SACCHARIN
CHAPTER 15

“So, are we heading to a factory in the countryside?”

“At least you’re not completely clueless. That’s a relief.”

If we were really going to a saccharin manufacturing plant and not somewhere more sinister, that was at least somewhat good news.

If it wasn’t about committing or enduring something terrible, then I was willing to do whatever I had to.

But… maybe I had let my relief show too much.

Shin Chi-woo, still half-reclined in his seat, had a glint in his eye as he observed me.

Was my face that easy to read? Did he find my inability to hide my emotions amusing?

Worried that he’d use it against me somehow, I quickly tried to make my expression as neutral as possible.

That’s when he finally moved, however slightly.

He glanced down at his left wrist—checking the time.

“We’re still far. At least another thirty minutes to go.”

“Why?”

“You really don’t get it?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”

What was this, some kind of twenty-questions game?

Why was he throwing riddles at me when he was the only one with the answers?

Frustrated, my voice took on a desperate, almost pleading tone.

I was so exasperated that I almost wanted to clutch my chest and wail dramatically.

“At least give me a hint—why are we just sitting here with the car parked?”

“Stop wasting your energy.”

“If you tell me, I’ll stop asking questions. I won’t complain, I won’t be loud—I’ll sit quietly until we get to the factory, okay?”

With every frustrated thump of my fist against my chest, the clinking of my handcuffs echoed in the silent car.

Eventually, I even clasped my hands together in a begging motion.

I must have looked pathetic, because Shin Chi-woo finally responded.

For the first time since we stopped, he moved toward me.

I instinctively flinched, half-expecting him to slap me and tell me to shut up.

“Fine. Stop that.”

He lightly grabbed my fist, the one I had been pounding against my chest.

As soon as his hand wrapped around mine, I reflexively tried to pull away.

But he didn’t let go.

Instead, he hooked his finger through the chain of my handcuffs and pulled me closer.

“Do you really think we got all the way here by ourselves?”

“…Are we being watched?”

“No.”

He shook his head slightly, as if my guess was completely off.

Then, he let go of my cuffs, putting distance between us again.

I clasped my hands together and just stared at him, trying to make sense of what he meant.

Shin Chi-woo ignored my gaze, sinking deeper into his seat.

It was as if he was giving me time to figure it out on my own.

Was he really planning to sit here like this for another thirty minutes?

I ran through everything he had said—and then, suddenly, I froze.

“Then… are we being followed?”

“Half correct.”

“So, we are being followed?”

At my follow-up question, he didn’t answer with words.

Instead, the corner of his lips curled into a slight smirk.

It was the first time I’d seen a smile on him that actually seemed human.

And that was all the confirmation I needed.

Chairman Pyeon Jae-ho wasn’t just watching us—he had people tailing us.

That meant he didn’t completely trust Shin Chi-woo either.

Which raised another question.

If we knew we were being followed, then why the hell did we stop here?

Shouldn’t we keep driving so we don’t make them suspicious?

“Um… I have a question.”

“I go first. Have you ever heard your father talk about how the company operates?”

“Well… a little, I guess. Not in detail. Just bits and pieces.”

“Do you know exactly what your father does at the company?”

“Look… That wasn’t an act earlier. I really don’t know anything. I have no idea what my dad does.”

I repeated the same lie Shin Chi-woo had whispered to me at the hotel.

I figured denying everything was the safest move.

But I had underestimated him.

He saw right through me.

“You’re his daughter, and you don’t know what your father does?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Your father works at Pyeonjae Trading. Executive Director Seo Kyoyong—that’s your dad, isn’t it?”

“…Yes.”

“See? You do know, yet you’re pretending you don’t.”

Damn it.

Like a fool, I had taken the bait Shin Chi-woo had dangled in front of me.

By answering so naturally, I had basically admitted that my father had a shadowy side—and that I was aware of it.

Trying to outsmart him had only led me straight into the trap he had set.

I had practically handed him a weapon to use against me.

A surge of tension tightened in my chest.

Had I just made a huge mistake?

As my heartbeat pounded in my ears, his next words sent a chill down my spine.

“If Director Seo returns safely, make sure to put in a good word for me about today.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been helping you for the past thirty minutes.”

“…Sitting in this car doing nothing is helping me?”

“I even whispered a little something to you earlier, remember?”

*”Okay, fine, but you ran me over with a car first. You stopped me from getting to my dad at the airport—”

I was about to lose my mind.

How the hell was sitting in a parked car supposed to be helping me?

If he had just explained properly instead of throwing cryptic remarks at me, maybe I’d understand.

“Can you start from the beginning and explain it step by step? Please—I’m begging you.”

Out of frustration, I made another pleading motion.

But Shin Chi-woo quickly put an end to it with a shake of his head.

Left with no choice, I lowered my hands to my lap and just stared at him, waiting.

“Cool your head. Once you think it through, you’ll understand what I mean.”

“I’m too stupid to figure it out unless you explain it to me.”

“Well, just because someone has a good academic background doesn’t mean they’re smart. No wonder you had to retake the college entrance exam three times.”

Shin Chi-woo was deliberately avoiding giving me a straight answer.

Or rather, he was skillfully dodging the core of the conversation while steering it toward something else entirely.

He was refusing to confirm anything while still leaving himself an exit.

Fine.

I just needed to calm down.

To think.

If licking my ear was a distraction, but whispering to me had been real…

And if sitting here like this was somehow helping me…

And if he had asked me to vouch for him to my father later…

I needed to stop overcomplicating it.

Think simply.

Focus on what I could see right now.

That’s when the answer started to come into focus.

“You sent the other two out of the car, so it’s just the two of us in here. The engine is off, so the windows are fogged up.”

“Go on.”

“It looks like… something happened in here. Some kind of physical interaction between us.”

I raised my index finger and drew a circle on the fogged-up window.

The spot I touched immediately became clear, confirming what I had suspected.

From the outside, no one would be able to see in.

“…Well? What do you think?”

Shin Chi-woo was watching my fingertips erase the fog on the glass.

Feeling like I had been caught doing something I shouldn’t, I quickly pulled my hand away from the window.

“To me, it looks like… we were engaged in some kind of… physical contact in this car.”

Why was it so hard to say the word sex out loud?

I had deliberately phrased it indirectly, but there was no way he didn’t understand what I meant.

“And running me over with the car—was that intentional, too? Like… deceiving the enemy by deceiving your own people first?”

“Half right again.”

I understood his gray position.

He wasn’t fully aligned with either side.

I wanted him to give me a more direct hint, but he refused to offer a solid confirmation.

Who was Shin Chi-woo’s real enemy?

And who was truly on his side?

I had no way of knowing at this stage.

But once I arrived at the factory, I would never see this man again.

I needed to gather as much information as possible.

Even in lies, there had to be some truth hidden.

Might as well take the risk.

With a softer voice, I asked:

“This might be a childish question, but… are you on my dad’s side?”

“No. If I had to say, I’m on the chairman’s side.”

“Then why did you help me?”

“I just played a card to benefit me.”

I swallowed my selfish desire to just survive and instead tried to sound as submissive as possible.

I didn’t care if he saw through it and secretly mocked me.

If he was willing to share even the bare minimum of information to put me at ease, then that was enough.

“Who knows? Maybe Director Seo will make a triumphant return.”

“…Do you really think that’ll happen?”

“Who knows.”

“But since the possibility isn’t zero—that’s why you helped me, right?”

“Again…”

“Half right?”

With the chairman’s illness leaving the successor position vacant, everyone at the company was locked in a game of political maneuvering.

And now, my father had apparently betrayed someone—turning the company into a chaotic battlefield.

But in this madness, neither my father nor the chairman had the advantage.

That meant there was room for a third player to rise.

If I were Shin Chi-woo, I wouldn’t want to miss that opportunity.

Which meant…

Shin Chi-woo was a gray man.

 

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