Chapter 128
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 128
Chapter Title: Child Actress Na Seung-hee 2
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"Seung-hee. Wait."
"Huh?"
I step in front of Seung-hee just as she's about to run to her dad.
"Are you Seung-hee's father?"
"Yeah. And who are you?"
"Hello. I'm Jin Sun-hu, starring in the same drama as Seung-hee."
"Oh, right. Thanks for looking after our Seung-hee. Where's her mom?"
"She's in the car over there. Want to meet her?"
"No. I'll take Seung-hee. Let's go, Seung-hee."
"You should say something to Seung-hee's mom first."
Seung-hee's father's face twisted in irritation.
"Hey, who do you think you are?"
The reason I'm being so cautious.
A familiar stench was coming off that man.
It was the smell of a man who'd given up on life.
The same smell as my abusive biological father.
"I'm Seung-hee's dad. I'm taking my daughter, so what's it to you?"
"That's why you should at least tell her mom."
Seung-hee seemed to sense the weird vibe and hid behind me.
She'd definitely said her parents were divorced.
Custody's probably with her mom.
I didn't know the reason for the divorce, but I couldn't just let him take her without a word to her mother.
"Na Seung-hee. Come on."
The man reached out toward Seung-hee like he was going to drag her off by force.
I slapped his hand away.
"Don't touch Seung-hee."
"You little punk!"
The man looked ready to lunge at me right then.
A flurry of thoughts raced through my head in an instant.
If I got hit.
If I hit back.
If I got hit and countered.
Every possible scenario flashed and vanished.
What's the smartest move here?
"Seung-hee, let's go!"
I scooped Seung-hee up in my arms and bolted.
"Hey! Na Seung-hee!"
"Hold on tight!"
Seung-hee clung to my neck.
I ran.
Toward the car where her mom was.
I glanced back briefly.
Seung-hee's dad was chasing after us, panting hard, but the distance wasn't closing.
It took less than five seconds to reach the car.
"Seung-hee's mom! Wake up!"
"Mom!"
I pounded desperately on the window.
I could see Seung-hee's mom jolting awake in surprise.
Good.
Now I could leave the rest to her mom.
Or so I thought.
"Ugh!"
"Eek!"
A impact from behind.
The man had caught up and kicked me in the back.
The force sent me stumbling forward. I hugged Seung-hee tight to make sure she wouldn't get hurt.
I twisted desperately and fell sideways.
"Ugh."
I hit the ground.
The shock rippled through my whole body.
It hurt.
If it had just been me, I wouldn't have gotten hit or fallen.
Holding Seung-hee made the damage worse.
The bastard could hit me even while I was carrying his own daughter.
"Dad! Are you okay, Dad?!"
"Mr. Sun-hu!"
Seung-hee cried out in shock, and her mom jumped out of the car and ran over.
"Seung-hee's dad! What the hell are you doing?!"
"Shut up. You think I'd just stand there while my daughter gets kidnapped?"
"Who's kidnapping who? You're the one trying to take her!"
"This—!"
"Ow!"
"Mom!"
It hurt, but there was no time to lie there.
The man had slapped Seung-hee's mom.
She crumpled to the ground, and he reared back to hit her again.
I scrambled up and grabbed his swinging arm.
"Seung-hee's father! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Who the hell are you? This is family business—get lost!"
A foul stench of booze wafted from the shouting man's mouth.
He strained to yank his arm free.
But I couldn't just let go.
"Mr. Sun-hu! He's got a gambling addiction! He's trying to take Seung-hee to squeeze money out of me!"
"Quiet! Seung-hee's my daughter, so her earnings are mine by right!"
No way.
I'd thought the smell was off, but gambling? Of all things.
"Seung-hee's father! Get a grip! How can you even think of gambling with money she earned?!"
"Child acting's no big deal! I said I'd pay it back!"
"You son of a...!"
I almost said son of a bitch, but held back because Seung-hee was listening.
"Gah!"
Ah.
I held my tongue, but not my fist.
I lashed out in anger.
Still, it was just a slap with my palm, so he wouldn't die.
The man I'd hit rolled on the ground.
I looked down at him and said,
"Seung-hee's father. Even today, Seung-hee nearly drowned for real while filming a drowning scene. You know that?"
"What...?"
"And coming here this late for hamburgers. She can't even have a proper family meal out. All she remembers from her childhood is being happy eating burgers here with her parents. That's why whenever I ask what she wants to eat, she always picks burgers. Aren't you ashamed as a dad?"
"......"
Damn it.
I wanted to beat him into a bloody pulp.
But that would end my drama too.
The drunk asshole causing a scene when things were tense enough already.
Hitting him once was already a problem.
Would self-defense hold up?
Damn. At a time like this.
"Dad."
Seung-hee's face was streaked with tears, but she bravely stepped in front of her dad.
She held out the Happy Meal bag to him.
The bag had rolled on the ground when we fell and was covered in dirt.
"Aren't you hungry? Eat this. It's a Happy Meal set. Like the one you got me for my birthday."
Then she pulled two crumpled ten-thousand-won bills from her pocket.
"This is my allowance."
She placed the money in her dazed, slumped dad's hand.
"You love me too, right, Dad? You're just lost right now, aren't you? Come back to us. I believe in you."
Seung-hee fought back her tears and turned away from her dad.
Damn...
How could he do this to a daughter like that?
Call himself a father.
"Seung-hee's dad. Don't show up in front of her again. We have no money. Just paying back what you borrowed in Seung-hee's name is hard enough."
"......"
Seung-hee's mom took her hand and turned away too.
Frustrating.
Borrowing money in his ten-year-old daughter's name?
And still gambling?
It had been a while since I'd felt murderous toward someone.
"......"
I turned away without another word.
If he's human at all, he'll feel something.
Back at the car, Seung-hee was sobbing her heart out.
"Waaah!"
Not acting—this was real.
Seeing her like that tore me up inside.
I felt like crying myself.
Seung-hee's mom was silently wiping her tears too.
"Seung-hee."
"Hic! Hic! Dad... Dad!"
There was no consoling her as she wailed.
I just held her tight and patted her back.
"It's okay. It's okay."
I didn't even know what was okay.
I just kept holding her until she calmed down.
After a long time crying like that, her sobs finally quieted.
"Sorry, Dad... hic."
"Sorry? What do you have to be sorry for?"
"Sorry my dad hit you. Don't hate me..."
"I'd never hate you. I like you so much, Seung-hee."
How could I hate someone as sweet as her, inside and out?
It just hurt that I couldn't do more for her.
That trash of a man.
Making Seung-hee this sad.
Sigh.
As I held and patted her, Seung-hee started dozing off, nodding.
"Seung-hee. Sleepy? Let's go home. Dad'll take you."
"Happy Meal..."
"We'll get another Happy Meal next time, okay?"
"Yeah..."
I laid the sleeping Seung-hee down in the back seat.
"Dad... don't go..."
"Dad's not going anywhere. Sleep well, Seung-hee."
I got Seung-hee settled in the back and slid into the driver's seat.
I finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Sorry, Mr. Sun-hu. Because of us..."
Come to think of it, Seung-hee's mom had switched from calling me "Actor Jin Sun-hu" to just "Mr. Sun-hu."
Felt a bit closer now. Nice.
"No big deal. You okay where you got hit?"
"Yeah. And you?"
"I'm fine. Let's head out."
Truth was, I was hurting a bit.
Might've twisted something when I fell.
Would it heal after sleep?
"But I hit him too. What if he reports it?"
"It's fine. He's wanted anyway, so he can't report it."
"Wanted?"
Ah. Should've hit him harder then.
No—maybe call the cops and have him hauled off.
Scum like that needs to eat prison food.
We arrived at Seung-hee's place quickly.
It was a small, old mansion apartment.
Is security okay here? Seung-hee's a star now, and her mom too. Worrying having just the two of them.
"Mr. Sun-hu, come up for a bit. Let me put some ointment on you."
"I'm good. I'll call a taxi."
"I'm not okay with it. Come up, please."
I couldn't refuse Seung-hee's mom's plea, so I went up.
Even divorced, getting hit by her ex must've shaken her.
I carried the sleeping Seung-hee up in the elevator.
At the apartment, I laid her on the bed in her room.
It was a pink explosion of a room, perfect for a little girl.
Then I sat facing Seung-hee's mom on the living room sofa.
"You fell earlier, right? Where does it hurt?"
"Back and shoulder a little."
"Mind if I check? Take off your shirt?"
"Uh."
That felt kinda embarrassing.
"No need to be tense. I was a nurse before marriage."
"Oh."
Then it's fine, right?
Should be.
It's for treatment, not anything naughty.
I took off my shirt in front of Seung-hee's mom.
"Tell me if it hurts."
Seung-hee's mom probed my body here and there with her hands.
"Ow."
"Here?"
"Yeah. A bit."
It was where her dad had kicked me.
She gently rubbed around it.
......Somehow, it felt.
A bit erotic.
Maybe with my experience now, I was sensitive to the mood.
"Oh no. It'll bruise by tomorrow."
"Haha. It's fine. I've done swimsuit shoots. As long as it doesn't show."
"Still..."
Seung-hee's mom hesitated.
Is it time?
What to do.
I'd tried not to see her as a woman because she was Seung-hee's mom.
But once I started, I couldn't stop.
"Um, Mr. Sun-hu."
Seung-hee's mom was pretty enough that you'd think, "Seung-hee will grow up like this."
Early thirties, in her prime.
That married-woman allure.
And her breasts... well.
"You probably heard, but we have debts... so I can't offer treatment fees or compensation."
I had no intention of taking any.
If anything, from that guy.
But after seeing those crumpled bills from Seung-hee's pocket, even that felt pointless.
I stayed quiet, waiting for what came next.
"So instead... if you're okay with it... tonight, I could... comfort you."
Seung-hee's mom couldn't meet my eyes and bowed her head.
Ha.
Was this really happening?
I sat there like a mute, soaked in honey.