Apollo’s Heart

Chapter 95

The next morning Jin-wook was summoned to Tae-jun’s office. Just as he was stepping out of the elevator, he bumped into Manager Choi right in front of the director’s office.

Jin-wook was familiar with Manager Choi, as she had worked for Tae-jun for quite a few years. He also knew that she was to accompany Yuri Han to America.

Isn’t she supposed to be on the plane right now? Then why is she standing here?

Unable to hold in his curiosity, Jin-wook asked her.  “Weren’t you supposed to go to America today? Why are you still here?”

“Yeah, but it got suddenly canceled.” Manager Choi replied.

“Cancelled?! Why?” He was taken aback.

“I’m not sure. I think they had an argument … he told me not to let her out of the house for a while.”

An argument, for what reason? Jin-wook made a mental note to ask Tae-jun about it as he entered the assistant’s office. when he spotted him, Manager Lee sent him a desperate signal for help.

Something’s up. Jin-wook gently knocked and entered the director’s office. Tae-jun was going over his paperwork.

“You must have had a bit too much drink.”

Tae-jun was hiding his face with a pair of very thick glasses, but Jin-wook was able to notice easily. In college, the two used to go to bars to drink, although he never won against Tae-jun in drinking games.

“I guess I lost control.”

The last time he lost control so dramatically was four years ago, after confirming Hye-yeon Jin’s death. But didn’t he have the woman by his side right now? If he allowed her to go to America in the first place, they must’ve been close enough to be friends.

Tae-jun handed the papers to Jin-wook without adding any words. “It’s about K Pharmaceuticals. Find the bastard that vanished and deal with him firsthand. And make sure to follow me on the trip to Busan the day after tomorrow.”

Normally Manager Lee joined the business trips, but from how he asked Jin-wook to go instead, this trip must be confidential.

“Is it complicated to explain?”Jin-wook asked.

“A little. Some iffy stuff in between things.” Tae-jun impassively replied.

“How many employees would you like to bring?”

“No need for many. Two would be enough.”

“Yes sir. Oh, and about the investigation on Yuri Han’s father-”

“Put that on hold for now.” Tae-jun sharply interrupted Jin-wook. He frowned and took off his glasses. Then he massaged his temples as if he had a headache.

“I beg your pardon?” Jin-wook was confused. He was the one who wanted him to dig, and yet now he seemed uninterested …

“Don’t want to see for a while.” He clarified.

However, the sensitive Jin-wook noticed the voice full of aching. He doesn’t want to see what for a while. The research? Possibly Yuri Han? But he knew better than to prod, the reticent man had already said too much. In the end, he just kept his silence and exited the office.

All alone in his office now, Tae-jun rose and walked to the window, took out a cigarette, and leaned on the sill. He didn’t want to see. He didn’t want to see whom? He didn’t want to see … the reflection of himself in the window.

There was no denying that what he had done last night was r*pe. Since when did he treat women that way? The man was a ruthless, savage master, but never had he forced himself onto anyone. Neither was he wanton nor willful when it came to women. He had always treated them in a dignified manner, else why would he be so sought after by the fairer sex despite changing partners often?

Anger and disdain culminated into self-hatred and together they devoured every iota of his being. His act was no different from that of a savage beast … abominable & heinous. No amount of self-loathing could purge his barbarism.

Truth was, he wasn’t mad at the drug itself. He was mad at how she treated her body so carelessly. Like it were an object that wasn’t concerned with herself … it was like she had a death wish, indulging in those medicines. But the bigger truth was, he was furious that she was ruining the body that would one day bear his children.

Yes, that was the actual triggering factor …

It’s just the way you know. I did drugs. So what? And what does that have to do with you?

              There’s no difference between me and that dog you stuffed by 

yourself! I’m not your possession!

Does it annoy you that your Barbie doll is a drug addict? Does it disgust you that you made out with such filth?

Yuri’s dramatic reaction was shocking enough to derange Tae-jun. He was so exasperated that his eyes alternated between red and black. He wanted to seem like a good man, but his effort to withhold his true emotions exposed his violent streak to the maximum. In the end, the demon within had reigned over and how.

Scenes from the night inundated his senses – how Yuri turned her head away, shut her eyes allowing him to shake her body like a lifeless being. He didn’t know when she had abandoned hope, but those stifled painful moans still pierced his heart.

Why had he not noticed them then? Why had he gotten carried away by the savagery?!

Pain was a byword to the ple@sures that would follow. Every time they had been intimate, no matter how much time he spent in caressing and stimulating her, she would still be wreathed with pain … he didn’t dare imagine how much she had suffered when he had penetrated so forcefully without care or precaution? When he had hounded and pounded her underneath …  Even while trembling to her fingertips, she had not made a squeak. Except for the few errant mo*ns when he had moved intensely, the girl seemed to have shut her lips and the world around.

Her response or lack thereof only served to infuriate him further. Had she cried out loud, screamed in pain, or even apologized, his fury wouldn’t have been fueled to beyond limit, he would’ve even been lenient towards her. The manner in which she had withstood it all was as if it were some kind of a challenge she had no choice but to go through. Needless to say, it was the very thing that had driven him crazy. It was as if the time they spent together was time for Yuri to patiently endure.

I’m just the worst.

The man reflected in the window bitterly admitted his sin. He inhaled deeply into his cigarette and sighed out a puff of smoke. The smoke veiled the man.