Chapter 149 – Lee Junseo (Son) – I’M Her Owner
* Lee Junseo (Son) – I’m Her Owner (7)
“Joo Yeonmi. 27 years old this year. Unknown origin. I know she met Kim Yongshin through an arrangement by our trash father and got married. Even though it was just one meeting, she continued the relationship with Kim Yongshin and has been with him ever since… Anyway, she married him in a love marriage… It was a marriage with a huge age gap, and even though there was a lot of noise from the outside, she forced it through?”
“You… really…”
“Now that things have gotten this big, why would I need to hide anything?”
Joo Yeonmi is startled, but Kim Yongshin covers his eyes. It seems he spilled everything, but as if he doesn’t want to be here any longer, he leaves the hospital room with Junhyuk. As they cross paths, Junseo, who looks like he’s been beaten to a pulp, enters and locks the door.
“She has one daughter, but that’s not important. What’s important is that Grandpa Kim Yongshin killed our father.”
“How much did you say…?”
“I spilled everything you were hiding. If I had collected all of Father’s USBs, things might have been different, to that extent.”
“Ugh…”
Junseo sits on the chair in the hospital room, blankly watching her. In his hands, he holds CDs and various small devices that look like they were dug out of the dirt. The USB seems to be broken, but there are quite a few other problematic things besides that. For example, photos or the CD he’s holding now.
“Well, I figured he wouldn’t suddenly fall into some ideology and do crazy things without any motive, but it was unexpected. I should have realized it sooner. That there would be more victims’ USBs besides our family’s. Isn’t that obvious? After realizing that, I asked our bald guy at home. And when he said he doesn’t always film videos, I realized, ‘Oh, crap.’ So I went and smacked him in the head again right there.”
“Who’s the bald guy?”
“I have a bald guy who always protects me. He’s just intimidating and useless.”
“Ah, that bastard who filmed Haeun’s videos?”
“You know him well.”
“How often do you think that bastard went in and out of my husband’s company?”
He doesn’t answer. Junseo quietly burns a few photos with a lighter, watching the flames. He was going to execute the bitch who messed with his sister, but he doesn’t look particularly happy.
“Our father was a real piece of work. I was absolutely sure that we only had three sisters in our family. Since no one ever said anything, I never really suspected it either?”
“They don’t even know I exist.”
“Right. No one knows.”
He takes a breath at those words, shakes off the ashes of the burned photos.
And finally, he says it.
“You’re telling me, there are four sisters.”
With that one sentence.
The motive, the reason for taking Haeun, all the reasons were proven.
“It’s something that only the three of us—me, our dead father, and Grandpa Lee Yongshin—would know. I wonder how he found out. Or maybe he’s been targeting these sisters all along… like collecting a collection…”
“Well, we’re all good-looking, aren’t we? Must be good blood.”
“I heard our side of the sisters lived in a runaway gang before being raised by our father, but it seems like your side was different? How were you picked up?”
“I’ll remain silent.”
“Then, did you feel sorry for Haeun because of our blood?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Even at the end, Joo Yeonmi doesn’t show fear and leisurely sneers. She looks at the USB fragments Junseo gave her, brushing off the dirt. She had hidden everything related to herself, but it was finally revealed to the world by Kim Yongshin.
“I buried it in the mountains, how did you get it?”
“I asked Grandpa Yongshin for the location. The Bokryong kids are good at this kind of manual labor. I threatened to cut off their boss’s head if they didn’t dig it up quickly, so they brought it right away. That bald bastard is an A-grade hostage.”
“You didn’t even dig in the dirt yourself, but you’re badly hurt?”
“When they heard I was going to jail for about three years, the sisters went crazy. So I got hurt trying to stop them. And Moonyoung too. I wonder if you know who she is?”
“You seem to get along well with them?”
“It’s funny that you’re saying that. Someone who could have lived happily if they had just stayed quiet.”
“I’m a victim of your father. Do you think it’s convincing when his son talks so nicely? That’s why I never thought of asking you for help from the start. You’re just like your father, treating the sisters like sex slaves… never…”
She takes a breath.
There was a line that neither of them could concede.
“Even if I let you live?”
“Absolutely not. Until just now, I was trying to figure out how to live, but I’d rather die than be looked at with those eyes. And even if you let me live, I have no intention of stopping here.”
“Yeonmi noona.”
“Why would I listen to you calling me noona? It’s creepy.”
“Your personality is exactly like Haeun noona’s.”
“Don’t treat me like the eldest daughter. Yeowon is the eldest daughter in your family.”
“You’re both similar in that you married people with a big age difference.”
“I told you not to keep linking me to them. I’ve never even met them in my life. We just share the same blood. Why are you like this when we don’t even know each other? We’re practically strangers.”
“Is that so?”
Junseo chuckles, saying there are strange similarities. But his eyes are still empty, showing pity while also preparing for something. If left alone, she’s a woman who will cause trouble again. In the end, he couldn’t just leave her like this and go back.
“Then, I’ll ask you one last time.”
Finally, the final question begins.
“If I let you live like this, you’ll be dragged back to the village, you don’t want that, right?”
“Kill me.”
“If you tell me, I can do something about it, you know?”
“Kill me.”
“It’s not too late, go apologize to Haeun noona.”
“Kill me.”
“I know you hate our father, hate the village, and hate me, but I’m the same, you know?”
“Kill me.”
“If you stop here and give up your activities, I can protect you.”
“Kill me.”
“We can reconcile after I get out, right?”
“Kill me.”
But the answer is always the same.
Only the word “Kill me” is repeated.
“Come on, you bitch.”
“So what? Just kill me already.”
But isn’t this a normal reaction in a way?
Rather, the three sisters who submitted to their rapist and became his family are the strange ones. Joo Yeonmi thinks she’s normal and doesn’t budge on her opinion. Her will was like iron, and Junseo’s opinion was less than a lighter’s flame.
“When you smashed my head in court, you did it after ruining everything I prepared and deciding to kill me. But now you’re changing your mind after hearing your husband’s story? Aren’t you ashamed?”
“My life has always been full of shameful things.”
“What about what I did to Haeun?”
“If you think positively, it’s just a tattoo that was revealed to the world, and I didn’t physically hurt her, so it’s okay, right? Besides, my sister didn’t seem to hate it that much. At least, she wasn’t angry enough for me to go to jail.”
“What about your brother?”
“Yudong hyung is still alive, isn’t he?”
“You spineless bastard. Go die.”
“Did I say anything weird?”
“Do you even know what I did to your brother? I would never say that. Never.”
“Haha, what am I even saying…”
Since things have turned out like this and he doesn’t like it either, there’s no other way. Junseo takes out a pre-prepared drug from his pocket and says his last words. His expression seems playful, but also like he’s holding back stress.
“If you die, I’m going to jerk off to the video of you being trained.”
“That’s still around?”
“How good do you think the technology is these days?”
“You think that’s a threat? You’re still a kid.”
She reaches out and snatches the drug. Joo Yeonmi doesn’t know what kind of drug it is in the small zip bag. But she vaguely guesses that it’s not something prepared to save her in this situation.
“What is it?”
“Sleeping pills.”
“What are you going to do with that?”
“I’m going to prepare for euthanasia after I leave. The director of this hospital has someone he doesn’t like because they didn’t join his faction. He’s going to cut them off here by making it look like a medical error they committed, and he’ll kill you at the same time.”
“Hah, all the bastards related to the village are like that. What a mess.”
“I know. I hate it too.”
“I imagined being hit in the head with a knife or an axe.”
“What era is this? It’s not a gangster movie.”
They laugh at each other, but then their faces harden.
Especially Joo Yeonmi’s expression was severe.
“Should I write Joo Yeonmi on your tombstone? Or Ha Yeonmi?”
“Do whatever you want.”
She swallows the pills without hesitation. She belatedly drinks the lukewarm water that was placed separately and turns away, lying on her side. Her face turns red with surging anger, and blood flows from the area where Junseo broke her head, staining the pillow red. The speed at which the pure white fabric turned red was considerable, and it smelled unpleasant.
“I will never forgive you.”
Her last words.
Who does that refer to?
Her father, Junseo, or the village?
Judging by the situation, it would be directed at Lee Moonsan, who messed up her and her sisters…
There is no answer.
The amount of blood increased as if the stitches had come undone, and soon it became a terrible sight.
“I’m going.”
There is no answer.
She doesn’t come back.
That answer will not come back in the future.
