Chapter 5

Chapter 5

“…I, I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding. I’m not the one who hit him in the head, that’s not what I did,” she said tears streaming down her cheeks and continued “Your brother was trying to bury someone alive when—”

“What’s the matter with him burying someone?” asked the man as he tossed his cigar ashes to the side and continued “and he clearly got mad when he was interrupted.” The man with the cold silver-rimmed glasses looked like he was in his late thirties or early forties. His face was smooth without a single wrinkle. Is face had no hint of warmth.

“It wasn’t me, it was-it was someone else. The man who was being buried suddenly hit him with a stone. It’s not me who pushed him down. For real. What I did was for self-defence, but… —” the words left her mouth trying to convince him. This was the only thing she could do to stop herself from breaking down.

“My brother has good ears.” The man was sceptical, “He’s neither stupid and not insensitive enough to not be able to avoid a guy approaching from behind.”

“B-but…” Lee-yeon didn’t know what to do. She could feel that her life will be shattered to the point of no return if she failed to convince him. There was no witness or evidence to prove that she was there at a wrong time.

She wanted to know where she was and who this person was but at that moment all that she could think about was, ‘I need to get out of here safely.’

There were constant bangs coning from the drum, which scared Lee-yeon more.

“Then, are you his accomplice? Accomplice of the man who hit my brother?” the man asked.

“Wh-What? What do you mean accomplice! I don’t even know him!” she replied. The man was indifferent to her struggle. She felt like her life was slipping through her fingers, but this man was relaxed as if this was nothing but a dinner reservation.

“So, Lee-yeon. I don’t care about who you are.”

He spoke as he lowered his body to her level and looked right into her eyes.

“As someone who saw my brother slipping into coma, I really hope I can make someone pay for my brother’s state. That’s it!”

‘Coma. The murderer was in a coma?’

“Whether you hit him with a stone, or not, that’s not really important to me. Instead, let’s make a deal. If you’re wise enough, you’ll leave this place safely,” he said with a smirk.

“A deal?” she asked unsure of what she heard.

“Yes. A deal.” The man put his cigar out into a box of meat and casually said, “catch the real culprit and bring him to me. Until then, you must take care of my brother.”

He freed her from her restraints and made her sign a contract.

As he turned around to leave, he said, “don’t let him leave Hwaido.”

All she could hear then was the noise from the drum gradually disappearing as it was dragged out.

<Flashback end>

***

He had disappeared!

All she could see was the medical equipment in the dark room lit by the moonlight.

‘Where-where did he go?’

The fear that was forgotten ever since that night she was kidnapped was revived. She could feel the tension of that day and still smell the air.

The things that man said were running in her mind.

“While you were sleeping, I pondered whether I should simply tear you apart, or put you in a drum with cement and throw it into the sea.

I really hope I can make someone pay for my brother’s state.”

Lee-yeon’s body trembled. That man would kill her if he found out!

‘I must find him,’ she thought and tried to calm herself.

When she turned around a shadow behind the door scared startled her.

It was clearly an attack. The man was hiding behind the door and rushed towards Lee-yeon and pushed her hard. The medical device fell with a bang.

However, it was impossible for a person who suddenly woke up after two years of sleep to walk properly. With his knees bent and staggering, he turned Lee-yeon’s body as if binding her and flopped down on the bed.

One side of her cheek was pressed hard against the mattress. She wrestled with her arms and legs at the weight of the man on her back. His strength surprised her. How was he so strong after being in a coma for so long.

The man twisted Lee-yeon’s arms behind her and with his legs made sure she couldn’t move. She could feel a firm body through her thin pajamas. In particular, she was even more terrified of his thick pen*s that was pressed against her buttocks.