Those who have walked the same path recognize it without a word.
For Jae-min, despair was nothing new; his entire past had been as tragic as it could get.
So when he considered Hye-rin's situation, he felt a strange resonance with her.
Like him, she had jumped from the same Seongok High apartment and died.
If anything, her fate was even harsher, especially since she had a daughter left behind to mourn her.
Jae-min, on the other hand, had no one.
His wife had betrayed him, and friends and family had all turned out to be white-eyed wolves.
To him, the death of someone who had people to grieve for seemed far more tragic than his own lonely existence.
Thankfully, it was a new life, and none of that had happened yet.
At least now, he had a chance to change things.
He looked down at the purple-haired woman lying helplessly in the bed.
The short purple hair stuck to her pale cheeks, green eyes wide and frantic, tears streaking as she twisted against the ropes.
One breast had spilled out of the ripped bodycon dress, the other pressing awkwardly against the fabric as she tried to cover herself, her long white legs stretched out, trembling and exposed.
A red palm print marked her cheek, her panic and desperation clear in every flinch and shudder.
She was trying to make herself small, trying to hide whatever she could, but the ropes held her helplessly in place.
God knows when Jae-min got closer to her and sat down on the bed, but she instinctively pulled herself backward.
"Mrs. Hye-rin… who would've thought you'd end up like this?"
"The first time I saw you, I thought you were an intelligent woman who also happened to be the most beautiful"
"Well then...Allow me to introduce myself properly. I'm Kim Jae-min, your friendly neighbor from across the hall, apartment 103."
Hye-rin's eyes fluttered with fear.
For a moment she thought even her neighbor was involved in her kidnapping, yet she couldn't recall anyone by that name.
"Ugnnn… ugnnn…"
She tried to speak, but the sound was muffled and broken.
Clap!
Jae-min clapped his hands sharply, pulling her attention back to him.
"Relax. If I wanted to hurt you, I wouldn't be wasting words. Right now, I'm the only chance you've got."
"I'm not with those bastards. I've got my own reasons for being here. Just don't scream you'll draw the wrong kind of attention."
In truth, the entire Green Villa was empty except for the two of them, but still Jae-min had to say it.
And if she still dared to shout?
He wouldn't hesitate to use the knockout spray and leave her behind.
Hye-rin nodded her head quickly, desperate to show she understood.
Jae-min reached out, adjusting the fallen strap of her bra, smoothing the edge of her torn bodycon dress, and then loosening the restraints until she was finally free.
"Haaah… haaah…"
Her chest heaved as she took heavy breaths, clutching her knees tightly. But it wasn't the time for mourning or crying. Jae-min's voice cut through again.
"Mrs. Hye-rin, I've helped you. Now it's your turn to help me."
"Save your tears for later and help me find the yellow suitcase."
Jae-min removed his rabbit mask, fully revealing a handsome, sharp face not soft or delicate like most Korean men strived to be, but rough, rugged, undeniably masculine.
For the first time, Hye-rin locked her tear-filled eyes with his, trembling like a frightened rabbit.
"I… I… will help."
...
Easy things are never simple, and simple things are never easy.
Even though Green Villa wasn't large or majestic, the problem was that it still had seven rooms, a hall, and a terrace.
Jae-min had already ruled out the terrace, so all that remained were the seven rooms and the kitchen.
"Did you check under the bed?"
"I… did… already did that."
"Then the closet. Look behind the clothes."
"Already… did."
"Shit… it has to be somewhere here. Think. Where would they hide it, Jae-min?"
As the saying goes, two are better than one, three are better than two.
Together, they tore through the villa. In less than thirty minutes, nearly every room was overturned.
When Jae-min glanced at Hye-rin, he felt a flicker of guilt for making such a fragile woman work after everything she had just endured.
Yet even in her fear, she looked impossibly tempting. Good thing Jae-min had yet to become a proper beast.
"Ms. Hye-rin, there's only one room left to check. You can rest on the sofa. Don't worry I've locked the entrance, so no one else can enter."
Hye-rin hesitated, then lowered herself onto the sofa with a shiver, her long legs crossed awkwardly, exposed yet somehow graceful.
Jae-min offered her his handkerchief and a chocolate, the faint warmth of the gesture softening the harshness of the moment.
"Take this...you're all sweaty. Eat this too."
In truth, that chocolate contained a considerable amount of propranolol, Hye-rin's situation was still too unstable to risk her making mistakes.
"Thank you."
Even the way she whispered it made her seem delicate and alive in a way that made him want to both protect and manipulate but there was no time for distractions.
He went directly to the last room, and as if fortune itself had guided him, he found the yellow suitcase lying on the bed, untouched and gleaming in the dim light.
"Haha… money… my money."
But money wasn't the only thing he found.
There was an enormous pile of packed white powder carelessly dumped inside obviously narcotics.
For a flicker of a second, Jae-min considered how much he could make if he sold it all.
But it lasted only a moment.
Talking money was one thing, but actually stealing this?
Not only could he not manage it alone, but doing so would make him a mortal enemy of the Centipede Gang.
"Forget it… I just need to wait till Bitcoin blows up."
Thinking about it, he headed toward the hall but found no one there.
"Mrs. Hye-rin… Hye-rin?"
For a second, he feared something had happened to her, but the worry proved baseless.
He soon saw her appearing from an adjacent room.
"I… went to the toilet."
Jae-min sighed in relief, then pulled a fox mask from his coat and handed it to her.
"Alright… it's time we get out of here."
...
Now that everything was in place and the money was in hand, the only thing left was to leave this dangerous spot.
"What about those guys?"
The only problem was the three criminals still unconscious in the room.
Even though they hadn't seen Jae-min's face, they could still cause trouble.
For the last time, Jae-min considered dealing with them—might as well cut off their tongues and blind them.
That way, he could breathe easy.
"Mrs. Hye-rin, wait a moment. I'll handle these guys first."
"Are… are you planning to kill them?"
The moment Jae-min mentioned it, Hye-rin panicked, sweat pouring down her face.
Jae-min figured it was because she was afraid of them, so he didn't dwell on it.
"Jae-min… I actually deactivated his account, the one we used to talk through. You don't need to get your hands dirty."
"But still… if they come after you, then what will you—"
"My father's in the military. I'll ask for his help."
Jae-min didn't respond.
In fact, he himself was reluctant to kill them.
Saying you want to kill someone is often easier than actually doing it yourself.
Then again, who says he has to do it himself...
The best course of action was to make it look like an accident.
So Jae-min made an excuse, hurried to the kitchen, and cut the gas pipe, leaving the rest to fate.
Fifteen minutes later, after changing clothes, the pair headed out of the villa.
The black van was still there, and the moment Hye-rin saw it, she flinched.
Jae-min had no choice but to hold her close, putting an arm around her for support, which pressed her already enormous breasts against his ribs.
That's the problem with short, curvy women—no matter how pitiful they seem, their very presence does its best to seduce a man.
After walking for more than half an hour, they were already far from the villa.
Jae-min had pre-booked a cab, which took only forty minutes to drop them in front of the Seongok apartment.
Finally, they both sighed in relief.
"Mrs. Hye-rin… nothing happened today, alright?"
Standing in front of her apartment, Hye-rin nodded.
Seeing the woman's eyes, so close to tears, Jae-min didn't want to waste any more time.
Not to mention he also had to count the hefty sum.
"Take care of yourself. If anything happens, tell me—I'll help with everything I can. After all, we share a secret now."
Hye-rin didn't reply.
She locked the door and slumped against it, eventually collapsing to the floor like a ragdoll.
She wanted to cry, but there were no tears left; she had already shed every single one today.
She just sat there, silently.
Then she pulled a knife from her bodycon dress.
The blade was drenched in fresh blood.