Pay With Your Heart

Chapter 392: Protecting Who?

WESTIN.

5 PM.

“You don’t have to wait for me. I’ll call a cab when I’m done.” Hei-Ran tried to convince Jin-Hai for the umpteenth time when he remained adamant about waiting for her while she met with Dan-Han at A-Yeong’s place as planned.

“And I said, I’ll wait for you right here.” He firmly repeated.

Hei-Ran silently stared at him as she pondered on what else to say to him – anything to convince him that she was truly going to be fine, but seeing the stubborn and unyielding look on his face, she resignedly sighed. There was no stopping him, was there?

She unstrapped her seat belt and leaned over to drop a feathery kiss on his cheek. “I’ll be back before you know it.” She told him.

“Take your time. I’ll be right here.” He smiled and kissed her back, but not on her cheeks as she had done. Her lips were better.

.....

Hei-Ran flashed him a sweet smile before stepping out of the car. She quickly glanced at A-Yeong’s window, which was back to being shut. She thought she had suddenly developed a thing for keeping them open since the last time she was there. The girl was always unpredictable.

Hei-Ran heaved a sigh as she made her way to the elevator and rode it up to the sixth floor. Despite knowing the answers were only a few minutes away, she felt more nervous than she had ever been since this whole fiasco started.

She heaved another sigh and pressed on the doorbell. She waited a few seconds, and she heard shuffling sounds behind the door. Hei-Ran wasn’t in the least surprised when A-Yeong opened the door instead of the maid she believed had been sent to take care of her.

“What are you doing here?” A-Yeong asked in shocked surprise, a slight frown playing at the edge of her brows as she gazed at the unexpected visitor at her door.

“Good evening to you too, A-Yeong.” Hei-Ran sarcastically greeted with a faux smile which had A-Yeong rolling her eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, but please leave.” A-Yeong coldly told her.

“I don’t want to be here, but here I am.” Hei-Ran gave a quick retort making the frown on A-Yeong’s face deepen.

“So please, leave.” It wasn’t like she had invited her in the first place. A-Yeong took a step back and attempted to close the door, but Hei-Ran put her weight against it and pushed it open. She tried not to be too forceful as she noticed A-Yeong still looked frail and pale.

“What...are you-” A-Yeong stuttered and watched with a gaping mouth as Hei-Ran squeezed her way into the house. “You just can’t force your way into my house!” She snapped, but Hei-Ran ignored her.

Hei-Ran’s face scrunched up when she saw the morbid state of the apartment. Empty packs of food and cans of drinks littered the space of the living room, and a faint foul smell also danced in the air. The house was stuffy.

Hei-Ran shot A-Yeong a disgusted look. “You live in a pigsty.” She shot her a glare.

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“And I didn’t ask for your opinion, remember? I didn’t even ask you to come here.” A-Yeong snarled, but again Hei-Ran ignored her as she put her bag down and looked around the place again.

“Where’s the help they sent you?” She narrowed her eyes at A-Yeong. “Let me guess; you sent her away.”

“I never asked for any help.” A-Yeong rudely replied.

“Of course, you didn’t.” Hei-Ran rolled her eyes and turned away. “You’re just too proud to ask or accept one.” She mumbled under her breath as she strolled towards the table and started picking up the trash. They seemed to have been there for days, and she hadn’t noticed them the previous day because she had met A-Yeong in a bad state.

“What...are you doing?” A-Yeong asked in horror as she watched Hei-Ran pick one of the take-out bags lying on the floor and begin shoving the empty packs of food into them.

A-Yeong tried to bit down on her anger. She didn’t ask for this, nor does she want anybody around, most especially Hei-Ran. She didn’t mind if the place was dirty and stinky. Of course, she admitted it was stinky and completely covered with grits, but it was her place, and she wanted it to herself with no disturbance whatsoever.

Hei-Ran picked a half-eaten pack of cheesos which seemed like A-Yeong had just been munching on before her arrival. She turned towards her and couldn’t hold back the glare in her eyes. She had words twirling in her mouth to be blurted out, but she bit them back.

“You’ll be having a guest soon, so if you can give me a hand, please do, but if you can’t, please sit down and mind your business. Stop staring at me like I’m stealing from you.”

“It’s not like you’re minding your business.” A-Yeong almost growled at her. “You’re the one in my house, intruding into my space! And did you say I’ll be receiving a guest? Who did you invite to my house?” She angrily demanded.

“I guess you’re not going to help, then.” She casually shrugged. “But even if you won’t, please do me a favor and go wash your face. You’re only sick. You’re not dead, at least not yet.” Her voice thinned off at the last part. A-Yeong looked like a zombie, but she wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Su Hei-ran!” A-Yeong snapped. She stormed over and snatched the scrunched papers she had kicked under her table a few days ago out of Hei-Ran’s hands. She had hidden them there because she was too lazy to dispose of them properly. If you can’t see it, then it isn’t there, she had told herself.

She roughly held Hei-Ran by the elbow and pulled her to her feet. “Who did you invite to my house?” She asked again, this time, her tone was blazing hard.

Hei-Ran observed how tensed she suddenly became. She sighed. “I don’t know what or who you’re so afraid of, but the person I invited is someone who can help us. Help you out of whatever mess you’re deep in.” She calmly explained.

A-Yeong’s eyes narrowed. Someone to help her?

Who could help her?

Her lips had just parted to say something when the doorbell rang, and they both turned towards the door. She glanced at Hei-Ran, who gave a non-committal shrug.

“I guess he’s here.” She said.

“Who’s here, Hei-Ran?” A-Yeong asked after Hei-Ran, who had pulled away and sauntered towards the door. She didn’t know why, but her heart suddenly thumped with anxiety. She didn’t know who had come, but she feared whoever it was would bring her trouble and jeopardize all she had been trying to protect.

She anxiously watched as Hei-Ran opened the door and revealed the tall frame standing by the hallway, looking as formal as he always appeared on TV.

“Pres... president Lee?” She stuttered when she saw the familiar face. Her heart skipped when he met her gaze and stepped into her apartment, which suddenly felt crowded like there wasn’t enough space for him to occupy.

“Ms. Su,” She heard him greet, but she wasn’t sure who exactly he was referring to. Hei-Ran or her?

She finally realized it was her when he stood in front of her with an expectant gaze, but before she could utter a word, her heart froze when she saw the person standing behind him.

“Mr. Yang.” She absentmindedly mumbled out, her jaw slacking as she watched the man.

“It’s good you aren’t feigning ignorance,” Dan-han uttered while A-Yeong slowly glanced at him.

“Mr. Lee, why...how..” A-Yeong was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to ask or say. Her brain was completely frizzled out.

“Take a seat, Ms. Su. You look quite shaken.” Dan-han told her while Hei-ran also took note of her overly pale appearance. She turned to Dan-Han and politely ushered him to a seat as well as Mr. Yang, who trailed behind him with his head hanging low.

A-Yeong watched the scene before her with her heart beating wildly against her chest while she remained standing despite feeling like she was about to fall over.

It was over for her.

Hei-ran turned to her, and she could tell she had questions to ask, but she was too stunned to do so. She resignedly sighed and went ahead to explain.

“A few days ago, I got some details of an off-shore account to which you’ve been sending money for a long time now.”

A-Yeong’s eyes widened at the sound of that, and she snapped her head to look at Hei-Ran.

“It was difficult to get its details, but when I finally did, it only gave me more questions, so I asked president Lee for help, and he got the information, and that’s what he has come to share with us,” Hei-Ran told her, and A-Yeong instantly felt her heart stop on the spot, and a tendril of fear curled around her spine.

Her gaze slowly moved from Hei-Ran to Dan-Han till it finally settled on Mr. Yang’s face, who guiltily lowered his head to avoid her gaze. She didn’t need anyone to spell it to her that Mr. Yang had done her over.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Yeong. But I couldn’t-” he paused and shook his head like that would solve the problem at hand.

A-yeong suddenly felt completely limp, like her source of life had been drawn away from her. Her eyes instantly burned with tears, and her throat felt tight and parched.

Hei-Ran impatiently looked at Dan-Han, who signaled Mr yang to tell her all he had told them. With each word the man spoke, Hei-Ran paled up. She looked at A-Yeong, whose lips trembled as she crouched to her knees.

“A-Yeong!” She snapped and jerked to her feet, almost lunging at her.

A-Yeong shook her head and roughly pulled her hair by the root. “Hei-Ran, you shouldn’t have done this.” She sobbed.

“I shouldn’t have done what?!” Hei-Ran snapped as she looked at her with incredulity.

“Guns, A-Yeong? Guns and drugs, really?! What the hell were you thinking?! How could you.... this is criminal!!” Hei-ran felt like she could explode into a fiery ball. Of all the things she had expected and imagined, this superseded her imagination.

A-yeong frantically shook her head. “I couldn’t...I had no choice.” She mumbled out as tears burned her eyes. She raised her stark red eyes to Hei-Ran, almost ready to say something, but she turned to Dan-Han. There was no need to hide what she had been doing in the last years, but maybe she could still beg for help. She could still plead with him to let her do as planned for once. She crawled towards Dan-han whose keen and calculating eyes were fixed on her.

“Mr. Lee, I know what I did was wrong, but can you please, please turn away for this last time. Just this once, please, I beg you.” She earnestly begged while Hei-Ran seethed. She couldn’t believe A-Yeong’s request.

“A-Yeong, what are you doing?!” She roared, holding herself back from feeling enraged after hearing her stupid request. She had more to say, but Dan-Han spoke up first.

“Why?” He calmly asked, but A-Yeong shook her head.

“Please.” She begged again. She couldn’t say more than necessary.

She suddenly felt the urge to cuss and lunge at Hei-Ran. Vigorously shake and demand why she had done this.

A-Yeong wanted to tell her if anything happened, then it was all her fault, but she couldn’t blame her now. It would be a waste of time. She had to ensure those containers were delivered as scheduled. That was all that mattered. Even if she had to crawl and beg the man before her, even if she had to pay for what she had done, she’d gladly do it as far as everything went according to plan.

Seeing her determined look, Dan-han leaned forward towards her. “Ms. Su, the person who has you on a leash is someone we both know very well. And I believe him if he threatened he was going hurt you, but I believe you also know only I can help you, but that will only happen if you tell me what he has on you because I know he does.” That was something Dan-Han was certain of. For Mr. Yang, it was the pictures he had mentioned, but for A-Yeong, he wondered what it was, but from her reaction and the fear in her eyes, he guessed it was way more than implicating pictures. Craftiness was Ji-Tae’s bad trait, which he harnessed very well, so he knew how he played his games. It was how he had cartered away with company funds the first time.

A-Yeong desperately shook her head as her body trembled. She couldn’t say. She couldn’t bring herself to say it out. If she did, there would be more danger.

Seeing her stubborn she was, Hei-Ran flared. She stomped towards A-Yeong and roughly pulled her up. “What the hell is wrong with you?! What else are you hiding, Su A-yeong?! What does he have on you? Why are you protecting him even now?” She ferociously demanded, but A-Yeong yanked her hand away and kneeled in front of Dan-han again, her hand tightly pressed into a plea.

“President Lee, please, just this once. He promised this would be that last.” She said as tears streamed down her face.

“And you believed him?” Dan-han asked while A-Yeong nodded.

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, but he wouldn’t. If you really want to protect yourself, you can do so by telling me what this is about.” Dan-han knew he could do some investigation and have the answers he needed, but that would be a rigorous and time-consuming process, and time was of the essence. He had been able to buy some time by sending Ji-Tae away, but he had to be quick before the boy knew he was onto him. He knew he would have to keep everyone safe for him to do as he pleased with Ji-Tae fully. He didn’t like casualties in his fight, but he couldn’t say the same for Ji-Tae.

“I’m not trying to protect myself,” A-Yeong mumbled amidst tears.

“Then who are you trying to protect?!” Hei-ran was becoming hysterical. She felt the urge to pull A-Yeong by the hair forever attempting something so dangerous and illegal.

“Hei-Ran don’t.” A-Yeong pleaded. She was in a tumultuous state.

Hei-Ran was about to yell again, but Dan-Han held his hand to stop her. He lifted A-Yeong’s face with his hand so she could look at him.

“Tell me what it is. I promise to protect you.” He assured her.

“It’s not me.” A-Yeong sobbed as more tears rolled down her eyes like a broken dam.

“Then who is it?”

A-Yeong shook her head. “I-”

.....

“I’ll protect whoever it is. He won’t be able to lay a finger on them.” He reassured.

A-Yeong slowly lifted her eyes to him. She could barely see past the mist in her eyes. But she could tell he was telling her the truth, but could she trust him?

“Who are you protecting, Ms. Su?” Dan-Han softly asked.

“My...my daughter.” A-Yeong blurted out.