Cursed Bunny(9)

“Actually, that’s exactly what I need, a man to be the father—”

“Your future is at stake so think about it. Ten million won until this weekend. Got it?”

He hung up.

She suffered through many more pointless calls. Then one day, she finally received a somewhat promising one.

“Hello?”

“Hello, I’m calling in answer of an ad. Are you Kim Younglan?” The man’s voice was young and polite.

“This is she.”

“You said you were looking for a father for the child, right? Do you have any specific requirements? Age, or that kind of thing …”

She hadn’t thought that far ahead. She answered vaguely, “Well, I don’t know about any requirements, I guess as long as it’s someone who can be a good father—”

“Oh, really?” The man seemed to think for a while. “Then how does one apply to be the child’s father?”

She grinned, thinking he was an interesting person. “You don’t need to put in an application. Could you tell me about yourself?”

“Oh, how rude of me.” He went on to say he was thirty-three years old, a graduate of a top school, and currently working at a conglomerate. Having never worked in a corporate setting, she wasn’t sure what his job title really meant, but she had a feeling that he was in a very high position for someone so young. Really, a flawless candidate. Even if he were lying, and it was true she was a little suspicious, she found herself liking the overall impression he gave off as a person. More than anything else, she liked that he had asked her what she was looking for in a father. After a long conversation, they made a date to meet at the MM Hotel coffee shop on the weekend and hung up.

On the day of the date, she chose the most business-like maternity dress she had, carefully applied her makeup, and went to the café with her heart pounding and her arms hugging her belly.

At the entrance, as she stood for a moment looking around, wondering who might be her date, a young man approached her.

“Are you Kim Younglan?”

“I am.”

The man whose voice she recognized from the phone was exceptionally handsome. She followed him to a table. There was an old man sitting there, and two men wearing sunglasses standing at attention behind him.

The young man introduced the old one. “This is my father-in-law.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’ll leave you two alone, then.”

“Uh, could you wait a minute …”

The young man left the café.

The old man spoke. “Sit down.”

One of the sunglassed men behind him pulled out a chair. Not knowing what else to do, she sat down.

“I’ll get straight to the point. I’m Suh Woochang, head of the Woochang Group.” This startled her. “The man that just left, he’s my son-in-law. I’m the last in eight generations of only sons. I had no children until I was fifty, and only had one daughter. We poured all our care into her, but she ended up with that useless piece of garbage you just saw. I was going to overlook it and pass on the company if they had a son, but it’s already been six years with no child. I ended up with a dickless piece of shit for a son-in-law and for that, I’m about to lose everything I worked my whole life for.”

He was getting worked up by his own story. She was finding the situation more and more confusing.

“So anyways, young lady.” He suddenly shifted closer to her and grabbed her hand. “That child in your belly, give it to me. The field is already tilled and all you need is the seed, right? I’ll give you my seed. Or why not come into my house as a concubine? You just have to continue our line, give me a nice, fat son, and I’ll make sure you and the child will live a happy life.”

“Uh, excuse me, grandfather, but—”

“My idiot son-in-law tells me you said age wasn’t an issue. I’m eighty-two, but as hot-blooded as any young man. I’ll put your name down on the family registry and everything, what do you say?”

“Grandfather, that’s not—” As she desperately sought a way out of this mess, trying to extract her hand from his, her phone rang. Relieved, she finally managed to snatch her hand back and answer the phone.

“Hello?”

But there was no answer and the line went dead. The old man grabbed her hand again.

“What do you say, young lady? Give me a son and you’ll live the rest of your life in luxury as a chaebol wife. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

“Kim Younglan?”

She looked up. A cruel-faced middle-aged man stood before her.

“You know who I am, right? Did you bring the ten million won?”

“Who the hell are you?” the old man asked, frowning at this interloper.

“Me?” The other man took out a cigarette from his shirt pocket, lit it, and blew a plume of smoke into the old man’s face. The sunglassed men behind the old man took a step forward, but the old man held up a hand to halt them. The men took a step back.

The middle-aged man puffed leisurely on his cigarette. “I’m this woman’s lover. The baby in her belly is mine.”

“What?”

“Are you her father? Or some old pervert trying to buy her for sex? Jesus, did I hit the jackpot this time.” He smiled at the old man, brought his face down within an inch of the old man’s, and said in a low, threatening voice, “I don’t know if she’s your precious daughter or your trophy wife, but if you don’t want everyone to think she’s having my baby, you better hand over fifty million won, fast.”