hands instinctively rising to push against her shoulders, but she only pressed harder. Her fingers tightened in my shirt.
*Breathing heavily*
I finally managed to push her slightly away, though her hands remained tightly gripping my shirt. Our faces were only inches apart, close enough for me to feel her breath against my skin. Now that I could clearly see her.
Her cold eyes looked down at me, though her cheeks were faintly flushed.
"Yuna, what are you doing?! You're not supposed to be here! Wait—"
This smell…
I leaned closer, catching the faint smell of alcohol on her breath.
"Yuna. Are you drunk?!"
This was so surprising. Yuna had always had a high tolerance for alcohol. How much did she drink to end up like this?
"Why are you suddenly like this—"
*Gasp*
She pulled me back to her lips before I could finish. Because of our height difference, I had to stand on my toes as she forced me upward.
*Mmh*
After a moment, she finally pulled back again, her warm breath brushing against my lips.
"It's your fault, Haemin…" she whispered, her voice low and unsteady. "You made me like this."
"W-What are you talking abo—"
*Mmh*
"S–Stop…"
*Hah…*
"Do you know how many things went through my head?" she murmured against my mouth. "I kept imagining what the two of you might have done after you left. Do you know how disgusted… how sick I felt?"
Her lips then trailed down to my neck before she bit it down lightly. A soft moan almost escaped me, but I quickly pressed my lips shut. I didn't want her to misunderstand and think I was enjoying this when I wasn't.
"You're cruel," she whispered, her voice cracking slightly. "You know very well how easily I lose my mind when it comes to you. You know how much it pains me when I see you follow her."
"Yuna…"
She rests her forehead against mine.
"I'm still legally your wife, Haemin. And yet you cheated on me. Right in front of me? Did I mean nothing to you anymore?"
A faint tear slipped from the corner of her eye and slid down her cheek.
Seeing that, a sense of guilt somehow washed over me.
"I'm not cheating on you!" I said quickly. "Sera sent me straight home after we left the police station. We didn't go anywhere else! Yuna… I didn't do anything like what you're imagining—"
"That still doesn't change the fact that you chose her over me," she said, her voice trembling. "I already warned you not to get involved with her, didn't I? Now tell me… why shouldn't I kill you right now?"
A wave of panic hit me. Her fingers tightened in my shirt as she pressed me harder against the wall.
I force myself to stay calm despite the dull pain in my back and come up with an excuse.
"Yuna, if I didn't leave with her, Sera would've suspected something, wouldn't she? Didn't you hear what she said? She was ready to get the police involved if you stopped me."
"If things escalated and other people found out, how were you both going to handle it? You can't let our secret get exposed over something this trivial, Yuna. All this over an argument about who gets to take me home? Please, Yuna… think about yourself too."
Yuna just listened without saying anything, her eyes locked on mine.
Since she remained silent, I carefully placed my hands on her shoulders again.
"Yuna, just go home, alright? I'm being serious. Didn't I warn you yesterday not to do this anymore?"
She stared at me for a long moment.
Then, she reached into her coat, took out her phone, and pressed it into my hand before leaning her face close to mine again.
"W—What are you doing?"
"Go on. Call the police on me. Since I've already broken our agreement, tell them to come."
"…"
"You said you're being serious, didn't you? Then call them, Haemin. Show me just how serious you are. I'll wait."
Is she being serious?
I looked down at the phone.
My fingers tightened around it.
**
But… I couldn't bring myself to make the call.
A long, heavy silence stretched between us as I hesitated.
As if she had already guessed, a faint smirk appeared on her lips. She pulled me into a tight hug and gently knocked the phone from my hand. It fell onto the floor with a soft thud.
"I know you won't dare to do it, Haemin," she whispered right next to my ear. "You care too much about me to let me get into trouble."
"T—That's not the reason I didn't make the call—"
Suddenly, her hands shoved under my shirt and yanked it upward roughly.
Panic shot through me.
"Yuna, don't do it—"
I squirmed desperately in her arms, trying to push her hands away. But she had already pinned me fully against the wall with her weight, her breathing hot and uneven against my neck.
"Yuna…"
"If you truly didn't cheat on me…" she whispered in my ear, her voice full of desire. "…don't resist."
Guilt and fear mixed heavily in my chest after she said that. I couldn't bring myself to push her away. I just stood there and let her pull my shirt off… until her hands reached for the waistband of my pants. Only then did I manage to grab her wrists and stop her.
She looked at me coldly, her chest rising and falling.
"Yuna… can you stop? Please?"
"So you did cheat on me, Haemin."
**
I sighed reluctantly.
"Let's… move to the bed, alright?"
Hearing that, Yuna immediately hooked her arms under me and lifted me off the ground. The sudden strength caught me completely off guard. She carried me toward the bedroom like I weighed nothing.
After we reach the bedroom, she threw me down onto the bed.
Before I could sit up, she was already climbing over me. Her eyes never left mine as she began unbuttoning her dress one by one, revealing her skin.
A deep sadness settled in my chest.
*Yuna panted softly*
I hated myself.
I thought I had finally found the courage to fight her this time. And yet, here I was in this situation once again, letting her do whatever she wanted simply because I was too afraid of disappointing her.
I stared at the closed door behind her.
*Breathing heavily*
I wished someone would break that door open right now and stop this.
But deep down, I already knew.
No one was coming.
_____
*Next Morning*
*Soft morning light filtered through the thin curtains*
*Rustle…*
The soft movement of the blanket slowly pulled me out of sleep. I gradually opened my eyes, taking in the unfamiliar surroundings.
"Was it morning already?"
I raised one hand to block the sunlight that was trying to reach my face. Once my eyes adjusted to the brightness, I lowered my hand and remained still for a moment, gathering my thoughts.
"Haemin."
I turned my head to the side.
The space beside me was empty. The sheets were cold.
Looks like he was already gone.
*Sigh*
Why did he leave without waking me up. We could have gone together.
I sat up slowly.
"Ugh, my head."
A mild dizziness washed over me. I had drunk more than usual last night. But even so, I still remembered everything clearly.
A faint smile spread across my lips as the memories returned.
"I really wrecked him for good last night, didn't I?"
The guilty look on his face when he realised he had no choice but to accept me, knowing full well he was in the wrong for hurting my feelings, still makes heat coil low in my stomach just thinking about it.
Well, he brought this on himself anyway. So he doesn't have the right to be upset with me.
I picked up my phone from the bedside table and checked the time.
"9:00 a.m."
There was no rush, so I stayed on the bed for a while, waiting for the dizziness to settle before finally getting up and stretching lightly.
Since I still had some time, I decided to look around his apartment.
Thinking back, this was the second time I'd been here. The first was a year ago, when I helped him move his things to my house. After that, he never really came back here. Well… to be precise, I was the one who made sure he'd never set foot here again.
I walked through every corner carefully.
The bathroom. Wardrobe. Living room. Everywhere.
"Good."
There was no trace of another woman anywhere.
I don't know what I would have done to Haemin if I had found even a single strand of hair that didn't belong to him here. The thought alone made something dark and ugly tighten in my chest.
I moved into the kitchen next and started opening the cabinets one by one, checking what he had inside. When I reached the last cabinet, my eyes immediately narrowed.
"Instant noodles?"
And there were several packs of them?
My expression immediately darkened.
"This husband of mine…"
Just how many times do I have to remind him that I hate seeing him eat this kind of garbage? Didn't I give him more than enough allowance every week? And this is what he bought?
Without a second thought, I grabbed every single pack and threw them into the trash bin.
"Is this how you plan to live away from me, Haemin? You can't even take proper care of your health."
I leaned against the counter and crossed my arms.
My gaze slowly moved around the entire house again.
This place…
Even though it looked decent, wasn't it a little too small? Was Haemin really comfortable living in a place like this?
I let out another quiet sigh.
That's what I couldn't understand about him… he never cared about wealth or status. Even the expensive things I bought for him, he barely used it. He always preferred living a simple life, as if all the money and power I had meant nothing to him.
That humble side of his… it really gave me a headache sometimes.
*Bzz…*
Just as that thought settled in my mind, my phone suddenly ringing on the counter.
I glanced toward it and saw Harin's name lighting up the screen.
I picked it up.
"What is it?"
"Chairwoman," Harin's voice came through. "Ms. Hwang will be arriving in about an hour."
"…Understood. Make sure everything is ready before she arrives."
"Yes, Chairwoman."
The call ended.
I lowered my phone and stood there silently for a moment. My eyes drifted toward the empty space in front of me as everything that happened last night came back to me.
My fingers slowly moved toward my cheek.
I gently touched the spot where Sera had slapped me.
A faint smirk escaped my lips.
"I almost forgot about you, Sera."
My fingers lingered on the skin for a second longer before I lowered my hand.
Hwang Sera…
The persistent bitch who had become a thorn in my side, and even dared to lay her hand on me? And not to mention, in front of Haemin?
I couldn't help but laugh a little.
Does she think I will let this slide?
My smile slowly faded as I looked ahead.
"After today, I can finally get rid of you for good."