Chapter 5. March 16th, 10:30 PM (2) (1/2)
“You won’t die even if you fall in there.”
A silvery voice rang out. Her voice sounded louder than usual, perhaps because there wasn’t anyone around.
Soon, a figure appeared from the darkness. A white blouse, a black jacket, and a grey H-line skirt that clearly outlined her curves. With a leather office bag in her hand, the woman looked to be a typical young businesswoman.
“The water isn’t deep here. It’s only really good for a light swim.”
Her tone went up towards the end of her sentence. Despite her appearance as a serious businesswoman, she spoke somewhat playfully.
When Seol slowly stepped out of the water, the woman gave a faint smile.
“Are you Seol….”
“Who are you?”
The woman swallowed her words and approached Seol with slow, relaxed steps. With an experienced gesture, she took out her business card and pushed it towards him.
“This is me.”
Seol glanced at the card.
[Sinyoung Pharmaceuticals]
[Director Kim Hannah]
When Seol showed no signs of accepting the card, Kim Hannah withdrew her hand, as if she was feeling somewhat awkward. Then, she handed him a handkerchief.
“Take it. Personally, I’m not a big fan of seeing a grown man cry.”
Seol didn’t take the handkerchief and wiped his eyes with his sleeves. Others might have been disgruntled, but Kim Hannah seemed to find Seol’s alertness interesting.
“I once heard that a gambling addict wouldn’t move a finger even when beautiful women threw themselves at him naked. I guess it’s true.”
Seol examined the bespectacled woman with otherworldly beauty. He felt like he had seen her in his dream.
To be specific, he remembered seeing her in the very first scene. A woman had approached him while he was drinking beer by Tancheon River.
She had said that she had great news to tell him. And it really was great news. She said she would give him enough money to pay off his debts and help him make more so long as he worked hard. When she handed over an envelope full of cash, the dream version of Seol was completely entranced.
Although he had to sign a ‘contract’ in return, the dream Seol didn’t care about it at all. After all, money had practically rolled into his pocket, when he was thinking about becoming a medical test subject for extra cash.
Of course, it wasn’t until later that he found out he had been tricked. He was dragged away to a place he’d never seen before, and the contract had actually been a slave contract.
Although this happened within the dream, he shuddered when he recalled how he had toiled away like a dog.
‘No, wait.’
Seol suddenly realized something. Things he had regarded as a mere dream were happening in reality. Once he recognized this, his heart turned cold and his alertness peaked up.
“You’re a lot calmer than you look.”
“?”
“I thought you would react if I mentioned gambling.”
Certainly, Seol’s current reaction could only be a surprise to Kim Hannah. It was just that his attention was focused elsewhere at the moment.
“Well, that’s better for me anyway. Looks like it will be easier to talk to you than I thought.”
“Talk?”
“Yep. I came to deliver gre~at news.”
Kim Hannah snickered as if she found herself funny. Meanwhile, Seol couldn’t hide his shock.
I came to deliver great news.
Those were the exact words he had heard in his dream. Now, he was starting to believe that his dream wasn’t just random nonsense but a premonition of things to come.
“Hey.”
Kim Hannah put down the leather bag hanging on her right wrist. When the handle of the bag drooped down, the contents of the bag were exposed, and neatly tied stacks of 50,000 Won bills revealed themselves.
“Why don’t we make a bet?”
She got down to business. She had already finished investigating the young man’s background. All that was left to do was to throw the bait.
Gambling addicts were some of the easiest people to reel in. However, she was a perfectionist. She always sought to move at the perfect timing, so that her targets would never refuse.
And that was today.
Seeing the young man staring at her bag fixedly, Kim Hannah was fully confident that she would succeed.
Seol slowly raised his head. Kim Hannah clasped her hands as if to urge him to speak.
“No thanks.”
“Great, the game we’ll play is….”
Kim Hannah paused mid-sentence.
“I quit gambling. I won’t do it.”
When Seol doubled down, Kim Hannah regained her composure. She blinked her eyes quickly and tilted her head slightly.
“Even though this can all become yours if you win just once?”
“Not interested.”
“What if I told you it’s yours regardless of whether you win or lose? If I remember correctly, you have quite a lot of debt to pay off.”
“I’ll take care of it on my own.”
“Then aren’t you interested in why I’m making you this offer?”
“….”
“I’ll explain everything. All you have to do is play a game with me. Of course, you can have the money too, regardless of whether you win or lose.”
To be completely honest, it was an enticing offer. Even at a glance, Seol could count at least forty stacks of bills. The woman seemed trustworthy from the confident way she spoke. Hearing her out didn’t seem like such a bad idea.
Just as Seol was about to nod his head in agreement, an alarm bell resounded in his head. The leftover emotions from his dream from earlier in the day shook violently in fierce defiance.
At the same time, he could feel a strange attraction. Inside the contradictory swirl of emotions, Seol took heavy breaths.
‘Did I almost… make another huge mistake?’
No matter how vivid a dream was, one would quickly forget about it after waking up. Since Seol remembered her even now, didn’t that mean she played an important role? Seol told himself to remain cautious.
Seol’s suspicion was correct. Her words, ‘All you have to do is play a game with me’, could be interpreted in all sorts of ways.
“I refuse.”
Oh yeah? ;Kim Hannah mumbled inwardly.
His reaction was a surprise for sure. Kim Hannah had expected Seol to jump at her like a starving beast the moment he saw the stacks of money. That was the Seol that Kim Hannah knew.
But this situation wasn’t completely unexpected either. Occasionally, there were those like him, fools who acted tough to get more out of her.
Kim Hannah adjusted her internal evaluation of Seol. He didn’t seem all that bad. At the very least, he seemed to be better than reckless idiots. Unfortunately…
‘You picked a wrong opponent, you bastard.’
This wasn’t her first rodeo. She knew full well how to convince people like him.
“How troublesome….”
Kim Hannah pretended to cross her arms and pressed the inner pocket of her jacket.
Buzz— ;Something vibrated.
“Ah, sorry, hold on a moment.”
She took out her phone and skillfully put on her earbuds.
“Yes, this is Kim Hannah. Ah~ Yes, I’m talking to him right now. Yes, yes…. Really? So we’re recruiting that person?”
Glance. ;Kim Hannah snuck a quick glance at Seol. Then…
“Yes! Of course, that’s fine. My client refused. Anyways, I’ll head back then~”
She took off her earbuds and smiled.
“What a coincidence. The last slot we had was filled up just now.”
Kim Hannah emphasized the phrase ‘last slot’.
“Well, since you refused, I guess it works out. Excuse me, then. I sincerely hope you can achieve everything you’ve set out to do.”
Kim Hannah picked up the leather bag and turned back without a shred of hesitation. She then began to walk away, step by step.
From her experience, she expected one of two things to happen. He would either stop her immediately or wait a bit until hurriedly running after her.
“Wait.”
Kim Hannah smirked.