“Stay at home.”
Baek Woojin said just that with a stiffly hardened face, then whoosh, went out the front door.
“……”
When the door closed, I just stood there blankly for a while.
“My in-law is… really not ordinary.”
He was a bit strange. The way he treated his son, and occasionally the look in his eyes when he looked at me…
I didn’t get something wrong, did I…?
I vaguely imagined being with my in-law in the future for just a moment, then shook my head.
Well, he’s not a bad person anyway, rather close to an angel.
Making that judgment, I leisurely looked around the living room.
“Let’s see, where is Chae Seungyeon’s bag…”
Baek Woojin told me that, but a person has to have some shame, I absolutely couldn’t do that. No matter how much it’s not my body. First, I needed to find out how much money Chae Seungyeon has on hand, and whether there’s really nowhere else to stay besides the in-laws’ house.
Ding dong.
That’s when it was. How long had it been since Baek Woojin left that the doorbell rang?
“Huh? Did he leave something behind?”
I opened the front door without any suspicion.
Thwack!
“…!”
But as soon as I opened the door, a large hand roughly shot out. Startled, I grabbed the door handle to pull it back, but this time a shoe from below wedged into the gap of the front door.
“What, what…!”
A thief?!
Only then did I belatedly realize that if it were the homeowner, he would never have pressed the doorbell. It was a foolish mistake, but there was no point regretting it now. I quickly grabbed the door handle with both hands and pulled hard to prevent the thief from opening the door.
But these were Chae Seungyeon’s wrists that seemed like they’d break if grabbed wrong. The door didn’t close easily.
“Help me! It’s a thief!”
Just as I was shouting loudly for help.
“Chae Seungyeon-ssi.”
“…!”
A strange man cast through the door crack called Chae Seungyeon’s name. Through that gap, the man reached his hand into the door.
“What… hup!”
I tried to turn my head to avoid it, but I smelled something strange at the tip of my nose. Right after that, strength left my entire body and my consciousness was sucked into darkness.
*
My younger sister particularly liked makjang dramas. The program she watched every week without fail was <Couple’s Clinic: Bedroom War>, and her favorite drama was <Princess Ohora> which left the famous line “cancer cells are also life.”
That didn’t mean my sister watched such broadcasts with a happy expression the whole time. My sister cursed using profanity that even I wouldn’t use along with mom, and complained about her frustration throughout an entire drama episode.
‘Even if I wrote with my feet, I’d write better than that!’
Write with her feet…?
I should have caught on and realized it right then…
That not only the main shou’s name but also the plot would be no different from makjang.
“Mmph! Mmph…!”
When I came to my senses, I was in the back seat of some car with my entire body tightly bound with rope. My vision was still unstable due to the smell I had inhaled earlier, but there was no problem with my cognitive abilities.
However, my mouth was completely sealed with tape, so I couldn’t make any sound other than groaning.
“Mmph! Mmph…!”
As I kept making noise while thrashing around, the buzz-cut thug sitting in the passenger seat turned to look at me.
“Hyung-nim, he’s awake.”
The thug with wide-open eyes spoke to the driver next to him.
“Leave him alone, we’re on our way home anyway.”
At the same time as the man called hyung-nim spoke, thunk, the car shook once.
Home…? Home…?
Whose home are they talking about? The kidnappers’ den? What are they planning to do after taking me there…
I couldn’t help but think of human trafficking and murder cases I’d seen on TV or internet articles. Cold chills ran all over my body from the creeping fear.
No…! Even though it’s not really my body, how did Chae Seungyeon survive…! It’s too unfair to die like this. I couldn’t give up like this. I had to use my wits.
“Ugh…!”
In that state, I struggled to crane my neck out to look at the scenery outside the car window. I was thinking of learning the route even a little. But the car kept going uphill, and all I could see around were luxury residential complexes built in layers with bricks.
Why does it keep going up? Is the kidnappers’ hideout in the mountains?
No way…
Just as a thought was blooming in one corner of my mind.
Thunk.
That’s when it was. Finally, the car that had been running non-stop stopped. I came to my senses and quickly looked around. But I couldn’t tell where this place was at all.
Well-maintained trees beyond high walls… And around were all luxury houses just like when we were coming up.
“Pull him out.”
“Yes, hyung-nim.”
“Hey, don’t call me hyung-nim here. The madam doesn’t like it.”
The man sitting in the driver’s seat scolded the thug and got out of the car.
Madam…?
Why am I thinking of the madam who slaps with kimchi from the makjang drama my sister watched…?
“Heave-ho.”
Meanwhile, the thug opened the car door and easily pulled me out. As soon as the guy grabbed my legs, I began resisting like crazy.
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Ah, geez! Stay still! If you keep doing that, I’ll smack your pretty face!”
The thug yelled menacingly in my ear. He shouted right in front of my face, making me flinch involuntarily. In that gap, the thug pulled me out and slung me over his shoulder. It was monstrous strength. For a moment I thought I had become a paper person. Because he lifted my body so easily.
“Being an omega, he’s really light.”
“Shh, be quiet and hurry inside.”
The thug quickly walked following the hurrying hyung-nim. I looked around while hanging upside down on his shoulder. It seemed to be a garage.
Step, step.
Passing through the garage, the two men opened a door and went up the stairs. The trudging footsteps stopped and another door opened. Then bright light poured into my eyes.
“Why are you so late?!”
A shrill woman’s voice rang out sharply. I could feel the thug also startled and flinching.
“Put him down.”
I looked at the floor while dangling. I could see a woman’s legs in bright red shoes on luxurious carpet.
Hmm…?
But strangely, a chill ran through my body. Even though I didn’t intend it, my entire body began trembling. Meanwhile, the thug tried to lay me down on the sofa.
“What are you doing?”
“What…?”
That’s when it was. Again the woman’s sharp voice was heard. When the flustered thug stopped his action, an irritated voice immediately flew out.
“Just put him on the floor.”
“Ah, yes yes…”
What’s with that staccato dialogue…?
Thud.
Eventually the thug left me sprawled on the cold marble floor.
“Untie him.”
The woman’s brief command came again. The big guy and the driver untied the rope that had been binding my body tightly and removed the tape that had been covering my mouth.
“Huk…”
As soon as my body was free, I collapsed forward and took in a big breath of air.
Click-clack, in the meantime, the woman who had approached right in front of me let out a small sigh and opened her mouth.
“My son-in-law.”
“…!”
I had hoped it wouldn’t be, but it was as expected. I thought for a moment that what was coming had come.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
