Apollo’s Heart

Chapter 31 – A Man and a Woman (1)

Hye-seong could feel the wrath permeating through his collar, he felt suffocated. He neither flinched nor moved, looking straight into the towering, demonic orbs of his captor.

“I. Don’t. Believe. It!” Tae-jun spat out word by word through gritted teeth.

“Why…” There was some disbelief in the voice.

“Had she asked, I would have given her a lot more!”

It was as if he was sledgehammered. Hye-seong went numb all over, his lips went dry. Deep inside, he knew how ruthless a man Tae-jun was. To say he was a devil personified, would be an understatement. His instincts were screaming to him: to survive, he had to tell the truth!

He licked his parched lips, then looked squarely at the other. “I heard it directly from Yuri.”

Tae-jun took a drag deep into his lungs. Nicotine soothed his mind. He was able to make better decisions under the influence. He gazed at the man with measured eyes.

 

Could he believe this man’s words?

“The Yuri Han I knew wasn’t interested in money. She had no desire for materialistic things.” He countered.

He was clearer than anyone about the kind of woman she was. Money? Ha! That woman was wooden; no matter how expensive the gift, it would never evoke so much as a glint in her eyes, let alone a smile! What’s more, when she had actually disappeared, all she brought along was her small handbag. The jewels, bags, even cards, and cash, she’d left them all behind.

But she sold herself for money?

“Yes, that’s what Yuri was… originally. But you ruined it all!”

Abruptly, unable to contain himself, Hye-seong lashed out.

He remembered Yuri all too well. Pretty, shining like a gem… he had first seen her when she had first moved into the staff quarters in their premises with her father.

 

He knew her better than anyone else, for she was that woman who would be standing right next to him now, if only his father, President Myung-je Jin, had not been infatuated with an unspeakable offer by Tae-jun. That one offer… ruined everything!

“Because of me? You sure know to joke!”

At Tae-jun’s sarcastic remarks, Hye-seong’s long-suppressed anguish burst forth as screams, shrouding the room into a melancholic languor.

“If only you hadn’t mistaken her identity! No, it wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t been looking at her in the first place! My father didn’t suggest anything to her! She never went to you on her own!”

Tae-jun glared at the man coldly. The image of a man walking side by side with Yuri Han struck him.

I see. This guy, he liked her. Because of his father’s coercion, he lost Yuri to me! She was also his sister’s friend.

“Stop talking nonsense! Your father should have told me. The woman I wanted was Yuri Han, not Hye-yeon Jin. Of course, that meant the Hotel Jinseong sale deal would not go through. In-bae Lee, who’d lost his campaign funds, would have tried to kill your father. That’s why you shut up. No?”

Tae-jun harshly shoved Hye-seong away by his collar. The man flopped down on the sofa helplessly.

Tae-jun stared at him with his expressionless face and sharp eyes.

“How much was it?”

Hye-seong kept mum. Tae-jun’s patience dissipated as seconds ticked by. He asked slowly again.

“Don’t test my patience. How much was Yuri Han’s ransom?”

“I don’t know. It was my father who made the deal.”

“What happened to the real Hye-yeon Jin? Accident? It happened at that time when Yuri Han disappeared.”

“It is her, my sister died. Hye-yeon… she became a little unstable–impulsive. The family had a hard time coping because of the Hotel Jinseong.”

Hye-seong spoke in a calm tone.

What the hell is it? Why does it feel like there’s something more to it? A sense of incompatibility that is hard to pinpoint… Tae-jun thought.

Tae-jun started grilling again.

“What a coincidence! Do you know where Yuri Han is now?”

“… I heard she went to America. She has an uncle in New York.”

“If she returned to Korea, where would she be?”

“She has no relatives here. Because her family resides in America, and her father is dead, too.

Suddenly, Hye-seong looked blank. Realization passed through his face as his mouth formed into a grin.

“Did you, by any chance, see her?”

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Yeah, that’s it!

Tae-jun’s silence confirmed Hye-seong’s suspicions.

“You saw Yuri Han, didn’t you? You saw her in Korea, right? But haven’t found her yet! That’s why you captured me now. To find her. Aren’t you tired of being with her for a year? Or, was she great in bed? If I’d known it was that great, I would have…f*ck!”

As he spoke, he felt a sharp kick on his shin, he held his breath as he turned crimson so that he would not speak further, sweat dripped from his forehead.

Tae-jun tilted his head at an angle and stared straight into his eyes.