After finishing the payment for the hospital bills, Kim Woohyun tucked his card away and began to walk. Thinking about the credit card statement made his legs feel weak, but…
‘No.’
Compared to when Hyunseung had paid for his mother’s hospital bills last time, this was nothing.
Indeed.
Thanks to Hyunseung’s consideration and support, he was living without any financial worries.
‘I should at least do this much for him.’
As he walked toward Jamal’s hospital room with those thoughts in mind.
“Director.”
He ran into Hyunseung just as he rounded the corner.
“I was just on my way to the room. Is Jamal awake?”
“Yes. Did you finish paying the bills?”
“Yeah, I paid in full for a month’s stay.”
“Please submit the expense report.”
Just as Kim Woohyun was about to decline.
“Come back to the office with me right now.”
With those words, Hyunseung headed toward the hospital lobby.
Somehow, looking at Hyunseung’s back…
‘Is something wrong?’
He looked beyond urgent; he looked positively furious.
.
.
Ever since they got into the car, Hyunseung had kept his gaze fixed out the window.
“U-Um.”
Woohyun glanced sideways at Hyunseung for a moment.
“Did something happen?”
He asked cautiously.
“There’s always plenty of things happening,” Hyunseung replied apathetically, without moving his head.
“No, I didn’t mean it like that. It’s just that when you make a face like that, it usually means it’s no ordinary matter…”
Woohyun adjusted his grip on the steering wheel as if feeling stifled.
“Director.”
Hyunseung finally turned his head and addressed Woohyun.
“Do you know why I decided to come to America?”
Then he posed an ominous question.
“It was to gain power.”
As if he hadn’t intended to wait for an answer, he immediately elaborated.
“I needed power to protect my people. Not just being rich and famous.”
“Money and fame… couldn’t those be considered power in the end?”
“Of course, power can come from having money and being famous.”
Hyunseung fixed his gaze back on the windshield and added firmly.
“But those have clear limits. I came here to gain a power that even those things can’t buy, and an opportunity for that has finally arrived.”
“An opportunity? What kind of opportunity…”
Kim Woohyun blinked and asked back.
“I’m going to proceed with a merger with Unice Music Group.”
At the answer, Woohyun slammed on the brakes.
Screeeeech!
His body lurched forward and back once.
His startled heart wouldn’t stop pounding.
“A merger between Unice Music Group and our VINCIS? Are you serious?”
Kim Woohyun asked again, pinpointing the details, certain he must have misheard.
“Yes. If we do, VINCIS will gain even more formidable power. And now, I intend to boldly reveal that power to the world.”
Hyunseung replied immediately, as if he had no intention of backing down.
“To show what happens when people mess with VINCIS, and with me.”
He clenched his fist tightly and added.
“4Way will be the first example. I heard Kim Wooseok has already been handed over to the prosecution, and they’re waiting for the next trial, linking him with the CEO of JN Ent.”
“Yeah, I was informed about that as well.”
“Yes. And the second case will be Jamal.”
“Jamal? Why Jamal…?”
“The culprit who hit Jamal with a car and fled is Baddy.”
“Ba-Baddy? You mean… that white rapper? The one you sued for racial discrimination this time?”
Kim Woohyun stared at Hyunseung with eyes filled with shock. If that was true, it wasn’t just a simple accident; it was an intentional hit.
It was an incident that could be classified as attempted murder.
“Yes, that’s right.”
However, Hyunseung simply nodded as if it were no big deal.
“The headlines will be spectacular.”
He added with a gesture.
“White supremacist rapper Baddy, intentionally hits Black rapper Jamal with a car and flees… How’s that? It’s provocative, isn’t it?”
For some reason, he looked quite excited.
“Y-Yeah… I suppose so.”
Kim Woohyun suddenly felt immensely relieved that he was one of Hyunseung’s people.
Baddy sat on the sofa in his darkened living room, staring incessantly at his phone.
Scroll, scroll.
For several hours, no articles of that nature had been uploaded.
Which meant…
He hadn’t been caught yet, right?
Click, click!
With an anxious face, Baddy chewed on his fingernails.
Beneath his eyes…
Shadows darker than the night were cast.
Thud!
Baddy eventually tossed his phone onto the coffee table.
“Yeah.”
A foul smile spread across his lips.
“There’s no way God would help a guy like that.”
Before long, that smile widened until his gums were visible, and he looked positively radiant.
Soon, a grotesque laughter echoed throughout the living room.
“A Black bastard who used to just deal drugs dared to act up, and this is what he gets.”
Baddy ground his teeth and muttered to himself.
“I’d prefer if he were dead, though…”
He added in a voice that carried a disturbingly ominous chill.
Baddy regretted that his car was damaged, but when he recalled the image of Jamal flying through the air after being hit, he thought it wasn’t a bad trade-off.
Grind.
However, his anger still wasn’t fully satiated, and he ground his teeth as his eyes flickered with murderous intent.
“Those damn Asians too… I need to kill them…”
Baddy stood up unsteadily and picked up his phone.
Then, with his other hand, he grabbed one of the alcohol bottles strewn about messily and chugged it.
The liquor flowed down his chin and soiled the floor, but he wasn’t in a mental state to care about such things.
Reason was deep in slumber; only instinct was awake.
In that precarious state, Baddy placed a call.
Ring, ring.
The dial tone rang for several seconds.
“Is this bastard ignoring me too?”
Since Baddy was currently devoid of any patience, he furrowed his brow and raised his phone high as if to throw it.
— Hello.
Just then, a voice came through the speaker.
“When you were taking my money, you’d contact me first and nag me. Why are you so slow to pick up now?”
— Well, I’ve eaten enough of your money to be full, so my movements have become a bit sluggish.
At the response, Baddy checked the screen again to make sure he had called the right person.
‘It’s the right one.’
He tilted his head at the sarcastic tone, which was unlike the person’s usual manner. Was he on drugs or something?
“Whatever. Do you have any information on HS?”
— HS?
“Where he lives, what kind of car he drives, the number of bodyguards he has, and even where his younger sister, Min Hyuna, goes often. Anything. All of it.”
But he couldn’t afford to nitpick over a tone right now. He had important business.
— This request sounds a lot like revenge.
“Since when did you care about stuff like that when selling info?”
At those words, a reply mixed with a foul chuckle came from the speaker. “True enough.”
“I don’t care how much you charge, just give me the info. Better yet if it’s something like his Achilles’ heel.”
When Baddy finished speaking, the person on the other end let out a deep hum.
— If it’s HS’s Achilles’ heel, it would be his sister.
A flat answer came back shortly. Baddy didn’t like the way the man was beating around the bush, unlike his usual self.
But for now, he needed the information this man possessed.
“So, give me the info on the sister.”
Baddy spoke, suppressing his anger.
— I don’t know much, but I noticed the sister always takes a walk near the house at the same time. Hmm, if you go now, you might run into her.
The other person provided quite welcome information.
“Now? Where?”
Baddy asked, looking ready to bolt out the door.
— I’ll text you the address. But what are you planning to do?
“None of your business.”
Instead of offering an explanation, he pressed the end call button.
Click.
Then, curling one side of his mouth upward, he muttered.
“I’m just going to turn her into a cripple.”
The next day.
Hyuna left the house early in the morning. It was to go to a newly opened salad shop nearby.
Step, step.
She had only walked a few paces.
Whoosh!
She turned her head, sensing someone behind her.
“What was that…?”
The fog-covered street was beyond quiet; it was eerie.
Thinking it was just her imagination, she started walking again.
Crunch.
The sound of a can being crushed came from behind her.
Hyuna flinched at the sound and discreetly pulled out her phone to type.
[Oppa, where are you?]
It was to send a text to her brother, Hyunseung.
[I just came out to get a salad near the house, but I think someone is following me. Could you possibly come…?]
However, she didn’t finish the rest of the text.
The office where her brother was was far from here anyway.
He was likely busy and stressed enough as it was, and she didn’t want to add to his worries.
Step, step.
Hyuna held her head high and began walking naturally again.
Yes, it’s probably nothing.
She walked with that thought, but the presence following her grew stronger.
As if they had no intention of hiding anymore.
The bold footsteps chased closely behind her.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
In response, Hyuna’s pace grew more urgent.
Before long, a chase with an unknown figure had begun.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
Hyuna was out of breath, but she couldn’t stop.
Given what had happened recently…
Even if something happened to her right now, there was no one on the street to help, so she had to escape on her own.
Thump, thump, thump, thump!
Gaining speed, the moment she turned a corner into an alleyway.
Thud!
She collided with someone.
“Pl-Please, help me!”
Hyuna grabbed the man and pleaded.
“Hmm, I’ve seen this face before.”
Though he was hard to see due to the shadows, the man, who somehow exuded an extraordinary aura, muttered something incomprehensible.
His hulking physique and the thick hands gripping her shoulders seemed extremely dangerous.
“Ple-Please…”
Instinctively, Hyuna could tell that the person chasing her and this man were part of the same group.
Step.
At that moment, the sound of footsteps rounding the corner was heard.
Hyuna was so paralyzed with fear that even tears wouldn’t come.
“O-Oppa…”
With her head hung low, there was nothing she could do but tremble her frail shoulders. She should have just called her brother.
Asked him to help her.
Told him it was dangerous.
Begged him to come.
It was too late for regrets; she was already a rat in a trap.
A rat caught in a dark alley with nowhere to run, front or back…
“Hey, country mouse.”
Yes, I’m a mouse…
“Mouse…?”
Hyuna slowly turned her head toward the familiar voice.
“If you were going to ask where I was, you should have checked your phone.”
Standing there was the person she wanted to see most in this world, her brother.
“O-Oppa…”
Tears finally burst forth the moment she saw his face.
“She’s got good cardiovascular endurance.”
Then, the man who had been blocking Hyuna spoke.
“Uh, uh…”
As her eyes grew accustomed to the darkness, the man’s face became very familiar.
Yes, this person was…
“Villain Daddy…”
Hyuna muttered as she looked up at Executive Director Park.
“Ha, well, it’s been a while since I was called by that name. Quite embarrassing.”
Executive Director Park, seemingly pleased inwardly, brushed his hair back with a twitching smile.
Finally.
Hyuna’s legs gave out, and she collapsed where she stood.
“Sniff, hic, ugh, waaaaaah!”
She burst into sorrowful tears like a young child.
“H-Hyuna. Hey, why are you suddenly crying?”
“Hey, why are you making your sister cry?”
“The Director looks so menacing that the kid got scared out of her wits.”
Leaving Hyuna aside, Hyunseung and Executive Director Park just looked at each other, not knowing what to do.
“Waaaaah! Really, hic, I thought a scary person was going to hurt me, hic, do you know how much…”
Then Executive Director Park signaled Hyunseung to comfort her.
“I’m sorry for scaring you.”
Hyunseung knelt on one knee awkwardly and patted Hyuna’s back.
“I mean, ugh, why would you follow a person, hic, without saying a word. Waaaaah!”
“I thought you’d look back at least once.”
“You jerk, hic, how could I look back in that situation!”
Hyunseung, who was struck on the back by Hyuna, bit his lower lip and suppressed a groan.
“Hyuna’s got good strength too. This will be worth raising.”
Director Park, watching the scene, nodded with a satisfied smile.
“Hyuna, look at me.”
Hyunseung grabbed Hyuna’s shoulders and met her eyes.
“From now on, there will be absolutely no one who can hurt you. So, don’t worry about a thing.”
Hyuna felt a sense of relief at those words and burrowed into her brother’s arms.
“O-Oppa…”
As she rubbed her face against Hyunseung’s chest like a pouting child.
“But it would be good for you to become strong enough to protect yourself, wouldn’t it?”
“Huh?”
“From now on, this teacher will be in charge of guiding you.”
Hyunseung pulled Hyuna away and pointed at Director Park.
“Now, take my hand and get up.”
Director Park held out a menacing palm toward Hyuna and added.
“I’ll specially make sure you’re reborn as the Villain Sister.”
“I, I don’t need that…”
“There’s no need to feel pressured. It’s a very easy task for me.”
“It’s, it’s not that…”
At this very moment.
Hyuna only wished that this situation was a dream.
T/N: The rollercoaster of emotions this chapter put me through…
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