The Cutting Edge

009

Ares dragged Hyejin out of the room and all the way to the pantry. Turning on the tap, he held her bleeding palm under the running water. "You need to wash it properly, or else you could get an infection," he murmured. "I've seen someone get a cut from stepping on some glass during dance practice, and because he didn't get it cleaned properly the wound started festering and he ended up being hospitalised for an entire week because of it. Bacteria infection."

Hyejin winced as the water came in contact with the cut. Biting her lower lip, she tried not to make a sound, just in case she appeared like a wimp. As she listened to Ares speak, a rather grotesque image of someone's festering foot came into mind, pustules and all.

"It's not that serious," she said, retracting her hand quickly.

It was awkward having Ares hold on to her wrist so tightly. The few people they had passed along the way to the pantry had tossed them questioning glances, and she knew that rumours would start flying all over the salon pretty soon. It didn't help that Ares was the reason why she was even here in the first place.

She backed away a couple of steps, putting some distance between the two of them.

"Thanks," she mumbled.

Ares frowned, studying her sullen expression carefully. "Are things not going well for you here?" he asked, a tinge of concern in his voice. "I thought it would have been a good thing, getting you to come here, because you could learn a lot more here than back in your father's barber shop. You don't look very happy though..."

"Am I supposed to be happy?" she scoffed. "I'm not the one who asked to come here. What makes you think you know what's good for me and what's not?"

Now that she thought about it carefully, the one responsible for her current misery wasn't Yoon Ji-eun or Kang Hyunwon, it was this man standing in front of her with that innocent look on his unfairly handsome face. If not for him, she would never have been caught in this slave contract in the first place! The older folk always told her that if you did a good deed for someone else, you would always have it paid back in kind—obviously that was just a lie they told gullible children, because she was suffering for the supposed "good deed" that she had done for Ares.

Ares looked a little hurt by her harsh tone, the corners of his lips tilting downwards slightly. "I'm sorry, did I say something wrong? I didn't mean to upset you."

"Lovers' tiff?" a third voice interrupted the conversation. "Ares, I know you're used to being able to do whatever you want whenever you want, but I'd like to remind you that this is my territory and that is my employee you are currently distracting." Turning to Hyejin, Hyunwon arched an eyebrow and said, "I thought I told you to go over to the VIP room. Were my instructions not clear enough?"

"I already brought the tea over," Hyejin mumbled. And got humiliated because of it.

"Is that so?" Hyunwon asked in seeming disbelief. He glanced downwards and caught sight of the cut on her hand that had begun to bleed a little again. Walking over to the cupboards, he opened one of the lower ones and took out a first-aid box. Flipping it open, he fished out a plaster and handed it to Hyejin. "I can't have blood dripping around my salon," he said. "A hairstylist's most valuable asset are our hands. What kind of a stylist are you if you can't even take care of your hands properly?"

Turning around, he headed for the door, saying, "Report back to the VIP room immediately once you're done sorting out your incompetencies."

"Hyunwon, you know what sort of personality Ji-eun has, surely you can get one of the more senior assistants to help you instead?" Ares voiced out. Although Hyejin hadn't said anything, he sort of guessed what had happened based on his own knowledge of Ji-eun—she was one of the most difficult artistes in the circuit.