episode_0005

The piano recital was… quiet.

There were so many people sitting in the concert hall, and no one was even breathing.

Hyeyoon sat with her upper body straight and watched the piano recital without moving at all.

Isn’t she a mannequin? How can she sit upright and still for almost two hours? I was amazed at Hye-yoon.

I have absolutely no knowledge of classical music or piano recitals, so it was really boring. I almost fell asleep several times because I was so sleepy.

It’s driving me crazy. If it was a rock concert where everyone was shaking their heads like crazy, I wouldn’t be sleepy. That kind of music suits my taste better.

The ticklish piano music is not really my thing.

Finally, when the piano solo recital ended and the famous French pianist bowed his head, everyone applauded. Seeing Hye-yoon clap gracefully, I reluctantly clapped too.

On the way out of the concert hall.

“How was it?”

Hyeyoon’s question.

“It was a really great concert. I was so touched by the beautiful piano performance.”

“Lies. You were sleeping like a sick chicken several times in the middle. Then who was the person I saw?”

…….Damn. Did you see me sleeping?

It’s strange. The Hye-yoon I saw didn’t move at all and was just staring at the piano playing… When did you see me?

I felt embarrassed for no reason, so I scratched the back of my head and answered.

“Yeah. Honestly, I was a little sleepy. I’m not really interested in piano music and stuff…….”

“It would be better to be honest from the beginning. I-”

Hyeyoon put a thin, long pipe tobacco in her mouth and lit it with a match.

Hyeyoon, who had been blowing out white smoke, continued speaking in a cool voice.

“……I really hate people who lie.”

Oops. Is this a warning to me?

Hyeyoon said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“I didn’t eat dinner, so I need to fill my stomach. How about dinner?”

“Okay.”

“Yeah. I reserved a quiet restaurant.”

Honestly, I just wanted to break up with him, but I just couldn’t say no.

I lied and said that I was impressed by the piano recital, and I think I hurt Hye-yoon’s feelings.

I wasn’t in this position in the past… Since when did I start getting dragged around like this by Hye-yoon? Damn it. Damn it.

No matter how much I think about it, this is ridiculous. That Bin Hye-yoon became a mafia boss.

I wanted to sigh and lament, but I couldn’t even show it on the outside.

While I was biting my lip like that, a limousine stopped in front of me.

Soon, a person who was Hye-yoon’s secretary came over and opened the back seat door for her.

“Okay. Taji.”

“Yeah.”

I got back into the limousine, feeling like I was sitting on a bed of thorns.

***

A really quiet restaurant.

It had to be quiet, because there were no other guests besides us.

It seemed like they had rented out an entire restaurant.

Bin Hye-yoon, how much money does this kid have? I barely survive on ramen…

A lightly cooked beef steak was placed in front.

Hyeyoon opened her mouth while holding a knife and fork.

“I’ll pass on things like appetizers. I’ve gained a little weight recently.”

“Me too. Hmm…… Steak…….”

To be honest, this was the first time in my life that I had ever had a steak, especially at a proper restaurant.

So, I was very clumsy at cutting steak with a knife.

Ugh… why is it so slippery? It’s so different from the tonkatsu you get at snack bars.

As I fumbled around with my knife and fork, Hyeyoon brought my plate of steak in front of her.

“I’ll cut it for you. Oh my. Mr. Woo Sung-won really gets special treatment. You seem to be the only one who Black Emily Boss personally ties your shoelaces and cuts your steak for you?”

“Huh? Oh, thank you.”

“It’s okay. What are you doing with this?”

Hyeyoon, who had cut the steak into bite-size pieces, held the plate out to me again.

Oh….. delicious.

It’s really delicious. It’s like a lightly grilled steak… As soon as you bite into it, the juices just flow out…

That’s why you eat expensive food.

While I was admiring the taste of the steak, Hye-yoon wiped her mouth with a napkin, looked at me, and opened her mouth.

“Don’t be upset, listen. I did a little background check on you.”

“Back, back investigation?”

“Yeah. Doing some background checks. Just in case. Because I have work to do.”

……..What the. Why are you following other people around?

Then Hye-yoon must have known I was joking the last time she came to my room.

Hyeyoon must have found it funny that I was always joking around just to show off.

It was too late for a sense of victimization to creep in.

“……You recently broke up with your girlfriend, right?”

You knew that too.

I sighed, took a sip of the wine next to me, and nodded.

“Why did we break up?”

“It was tea.”

“It was tea?”

“Yeah. I was dumped for being a loser and a loser. Turns out, I was cheating on her.”

“Oh my. Oh my.”

Hyeyoon covered her mouth with both hands and showed an exaggerated reaction.

What’s so surprising? If you’re in a relationship, you might get dumped.

……..I felt like shit back then, but that was a thing of the past now. I was trying to forget it, thinking it was in the past. But Hye-yoon brought it up again.

“What did you like about that kind of woman that you dated her? Weren’t you that blind to people?”

Hyeyoon lightly nudged me while cutting the steak.

Ugh……. I’m getting nagged about this. It hurts my pride.

“It wasn’t like that at first. There were sweet times. It’s just……. I’m so bad-”

“Would you stop talking like that?”

“Huh?”

Hyeyoon glared at me and responded sharply.

“If she cheated, then she’s the bad one. Why are you blaming yourself? It’s not your fault.”

“That’s right.”

Yeah. I don’t need to blame myself. Hye-yoon is right.

Hyeyoon put down the knife and drank some water, then spoke in a displeased voice.

“I feel bad for you when I hear you say that. Should I kill you?”

“Huh?”

“Your ex-girlfriend.”

I had a sore throat and started coughing.

Ah. This is driving me crazy. What is this?

“No. Don’t do it. Never do it.”

“Why? I betrayed you. It’s my principle to immediately cut off the head of a traitor.”

“No. That’s not it.”

Hyeyoon secretly lacks common sense in society. Is this how she always thinks?

I waved my hand and said hurriedly.

“Yeonrim was neither my subordinate nor my business partner. We just dated for a while and broke up on bad terms, nothing more, nothing less. Honestly, I hate that woman too, but I don’t want to kill her. Please. Hyeyoon. Okay?”

“Really? Well. If you say so…….”

Hyeyoon slowly stirred the soup in front of her with a spoon and added, sounding slightly disappointed.

“If you want to kill me anytime, just tell me. I’ll kill you as much as you want for free. The guys in our organization are really good. I can disguise it as an accident so it won’t make it on the news.”

“No. It’s okay. You don’t have to kill me. Don’t kill me.”

“You by any chance-”

Hyeyoon opened her eyes sharply like an angry cat and asked.

“…….Do you still have feelings for that woman?”

“What?”

What are you talking about now? Has Bin Hye-yoon lost her temper?

“I don’t have any regrets. I heard some trashy, harsh words when I was dumped, so I can’t have any feelings like that. Why are you asking me that? Did you think I would have any regrets?”

“No. Just in case. Just something-”

Hyeyoon chewed her steak with a proud expression and hesitantly answered my question.

Even though I know, I don’t know. Really.

So after the meal we went outside.

It was starting to rain a little. The night sky was so overcast that you couldn’t even see the moon.

“It’s going to rain. I think I should go home soon.”

Hyeyoon closed her eyes and looked up at the sky at my words and answered.

“Yeah. It looks like it’s going to rain.”

A moment of silence.

Soon it started to pour rain.

Hyeyoon, who had been blankly staring at the pouring rain until the limousine arrived, suddenly looked at me and asked.

“You still don’t have money these days, right?”

Ugh… Are you asking something like this out loud?

I hesitated for a while and then tried to answer honestly.

“Well… It’s not abundant, but it’s not lacking either. Thanks for the concern, but no thank you.”

“You’re still maintaining your pride. It’s funny. Really.”

Hyeyoon, who was giggling to herself, took out a card from her wallet and handed it to me.

“You wrote it.”

What, what? Are you giving me a credit card to use?

……..I feel incredibly tempted, but still…….. my pride is hurt.

Last time, I got money from Hye-yoon. But now you want help from me again?

No. I can eat and live on my own. That’s the way it should be.

I answered, shaking my head.

“Thank you, but I have to decline. I’m not in such a miserable situation that I need to ask for a hand.”

Hyeyoon looked at me intently, tilted her head, and answered.

“This is not a recommendation.”

“Huh?”

“That’s an order. Take the card. Quickly.”

…….Wow. This kid has a strong sense of authority.

Does that mean I’ll just surrender obediently?

I looked into Hye-yoon’s eyes and then suddenly woke up.

The aura of the mafia was so powerful in her eyes that it sent a chill down my spine for a moment.

“Oh, I got it. I’ll use it well.”

“That’s right. Good job. Let’s listen to each other from now on. Okay?”

Hyeyoon whispered while stroking my head.

I feel strange.

What will my future hold? How far will Hye-yoon interfere with my life?

How do I control Bin Hye-yoon now?

Then I felt lost. Everything was lost.

***

The next day.

I was lying on the floor, looking through the credit card I received from Hye-yoon yesterday.

This is not an ordinary card. It is a VIP credit card that only people with a lot of money can receive.

I’ve also heard rumors that Black Emily has a huge amount of hidden wealth. There’s even talk that she’s created a network of nefarious organizations all over the country like a spider’s web and is sucking up money through all sorts of crimes.

How many bad things must you have done to have amassed this much money? To the point where you would be so ignorant as to give me a card like this.

It’s amazing. Really…….

I didn’t know Bin Hye-yoon would become that kind of person. I really didn’t know.

When he was young, he was an introverted and weak-bodied child… What happened to him after we broke up when he was fifteen?

While I was thinking like that for a while, the phone rang.

Huh? Who are you? Is this the first time I’ve seen you?

I picked up the phone a little nervously.

“Who are you??”

“Huh? Are you Sungwon? Woo Sungwon from the old Saehui Hope Orphanage?”

“Huh? Who, who are you? I’m Woo Sung-won, but……”

“It’s me. Me. Kim Seong-hee. Don’t you remember?”

Ah. Sister Seonghee.

And then I realized that there was a girl like that at my old daycare. I vaguely remembered her face. We weren’t that close.

“Huh? What’s going on? How did you get my number?”

“No. I had to call all my friends from the orphanage and barely found out. Seongwon. Is it true that Hyeyoon became the Black Emily boss??”

Sister Seonghee immediately asked in an excited voice.

“Yeah. That’s true.”

“Really? Wow… How could that happen?”

“At that time, Hye-yoon was adopted. I think the person who adopted Hye-yoon was the boss of Black Emily.”

“Really? Oh. This is driving me crazy.”

“Why?”

“When I was in the orphanage, Hyeyoon bullied me so much. Oh my. I don’t know why I did so many bad things back then. What should I do? Isn’t Hyeyoon doing this to me to get revenge? Huh?”

Ah. What did I say again?

“Sister Seong-hee. Even so, it all happened when we were young. A lot of time has passed. Do you think Hye-yoon would do something like that to me?”

“You don’t know, that’s why. I really bullied you so badly. You were close with Hye-yoon, right? You were the only person Hye-yoon took care of, right? Right?”

“That’s right.”

That’s exactly what happened.

At that time, Hye-yoon had no one else to rely on but me. At that time, we were like siblings. Now, it seems like our relationship is becoming strange…

“Seongwon-ah. Are you in touch with Hye-yoon?”

I hesitated for a while and then answered.

“A little bit recently.”

“Whew. That’s good. Seongwon-ah. You talk to Hye-yoon better. Tell her that she’s like that when she’s young. I can’t even sleep these days. Black Emily is so scary.”

“Okay. Let’s have a meal sometime. How are you doing these days?”

“Okay. How are you? Okay. Let’s meet up for a meal next time. It was nice talking to you after so long.”

So the call ended.

The words that I said let’s have a meal together next time were just a greeting. I know better than anyone that we will never meet again after just saying those words. Seonghee noona probably felt the same way.

By the way, I think Seonghee is overreacting for no reason.

I hope nothing bad happens.

***

That night.

Hye-yoon, who was lying alone in the large bathtub, received a call on speakerphone.

The bath water was warm.

“Boss. I called because I felt I needed to report something to you.”

“Huh? What’s going on?”

“I was wiretapping Woo Sung-won’s phone as you ordered last time……. A woman named Kim Sung-hee from Saehui Hope Orphanage called Woo Sung-won. Shall I play you the recorded conversation?”

“Okay. Try it.”

There was a face that came to Hye-yoon’s mind. Kim Seong-hee. Kim Seong-hee……..

Yeah. There was a girl like that. Ha-

Soon, the conversation between Seongwon and Kim Seonghee was heard through the speakerphone.

Hyeyoon frowned as she listened to the recorded conversation.

As the audio playback ended, Alex opened his mouth again.

“……..It’s a minor matter, but I feel I have to report it to you. Boss.”

“Good job. I ordered the wiretapping because I thought something like this might happen.”

“Yes?”

“Kill Kim Seong-hee.”

There was silence for a moment.

“Are you sure you want to do that, Boss?”

“You know I hate jokes. Kill me and bury me so they can’t find my body.”

Alex thought for a moment and then answered heavily.

“Yes. I will do as you command.”

After the call ended, Hye-yoon muttered to herself while trimming her fingernails.

“……Who dares that shallow bitch to flirt with?”