PR 02

PR

Posted by Zoe, Released on October 18, 2025

Chapter 02 …

“From now on, your name is Yoo Se-hee.”

“I named you after Se-jin. From now on, you two are sisters, so stay close.”

It wasn’t common for an older sister to be named after the younger one, but Se-hee’s case was a bit special. Se-jin, who shyly approached her and offered the doll she had been holding, had lovely crescent-shaped eyes when she smiled.

“Welcome, unnie. Let’s be close.”

Sensing Se-hee’s unfamiliarity, Se-jin was the first to reach out her hand. She was six years younger than Se-hee, but surprisingly mature for her age.

“Don’t fight with your sister. No matter what happens, help each other.”
“Okay. Can I see your room?”

The way their mother affectionately patted Se-jin’s head showed how deeply she cherished her. The household was just as abundant and serene as the grand mansion they lived in.

Though she was only a foster child in public, Se-hee grew up there receiving all the care and affection she could want. Sometimes she was Se-jin’s friend, sometimes her older sister; to Yoo Hyung-jin and Jang Kyung-sil, she was their proud eldest daughter.

After their mother Kyung-sil died unexpectedly in an accident, Se-hee and Se-jin grew even closer, relying on each other. That child had become family she needed to protect.

Her days flowed by peacefully, as if no hardship would ever come. As if no storm could shake their world.

“Unnie!”

Se-hee took a deep breath and clenched her fists.

“…!”

When she opened her eyes, she found herself in an unfamiliar room.

A faint aroma seeped into her lungs. Her hand, which she thought she had clenched, was completely wrapped in bandages.

Blinking slowly, she tried to retrace her memories.

“Chae I-do.”

That was the name that had suddenly escaped from the man’s lips.

Then this place must be…

“…Hhk!”

Startled, Se-hee tried to push herself up in bed. But before her upper body could rise, a crushing pain—like all her bones were shattering—hit her first.

“You’re awake?”

A man rose lazily from the chair. She hadn’t even noticed he was in the room. Picking up a remote, he turned on the warm yellow lights and approached her.

“Seems like you didn’t get much sleep.”

His tone was calm, almost as if he were talking about someone else.

This was the man who had dragged her peaceful life into the mud. If he really was Chae I-do, then he should be able to guess perfectly well why she hadn’t been able to sleep.

“You were unconscious for an entire day.”

Had that much time passed? Se-hee turned her head slightly to take in her surroundings. The white, spacious room was sparsely furnished.

There was a single bed, a round table made of dark wood, and a recliner where the man had been sitting earlier. Beside the bed sat a small chair, as if someone had been tending to her. Now that she thought about it, her clothes had been torn to shreds.

“You’ll need to keep the cast on for about three weeks. Which means you’ll need help eating, bathing—everything.”

The man dragged the chair to sit in front of the bed, crossing his long legs, completely uninterested in her appearance.

His calm gaze scanned the hastily scribbled note she had left behind for her younger sister. Even while mentioning that he’d have to look after her, his tone remained detached.

Chae I-do.

Seeing him in person was nothing like the man she had imagined. Her father had always warned that he was cruel, without compassion, and never hesitated to harm others.

But the man in front of her looked refined and polite. His slender fingers turning the note were so immaculate it was as if they had never been stained with a drop of blood.

“…Where’s my father?”

She couldn’t afford to lower her guard. This was Chae I-do, the man her father had warned her against endlessly.

Suppressing her distrust and disgust as much as she could, Se-hee looked up at him.

“I don’t really understand what happened—”

“I should be the one asking that.”

He set the note down carelessly and replied in a disinterested tone.

“I thought I had a pretty good relationship with the prosecutor.”

With the fog fully cleared, his face was even more striking than she remembered before she’d lost consciousness.

His long eyes, sharp nose, and masculine jawline — who would imagine this man was an executive of a loan shark company disguised as a construction firm?

People might have their “ideal types,” but his looks were beyond ordinary tastes.

“Our dear prosecutor messed things up.”

That made him all the more terrifying. With a face that looked like that, who knew what he’d do behind it?

“Because of him, a project I’ve been working on for years went up in smoke.”

While she sat stunned, he rubbed his brow tiredly.

“I’ll clean up the mess, but it’s going to be a hassle.”

“I hate troublesome things,” he muttered under his breath with a sigh.

“So you… dealt with my father? And me too…?”

In the end, she had walked into the tiger’s den herself.

Was this his way of washing and grooming the prey before the slaughter?

“We can make it right. It must’ve been some misunderstanding. You know how capable my father is. If you could just give him one more chance—”

“Well.”

Chae I-do replied in the same calm tone.

“I’m too angry for that.”

Despite his words, the face he turned toward her was composed.

“How are you going to make it up to me?”

His lips curled slightly, almost playfully, and Se-hee’s mind raced.

“Are you going to get on your knees and beg?”

His inappropriate smile almost felt like he was giving her an opening.

She had to talk her way out of this somehow. She was in the tiger’s den — the only way to survive was to stay sharp.

“Compensation… I’ll compensate you. Whatever the losses were, I’ll repay them all. Please, my father and Se-jin—”

Compensation.

He repeated the word and let out a disbelieving laugh. Not knowing what that laugh meant, Se-hee wet her dry lips with her tongue.

She tried to move her stiff legs, but even the slightest motion sent sharp pain shooting up her spine. No matter how she angled herself, she couldn’t get down on her knees beside the bed.

“No matter how long it takes…”

With all her strength, she tipped herself off the bed and collapsed face-down onto the floor. Agonizing pain spread from her toes up her spine.

“I’ll repay everything… I’ll do whatever you tell me. Please… anything…”

Clenching her teeth, she grabbed the hem of his sharply pressed trousers and lifted her head.

Tears blurred her vision, but she forced herself to blink them away so she could meet his eyes.

“Hm.”

Leaning forward, he gripped her chin and turned her face for a better look. Her mouth went dry at the mercyless glint in his eyes.

“So this is why the prosecutor hid you away so carefully. If he’d let you out, you would’ve been eaten alive.”

His cold gaze slowly traced her cheek and nose bridge.

“No wonder he never showed you to anyone.”

She couldn’t tell what was a joke and what wasn’t. All she could do was look up at him with a tear-streaked face.

“It’d be a waste to just throw you to anyone.”

Almost playfully, he used his thumb to wipe away a tear from her cheek. His touch was disarmingly warm.

Terror and relief rose and fell within her in waves, clashing emotions taking turns to dominate.

“You should be careful.”

“……”

“If you walk out like this, a pack of hyenas will be waiting for you.”

He exaggerated his tone as if warning a child, but she knew it wasn’t an exaggeration. She never wanted to stand again before those men who had drawn lots to claim her like an object at an auction.

“…Ah…”

Her pupils trembled as she understood his words.

This peaceful room, scented lightly of perfume—just beyond that single door lay a different world.

He was forcing her to choose: to willingly submit to him, or run out now and be torn apart by the beasts outside.

“…No…”

The thought of those leering, laughing men made her shudder instinctively.

“…I don’t want to leave. Please… protect me…”

“……”

“I’ll do anything. Cleaning, errands—anything.”

Their threats had already carved fear into her. She could almost hear their voices murmuring beyond the door.

“Please…”

Se-hee clung to him with every bit of desperation she could muster. Ironically, staying by Chae I-do’s side was her safest refuge now. Perhaps even her father’s and Se-jin’s lives depended on this man.

“…Or maybe…”

Her trembling hands gripped the button holding her clothes together. The thin fabric slipped off her shoulders.

Chae I-do didn’t seem like the type to be swayed by women or indulgence, but she had no choice. At least three lives depended on his decision.

“Are you offering your body?”

But his eyes didn’t even flicker downward.

He simply watched her trembling gaze, as if her frail, shabby body didn’t interest him at all.

“No, that’s not it.”

Realizing she’d failed, Se-hee’s breath shook.

“I couldn’t treat the prosecutor’s daughter like that.”

Mocking her tear-streaked face, he spoke again.

“But there is a position that’s still vacant.”

Se-hee looked up at him nervously.