Chapter 31 Baiting Ryu Ga-hyeon (2)
Chapter 31 Baiting Ryu Ga-hyeon (2)
Kang Da-eun wasn't the type to just laugh off someone's mockery. And that didn't change even if the person was a detective.
"What the hell are you talking about? What does gynecology have to do with me? Isn't that a place you frequent, given your STDs?"
Park Cheol-woo didn't just take Da-eun's sarcasm lying down. He reached out with his bear-like paw, grabbing her by the collar to yank her off the bench.
"Watch your mouth."
"It's fine."
Ryu Ga-hyeon pushed Cheol-woo's thick hand away with her slender fingers, then turned back to Da-eun.
"How can you say you have nothing to do with gynecology? You've spread the Holy Medicine, increasing the rape rate in this country twentyfold in just two years. Look at that."
Ga-hyeon sat down naturally on the bench opposite Da-eun and gestured with her chin. When Da-eun turned her head, she saw Han Ji-su cuffing the wrists of a thug.
"Let go! What did I even do? Can't you see I'm the one bleeding here? I'm the victim!"
Ji-su kneed the resisting thug in the thigh to shut him up, then rummaged through his pockets and pulled out a small plastic bag. Inside were a few white pills.
"Because of you, Ms. Kang, it's become the norm for even thugs like him to carry Holy Medicine."
Da-eun ignored Ga-hyeon's needling and studied the pills the thug had been hiding. The Holy Medicine her organization distributed was red.
The fact that counterfeits were already circulating was a good sign for her group. The performance gap between the real thing and knockoffs was tenfold, and the side effects were a hundred times worse. It was only a matter of time before their Holy Medicine dominated the market again. The only question was when to release their stockpile.
'I'll have to discuss it with Sister Ye-hwa.'
While Da-eun handled distribution, Ye-hwa was in charge of production—using raw materials even Da-eun, a high-ranking member, wasn't privy to.
"Don't you feel any guilt?" Ga-hyeon asked.
Da-eun almost scoffed but paused, lost in thought.
'Guilt?'
Now that she thought about it, she had felt something like that in the early days. It had weighed heavily on her. But as she sank deeper into the cult's darkness, there had been no other choice. And there had been a noble reason—to save her younger sister's life.
Even if hundreds, thousands of people she didn't know suffered because of the Holy Medicine, what was she supposed to do? The life of the one sister she loved was worth far more than the lives of those faceless strangers. That belief had never wavered.
"What proof do you have that I did anything? And what's the problem with Holy Medicine? Even Harvard doctors have said it's harmless if you excrete it properly. Research shows it has significant benefits—fatigue recovery, stress reduction, skin improvement, and more."
"Wow, you know a lot about Holy Medicine. Almost like the boss of a new drug cartel—partnering with local gangs, using addicts as couriers to shield the core members, laundering profits as cult donations!"
Ga-hyeon chirped with a bright smile.
'This bitch... How much does she know?'
Da-eun's stomach twisted, but she kept her composure, crossing her legs and smiling arrogantly.
Ga-hyeon looked more like a kindergarten teacher than the detective who had captured the cult leader. There was nothing threatening about her voice or demeanor. If anything, she seemed gentle and considerate, like a child counselor, which made Da-eun let her guard down.
Drunk and more impulsive than usual, missing her son Eun-woo, Da-eun was already stressed. But the decisive factor was the woman's friendly demeanor, as if they were old friends.
"Wow, your skin is amazing. No wonder American celebrities risk millions to smuggle Holy Medicine, even if they get caught at the airport."
Ga-hyeon reached out, poking Da-eun's cheek. Even Da-eun couldn't help but stiffen at the audacity.
"How many do you take a month? Three? Four? Surely not five—they say that's when you can't even excrete from daily orgies."
Ga-hyeon ignored Da-eun's glare and pressed on.
Da-eun's pride swelled at the envy in Ga-hyeon's voice. She almost bragged that she took more than five a week—because Eun-woo helped her excrete it all. And it wasn't just about fluids; he made sure she felt enough pleasure during sex to keep her brain from frying. Her son was the best boyfriend—skilled and obedient.
But she clenched her jaw. A short conversation had already proven there was nothing to gain from talking to Ga-hyeon alone.
Luckily, the part-timer arrived with her order, giving her an excuse to cut the conversation short.
"Thanks. Just leave it here."
Da-eun ignored Ga-hyeon's chatter and bit into her hot bar. But for some reason, the part-timer lingered.
"Huh? What?"
The part-timer hesitated before speaking nervously. "Um... payment..."
"Oh, right. Hey, speak clearly. I can't hear you."
'Who the hell does she think she is, lecturing me?!'
The part-timer screamed internally but didn't dare retaliate, even in his imagination. Every time he thought about it, the woman's fierce glare made his knees buckle. All he could do was force a smile and pray she'd pay properly.
Thankfully, Da-eun didn't seem intent on skipping the bill. She rummaged through her wallet and handed him two 50,000-won bills.
"One is enough..."
"Keep the change. I can't be bothered with coins."
"Th-thank you! Thank you!"
The part-timer bowed deeply, though he hadn't heard the conversation. The woman seemed dangerous, but Da-eun, who he'd initially disliked, now seemed like his savior.
As the part-timer bowed repeatedly, Ga-hyeon leaned in.
"Our rising cartel boss is so generous. Mind if I have some of that expensive ice cream you civil servants can't afford? I've been tailing people nonstop—no snacks lately."
Da-eun slapped Ga-hyeon's hand away from her son's ice cream.
"No. Hands off. That's my son's."
The subservient smile vanished from Ga-hyeon's face, replaced by the relentless gaze of a hunter who'd never let go once it tasted blood.
Da-eun set down her banana milk carton. That smile proved why she'd had to sacrifice the cult leader—useless as he was.
"Ah, you were calling your son earlier. You looked so happy—I thought it was your secret lover, not your dead husband."
The milk carton crumpled in Da-eun's hand, yellow liquid dripping through her fingers.
'I definitely shook her off...!'
"What nonsense? Keep your delusions to yourself."
Ga-hyeon smiled warmly, needling Da-eun further.
"Eun-woo-yaaah... Hiiing... Eun-woo-yaaaah... I love youuuu... You were already like this alone. I even recorded it... Want to hear? Nah—let's listen together when your son gets here. Proposals are better with an audience, right?"
Da-eun's face twisted. She threw the milk carton and lunged at Ga-hyeon.
"Give it! Give that to me, you bitch!"
Ji-su, who had just stuffed the thug into the car, quickly grabbed Da-eun's arm, but she was thrashing too wildly to restrain alone. Cheol-woo had to help pin her down.
Ga-hyeon stood apart, shaking her phone as if it contained a recording of Da-eun's cooing—though she hadn't actually gotten one.
"Hand it over! Give it to me!"
"Assaulting an officer is a crime."
"Please, just give it back!"
"Why not confess today? Want me to do it for you? To your son? Ahaha. Even for a cult executive, you're insane—confessing love to your son?"
"...Just take me to jail."
I ran toward the sound of a man's scream.
Soon, my fourth mother came into view.
I thought she'd be roughing up some innocent—or at least not that guilty—person, but this time, my expectations were off. In the worst way.
A huge man and a lean woman had pinned her to the ground. Nearby was a black car—just the right size for kidnapping. Someone was already screaming inside.
Who was it?
Fourth Mother, responsible for Holy Medicine distribution, had too many enemies inside and outside the cult to guess.
Lately, she'd been oddly kind to me, but she'd used me like a toy for years—throwing affection my way like scraps to a dog.
But that pain and resentment were family matters.
Hate them enough to kill? Maybe. But they're still family—not strangers.
Even if that family was twisted by the cult, tangled in hypocrisy, where mother and son shared each other's virginity.
"Get your hands off my mother, you bastards!"
A roar tore from my throat.