Chapter 09
The place Owen took Sarin was a designer shop that she had never seen before. After passing all the well-known luxury brands, Owen stopped in front of an unfamiliar one, and at the sight of him, the employee who had been standing outside silently bowed at the waist.
As if they had an agreement not to speak unless necessary, the elegantly sculpted wooden door opened quietly.
The interior was dark despite it being daytime, but the few decorations illuminated by the lights above the sparse shelves made the items stand out even more.
Once Owen released the hand that had been draped over her shoulders, Sarin stepped a few paces back, as if indicating she had no connection to this place.
“This way, ma’am.”
The employee approached Sarin, not Owen, and politely guided her.
“Me?”
“I’ll escort you.”
Not saying more than necessary, the employees, with a friendly smile reminiscent of the maid Sarin had seen at Owen’s home, seemed to have no intention of considering Sarin’s wishes.
“Beautiful.”
He added, caressing Sarin’s short-cut bangs.
The phrase “behave nicely” came to her mind. Without further objection, Sarin quietly followed the employee. Passing through places where she didn’t know what kind of items were being sold, they entered a room with a door covered in blue fabric. Unlike the dim and dark store, a bright space greeted them.
“We have prepared clothes for you to try on. After checking your size, we will send them to the hotel.”
Inside, another employee was waiting. There was everything from furs to evening dresses, shoes, and even underwear. Extravagant clothes that were too much for everyday wear.
“Where is this?”
“This is Orbis. We provide all services tailored to our customers’ preferences.”
The clothes didn’t have price tags attached. But even at a glance, she knew they were out of her price range. A cashmere coat similar to the one Owen was wearing was displayed, but Sarin hesitated to even touch it.
The value of the items in this room seemed greater than the money she could earn as a dogwalker for a lifetime.
Her reflection appeared in the mirror of the fitting room. She looked ridiculous—a woman with a badly cropped haircut and a worn face—and stood there in dismay.
Sarin absentmindedly picked up the clothes handed to her. However, it happened to be a cream-colored dress; it got covered with black dirt from when I fell and rolled while walking the dogs.
Even seeing this, the employees didn’t lose their friendly smile.
“I’m sorry.”
“There’s a shower room for those who want to get dressed and leave. Would you like to use it?”
She nodded in agreement, and soon she was guided to the shower room.
Upon returning, a new set of clothes identical to the ones she had dirtied awaited her.
She wore a cream-colored tweed dress, and a slightly darker camel-colored cashmere coat was draped over her shoulders. She topped it off with a hat that fell just above her eyes and wore loafers the same color as the dress.
Everything was done in the fitting room, including simple makeup. After trimming the bangs protruding from under the hat, they put one diamond necklace around her neck as an accessory. Immediately after that, the employee brought gloves as the final touch.
“Please rest your elbows here and raise your hands.”
As she followed the employee’s request, the gloves were slid onto her fingers, enveloping her cold fingers in soft cashmere like a cloud. The coat and gloves perfectly complemented each other.
“We’ll escort you this way.”
Following the employee, she exited the place.
Owen, sitting on the guest sofa beneath the dim lights of the dark store, was waiting for her with his legs crossed. It seemed like quite some time had passed, as his secretary, Yuri, who had taken the dogs out earlier, was back and keeping watch. As she whispered something to Owen, his golden eyes met Sarin’s.
He had a glass in his hand, resting on the armrest of the sofa, containing pumpkin-colored liquid that swirled as he slowly brought it to his lips. With his other hand, he held a freshly lit cigar and slowly brought it to his mouth, taking a deep puff. As the smoke wafted through the store, the unique aroma of the cigar lingered in the air.
Owen smoothly turned his wrist, observing without missing a beat the well-crafted appearance she put on. Sarin, who had taken her eyes off the glass in his hand, stood in front of him like a mannequin.
“Come here.”
Owen jerked his chin and called for Sarin. As she stood in front of him, a pale-faced man raised his gaze to look at her. He took another puff from the cigar in his hand, then pressed it out into the glass of whiskey.
Sheesh.
With the sound of flames extinguishing, black ashes spread rapidly in the liquid inside the glass.
“Get down; I thought you were a good girl.”
He spoke to Sarin in a teasing, mocking voice. Sarin swallowed her breath in response to Owen’s voice, which made it clear that he wouldn’t tolerate being looked down upon. Money and life both held significant positions for her, and this man could wield both.
She had already given up her pride. She has never had such a thing since she was born.
Her mother was very sick. They couldn’t afford the hefty cost of hiring a caregiver. Sarin, who gave up going to college, worked as much as possible during the day and slept in the caregiver’s bed at night.
For about three years, until her sister graduated, she devoted herself to work, abandoning everything about herself. Both of them couldn’t live that way. She persuaded her sister, who wanted to quit school, to pursue a far-off future according to her mother’s wishes.
She recalled the moment when her sister graduated, holding her hand, crying, and thanking her for enduring. Now, to take care of their sick mother and Sarin, she chose to work abroad in a place with the highest salary.
After her other half left Korea, Sarin and her mother were left alone. She no longer had anyone to talk to about her mom’s illness, the lack of money for the month, or the fact that she sometimes felt very sick.
Only now could Sarin truly reflect on herself.
She couldn’t solely depend on the money her sister sent. During the day, she earned money like a machine, and at night, she naturally became acquainted with keeping watch over her mother. Somewhere along the way, she realized she was broken. She didn’t know if it was her heart or her head that was broken.
What was broken had no pride to stand on. Sarin kneeled. The soft carpet on the floor made it painless.
Owen, still holding a glass in one hand, used the other hand, with the lingering scent of a cigar, to remove Sarin’s hat.
As the hat fell backward, revealing her round forehead, Owen remarked,
“Now, you look pretty.”
It was clear that he was grumpy because he didn’t like the way her eyes were covered. Sarin’s eyes, which Owen found pleasing, met his gaze directly.
“It’s Boris.”
Yuri, bending forward, addressed Owen, handing him a mobile phone.
– Alas, he knows. In ten days, I’ll be traveling through South Africa in Orbis’s name. The fee is the same as before.
The Russian spoken by him, which was incomprehensible to Sarin, flowed effortlessly. Owen’s fingers, still carrying the scent of cigars, wrapped around Sarin’s left cheek, gliding down to his thigh in a single motion. The smooth suit pants were brushed by her cheek.
After allowing her face to rest on his thigh, Owen’s hand moved more overtly, caressing her neck. He stroked from below her ear to her neckline with his fingers as if it were an old habit. They just met yesterday, and already he’s treating her like she’s familiar with her.
– Really? Me again. Haha.
Owen laughed low, as if he’d heard something funny. Sarin reflexively lifted her face, only to be buried deeper by his strength. Before she knew it, the man was spreading his legs wide, his hands in Sarin’s hair, and sweeping it down to her scalp in one sweep.
Goosebumps rose on the exposed flesh beneath her scalp.
“Ugh….”
As her head flinched away from his hand, something hard touched her cheek, midway between his tights. It felt different from the hardness of the man’s thighs.
“Hmm.”
“Shh. Don’t open your mouth like that, okay?”
Before her eyes, the inner thigh of Owen’s pants bulged tautly. After speaking sweetly to Sarin, he goes back on the phone like nothing happened.
– To think that scum is one of Boris’s henchmen. Seeing how he reached out to his owner as soon as he went to Russia, I should have just had him castrated.
Owen remembered the man Boris was talking about. Thanks to that, hadn’t he encountered something interesting that was now lying on his thigh? Owen’s tone involuntarily carried a touch of laughter.
It was a gruesome thing to say, but he said it in such a pleasant voice that listeners could be fooled into thinking he was joking. However, those who knew him were more cautious at times like this.
An apology would come right back at him.
When a dog makes a mistake, the owner should be held accountable. Owen’s gaze drifted to Sarin on his thigh. There was something about the way she gasped in surprise at the bulge in his pants that appealed to him.
“Boris, I have to go, but I’ll see you in Eden City soon.”
Before Owen could finish his sentence, Yuri snatched the phone away, ending the call.
“Give it to me.”
He held out his hand again for the phone that Yuri had taken. Without a word, the phone was handed back to Owen.
“If you call me, I’ll answer right away.”
“What?”
“You said you lost it.”
Owen leaned his upper body closer to Sarin. His soft skin brushed against the side of my face. His breath was cold as he whispered a secret in her ear, but his touch was gentle as he slipped the phone into Sarin’s coat pocket.
