"Huh?"
-"Go on. Keep going."
"...?.. S- So I stabbed her in the cheek with a knife."

Is this how it is supposed to go? A strange tingling sensation ran from her cheeks to the tips of her ears.

-"And then?"
"You hung up, remember? That's when things escalated."
-"What did you do?"
"I don't even remember everything because it was so intense, but she started. She just went crazy. She must have got some serious bruises."
-"..."
"She was soaking wet and her clothes were ruined..."

A sharp, cutting laugh echoed faintly, almost too faint to catch.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

Goosebumps crept up her neck; it wasn't her imagination. But no matter how long she waited, there was no answer from the other end of the line.

Heeju winced as she twisted her aching shoulder.

In the midst of debating whether to call him...

-"I've never been so curious about a man's face before."
"..."
-"Forget about peaceful surrender..."
"...!"
-"This will be amusing."

His once palpable disinterest vanished, replaced by a focused intensity. The sudden change in intensity made Heeju nervous.

It wasn't supposed to be like this. What she wanted was cooperation, not abnormal curiosity.

More precisely, she hadn't expected such a disturbing fixation on the "blackmailer".

What had gone wrong? What had she missed? A chill crept up the back of her neck, the kind that made her feel like prey under a predator's gaze.

Just then, the timer she had set for nine minutes went off.

"D*mn it...!"

She frantically pressed the end call button.

First call.mp3

Was this a complete failure, or did it somehow work? Her heart pounded with anxiety.

 

***

 

Moments after hanging up, the door lock beeped and clicked open.

'Oh no...!'

A wave of panic propelled Heeju towards her room. The brazen confidence she had displayed during the call vanished as if it had been nothing more than drunken bravado.

She pressed her ear to the door, trying to guess his movements.

"Phew..."

The silence outside suggested that he had gone to his room. Heeju slid down against the door as the tension began to ease.

What was I thinking? What have I done? Hong Heeju, you're crazy!

She had actually done it. She had actually called her husband to blackmail him.

Her hands trembled as she clutched the phone.

Then there was a knock at the door.

"Hong Heeju, come out."
"...!"

Had Baek Sa-eon ever been in this room? Had he found out? But how?

She stared at the closed door in panic. Scrambling, she hid the 'negotiation phone' under her pillow.

"I'm coming in."

Another knock followed, indifferent and perfunctory. He clearly wasn't waiting for permission, because the door swung open immediately.

"...!"

Sa-eon stood expressionless. His figure stood out against the ivory wallpaper.

His eyes scanned Heeju from head to toe.

No way... Did he find out something?

She swallowed hard.

Bzzzt! Bzzzt!

The vibrating phone in his jacket pocket broke the tension.

Without breaking eye contact, Sa-eon reached for his phone. The fluidity of his movements - from unbuttoning his coat to swiping the screen - was unnervingly smooth.

Even during the call, he gave no verbal response, just listened. Words like "scrapped... confirm..." drifted faintly from the speaker, presumably he was talking to a subordinate.

When he ended the call, he let out a dry laugh.

"Come closer."

Had she misheard him?

When she remained rooted to the spot, he crooked two fingers impatiently.

The mixture of irritation and annoyance on his face was strangely unfamiliar. Before she could react, he grabbed her arm and yanked her forward.

"Ah-!"

Heeju bit her lip to stifle a gasp.

Sa-eon turned her arm back and forth, inspecting small scratches. He pulled down her loose shirt, examined the bruises on her shoulder, then tilted her face to check her scalp.

There was no gentleness in his touch.

"What's that?"

His gaze lingered on the rounded contours of her shoulder.

"I asked you a question, Hong Heeju. What is this?"

She silently adjusted her shirt, unsure of how to answer.

"Well, even if you ask, I can't talk...

She had a pretty good idea what he was doing. He was checking out the blackmailer's claims.

'But why?'

Whether she was hurt or not shouldn't matter to Baek Sa-eon. Confusion flickered across her face.

"If you can't answer. Just nod or shake your head when I ask."

He squeezed his temples briefly before correcting his tone.

"Was there a car accident?"

His hardened gaze remained fixed on hers.

She nodded.

At her slight movement, his expression twisted.

"You really did have an accident."
"..."
"Did it happen on the 6th of October, sometime between 5pm and 6pm?"

When he mentioned the exact date and time, Heeju flinched for a split second, but her expression remained unchanged.

Her face remained as lifeless and melancholy as ever.

"And you even had the car scrapped."

His hands on his hips, he lowered his head. His chest swelled and deflated as if he were taking a deep breath, though no sound of suppressed breathing escaped him.

"So... you're saying you were really hurt that day."
"..."
"That b*stard really..."

His muttered words were cold enough to make her shiver.

It seemed that he was finally beginning to believe the blackmailer's claims, realising that the call had been anything but a prank.

His previously detached expression began to twist, slowly but unmistakably.

Heeju watched the change unfold before her eyes.

Finally...!

The threat she had aimed at him had finally hit its target.

"Someone must have approached you."

He suddenly leaned closer.

"Did you see the guy's face?"
"..."

Startled by his icy stare, she instinctively shook her head. She moved her hands as if to explain, miming someone putting on a mask.

"He wore a mask so you couldn't see his face?"

To her surprise, he immediately understood her fumbling gestures.

She nodded fervently, keeping up her act of innocence even though she had actually seen the man.

"That b*stard... What did he do?"

His tone was so low and flat that it barely qualified as a question.

"Head, lips, cheekbone..."

His slow, deliberate gaze traced the areas he murmured.

"Did he touch you anywhere else?"
"..."
"The car even rolled away."

His calm voice became sharper in mid-sentence.

"You crashed and got soaking wet."

Heeju clenched the hem of her trousers, wondering why he was pressing her like this.

I don't even have any value as a hostage.

Her mind was filled with question marks as she tried to make sense of his obvious concern for her.

"Even after all this, why didn't you tell me?"

Baek Sa-eon spoke through clenched teeth, his words coming out in clipped fragments.

He said he would ask questions that could be answered with a yes or no. When she looked back at him, his expression had already returned to its usual neutral state.

"..."
"..."

As she stared at him in silence, his gaze narrowed.

For a fleeting moment, she realised that it had been a long time since they had looked into each other's eyes like that.

Heeju quietly tapped her empty ring finger, then pointed at him before miming a hand around her neck.

His sharp gaze became razor sharp. He clearly understood what she meant.

I was sent here to be your hostage.

No matter what, she was still a hostage. What use would it have been to tell him anything? She shrugged lightly, as if to say it wouldn't have mattered either way.

"I'll assign you a bodyguard. Stay with them for now."
"...!"

Heeju's eyes widened as she swallowed her frustration. She crossed her arms in an X and shook her head vigorously.

Baek Sa-eon's eyebrow arched slightly at her reaction.

"It doesn't matter if you don't want to."

He tugged irritably at his once immaculate tie.

"It won't take long."

Was that confidence in his ability to resolve this quickly?

"I'll make an appointment at the hospital. You'll be examined."

Heeju stared at him with conflicted eyes, trying to decipher his intentions. Baek Sa-eon rubbed the back of his neck, his eyes sweeping over their room.

The small bed and the desk. The thick piles of books and the glossy monitor. The pastel-coloured stool and the delicate vanity.

His indifferent eyes lingered on each piece of furniture, steeped in the traces of daily life.

"That piece of crap..."
"...!"

He cursed under his breath.

She had heard him use thousands of polished, formal words on news broadcasts, in speeches, even from the podium of the Blue House.

But to hear such an unfiltered expletive from him up close was a first.

"So he wants to play games with me."

Heeju winced involuntarily at his words. But seeing his reaction now, she was sure of one thing.

My plan worked!