Chapter 08
A wall of the room was entirely lined with shelves packed tightly with materials on negotiation.
Baek Sa-eon had a background that included participation in the FBI Academy training program during his master’s degree in political science and completion of a hostage negotiation course led by the NYPD.
When dealing with hostages, nine out of ten trainees got emotionally swayed. But Baek Sa-eon didn’t flinch, not at the provocations of a perpetrator, nor at the barrel of a gun.
The foundation of negotiation was interpersonal understanding.
An exceptional negotiator needed the ability to disarm their counterpart using “empathy” as a weapon.
Yet Baek Sa-eon had entirely subverted this principle with cold indifference and calculated, unethical questions.
Meticulously manipulating emotional state was an approach that deviated significantly from the qualities of an ideal negotiator. Instead of focusing on the safety of the hostage, he derived pleasure from breaking down the hostage-taker.
Recognizing her son’s deficit in empathy, his mother prohibited him from pursuing the field.
“You’re just a person with a swift tongue, not a negotiator.”
That was her cold verdict.
Ironically, that very skill set became the foundation that propelled him to prominence as a political strategist.
“A sneaky rat that can’t even expose his own voice.”
A rhythmic tapping echoed as his rough voice rasped through the air.
***
Heeju couldn’t take her eyes off the monitor.
『 “I’ll silence you forever.” 』
She mimicked the line with a deliberately solemn expression. Her face hardened, and her jaw stiffened. She was mirroring the actor’s hostility.
She had considered other options.
Once, she had sought legal counsel about the unjust marriage contract she was trapped in. But whether it was free consultation or a top-tier law firm, the response was always the same.
“Excuse me? Are you talking about Congressman Baek?”
“Proprietor of Sankyung, you say?”
Her father-in-law and father had already entrenched themselves in the legal world. No lawyer was willing to take on a case against a politician rumored to be a future presidential candidate.
No lawyer dared to take up the case. They had the power to strip them of everything.
At the sign language interpretation center’s media room, Heeju’s hands moved swiftly, flawlessly fluid in their motions.
『“If you dare to do anything, I’ll k*ll you.”』
Her neatly shaped eyebrows twitched, mimicking the anger of the actor’s expression.
Today was the day. Tonight… she will call Baek Sa-eon.
As a sign language interpreter, Heeju was adept at conveying others’ tones and emotions with precision.
Her years of practicing interpretations using a variety of media had made imitating a hostage-taker almost effortless.
“Heeju, you came?”
The head of the center peeked through the slightly open door while stammering.
On the monitor, a terrifying man was threatening a bruised figure hanging from the ceiling, spitting out lines about flaying skin and other horrors.
“Heeju, hey.. H-Heeju…?”
The flustered man in his early forties stepped into the room, but Heeju remained engrossed. She kept moving her arms.
“…H- Have your tastes changed or something?”
A flustered Heeju finally turned to face the man.
Standing there in a Hawaiian shirt and a long gold chain that would suit a rapper, the man blinked in disbelief.
“Is this because you had to let go of the broadcast job? I can—”
‘I’m just practicing,’ Heeju expressed through sign language.
If her gestures carried a voice, it would have been soft, graceful, and poised, like that of a well-mannered lady.
“But why is your practice material so… grim?”
‘Just in case.’
“In case? Of what?”
The man looked at her with concern.
“Nothing’s come in from the police or anything, right? No debt collector hired you because the debtor is deaf or—”
‘No.’
“Then why are you doing this? You’re scaring me here!”
The head expressed himself dramatically while clutching his chest.
“I’m looking for new jobs for you, so just take it easy until then. And don’t blow off steam with such morbid stuff, okay?”
Heeju was only a “halfway” sign language interpreter.
Her chronic inability to speak in front of others severely limited her opportunities.
She was relegated to supporting others or handling one-way interpretation jobs that didn’t require interaction.
Sign language wasn’t just about moving your hands. To fully convey tone and emotion, a rich repertoire of facial expressions was essential.
In that regard, Heeju excelled, flawlessly capturing nuances like the subtle difference between “good job” and “g-r-e-a-t job.”
Her lip movements, brow arches, and body angles were deliberate and precise. Though her presence was usually faint, her ability to vividly convey emotions was undeniable.
Yet it was all the more tragic that she, a messenger for others, couldn’t fully express herself.
A sign language interpreter who couldn’t speak could only ever be half-complete.
“Heeju, if this is just to hone your skills… You could practice it with Baek Sa-eon’s videos.”
“…!”
For some reason, a prickling unease crept over him.
In her oversized T-shirt, jeans, and baseball cap pulled low, she looked innocent, like a college student.
But from beneath the brim of her cap, there was something unsettling in her gaze.
Brushing off the chill, he added hastily, “You know, Baek Sa-eon’s been doing a lot of briefings lately. I could grab some of those videos for you. Didn’t you say his clarity in speech was textbook material?”
“…”
“And back when you kept failing your certification tests, didn’t you tell me—”
“…”
“That even being in the same frame as Baek Sa-eon, even for one-sixteenth of a second, was your dream?”
Suddenly, Heeju stepped forward without a word. The man instinctively took a step back as she snatched the remote from his hand.
‘I’m done with Baek Sa-eon’s videos. I’ve had enough.’
“Oh… o- okay.”
Her decisive thoughts left him dumbfounded.
Heeju returned her focus to the grim movie, her hands and expressions flawlessly replicating the profane, violent lines.
From her fierce determination and inexplicable obsession, the man in the room felt uneasy.
Seriously, what’s this about? This wasn’t the Heeju he used to know— the timid, faint-hearted girl.
Her dull eyes now gleamed with an almost unsettling sharpness. The head shivered, noticing.
***
“Finally…!”
Heeju’s legs kept shaking as she stared at the phone sitting idly on the desk.
The reason she had feigned ignorance in response to the center head’s concerns was simple.
She never in her wildest dreams thought her first voice interpretation job would be… a threatening phone call.
Voice modulation, spoofed caller ID, untraceable location – for days now, the phone had received exactly zero calls.
Amazingly, the hostage-taker had been right. Baek Sa-eon couldn’t discover a thing.
Whether he had lost interest in the “prank calls” or simply couldn’t find the trail, her life remained perfectly intact despite holding onto the hostage-taker’s phone.
Her daily routine hadn’t changed one bit.
The man who had once bared his soul to her now dismissed her with a chilling indifference. Whenever their eyes accidentally met, his face would harden first.
She still couldn’t decipher what his expression meant. Was it disapproval? A hint of unease? Either way, his sharp gaze pierced through her like a blade.
If that was the case, there was only one thing left for her to do.
“Haa…”
Heeju set the timer for nine minutes and took a deep breath.
Every movement drew a reflexive groan of pain from her.
“Ugh!”
The bruises were still making her suffer. A wave of bitterness washed over her, but the fleeting emotion was swiftly replaced by her unyielding resolve.
Everything was ready now.
“Ah… ah…”
Her trembling voice, shaky like a goat’s bleat, clawed its way out of her throat.
The only son of a presidential frontrunner. A media manipulator renowned for his barbed tongue.
“I could never hope to win against someone like him…”
But that didn’t matter. This was it— time to embrace her role as the defiant divorcee!
Reciting her mantra, she steeled her gaze and pressed the phone to her ear.
The weight of the device felt as terrifying and heavy as b*mb.
