Ban Do-ah Caught in the Trap
A month had passed.
Spring had arrived.
It snowed at night and rained by day.
There was no fine dust in the air.
Jang Min-jun lost his bid for party leadership.
Ahn Sung-chul became Chairman of Cheonsung Group.
On internet communities, he earned himself the meme of a prince who kills his father to inherit the throne.
Han Dong-jin confessed to Han Yu-na about what he and the other seven had done as a clique back in high school.
"So all Dad did was stand by and watch."
"Yeah. Your old man was young and stupid back then... Ahn Sung-chul ordered it, so what could I do? He was the leader. I shouldn't have. I don't have the face to look at you, Yu-na."
People don't change so easily.
He simply couldn't bear to be hated by the daughter he loved.
Lee Han-seok decided to leave it at that.
Let the man believe he'd been forgiven, and use him as an ally for the time being.
Everything had gone according to the original plan.
Lee Han-seok met with Han Yu-na from time to time.
Kayra had quietly disbanded over the other members' "personal reasons," and Han Yu-na launched her career under a one-person agency.
Commercial deals and variety show offers poured in like a flood.
Drama filming had begun.
Ban Do-ah had settled into the company perfectly.
She did her assigned work well, and even took care of tasks no one had asked of her.
But once she got the hang of the job, things she'd never noticed before started coming into view.
Like how Dr. Jang Eun-ha, who had gone into the CEO's office to report drug development results, came out an hour later with disheveled hair, rumpled clothes, and a flushed face.
Like how, out in the hallway, the CEO smacked Secretary Kim on the ass as she walked by — and Secretary Kim just giggled bashfully.
Like how Kang A-jin crept up to the CEO dozing off on a library cushion with a book over his face, planted a peck on his cheek, and grinned to herself.
And it didn't end there — she glanced around first, then rubbed her chest against his body.
Do-ah fell deep into thought. What exactly was the relationship between the CEO and those three employees? Did the three of them know about each other? Should someone tell her?
At first, her thinking was simple: Not my business. Stay out of it.
But gradually, a darker worry crept in — what if the CEO had hired her with romantic feelings, or sexual desire, all along?
In the end, Do-ah brought it up over lunch with the other women.
"Can I ask you all something?"
The three women exchanged glances.
Do-ah pressed on.
"What's your relationship with the CEO?"
A brief silence — then Jang Eun-ha answered.
"You mean the relationship where we have sex with him?"
Ban Do-ah was startled by Eun-ha's straight fastball, but forced herself to nod calmly.
"Oh..."
Jang Eun-ha added more.
"We have a drug in development here. A contraceptive with... added functionality. We take it and sleep with the CEO. The primary purpose is testing the drug before clinical trials. And honestly, it feels good with him, so that's part of it too."
Secretary Kim chimed in.
"I know it's a lot to take in, but none of us wanted it from the start either. The CEO promised anyone who participated in the trials one BD40 injection, spread out over five years. Me and A-jin have already each had one."
Jang Eun-ha coughed awkwardly.
"I volunteered, since it's a drug I made myself."
Kang A-jin grinned beside her.
"Do-ah unnie, want to do it too? Should we tell the CEO for you? You'd get BD injections, and the drug was made by genius Dr. Jang herself, so it's not like it's some sketchy stuff. Ah, there's just no good way to describe how good it is."
It was as if she were saying, You should hurry up and get in on this too. Money's on the rise.
Did the CEO hire me from the start because he wanted to sleep with me? Did he want to make me an offer like that?
Suspicion bloomed in Ban Do-ah's mind.
She still carried the memory of nearly being pounced on by her father's friend, and the offer the other women described made her skin crawl.
Wait a second.
Instead of a BD40, if I beg a little, could he give me a BD200?
If I ask him to give it to Dad... would he?
No. Wh-what am I even thinking?
Ban Do-ah shook her head.
Sharp-eyed Secretary Kim spoke to her.
"If the CEO had hired you because he wanted something from you, Do-ah, he'd have made his move already. It's been over a month, hasn't it? Don't worry. He doesn't think about you that way at all. He can barely handle the three of us as it is."
It felt like she was saying, You're not attractive enough on our level, so he's not going to offer you anything.
Ban Do-ah did her best to deny the little sting that left behind.
"Done eating? Should I clear this?"
Secretary Kim began gathering the delivery containers.
Ban Seok had been drawing attention as a promising young fighter, thanks to his natural physique and athletic gifts.
Ahn Sung-chul caught a glimpse of that talent.
"Hey. Seok. You think you could beat one of these guys?"
During breaks, Ahn Sung-chul would grab random boys from the class and pit them against Ban Seok.
At first the two would laugh and throw playful feints, but as feelings piled up inside the trading blows, the fights turned vicious.
Usually it ended with Ban Seok driving a fist into his opponent's belly, or dropping him with a low kick to the thigh, or tackling him to the ground and locking in a jiu-jitsu hold like an armbar — and the fight was only over once the boy tapped.
Most of the boys in class took their beating from Ban Seok that way.
Once he'd worked through the whole class, boys from other classes were dragged in to fight him too.
At first Ban Seok wondered whether he was really allowed to hit kids like this, but then he rationalized it: it wasn't bullying, it wasn't a fight — it was martial arts sparring. And if it ever came up, "Ahn Sung-chul told me to" was excuse enough.
He knew falling out of Ahn Sung-chul's favor was not a good option.
Once every boy had taken his turn and there was no one left to hit, Ahn Sung-chul stopped setting up fights for him.
Ban Seok began to feel himself drifting away from Ahn Sung-chul's clique.
An unnameable anxiety settled over him.
A feeling of not being acknowledged.
So he started pulling the class outcasts aside — and using them as practice dummies to teach jiu-jitsu techniques to Ahn Sung-chul's crew.
"Like this?"
"Squeeze here. Cut off the artery so the blood can't reach the brain."
The boy caught in the headlock choked and gagged, tapping frantically on Jang Min-jun's arm.
Jang Min-jun released the headlock and slapped the outcast across the cheek.
Crack!
"Why are you tapping my arm, you little shit? I told you, you have to do it to me too."
"It hurt... s-sorry."
The boy, caught in the headlock and slapped on top of it, apologized through chicken-shit tears.
"Get lost, you little bastard. Ah, fuck — it's a basketball injury. It hurts."
"You okay?"
Ban Seok massaged the boy's arm.
"Ooh. Sports massage. That actually feels nice."
And so Ban Seok slid back into Ahn Sung-chul's clique.
But Lee Han-seok got under his skin.
He'd fought nearly everyone by now — everyone except Lee Han-seok.
It was right around the time Lee Han-seok had split Kang Jae-hoon's head open with a hammer, too.
A guy you touched at your own risk.
On top of that, during breaks Han-seok went to the teachers' office and sat beside the instructors reading books, which made picking a fight with him even harder.
So one day, after lying in wait, Ban Seok slammed his shoulder into him just as he came through the classroom's back door.
The size difference told — Lee Han-seok was knocked back and nearly went down.
He looked up at Ban Seok with an expression of pure incredulity.
Ban Seok grabbed him by the collar.
"Watch your fucking eyes. You bumped into me on purpose, didn't you?"
Onlookers began gathering around.
"No."
Lee Han-seok answered calmly.
Ban Seok feinted a punch at his face.
"That fucking tone of yours, huh?"
"Why? You've beaten everyone else, so I figured you'd want to beat me too."
"You little fucker."
Ban Seok seized Lee Han-seok by the collar and hoisted him up against the hallway wall.
"You wanna die?"
Lee Han-seok gripped Ban Seok's arm and let out a soft snort.
"Heh. Did you know I've been secretly filming every beating you've given these kids?"
Ban Seok's eyes went round.
"Planning to post it all online once you make your pro debut."
An earthquake rippled through Ban Seok's pupils.
Lee Han-seok looked down at him.
"So let go of me, you Ahn Sung-chul lapdog."
Evening.
On the 21st floor, only the gym was lit.
Lee Han-seok and Ban Do-ah ran side by side on adjacent treadmills.
Neither stopped running, both stealing sidelong glances at the other.
Ban Do-ah's chest in her tank top was aggressive, and the line of her pelvis and hips revealed by her leggings was nothing short of artistic. Every stride made her breasts sway, and you could see the muscles of her buttocks working beneath the fabric.
Breathing hard, Lee Han-seok switched off his treadmill.
"Hah... hah. What is this, Ms. Ban Do-ah?"
"Yes?"
Ban Do-ah slowed her machine to a walk.
"Out of all this equipment, why come run right next to me?"
"My routine is cardio, then strength training."
"Hah. There's a bike over there. And a stair machine."
"Watching you run, CEO, made me want to run too."
"Got something you want to say? Why aren't you heading home?"
Ban Do-ah turned off her treadmill and stepped down.
"That's my question for you, CEO. Don't you have something to say to me?"
"Like what."
Lee Han-seok leaned against the boxing ring ropes and took a sip of water.
The corner of Ban Do-ah's mouth curled up.
"You're a pretty good actor, CEO."
"You walk around in clothes that leave nothing to the imagination — hard to know where to put my eyes."
"Back when I kicked your leg, you were faking that it hurt, weren't you? It didn't affect you at all. I'd know. I can tell when I land a hit. Whether the impact got through. Whether it's blocked by muscle."
"That one genuinely hurt, actually."
"And also — when you hired me, you left out something important, didn't you?"
"..."
"That you offer the female employees sex in exchange for BD injections."
She glared at Lee Han-seok.
"No, no. I asked them to help me with drug testing. The BD is a kind of... what do you call it. A bonus for working hard at the company. Why? Ms. Ban Do-ah, would you like to help with the drug trials too?"
"Please be honest with me. Stop performing. Did you really hire me with no intentions whatsoever, or—"
Lee Han-seok gulped down the rest of his water. He wiped his mouth and spoke.
"Because you're Ban Seok's daughter."
His expression turned grave.
Ban Do-ah only blinked at the unexpected answer.
Lee Han-seok continued.
"I hold a grudge against Ban Seok. A very old one. Back in school, he beat me half to death, and he took someone precious away from me. This is a revenge years in the making. When I heard he needed BD200, I hired you. And I let word slip that I was giving out BD40, so you'd find it tempting. Same price either way, after all. And that's why, on an evening when everyone else has gone home, you stayed behind and approached me like this."
"How could you..."
Ban Do-ah pressed a hand to her forehead.
"Ms. Ban Do-ah. Shall I make it an offer? Fight me one-on-one, right now. Just like before — land a single clean hit on me, and I'll call it your win. In exchange, I win by taking you down, and your head touches the floor three times."
"And what do I get if I win? No — first of all, what's the catch? The moment you touch my body to take me down, I hit you and it's over."
Lee Han-seok climbed up onto the ring.
"No catch. If you win, I'll give Ban Seok a BD200 injection first thing tomorrow. I can write off saving one man's life. But if you lose, you help me with the drug trials — and of course, you'll get BD40 like the other employees. Either way, you don't come out a loser, do you? So. What'll it be?"
Ban Do-ah, arms crossed, furrowed her brow.
"Disgusting. You're... truly... truly repulsive, CEO."
"And? Your answer?"
Ban Do-ah stepped forward and gripped the ring ropes.
"But..."
She climbed up onto the ring.
"I need the BD200 too."