Chapter 54

Chapter 54

Huff… huff…

I tried to steady my breathing as quietly as possible, ears straining for any sound. For now, it seemed like there were no pursuers nearby—only the sound of my own breath filled the silence.

Did I shake them off?

No… wait. I needed to gather my thoughts. No—first, I needed to calm down. It felt like it would take forever for my wildly pounding heart to settle.

“Remember what Dad said earlier!”

Why had Dad told me to trust Shin Chi-woo?

I didn’t know. I really didn’t know. I was so scared, Dad.

I crouched low, hiding even my shadow. As my heart rate gradually slowed, my thoughts began to clear, but the first thing that came to mind was still Dad.

Just as I’d long suspected, Dad clearly wasn’t just a regular office worker. Even if I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he carried a knife for self-defense, his movements weren’t those of someone holding a blade for the first time.

“Wan-yi’s dad, take off your underwear too. Shoes! Hurry up and bring his dress shoes! We need to burn everything!”

Mom had known about this side of him. The truth behind the bloodstained dress shirt from that day likely intersected with the version of Dad I saw today. Maybe he wasn’t a professional killer, but violence and bloodshed might have been a regular part of his life.

But I didn’t have the capacity to think about the past. All I could think about right now was the Dad I left behind, and the tears began to fall on their own.

Dad…

Maybe I should’ve stayed and fought with him. Running away like a coward didn’t guarantee survival. Maybe I should’ve chosen to die with him.

I left him behind to save myself. If Dad ended up dying, it would feel like it was entirely my fault.

And there had been only two gunshots. The worst-case scenario would be if all three—Dad, the big guy, and the bob-haired woman—had died. But realistically, it was more likely that the big guy and the woman were injured. Still…

“He’s in critical condition right now… barely conscious. That’s the only reason I was able to move.”

Who were the ones who ambushed us?

Earlier, Shin Chi-woo had said something about Chairman Pyeon being on the brink of death. Could the attacker have been this “Director Park” that was mentioned in their conversation? A third-party figure who struck while the company’s balance of power was shifting?

Whoever had been lying in wait for us, they probably hadn’t intended to kill Dad—at least not immediately. If I were the enemy, I would’ve ordered them to capture a traitor like him alive. I could only hope those two gunshots had pierced the hearts of our enemies. But even that would create new complications later.

Still… was this ambush really unrelated to Shin Chi-woo?

He didn’t seem like the type to abandon his trusted allies—the bob-haired woman and the big guy—for some third-party interest. Could it be… a staged act by Shin Chi-woo himself?

If he was a double agent, and Dad didn’t know it, then we’d just walked right into their trap.

“Wan-yi! Seo Wan-yi! Now!”

The spiral of thoughts and self-blame tangled so tightly that I began to feel dizzy, my head throbbing. It felt like I had killed the big guy, the bob-haired woman, and Dad. The grief was unbearable. I held back my sobs in silence, afraid even wiping my tears would make a sound.

I’m sorry… Dad… I’m truly sorry to the two of you as well, even though I don’t know your names…

Just moments ago, he’d been sitting next to me—my dad, who had told me he loved me. Thinking that he might be dead now crushed me.

I was terrified to find myself alone in this world again. I never imagined I’d experience another moment like my birthday, when everything had come crashing down.

I didn’t know how long I cried, but if I kept this up, I wouldn’t have the strength to escape. I couldn’t just sit here crying—I had to pull myself together.

There had to be a way.

12. Nightmare of Christmas

After wiping the tear-streaked sides of my face with the palm of my hand, I started trying to focus again to assess the situation.

First, I needed to retrace my steps and figure out where things had gone wrong… but there were so many variables to unravel, each one its own tangled mess.

Still, no matter how much I rolled my eyes around and used my head, I wasn’t going to find a definitive answer on my own. All of this deduction was based on shaky ground—what if the premise itself was wrong from the start?

Then something came to mind. That number he had written on his palm: 3XX 5972.

“It’s a direct line that’s never been exposed anywhere.”

If Shin Chi-woo was still alive, he might be the only one who could help me. But there was no guarantee he hadn’t betrayed us. Maybe he had foreseen all this and slipped away on his own.

Dad, or my intuition—I had to choose.

This was a gamble. I didn’t have any other options.

Dad wouldn’t have told me to trust Shin Chi-woo without a reason, so I decided to believe my gut. Shin Chi-woo was still on our side and would help us. Maybe he was on his way right now to save both me and Dad.

So now what?

First, I had to survive the night in hiding. Once the industrial complex began to fill with people going to work in the morning, I’d ask someone for help. Surely someone would let me use a phone if I just asked?

I fiddled with the ring on my left ring finger, praying he hadn’t betrayed us. That, just as Dad had said I could trust him, he would at least protect me. I wanted to believe in his sincerity.

“Seo Wan-yi.”

Shit… A strange man called my name. Judging by that, it seemed Dad’s counterattack had failed.

“Miss Wan-yi, you dropped your scarf.”

“……”

“Come out and take it.”

At first, the voice calling my name had sounded distant. I didn’t even know I’d dropped my scarf, but maybe that had tipped them off.

I lay flat on the ground, holding my breath. With one ear pressed to the asphalt, I tried to detect where footsteps were coming from—if there were any vehicles approaching, any vibrations.

Shuffle, shuffle—

The man calling me seemed to be deliberately softening his footsteps. It sounded like only one person was searching for me, but then I heard a crinkling noise mixed with the shuffles—a dissonant sound. There was another person.

Shuffle, step.

No—make that one more.

Click, drag… click.

Someone was dragging a foot as they walked. At least four people were closing in on me. But then—why the hell were they all suddenly speeding up?!

What do I do… What do I do now?

My heart was pounding like crazy. Getting caught by four men was bad enough—but what they might do to me in this deserted place, that was what terrified me the most.

“Miss Seo Wan-yi.”

“……”

“It seems Director Seo might’ve misunderstood some things. That’s why we’d like to talk face to face.”

If it were really a misunderstanding, they should’ve brought Dad to find me. Did they think I was that naive?

I swallowed hard, then lifted my ear off the asphalt and scanned my surroundings. A piece of rebar had fallen just about a step ahead of me, diagonally.

I looked up and studied the vehicle above me. The underside of the container truck was visible, and there were plenty of things that looked like they could be grabbed.

Could I fight them off with that piece of rebar? Or would it be smarter to climb up and wait them out until they left?

The answer came immediately. The real question was whether I could endure it. But it was do or die. I’d try to hang on first. If that failed, I’d pick up the rebar and go out swinging, honorably.

“……”

I grabbed hold of a protruding edge beneath the vehicle with both hands. Then, using all my strength, I lifted my legs and placed my feet up on what looked like a pipe.

Because if I were in their shoes, I’d definitely check under the vehicle. Hiding behind a wheel was too obvious and would get me caught in seconds. So instead, I stuck myself tightly against the undercarriage and tried to make myself as small as possible.

It wasn’t a regular car. This was a container truck, with a much higher chassis. Its undercarriage could work like a blind spot. And who’d expect me to go to such lengths? I was counting on their underestimation of me.

“Miss Wan-yi, please come out.”

“……”

“Director Seo will explain everything.”

“……”

“Seo Wan-yi, I’m telling you nicely—come out.”

“……”

“Your dad is waiting.”

Ugh…

It felt like I was doing a plank while staring at the sky. Sweat poured off me like rain, and my limbs began to tremble. My shoulders, my lower back, even my ankles were shaking.

I should’ve worked out more. I hated myself for always saying “I’ll start exercising tomorrow” and never doing it. But when you’re in danger, it turns out your mind can overcome your body. This pose was just like a plank—something I could barely hold for a minute normally—and yet I was hanging on longer than I ever thought possible.