(Daechang Daily cut the ties with Babel. Han-seok confronts Haru and Min-jun)
"How come my days are still numbered?! I just cut all ties with Babel!", he asked Vincenzo, who was casually lighting up an incense stick.
"That won't be enough to save your life...", Vincenzo blew at the stick.
"What more do I need to do?".
"The owner of Babel.... The king of Babel...".
"Are you talking about Chairman Jang Han-seok?".
"He's the one, who's holding onto your misfortune...", said Vincenzo, "...If you expose his past evils and relieve the spirits that wander the realm of the living because of him, those spirits will help you".
"Are you saying he had killed someone?".
Vincenzo began to convulse and shot his eyes open. He looked at the CEO of Daechang Daily, with fear in his eyes, before falling to his knees.
Vincenzo looked up at the older man. "Han-seok, I'm sorry. Please don't hit me. It's all my fault", he said, pretending to be one of the deceased as he profusely apologized.
"I'm not Han-seok", he said, but Vincenzo continued to apologized, clutching onto the man by the leg.
"Don't strangle me. I can't breathe. Don't strangle me, please!".
"That's my watch. It's mine! I saved all my money for it", Vincenzo was pretty good at staying in character.
THE NEXT DAY
Haru braved herself to go to Babel Group's headquarters. She saw the news and smiled, finally shining the light on who Han-seok was.
When she arrived at Han-seo's office, his face turned pale and quickly pulled her inside. "What are you doing here? It's not safe", he whispered.
"I told you, didn't I? I was bringing lunch for you today", she said.
"Why did you tell the papers what he did?".
"I didn't. Vincenzo did".
"Thank God I managed to convince him that since they said I was crazy and did drugs...".
"...Miss Choi now points the finger to Min-jun since he works at the intelligence agency. Surely they'll get him fired", Han-seo continued.
A knock startled them both. Haru opened the door to come face to face with Han-seok.
"Ah, there's my lovely girlfriend. Shouldn't you be having lunch with me?".
"Why should I?".
Han-seok grabbed her by the neck and shot a glare when Han-seo wanted to intervene. "By the way, what did you tell the papers about me? That's not very nice".
"I didn't do it".
Han-seok pulled her closer, who seemed unfazed by him now. "Who else knew about those killings if it weren't for you and your idiot brother?", he sneered.
"Why are you afraid? Just do what your father had done, pay them off to shut their mouth", Haru spat back, earning a slap from Han-seok.
"Sir, please. Hit me if you want, but don't hurt her!", Han-seo stood between them, pulling Haru behind him.
Han-seok chuckled. "You never defended her, not even that day at the park or that night you sent her over to me. What makes you think I won't just shove you aside?".
"Chairman Jang", Choi Myung-hee was at the door.
Han-seok huffed. "Fine, I'll let you two off..., for now".
THAT NIGHT
Min-jun and Haru took a walk in their neighbourhood. Both were too lazy to cook and decided to hunt down some food.
"I sometimes forgot how peaceful it is", Min-jun sat down on a chair outside the convenient store.
"Do you want something to eat and drink?", Haru asked.
"Could you buy me a beer? I'm not too hungry", Min-jun passed her some notes.
Haru went in to get two bottles of beer and some snacks. When she went out, she nearly dropped the bottles to see Min-jun glaring daggers at Han-seok, who was sitting in Haru's seat.
"Hi darling!", Han-seok smiled and waved.
"Haru, go back inside", said Min-jun.
"Come on, bro. Don't be like that. We're about to be family soon. Don't you think we should spend time to get to know each other better?", Han-seok chuckled.
"Family, my ass", Min-jun scoffed.
Han-seok pulled a chair. "Haru~, come on. I promise I won't bite this time".
Min-jun pulled the empty chair closer to him and Haru sat down. Min-jun popped the beer opened and handed one to Han-seok.
"You're not drinking with us?", Han-seok asked before taking a swig.
"I've lost my appetite", said Haru.
Han-seok smirked as he saw the hickey he had left, peeking from Haru's turtleneck. Haru pulled her collar up, feeling flustered at the thought of that night.
"What do you want?", asked Min-jun.
"I can't stop by and greet an old friend?".
"We were never friends, Han-seok. Cut the crap and tell me what you want".
"Were you the one who ratted me out to Daechang?".
"I did".
"I'm surprised you've come up with the evidence. You know, Daechang isn't exactly the most reliable one out there".
"Yet, because of them, your stocks are plummeting", Min-jun chuckled.
"I've done nothing wrong to you ever", Han-seok glared at his adversary.
"You hit me with a truck. You hurt my sister. You murdered my friends!", Min-jun growled, but Haru held him back.
Han-seok scoffed. "Gosh, you two...", he chuckled, "...You think this will stop me? You think justice will prevail? Hey, Lee Min-jun! You've watched too much movies".
Min-jun leaned forward, matching Han-seok's energy. Haru saw them as if they were mirroring each other - one on the light side while the other was its darkness.
"I know men like you will end up dead. I don't mind dying, as long as I can drag you down to hell with me".
"Expect a termination tomorrow", Han-seok huffed and walked away.
YOU ARE READING
Secret Love
Fanfiction**THIS HAS TURNED INTO AN AU BY ACCIDENT** Jang Han-seo x OC: Retelling the series from the eyes of Jang Han-seo and Lee Haru, an intern at Jipuragi. Haru and Han-seo were friends from school that later reunited during the Babel lawsuit. Haru was sh...
