Half an hour later, on the way home.
Secretary Kwon tried his best to concentrate on the road as he was driving.
Every time Kwon Tae Yang recalled about what had happened, he could not help but wonder if this was how Lee Yeo Ri had her brothers wrapped around her fingers. Perhaps the fact that her eldest stepbrother ended up killing her stepfather had also been premeditated by her without anyone's knowledge. She had such a way with manipulating people, it seems like.
The reward he had gotten for his troubles—a mere smile and a hug—felt far too powerful. It was gentle—loving, even—to the point that he felt as if he could do anything for her so that she could keep smiling. Her affection and favour was too d*mn addicting.
Was it because of her beauty, he mused. It was not a lie to say that she was gorgeous, even at such a young age. He could only imagine how devastatingly beautiful she would be once she enters her prime.
But that wasn't all there is.
She was a charming girl, one who could influence others with every swing of her mood. Heck, she could charm people just by sitting still and doing absolutely nothing.
Kwon Tae Yang, too, had begun to care for her despite her abrasive attitude towards him in the beginning. She was akin to a wounded kitten, with all her invisible wounds and adorable frowns. But it turns out she was no small animal. She was wounded, yes, but the girl was far more dangerous than a domesticated feline. She was a hyena disguising as a Persian cat.
Kwon Tae Yang could never have imagined how much he ended up liking her, and how far he could go for her. It wasn't the romantic kind of 'like', he was sure. He didn't think of her as a woman, not when she was still a minor; he would never dare to, on the basis that she was his boss' only daughter. It was a different kind of like, he was convinced. It had to be.
He silently observed the girl from the rearview mirror.
The girl had her eyes closed, appearing peacefully asleep. She had been so physical earlier, and it seemed like it had drained her energy.
"Miss—" Realising that his voice was hoarse, he cleared his throat. "—Miss, we have arrived at your apartment."
"...Oh," she groggily replied, rubbing her eyes tiredly.
Before exiting the car, she took off her shoes. They had been dirtied earlier, and with the blood still uncleaned, Yeo Ri did not want to wear it out. She placed it to the side. "Throw these out later."
"Yes, miss." Secretary Kwon looked down at her bare feet. "Miss, it is not good to walk barefooted. Please wait while I fetch a spare." He went around to the back of the car, and rummaged the boot for a pair of shoes. Since Yeo Ri frequently had to change clothes for one reason or another on set, he had left some fresh spares in the car just in case.
"Thank you."
"I will see you tomorrow, Miss Yeo Ri. Please rest well," he said as he saw her off at the entrance. He lowered his head in farewell.
"Mm." Yeo Ri offered him a small smile. "You too. Thank you for your hard work."
Secretary Kwon flashed a stiff smile in return.
As he watched the girl disappear into the building, he let out a sigh and rubbed the bridge of his nose wearily. If there was any silver lining in this situation, it was that he had become closer to the girl and earned her trust.
He thought of the price for that trust, and could not help but sigh again.
He turned around, and went back to his car.
There was no use regretting. In any case, he still had plenty of things to do.
.
.
.
After returning home, the first thing Yeo Ri did was take a long, hot shower.
As the water rained down on her body, she stared at her hands. Thin fingers, and palms ravaged by years of housework that was becoming more soft thanks to better, expensive care.
She hugged her body, nails digging deep into the flesh of her arms.
Yeo Ri closed her eyes, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
"I hate this..." she murmured.
'See?' the devil whispered. 'You can't ever get away from me.'
Violence begets violence. She had become the one thing she hated. What he did to her, she had inflicted it upon someone else, and she had... enjoyed it. Every second of it. She remembered how exhilarating it felt to be the tormentor, to have power and control over another person. There were still some lingering feeling in her limbs of when they came into contact with the stalker. Every hit seemed to lighten her body, making her more and more invigorated.
He had been so helpless against her, that stalker. After all his high and mighty words, he had caved under her.
'Feels good, doesn't it?' the devil cackled, as if he knew what was going through her mind. 'Now you know why I love you so much.'
"Shut up..." Yeo Ri sighed. She wasn't in the mood to deal with the dead b*stard.
'Mm, I feel so close to you. More... the more you resemble me, the happier I get. As expected of my daughter,' the devil purred.
"Ugh!" Yeo Ri scratched herself wildly as she felt the ghost of a kiss on her collarbone.
Scratch marks of her own making littered all over her neck, torso and arms. Her skin burned from the sting of her wounds, and the small globs of blood were washed away by the water. Yet, Yeo Ri acted as if she could not feel the pain.
Yeo Ri screamed, her shrill voice bouncing off the bathroom walls.
She didn't know what she was feeling; it was a cauldron of frustration and anger and hate and sorrow and fear and everything else in between. She slid down to the floor, staring vacantly at the wall.
She did not move for a long time, lost in her own thoughts.
Slowly, her senses returned to her body, and Yeo Ri finally picked herself up to finish her shower.
She wrapped a fluffy clean towel around her body, then moved towards the sink. She raised her eyes and stared at her reflection on the mirror.
Yeo Ri examined her scratches through the mirror, narrowing her eyes at the reddened skin. She ran her fingers over them, frowning slightly. 'Oppa's definitely going to worry,' she thought with minor irritation.
She took out a pain relief cream from the medicine cabinet, and applied it over her wounds. Since there was just too many areas to cover, she didn't bother putting on a bandage.
Yeo Ri left the bathroom as the cream dried.