CHAPTER 4
During those three months—long if you think about it, short if you don’t.
While living like an unwanted burden at the main house, losing my original colors, Seol Jaejun kept painting me in warm ones.
“Because you’re pretty.”
“Does there need to be a reason to like someone?”
“I’ll do everything for you, so date me.”
He said there was no reason.
He said it was just love at first sight.
At first, I doubted it when a senior who looked like a wealthy young master and was handsome enough to be a celebrity said he liked me.
But before I knew it, I was bewitched and had my heart stolen by him.
That was why, when the main house tried to forcibly send me to Germany, I asked him for help.
Even though it hurt my pride, I even borrowed money from him.
Because I believed he wasn’t the kind of man who would look down on me over just that one million won.
Of course, that help became useless in the end.
No, it turned into me repaying his kindness with betrayal.
“Ha…”
Hong Yumin let out a deep sigh.
The fact that she met a senior she once liked so much, and unintentionally hurt, at a blind date made her chest feel painfully tight.
What must he have thought when he saw me?
“Did she sell off her fiancé in Germany to end up on a blind date with a man like that?”
On top of that, Seol Jaejun’s earlier words lingered in her mind.
It seemed he had even misunderstood that she went to Germany to meet a fiancé.
He probably thinks I’m the kind of woman who can’t live without a man.
“…This is driving me crazy.”
Hong Yumin stopped in place and roughly grabbed her hair.
Should I go back to the hotel and explain that the main house forced me to study abroad in Germany?
Should I tell him that even the blind date with that bald vulture wasn’t my choice but something I was forced into?
But soon, Hong Yumin collapsed to the ground and buried her face in her knees.
There’s no relationship between us anymore, so why bother explaining?
We’re not going to see each other again anyway.
Then… we shouldn’t have run into each other at all.
Hong Yumin closed her eyes and swallowed her bitterness.
—
When she got home, it was just before 2 PM.
Entering the house, Hong Yumin weakly took off her shoes.
“…I’m home.”
She announced her return without energy, but the house was silent.
Hong Yumin hesitated and looked at the entrance floor where she had just taken off her shoes.
Yumin’s Aunt’s slippers, which she often wore, were nowhere to be seen.
It seemed she had gone out.
That was a relief, at least.
If she reported that she ruined the blind date in this state, she would definitely be slapped.
For now, she decided to wash up and think about how to handle this situation, then headed to the second floor.
As she stepped on the last stair, she heard someone laughing brightly.
Hong Suji, didn’t she go out?
Thinking she should quickly go into her room before getting nagged, Hong Yumin moved her foot.
“Hey, isn’t it creepy? They say if you get married at twenty-five, you’ll die.”
A strange voice stopped Hong Yumin in her tracks.
Getting married at twenty-five?
Are they talking about me?
Drawn in, Hong Yumin quietly approached Hong Suji’s room, holding her breath.
Hong Suji, unaware that Hong Yumin had returned, kept chatting on the phone.
“Yeah! They say I’m fated to be beaten to death by my husband! That’s why my mom and dad have already spent tens of billions on that shaman!”
Ah, so she’s talking about herself, not me?
“Yeah. At first, I thought it was a scam too. I didn’t believe it until last year. But I got into three accidents last year, right? The shaman predicted all of them. And last Christmas, she told me not to go outside because I’d get into a car accident. But I thought just having coffee would be fine, so I met you guys and sat by the café window. Then a drunk driver crashed in, shattered the window, and I was the only one crushed under it. Seriously, who could predict something like that?”
A chilling sensation ran through Hong Yumin’s entire body.
If Hong Suji’s words were true, Yoon Bosal must be quite powerful.
Naturally, what Kim Byungtae had said earlier came to mind.
“They said there are no women in my fate. Yoon Bosal found me a woman to compensate for that. That’s you.”
The words that Yoon Bosal had connected her to him.
What on earth is going on?
“Anyway, after that day, I completely trust her. So today, Hong Yumin is going on a blind date in my place.”
Ah. So Yoon Bosal sent me to Kim Byungtae as a substitute for Hong Suji, who would die if she married at twenty-five.
“She told me to send her with something I consider like a part of myself, so I gave her my Chanel bag. Yeah, it’s a waste. It is, but…”
A brief silence passed, then a chilling giggle followed.
“But thinking of it as a gift to the scapegoat who’ll die in my place makes it feel worth it.”
Hong Yumin’s pupils trembled violently.
What did I just hear?
A scapegoat… to die instead of Hong Suji?
“Hey, think about it. The guy is forty-four and has already been married twice. Both his wives died in accidents. Who knows why. But you know how it is, right? For rich guys, it’s easy to kill someone and make it look like an accident. Ugh. I almost became Bluebeard’s bride. Heh heh.”
Hong Yumin’s legs trembled.
She didn’t know much about shamanism or things like scapegoats.
But she could guess what it meant.
Forcing strength into her weakening legs, she quietly headed to her room.
As soon as she entered, she locked the door and turned on her phone to search for “scapegoat.”
“…Taking on bad energy in someone else’s place?”
Hong Yumin put down her phone and bit her nails as she thought.
In other words, to summarize Hong Suji’s words.
Hong Suji was destined to die young, and if she married at twenty-five, she would be beaten to death by her husband.
To avoid that fate, they used Hong Yumin as a scapegoat.
At that moment, an unpleasant chill pierced through her body.
“Oh dear, how pitiful. Come live with your uncle’s family. We’ll raise you like Suji.”
“Yumin, do you want to cut your hair like Suji too?”
“Yumin, if you don’t want to look like a girl without a mother, at least try to resemble Suji halfway. Look at Suji, how elegant she is.”
When she was young, after her father became bedridden, they brought her to the main house and dressed and fed her exactly like Hong Suji.
Was that all to make her take on Hong Suji’s bad fortune instead?
And then.
Thud, thud—footsteps began approaching Hong Yumin’s room.
“Heh heh. Hey, remember how people used to say we looked like twins when we were kids? Same hair, same bags, everything. Oh, wait. Let me check if she took that bag.”
Hong Yumin forgot to even breathe as she focused on Hong Suji’s voice.
“If she didn’t take it? Well… it’s not a big deal. I’ll just tell her to bring it to the after-date— huh?”
Click.
The doorknob began to rattle.
Soon, Hong Suji’s flustered voice and curses were heard.
“Hey, what the hell? Why is the door locked? Hey, Hong Yumin, are you in there? Huh?!”
As Hong Yumin held her breath, Hong Suji raged for a while before suddenly stomping down the stairs.
Then she immediately ran back up and banged on the door.
“Your shoes are here! You’re inside, aren’t you, Hong Yumin! Open the door! When did you get back? Huh?! Did you meet that man or something? Why are you home so early?!”
Hong Suji’s frantic voice rang out.
When Hong Yumin still didn’t open the door, Hong Suji kicked it and hurled all kinds of curses.
Hong Yumin covered her ears and closed her eyes.
Her hands trembled like aspen leaves.
The reason this family took her in and made her stay by Hong Suji’s side every day was far more inhumane and horrifying than she had imagined.
“Open the door, you bitch!”
Behind Hong Suji’s curses, another voice was added.
“Daughter? What are you doing?”
“Mom! Hong Yumin is already back! It’s only been an hour since the blind date! I think she ruined it! If she doesn’t marry that man, what happens to me? Huh?!”
“What?! That wretched girl! Wait, I’ll get the key!”
The sound of someone stomping downstairs to get the key echoed.
This fear was different from the resentment she felt while living under their disdain.
It was terror—enough to feel like her life was in danger.
What do I do? What should I do?
Her mind went blank, unable to think.
And at that moment—
“You’re the one acting crazy, you know. Move your head aside.”
“Let me check if the woman sitting in front of me is really the one I know.”
The voice of Seol Jaejun, who had saved her from Kim Byungtae, came back to her vividly.
Of all times, right now.
