Chapter 69
“Yes. Baek Yeong made contact first. From what I heard, it seems work-related… Yes, understood.”
As Baek I-hae ended the call, Do Ha-jun’s subordinate dialed somewhere else. It was almost certainly Do Ha-jun himself.
Once the call finished, Do Ha-jun’s subordinate wore a slightly dissatisfied expression before speaking to Baek I-hae.
“Go on ahead. But don’t even think about mentioning anything about us.”
She had assumed he would follow her, but apparently not.
Perhaps the fact that Do Ha-jun had contacted Baek I-hae was meant to stay secret. Baek I-hae nodded quietly.
Stepping outside for the first time in a while, Baek I-hae fiddled with her phone as she walked toward the company. After a brief hesitation, she glanced around.
‘I want to call Do-gyeom.’
They hadn’t even had a proper conversation at school. Jang Seul-gi kept interrupting, so they couldn’t share any private words, leaving her with a nagging thirst.
After hesitating a moment longer, Baek I-hae dialed Seo Do-gyeom.
‘What should I say? That I’m sorry for not paying proper attention at school? Or just ask how he’s doing?’
With a touch of nervousness and a flutter of excitement, she waited for the ringtone. But in the end, he didn’t pick up.
“…”
Staring blankly at her phone as the missed call tone played, Baek I-hae pressed her lips together.
“…I’ll call again later, I guess.”
It was just bad timing. Baek I-hae tried not to read too much into it as she resumed walking.
The company wasn’t far. Even at this late hour, many lights were still on in the building. She headed toward the office, which now felt quite familiar.
“You little punk! You can’t even do what you’re told properly!”
Baek I-hae flinched as she reached for the door, startled by the commotion inside. It wasn’t Baek Yeong’s voice.
‘What is it? Not Chai Ryeong either—it’s a voice I’ve never heard before.’
Cautiously straining to listen, she heard a dull thud. A sense of foreboding prompted her to open the door. The sight that met her eyes left her horrified.
Someone was about to swing a golf club at Baek Yeong! Without thinking, Baek I-hae rushed forward, grabbing the club almost desperately and shouting.
“What do you think you’re doing?! Are you trying to kill someone?!”
Even though it was Baek Yeong, she couldn’t just stand by and watch him get hit with something like a weapon.
Only after her body moved on its own did she realize her mistake, but it was too late. The man holding the golf club was a middle-aged gentleman in a suit.
‘This guy… he looks like that man I ran into before quitting?’
She remembered avoiding his gaze because of his unapproachable aura. His impression had been so striking that it stuck vividly in her mind.
But why on earth would he try to hit Baek Yeong? And why wasn’t Baek Yeong even trying to dodge? Everything was a mystery.
“You…”
The middle-aged man frowned, then withdrew the golf club. His discomfort at an outsider’s interference was palpable, making Baek I-hae shrink back involuntarily.
“Tch.”
He scanned her up and down, then tossed the golf club to the floor and stormed out.
It all happened so quickly that she was left dazed. Then Baek Yeong’s voice broke through.
“He’s not someone you want to get on the bad side of. You should’ve just pretended not to see.”
He seemed utterly unfazed, showing no shame at the ugly scene. As he straightened his disheveled hair, bruises appeared on his forearm.
When Baek I-hae couldn’t tear her eyes away from them, Baek Yeong pulled on the shirt draped over his chair.
“How could I pretend not to see when he was about to hit you with a golf club? Who is that guy anyway—a psychopath? Should I report him?”
“Psychopath.”
Baek Yeong chuckled softly at her choice of words. Then he waved his hand as if to say no to the report.
“He’s the type who could buy his way out of prison. If he could be locked up for something like this, he would’ve been long ago.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“He’s the one who created the Baek faction.”
Baek Yeong said it so casually that Baek I-hae clamped her hand over her mouth in shock. She stumbled backward, tripping over her own feet and falling.
“…Is it that surprising?”
Baek Yeong asked, genuinely taken aback, and Baek I-hae nodded slowly.
“Am I going to disappear without a trace now…?”
He was someone with Do Ha-jun by his side, a dangerous man who’d played a part in killing Chai Ryeong’s parents.
If ever there was a case of one misfortune piling on another, this was it. As Baek I-hae made a face like she might cry, Baek Yeong let out a hollow laugh.
Then he approached slowly, bending down to meet her eyes.
“You jumped in with such guts.”
“I didn’t know he was that dangerous. I just thought he was some crazy guy…”
“From psychopath to crazy guy, huh? Well, you’re not wrong—he is crazy.”
Baek Yeong laughed, oblivious to her feelings. It was infuriating. Even though she’d stepped in to help him.
“…He really is crazy. Who hits their family like that?”
Jang Seul-gi and her uncle, who had tried to use Baek I-hae, at least cared for each other. They genuinely grieved over each other’s wounds.
But what about the Baek Yeong before her? Without realizing it, she reached out to him with a pitying expression.
To Baek I-hae, family was something desirable, something positive. But to Baek Yeong, family might be the most horrific thing of all.
“Even if you call them family, in the end, they’re just strangers.”
Baek Yeong said it flatly, his voice devoid of any emotion, as if he’d never expected anything to begin with.
The same word, yet it evoked such different feelings in them.
Baek I-hae listened quietly to his words, unable to offer hasty comfort. She believed that clumsily consoling someone else’s pain only stirred it up more.
He was still someone she disliked, someone she resented. But she didn’t want to see him hurt like this right in front of her.
“Don’t get hurt.”
That’s all she said. No other meaning behind it.
Baek Yeong didn’t respond to her words. He simply helped her to her feet.
“I thought it’d take you longer to get here, but at least he seems to know he did wrong.”
“No, what mistake did I make!”
“You did. So for a while, come straight here after school and clean up.”
That was ridiculous.
Baek I-hae started to protest but stopped.
‘Well, it’s better than going home early and dealing with the tension there.’
After a brief moment of thought, Baek I-hae nodded in agreement.
For someone who’d called her urgently, the cleanup Baek Yeong assigned was truly trivial. Just changing some formulas and verifying the work.
She couldn’t fathom his intentions. It wasn’t like he was training a dog or something.
“You know you’re really annoying, right?”
“You’re not calling me ‘sir’ anymore.”
Even at her grumbling, Baek Yeong smiled lightly.
He walked over to the coffee machine and brewed a cup just like before, handing it to her. In the pink mug she’d used here, filled with bitterly strong coffee.
‘This is strange.’
Being by the side of someone she’d resented, sipping this purely bitter coffee—why did this moment feel so peaceful?
She took a sip. The warmth spread through her body.
There was still no contact from Seo Do-gyeom, but Baek I-hae felt her anxious heart easing a little.
At the same time, her jumbled thoughts seemed to clear up a bit.
‘Just enduring like this won’t solve anything. I need to come up with a plan.’
Baek I-hae was still a minor with no exceptional abilities. So seeking help was the right answer.
‘Uncle and Ye Eun-seol could be in danger, so hold off on them. The police might make things worse without solid evidence.’
Baek I-hae paused her work on the laptop for a moment.
“You’ll double-check the work after I leave, right?”
“I’ll have Chai Ryeong do the simple verification.”
Hearing that, Baek I-hae nodded as if she understood. Then she slowly typed something into a corner of the document.
‘Since you used me first, I’m just using you back. Though I doubt you’ll let yourself be used so easily.’
In the corner of the document was a message for Chai Ryeong.
[Sister Ryeong, you know the saying, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?]
It didn’t matter if Baek Yeong found it or if Chai Ryeong did. She was just a little curious about her reaction.
