The Silver Trap

The room, which had been filled with heavy voices only a few minutes ago, was now as silent as if that noise had never existed.

The sound of alcohol trickling into an empty glass felt startlingly loud in the quiet.

The man grasped the glass he had just filled.

He tilted it back, the rim meeting his lips as it cut through the air, and his Adam’s apple bobbed significantly as he swallowed.

The eyes that had been fixed on him dropped downward.

Her gaze lingered briefly on his red tie before naturally following his hand as he lowered the glass.

The man lifted his eyes, the corners of his mouth tugging upward at the blatant stare directed toward him.

“Jo Hae Su, was it?”

His characteristically calm voice pierced the air.

He chewed over the name, murmuring it softly with a smiling face.

“For someone of your station, you are neither light nor cheap. It does not suit you.”

The women who sat in these seats pouring drinks and selling their bodies usually knew their place; they were light and cheap because that was the role they were assigned.

But Hae Su was different.

She looked like a hostess to anyone who saw her, yet she carried herself like a well-bred daughter of a wealthy family.

“Quite unique.”

He continued in a rhythmic, melodic tone.

“Is that why President Lee keeps you so close?”

Hae Su’s eyes wavered.

He was a figure that was bound to be mentioned.

Refining her expression before it could crumble, Hae Su let a smile spread across her lips.

The man, having finished the rest of his drink, lowered his voice to a faint whisper.

“Everyone is curious. They want to know what kind of btch managed to make Lee Do Guk lose his mind… the man rumored to never even look at women, as if he were a dmn eunuch.”

The subject of those rumors, Hae Su, bit her lip firmly.

It was a rumor that gained nothing from her adding words to it.

She said nothing, maintaining only a faint smile.

“But, is it alright for you to be here like this?”

It was a question anyone would find puzzling.

However, the reason she could continue appearing at the establishment was due to a condition she had set before moving in with Lee Do Guk.

Of course, even with a condition, it would have been impossible if he had blocked it, but Lee Do Guk had never told her to quit her job, nor had he forbidden her from sitting with other men.

Consequently, Hae Su’s place was still the VIP room salon managed by Madam Song.

“I never know when or how I might be thrown away… I have to find a way to survive.”

They were as good as lovers, but they were not real lovers.

Hae Su spoke with a reason that sounded plausible to others.

“A way to survive.”

A hollow laugh escaped the man’s lips.

“President Lee would be disappointed to hear that.”

Expecting fidelity and integrity from a hostess at an entertainment establishment was a joke.

Deciding the timing was right, Hae Su held out a gift box she had prepared.

His grey eyes dropped to the box, seemingly asking what it was.

Hae Su untied the neatly wrapped ribbon.

The tie pin inside the box sparkled as it caught the light.

“……I heard the news that you will soon be running in the party primary.”

To a man like him, her words would sound like someone from the bottom of life willing to do anything to climb up.

With a composed expression, Hae Su fastened the pin onto his red tie.

“It is a modest gift, but please accept it as my early congratulations.”

As her hands fell away after straightening the tie, the man’s downward gaze lifted.

His thin lips stretched into a long line.

Soon, he stood up, closing his high-quality suit jacket that had been hanging open.

After fastening the button, the man lowered the hand that had been touching the silver pin.

“If something comes, something must go in return.”

Hae Su tilted her chin up to look at the man.

“However, one should not carelessly pick up someone else’s bread… If you get sick from eating it, it is worse than not eating at all.”

He meant he did not want to cause unnecessary trouble.

“I will accept the gift with thanks. Give my regards to President Lee. Tell him I will visit soon with some good news.”

Hae Su replied with a faint smile lingering on her face.

“……Yes, Representative.”

Leaving the table, the man walked away.

Hae Su stood up, gave a polite bow, and then straightened her back.

Only after the man, who did not look back, had completely left the room did Hae Su lift her gaze from the floor to stare straight ahead.

‘Representative Park is coming today.’

She had to create a situation where she could be alone with him.

She hadn’t approached him for the sake of advancement, nor did she want money.

Handing him the prepared gift—that was the sole reason Hae Su had come to this place.

Hae Su turned and reached for the table.

She tilted the bottle, pouring the alcohol into an empty glass with a splash to moisten her throat, then muttered quietly.

“……Congratulations, my *ss.”

She furrowed her straight eyebrows at the stinging scent spreading in her mouth.

Only after draining every drop left in the glass did she move her body, which had been frozen in place.

The sound of her heels echoed loudly in the hallway.

Leaving the dark, narrow passage that relied on a few lamps, she saw the entrance leading outside.

Hae Su watched the door before turning her gaze toward the desk.

Her eyes met the Madam who was guarding the spot.

Unlike the woman who was smiling brightly, Hae Su’s face was expressionless, her emotions unreadable.

The Madam twitched her thin eyebrows and placed her hand on the counter.

Underneath it lay a stack of million-won checks, at least twenty of them.

“The money Representative Park left for you.”

It was a large amount for just a few drinks and a gift.

It was a much higher price than what the women working here would get for going out to f*ck someone.

“I am telling you, people have to be born with it. Seeing how you are so loved despite not doing much…”

At Hae Su’s cold stare, the quick-witted Madam cut her words short and smiled brightly once more.

Hae Su pushed the checks back toward her.

“Why?”

“I do not need it.”

“What? Do you know how much this is?”

Madam Song looked at her with wide eyes, but Hae Su had no reason to accept money that felt like a s*x fee.

She was not doing this to take money like this.

“Keep it if you want. And tell Representative Park that the item has been delivered.”

The Madam, having secured the checks for herself, pulled her hand back primly.

Soon, she grabbed a soda can from under the desk with that same hand.

Clack. She placed the can on the counter.

“Then at least drink this.”

Hae Su looked down at the blue sports drink can, checked the outside briefly, and took it.

The can crinkled slightly as she gripped it before shifting it to her other hand.

With a short goodbye, Hae Su left the building.

When the door opened, a large man waiting at the bottom of the stairs turned around.

Hae Su approached the man, who bowed deeply in greeting, and held out the sports drink.

“Sung Tae, would you like a drink?”

He blinked blankly before declining politely.

“I am fine.”

His pronunciation was slurred like a child’s due to his severed tongue.

Was it a relief that he could at least be understood?

Ah, she remembered hearing that it was a miracle he was even alive.

She had not heard the reason why, but the person who made him this way was none other than Lee Do Guk.

It was a strange world the more she thought about it.

Even after almost dying, he remained a subordinate to the man who hurt him, following orders to serve a woman of no consequence.

Perhaps the loyalty they spoke of was truly something greater than death.

“Are we going home?”

Hae Su nodded at Sung Tae, who asked in his clumsy but respectful manner.

“Yes, let us go home.”

Staring at the brightening sky outside the window, Hae Su sat lost in thought for a moment before turning her head toward the empty space.

The house was silent.

It was so quiet that she could hear the sound of the soft fabric brushing against her skin with every step she took.

Stopping in front of a table, Hae Su looked down at the object sitting alone.

Next to a tie pin sat a wiretap, shorter than a fingertip and thinner than the edge of a coin.

‘Then at least drink this.’

It was the item secretly pressed into her hand when the Madam gave her the drink.

The previously provided wiretap had stopped working, so it was time for a replacement.

It was a hassle to change it herself, but there was no other way to avoid suspicion.

Using a sharp awl, she disassembled the tie pin and replaced the wiretap inside with the new one.

The tie pin she gave Representative Park was the same.

It was a trap disguised as a gift.

If successful, it would be the only chance to obtain useful information from a man who was otherwise inaccessible.

Hae Su took the perfectly assembled tie pin and headed to the dressing room.

The moment she stepped inside, she faced the mirror reflecting her image.

She stopped walking and dropped her gaze.

Then, she changed the direction of her steps.

Reaching the mirror, Hae Su stared at the small drawer beneath it before leaning down and reaching out.

Deep inside the sliding drawer, her hand touched a box.

Opening the lid with one hand, the object inside was revealed.

‘It would be better to have one, just in case.’

Hae Su’s eyes narrowed.

It was a different model from the handguns issued to field agents.

The black gun with its crude design, given to Hae Su through unofficial channels, was merely a weapon.

‘Are you telling me to kill if my life is threatened?’

‘That should not happen.’

Hae Su removed the magazine and fixed her eyes on the bullets filling every space.

‘The only one who can protect you there is yourself. Trust no one, and even if someone gives you their trust, you must not waver.’

Every day and every moment was a continuation of tension, but the fact that she was still safe was proof that she was deceiving him well.

To the point where the existence of this gun felt meaningless.

But.

That also caused confusion.

‘I keep getting curious about things regarding you.’

As if she were truly becoming attached.