CHAPTER 10:THE BASEMENT
1283 Words
The basement smelled like concrete and old blood.
Not real blood. Taewook kept it clean. Too clean. Like a place that was built to make people talk before anyone got hurt.
Minho was tied to a metal chair in the center. Hands behind him. Mouth taped.
He was still screaming behind the tape when they dragged him in. Now it was just muffled whimpers.
Taewook didn’t sit. He stood in the shadows, arms crossed. Joon on his left. Two guards by the door.
And me.
I was in the light.
“Untape him,” Taewook said.
Joon did.
Minho gasped like he’d been underwater. “You can’t do this! This is illegal! k********g! Torture! I’ll sue you! I’ll—”
“Shut up,” I said.
My voice wasn’t loud. But the whole room went quiet.
Minho’s head snapped toward me. His eyes were red. Swollen. He looked older. Smaller.
“You,” he said. Like it was a curse.
“Me,” I said. I pulled a chair out. Metal legs screeching on the floor. I sat. 1 meter from him. Eye level.
For 5 years I dreamed of this. Not killing him. Worse. Watching him break without lifting a finger.
“You were supposed to be dead,” he whispered.
“I was,” I said. “You made sure of that. Bullet to the chest. Ditch by the river. No funeral. No body.”
His jaw clenched. “You don’t remember—”
“I remember everything,” I cut in. “I remember you laughing after. I remember Jihye crying in the car because you told her to. I remember thinking, ‘This is how it ends?’”
Taewook shifted behind me. He didn’t interrupt.
Minho looked at him. Then back at me. “You’re crazy. Both of you. She’s—she’s not even real. She died!”
Taewook stepped into the light. Slow.
“Then sue her,” he said flatly. “For being alive.”
Minho flinched.
I leaned forward. “You wanted my mother’s shares, right? 18%. Worth 4.2 billion won. That’s what you told Jihye. That’s what the loan sharks wanted.”
“How do you—”
“Because I read the same texts you sent her,” I said. I pulled out my phone. Played the recording.
Jihye’s voice, 3:11 AM: _“I’m sorry, Soyeon. He forced me.”_
Minho’s face went white.
“That’s not admissible,” he said fast. “Illegally obtained. Entrapment—”
Taewook laughed. Once. No humor. “You’re in my basement, Minho. There is no law here. Only consequences.”
I set the phone down. “So here’s your choice. Two options. That’s it.”
I held up one finger. “Option 1. You sign over everything. Every company. Every account. Every property. You disappear. No Seoul. No Korea. No contact. Ever. We let you live.”
He stared.
I held up two fingers. “Option 2. We don’t let you live. We break you. Piece by piece. Starting with the fingers you used to pull the trigger.”
Minho started shaking. “You wouldn’t—”
“Wouldn’t I?” I stood. Walked behind him. I picked up the knife he held to Jihye’s throat. Still had his fingerprints.
I put it on the table in front of him. “This one? Or the gun? Choose.”
He was crying now. Real tears. Snot. Pathetic.
“Please, Soyeon. I loved you. I was desperate. The debt—”
“You didn’t love me,” I said. “You loved what I could give you. There’s a difference.”
I looked at Taewook. He gave the smallest nod.
I walked to the door. “Joon.”
“Yes, Mrs. Kang?”
“Get the papers,” I said. “All of them. Transfer forms. Deeds. Bank releases. He signs. Tonight.”
Joon left.
Minho was sobbing. “You can’t—please—my life—”
“You ended mine,” I said. I turned at the door. “Consider this a refund.”
I walked out. Didn’t look back.
The hallway was cold. White walls. No windows.
Taewook followed me.
“You don’t have to watch,” he said. “I can handle it.”
“I know,” I said. “But I need to. For 5 years, I was the one on my knees. Today, he is.”
He stopped. Looked at me. Really looked.
“You’re not the same girl who fell in the lobby,” he said.
“No,” I said. “That girl died. I buried her in the red dress.”
We stood there for a second. Just breathing.
Then Taewook reached out. He didn’t touch my hand. He brushed my hair behind my ear. One finger. Barely anything.
But it felt like more than all the whiskey and suits.
“You did good, partner,” he said.
I nodded. My throat was tight. “When it’s done… what happens to him?”
Taewook’s eyes went flat. “He signs. He leaves the country. If he ever comes back, Joon has permission to make it permanent.”
No police. No trial. Just us.
Part of me wanted to feel guilty. I didn’t.
30 minutes later, Joon came back. Papers in hand.
“It’s done,” he said. “He signed everything. Thumbprint. Witnessed. Video recorded.”
Taewook took the folder. Flipped through. Then he handed it to me.
“Yours,” he said.
I held it. 18% of my mother’s company. 4.2 billion won. 5 years of debt. Gone.
I should’ve felt free. Instead I felt empty.
Because revenge doesn’t fill the hole. It just shows you how big it is.
“Take him to Incheon,” Taewook told Joon. “First flight out. Economy. No luggage. No phone. If he talks to anyone before boarding, shoot him.”
“Yes, CEO Kang.”
Footsteps. Dragging. Minho’s voice, faint: “Soyeon… I’m sorry—”
The door slammed. Silence.
Taewook and I were alone again.
He walked to a wall. Pressed a button. The basement lights dimmed.
“Come,” he said.
He led me up. Out of the concrete. Into the penthouse. The glass. The city.
4:47 AM.
He poured two glasses of water this time. No whiskey.
He handed me one.
“Drink,” he said. “You’re in shock.”
I drank. It tasted like nothing.
He sat on the couch. Left space for me.
I sat. Not 1 cushion this time. Right next to him. Shoulder to shoulder.
We didn’t talk for a long time.
Then he said, quiet: “You chose mercy.”
“I chose control,” I said. “Killing him would’ve made me like him.”
Taewook nodded. “And that’s why I trust you.”
He turned his head. Looked at me.
“Soyeon. If I told you… 5 years ago, I would’ve killed him in that alley. No questions. No trial. Would you hate me?”
I thought about it.
“No,” I said. “I’d understand you.”
Something in his face cracked. Just a little.
He reached for my hand. This time he didn’t ask. He just took it. His was warm. Calloused. Real.
“Then stay,” he said. “Not because of the contract. Not because of leverage. Stay because you want to.”
My heart was pounding. Not from fear. Not from adrenaline.
From him.
“Okay,” I whispered.
He didn’t smile. He just squeezed my hand.
Outside, Seoul was starting to wake up.
And for the first time since I died… I didn’t want to run.
TO BE CONTINUED
- Writer
