DM Chapter 36
She wondered if it was Owen who moved her all this way.
**Giving pain and offering relief—she remembered an ancient proverb and chuckled to herself. She didn’t want to get out of the fluffy bed. Night had fallen, and it was already dark outside the window. Without Owen to disturb her, she slept well.
Her whole body stretched languidly.
Suddenly, she remembered the men who had invaded the mansion. Concerned about the possibility of someone being dead, Sarin reluctantly got up from the bed. While inspecting the bedroom, she realized that she wasn’t feeling well and that she was naked.
She wondered if it was Owen who had washed her.
Imagining a man washing her body didn’t sit well with her. If it was just filling the tub and dunking her head underwater, maybe. When she thought about it, she got chills for no reason.
Realizing she couldn’t wander around naked forever, Sarin belatedly found the clothes neatly placed at the foot of the bed. Though they were not her own, she decided to wear them.
The bra was a little tight, but not unwearable. The dress, reaching her ankles with no distinct straps, was easy to wear. Hesitant about what she might find upon opening the door, hunger eventually overcame her.
Sarin had been in the second-floor bedroom. Descending with wobbly legs, she headed toward the lit kitchen downstairs.
The wall clock pointed to 8:00 p.m.
She heard unfamiliar voices. The voices she heard in the kitchen sounded amusing and relaxed.
Sarin’s body stiffened in an instant. She took a knife and tried to confront them. If they were fine, Owen might be the one who was killed.
As she thought about this, her body suddenly stopped moving. Her pale face was reflected in the mirror beyond the hallway.
“Are you awake?”
She didn’t even notice the sound of someone approaching. Sarin’s legs loosened at the sudden, familiar voice. She would have fallen to the ground if he hadn’t caught her.
“…I thought you were dead.”
“Me?”
He asked with a bewildered expression, squinting one eye. Then, seeing Sarin tightly holding onto his arm, he realized she wasn’t joking.
“Because I heard a strange voice.”
After going out with a knife earlier, he had no memory afterward.
“If I were dead, wouldn’t it be better for Miss Lee Sarin?”
The man asked, “Why do you look like this?” Sarin looked at Owen, still pale and at a loss for words. She struggled to come up with a reason and finally voiced it.
“…Because the child is in your hands.”
“Ah.”
Owen smirked. She expected him to withdraw his hand any second, but he continued to support her until her pale face returned to normal and she was able to stand on her own two feet.
“Hello?”
A gentle voice interrupted. When Sarin turned toward the kitchen, she saw a smiling Asian woman. Having not expected to see someone of Asian descent here, she was momentarily speechless.
“The clothes fit well. Don’t worry; they’re new.”
“Oh….”
“I’m Angelica Willis. My Korean name is Gayeon.”
“You’re Korean?”
Sarin exclaimed happily and quickly introduced herself, realizing she hadn’t done so earlier.
“I’m Lee Sarin.”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Sarin.”
As Gayeon greeted her in Korean, tears suddenly poured down Sarin’s face at the sound of the language she hadn’t heard in a long time. Still holding onto Owen’s arm, she cried. Gayeon took a few uncomfortable steps toward her, but then took a few steps back when she saw the look on Owen’s face.
Gayeon raised one hand near her chest in a pose as if he didn’t want the dangerous beast to get excited, indicating she has no other intention.
“Don’t scare her.”
A black shadow appeared behind Gayeon, and he abruptly spoke in an unpleasant tone. Sarin’s teary gaze shifted in that direction. A man with black hair and deep gray eyes, unmistakably resembling Owen, stood there with an expressionless face, guarding behind Gayeon.
“Did Kirill scare you? You’re already crying.”
The man behind Gayeon put on an unjust expression as the blame was put on him.
“No, it’s not that. I’m just so glad…”
Sometimes her sister used to say she was always thrilled to meet Koreans abroad. Sarin realized that this was what it felt like.
“Are you hungry? You must be since you slept in, and it’s quite late now. I’ve prepared some food. Would you like to eat together?”
Gayeon spoke, still a few steps away from Sarin. Sarin nodded without hesitation. She wanted to talk to her a bit more. Gayeon went into the kitchen, promising to prepare Sarin’s share. Sarin tried to follow but couldn’t because Owen stopped her.
“Are you that happy?”
Owen asked with a tone devoid of enthusiasm. As if questioning whether meeting someone from the same country for the first time in her life had truly made her that happy.
“I didn’t realize I wouldn’t be able to return to Korea for this long.”
Her tears welled up briefly, but quickly subsided. Owen looked at the traces left in her eyes. Uncomfortable with his intense gaze, she turned her head away for a moment, then faced herself again in the mirror.
“Do you want to go back?”
Owen asked. It seemed like he said something while intertwining with her, but her mind went blank, and she couldn’t recall. Staring at her intensely, he finally let go, allowing her to move away.
As she entered the kitchen, she tried to figure out what she was missing, but the tempting smell of food made her forget her purpose.
“I found fresh beef in the fridge, so I made stew.”
A pretty bowl was set with beef stew, bread, and a chicken breast salad that she didn’t want to look at. The plates in front of Gayeon and the man behind her were halfway empty, indicating they had already eaten first. Owen followed Sarin as she entered.
It had been a long time since she had had warm food.
“Thank you for this food.”
Sitting at the table, she slightly nodded towards Gayeon. Then, recalling something, she almost banged her head on the stew.
… Who cleaned it up?
There was no way in hell Owen would have cleaned up the mess. Glancing at him sitting next to her, his poker face revealed a still expression. She couldn’t bring herself to ask. Lifting her spoon with an audacious demeanor, Gayeon and the man named Kirill resumed their meal.
“We introduced ourselves earlier, right? I’m Gayeon, and this is Kirill.”
Kirill looked at Sarin with an indifferent gaze, prompting her to gulp down a spoonful of the hot stew unwittingly. When she sought water to cool her mouth, Owen pushed his cup towards Sarin.
“Ha.”
She felt relief as water entered her burning mouth.
Gayeon looked at Kirill with a knowing expression, as if blaming him for something.
“…I didn’t say anything.”
“I told you not to look at people that way. That’s why you got into a fight outside and almost picked a fight with an innocent person here.”
The innocent person referred to herself.
“I’m fine. I was just startled. It’s just that the two of them look alike…”
“They’re cousins.”
The answer came from Gayeon. Both of them nodded at the mention of being cousins. Their atmosphere and appearance were so similar.
Yet, Sarin couldn’t help but wonder where they grew up to be so similar in their demeanor, where it wouldn’t be strange if they killed anyone right away.
“We’re cousins, but we’ve only seen each other a few times.”
Kirill opened his mouth towards Gayeon with a face that didn’t want to be lumped into the same class.
“He’s a pervert who gets his dick hard at the sight of blood, so he’s probably been in the mental hospital longer.”
Owen’s chilling response followed.
A pervert who gets off on blood…
This time, Sarin choked on her water upon hearing Owen’s words. Kirill firmly gripped the handle of the bread knife used for cutting bread as Owen chuckled, watching him.
“The asshole who can’t sleep unless he’s sleeping with a dog.”
This clearly referred to Owen.
Kirill smiled brightly as he put Owen’s dogs in his mouth.
“You know whose house this is, so keep playing with your mouth.”
“So why are you here?”
“You’ve been gone for a while; now this place is mine. If you’re a runaway, should I light a fire under your ass?”
While Kirill’s mouth was smiling, his eyes were staring at Owen as if he might wield the bread knife as a weapon at any moment. Owen, casually parrying, chuckled in a relaxed manner. Despite being cousins, one seemed to be in a more precarious situation.
“Oh, we’re currently on the run.”
Gayeon said to Sarin with a complex expression. They didn’t look like they were being chased. Both looked composed, and the typical atmosphere of fugitives was nowhere to be felt.
Sarin knew what it felt like to be on the run. He knew what it was like to have your blood run dry when you used the wrong loan company.
“Really?”
“Yeah. I think it is better for a son to inherit the family than to run from Kirill’s….father.”
“Now it won’t be Belov.”
Owen corrected Gayeon’s mistake with a slow tone.
Belov, Belov. The name sounded vaguely familiar. It was similar to the notorious Russian president’s name, and as the thoughts passed through her mind, Sarin tried to deny it.
“Really? Then who’s going after us?”
Kirill frowned, dissatisfied with Gayeon mixing her words with Owen.
“Nikolai.”
“Who’s Nikolai?”
Gayeon asked Kirill who he was. Kirill’s forehead froze in a way that words couldn’t describe.
“Oh, have you been running without even knowing who’s chasing you? Interesting. You poor asshole.”
“I have plenty of money, so it’s okay.”
Gayeon calmly replied to Owen’s teasing.
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Notes:
**Giving pain and offering relief—often referring to a situation where someone creates a problem and then offers a solution to it.
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is Sid. I hope you liked it<3
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