This was the first time Yuri was witnessing Tae-jun’s violent streak. The man was brutish at times, but such belligerence was uncharacteristic of him. This whole situation … the ear-piercing noise, the shattered vial … everything was absolutely unbelievable.
She stood there in a daze, eyes fixated on the ground unable to process the whole situation. Her heart was racing, head throbbing, hands numb, lips quivering … but she was oblivious to it all.
Tae-jun’s cold, low voice broke the eerie silence.
“You did it?”
How could a person’s voice be this low? Simply looking at him was intimidating enough for her to freeze and stick to the floor. The sparks from his stare were powerful enough to annihilate anything. The aura he was emanating made him look almost inhumane … Akin to a ghost or a goblin.
All of this combined and effected a delayed reaction in Yuri.
“Sorry?” Was the only word she managed to mumble in her befuddlement. She did not know why this man had come barging in like a towering inferno. She was afraid to make eye contact even, but she still looked at him.
“How dare you treat your body like that!” His terrifying tone sent chills down her spine, her eyes shook intensely.
“You dare to do drugs?!” He bellowed.
“How did you …”
It can’t be … She could feel her own fingertips tremble.
“I looked up the ingredients to that medication you’re taking! It has Kratom in it!”
Yuri could feel her brain vault into malfunction and come to a grinding halt. Words evaded her, she could see nothing but the deadly stare of the devilish man before her.
“I think I made it clear not to lie to me, and you dare to keep this a secret?” His foot crushed the capsules lying on the floor.
Yuri zoned into the mashed capsules bleeding out white granules. He was still in his fancy tuxedo. He must have rushed out of the party, all because of this.
“Tell me. Explain yourself to me. Give me the whole story. Tell me the bare details with your own mouth!!!”
He grabbed a handful of her hair and forced eye contact. His demanding, fierce countenance looked somewhat desperate for a wholehearted explanation. His eyes were searching her face, seeking a hint perhaps, that would say it was all a misunderstanding. His heart tugged, knowing too well that that trace of hope he was yearning for was but a delusion.
His tight grip was no doubt painful, but she was feeling none. Her limpid, glistened orbs only noticed the black, bespoke tuxedo that was glaringly reminding her of the engagement photos she had just put away. An engagement that would soon become a marriage …
Two decades of friendship into love … He must be returning from some party he had been to with Si-yeon …
So why does he care about me so much?! …
As moments passed, his grip tightened. Slowly her mind crawled back to reality, she took in a deep breath willing herself to feel no pain. Not once did she avert her gaze, looking equally fiercely into his eyes.
“What do you want me to say more? It’s just the way you know. I did drugs. So what? And what does that have to do with you?”
Her mind was racing, everything between them was a contract … she was an object that Tae-jun Seo had bought along with Hotel Seoin. What did it matter to him if she did drugs or anything else? The tenure was about to expire anyway. They would be done, for good.
Her words incensed him, he pulled her hair as if doing so would rein in her audacity. “What does that have to do with me? You think this isn’t a big deal?” He spat out with gritted teeth.
“Of course not!”
“We’re just friends with benefits who enjoy having s*x with each other, so there’s nothing else that matters? Is that what you mean?” Tae-jun’s visage portrayed a merciless shadow. His voice had a hint of the fury he could not withhold.
Did his fury trigger her? Yuri began to develop an emotion similar to his. She had arduously tried her best to ignore the fact that he held her uncle and Roy hostage, stalked her every move, and spied on her. She had lied to him too, so she wanted to call it even. But she never imagined that he would be so nosy even about her prescription medications.
Her life felt already ruined. But how much worse did he want to make it? How dare he? She could not tolerate the storming anger inside her.
“How are we even called friends with benefits? You don’t listen to me when I don’t give you consent. Do you even consider me as a human being? You cage me, question me, watch me! Do you know how miserable it is to see Sebastian in the living room? There’s nothing different between me and that dog you stuffed by yourself! I’m not your possession!”
Tae-jun picked a glass and threw it across the hall.
Crack!
The loud shattering of glass filled the room with an eerie silence once again. Yuri flinched at the sight of the glass hitting the wall and breaking into pieces.