episode_0019

F*ck……..

It’s only natural that a biological reaction would occur in my body when Hye-yoon is sitting half-naked in front of me…

But there’s no need to slap someone in the face, right?

As I was pouting with one cheek swollen, Seol-hee belatedly came over to me in a hurry and apologized.

“Mi, sorry. I was momentarily flustered……. I, I mean, it’s the first time I’ve seen something like that.”

Oh. This is awesome. Seriously.

Hyeyoon stared at my face intently, covered her mouth, and laughed for a long time.

“Oh my. This is proof that our Seongwon is a healthy man……. Ah. This is funny. Seriously”

Hyeyoon burst out laughing again, lowering her head and holding her stomach.

Anyway, we came out of the mansion.

The bodyguards, who had never seen Hye-yoon smile like that before, looked at us with puzzled and bewildered eyes.

Seol-hee opened her mouth haughtily to quickly change the mood to something serious.

“That, that matter, let’s forget about it quickly. Where are you going?”

Hyeyoon wiped away the tears that had formed in her eyes from laughing so hard and quickly regained her composure and answered.

“Miss. Do you like noodles?”

“Gu, noodles? How can I eat such common food…….”

“Oh my. Seeing this girl frowning like this, I guess I should eat some noodles. Eating noodles in the morning is filling. Isn’t it?”

“No. Foods that are high in sodium and salty are bad for your health and cause skin problems. The brunch I want to eat is lightly boiled oysters and lots of organic vegetables……. Or I have a famous sushi restaurant that I often go to, so let’s go there. Yes?”

Oh my. As expected, she was born with a silver spoon in her mouth.

You’re so picky about what you eat.

When I made a blank expression, Hye-yoon quickly came over and grabbed one of my hands.

“What does Seongwon, who has a healthy prostate, like to eat? Isn’t it annoying to hear the whining voice of a rich girl?”

“Let’s just eat noodles.”

When I answered, Hye-yoon smiled faintly in victory.

“What, Seongwon wants to eat noodles too? If you don’t want to eat, you can leave. We can eat it by ourselves. What do you think?”

Then, Seol-hee, who was looking at Hye-yoon with her lips pursed, muttered as if she couldn’t give up.

“No. I’ll go. What……. Noodles aren’t the kind of food that will kill you if you eat them.”

“Okay? Then let’s go together. Get in the car.”

As if he had been waiting, a large bodyguard quickly opened the back door of a luxury car.

I’ve become accustomed to this kind of treatment.

At some point, the Black Emily people started treating me on a similar level to Hye-yoon.

At first, I habitually said things like “thank you for giving me a ride” or “thank you for opening the door,” but now I accept help from these people without any hesitation.

They say humans are animals of adaptation…

I thought so and got into the car.

***

As I got out of the car, I felt the stinging heat of summer.

Maybe because it was a holiday, there were a lot of people in the city.

As the mafia bodyguards glared at us and controlled our surroundings, people walking down the street slowly avoided us.

I don’t think we found a good restaurant. There are too many people around.

“What the hell is this? People are scared.”

Seol-hee got out of the car and opened her mouth like that.

“Don’t whine, girl. I’m not some kind of charity guy. I’m the mafia.”

Hyeyoon, who was having a snowball fight with Seolhee, suddenly put her arm around Seolhee’s shoulder and whispered to her.

“The girl who was born with a silver spoon in her mouth has a cute side. She’s always thinking in front of me, and I can see it all. Right?”

“Don’t say anything weird. I’m always sincere.”

The sight of the mafia boss and the fourth generation of a conglomerate daughter being so close as if they were so close inevitably caught the attention of those around them. Seol-hee was also famous as the youngest daughter of the chairman of the Hwarang Group.

The atmosphere was really buzzing. People were watching from a distance, chatting as if they were seeing something new. Someone was taking pictures of the scene with their phone.

I opened my mouth because I thought it wouldn’t work.

“People are watching. Let’s go into the restaurant quickly.”

Then Hye-yoon playfully hit my shoulder and answered.

“Oh my. You must be hungry. Right. If Seongwon says so, we should move. Let’s go.”

Then Seol-hee timidly followed behind.

“I don’t know what I’m doing here… Bin Hye-yoon is really hard to predict.”

I heard Seol-hee muttering softly.

So somehow I ended up going into the restaurant with Hye-yoon and Seol-hee on either side of me.

***

“Anyway… what are we going to do now?”

After the Seolleongtang was placed on the table, I opened my mouth.

“What?”

“This rich girl just told me that there would be an assassination attempt on you.”

Hyeyoon, who was stirring the seolleongtang quietly with an expressionless face, answered.

“Don’t be so scared. They can’t kill me.”

“Is confidence enough?”

“Oh my. Are you worried about me right now?”

What a reaction to such a serious atmosphere…….

As I took a deep breath, Seol-hee, who was frowning and carefully eating her seolleongtang next to Hye-yoon, chimed in.

“You better not think of it as a joke. Red Cross is serious.”

“I’m not joking either.”

Hyeyoon, who carefully put a grain of rice in her mouth, continued speaking calmly.

“I have a rough idea of how they will move. They won’t use obvious methods like sniping from a distance with a gun or something. They are well prepared.”

“Then……?”

“I’ll hit you in the back of the head in an unexpected way. The Red Cross is now completely weakened and can’t move openly. Now, won’t it become a battle of imagination?”

I see

Seol-hee put down her spoon and said as I nodded in understanding.

“Anyway, Hye-yoon, you better be careful from now on. How do you know if there’s poison in the soup you’re eating right now?”

Hyeyoon shrugged her shoulders and smiled.

“That can’t be. My tongue is sensitive. There’s no way that would happen-”

Suddenly, Hye-yoon’s face turned pale.

Hyeyoon covered her mouth with her hand, lowered her head, and shrugged her shoulders as if trying to overbite.

“Uwuk-!”

Huh? What the fuck?

no way?

I looked at Hye-yoon in surprise.

Seol-hee was also surprised.

“Hye-yoon!”

“Hye-yoon! Bin Hye-yoon! Are you okay? Huh?”

There was silence for a moment. Hyeyoon lowered her head and breathed heavily.

What should I do? Should I call Alex? Should I call the hospital?

I took out my phone in a hurry, and Seol-hee’s face turned pale as she looked around to find her bodyguards.

Hyeyoon, who had been lowering her head, slowly raised her face while giggling.

“I was just joking. How was my acting just now?”

……..What?

Hyeyoon held her stomach and giggled.

But I didn’t find it funny at all. I was a little angry.

“Bin Hye-yoon. I don’t like such childish pranks. What are you doing? Are you a kid?”

I rarely got angry at Hye-yoon.

It seems like it’s been a long time since I’ve been so serious and angry.

Hyeyoon had a sullen expression on her face, perhaps annoyed by my serious expression.

“What if someone is going to assassinate you and you play a prank like that? Don’t you know that when you play a childish and strange prank, the people around you get stressed?”

As my voice grew louder, Seol-hee gently grabbed my collar and whispered in a very small voice.

“What’s wrong? Huh? Stop it.”

In fact, it was a shout that I shouted out with great courage.

Since Hye-yoon is a mafia, I wanted to hold back on saying anything… but I guess I wasn’t very good at controlling my emotions at the time.

I really got really annoyed at that moment. Maybe it’s because I’m the type of person who hates childish pranks.

Hyeyoon, who had her head slightly bowed and a gloomy expression, answered in a crawling voice.

“…….Okay, I guess I was a little immature. I was just a little excited today…….. Sorry.”

Phew… Fortunately, Hye-yoon seems to have understood what I said.

I felt relieved and picked up my spoon again.

At that time, I didn’t notice that Seol-hee was looking at me with surprised eyes.

***

The next morning.

Yeonrim’s house.

The family was having a meal together for the first time in a while.

It’s been a long time since Yeonlim’s family gathered together for a meal. If Yeonlim’s father hadn’t suddenly brought home 100 million won from somewhere, this rare meal wouldn’t have been possible.

They say that people come from the granary… The atmosphere in the house has been cold ever since Yeon-rim’s father, Shin Man-sik, suffered a major business failure.

“Yeonlim-ah. Are you still seeing that guy who is the son of the president of a public corporation?”

Shin Man-sik spoke first, perhaps unable to bear the awkward atmosphere.

“He’s not the son of a public enterprise president. He’s the son of a public enterprise executive.”

“Okay. Anyway, hold that guy tight and don’t let go. Got it?”

Yeonlim’s expression was cold.

I don’t even know how I’m being treated by that guy right now… Am I the only one who has to sacrifice myself to escape this miserable life? What on earth are Mom and Dad doing?

Likewise, Shin Man-sik’s wife, who was sitting with a cold expression, asked.

“Where did you get the money? You’re on the verge of becoming a bad credit risk, so no one would lend you money.”

“There is a way. Maybe. You can pay off all your debts at once and make a lot of money.”

“Really?”

Shin Man-sik’s wife’s expression brightened.

Yeonlim looked at her father in surprise.

Shin Man-sik answered with a proud expression and his shoulders straightened.

“Okay. Okay. But it’ll take some time. Don’t worry. It’ll be okay.”

Yeonlim, who was staring at her father’s face, asked.

“Aren’t you doing something dangerous? Are you doing something illegal?”

Then Shin Man-sik’s expression hardened.

“Yeonlim-ah. Do what you have to do. Don’t worry about that. What if it’s a little illegal? Huh? Isn’t this a world where money is king these days?”

Yeonlim looked at her father with an uneasy expression.

I had a bad feeling about this.

Shin Man-sik tried to clear his throat, regain his poker face, and turned on the television by pressing the remote control.

It was being broadcast on the morning news program on the old television.

“……Recently, a photo was taken of Black Emily’s Bin Hye-yoon and Hwarang Group Chairman Yoo Seon-ho’s youngest daughter Yoo Seol-hee hanging out together. What does this friendship mean? Let’s hear the opinions of experts.”

Since it was a story involving the mafia, the announcer brought up the story very carefully.

Shin Man-sik kept his mouth shut and stared intently at the news… but Yeon-rim had no time to pay attention to her father.

This was because the photo released on television also included Seongwon.

A photo of Seongwon standing between Bin Hye-yoon and Yoo Seol-hee, smiling.

From the pictures alone, they look like they’re on good terms and happy.

…….How did this happen?

Has Seongwon now completely entered the inner circle?

A rich mafia man with no idea how much hidden wealth he has and a tycoon’s daughter with a ton of money. In their world…….

What am I?

Why am I living like this?

Yeonlim clenched her fists. Blue tendons rose from her small fists.

“Yeonlim-ah? Why is your expression like that?”

Yeonrim’s mother looked at her daughter’s face and asked in surprise.

Yeon-rim stared at her mother. She also looked at her father, who had aged rapidly over the past few years due to poverty.

Tears welled up in Yeonlim’s eyes.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I bit my tongue while eating…….”

Yeonlim jumped up and ran to the bathroom. She locked the bathroom door and crouched down.

Yeonlim, who was wearing a long cardigan that didn’t suit summer, rolled up her sleeves.

Bruises.

A scar from being hit by Seok Jong-i.

Yeonlim lowered her head, covered her mouth, and began to cry.

His situation was so miserable.

***

That moment.

“What, what is this? Our picture is showing up?”

I was surprised.

On a program like the morning news, a self-proclaimed expert appeared and analyzed a photo of me, Hye-yoon, and Seol-hee.

This photo was taken when I went to eat noodles. This photo was taken in front of the restaurant.

What the heck? Those guys? Who are those old farts? Why are they doing such absurd analysis on other people’s photos?

When I looked at Hye-yoon in surprise, Hye-yoon, who was sitting at the table with her chin resting on her hand, opened her eyes half-closed like a cat and nodded.

“As expected, it’s as calculated.”

“What?”

“I went to a crowded place on purpose. I took Yoo Seol-hee with me. As expected, she was on TV. Did the pictures turn out well? Us?”

“Then you went there on purpose??”

“Yeah. I gave permission for that broadcast.”

Hyeyoon nodded innocently.

“I made a show to tease those who are trying to kill me. If they find out that I’m with Hwarang Group, they’ll be really upset.”

“Why?”

“The Hwarang Group’s information network is really awesome. Even the Red Cross guys will know who they’re dealing with now. If they take pictures like that, it’ll look like Black Emily and Hwarang Group are holding hands. Even they’ll be confused. ”

“Aha…….”

I nodded.

Hyeyoon continued speaking, moving her legs under the table as if splashing water.

“Red Cross will be very impatient now. They don’t know how much information I have. If they get impatient, they will make mistakes, and if they make mistakes, they will show up. We just have to take it slow and face them.”

……. It’s truly an unknown world.

Hyeyoon walked slowly over to me and whispered in my ear.

“I’m not afraid of anyone but you. You know that?”

I was so shocked that I didn’t even notice Hye-yoon lightly kissing my ear.