Chapter 92
“I endured every day in prison thinking only of you, sunbae. This…… I never expected this. Even when I investigated, I couldn’t believe it.”
“……Let the child and Baek I-ho’s family go. You only have business with me anyway.”
“That was the original plan, but now I’m reconsidering. There’s proof right in front of me that you’ve been tainted.”
“Ha, Ha-jun……! Please, I’ll do anything—just don’t lay a hand on Do-gyeom.”
Lee Sae-rom trembled as she dropped to her knees. She didn’t respond to Seo Do-gyeom’s confused pleas to stand up, only bowing her head low like a sinner.
Seo Do-gyeom turned to look at the man. He wore a twisted smile, gazing at Lee Sae-rom with utter satisfaction.
“Fine. I’ve always been weak when it comes to you, sunbae. Release the kid and that guy.”
“But they’ve seen this place and all our faces.”
Someone cautiously voiced concern. But the man answered without even glancing their way, as if it didn’t matter.
“He won’t do anything stupid if he values his daughter’s life. Right, Baek I-ho?”
Seo Do-gyeom was hoisted up and carried away from his mother. In panic, he called out to her pitifully, but she didn’t turn back.
Was it because she was so unlike her usual self? Or pure instinctual fear?
“Mom……!”
His voice cracked with sobs, and only then did Lee Sae-rom look at her son. He was usually so stoic, taking after his father in showing little emotion—it must have shocked her.
Her lips moved, as if she wanted to say something.
“……It’s okay, Do-gyeom. Dad will come get you soon.”
Were those really the words she meant to say? She smiled bitterly.
Soon, Seo Do-gyeom and Baek I-ho were thrown out of the building. Not long after, a battered woman was dragged out, clutching an unconscious little girl in her arms.
“Darling!”
Seeing Baek I-ho rush toward her desperately, she must have been Shin Hae, the one Lee Sae-rom had mentioned. The child in her arms was likely theirs.
Seo Do-gyeom stared at their tearful reunion, his face rigid as tears streamed down.
“Are you all right? Why is Lee Hae like this?”
“I’m fine. Lee Hae…… she’s not seriously hurt, but they locked her in a cramped space because her crying was too loud. She must have fallen asleep from exhaustion.”
The woman stroked the girl’s cheek with a heartbroken expression, only noticing Seo Do-gyeom late, as if just realizing he was there.
“That child……?”
“……He’s I-heum and Sae-rom’s son. Please…… take care of I-heum’s boy.”
Baek I-ho embraced his wife. Her wavering eyes slowly closed and opened in resignation as she spoke.
“Be careful.”
“……Thank you.”
Seo Do-gyeom heard approaching footsteps. Turning, he saw Baek I-ho bending down to meet his gaze.
“Do-gyeom. Go with your mom’s friend here. It’s dangerous.”
“Mom……?”
“I’ll bring her back. I brought you here, so no matter what, I’ll get her out safely. Can you trust me?”
Seo Do-gyeom stared at him with trembling eyes, then slowly nodded. As a child, he knew he couldn’t rescue his mother himself.
The woman, pitying the boy silently shedding tears, quickly took his hand and led him away from the building. When Seo Do-gyeom turned back, all he saw was Baek I-ho’s retreating figure.
The woman brought Seo Do-gyeom home. No one stopped her as she urgently sought Seo I-heum. He rushed out after a brief explanation.
Watching it all, Seo Do-gyeom closed his eyes tightly. Everything felt like a dream.
“Young master, thank goodness you’re safe.”
Old Man Oh, who had been guarding Seo-yeol and Seo Do-gyeom in Seo I-heum’s absence, spoke in a trembling voice.
Nearby, Chai Ryeong tended to the battered woman’s wounds with a first-aid kit.
“I’m sorry…… it’s all because of us. Truly sorry.”
“……You did nothing wrong.”
Chai Ryeong offered clumsy comfort, her expression heavy with thought.
Beside the weeping woman lay the little girl, still unconscious. Only Seo-yeol, oblivious to the situation, stared at her curiously.
It was a day that felt unreal, like a dream.
But that night, led by Old Man Oh to the hospital, he realized this was undeniable reality.
Seeing his mother, covered in blood and unconscious, and Seo I-heum raging at his wife’s horrific state—it was painfully real.
After that, Baek I-ho and his family vanished. Seo Do-gyeom resented them, blaming everything on them.
But days later, after Lee Sae-rom’s death, he overheard Old Man Oh and Chai Ryeong talking outside the funeral hall.
“Still no contact from Baek I-ho’s side? We dealt with all the lackeys—why would he run? He looked like he needed urgent treatment too.”
“He’s avoiding our contacts, seems determined to hide. And…… it doesn’t add up that this new faction knew and targeted someone so close to the boss.”
Chai Ryeong hesitated, then continued as if resolved.
“I think there might be an accomplice or someone else who planned it.”
“You think so…… Then Baek I-ho’s side is still in danger?”
“Probably—they must resent him for holding off until the boss arrived, preventing them from taking the madam. And trying to save her…… he even lost an arm.”
“Those bastards. Ryeong, have the boys keep tracking them behind the boss’s back. If there’s a mastermind like you say, we have to catch them. Only then will Baek I-ho’s family and our young masters be safe.”
“……Understood.”
Chai Ryeong hesitated before replying. Hearing Old Man Oh reassure her that she wouldn’t be in danger, Seo Do-gyeom buried his face in his knees.
‘Mom’s dead.’
New faction. Someone close to Seo I-heum.
Mulling over their words, tears fell. He’d never hated Seo I-heum before, but for the first time, he resented his father’s dangerous work that could threaten their family.
To a child who didn’t know the full story, it felt like Seo I-heum was the reason Lee Sae-rom died.
Yet seeing his father, too busy caring for his sons to grieve fully, sobbing alone in his room, Seo Do-gyeom couldn’t bring himself to fully blame him.
‘The more precious something is, the more it becomes a target to lose.’
Instead of resentment, he made a vow. If someone ever became precious to him, he would never let others target them.
Keeping them close wasn’t protection—staying away was.
“Isn’t she kinda pretty? I think her name was Baek I-hae.”
Years later, as a high schooler, Seo Do-gyeom met a certain girl.
She was his new deskmate, and also someone who’d been absent from school for days. Rumors said her parents had died in an accident.
Though he paid little attention to others, stories about her somehow reached his ears clearly.
Perhaps because her surname resembled Baek I-ho’s from his childhood, or because he’d never crossed paths with her despite the seat change.
Or maybe because of what Seo I-heum had announced that morning: that someone named Baek I-hae would be living with them from now on.
Most rumors at school were laced with admiration for her. Boys wanted to get close; others praised her quiet demeanor and good grades.
She seemed the complete opposite of Seo Do-gyeom. So he hadn’t intended to pay her any mind. Even on the day she returned, he planned to spend it silently, as always.
“Fuck.”
That is, until he heard the rumored girl mutter a quiet curse.
‘Rumors really can’t be trusted.’
Looking up, her profile was undeniably beautiful—enough to draw the interest she got.
Her light brown hair cascaded with her movements; her pale eyes peeked through long, lowered lashes.
Even Seo Do-gyeom, indifferent to appearances, found it hard to look away—she had a strangely captivating presence.
‘Come to think of it, that girl’s name was Hae too.’
The little girl who’d never woken up before they parted.
He suddenly wondered if her eyes had been this pale color too.
‘Same name…… coincidence?’
Perhaps that’s why. Unlike usual, Seo Do-gyeom asked if she was okay—a rare enough occurrence that the student in front turned in surprise with a small gasp.
“No, I’m not fucking okay.”
……At Baek I-hae’s blunt profanity, Seo Do-gyeom let out a tiny gasp of his own.
