Chapter 8
8.
“It’ll be better for both of us if you cooperate.”
One of the two men was remarkably calm.
And he seemed bold.
The fact that he’d pulled off something like this without a second thought, and the ease in his voice, told me he’d done this more than once or twice.
By contrast, I’d never been through anything like this before.
And yet, strangely, I wasn’t terrified. My heart wasn’t pounding, and my body wasn’t trembling.
‘Even if I give them what they want, they’re not going to let me go.’
That was my gut feeling.
It made sense, if you thought about it.
I wasn’t some four- or five-year-old child. If I reported this to the authorities afterward, even if the odds were slim, there’d still be a chance they’d get caught.
That wasn’t something a criminal would welcome.
Someone who’d planned a crime like this for the first time simply because they needed money might hesitate to kill someone out of fear.
But these guys—especially the one standing in front of me, holding my phone up to my face—had the smell of blood about them.
‘He’s killed someone before.’
The kidnapper looked at me, unresponsive, and tilted his head slightly.
“Huh? This young lady isn’t scared at all. That actually works out better for us.”
Rrrip.
He peeled the tape off my mouth.
“All right, calmly call someone and tell them what’s going on.”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at him.
“You’ll have to untie my hands if you want me to unlock my phone.”
“Oh, you’re a clever young lady. But…”
The kidnapper brought my phone to my bound hands and unlocked it with my fingerprint.
“The world’s come a long way these days.”
He sneered as he showed me the unlocked screen.
Then he started tapping away on the phone.
It looked like he was checking my contacts.
“Hmm… Who should we call…? What, young lady, don’t you have any parents?”
There were no numbers in my contacts saved as Mom, Dad, Mother, or Father.
I’d saved my father under his name, and I hadn’t even saved my brothers’ numbers.
Contrary to my expectations, the kidnapper wasn’t all that stupid.
He must have checked my recent calls, because he asked me,
“Who’s Secretary Shin? You have your own secretary, too? Wow, what kind of rich family’s little princess are you? This is getting more and more exciting.”
A few days ago, Secretary Shin had called to discuss the schedule for the family gathering.
The kidnapper had seen that call.
Without hesitation, he called Secretary Shin.
After the phone rang for a while, someone picked up.
The kidnapper switched on speakerphone and held the phone in front of my face.
“Yes. Secretary Shin speaking.”
As expected, the voice was stiff and cold.
I didn’t have any particular feelings about Secretary Shin, but for some reason, I didn’t want to get close.
Still, given the situation, I had no choice.
“Um, this is Jeong Ha-won.”
“Yes. Go ahead.”
“I’ve gotten into a bit of a difficult situation…”
I trailed off, glancing furtively at the kidnapper.
He jerked his chin as if to tell me to continue.
He probably intended not to leave even a trace of his voice.
“What kind of situation?”
“My father’s busy right now, isn’t he?”
Secretary Shin paused for a moment before answering.
“He isn’t in a position to take a call right now.”
“I see.”
“If you don’t mind, would you tell me what’s happened?”
“Well, the thing is, I’ve been kidnapped.”
I said it as casually as if I were confessing that I’d broken a plate while doing the dishes.
Secretary Shin paused briefly.
But the silence didn’t last long.
“I see. What are the kidnappers demanding?”
The voice remained steady and businesslike, as if speaking with a business partner.
Even if I wasn’t related to Secretary Shin by blood, most people would show at least a little alarm after hearing something like this. But there wasn’t the slightest sign of it.
‘Could Secretary Shin really be a robot, like the rumors say?’
That childish thought crossed my mind for a moment before I returned to reality.
I looked at the kidnapper again.
He held up two fingers.
“Two hundred million…”
He shook his head.
“Two billion…”
He nodded.
“They say they need two billion.”
“Understood. I can have it ready in two hours. I’ll contact you again then.”
With that, the call ended abruptly.
‘Can I trust Secretary Shin?’
I couldn’t help wondering what Secretary Shin planned to do, but for now, I had no choice but to trust them.
The question was whether they’d let me live after getting the two billion, or whether I could escape on my own.
“Impressive. Looks like you’re more of a big shot than I thought.”
His face was hidden, but I could almost picture him grinning slyly behind his mask.
The other kidnapper came over.
“Hey, are you sure this is okay? What if she’s the daughter of some big-shot conglomerate or something…?”
“You idiot. So what if she’s some big company’s daughter? What can they do about it? People like that are even more likely to pay up if they can settle things with money. They’re sensitive about the press and media, too, so there’s less chance they’ll report something like this to the police.”
He wasn’t an ordinary guy.
He really knew how to think things through.
Unlike my errand boy over there. He wasn’t exactly the brains of the operation.
I looked at Seo Geon-woo, who was sprawled on the floor, covered in blood.
Earlier, I’d been boiling with rage, but now, for some reason, my heart ached.
I felt bad that he’d ended up like that because of me.
Even I’d never beaten him that badly.
I called him my errand boy, but I’d never worked him that hard. Seo Geon-woo had simply been strangely kind to me and always done what I said.
I was lost in old memories when a sudden spray of water hit me.
Splash!
The kidnapper was pointing a hose at me and spraying me with water.
From head to toe, as if he were washing me down.
“W-what the fuck!”
“Oh-ho, this young lady’s got a foul mouth.”
“Stop it!”
“Calm down. We have to get rid of any evidence that might still be left behind. Just bear with it.”
He really was thorough.
He seemed intent on eliminating any chance that DNA evidence might be found.
The guy washed me down carefully, from one place to another, as if I were some expensive product.
I realized that being treated like this was more infuriating than I’d expected.
I thought of all the people I’d looked down on and treated like trash, whether I’d realized it or not, and all the women I’d treated as nothing more than objects for satisfying my desires.
They must have felt something very similar to what I felt now.
Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes.
I’d always been confident and lived for my own ego.
I’d focused only on showing off my looks and abilities and making use of them.
But I’d never thought about things from the perspective of the people on the other side.
To the kidnappers, I was nothing more than a pretext to extort money—a kind of product.
Judging by how they were even going to the trouble of washing me, it seemed they had no intention of using me to satisfy their sexual desires, either.
That was a relief, but at the same time, it made the humiliation all the worse.
‘Being treated like an object… It really does feel awful.’
Would I survive?
Could I avoid being killed by these guys?
If that happened—
If I survived, then…
Maybe I could be a little kinder, at least to that guy lying over there…
‘And speak a little more nicely. Cut back on the swearing, too.’
His words echoed in my mind.
A quiet chuckle escaped me.
What did he see in a dumbass like me to follow me around for years?
‘You hopeless bear.’
Time seemed to drag on.
No, the truth was, I couldn’t see a clock, so I had no idea whether time was passing at all.
“It’s been almost two hours. Why hasn’t anyone called, young lady?”
Just as the kidnapper who’d been quiet said that,
BANG! The door of the abandoned warehouse flew open.
The kidnappers and I both jumped in surprise.
“What the fuck! You scared the shit out of me!”
The kidnapper let out a yell.
Only one person had come through the warehouse door.
For a brief moment, I’d hoped it was a SWAT team, but it was just one person…
“Huh?”
As the person who’d entered the warehouse came closer, I recognized a familiar face.
‘Secretary Shin?’
Their purplish hair fluttered.
When with my father, Secretary Shin always kept that hair neatly pinned up. Today, it was tied back in a simple ponytail.
Secretary Shin walked toward us and stopped at a reasonable distance, checking on me and Seo Geon-woo, who was sprawled on the ground.
Then Secretary Shin turned toward the kidnappers.
There didn’t seem to be even the slightest trace of emotion in that gaze.
I couldn’t sense anger, bloodlust, or anything else.
But it was so cold.
It seemed as if that gaze alone could freeze everyone in the room.
“I’ve come to retrieve our young mas… no, young lady.”
The kidnappers seemed flustered. Their earlier air of ease had completely vanished.
They seemed more than a little surprised that the person who was supposed to call and say the money was ready had shown up in person instead.
“W-what the fuck? How’d you find us? And so fast…”
“I told you to wait two hours.”
So that was what Secretary Shin meant.
But how had Secretary Shin actually found us?
I was curious, too.
“Haha… Then where’s the money?”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t have much money. I’m a salaried employee.”
“What? Are you fucking kidding me? You don’t care if this bitch dies…?”
The kidnapper pulled a jackknife from inside his clothes and tried to bring it to my throat. Then he flinched and dropped the knife.
Looking again, I saw a knife embedded in his wrist.
‘W-what the hell!?’
Had Secretary Shin really thrown a knife from that distance and planted it right in his wrist? If it had been just a little off, it would’ve ended up in my forehead instead of his.
I was even more terrified than when I’d first realized I’d been kidnapped.
“Aaargh!”
“Don’t do anything foolish.”
With those words, Secretary Shin moved so quickly that it was as if they’d disappeared right before my eyes.
I could see it happening, and still couldn’t believe it.
The kidnappers were on the floor in an instant, without even getting a chance to lift a finger.
I’d been pretty good at fighting back when I was a man, but this was on a whole different level.
“Take care of the cleanup.”
Secretary Shin took a small radio from the back of their waistband and spoke into it.
A few seconds later, several people rushed into the abandoned warehouse, picked up the two unconscious kidnappers, and carried them out.
“Are you all right?”
Secretary Shin asked as they untied my hands and ankles.
Their face was still expressionless.
Still, I was alive thanks to Secretary Shin.
I had a lot of questions, but there was no point thinking about them now.
“Thank you, Secretary Shin.”
I’d known Secretary Shin for years, but this was the first time I’d seen them like this, and they seemed a little different from before.
* *
Afterward, Seo Geon-woo and I were taken straight to the hospital.
I was more or less fine, without any particular injuries, but Seo Geon-woo had scrapes and bruises all over and a broken rib, so he had to be admitted.
“Ha… I never thought I’d end up doing something like this.”
I felt an inexplicable emptiness and a little humiliated.
I was holding a small box in my hand.
I was on my way to see Seo Geon-woo, who’d been admitted.
‘Still, I’ve decided to try to change a little…’
Seo Geon-woo was in a private VIP room at a university hospital where my father’s personal physician was the director.
I hadn’t said anything, but Secretary Shin had taken care of everything.
It would’ve been difficult without my father’s approval. Did that mean my father had been looking out for me, too?
Click.
I opened the sliding door.
Seo Geon-woo, lying in a hospital bed tilted at about forty-five degrees, saw me and sat up in surprise.
“Ugh! Ow, ow…”
Then he clutched his side and grimaced in pain.
“You hopeless bear. Stay still. You’ve got a broken rib, and you’re trying to move?”
“Haha… I was surprised because I didn’t expect you to come, Ha-won.”
“Oh, whatever! Here, eat this.”
I tossed the small box I’d brought in front of him.
Seo Geon-woo picked it up, his face lighting up.
“Whoa, this is my favorite castella…”
“Good. I just grabbed something at random, and it turns out you like it.”
“Heh, thanks, Ha-won. I’ll enjoy it.”
He smiled brightly as he said it.
W-what was that?
Why was my face getting hot?
“W-what… E-eat it or don’t, I don’t care.”
Afraid he’d notice my red face, I abruptly turned around.
“I’ve seen your face, so I’m leaving.”
Just as I was about to hurry out of the room, I heard Seo Geon-woo’s voice behind me.
“Ha-won.”
Without turning around, I grabbed the doorknob.
“What! I’m busy!”
He seemed to pause for a moment before speaking again.
His voice sounded a little embarrassed.
“T-today’s outfit looks good on you, too. You look pretty.”
Damn it.
Damn it all.
It felt like my blood was rushing around way too fast.
“S-shut up!”
Bang!
I slammed the door shut, left the hospital room, and started running down the hall. Why I was running, I had no idea.