The governor's daughter looked almost bored as she scanned her surroundings, tapping a slender finger against the marble countertop.
Suit and egos, painted smiles, sharp mouths.
It was hard to find a soul in the Finance Ministry's headquarters that wasn't in a state of decomposition, eroded by an insatiable hunger for power.
"You are...?" The lady across the counter was clearly intimidated by what must be an expressionless mask on her face.
"Yoon Seri."
Her curtness resulted in an awkward pause.
"...may I know the purpose of your visit?"
"I want to see Secretary Cha."
A slight frown grew between the receptionist's brows.
"Ma'am, you cannot just barge in here and request to see the Secretary. He is a very busy man, and you'd need to make an appointment to—"
"Cha Sang Woo is my fiancé." Her voice was unwavering. "I need to see him now."
As the increasingly flustered receptionist bowed and disappeared behind a door at the back of the frontdesk, the governor's daughter drew a deep breath to calm her nerves.
Even at this point, she didn't know if this was a good idea. Maybe she should have waited for her father to return to Seoul, but what was the point really?
Seri loved her parents, and knew that the love was mutual, but to tell them that her fiance had sent men to savagely attack a man whom she had developed forbidden feelings for...that just wasn't an option.
But more importantly, this incident had made the typically complaisant and resilient nurse realize her tolerance was far more finite than she had assumed it to be.
Perhaps time will tame this burning rage within her, but for now, in the face of this transient stress, she was ready to protect Jeong Hyeok with whatever she had, as little as that might be.
She could only hope this inferno within her wouldn't reduce all of them to smoldering cinders.
It took a few minutes before the frontdesk lady re-emerged, wearing an apologetic smile on her lips.
"Miss Yoon, Mr Cha says he will see you now. Please let me show you to his office."
"Thank you."
Going up two flights of steps with the receptionist lady leading the way, the governor's daughter came to a heavy dark wood door that separated her and the man she was about to confront.
Even at this point, Seri didn't know what to say.
Her mind fought and strained against the confines of logic, reminding her again and again that she should at the very least wait for her father to return to Seoul.
Two gentle knocks on the wooden door formed the conclusion to her thoughts.
It was too late to turn back.
The receptionist knocked again, and the necessary formalities were exchanged. Before long, Seri found herself standing in the doorway, met with a handsome face that was painted with the same detached formality she saw on the other faces in the building.
"What a rare visitor," Sang Woo started, taking his glasses off to massage his nose bridge before rising from his seat. "To whom do I owe the pleasure?"
Even if there was guilt-- a mere ounce of it-- she wasn't seeing any in his tone and features. He was in politics after all; masking emotions was all part and parcel of this game.
The lean, boyish figure walked closer in her direction, wearing a half-smile. Up close, Seri could see it.
In those features, lingered a smugness which she soon identified as accompaniment to what Sang Woo clearly regarded as a personal victory.
"You actually came all the way from Seoul to Gyeonggi. Let me guess..." He shoved his hands into his pockets, casting a glance at his shoes before looking up to pin her gaze. "You can't possibly be here for lunch with me, can you?"
Seri held her tongue, using the silence to assess the situation.
"Seri, Seri, Seri."
The languid, condescending drawl of her name only irked her further— Sang Woo's tone clearly indicated that he had automatically assumed his victory over her, and her acceptance of defeat. It was as if she was a child, being reprimanded for not knowing better.
"We should always have been like that, shouldn't we? I am so happy to see you." The bureaucrat added, his eyes softening sinisterly.
Honestly, it would have been a tender look, but knowing that it came after he had committed such a heinous act of violence only scared the governor's daughter more.
The pretentiousness wasn't even something she was able to keep up with. It disgusted her, sending chills flooding her system.
"Where shall we go for lunch later? I will take you out for some Gwacheon specialties."
"Do you even have a shred of conscience in you?" Unable to maintain the facade, Seri seethed, cutting the conversation short.
Sang Woo did not even look surprised at her words. Clearly, she wasn't the only one who knew this was going to be an ugly confrontation.
The young bureaucrat went straight to the point.
"That scumbag deserved it."
In a moment which she could only best describe as pure hysteria and blind rage, Seri drew back her hand and slapped him forcefully across the face.
The smack of flesh striking flesh echoed through the tiny confines of the office, before the stinging, humiliating slap echoed on Sang Woo's cheek.
"How dare you—"
Slap!
The second slap sent the bureaucrat's face reeling unceremoniously to the side. Driven by the anger and agony coursing through her veins, Seri raised her hand to deliver a third slap, only for it to be met with forceful resistance.
A painful grip wrapped itself around her wrist, before a heavy hand met her cheek and ear in a resounding slap.
Not expecting the amount of force behind that blow, the governor's daughter fell unceremoniously on her knees to sprawl on the couch behind her.
"You hit me? You hit me? You hit me because of a useless, handiscapped man?"
For a moment or two, Seri felt genuine fear as self-control slipped through the cracks in the well-groomed facade of the man before her. His voice was a harsh whisper, betraying hints of what she thought certainly to be some form of insanity.
Instinctively pressing a palm to her cheek, trying hard to ignore the ringing in her ear, Seri turned to meet Sang Woo's eyes. "Captain Ri isn't useless in any way. You are. You didn't even have the guts to do this with your own hands. You had to pay others to do your dirty work!"
"Captain Ri, Captain Ri...the shameless way you're calling him that disgusts me. The nerve of you, Yoon Seri."
A small cry of shock escaped her when a masculine hand grabbed a fistful of the fabric at her collar to pull her up to meet a face filled with rage and hostility.
"How dare you come all the way here, showing no signs of remorse for your promiscuity and betrayal of our engagement, to disrespect me further." Sang Woo's voice was dangerously hushed, clearly unwilling for anyone else in the neighboring rooms to hear their confrontational exchange.
Cheek stinging with heat and pain, Seri blinked back hot tears, replying in a louder voice that was equally steely.
"Why are you trying to keep your voice down? You hope to continue wearing your fancy facade? To me, you are nothing but a sick, violent bastard."
Those words only served to fuel the bureaucrat's rage.
"Get this clear, you filthy wench. I am not the one who betrayed my betrothed. You have disgraced me. You have disgraced me by fraternizing with that worthless cripple, living in his home, obviously doing things that no proper woman would do—"
"We did not cross the line. Stop maligning Captain Ri, he was helping me. He is an honorable man."
The problem with being confronted on this topic was the fact that her conscience knew she wasn't being entirely truthful.
She had kissed Jeong Hyeok, and had even gone beyond kisses, and enjoyed every moment thoroughly.
Hearing Seri's reply pushed the young man's lips into a condescending smirk. "Honorable? Riding together so closely on a bicycle? An honorable man would neither be holding an engaged woman's hand, nor looking at her all the time even as they rebuilt a stall destroyed by riots!"
Eyes widening in shock, the governor's daughter looked up at the man she thought she knew, and had always assumed to be respectful and polite. "What is this about? You stalked us?"
With each line exchanged, Seri felt her heart grow increasingly cold.
It was all unfolding into a nightmare, one which she was living and had no means of escaping from.
"I am only ensuring that no one takes what is mine. You are mine, Seri. You are my fiancée and mine only. I have been chosen by the governor, I am the rightful future son-in-law of the Yoon family."
Unable to believe her ears, the governor's daughter asked, "What is the point of all this? You don't even care for me. This is clearly not working out, we are not suited for each other."
"That's rubbish!" The young bureaucrat roared in her face, not caring even when Seri visibly flinched and turned her head to the side. "You are only saying this because of that cripple. We were doing just fine before he came into the picture! We were fine!"
She was impossibly tempted to retort, to add that Jeong Hyeok had long been in the picture since years ago, in a way that only fate could explain.
"What we share is an arranged marriage, Sang Woo. We are not bound by mutual feelings, and neither am I obliged to behave like your property. Now, I am asking for you to leave Captain Ri alone."
By now, those boyish features were marred hideously by barely-controlled anger. Eyes widened, lips trembling with slipping self-control, the young man spat the words out, "I will leave him alone if you promise to know your place from now."
"What do you mean, Sang Woo?" The war had definitely hardened her in ways she didn't even realize, Seri thought as she asked cautiously.
Without warning, a pair of unfamiliar lips pressed itself painfully against hers, to the point where it hurt.
Her cry of shock and disgust was muffled as she thrashed against her fiancé's hold, her hands fighting to punch and push him away from her being.
The lips on hers left, and the tight grip on her collar loosened abruptly before she sank back into the couch in a heavy heap.
With a condescending sneer, the young bureaucrat spat bitterly. "I have no doubt this wasn't how you behaved when that cripple touched you."
Seri stayed silent as she drew the back of her hand over her lips; the problem with these accusations was that they were true.
"What do you want from me?"
"I want you to stop seeing Ri Jeong Hyeok." Those words came swiftly without hesitation, telling her just how much Sang Woo had rehearsed those lines in his mind.
Her instinct was to protest this disrespectful request. "You can't just tell me to stop..."
"He's at the National University Hospital, isn't he?"
The color drained from her face; every move of theirs was being watched. Knowing Sang Woo, she wouldn't even be surprised if he had paid some thugs or bribed police officers to do so.
"...don't you dare." She hoped she sounded intimidating enough, but the fear in her voice was almost palpable. The Fifth Company boys were taking turns to visit their Captain at the hospital, but there were nonetheless gaps in the roster as everyone had their own lives to lead.
"What do you think I should do with the cripple? Should I break his other leg? Or his hands?"
The wash of bone-chilling cold that left her momentarily speechless was unlike anything she had felt.
"You're insane...you're absolutely insane, Cha Sang Woo. I will tell my father about this."
Sneering, the young bureaucrat narrowed his eyes at the governor's daughter. "Who do you think the Governor will believe? The Finance Minister's right-hand man who has a spotless reputation, or his daughter who had spent so much time alone with a random man? One who ignores the fact that she is an engaged woman and runs off to help at a roadside noodle stall as if she is the owner's wife?"
"You can keep trying to fool my father, but one day he will see the truth." Unwilling to back down, Seri retorted, still unable to believe how Sang Woo had asked for her to cut ties with Jeong Hyeok. "Besides, I am responsible for my own actions. It has nothing to do with the Captain, or my father."
The tension in the air was mounting to levels that left her feeling nauseated.
"I admire that attitude, Yoon Seri. But don't forget, your father wouldn't have been able to hold his current position if it wasn't for the help given so generously by my parents. What we have given can always be taken back."
While Seri wouldn't say she fully understood her father's political career, she knew that the Cha family's support and networks had assisted the former greatly. It was unsettling, to have Sang Woo threaten her with her father's career.
"My father will not be so easily threatened." Those were her words, but her mind was nowhere as strong. It was increasingly difficult to pretend as if those words weren't affecting her.
The smirk on Sang Woo's face grew into a wide sadistic grin, as he nodded and chuckled sinisterly. "You know what, Seri? You're right. You're absolutely right. Governor Yoon wouldn't be so easily affected. It is the filthy cripple who needs to be removed from the picture."
"No...please, leave him alone."
There was no way Jeong Hyeok could defend himself in his weakened state, especially since he had no idea that Sang Woo could easily send his men after him.
"If you'll promise to cut ties with him, we can go on leading our happy lives. I will forgive your infidelity, I won't even mind that you are a tainted woman."
She was dying to debate that there was no infidelity considering they were neither in love nor officially married, but Seri found herself dumbfounded when her fiancé pressed her yet again for an answer.
"You are not answering my question. Will you promise to stop seeing him?"
"I..."
Walking over to his desk, the young bureaucrat picked the phone receiver up. Dialing the first digit of the intended phone number, he looked up to meet Seri's eyes.
"Should we start by maiming his remaining leg," He smiled casually, as if asking about the weather. "Or perhaps, going for the hands, finger by finger?"
He dialed the second number.
"You can't do this, Sang Woo. This country is governed by law and order; you can't do as you wish."
From where she was, the governor's daughter could make out the familiar motions of a finger dialing yet another number.
"I actually can, Seri." Once again, that sinister smile. "Level three at the new hospital wing, am I right?"
"Please, stop! The Captain and I are just friends." Desperate, she strode over to where the mahogany wood desk was, planting both her hands on the surface.
"My patience is wearing thin, Seri. I wouldn't know if my finger decides to dial yet another number."
"Please...don't do this." The horrifying scenes of Jeong Hyeok being beaten up by the large group of thugs flashed across her mind; they weren't something she wished to see again.
"You forced me into doing this, Seri. You made this happen."
Blinking back tears, the governor's daughter helplessly watched Cha Sang Woo dial yet another number.
"I wonder what that man can do for a living, if he loses his hands." He chuckled callously.
The thought alone was excruciating.
Jeong Hyeok had already suffered a lot because of her.
Life was already harsh enough on this poor man, and here she was, disrupting whatever peace he was trying to restore in his life.
It wasn't as if he hadn't tried-- the Captain did attempt to distance himself from her, hoping to let whatever feelings he might have held at one point fade with time.
Seri was the one to be blamed for forcefully squeezing herself into his life despite his repeated attempts to stop her from doing so.
She had thought what they shared was nothing but a beautiful thing, but now, her reckless decision to disregard Sang Woo's existence was resulting in painful consequences.
Jeong Hyeok had always protected her.
It was Seri's turn to protect him, as much as it was a heart-wrenching decision to make.
Seeing Sang Woo bring the receiver to his ear broke her resolve to continue fighting the inevitable.
"I promise! I promise you...I'll stop seeing him."