Burning The House Of Cards: taking revenge on my billionaire family
Chapter 36 - 35. Invisible Line

Chapter 36: Chapter 35. Invisible Line

Hajin watched his master fondly. Due to her upbringing, Sarah always ate neatly, politely, properly--no matter what kind of food it was. Those habits, however, vanished when she was annoyed.

Those puffed cheeks filled with food were truly adorable. It was worth the stinky gaze and the cute hissing.

Ah...Hajin understood then why boys liked to tease girls they liked. He chuckled and stirred his sweet morning latte while asking lightly. "Are you cranky because we haven’t found anything?"

"No," Sarah sighed despite her answer. "Well, I don’t expect us to find it in a day, anyway. That book is thick and they are so bad at organizing."

"True," Hajin clicked his tongue while glancing at the locked drawer where they put the ledger and the hard disk in. "It’s horrifying how they can survive for five years. At least we can find all kinds of dirt on unexpected people, though."

Just like any crooks, while saying they would pretend to know nothing in front of the client, they wrote in detail what dirty deeds were ordered from them. It was a way of survival, knowing they could use those receipts if their position was compromised.

And now, that information fell into their hands. They hadn’t finished checking, but they already had dirt on several politicians, celebrities, and businessmen. But since the group itself was only a mid-tier gangster, the names weren’t anything big, much less tycoons.

"I’m not sure it’ll be useful for us," Sarah twisted her lips.

"Maybe not now, but..."

"We never know," Sarah nodded and smiled. Information was still information, and...who knows? Perhaps one of those turned out to be the breadcrumb she was looking for. "Well, we have time. And the more we spent in this room, the better for the act."

The corner of the grey eyes twitched. "Act..."

"What?" Sarah flicked her gaze toward the bodyguard, frowning slightly.

"Nothing," Hajin flashed his usual charming smile and drowned his disappointment with a dose of sugar rush. Leaning back, he changed the topic swiftly. "How should I act tonight, Master?"

"Right--it will be your debut..."

To be precise, it would be their debut; the first time they showed themselves as a unit in front of the family. Sarah was sure everyone would already know about her auditioning bodyguard, and some would already have Hajin’s information. Oh, she wondered if the news about her coming to the security dorm and giving Hajin an expensive choker had already spread...

There was a narrative she wanted to push, and thus, the family dinner would be their first proper theater stage.

"Let’s see..." Sarah patted her lips with the back of the teaspoon, eyes contemplating while observing Hajin’s appearance. "We need to give you a uniform first."

Hajin tilted his head. "I have a uniform."

"The family’s uniform," Sarah smirked, gaze lingering on the black band at the base of Hajin’s neck. "Not mine."

Hajin raised his brow, and a pleased smile slowly adorned his handsome face.

* * *

As the sky started to dim, Hajin drove the car into the driveway and parked it in front of the mansion. Glancing at the rearview mirror, he smiled at his new vest--instead of a suit--over a dark dress shirt. His choker was circling the collar instead of a tie, the black gem and the platinum ’J’ gleamed in the dim light.

Of course, the clothes came from a brand name, fully showing how much the young lady favored him.

Beside him, the young lady in question also checked her attire one last time.

Sol, their reliable giving tree, easily procured branded clothes used by celebrities. Well, it was easy for them who requested it. But since Sol only grumbled for two minutes, it shouldn’t be too bad.

Rather than going with a shocking visual like the first time, Sarah changed into semi-formal clothes with jeans and a blazer combo. She took off all of her piercings and only left two emerald studs. After spending a few hours with a stylist to take care of her hair, she finally looked more like a chaebol daughter than a star-syndrome idol.

Of course, it would be fun to stroll inside the dining table fashionably late and look as if she had just returned from a concert. However, the shocking effect through appearance only worked once; if she did it constantly, it wouldn’t be shocking anymore. If anything, they would dismiss it as an effort to seek attention.

After all, the aim was for her to be seen as trash, not an idiot. It would damage her pride too much if she was seen as lesser than her idiotic second and third brothers.

This time, it better shock them through action after confusing them.

Trailing her fingers along the chain of her necklace, Sarah contemplated whether to wear her broken jade necklace or not for the last time, but in the end, decided to keep it.

She would need an emotional anchor in case things go south later.

"Are you ready, Master?" Hajin asked one last time.

Sarah took a deep breath and nodded, only to change her mind the next second. "Wait--"

Before Hajin could open the car door so he could escort his master, Sarah grabbed the man’s collar and hoisted herself over the seat. Yanking the navy collar sideways, enough to reveal Hajin’s sturdy neck, she leaned down and touched the warm skin with her lips.

Hajin widened his eyes, and before he could get a hold of himself, the soft lips had started to suck, strongly, and Hajin had to grip the car seat to anchor himself. His eyes fluttered the way his heart beating fast, and it took his all to keep his voice down.

The flurry of confusion made him feel like a boy experiencing his first time being touched by a woman who wasn’t his mother. Funny, since Hajin was the furthest thing from lacking experience. But his brain was truly almost short-circuiting at this unexpected attack, and it only worked again when Sarah finally lifted her lips from his pulsing neck.

Looking at the darkened spot on Hajin’s neck, visible on the edge of the collar, Sarah nodded in satisfaction while licking her lips. "Alright, I think that’s visible enough--ugh!" she groaned when a strong pull on her waist landed her on Hajin’s lap. She glared at the slightly shaking grey eyes. "What are you doing?"

Despite his rumbling mental state, Hajin knew why Sarah did it. It annoyed him, which was why he also didn’t want to lose the opportunity, eyeing the pale neck behind red rivulets. "Shouldn’t I do the same to you?"

"Of course not!" Sarah frowned. "I’m the one who should look infatuated. They should think you only follow my selfish whim and don’t actually like it--that way, they’ll think they have a chance to get me through you."

"Hmm..."

Hajin knew. Of course, he knew; Sarah had been stressing that part over and over again since yesterday. And it was annoying.

He looked at that pretty face, devoid of blush and flusters. It seemed like, as long as it was about her revenge, Sarah was incapable of infusing her emotions. Her walls would be erected high, as sturdy as a castle in a warring border. Even with his hand on her waist and the proximity where their lips could easily collide, the black eyes were clear and the fair cheeks devoid of trembles. Unlike his heart.

How annoying.

"Anyway, let me go now," Sarah flicked the bodyguard’s shoulder. "Remember, you can’t look like you’re the one who desires me."

"That’s a tough one..." Hajin pursed his lips, clearly had no intention of letting his master go as ordered.

Sulkily, he leaned his head on her shoulder, grumbling about how unfair it was even though he knew from the start that Sarah had determined to not give her heart away. Still, Hajin thought he could sway and melt her heart eventually, without calculating how much it burned the patience he had stretched out for five years.

"Hey, let go!" Sarah smacked his shoulder, and Hajin whined in a low voice.

Oh, if only she knew how fast he usually moved with other people. Five years? It didn’t even take five hours usually. And it took no more than five days for him to forget about them.

As expected, his mother was right; humans were meant to be enslaved.

"Hey, J!"

The protesting voice had Hajin curled his lips against the shoulder pad of the black blazer, and he received a smack on the side of his head in return.

"Ryu Hajin," Sarah clicked her tongue. "Don’t cross the line."

Hajin smiled subtly at the sound of his name and finally released his master, even raising his palms in defeat when the black eyes glared at him. Sarah puffed her cheeks, fuming as she returned to her seat with a grumble under her breath. On the contrary, Hajin couldn’t erase the smile on his lips, even when he exited the car to open the door on Sarah’s side.

’Don’t cross the line’ she said, which meant what he did earlier--being flirty and clingy--was yet crossing the line.

He started to wonder what exactly constituted crossing the line, and how far could he challenge it.

Hajin glanced at the guards near the door of the mansion who were eyeing him and immediately fixed his facial expression. Oops--couldn’t damage the ’act’ that his master wanted to enact. Putting on an expressionless mask, Hajin opened the car’s door while bowing politely.

Sarah, who had been spending the last ten seconds alone in the car to fix her wildly beating heart because of a certain naughty puppy, took a deep breath before accepting the gloved hand of her bodyguard and alighted from the car.

But as always, the moment she looked at that hateful mansion and imagined the people staying inside, any flusters and heat were doused by a cold winter.

"Alright," her eyes, hiding a flickering cold fury, were dulled in an instant. "Here we go."