The Price of Silence
Eunbyul continued her story. The more she thought about it, the stranger she seemed to feel; she blushed, repeatedly crossing and uncrossing her legs, and occasionally her hand—which was still gripping his—trembled. Every time he looked surprised, she watched him with anxious, wide eyes, and whenever he seemed to find it strange, she would shake her head violently to insist that it was all true.
"...So, we were kissing... and then, it was like you hated me struggling, so you hugged me so tightly... and then...."
"....... You called out your ex-wife's name, while looking at me...."
He felt a slight pang of guilt, but deciding to deal with that later, he didn't interrupt and kept listening.
"I told you I was Eunbyul, your secretary... but then you suddenly ripped my blouse off... and then you started kissing my breasts. Right on top of them.... A lot, actually. The marks are still there."
At this point, Eunbyul slowly pulled her body away from his, braced her back against the corner of the desk behind her, and slowly undid her blouse buttons one by one. As if embarrassed to show him, she bit her lower lip slightly and revealed just a tiny bit—the spot where the hickey remained. One could argue that she might have done it with another man, but that would severely hurt her feelings, and he had already confirmed through Seo Jia that she had come to his house last night. There was no way she could have met another man after leaving his place. And finally, if he dared to utter such a thing, it would be no different from pouring gasoline, kerosene, diesel, and heavy oil all at once onto a house that was already burning down—he would certainly end up in prison for sexual assault and harassment of a secretary.
Anyway, Eunbyul smoothed her clothes back down, buttoned them up, and continued.
"You kissed me... and then you said my lips tasted delicious. Then you pulled down my underwear entirely and bit my breasts, leaving so many teeth marks... it felt so strange. You bit my nipples and licked them with your tongue, and I kept wondering, 'Why are you doing this to me all of a sudden? You said you didn't like me, so why are you making me misunderstand...' But it felt so, so strange that I still think about it..."
He was truly screwed. Just how far had things gone?
"But then, someone who looked like your ex-wife left the door cracked and watched what we were doing. So I said there was a female cat in the house... I'm sorry. Even if you're divorced, I shouldn't have said that..."
He had actually said much worse things to Seo Jia's face, but for some reason, Eunbyul didn't mention that part.
"And after that, you started swearing at me... oh, it wasn't that bad of a swear word."
"But you told me to call you 'Master' instead of 'Director,' just like I used to... so... I had no choice but to call you Master. Really, that's the only reason I did it. ..."
So, this woman had not only kindly taken a drunken him home, put him to bed, and undressed him when she intended to go home, but he—having gone insane while dead drunk—had tried to violate his secretary? At that point, his reason snapped. Dead drunk. Tried to violate the secretary? Putting the two together, he was struck by extreme terror. He quickly pushed her away so she could stand, then knelt, placed his hands respectfully on his thighs, and bowed his head low.
"I'm sorry. It's my fault."
"...? Se, Senior..."
"It's my fault. This is why my parents told me not to drink. I couldn't help it. I know it sounds like a pathetic excuse, but I'm truly sorry to death. I don't expect forgiveness, but I am willing to offer sufficient compensation. I... ah, why did I do that....? No, I'm truly sorry. No. Just.... just report me to the police, no... ha.... but, really, really... I.... I truly have no memory of,"
At that moment, a movie seemed to start and finish rapidly in his head. In that movie, which should have been titled 'The Criminal,' he saw himself in a suit being interrogated by someone who looked like a detective, followed by a scene of him locked in a detention cell. He saw himself in prison garb, bowing his head repeatedly before a judge to beg for forgiveness, only to be dragged away by officers. In the end, in front of everyone, Seo Jia, his father-in-law, and his mother-in-law were pointing fingers at him along with strangers, insulting him as a piece of trash, and his parents were being pelted with stones by people for the sin of having a son who committed sexual assault. The company employees were screaming insults at him, and soon, a few men in black clothes tied his limbs together and hanged him to death.
Once he reached that point, his jaw dropped, and he stammered, "Ah.... please, please report me to the police..."
"Fool, calm down a little."
Eunbyul, watching him beg, curled the corners of her lips and laughed under her breath. She had been thinking about how to cook this cowardly Director, but perhaps because the silence dragged on, she watched him lose his mind, trembling all over, begging her desperately not to send him to the police. Only then did she realize things had gotten a bit too serious, so she suppressed her laughter, called him a fool, and said, "...."
"I'm not sending you to the police. Don't worry. ...However,"
Eunbyul looked at him for a moment, pondering, before speaking up.
"If you're that scared, will you grant me a favor in exchange for keeping my mouth shut?"
"....Are you against it?"
"No. No, no... well, even so. We are..."
"'We.' What about us?"
"...."
"Ah, should I dial 112 and make the call—or was it just a direct call?"
She covered her mouth with one hand, suppressing her laughter. Teasing him was just too much fun. Meanwhile, he looked withered, unable to even look at her, his gaze fixed on the floor as he let out deep, continuous sighs.
"Anything but that, something else...."
"Something else, like what?"
"If you want, I'll share some Doowon shares with you."
"How much?"
"..."
After a moment of thought, he said, "0.08%."
"Hmm... You had 1.52% as of last year, so that's about 5% of your stake. That's 9.86 trillion won... so you're saying you'll give me about 500 billion won?"
"Yes. Based on today's closing price, it's 3.62 million won per share. The total number of issued shares is 179,076,016, and 0.08% is 143,260.81, so rounding up, that's 143,261 shares. A total of 518.6484 billion won."
Watching him offer the highest bail in history just to avoid entering a prison cell, Eunbyul suppressed the laughter threatening to burst out again and said to him, "...The holding company's market cap alone is 648 trillion won, and you'll be receiving more as gifts in the future..."
"I'll receive shares of the financial holding company later, too. I'm willing to pay this much as a settlement. Please, so..." He said, then realized his mistake and added, "No, anything more than this is a bit difficult for me..."
"Is it difficult?"
His expression turned pale, then sallow, then white as a sheet, and she burst into laughter at the sight. She couldn't hold it in anymore. Watching her, he looked completely exhausted, burying his head in the desk and letting out a heavy sigh, thinking that no matter what he did, a settlement wouldn't be reached—and even contemplating suicide.
"Fine. I'd rather just kill myself. That would be for the sake of my honor..."
"Stop. What kind of nonsense is that?"
But still... "How can you say that, when you want your secretary to suck on your breasts whenever she wants—does this make any sense?!"
She hurriedly covered his mouth. "Others will hear...!"
"It's insane! Why would I suck on my secretary's breasts? No, are you telling me to commit more sexual harassment as an apology and compensation for sexual harassment?"
"Yes. If you don't like it, we can go to the police station."
"...No, please, why are you doing this?"
She had made a request that whenever she wanted, he had to caress her breasts, on the condition that she would overlook this incident. He looked at her, wondering if his ears were playing tricks on him, but she smiled softly, as if reclaiming something that had been left in his care, and said to him,
"Whenever I want. Always. Please caress my breasts. If I want, gently; on other days, if I request it, strongly... roughly, like last time. That's what I want you to do. Do you understand?"
He was so flustered by the absurd condition that he wondered why such a trial had befallen him, why Eunbyul was doing this to him, and if this was perhaps a hidden camera show, but in the end, he said,
"Yes. I will.... do that. Secretary Eun...."
"It's good, isn't it? Director, don't act like you're missing out on something. You enjoyed it so much yesterday..."
"..."
Only then did she shake the recorder she had placed gently on her desk, saying as if there was nowhere left to run. He was completely resigned, clutching his head with both hands, repeating only, "What do I do now?" when a question suddenly occurred to him.
"....But, Eun... Secretary?"
"Yes?"
"Why, why of all things.... why.... caress my breasts.... why is that the request..."
"Really, are you asking because you don't know?"