#37.

The office was filled with heat. Intense moans and the sounds of flesh colliding filled the space. On the sofa, Lee Han and Park Min-ah’s sweat-soaked bodies were tangled together.

“Director-nim… please, don’t abandon me…”

Park Min-ah whispered, clutching Lee Han’s back as if begging. Her eyes held a crazed obsession. As they raced towards the end, they finally reached their climax, and Park Min-ah trembled all over, lost in ecstasy.

Lee Han, having finished, pulled away. Used condoms were scattered everywhere. Leaving Park Min-ah slumped on the sofa, panting, Lee Han went to the water purifier and poured himself a glass of water. After quenching his thirst, he approached Park Min-ah again. Watching Lee Han bite his moist lips and smile, Park Min-ah realized that she could never let him go. As Lee Han’s hand stroked her cheek, Park Min-ah closed her eyes and surrendered her entire body to the sensation.

Their dark and long night seemed to have just begun. Unlike Park Min-ah’s eyes, which seemed to have tasted the forbidden fruit, Lee Han’s eyes held only desire and animalistic instinct. He was looking at her like a predator eyeing its prey. In that tragic imbalance, they were falling into a deep swamp.

Lee Han, panting, carefully lifted Park Min-ah’s limp body. Her head leaned against Lee Han’s shoulder, swaying. Walking through the apartment complex at night, Lee Han arrived at Park Min-ah’s house, opened the front door, and stepped inside.

As he laid Park Min-ah on the bed, she groaned and curled up. Lee Han sat next to her and slowly stroked her hair. The touch was persistent, as if confirming his ownership.

A faint smile appeared on Lee Han’s lips. Now, Park Min-ah would never be able to escape his grasp. Her body and soul would all belong to him. He carefully got up, making sure not to wake Park Min-ah.

There was no trace of regret in Lee Han’s retreating figure as he opened the front door and stepped outside. The cold night air struck his cheek, but only a faint smile lingered on Lee Han’s face. Recalling another trophy he had won today, Lee Han slowly walked through the complex. Only his footsteps echoed in the quiet apartment complex.

–

Lee Han strolled through the apartment complex under the morning sunlight. He felt exhausted, perhaps because of the intense night he had spent with Park Min-ah. A sigh escaped him, followed by a yawn. Memories of the previous night flashed through his mind like a slideshow. Park Min-ah probably couldn’t go to work because she had overdone it and was resting at home.

Complex emotions about Han Su-jin were rising in Lee Han’s mind. The fact that he had deliberately used Han Su-jin to subdue Park Min-ah flashed through his mind. Han Su-jin’s tearful face, her terrified eyes, and her screaming voice lingered in Lee Han’s ears.

That’s why Lee Han decided to give Han Su-jin a break for a while. He didn’t want to completely ruin her. He couldn’t give up the pleasure she gave him yet. So, Lee Han avoided contacting Han Su-jin for a few days, as if he were being considerate of her.

‘I can always go back to her later. She still won’t be able to refuse me.’

A cold smile appeared on Lee Han’s lips. It was a smile that didn’t match the peaceful scenery of the apartment complex unfolding before his eyes. Perhaps Lee Han had completely broken away from his past self.

Now, only desire and malice remained within him. Like a predator prowling around in search of new prey, Lee Han slowly began to move. He paused for a moment, lost in thought about who his next victim would be.

He slowly stretched and moved forward. It was time to find new prey. At that moment, someone greeted him from behind.

“Hello? It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

Turning around, he saw the woman he had encountered when he first came to this apartment as the manager. She had a refined impression and a beautiful smile. Her sparkling eyes were impressive. As Lee Han hurriedly bowed his head and his gaze met hers, the embers of desire ignited.

The woman’s voluptuous figure, pushing a stroller, caught Lee Han’s eye. Smooth skin visible through her clothes, a slender waist, and curvaceous breasts. The Lee Han who had been full of innocence was long gone. He was now looking at the woman in front of him with greedy eyes.

Lee Han smiled brightly and greeted the woman.

“Hello. I’m Lee Han, the manager of this apartment. I apologize for not greeting you more often.”

“We’ve met before, haven’t we? Isn’t it better that we don’t see the manager too often?”

The woman responded to Lee Han’s apology with a playful smile. Lee Han quite liked that.

“Thank you for saying that. But what’s your name?”

“Ah, I’m Kim Eun-ju. Nice to meet you, Lee Han-ssi.”

“That’s a really cute baby you have there. How old is he/she?”

Lee Han asked, tilting his head slightly towards the stroller next to Kim Eun-ju.

“He/She just turned one. Doesn’t he/she look just like my husband?”

Kim Eun-ju asked with a pleased smile. Lee Han scratched his head, not knowing what to do.

“Is that so? I haven’t met your husband, so… Haha…”

“My husband is the most handsome man in the world!”

Kim Eun-ju said loudly with a bright smile. Lee Han awkwardly smiled and agreed. But a question was rising in his mind.

‘What kind of guy is that husband, really…’

At that moment, the baby’s cry leaked out from inside the stroller. It seemed he/she had woken up.

“Oh my, it looks like our baby woke up. Lee Han-ssi, I’ll go first. See you next time!”

Kim Eun-ju greeted Lee Han and quickly turned the stroller around and walked away. Lee Han quietly watched Kim Eun-ju’s retreating figure. His eyes were shining fiercely.

–

Lee Han returned to his office and sat in front of the computer. He accessed the management system and looked up Kim Eun-ju’s profile.

‘Kim Eun-ju, 33 years old. A civil servant, currently on childcare leave. Her husband is Lee Hyun-woo, also a civil servant, it seems.’

After checking the simple personal information, Lee Han turned the security camera screen to look inside Kim Eun-ju’s house. The living room, decorated with baby products for a one-year-old, was captured on the monitor.

Intrigued, Lee Han began to rewind the past video recordings one by one. Then, he suddenly came across a scene where Kim Eun-ju’s husband appeared. Lee Han stared intently at the screen.

‘Hmm… he’s definitely handsome…’

Lee Han nodded and muttered to himself. They were a match made in heaven. They looked happy. As he turned the screen this way and that, he captured Kim Eun-ju’s strange behavior. After rewinding the video and examining it closely, he often saw Kim Eun-ju smelling her husband Lee Hyun-woo’s clothes or secretly checking his phone.

‘Hmph… she seems to have 의부증 (morbid jealousy). Interesting?’

Lee Han’s eyes gleamed maliciously. He had found Kim Eun-ju’s weakness. A wicked plan began to sprout in his mind. Lee Han slowly smiled and began to look for more past videos. This time, he focused on Lee Hyun-woo’s movements.

He noticed scenes of Lee Hyun-woo going to a company dinner after work and coming home late, staggering while drunk, and chatting amiably with women in the apartment complex. In fact, it wasn’t suspicious enough, but it seemed like a plausible excuse for Lee Han.

It didn’t matter whether he was actually having an affair. All he had to do was make Kim Eun-ju believe it. A sinister scheme was wriggling in Lee Han’s mind.

‘I’ll plunge Kim Eun-ju into a swamp of suspicion. It doesn’t matter if it’s not true. All I have to do is make her suspect her husband’s infidelity.’

Kim Eun-ju and Lee Hyun-woo in the screen looked affectionate. They seemed to be enjoying a peaceful daily life. But in Lee Han’s eyes, their relationship looked precarious. Kim Eun-ju’s flaw of 의부증 (morbid jealousy) was eating away at the couple’s relationship.

Lee Han was going to exploit that weakness. First, it was important to approach Kim Eun-ju and gain her trust. To do that, he would have to create a meeting disguised as a coincidence. It would also be a good idea to start a conversation with a topic that Kim Eun-ju, as a mother who has given birth, would be interested in.

‘It would be strange if I did it myself… Then, as expected…’

He thought of Han Su-jin. If she met her as another woman and a married person, Kim Eun-ju would naturally bring up her husband. In particular, he had confirmed that Park Tae-young and Han Su-jin had recently talked about pregnancy. If they talked about a more common topic, he would be able to extract more information about Lee Hyun-woo. He planned to start with something trivial and stimulate the suspicions that Kim Eun-ju had.

Lee Han slowly got up. It was time to take a step closer to Kim Eun-ju. He was going to find out even the smallest piece of information and plunge her into a deep swamp of suspicion. A naive weakling who would fall for the devil’s temptation. Lee Han smiled as he imagined Kim Eun-ju’s appearance.