Pay With Your Heart

Eun-Sun didn't know what he meant by doing what was right. Did he mean telling Dan-Han and father Lee?

Of course, that was what he meant. Telling them was going to be the right thing to do, but would Mrs Lee want that? No, she didn't! 

"What about mother?" She asked

"What about her?" Jae-Hyun asked back. "She wanted help in keeping her secret, and she got it. Two months she asked, but it's been over a year. I know I promised her, but sometimes doing the right thing means doing the right thing and not what feels like the right thing. I have helped her the way she wanted me to, but it's high time we helped her the right way."

Eun-Sun didn't know what to feel after hearing Jae-Hyun. Her thoughts and emotions suddenly became haphazard. She perfectly understood what he was trying to say, as she had also countlessly thought about it, but now that it had come to a moment like this, she could feel herself hesitate, not because of anything else but because of Dan-Han. How was he going to take this?

"What about Dan-Han?" She couldn't help but ask, and as soon as she asked, she saw the emotions that quivered in Jae-Hyun's face. Was that fear? She was also scared.

Jae-Hyun stayed silent for a while before replying, "I guess we do it now than later." Eun-Sun understood his words perfectly. It was better to tell him when she was still here and alive than when it was late. He would be angry, but it was better than him hating them and resenting them.

"But how do we go about it?" Eun-Sun asked.

....

Tae-Ho and the other team members sprung into action the moment he received the text from Dan-Han.

In less than two hours, they were already on a chopper heading towards the unknown man's location, thanks to Chang-wok and his proficiency.

Tae-Ho looked down from the chopper to the cabin hidden amidst the trees. The house was buried in an isolated area no one would generally want to live. He surveyed the environment, and he took note of the bobby traps that were laid in wait for intruders. Tae-Ho could tell whoever they had come to see wasn't an ordinary thug; he must have had some training. 

"Go down." His cold voice ordered, and the chopper was immediately lowered halfway to the ground, and all the men jumped out with heavy ammunition.

In few minutes, they surrounded the house, and Tae-Ho forcefully kicked the door down. Bullets started were soaring through the air the next second. Tae-Ho deftly avoided the shots, but some of his men weren't so lucky.

He pulled out the gun tucked on the waistline of his trousers. He waited for a while without moving while the others exchanged shots. But all the time, he remained unmoved; his ears paid rapt attention to the sound of the gunshots as he counted the number of bullets being fired from the man they were to adopt.

"17", He muttered, and at that moment, he stepped out from behind the wall he had been hiding.

His eyes narrowed at the steel-plated chandelier hanging in the kitchen, reflecting the man's position hiding behind the kitchen counter.

He pulled out the black shades revealing his obsidian eyes. He aimed his gun at the steel frying pan hanging against the wall and was adjacent to the man. With his calculated projection, he pulled the trigger, and the very next second, a painful groan reverberated across the living space. 

"Grab him," Tae-Ho ordered as he pulled back his glasses while the men did as he had said.

"Fuck, who the hell are you?" The burly middle-aged man yelled as he struggled with the unknown men who had just grabbed him, but he was helpless as he was currently bleeding from his shoulder.

Tae-Ho stood before the man, his stoic face reflecting the dangers he carried along with him. It was the person Dan-Han had asked for.

"My boss wants a chat with you." He coldly said before nodding to his men, who draped a black cloth over his head and dragged him out.

.....

Dan-Han was lost in his work when a message from Tae-Ho came into his phone. He shut his laptop and immediately dialled a number.

"I want to make a reservation." He said.

"What kind of reservation?" The person on the other side of the phone asked.

"A black house."

"Where?"

"Southern province, Country F." He replied.

"Payment."

"Cash."

Dan-Han was aware of the shady services being provided in the underworld. Warehouses, black houses which served as safe houses, torture rooms or whatever the rental occupant chose to do with them with no questions asked, were provided in almost all the countries where crime was rampant, and Country F was one of such places.

He received a notification of the location of his reservation, and he forwarded it to Tae-Ho. He strolled into the bathroom and got himself ready.

He sighed when he realized he was about to leave without telling Eun-sun.

She was definitely not going to like this, but he had to do it. He had a gut feeling about this whole Soomin situation after watching that footage. And remembering her odd statement, he had a feeling Eun-sun might be related to this or not. He wasn't certain, and that's why he had to get to it.

He knew he had promised Eun-sun not to do anything work-related, but this wasn't work. 

He was about dialling her number when someone knocked on the door. He was surprised to find her standing there with a solemn look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked with concern the moment he opened the door.

"Not -" She paused when she saw him all fully dressed up to leave.

"Going somewhere?" She suspiciously asked.

"I have to run an errand," He replied in a somewhat guilty tone.

"Errand? Like you're leaving?" She inquired in an even more suspicious tone.

Dan-Han took a step closer to her. His eyes were staring at her in a pleading manner.

"I'm sorry, but I'll be back before dawn."

"Dawn?" So this meant he wasn't going to come back tonight?

"Yes. I know I promised not to do anything work-related, but this is important." He said, planting a kiss on her cheek.

"But we wanted to talk to you about something." She told him. She had agreed with Jae-Hyun to tell him the truth together, as Jae-Hyun believed Dan-Han wouldn't be too angry if she were there, though she didn't believe that.

"We?" He raised a brow at her, wondering who she was referring to as 'we.'

Eun-Sun pursed her lips and shook her head. "We can talk about it when you return." She said, but Dan-Han shot a sceptical look at her.

"Are you sure?" He asked while she bobbed her head reassuringly.

"Yes."

Dan-Han hesitated for a moment before pulling her into his embrace, his chin placed on the top of her head.

"I'll be back in a few hours. You won't even notice I'm gone." He told her.

"But I'll miss you." She snuggled closer to his chest. Today was a pretty tiring day for her, even though it was still noon.

"I'll miss you too. But now be a good girl, okay." He said, kissing her forehead.

"Okay." She nodded. They remained still for a while before Dan-Han finally left.

Eun-Sun let out a wry as she watched him leave. Few hours wasn't that long, and they could wait a bit more, she reasoned.

But little did she know that a few hours would change the course of her life....of everyone's lives.