Doberman

Chapter 5

 

Owen, at this late hour, gently brushed his thumb under Sarin’s eyelid. A sudden fear surged through Sarin, as if Owen might sharpen his razor and gouge out her eyeballs.

 

“I’m not usually one to make this kind of proposal.”

 

She couldn’t quite grasp the meaning behind the words spoken in his painfully low voice. Avoiding the man, Sarin awkwardly leaned towards the mirror. Her unnaturally bent waist behind her complained of pain.

 

The cold mirror touched the back of her head. Owen had one long leg wedged between Sarin’s thighs, pressing down on her from above.

 

“Want to work under me?”

 

It wasn’t a suggestion. It was coercion.

 

She couldn’t bring herself to say that her flight ticket had only four days left, or that if it was past midnight, she only had three days left. As if coaxing an answer, he tightened his fingers around Sarin’s eyes.

 

“Do you like dogs?”

 

Three Dobermans flashed through her mind.

 

“My dog walker quit recently.”

 

“If I refuse… what will happen?”

 

The word “refuse” seemed unfamiliar to him, as his smile melted unnaturally. Still, he remained quite threatening as he held Sarin’s eyes with his fingers. So much so that I thought that if I didn’t die, I would end up returning home one-eyed.

 

The silent intimidation weighed heavier on my heart than the man’s presence.

 

“I like dogs…”

 

You bastard

 

Instinctively, she knew that men don’t like being asked twice. When Sarin quickly said so, Owen subtly nodded.

 

“I’ll leave it to you.”

 

He showed me how scary a request could sound, and then leisurely got up. Sarin’s waist, which had been bent back, wobbled. The alarm bells ringing in my head were getting louder.

 

Her sister was right.

 

She had a talent for making the worst choices.

 

Naturally, her passport and wallet ended up in Owen’s hands.

 

Fortunately or unfortunately, her diary was returned to her. A man named Yuri, who introduced himself as Owen’s executive secretary, led her to the room where she stood dumbfounded, holding it in my hands.

 

“Do I have to stay here?”

 

She didn’t want to talk to his secretary either, but there was no one else to ask. Sarin didn’t forget that this man was the one who pushed her into the elevator.

 

“Yes.”

 

She wanted to say that forcing her into the elevator and taking her passport was kidnapping, but she couldn’t bring herself to say it. She was the one who would be considered abnormal for trying to reason in a place where the law didn’t apply. Sarin tried to think rationally.

 

The man, whose gaze met hers, subtly expressed a strange expression as he looked at her face. Judging by the way his lips twitched, he seemed to have something to say, but in the end, he just opened the door without giving any further explanation.

 

The place she arrived at was one of the suites with not a single wrinkle on the sheets.

 

Owen is somewhere beyond this room.

 

Her heart started to beat late. Closing the door and leaning against it, Sarin slid down, pressing her palm against her chest. The pounding of her heart made her palm ominously vibrate. She unfolded the diary in her hand like an amulet.

 

The owner of this diary is dead. Buried next to her Mother.

 

Her older sister.

 

Sarin closed her eyes. Every time she thought about it, she couldn’t breathe, feeling like a part of her heart was being torn away. Her other half, her   her  flesh and blood, whom she shared her soul with.

 

“Sister, I finally made it here.”

 

Her fingers trembled. There was still a lingering smell of alcohol on her face from Owen’s touch, so she roughly wiped her face with her sleeve. And now, she unfolded the diary, which is almost like  an amulet.

 

She read it so many times that the paper was wearing thin, but the writing on it was easy to read. Maybe she has memorized the entire diary without realizing it.

 

To my dear little sister,

 

The first page of her sister’s diary started as a letter to Sarin, knowing that she would eventually find it. Sarin slowly traced the round letters.

 

“I still can’t bring myself to tell the story. Just like my sister said, I have to be careful. I always mess things up, and if I mess this up, what will I do.”

 

Pressing the pen hard is her sister’s habit. Sarin touched the shape of the letters that felt like braille and sniffled. She was so tired.

 

Her torn palm throbbed, and her knees, dragged across the marble, were already turning a deep shade of blue. Her hair was on the verge of being completely torn off today. The memory of sitting on the floor and overturning a filthy puddle came back to her, and she desperately got up from her seat.

 

The room had a bathroom attached to it.

 

Passing the king-size bed with stiff sheets that seemed like they would leave marks just by touching them, Sarin entered the bathroom and had to swallow a scream when she saw herself in the mirror.

 

“Crazy bastard. Freaking psycho…”

 

The whole time, she had been so focused on Owen that she hadn’t properly checked her own appearance, but he was definitely a psycho. Her eyebrows were practically non-existent, and her hair was cut so close to her scalp that her forehead was exposed. It was almost a relief that his secretary, who had been pursing his lips, didn’t burst into laughter when he saw her face.

 

She tried to make do with the disposable razor in the bathroom, but having practically no eyebrows or hair was beyond her tolerance.

 

“Making someone look like a beggar in an instant.”

 

Sarin turned red with anger and huffed at herself in the mirror. Even though it had been a long time since my hair had been touched, it couldn’t have been more messed up than this. As she spat out every curse she knew, her heart, which had been aching with the memory of her sister’s death, now started pounding with anger.

 

But the anger was short-lived. Sarin had already used up today’s mental and physical strength.

 

After a good wash in warm water, everything would be okay.

 

This beggar-like feeling, the luck and misfortune of the day, would all become nothing when her passionate heart melted and dissolved in the warm water. She closed and opened her eyes, resolving that she would gain the strength to overcome it once again.

 

She bet on a slim 1 in 38 chance of meeting Owen at the roulette.

 

She lost all her money and met Owen. Instead of luck, all that remained was a man who seemed to be the source of misfortune.

 

Sarin was already regretting it.

 

She heard the sound of her sister’s tongue lashing from the grave, like a hallucination.

 

She didn’t realize it before taking a shower, but she couldn’t bring herself to put her clothes back on. Even her underwear was soaked with cold sweat, and she couldn’t bring herself to put them back on.

 

After putting on a shower gown and roughly hand-washing her clothes except for the coat, she came out and saw the digital clock by the bedside showing 3 AM. It was a tough day.

 

Sarin, walking heavily to the bed, lay down as she was and closed her eyes. Her head was ringing as if a clock had been placed in it. Despite that, the overwhelming drowsiness consumed her body.

 

Maybe it’s a dream.

 

When she opens her eyes and gets up, she might be in the old hostel she borrowed for a week, or maybe even in Eden City, which might also be a dream.

 

She had quite an active imagination. It might have been one of the usual fantasies she had unfolded before falling asleep. When she opens her eyes, as always, the white walls of the hospital would greet her.

 

Thinking that way, Sarin let go of her mind.

 

But soon she realized that out of hundreds, thousands of times she had imagined, she had never had such a trashy imagination.

 

Before waking up from the dream, hope was shattered.

 

“Tell me what kind of dogs they are.”

 

The three Dobermans’ tails wagged as if they knew their story had come up. Yuri’s face, with loyal eyes shining brightly, looked at the dogs standing by Owen as if he were seeing hellhounds.

 

“They might have been sent from Russia.”

 

“You came from there too.”

 

“Well, I…”

 

Yuri chuckled. As she had known Owen for many years, she felt comfortable around him when they were alone, but she never crossed the line. Usually, people would be intimidated by his face, but the petite woman had no interest in Owen’s face at all.

 

Tattoos ran up her neck to under her ear, and one side of her lip was torn. It was a trace of someone slashing her face with a knife. Yuri looked down at the scars left by an opponent who wouldn’t disappear. The golden eyes met Yuri’s with a fierce gaze.

 

“If they were sent from there, I’d like to give them something in return.”

 

Owen said with a very satisfied look that matched his broken taste. Nothing was important to him. Despite having many enemies, he always had a carefree face. He might have even put himself in danger, thinking of the opponent who might aim for his life.

 

Owen pointed to the passport on the table with just a glance.

 

“I’ll find out.”

 

“Okay.”

 

It was good to have a pawn. The longer she had it, the more fun it was.

 

It was an impulse that stopped the car on the street. No one would have guessed her actions, but the voice that seemed to be waiting for her pleased her. Standing in front of the roulette table, she changed chips boldly, as if making a vow to herself, so he became quite curious.

 

Which side is this?

 

What side is making me so nervous?

 

She knew more than a hundred ways to open her mouth fully. No one had ever seen a person who could keep their mouth shut in the face of pain. Owen was delighted by her broken eyes. He even wanted to command her to swallow the words she was about to say.

 

Because he was having fun.

 

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Translator Note:

Hello there! This is Sid. I hope you liked it<3

Next post will be released on February, 15.

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