Small and Fragile Things - Chapter 5

Even when the broken glass scraped her skin and that sack-like dress flipped halfway off, she stubbornly kept trying to crawl back under the bed.

Muk-hyun didn’t care. First, he pulled out the IV needle that was dangling from her arm. Then he used the clear tube to tie her wrists together tightly, lifted her up like she weighed nothing, and sat her down on the bed.

Beaten so easily, she sat there fuming, glaring up at Muk-hyun like she wanted revenge.

“Calm down. You’re bleeding,” he said.

When she couldn’t shake him off, she tried to bite the back of her own hand instead — but Muk-hyun was faster.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

His big hand clamped around her jaw, forcing her to look up at him. The room went quiet again. To anyone else, it was obvious she didn’t stand a chance — but she glared at Muk-hyun like her eyes alone could fight him off.

It should’ve been ridiculous, but Muk-hyun just stayed there, calmly holding her gaze. When her eyes finally overflowed with tears, his lips curved into a faint smile.

“Look at you. Big red bunny eyes.”

The cigarette still stuck between his lips bobbed up and down, like it was teasing her too.

“…”

“You were so quiet before. What happened?”

“…”

She didn’t know if she was shocked or if she’d just given up — but the fight in her slowly faded. When Muk-hyun let go of her face, her eyes darted straight to Jung Yoon. Then, to Jung-pal and Gi-seon standing beside him. Then back to Muk-hyun. A deep crease formed between her brows. It was like she couldn’t stand how unfair this was, but soon her eyes dropped to the floor.

Her lips, already torn from biting, finally started to bleed. Watching her chew on them like she wanted to hurt herself even more, Muk-hyun’s eyes went still.

Then — a sound, barely a voice, more like a ragged breath, slipped out.

“…It hurts.”

“Hm?” He tilted his head closer, pretending he couldn’t hear. The woman’s brow furrowed up like she was furious about something, then she mumbled again.

“Don’t… hurt me…”

Muk-hyun’s eyes narrowed as he stared at her bitten lips. His gaze slowly drifted from her twisted brow down to her clenched mouth, her hunched shoulders, then her bare legs. Her legs were so thin they looked like they’d snap. They were covered in deep bruises and scratches. Especially above her knees — where there was still a little flesh left — he could see what looked like handprints pressed into her skin. Her knees were squeezed tight together like they’d fly apart if she let them go, and when his eyes reached them, she frantically tried to pull her dress down with her tied hands.

So that’s what they did to her here too.

“Hmm…”

So that’s what this was. She’d misunderstood. He’d just meant to sit her on the bed to check the collar — but she’d thought he was telling her to lie down.

At that moment, she suddenly seemed to realize something — her head snapped up.

“If I do it… I can… leave?”

Her voice sounded like she hadn’t used it in ages — cracked and broken, and she couldn’t even get a full sentence out. She stumbled over every word, like her tongue wouldn’t move right, or she’d forgotten how to speak at all.

“A… all of it? E-everything… do I do… all of it?”

Muk-hyun’s face, which had been blank this whole time, finally twisted just a little.

“Do what? You’re not gonna do anything.”

At that, a strange mix of relief and disappointment flickered across the woman’s pale face. Muk-hyun let out a dry laugh and spat out the cigarette that was still in his mouth. The filter was nearly bitten clean through.

“Let me just take a look at this collar.”

“…”

“If you answer well, maybe I’ll take you with me when I leave.”

He looked at her oddly, seeing how her eyes suddenly filled with fragile hope at those words. He tapped the collar with his finger.

“You can talk quietly, right? That should be fine, yeah?”

She didn’t drop her guard completely but gave a small nod. Seeing her calm down a little, Muk-hyun let go of her and focused on the collar again.

“Are you here alone?”

Nod, nod.

“Say it.”

“…Yeah.”

“How long have you been here?”

“…A really… long time.”

The collar was so tight it looked like even a pinky finger wouldn’t fit under it. It was made of some tough material too — no way they could snap it by force, and there was no room to slip a knife in either. Just like Jung Yoon had said, they’d have to take her out with it still on.

Muk-hyun left the collar alone and gave an order over his shoulder.

“Clean it up out there.”

The other three had clearly been waiting for that and disappeared right away, leaving just the two of them behind. Muk-hyun noticed how her eyes kept darting to the open door, so he deliberately picked up the ankle shackle again.

The clinking sound made her eyes go wide with fear, and she trembled as they locked onto his hands. When he grabbed her ankle like he was about to put it back on, she grabbed his collar in a panic.

“…No. O-out… side—”

“What?”

“Go… I-I… I wanna… go outside.”

Her eyes, already glassy, filled with desperate pleading. It was so easy to read — all those raw emotions flickering across her face didn’t even look like they belonged to someone who’d been locked away for so long.

“You wanna go outside?”

“Mm-hm…”

Muk-hyun found that oddly interesting. Made him want to mess with her just a little more.

“Then ask nicely.”

“Mm…?”

“Say ‘please.’ Come on.”

“P-please… p… pleash…”

Her small white hand clutching his sleeve looked so tiny, like a little kid’s.

He suddenly felt a strange urge — he wanted to see just how much hotter that raw desperation in her clear eyes could get, how much more she’d cling to him if he let her.

“Please…”

Muk-hyun watched her serious face like it was the most fascinating thing in the world.

“Hey. Do you think I’m a good guy or a bad guy?”

If Jung Yoon had been here, he would’ve known Muk-hyun was just messing with her. But this girl, who knew nothing, looked like she’d been hit with a life-or-death question. She kept worrying her lower lip with her small front teeth, fingers twitching nervously in his sleeve.

The fact that she had to think so hard basically gave him the answer already — but she didn’t seem to get that.

“Your lip.”

He didn’t mind waiting. It was actually kind of fun watching her. But seeing her chew her lip raw was getting on his nerves.

“Use your head to think. Don’t tear up your mouth for nothing.”

At that, her round little tongue peeked out and swept over the lip she’d been abusing so hard. Her skin was so pale that every little spot of red stood out too much. While his gaze lingered on that damp lip, oblivious to it all, she licked it again — and for some reason, it made the air feel sweet.

“Good… guy.”

After all that intense thinking, that was the best answer she could come up with. Muk-hyun let out a quiet laugh and murmured,

“This isn’t some holy relic — more like a damn handful.”

He put the shackle down, then cupped her bewildered face in his hand.

“Listen closely.”

His voice was blunt, but his hand was oddly gentle.

“I can take you out of here. But that doesn’t mean I’m letting you go. And I’m not a good guy, either.”

“……”

“Even so, do you still want to come with me?”

Muk-hyun thought she might tear up, or look disappointed — but instead, she answered right away, like she didn’t even need to think about it.

“I want to go.”

***

Chairman Choi called Muk-hyun in on the third day after hearing the report that he’d brought some unknown woman out of the Mujin villa.

“There’s no footage of your face, right?”

Three years. A short time, if you think about it — but for a father’s first words to the son who’d done three years in prison for him? That was it.

No “Are you healthy?”, no “Good work”, not even a simple “Sorry.” Was it really so hard to say? No — not hard. He probably just didn’t feel there was any need to say it. Who thanks someone for using a tool the way it was meant to be used?

From the moment he’d taken in that thirteen-year-old boy standing alone at a funeral all those years ago, he must’ve planned to use him exactly like this.