-"Do you smoke?"
"What?"
-"I asked if you smoke."
"N- No. I don't."
-"How much can you drink?"
"T- That... I'm not really sure..."

Heeju answered the rapid-fire questions reflexively. The topics had nothing to do with the blackmail, which only made her let her guard down even more.

-"Are you married?"
"N- No. I'm not. Wait, why are you..."
-"When did you lose your virginity?"
"...Pardon?"

The formal, monotone voice made the blunt question even more shocking.

Heeju thought she had misunderstood what Sa-eon had said.

"Did you ask about my... virginity?"
-"When did you use your lower half for the first time?"
"...!"

How could the presidential spokesman say something so crude?

Heeju's jaw dropped. She was like a fish gasping for air.

Baek Sa-eon had always maintained an impeccable image as the president of the student council. Wherever he went, he commanded respect, a born leader who effortlessly drew others to him.

The closest thing to rebellion in his life had been a brief stint as a war correspondent in his early twenties, wandering through conflict zones such as Tikrit, Fallujah and Erbil.

He had always been a man others looked up to, which made this uncharacteristically vulgar tone all the more disturbing.

-"Answer me, you pervert."
"Wait, who are you calling a pervert?"
-"The one who fantasises about cheap spam photos, harasses people and slanders my wife. Are you aware that this falls under the law against indecency using telecommunications?"
"Spam photos?!"

Did he know how much effort she put into taking them?!

-"There's a certain standard for blackmail."

His previously neutral voice suddenly became mocking.

-"Acting so desperate makes you look pathetic."

That was when the timer went off. She should have ended the call there, she really should have...

- "Don't waste your time on something so easily disproved. If you want to threaten me, at least do your homework. Don't drag her into this. I know better than anyone how honest she is."

At that moment, something inside her snapped.

How dare he, a husband in name only, pretend to know everything about her?

"Then check for yourself! See if her thighs look like the photos or not!"

She realised only after the words had been uttered. No, no, no, that wasn't what she meant...!

Heeju fumbled for the end call button. She knew she had messed up big time.

Second call.mp3

Something had gone very, very wrong.

 

***

"Sir! We've locked on to the signal!"

Mr Park, his aide, burst into the office. His face lit up with excitement.

The stark, minimalist office overlooking the city was a perfect reflection of Baek Sa-eon's cold, calculating nature.

"We have narrowed it down to Yeongdeungpo, Seocho, Gangnam or Songpa. Those extra seconds on the phone paid off!"

Indeed.

But Baek Sa-eon just stared at his disconnected phone in silence, his expression hardening with time.

"S- Sir?"
"The more I deal with this lunatic, the more my patience frays."
"Wait... S- Sir?"

His startled junior stood up immediately, feeling the pressure.

"How could someone drag Heeju into something so vile... using her name like that..."

With a blank expression, Baek Sa-eon idly tapped on his phone.

His carefully constructed world had begun to crumble. For a man who had always managed his life with precision and command, this kind of disruption was deeply unsettling.

"When I asked if you were married, you hesitated for a moment before changing your answer."
"Excuse me?"
"People reveal their truth in moments of urgency."

Baek Sa-eon rubbed his sharp jaw thoughtfully.

"He's married. Probably unhappy with the relationship. Maybe divorced or considering it. Let's work within that range."
"Understood."
"Also look for men who've recently bought or repaired a car."

Park nodded, taking the instructions like a

"They stumbled over sexual issues. It could be a complex. Check for redcent s3xual offenders and search the dark web."
"Yes, sir."

Park Do-jae recognised the danger in his superior's frosty tone. Baek Sa-eon was someone who got colder the angrier he got.

Do-jae's eyes briefly fell on a twisted pen left on the desk, but he quickly looked away, pretending not to notice.

Then his gaze landed on an out of place, worn picture frame - a reddish sunset captured in poor resolution. The photo seemed out of place in the polished, metallic office.

"Should we trace the origin of this photo as well...?"

But before Park could finish, Baek Sa-eon froze in mid-motion.

"Didn't you know that there's something special about Hong Heeju's thighs?"
"Is it because you never paid attention or... you've never spread them apart before?"

The distorted voice from earlier resurfaced in his mind, sparking an alien wave of anger.

He bit the inside of his cheek, choking back the unfamiliar emotion.

"...Sir?"
"Never mind."

The man closed his eyes and withdrew his hand with practiced composure.

Failure was never an option.

Baek Sa-eon's ambition had always been to reach the pinnacle of power - the only thing that moved his otherwise emotionless self.

Power meant never having to obey, and the ability to shamelessly take what belonged to others. This ruthless, tantalising power was something he had coveted all his life.

Out of nowhere, a pest had appeared.

An anonymous blackmailer was trying to undermine his position by dragging him into a sordid scandal.

"You left your longtime fiancée and married your future sister-in-law."
"That's what I'm going to expose."
"Dump Hong Hee-ju and bring back your original fiancée."

Pretending to meet demands was always the first step in negotiations.

Baek Sa-eon had no intention of letting anyone tarnish his life, and he wasn't someone burdened by guilt or conscience to begin with.

His plan was to placate the blackmailer just enough to establish rapport, then extract everything down to the marrow.

But...

"Why do they keep targeting her?"

Several of the blackmailer's moves were explicitly aimed at Hong Heeju, leaving him in an inexplicable dilemma.

Even pretending to comply left a sour taste in his mouth.

That morning, he had already been faced with the task of delivering the President's 'regrettable' statement on the increasingly prominent issue of dating violence.

And now this.

The blackmailer had demanded 2 billion won, the exact amount of a penalty clause in their marriage contract. Coincidence? Not likely.

Details that only someone close to his arranged marriage would know.

The way they spoke, it was as if they knew Heeju well. And then that photo... Yes, that photo.

It wasn't a fake. The shape of the knees, the mark, even the curve of the foot and the toenails at the edge; it was undeniably Heeju's body.

Outwardly, they acted like mere opportunists looking for a quick payoff. But beneath the surface -

Baek Sa-eon's expression turned icy.

The blackmail, the demands, the motives; none of it added up.

"I'll watch him a little longer," he said, rolling up his sleeves after undoing his cufflinks.

 

***

 

I've dug my own grave.

Heeju had fallen into a restless sleep after hours of tearing her hair in frustration.

Perhaps because she had spent the whole night tensed and curled up, she awoke with a vague sense of unease.

The room was dim, lit only by the faint glow of the city. Through her blurred vision she saw a large figure approaching.

"...!"

The shadow moved closer, stepping silently towards the bed and bending over her. Her sluggish mind struggled to process what had just happened.

The man pressed his palms and knees into the mattress and leaned forward until their eyes met. His sharp features were accentuated by the dim light and deep shadows.

Heeju tried to sit up but he moved faster.
 

"You've been quiet so far," Baek Sa-eon murmured, pushing her shoulder back down.
"I thought you'd stay obediently under my control."
"..."
"Was I wrong?"

His face was expressionless, making his pale complexion all the more out of place.

"Nothing makes sense lately."

His cold eyes glinted in the darkness, the same distant look she had grown accustomed to - one that saw her as an object, not a person.

But this time, underneath the cold, there was something else. Not heat, exactly, but... a kind of stubborn pride and arrogance.

"Heeju."

His gaze trailed from her face to her lips, to her collarbone, to her loose top, then further down, to the outline of her legs under the thin blanket. The icy gaze slithered over her like a snake.

"If you knew what I was about to confirm, you would faint immediately."
"...!"

Smirking, he grabbed the blanket with one hand. The problem was that his other hand was gripping her leg.

She tried to struggle, but the blanket only rustled faintly under his grip.

"It's impossible that I don't know everything about you, Heeju."

His cold face made her want to look away.

The fingers drumming lightly on the blanket seemed to be deliberating, as if deciding what to do next. When he tightened his grip, a sharp tingle radiated from her thigh.

"Your name has been getting on my nerves lately."
"..."
"You've been far too loud."

What did that mean?

Heeju was frozen. After a long pause, the man finally stood up.

"There will soon be a vacancy for a sign language interpreter at the Blue House."

Heeju blinked in confusion.

"It will be safer for you there than at home. It'll also be easier to keep an eye on you."

What was that supposed to mean?

"If you don't want to be involved in your father's circus-like campaign, do whatever it takes to secure the place next to me."

With this parting remark, he left the room without looking back.

Heeju remained paralysed for a long time. She spent the rest of the night wide awake, staring at the ceiling.

.