Chapter 77
It was the most essential question to be asked. Also, if Hye-yeon Jin was murdered, then why did Myeong-je Jin act so atypically towards his own daughter’s death?
“It’s not irrelevant once Yuri is a witness. If I were the criminal I would get rid of the witness first.” In no time, Tae-jun had thought this through. As of now, Yuri Han’s existence had yet to be discovered. How could one be sure that it would remain so? When a father didn’t say a peep about his daughter’s murder, this was just a chauffeur’s daughter after all.
After hanging up, Tae-jun added more firewood upon noticing the temperature was going down. There’s a two-week gap between the day Yuri left his house and the day Hye-yeon Jin’s corpse was found. He wondered about the things that had led to her memory loss.
Cold, Yuri curled up into a ball. Oh no, she can’t end up getting cold after Manager Choi trying so hard to keep her warm.
Tae-jun benevolently pulled Yuri towards himself. She instinctively snuggled into his warm chest. The feeling of her slender arms felt magical. Her gentle breaths tickled his neck and triggered his nerves.
Was it because he had been abstaining recently? Her bare body sticking to his was too much of a challenge to his self-control. His rational mind was reminding him of how weak she was to be touched at the moment, but his senses were throwing a tantrum. He knew he couldn’t give in, most critically, he hated when Yuri looked pressured and intimidated by him.
Thus, he resigned to calmly hugging Yuri and trying to control his desire when he noticed the mug she was drinking from. It was one of the few objects of his father that had not been moved to his own house.
Ji-ye. Was that woman’s hobby pottery?
Tae-jun added strength to the arm that was holding Yuri.
I am not like my father. I will never tolerate anybody hurting my woman. Whoever it happens to be, I will not accept it. Not even In-bae Lee.
Tae-jun kissed Yuri’s forehead as if he was etching a vow.
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Jae-won arrived at the bar earlier than promised. He greeted the bartender he was close to and took a seat. This was one of Si-yeon’s favorite bars in the neighborhood. The bartender embraced him and offered him a Glenfiddich.
He took a sip into the drink and enjoyed the moment of relaxation. It had been the busiest two weeks of his life. From a betrothal of a rich family to a couple of celebrity weddings and unofficial VIP meetings, he was all around the place. When he thought he could finally take a break, the ‘Me-Too’ accusation against Seok-ha Yoo happened.
By the time he had wrapped up his tasks, he felt as if he had aged by five years. He was planning on enjoying his drink and just dropping dead in bed tonight.
“Is the general manager not joining you today?”
It must’ve looked extremely unusual to the bartender that he was drinking by himself, but it was true that he never did. Jae-won glanced at his watch and shook his head.
“She’ll be here later. She has an after-party to attend.”
“I see. I have something to tell you before she comes back.”
“What is it?” His sly tone made Jae-won fix his posture.
“She’s a frequent customer, and she told me to tell you that she’s interested in you Sir.”
The bartender handed him something. It was a name card. The words ‘Let’s get in touch.’ was written in cute handwriting. She identified herself as a model.
“Is she a model?” Jae-won asked the bartender.
“She is. She’s been making the front covers of the magazines recently. She’s really beautiful.”
Jae-won smirked and stuck the name card into his pocket. I’ll call her when I get bored. Then suddenly he remembered the time when he handed his name card to a girl.
Yuri had indeed never called. He thought she was only flirting when she said so but allegedly she meant her words. He should’ve been able to tell that she wasn’t playing hard to get.
He got her contact information from the agency, so he could always come up with an excuse to talk to her. What should he do? He didn’t want to appear desperate but she was perfectly his type. Should he keep his ego or follow his instincts? It was one helluva question to decide.
While he was in a dilemma, the bartender served him a second glass of Glenfiddich. When he held up the glass, he noticed Si-yeon walking in through the door. It seemed like he had no choice but to take her home.
After his family told him not to get “s*xually involved with a future family member” when he took her home after an after-party, he was reluctant to get into that misunderstanding again. He looked at her pathetically.
“Why are you so drunk?”
“I wasn’t in the best condition these days. It was my party with that branch … I kept accepting drinks to be polite and I went past my limit.” Si-yeon took a seat and ordered 3 cocktails. It was an old habit of her to order a bloody mary with a tomato when she thought she was getting close to her limit.
“What did your department store decide to do regarding Seok-ha Yoo?” Jae-won asked Si-yeon.
“We’ve decided to sue him, of course. There are still two years left on the contract for our collaboration. There’s a rumor that his wife is filing for a divorce.”
“That’s stupid. From what I’ve heard the wife’s reaction to this incident was ridiculous. I heard she treated the victims as if they were gold diggers, and after all of that NOW they’re getting divorced?”
“I know right?” Si-yeon chuckled as she took a sip of her cocktail.
“How was the after-party??”
“It was great. The stores are making quite a lot these days. Seo Hwa Dang, the restaurant, is also becoming our branch. Oh, speaking of which, I was at the place for that matter and bumped into Tae-jun. I think he was with a girl.”
At that instant, Jae-won gave out the loudest cough ever.
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