SACCHARIN
CHAPTER 19

 

Click. One side of the handcuffs unlocked, and soon after, the other wrist was finally freed. The moment I was unbound, I turned and sprinted with all my strength.

Would this much chaos be enough? But maybe I also genuinely wanted to run, even if I knew I’d be caught.

“Let go!”

I barely took a few steps before I was immediately captured. It wasn’t even worth calling an escape—it was more like running in place.

Half-trapped in Shin Chi-woo’s grasp, I began screaming and thrashing.

“Let go! You bastard! Let me go! Just kill me instead…!”

Every word, every curse that left my mouth was real. It didn’t feel like I was putting on an act anymore—my suppressed emotions were spilling out uncontrollably.

“Let go! I’m not going! I won’t get on that boat! Dad! Dad!”

As soon as I started struggling, Shin Chi-woo, as if uninterested in restraining me himself, gestured to the burly man and the woman. The two of them immediately grabbed me, prying me away from him.

Now, I was being dragged toward the boat, each of my arms held by someone, just like a criminal being taken into custody.

“I swear, I’ll kill you all! I’ll kill every single one of you!”

For that moment, I wasn’t acting. I wasn’t trying to deceive anyone.

I might really die here.

Everything felt so chaotic that the line between truth and pretense blurred. My resistance against getting on that boat came out naturally.

“You sons of bitches!”

I cursed every way I could, even kicking weakly, fighting until the end. But no matter how violently I resisted, it was useless. The more I struggled, the tighter they held me.

“Is it really that hard to go quietly?”

“Screw you! You go quietly!”

Shin Chi-woo added a mocking remark, and I spat out my response with all the venom I could muster.

He just laughed.

That smug bastard. Seeing him smirking while I was crying, acting like this was all some great entertainment, made me furious beyond reason.

“You’re all terrible people! You’ll be punished for this!”

I shouted through sobs, my body dragged forward as I kicked and screamed. I must have looked utterly pathetic, but I didn’t care anymore. My hair was a mess, my clothes disheveled—not because I deliberately made them that way, but because everything was falling apart on its own.

I was tossed onto the boat like a sack of cargo.

Shin Chi-woo followed right behind me, stepping onto the deck.

The men who had prepared the boat barely even glanced at me before greeting him warmly, as if they were just colleagues at a normal job.

“You’re later than expected. Traffic?”

“We left early, no traffic. Just… circumstances.”

“Didn’t expect you to handle this kind of job, Chief Shin.”

“She’s Director Seo’s daughter. She needs special treatment.”

“Oh, so this is his daughter? Damn… no wonder he bragged about her all the time.”

A middle-aged man in a baseball cap exchanged greetings with Shin Chi-woo, then looked me up and down like he was inspecting merchandise.

I felt disgusted.

“She’d be perfect to keep in the factory for a while… and then take out when needed.”

They were talking about me right in front of me.

They could have at least had the decency to talk behind my back. The blatant disregard made my stomach churn.

Tears welled up again as the baseball cap man turned to Shin Chi-woo with a mock-concerned expression.

“But Chi-woo, she’s crying. What should we do?”

“Leave her. She won’t even have the luxury to cry in the factory.”

Shin Chi-woo then turned to the captain and added, “Make sure to take her there carefully. She’s valuable, so don’t let her get seasick.”

“What do you mean?”

“You know.”

“…Chief Shin, you’re not serious…”

“I am.”

Shin Chi-woo deliberately lowered his voice, making it clear that I was an important figure.

The baseball cap-wearing captain nodded like he had just figured something out.

“Got it. I’ll make sure she arrives in perfect condition.”

“Good thing the sea is calm today.”

“Yeah, Chi-woo, what a rare occasion.”

Shin Chi-woo called the middle-aged man ‘Captain.’

Judging by his appearance, he looked old enough to be an uncle, yet Shin Chi-woo spoke to him informally.

The captain also called him by his name, without any honorifics.

It was clear he knew both my father and Shin Chi-woo well.

I suddenly found myself wondering how they had both ended up working under Chairman Pyeon.

And then I realized something more fundamental—

I didn’t know anything about what Shin Chi-woo actually did.

He had the title of ‘Chief’ at Pyeonjae Trading, but I had no idea what his actual job was.

My father had told me many things about the company, but he had never once mentioned Shin Chi-woo’s name.

I couldn’t even guess which department he belonged to.

Maybe he wasn’t officially part of the company at all.

Judging by his actions—more ruthless than any gangster or thug—perhaps he was someone Chairman Pyeon had personally hired to do his dirty work.

But I couldn’t think about it any further.

Even though the boat was docked, it was still rocking slightly.

I was in the worst possible condition—my body couldn’t handle this situation any longer.

Nausea crept in, my head beginning to ache.

“Take her to the cabin.”

Shin Chi-woo must have noticed how pale and sickly my face was becoming. Without hesitation, he ordered the short-haired woman, who seemed completely unaffected by seasickness, to move me.

With my face drained of all color, I was once again half-dragged into the cabin. Since it wasn’t a large boat, the so-called cabin was barely big enough to fit three grown men lying side by side.

Inside, I saw a small refrigerator, and on top of it, several 500ml bottles of water were neatly stacked. Having access to cold water and a fridge was a relief, but thirst wasn’t my biggest problem. My nausea was so severe that I felt like throwing up the cream bread I had eaten in the car earlier.

“……”

At first, I thought I was starting to feel better after arriving in the cabin, but the dizziness hit again. From the moment I had stepped onto the boat, I hadn’t been able to stop sniffling. But now, the seasickness was so overwhelming that I didn’t even have the strength to cry anymore.

Maybe I should go outside and get some fresh air instead of being stuck in here. The boat hadn’t left yet, so perhaps once we started moving, the rocking motion would ease my nausea.

Was I always this sensitive? Then again, I had barely gotten any sleep since the accident. My lower back ached from being rear-ended, my neck was stiff, and after all the screaming and crying, my throat was starting to give out. It was no surprise that my entire body was in pain.

I had overheard that the sea was unusually calm today, but even this much movement was unbearable for me. If the boat wasn’t even moving yet and I felt this awful, I dreaded what would happen once we were actually out at sea.

Under the watchful eye of the short-haired woman, I sat in the corner of the cabin. After a while, my head throbbed, and my stomach churned so badly that I lay down on my side. That’s when I felt something pressing against my ribs.

…Huh?

There was something inside my jacket.

I was sure my pockets had been empty before I got on the boat… Wait. The moment I caused a scene after my cuffs were removed, Shin Chi-woo had held onto me briefly. Was that when he slipped it in? Was that why he had told me to make a scene?

I pressed my fingers against my temple as if I were about to pass out from a headache. Then I shifted positions several times, trying to feel the shape more clearly.

It felt like… a phone.

The tweed jacket I was wearing was for transitional weather, meaning the fabric was relatively thin. If a phone was really in my pocket, it might be noticeable.

I prayed desperately that no one would discover it just as the cabin door opened.

“Finally quiet now, huh?”

Shin Chi-woo entered the cabin, his short-haired subordinate standing guard as always. I ignored him completely, staying motionless. There were so many things I wanted to say and ask, but I couldn’t with her here.

I needed to figure out a way to get rid of her. But my nausea was getting worse, making it impossible to think.

Shin Chi-woo approached me, his gaze filled with mild amusement. Then, he tilted his chin toward the short-haired woman.

She immediately stepped closer to him. He didn’t even bother lowering his voice for my sake—he leaned in and whispered directly to her.

But I didn’t care.

I felt so nauseous that I couldn’t bring myself to be curious.

I wasn’t sure if it was because of the seasickness or because I hated watching him whisper to another woman.

“……”

She nodded repeatedly at whatever he was saying.

Once their conversation ended, she stepped back.

What were they talking about?

Something about the situation felt… off.

Feeling uneasy, I slowly sat up. Lying down any longer didn’t feel right.

“If you’re already this seasick, how are you going to survive?”

“Then… at least give me some medicine.”

I meant it as a sarcastic remark, but Shin Chi-woo just laughed and sat beside me.

For a brief moment, I wondered what he was up to.

Then, unexpectedly, he pulled something from his suit pocket and reached for my hand.

“……”

Like a man proposing to a lover, he slipped a ring onto my left ring finger.

Then, he placed another on my middle finger, and another on my index finger.

I knew these rings.

They were the valuables I had taken from home when I grabbed my passport.