LLU 43

The atmosphere turned icy cold, as if someone had poured cold water over it.

A short silence passed. My mother seemed to have read the tremor in my voice. Realizing that something was seriously wrong, she nodded with a bewildered expression.

“Okay, let’s go out. Honey, it looks like Woonie has something he wants to talk to me about.”

“Hm…”

Chairman Choi looked unmistakably displeased. It was understandable from his perspective—finally gathered together, yet leaving before properly enjoying the refreshments.

However, no matter how reluctant he felt, there was no surface-level reason for him to outright oppose my mother and me going out. In the end, Chairman Choi nodded with a reluctant face.

“All right then. Have a good time.”

“I’ll get ready quickly and come out. Oon-ah, wait just a moment.”

My mother soon went into the room, handed the baby to the sitter, and came back out with an outer coat and her handbag. In the meantime, I had sat on the sofa and called a taxi, so I immediately stood up.

“Take the car. I’ll assign a driver for you.”

Choi Junghan looked up at me and said in a kind tone. I immediately shook my head.

“I already called a taxi. It’s fine.”

“Take the car. It’s not that big a deal.”

From the side, Chairman Choi spoke, unable to hide his irritation. My mother, who had finished preparing to go out and was standing beside me, hurriedly interjected with a flustered look.

“Yes, Oon-ah. Let’s take the car. There are so many drivers here—why call a taxi?”

There was no time left to continue a pointless argument. If Choi Junghan’s people were attached to us, it would be troublesome in many ways, but right now the priority was to get out of here quickly. I had no choice but to cancel the taxi call.

I had no idea what his staff might do, so I needed to go to the most crowded place possible. It would be difficult for them to pull any dirty tricks in a place swarming with eyes. I quickly made that plan in my head and bowed to Chairman Choi.

“Then we’ll be going.”

“All right. Be careful.”

The last person to say goodbye to me was Choi Junghan.

“Have a good time. You’ll come straight back to our house later, right?”

With the gentle resonance of his words, he smiled readily and waved his hand. His attitude of seeing me off without any restraint was so natural that the fact I had been confined in his house for months, unable to go anywhere, felt like a dream.

Fucking bastard, talking about “our house” like that.

The impulse to kill him right here and now surged up violently. But since I did not have a knife in my hand at the moment and a shred of reason still remained, I simply stared at him expressionlessly without answering.

A strange tension lingered for a few seconds. My mother poked my side anxiously from beside me. Only then did I reluctantly force out a “Yes.”

“Woonie seems a bit strange today.”

“He said his condition wasn’t great when we were leaving the house earlier.”

Such words drifted through the slowly closing front door before disappearing.

I stepped out into the garden with my mother. The car Choi Junghan had prepared was waiting for us. As my mother and I sat side by side in the back seat, the driver glanced back through the rearview mirror and asked.

“Where would you like to go?”

“XX Coffee at Exit 10 of Gangnam Station.”

I deliberately named the largest chain café that was most likely to be crowded. It was not too far from Hannam-dong, yet in case of an emergency, it was a place where we could easily disappear into the crowd.

The driver replied that he understood and drove off without another word. My mother looked at my desperate face and asked nothing. She simply blinked her large eyes and gazed at me anxiously.

I was extremely grateful that my mother did not tactlessly ask questions in the car. Though he appeared indifferent while driving, the driver’s ears were essentially Choi Junghan’s ears.

Finally, the car arrived. Seeing the busy crowds passing through the streets, the heavy lump that had been pressing down on my chest suddenly loosened. Freedom. The time left until I could grasp that shimmering thing right in front of me was now very short.

“I’ll wait here.”

“No. It looks like the conversation will take a while. Please head back first.”

I stated clearly and took my mother’s hand as we got out of the car. Only after the car completely disappeared from sight did I enter the chain café in front of us.

I ordered two coffees and went up to the second floor. Since it was the weekend, the place was packed with people. I scanned the surroundings, barely found a seat, and sat my mother down. My mother, who had followed me silently amid my grim demeanor all this time, cautiously opened her mouth.

“Oon-ah. Can I ask what’s going on now?”

“……”

“What on earth is happening? Did someone hit you again? Is that why you’re like this right now?”

Her worried tone gradually sharpened. It seemed the memory of her son coming home beaten had been quite a shock.

Even though I had anticipated and planned for this situation, my mouth still would not open easily. No matter how many times I had steeled myself before coming, bluntly laying out every detail of what had been done to me all this time was not going to be easy.

My tightly clenched fist trembled violently. My mouth dried up completely. I pressed my fist hard against my heart, which had begun pounding wildly.

After taking several deep breaths, I finally opened my mouth.

“Mom.”

“Mmm, say whatever it is comfortably. It’s okay. Mom will take care of everything, so just tell me comfortably…”

“…I…”

My throat closed up. It took more time to drag out the words that felt as heavy as stones.

“All this time… I’ve been… by…”

“What? By who?”

The end of the sentence lost shape and cowardly crawled back down my throat. At my broken, halting words, my mother blinked in confusion, unable to understand right away. She leaned her upper body toward me and asked loudly.

“What did you say, Oon-ah?”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Yellow and black swirls spun in front of me. I clenched my fist so hard it shook. I took one deep, painful breath in, then let it out.

Finally, when I opened my eyes, I spoke.

“…All this time, I’ve been beaten… and raped… by Choi Junghan.”