Strong Women Usually Have a Weakness #4

"Ouch!"

Baek Yeoul screamed as she lifted the heavy iron wok to grill Vienna sausages. Hot oil had splattered onto the back of her hand. Even for an Awakened like her, wok cooking was no joke. It drained both stamina and focus at an alarming rate.

Her mother, Dang Hwayeon, had been watching the whole time and finally clicked her tongue.

"My own daughter, but honestly, you're so clumsy. So clumsy."

"Of course I look clumsy to you! You've basically lived in the kitchen for thirty years, while I've only been at this for a month!"

"I wasn't talking about the cooking."

"You weren't?"

"It's about that boy, isn't it?"

Baek Yeoul flinched, her whole body trembling. She looked exactly like a raccoon caught red-handed stealing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠food from the pantry.

Dang Hwayeon let out a long sigh, narrowing her eyes at her daughter.

"Was he one of those kids who came over to our house that time? There were three boys, right? Which one is it? Maybe the best-looking one. What was his name again…"

"I-it's not like that!"

Baek Yeoul quickly turned off the heat and stopped cooking. Even though they were mother and daughter, talking about boys felt strangely embarrassing.

But Dang Hwayeon possessed a bolder, more resolute side than her daughter realized.

"No matter how delicious your food is, it won't make a boy fall for you. If you want to seduce a man, you have to target his weakness. Every man has one."

"A weakness?"

"Remember when I told you about how your father became a live-in son-in-law?"

"…Wait, Dad was a live-in son-in-law…?!"

"Where do you think the capital for his business came from? It all came from my family. Your father ran the business, but because my capital was so significant, it became Baek and Dang."

"You said you were an orphan! That's why I always said I didn't have a maternal family!"

"…Well, there were circumstances. Anyway, the important thing is targeting weaknesses. You need to pinpoint exactly what a man wants."

Dang Hwayeon casually picked up a nearby chopstick and flicked it. It spun through the air and stuck perfectly into the kitchen pillar. Watching it quiver there, Baek Yeoul felt dizzy. Her mother suddenly seemed like a completely different person. Yet at the same time, this hidden side of her mother—who had always seemed like a sheltered lady—felt strangely reassuring.

So Baek Yeoul asked, "B-but that boy already likes another girl."

"Did they get married?"

"No, they're students. Marriage? What…"

"Then what's the problem?"

"Isn't that a problem? But she's pretty and super popular."

"Your father originally liked another girl too. She was a fox who only knew how to act innocent, but for some reason she was very popular. Do you want to know how I stole your father from her?"

"I don't! Actually, I really don't want to know!"

"I used that girl's weakness to crush her. No matter how powerful someone is, if there's even a tiny gap the size of a needle, they will collapse. You don't need to be better than her."

"Then…?"

"Just make her worse than you. Getting rid of her entirely would be even better. You could poison her drinking water, or stab the back of her neck with a needle while she's napping."

"I see!"

"Shall we start practicing throwing chopsticks then?"

"…Huh? What does throwing chopsticks have to do with seducing a man?"

"Yeoul, did you not understand anything I just said? You need to hit the other foxes and chase them away. Since you're my daughter, I'm sure you'll master chopstick throwing in no time."

Baek Yeoul found her mother a little unfamiliar, but at the same time she felt a surge of courage. A wild confidence that she could actually do this flooded through her. So she stopped cooking, picked up a chopstick, and threw it at the pillar.

Of course, because Baek Yeoul was terribly unlucky, not a single chopstick hit its mark.

Seo Gaeul's story came to mind. She had said Yu Yeoleum had a weakness connected to the orphanage. After that, I had done my own investigation into the place. But searching ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the internet only brought up unrelated articles and information. The location itself didn't even appear.

So when Yu Taeyang—Yu Yeoleum's adoptive older brother—voluntarily brought up the orphanage, it felt like the goddess of luck was smiling down on me. Her face was too blindingly radiant to see clearly, but I was certain she had a face like Seo Gaeul's.

"It was after Mom had a miscarriage with her second child. She ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was having a really hard time. Dad suggested adopting a child to help ease that sense of loss. That's why we visited the orphanage often."

Yu Taeyang said that was when he first met seven-year-old Yu Yeoleum.

"But adoption isn't something you decide on as easily as picking up a puppy, right? Becoming family is a serious matter that requires careful thought. So we spent three years getting to know Yeoreum."

From age seven to ten, Yu Taeyang's family had frequently met with Yu Yeoleum and built a relationship. Back then, she used to smile a lot and loved running around energetically.

"But when the orphanage had to close due to financial difficulties and the children were scattered, Yeoreum's personality changed a lot. When we adopted her around that time, we thought maybe she was just going through puberty early…"

Yu Taeyang believed the adoption and the orphanage's closure were what changed her. He seemed like he wanted to say a few more things, but he closed his mouth.

"What about the orphanage's location?"

"I have a business card with the address. Even if you go, the site is probably just sitting empty now."

I carefully tucked the business card into my pocket. It had been a more useful conversation than I'd expected.

The luxury sedan roared like a lion as it sped out of the neighborhood. Only then could I finally head down to the basement.

"Pervert, do you even know what time it is? It's 9:40 PM. If you're going to come and go whenever you please, why don't you just throw away the watch on your wrist?"

Seo Gaeul sat cross-legged on the old mattress, spitting icy venom at me. The strange part was how accurately she had guessed the time. There shouldn't be any clocks down here.

"Thanks to a certain someone who doesn't keep time and wanders around as he pleases, I acquired the Clock concept."

Seo Gaeul added the remark as if she had read my mind. The Clock concept. It was better than nothing, but I doubted that the training and discipline the future Seo Gaeul had asked me for meant acquiring concepts like this. Still, learning a new concept was something to celebrate.

"Aren't you worried about keeping me kidnapped like this? If I were you, I'd be too anxious to even go to school. What if I escape or scream for help from the people nearby?"

Seo Gaeul must have been extremely bored all day, because she complained far more than usual. Ing-ing was squashed underneath her butt like a cushion.

Kyu-ing….

Poor Ing-ing. It must have endured all of Seo Gaeul's hysteria alone while I was gone. I decided I'd add sausage and bacon to its ramen tonight.

"I wasn't just playing around. I went to Yu Yeoleum's house."

"Really?"

Seo Gaeul's rapid-fire complaints stopped. She crossed her arms and slightly lifted her chin, regaining her arrogant posture as if she had never lost her composure.

"What did you do there?"

"We watched porn together. Yu Yeoleum shoots lasers ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from her eyes when she gets excited. Seo Gaeul, wasn't the weakness you mentioned about Yu Yeoleum related to porn?"

"Ha? Porn? What is that? What are you talking about? What about her weakness?"

"I also met Yu Yeoleum's mom and older brother. I thought she might come from an unhappy family since she was from an orphanage, but they were much more harmonious than I expected."

A strict but deeply affectionate and devoted adoptive mother. An older brother who cherished her like a real sister. Even her room was filled with the girlish dolls she loved, making it seem like a happy space.

As I recalled the scene, Seo Gaeul twisted her lips unnaturally.

"It looked harmonious? That's exactly why you should kidnap them."

"For real?"

"If I can't be happy, I just need to drag others down by the same amount."

I was impressed by Seo Gaeul's way of thinking. Was the Seo Gaeul of this time really such a vicious girl? The future Seo Gaeul's self-mocking comment calling herself "the worst bitch" hadn't been an exaggeration.

"Why are you like this? Why do you keep hurting yourself?"

"What did I do? How am I hurting myself?"

"When you act cruel to others, your own heart gets hurt just as much."

"Ha? That's hilarious. Hearing that from my kidnapper is just disgusting."

"You're not that kind of person. You're not acting like the real Seo Gaeul at all. You think that because you're unhappy, you should drag others down too? You know deep down that isn't what you really want."

My goddess Seo Gaeul was a kind-hearted person, like a fairy descended from heaven. Because I knew her true nature, the current Seo Gaeul felt unnatural to me.

But the Seo Gaeul who had been relatively docile these past few days suddenly exploded as if someone had pressed a berserk button.

"What do you know about me? What do you think I was originally like? In the end, you only fell for my appearance. You only saw the act I was putting on. Isn't that right?"

Her voice was ice-cold.

Kyu-ing….

Ing-ing, who had been trapped under her, flew up to Seo Gaeul's face and rubbed against her, but she swatted it away like an annoying fly.

"Go away."

Ing-ing-ya-ing….

It had been roughly two weeks since I kidnapped Seo Gaeul. She was still focused entirely on scratching at me, getting irritated, and trying to hurt me. So the Stockholm Syndrome thing really had been a lie?

"I'm finally starting to understand how the Little Prince felt—wanting to get along with the rose but also wanting to leave its side. Seo Gaeul, you're the person I like most in the world. At the same time, you're the person I hate most in the world."

"Ha? The Little Prince? What nonsense are you spouting now?"

"Don't worry. I'll definitely bring the Yu Yeoleum you mentioned here."

I set Baek Yeoul's lunchbox down in front of Seo Gaeul and headed to my room. It was a night filled with many thoughts. My biggest dilemma was what kind of porn I should watch to end the day.

Ring, ring—.

Just then, Seo Gaeul's call bell rang. After what had just happened, I thought she would stay mad and refuse to speak to me for days, yet here she was calling me.

But I was a man among men. I had no desire to be swayed by a woman's emotional whims. If I happily wagged my tail and ran to her now, I'd only be proving I was a pushover.

Instead of answering the call bell, I reached into my pants pocket to do what a real man should do.

With my legs, I could leave now and still arrive before it got too late.