Chapter 51 – Pandora’s Box #2
Yu Yeo-reum was lying down with her back completely turned to Seugal.
“Hey! Yo-nya?”
Tuck, tuck-tuck.
Seugal picked up small stones or pieces of concrete nearby and threw them at Yu Yeo-reum’s back, but there was no response.
She was undoubtedly hurt and her self-esteem wounded after a male student had just examined her br*asts. All of this was exactly as Seugal had expected.
“Hey! Are you really going to sulk just because someone touched your b*obs? Get a grip! We’ve been kidnapped by some crazy pervert, you know? It wouldn’t be strange if we faced some terrible things from now on!”
“…”
“Did you see the movies that guy watches? ‘Perfect Education’! That psycho thinks if he keeps us locked up and treats us well, we’ll fall in love with him and get addicted to something called ‘Scorpion CD-ROM’!”
“…”
Yu Yeo-reum ignored Seugal.
By deliberately ignoring her, Seugal grew even angrier.
“Hey! You won’t get anything by sulking like this! Does it seem like anyone will come to save us here? Do you think your brother or father will find you? Never! This is the kind of place!”
Seugal had been locked up in this basement for quite some time. So long, in fact, that she now felt like it was her home.
To Seugal, the number of followers on Starstagram or the flattering greetings from the celebrities who used to visit the penthouse parties every week no longer mattered.
What mattered to Seugal now was gaining the upper hand in this small basement world.
“You might already know, but the one who told that guy to kidnap you was me. Are you mad?”
“…”
Yu Yeo-reum sat up.
She glared at Seugal. Unlike in the past, Seugal didn’t feel any strange pressure from her gaze now. All Seugal could see was a 19-year-old girl, wearing a plain t-shirt as a dress, who was sad because the kidnapper had examined her br*asts.
“Seugal, you’re really pathetic.”
“How dare you! I’m a victim too, I am! Do you think I like being locked up here? I was bored and scared being alone, so I thought it would be nice to have a friend around!”
“I don’t want to indulge in your tantrum. People will soon find us and we’ll go back to the outside world as if nothing happened.”
That attitude – the casual assumption that they could simply return to the outside world – didn’t sit well with Seugal.
“Yu Yeo-reum, you know nothing about the outside world because you’ve had it too easy. It’s a place you don’t even need to return to.”
“Had it easy? When you, the daughter of a chaebol family, say that, it makes me really angry.”
Yu Yeo-reum, who had always been cold, finally lost her temper this time.
But that reaction only excited Seugal even more.
“I can say that since I’m the daughter of a chaebol! You have no idea how easily those people can do frightening things!”
Yu Yeo-reum noticed the fear in Seugal’s eyes.
She seemed to be afraid of something, just like someone fearing a Demon Beast.
“So, both of us should just stay here. It’s not as bad as you think. Sure, it’s a bit uncomfortable but there’s nothing to worry too much about, right? You’ll get used to it soon.”
Seugal started pacing back and forth, anxious.
As she watched this, Yu Yeo-reum suspected that there was something she didn’t know.
However, the hatred she felt towards Seugal was stronger than her desire to find out.
She had never hated anyone this much before.
After all, Seugal had been the reason why so many things in her life had changed since she got scratched by a cat. Had it not been for Seugal pulling the cat’s tail at the orphanage that day…
Maybe this was her chance for revenge.
A chance to avenge herself against Seonam Group for ruining her life and using the orphanage children as lab rats.
Pwock-!
Unable to restrain herself, Yu Yeo-reum slapped Seugal across the face.
Then, Seugal, who had just been trembling with fear a moment ago, suddenly snapped to her senses and struck Yu Yeo-reum’s cheek with a fierce look.
“You crazy b*tch!!!”
Chwap-!
Due to the lack of strength from fatigue, Yu Yeo-reum was overpowered by Seugal and ended up being stepped on while lying on the ground.
“Fall! Fall!”
Puock-! Puock-puock-!
Seugal had once lost a sparring match against Yu Yeo-reum, wounding her pride, but now those pains washed away like they had never existed.
Conversely, Yu Yeo-reum’s hatred towards Seugal only deepened.
# # #
I had arrived at the Seonam Group headquarters after a long time.
The saying about how a criminal tends to return to the scene of the crime seemed to be true.
This time, I boldly entered through the front gate.
“I come from Yeongsa High School. I’m here for a personal investigation regarding the disappearance of Seo Gal and also want to pay a visit to the site. For reference, here is who I am.”
I showed them a newspaper article featuring the “No Leftover Day” on my cellphone. Since I had saved all the scenes where I appeared, it didn’t take long.
The security guards at the conglomerate immediately recognized me and were very pleased.
“Ah, so you’re that guy! The famous Hanamjin!”
“Yes, with a name like a singer. Do you sing well?”
“Not only can I sing, but I can hit it marvelously. Shall I entertain you with a song right here? Uh, beneath that blue skyyy…”
-Yining.
“Maybe we should save the singing for later. Rather, gentlemen, can I step inside?”
“Of course! We’ve been letting investigators from Yeongsa High School and the police come in without inspection. Please find our Seugal.”
“She’s such a kind girl, remembering even our names. Thinking about where and what hardships she might be facing…”
The guards sincerely worried about Seugal, though the fact that they were saying this in front of me, her kidnapper, was problematic.
Thanks to that, I was able to enter the group headquarters without any inspections, walking proudly through the main gate.
Ding-dong.
As I was about to board the elevator to the penthouse from the first floor, someone behind me coughed lightly.
“What is it?”
“Student, this elevator is for executives only.”
Ah, this bald suit-wearing man is an executive, is he?
Indeed, his suit looked expensive, and class oozed from his face.
His bald head gleamed like an executive’s should. He had presence.
“Let me use it together, I injured my leg.”
I showed the bald uncle my cast-covered leg.
Thinking there was nothing he could do, the bald executive coughed lightly and turned his head away.
He got off at the second-to-last floor, and I reached the penthouse on the next level.
“…”
The view was not much different from when I was last here.
Perhaps this is what they mean when they say the scene is well-preserved.
I entered Seugal’s room to search for what she called “Bogo.” Although there were many items, it wouldn’t be hard to find it due to the concept of “emotion.”
Let me use my nose.
Picture Seugal’s scent.
Since it’s Seugal’s “Bogo,” it must be heavily infused with her scent.
“Is this it?”
Drrrr-k.
I opened the drawer.
It was full of Seugal’s underwear.
I rejoiced as I took them out.
“Seugal’s mentioned ‘Bogo’ must definitely be these underwear!”
-Yining.
Just then, Yining popped out of my bag.
He opened the wardrobe randomly and took out a small box.
Name: Fairy King’s Treasure Chest
A cherished box of the Fairy King of the Great Labyrinth. Can store anything in the world.
Possession: 《Hope Lv.3》 – Has hope equivalent to winning the top lottery prize.
A box filled with hope.
This must be the “Bogo” that Seugal mentioned. Its size resembled a brick with three holes drilled in it, and its exterior looked like it could house a sheep.
Great.
Let’s take it.
Mission complete!
I was about to take the elevator back down with that feeling when—
Ding-dong.
Someone arrived at the penthouse with the elevator.
It was a man in a black leather jacket.
He looked like the kind of person who would get lost in a crowd and hard to notice.
“Who are you?”
“I came from Yeongsa High for the investigation of the missing person case.”
“Is that so? I’m from the police.”
The man looked me up and down. I, in turn, scanned him from top to bottom.
He was a really plain-looking person, but he had earphones in his ears.
Now his gaze was directed towards the cast on my leg.
I worried it might cause unnecessary trouble and pressed the lobby button on the elevator. But just before the doors closed, the man said something strange.
“You can probably take off the cast now.”
What’s he talking about?
Upon realizing I’d arrived at the first floor and started walking, I noticed that my previously broken leg no longer hurt.
I undid the hard cast cautiously and saw that the once-broken leg had healed beautifully. The doctors at Yeongsa High had said it would take at least a few more weeks…
I couldn’t help but recall the man I’d met earlier. His face was blurry in my memory, but I distinctly remembered his earphones.
Could this have been that man’s doing?
It truly was miraculous.
“Security uncles, was there a police officer with earphones searching the penthouse earlier? Do you know who that person is?”
I asked the lobby security.
The security guards looked at each other and shook their heads in confusion.
“An officer with earphones?”
“No one from the police has come, and other than the student, there were no other visitors.”
This was strange.
I returned to the penthouse just in case. However, there was no sign of the man I had met earlier.
It was as if he had evaporated.
Instead, there was another man there. Around middle-aged, in his mid-forties?
Tall in stature, wearing a burgundy red suit. He reminded me of the bald executive I had encountered before. Of course, this man had thick hair, but he exuded a similar aura.
“Who are you? Why are you here?”
The middle-aged man asked me.
I decided to ask him the same.
“How about you? What are you doing in my girlfriend’s room?”
“…Girlfriend? I’ve never heard that our Seugal has a boyfriend.”
Our Seugal?
I instantly felt angry.
Uncle, do you have your eyes set on Seugal?
That’s criminal!
I didn’t know who you were, but I am the man who put stockings on Seugal’s legs.
“I’ve bathed with Seugal.”
-! I lost! I thought that must’ve been his first victory after quite a while, when he extended his hand.
“I’m the one who could be Seugal’s dad.”
“Ah, father-in-law, it’s nice to meet you. I’m Hanamjin. By the way, have you seen a man wearing earphones with a leather jacket around here?”
“Hmm? Even if I did, would I have an obligation to tell you? And I’m not your father-in-law, I’m Seo Do-cheol.”
That’s how it is, isn’t it? He was a meticulous uncle.
Then let me rephrase my question.
“Father-in-law, why did you set fire to N-Mart?”
