Chapter 5: SOLD TO THE DARK LORD

SOLD TO THE DARK LORD

Min-hee woke up late for work the following morning. For any other office worker, it was very early.

She rushed her shower and just as she was about leaving the bathroom, she caught herself in the mirror.

Seeing herself naked gave her a certain kind of temerity that she lacked the previous day. Perhaps, she would have just walked out of the water and recovered her clothes without giving a whimsy thought about the stranger at all.

"Why not?" she thought to herself.

Min-hee was the typical definition of beautiful. She had large almond eyes, small v-shaped face, plump red lips, slim waist and large round breasts that sat perfectly below her protruded collar bones. She was a human anime. And of course her hair — brown, full and very long. With a body like hers, she would have just swam out of the water without minding the peering eyes of the stranger.

But at the same time, she was glad she had stayed in the water .

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She parked her bicycle at the car park and made her way through the entrance of Yongsan Schools.

The clothing the students wore that day was different from their usual gray and checked uniform which made the environment look like a concert of fabric colors. All of that made her eyes twinkle with admiration.

Late June's heatwave with the annoying rainfall had made the temperature so hot that it brought about a new rule in Yongsan School—Students were allowed to wear regular clothes

"Lucky them," thought Min-hee as she remembered when she was younger.

As of then, no one cared what time of the year it was, you are expected to come to school in your uniform. Even if the sun is burning the earth, your tie must be properly fastened around your neck and your blazer should be worn at all times.

As Min-hee weaved her way through the entrance to Madam Chae Ji-yeon's office, she heard Madam Ji-yeon's voice high and emotional.

First of all, this wasn't a new thing to her because upon being employed by Madam Ji-yeon as an assistant, Min-hee understood that she was a factotum.

She carried out every task in the office down to killing a roach spotted by Madam Ji-yeon.

But yet, Min-hee was paid less than most employees in the school because according to Madam Chae Ji-yeon, Min-hee was given the appropriate rate for a young and unqualified school secretary.

But Min-hee didn't mind because to her, the job was everything—a sparkle of light in the dim life she shared with her father. The job also helped her to maintain a strict life of independence and she was also able to contribute to the Vicarage budget.

Standing outside the office and hearing Madam Ji-yeon vent, it seemed like the problem had nothing to do with the school, it sounded so emotional.

Realizing this, she started panicking. "Has Madam Ji-yeon found out about Geun and I?" She asked herself.

Chae Geun is the son of Madam Chae Ji-yeon who had returned from Busan the previous year to become an accountant in a newspaper firm at the nearby town and at the same time he is Yongsan's part-time bursar.

Min-hee had known Geun all her life and had a crush on him since her teen days. When her friends were fantasizing about pop stars and movie superstars, her own focus had always been the tall, quiet kid with very dark frenzy hair who lived in her own village.

They've just started dating recently and were keeping it a secret because according to Geun, he had to ease his mother into the idea first before openly declaring his love for her.

And because of the love she had always had for Geun, she kept her virginity. Refusing to be with any man.

Madam Ji-yeon's voice grew louder and Min-hee could also hear Geun's calm, pacifying tones.

A sudden cowardly desire to flee consumed Min-hee. At least no one had noticed her presence.

But as she was about to take her first step towards the main entrance in an attempt to escape, she heard Madam Ji-yeon raging, "Don't be such an idiot!. This could finish us. Don't you understand that when words get out, parents will take no halt pulling their children out? And when they do, who could blame them? Because I too would do the same."

Min-hee got instantly calm knowing that such a reaction can hardly be triggered by her relationship with Geun. So with that, she walked into the sitting room pretending like she wasn't outside eavesdropping the whole time.

Geun turned around immediately as he felt someone was entering the sitting room. Seeing Min-hee, he was relieved. "Miss Min-hee, would you please make my mother some tea? She's quite upset."

"Quite upset?" Madam Ji-yeon repeated. "What were you two expecting? Which reasonable parent would want their innocent children to be exposed to the influence of a wild, drug addict?"

Geun turned to Min-hee and winked at her, signaling her to go do what he asked her to do.

She dashed to the kitchen to boil the kettle, and measured Bori-ja into Madam Ji-yeon's favorite black tea-pot with a red ceramic handle.

While she waited for the kettle to boil, she couldn't stop herself from comparing Geun's wink with that of the stranger's.

A part of her wished that it was Geun that was sitting on that bench. After all, she was saving her virginity for him which meant he was the only one that she wanted to see her nakedness. Even as grateful as she was for remaining in the water, one could hardly decipher between the Min-hee of the previous day because the present Min-hee felt more relaxed about the incident—her encounter with the stranger. And somehow she had moved past that.

As the kettle started whistling, she went about setting the tray.

Geun entered the kitchen for the tray and rubbed his hand gently on her back.

"What happened?" She asked, looking into his eyes.

"I had drinks with Eun Jung-il last night. As a matter of—"

"Eun Jung-il?" Min-hee interrupted, looking confused. Although the name sounded familiar, she wanted to be sure it was the Eun she knew before letting Geun progress with the gist.

"Eun & Co. The company handling the sale of the Aera manor," Geun answered.

"Okay. Okay. Sure. Go on."

"Well, Eun Jung-il was celebrating big time. So . . ." Geun paused, then drew his breath. "Believe it or not, he sold the manor at last."

"But that's surely a good thing, right?" Min-hee asked as she pulled out a roll of napkin and then proceeded to fold them into little triangles so that she could place mini biscuits on them. In case, Madam Ji-yeon decided to stress-eat. "I think it is a good thing. The place needs to be occupied before some grand thefts strips everything"

Shaking his head vehemently, Geun responded, "Not a good idea when the buyer is Ki Woong."

Min-hee gave him a look that was a mixture of several emotions — confusion, astonishment, agitation. She had no idea who Ki Woong was and judging from Geun's tone, the purchase of the Aera Manor by the said person wasn't something worth celebrating.

"Come on! Haven't you heard of him? President of the entertainment industry?" Geun asked her irritatingly.

"No. I . . . I may know him facially," she answered.

"Billionaire Ki Woong, owner of several entertainment labels. Record labels and modeling agency. He is literally the god of entertainment. And you don't know him?"

Holding onto a napkin, Min-hee drew her memory back to her university days. When her roommate's friends came around talking about hot men, sexy men, all the men and how they had talked about a "Woong" who was the best and most handsome man to ever exist on the planet.

Min-hee's foremost confusion was now replaced with disgust. "Why would someone wealthy and powerful as he is would want to live in an outback like this?"

Geun collected the napkin from her and then picked up the tray. "No one knows. Or maybe outbacks are the newest trendy thing."

Making his way towards the sitting room with Min-hee trailing behind eager to hear more, Geun continued. "I think Master Tae-soo's son met ki Woong at an event in Europe. So he complained to the dark lord that he had a large property that he couldn't sell."

"The dark lord?"

"That's what they call him," Geun shrugged.

"Well, with the same price?" She asked.

"Master Tae-soo's son has always been a greedy fellow. He increased it because he was talking to Ki Woong. Well, Ki Woong came down here, liked what he saw, and bought it," He heaved a sigh. "Now we all have to live with it."

On reaching the sitting room, one could see Madam Ji-yeon sitting at a sofa with her face buried in her hands. Geun immediately turned to Min-hee and whispered, "Emmm, Min-hee we won't be seeing this evening. Mother wants to have a meeting about the new development. And I can't refuse her based on what is going on."

"Okay. I understand," she answered.

Geun turned back to check if his mother was watching before planting a quick kiss on Min-hee's lips.

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Geun dropped the tray on the little table beside Madam Ji-yeon. A blushing Min-hee stood behind him, still starstruck by the kiss and not paying any attention to anything other than how pleasant Geun's lip was on hers.

"I regret not purchasing Aera when it first came on the market. You see, I have been looking to expand, but my offer was turned down flat. And now it's gone for indecency!" Madam Ji-yeon complained bitterly.

"Still expensive, Mother. More than you can afford," Geun reminded Madam Ji-yeon.

"Weren't there other offers? Huh?," Madam Ji-yeon asked. "Eun Jung-il would have checked to see if any of them are still interested. At least, the Manor would have been sold for a decent purpose. Something that is worth emulating."

"From what I think, Ki Woong has bought the place and has sealed the deal."

"For goodness sake! Thinking more about this gives me a migraine." Madam Ji-yeon sipped her tea. Staring venomously into space, she said, "This Woo, Woong or whatever is his name is the last type of person we want here. He will tear this village apart. Magazines and newspapers companies will always be around here disturbing the peace of this village. Not to talk of the disgusting parties that won't let us have our night rest. Even the police will always be patrolling because of drugs," she shook her head painfully. "He will ruin our lives."

She turned immediately to Min-hee who wasn't even paying attention and asked her. "As for you, what is your father going to do about this?"

Although Min-hee wasn't expecting that question, she immediately composed herself and answered. "My father has no right to stop the sale. And maybe he thinks it's quite too early to be an arbiter already."

Madam Ji-yeon insufflated irritatingly at Min-hee. "Wasn't expecting much from the Vicar anyway. Sad thing is that church leaders aren't ready to protect our morals anymore!"

Min-hee felt offended by Madam Ji-yeon's statement but didn't exhibit any form of emotion. Her thought was that Madam Ji-yeon was acting that way because she had a school to protect. So anyone in Madam Ji-yeon's position would be feeling the same way. Although she looked towards Geun expecting him to chip in a few words for her and her father which of course he didn't. After all, Geun had to pacify his mother and she too had to be a good assistance by taking in every word jabbed towards her at such a critical moment.

"Any way, it's about time you make yourself useful today," Madam Ji-yeon said to Min-hee

"Like I haven't been?" Thought Min-hee.

Madam Ji-yeon crossed her legs and looked at Min-hee with a serious look on her aged face. "You'll find receipts and some paperwork on your desk. File them! When you're done with that, the hostel governess will be in need of a helping hand. Also, we need a new milkman, so you have to be quick with the sorting."

Min-hee bowed slightly and went to her office. The look on Madam Ji-yeon's face when detecting chores was very different when she was complaining about the Aera Manor. The switch was unbelievable!

As she sat on her desk, the memory of the stranger's face at the lake enveloped her immediately. No wonder, he was on the verge of laughter when she mentioned cameras.

She brushed the thought and went about arranging papers and signing off on some.

"I hope this Ki Woong respects the serenity of our village," she thought to herself.