Dopamine Addiction - Chapter 88

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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88.
“Ah, Mom’s scent. Now I really feel like I’m home.”
“Are you hurt anywhere? Any injuries?”
“No.”
“Come on in then. Are you hungry? You should’ve called ahead—there’s barely anything in the house.”
“And yet you’re about to load the table until its legs break?”
“I’m telling you there’s nothing! What do you want to eat? Come on, tell me.”
Her mother, arms folded, kept stroking the back of Hee-ju’s hand.
“Hmm… ramen?”
“This girl. Comes home after so long and that’s what she asks for?”
Her mother shot her a look and turned to her father.
“Don’t just stand there—call the boys. Tell them Hee-ju’s back.”
“Hyun-jin and Hyun-woo?”
“Yes. You have no idea how worried they’ve been. When you wouldn’t answer, they were ready to fly to the States—I barely talked them out of it.”
“I can imagine Hyun-woo doing that, but Hyun-jin… I can’t picture it.”
“Your brother doesn’t show it in words, but he worries about you more than you know.”
Hee-ju conjured the image of her fastidious older brother with his wire-rimmed glasses. Worried about her? She tried hard to imagine it, but couldn’t quite manage—though she could easily picture him nagging her instead.
She really did try, but the image wouldn’t take hold. Though if she imagined him scolding her, that came instantly to mind.
“Mom, seriously—ramen is fine. Don’t go to any trouble.”
“I know, I know. Now sit down and wait.”
Hee-ju sank onto the sofa as her father spoke on the phone with her brother, stretching both her arms and legs out in front of her. She heard him say to her younger brother, “Your sister’s here. Get over here right now,” in a commanding tone.
Familiar warmth, familiar scents, familiar sounds.
It was an incomparably comfortable space. And yet there was an ache, an emptiness in one corner of her chest.
Would he be safe? Where would he be by now? Still in the States? Or already on a flight to Korea? When would he arrive?
What had happened in America—she couldn’t tell anyone. Chased by the CIA because of her biological father’s Weapon Design Blueprints, kidnapped by the Russian Mafia. No one would believe such an absurd story.
The only person she could talk to about it was Liam.
“Ah.”
It finally dawned on her. He had already claimed the closest place in her heart. Crossing the line, breaking down her final defenses, he had made himself indispensable to her.
That insane fool.
***
“Good morning.”
Hee-ju greeted the security guard stationed at the desk. Recognizing her, he asked how long it had been since they’d seen each other.
“I was on vacation.”
“Ah, I see. Looks like your cold cleared up. Go on up.”
“Thank you.”
She stepped into the nearly empty elevator before business hours, then pressed the button for the floor marked “Master Asset Management.”
As she entered the office, a haggard colleague who’d worked through the night gave her a wave.
“Hee-ju, been a while! Heard you took some time off.”
She offered him a small smile and made her way to Han Sang-jin’s desk. She set an envelope down carefully on his neatly organized surface.
It was a Resignation Letter.
She turned to leave without hesitation, but the office door swung open and Han Sang-jin walked in, coffee in hand. He froze when he saw her.
Han Sang-jin quickly composed his face into a warm smile and approached her.
“Hee-ju’s here. How was the vacation? Did your father have a good time? I was worried when I couldn’t reach you….”
As he set his coffee down, he spotted the envelope and his expression fell. His eyes grew distant as he stared at it, then slowly lifted his gaze to meet hers.
The smile had already vanished.
“Think about this again.”
“Since when was it?” Hee-ju asked flatly.
Han Sang-jin scratched his eyebrow with one finger. Hee-ju pressed on in an even voice.
“Since when have you been leaking my information to the CIA?”
She thought she’d feel angry, but instead found only calm. That surprised her, though she didn’t let it show.
Han Sang-jin stared directly at her.
“I never applied to the National Intelligence Service, so was the job transfer your doing too? Is there anyone else involved in this besides you? Someone higher up?”
“No. No one.”
Han Sang-jin answered immediately. But Hee-ju didn’t believe him. This wasn’t the kind of decision a team leader could make alone.
“So it was planned from the start. You watched from the sidelines? Waited to see if my biological father would contact me? Or was I just insurance?”
Hee-ju’s voice rose slightly. She sensed a colleague from another team turning to look their way.
“Lower your voice.”
“There’s no need. I have nothing left to discuss with you anyway.”
“Hee-ju.”
Han Sang-jin called to her, but she didn’t look back, walking straight out of the office.
Manager Kim, just arriving for his shift, spotted her and called out, “Hee-ju?”
But she continued forward with a cold, blank expression.
“Manager, what’s wrong with Hee-ju?” she heard him ask behind her.
The elevator doors closed.
Hee-ju exhaled the breath she’d been holding and squeezed her eyes shut, then opened them. There was still one more thing she had to do.
She walked out of the building and flagged down a passing taxi.
***
The Five-Star Hotel in the heart of Seoul boasted a magnificent façade. She’d passed in front of it many times, never once imagining she’d ever step through its doors. Yet today, she did. The lobby bustled with guests—all of them apparently wealthy except for her.
The spaciousness was breathtaking, the interior refined. It was far more dazzling than it appeared from outside.
The hotel staff stood armed with courteous smiles, and uniformed attendants collected guests’ luggage.
Hee-ju stood motionless, her gaze drawn to the Christmas tree—understated, without ostentation or excess, perfectly poised in its elegance.
“Christmas is the day after tomorrow.”
Looking around, she noticed the guests seated in the lobby had flushed cheeks, the glow of holiday joy. They’d come to enjoy their vacation.
“He said we’d spend Christmas together, but now he doesn’t even call. By now, he should’ve already landed in Korea.”
The whole world was intoxicated with the Christmas spirit. Everyone but her.
“Liar.”
The resentment of someone without a place to go fell like dust at her feet.
Hee-ju stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the highest floor. The elevator shot straight upward.
The doors slid open with a soft hiss. Only one door stood at the end of the corridor. She walked across the deep beige carpet toward it.
Ding-dong.
She pressed the bell. The secretary, whom she recognized, opened the door and greeted her with a silent nod, then stepped aside to let her in.
Benjamin was seated in the living room. Just as he had been at the hotel in San Francisco, he was reading a newspaper.
“Hello.”
Benjamin set the newspaper down and nodded at her greeting.
“Please, sit.”
“Yes.”
“Tea?”
“No, thank you.”
Once seated, Hee-ju spoke first.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude for the kindness Clough showed me. Without him, I wouldn’t have made it safely back to Korea.”
“Then you ought to repay the favor. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Benjamin leaned forward, as if ready to broach the main subject.
“So, have you given thought to my proposal?”
Hee-ju swallowed hard. Almost unconsciously, she slipped her hand into her pocket. The USB Drive inside felt heavy.
Benjamin’s eyes flicked to her hand, then away.
“If you think of Liam—if you consider the sacrifice he’s made for you—then you ought to hand over what your father left behind. That would be the right way to honor him, wouldn’t it?”
The right way to honor Liam.
That question had tormented her for days now. If she gave this to Benjamin, what would happen? Would her father’s blueprints claim countless lives?
But Liam would be happy. Benjamin’s acknowledgment, a noble title, prestige—these things would fill the hollow in Liam’s chest.
What should I do? Is it right to hand over the Weapon Design Blueprints for one person’s happiness? Why did Father leave this burden with me in the first place? Something so heavy.
Questions spiraled one after another. Yet the answer was already decided.
“….”
If she were to weigh countless lives against one man’s happiness on a scale, the balance would tip decisively in one direction.
Toward Liam.
Crossing the line meant this. He had already become hers, and she could not abandon him.
Her fingers worked the USB Drive in her pocket.
“You must keep your word. You have to.”
For a moment, greed gleamed in Benjamin’s eyes. His gaze fixed not on Hee-ju herself, but on her hand.
“Publicly acknowledge Liam as a member of the family, just as you said. Tell the world he has an older brother and a younger brother. Grant him a title and lands. Promise to pass down your business to him.”
“Of course.”
Benjamin nodded readily. Hee-ju bit down hard on her lower lip.
This will suffice.
The guilt and remorse that would follow her the rest of her life—that would be her burden. And she was willing to bear it. If it meant Liam could be happy.
He had sacrificed for her; now she would sacrifice for him in equal measure.
“Here.”
Hee-ju withdrew the USB Drive from her pocket and set it gently on the table. A flicker of something raw flashed across Benjamin’s eyes.
Finally.
His lips seemed to form the word. As Hee-ju was about to push the drive toward him, a familiar voice cut through the silence.
“What fresh bullshit is this?”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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