Apollo’s Heart

Chapter 96

I’m sorry. You can’t leave the house for a while.

The guards had blocked Yuri’s way to the airport. With bag and baggage, she stood at the door in a daze. The first-class ticket to New York City in hand became but a useless piece of trash. And as such, her sentence had begun.

Only the man knew how many days she would be spending locked within the walls of this house. In the end, she had no choice but to come up with a last-minute excuse to her uncle for her abrupt cancellation of plans.

Manager Choi could not stay still out of guilt although the situation was not her fault. But no matter how sorry she felt, there was nothing she could do. Pity the girl as she may, but the truth was she lacked all the courage to go against her master.

A lot had changed since that night. Some changes were shocking, while some expected.  Sebastian had moved elsewhere. Yes, the taxidermied dog that had adorned the mantle in the living room had relinquished his abode of years giving the place a somewhat deserted feel.

The master of the house had not returned once, not even his shadow had been spotted on the premises. The clothes, shoes, and bags that were occasionally delivered had stopped too. Those were no ordinary gifts. Even Yuri, who had no interest in fashion brands, could tell they were all from the most luxurious designer brands.  As such the house only had her and the servants along with Manager Choi and bodyguards.

It had been a while since she had had quiet nights especially after getting together with Tae-jun. Most nights she would be so spent that before she even knew it she would have slipped into a deep slumber. She didn’t prefer to sleep that way but what choice did she have in the matter. She was someone who liked her nights peaceful, perhaps ‘cause she was apprehensive about the man?

Why then was she having a hard time sleeping now since she was left to her peace?

That’s right, ‘ever since’ sleep had evaded her. She would just lay in her bed, surrounded in darkness, staring at the ceiling … letting her mind wander to where not … but sleep, she did not.

And today was no exception. After hours of turning off the lights and lying in bed, she was still fidgeting wide awake. She pressed her head onto the pillow and counted the days. One, two, three … it had already been a week now.

The first two days were absolutely intimidating. So much so that she jumped at her own shadow. She was afraid that Tae-jun would come back to embrace her body … violently once again. She was scared she would be pinned down again and rammed into mercilessly. She was battered and bruised, mentally and physically … and the wounds just refused to heal.

When the third day arrived, she still couldn’t shake the man off her chest. His deep dark eyes, frigid voice, nonchalant visage kept haunting her, no matter how tight she closed her eyes, shut her ears. Thus, the girl was confined in a dismal dungeon that she just couldn’t escape from.

The changes in her behaviour didn’t go unnoticed by Manager Choi. Although she didn’t know the exact situation of their relationship, she saw that Yuri was preoccupied with thoughts of Tae-jun day in and day out. She was an experienced lady, so although she didn’t know what had transpired between the two, she still felt sympathetic towards the girl who was on house arrest now. So, this day, she had subtly apprised her on the director’s impending business trip to Busan.

He must loathe me now. He’ll never look for me again. Then … what will happen to the contract? Well actually, it’s good if it ends here. A relationship with an expiration might as well let it expire early. 

“Ah!”

Yuri cried out and put her hand on her forehead. She had begun to hear voices again, this happened every time she was sleep deprived. She had not slept for days together, so it was only natural to experience them now. It would begin with images constantly hounding her, followed by a voice echoing in her mind. Slowly the images would disappear, leaving behind just the voice.

She tried to block it by reading a book or watching TV, but each time she was interrupted by a constant headache. No matter what she did, she couldn’t rid herself of the torture. She had lost her appetite now, eating meals were akin to a task. She carried it out mechanically, just because her body needed it.

When she held her pencil and drew to kill time, without her realizing, she would end up sketching the one face. Each time she would capture a different facade … a sober face, his angry mien … when he was focused on s*x, his smile, frown … every emotion she had seen would be traced, sheet after sheet. And when she would be done, she would sit gazing at her creation for a long, long time.

A week, 7 days, 168 hours. Actually, it’s been longer now?

Yuri shook, turned her head again, and thought about the meaning behind it all. Going through these motions like clockwork every day, what was the use? Where was she getting to? Her health was on a downward spiral from drug withdrawal. How much longer could she take it? Now that she wasn’t getting enough sleep, she was missing the rough s*x she had with him. She wasn’t sure if she was falling asleep or losing her consciousness.

How much more devastated do you want me to feel?

The woe filled voice lingered on in her ears, tugging at her heart even now. In all honesty, she had never wanted to make him feel miserable. Instead, she was trying to conceal her own miseries from him. When he had barged in demanding an answer, she was flustered and infuriated that her most embarrassing secret had been exposed. She was desperately fumbling to cover it up and chose defiance as her shield. The truth was murky, she unkempt- how could she strip herself before him?

Funny how she wanted to appear flawless before him like something one can never achieve no matter how hard and badly one wanted it. Something that stayed in the heart, like a dream or an illusion. Just like how he was to her.

In the end, Tae-jun had shattered her dream to pieces, shredded the fantasy, and abruptly pulled her back to reality.

When the ringing in her ears became louder, she frantically got up from the bed. There was no way she could go to sleep tonight. She hurriedly went down to the basement, perhaps the aimless doodling would bring her some respite. If not, the ringing was sure to drive her insane.

Inexplicably, the scent of the paint and wood in the basement studio soothed her taut nerves. Yuri took a deep gulp of air, turned on the lights, and started sifting through her sketchbook. Right then, a small envelope fell to the ground from between the pages. It was something that was mixed with gifts from Tae-jun.

As soon as she caught sight of the envelope, Yuri instinctively knew it’s the same thing from last time. She could ask Manager Choi to get rid of it but she let it stay. Maybe she wanted to remind herself that the two might be playing a couple, but in fact, their relationship was nothing more than a passing affair. No matter how pitiful it was to think about it, it was still true.

Yuri debated on whether she should open the envelope or not. As she fiddled with it, she could feel the contents, it seemed like there were photographs inside. Whoever had sent it, seemed to have a penchant for sending photos, this was the second time she was receiving one.

She had a feeling, just like last time, these photos would bring her no good. Thinking up to her, she casually ripped it open but what greeted her was beyond her imagination … she screamed her guts out.

“Wha-What is this?!”