What I want is for you, sir, to not go anywhere and stay at home all day.

The words I couldn’t say out loud kept increasing.

“We never even went on a honeymoon. Think about where you’d like to go.”

Kang Do Eum’s mouth gaped open, having never dreamed that the trip Seo Ji Wan spoke of was a honeymoon.

She was thrilled, her feet rubbing together excitedly under the sheets.

“Yes, I will.”

She acted demurely.

“Get some sleep now, even if just a little.”

“I’ll be heading to Shanghai soon. I’ll be busy again until things settle down.”

It meant he wouldn’t be able to contact her for a while.

“Leave a message to let me know you’re doing well. Voice is fine, anything is fine.”

Do Eum’s heart suddenly ached at Ji Wan’s seemingly casual but sincere words.

“Yes, I will.”

The call ended like that, without any special farewell.

At the word “honeymoon,” Do Eum hid her flushed face under the sheets.

It seemed she wouldn’t be getting any sleep until dawn.

*****

The woman kept popping into Ji Wan’s mind.

Ji Wan was going crazy with Do Eum suddenly entering and leaving his thoughts during interviews with overseas real estate development teams, dinners with the Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister, and site inspections.

Saying he missed her wasn’t nearly enough.

His desire was closer to longing – wanting to hold her tight enough to crush her, rub against her, and fill his lungs with her scent.

“I’ve become an idiot.”

“Pardon?”

Han Woo Seok, who was coordinating the next schedule in the front seat, turned around.

“It’s nothing. Since we’re in Shanghai, let’s stop by Gukwon Design.”

Three years ago, Ji Wan had acquired a small design company despite everyone’s objections.

“I’ve already contacted Gukwon. The renovations are complete and the hotel just started operations. I hear it’s getting great reviews, enough to be called Shanghai’s rising landmark.”

It wasn’t an easy process until the acquisition, as the plan to build Bando’s differentiated interior design was often rejected by Ki Hyeok’s people.

“Of course, Chairman Jang was very pleased when he received the report and instructed to pay a separate performance bonus.”

It was recognized that Ji Wan’s choice was not wrong, as Gukwon established itself as a prestigious company consulting on the reconstruction and interior design of notable tourist attractions.

Unlike Woo Seok, who couldn’t hide his pride, Ji Wan just nodded while keeping his eyes fixed on the documents he was looking at.

“How did the search for Ms. Do Eum’s mother go?”

Recently, Ji Wan had instructed to look into the whereabouts of Do Eum’s birth mother.

Although Do Eum never spoke about her mother, Ji Wan knew well the emptiness that comes from the absence of a mother or father.

“From what we found, she’s started a new life in Goyang. She’s taking care of two children from the man’s side and working at a government office cafeteria.”

“What about the man she called stepfather?”

“He can’t really be called a stepfather. The man is unmarried on paper, and Do Eum’s mother has no remarriage records after being widowed. It’s unclear how Do Eum came to believe an unrelated man was her father and repay his debts.”

“He must have threatened her. Told an innocent child that his debts were hers, and her mother’s debts were hers too. Damn bastard.”

Ji Wan’s gaze turned to the dark window outside as he cursed.

His heart ached thinking of the pain Do Eum would feel if she knew her birth mother had settled not far away, raising someone else’s children.

“Let’s not tell her about her mother’s news for now.”

“Yes, I’ll do that.”

Woo Seok nodded, as if agreeing it was for the best.

“Oh, you changed your tie?”

Woo Seok noticed Ji Wan’s changed blue tie.

The outfits prepared by the local stylist went through Woo Seok’s confirmation process the day before, but this wasn’t the color tie he had checked.

It was unusual for a man who typically wore whatever was given to him without a word.

“Someone said blue suited me well.”

Ji Wan’s lips curved into a faint smile, as if he could hear Do Eum’s voice from last night tickling his ear.

*****

Do Eum began climbing the hill to Hwa-an-dong, shifting the phone in her hand.

“Everyone’s busy preparing for jobs before graduation, right? Ah, Jae Han said you had a company in mind. Have you already submitted your resume?”

It was about the company she had her eye on since the job fair three years ago.

It seemed the story she had let slip to Park Jae Hoon about applying for an internship position had reached Choi Eun Hyeok.

Eun Hyeok seemed a bit hurt that he was the only one who didn’t know.

“I’m still thinking about it. Back then, it seemed possible when they weren’t so big, but now they’re too successful.”

The call ended abruptly with the sound of someone calling for Eun Hyeok on the other end.

Do Eum checked the date as she resumed her steps, halted midway up the hill.

In two days, it would be the day Ji Wan returned.

That is, if the Shanghai schedule ended well as planned.

Just the thought made her hum a tune.

“Hey, Kang Do Eum.”

Ominous moments always come at the happiest times, they say.

The moment the voice calling her name floated through the empty air to her ears.

Goosebumps rose on the back of Do Eum’s neck.

It was the voice of her unforgettable stepfather, Min Kyung Hoon.

And he sounded very drunk.

“H-how did you get here?”

From the day Hee Sook first brought Kyung Hoon home, she had always told Do Eum to call him “dad.”

The man, ten years younger than Hee Sook, firmly instructed to call him “dad” when mom was around, but “mister” or “uncle” outside.

“How did you find this place, mister…”

Do Eum’s lower lip trembled involuntarily.

She never imagined he’d find her here, since she hadn’t left a single record at the demolished former house.

“Someone good at hiding is also good at finding people. Did you think I didn’t show up because I couldn’t find you?”

The alcohol smell intensified as the distance closed.

“I may not know much else, but I know your school. How dull are you, not realizing I’ve been following you all this time. You’re just like your mother in that too.”

“Have you been drinking again?”

“Listen to how she talks. When you meet your dad after so long, huh? Shouldn’t you ask how I’ve been?”

Do Eum instinctively stepped back at Kyung Hoon’s raised voice.

“Shouldn’t you ask if I’ve been well first!”

A prominent vein popped out under the fist that looked ready to strike at any moment.

“Where’s your mother?”

“I… I don’t know.”

“Your house was demolished, there must have been compensation. Where did you hide it? Huh?”

“It wasn’t even our house, what compensation? What little deposit there was all went to paying off your debts.”

Slap.

As if it had been waiting, a hand like a bull’s hoof struck Do Eum’s cheek.

“You’ve grown a lot while I haven’t seen you, huh? Where do you get off calling me mister? You should call me dad.”

Do Eum tasted iron on her tongue along with a stinging, bloody smell.

It seemed her lip had split somewhere.

Do Eum turned back the way she came, heading back down the hill she had just climbed.

She couldn’t bear to go to that house where she lived with Ji Wan with this thug in tow.

Once he found out where she lived, Kyung Hoon would come looking for her whenever he needed money, and one day Ji Wan might catch her with this guy.

She didn’t want to show that pathetic sight, if nothing else – it was her last shred of pride.

“All dressed up with oil dripping down your face, who are you living with? Huh? Where are you going, keep going where you were headed! Let me see with my own eyes where you live!”

Kyung Hoon’s rough hand grabbed Do Eum’s wrist as she hurried down the hill.

“I’m living as a housekeeper at someone’s home. It’s hard for me to live alone, I haven’t been in contact with mom for a long time, and I’m still struggling because of your debts, so please just go. If I lose this job too, I really have nowhere to go.”

The hand she shook off was inevitably caught again.

“Do I look like I have somewhere to go? You little-!!”

Do Eum instinctively hunched her shoulders at Kyung Hoon’s tenacious grip.

Her throat, swallowing back a scream, suddenly felt hot.

“Why! Why are you doing this to me? What did I ever do wrong to you, why?!”

Tears of anguish burst forth like a broken dam.

Crack,

Not realizing the unknown light illuminating behind her back.

Not noticing the angry footsteps rapidly approaching.

“What on earth did I do wrong for you to do this to me?!”

Just as Kyung Hoon, unfazed by her outburst, was about to step back.

Thwack, thud.

Someone quickly brushed past her and violently struck Kyung Hoon’s jaw.

Only then did she see the headlight beams shining on her, and a familiar scent brushed her nose.

It was Seo Ji Wan, like a saving hand rushing through the darkness for her.

With a final scream, Kyung Hoon tumbled onto the asphalt.

“Ugh! W-who are you?!”

The one who barely managed to restrain Ji Wan as he straddled the fallen Kyung Hoon was Woo Seok.

“S-sir! You have to stop!”

In the headlight beams, Ji Wan’s back rose and fell fiercely like an enraged beast.

Though he didn’t turn around, his anger was clear.

She had seen this side of him not long ago.

If that anger was directed at her foot in Eun Hyeok’s hand and its injury, now it was anger, no, murderous intent towards Kyung Hoon who had hurt her.

“How dare you!”

The words, ground out between clenched teeth, didn’t fully emerge, circling inside his tightly clenched jaw.

It was a face she had never seen since meeting Ji Wan.

As Ji Wan pushed Woo Seok away and raised his fist for a second strike.

“No, don’t!”

Do Eum rushed over and desperately clung to Ji Wan’s hand.

Her head-shaking was so earnest that Ji Wan helplessly lowered his tightly clenched fist.

“He’s… my stepfather.”

Her voice trembled as she confessed the word “father” as if it were a great sin.

“No.”

The enraged eyes that had been fixed on Kyung Hoon sprawled on the ground turned back to Do Eum and softened.

“He’s not your stepfather.”

Slowly, one word at a time, as if teaching a child.

Do Eum’s eyes shook uncontrollably, at a loss for words.

Even if she called him “uncle” or “mister” outside, to Do Eum the man was her father.

That the man she had believed in so firmly wasn’t her father but a complete stranger.

“…That can’t be.”

She thought all fathers sometimes starved or hit their children.

It seemed only natural to struggle to repay money she had never even seen, since it was her father’s debt.

Ji Wan’s gaze passed over Do Eum and returned to Kyung Hoon.

“Listen well, if you come looking again, you’ll end up paying more than compensation for laying hands on this woman and the money you wrongfully extorted, whatever you may think.”

Ji Wan’s eyes burned hot enough to incinerate the other person with just a look, more than enough to leave not even Kyung Hoon’s bones.

“If not with money, then with time, if not with time, then with your body. You’ll sell whatever it takes!”

I’ll make sure of it.

Whether it’s prison or hell, whatever it is, the path I set you on will be the last you walk on two feet.