KISS THE SCUMBAG Chapter 10

“No, that’s not it. Darling, you must have known clearly. Just like back then. Just like when you went into my father’s room on your own two feet, you must have known whose room this was this time, too. You can’t be wrong. Your purpose is always clear.”

Yujin said nothing. No matter what he said, Winston wouldn’t believe him. He just wanted to let Winston blather on as he pleased and hope this moment would pass quickly. Winston, taking that silence in whatever way suited him best, muttered mockingly.

“Too bad. You can’t sneak into my father’s bedroom as you please anymore. Because my father is dead.”

His voice was filled with contempt. It was impossible to tell whether it was directed at his own father or at Yujin. Perhaps it was both. Winston tilted his head and asked in a voice full of curiosity, like a child.

“You aren’t thinking of following him to the grave, are you?”

“Of course not.”

As soon as Yujin denied it, Winston laughed aloud.

“I thought so. Because what you loved wasn’t my father, but my father’s money.”

The gun muzzle remained fixed on Yujin’s temple. Yujin felt like he was going to go crazy with terror. Barely suppressing his trembling breath, he made a sound.

“Winnie—no, Winston.”

Having accidentally used the nickname he used to call him, he hurriedly corrected himself. Seeing Winston had no reaction, Yujin continued as if squeezing the words out.

“Don’t do this. Let’s talk like adults, rationally. Put this gun away, it’s dangerous.”

It gradually turned into a plea, but Winston’s muzzle did not move from that spot. Yujin couldn’t help but feel like crying and clung to him with a desperate face.

“There’s no need to go this far. I was wrong. Today is truly a mistake. Even if you don’t believe me, it’s the truth. I just entered the room I was guided to, washed up, and fell asleep.”

He begged, hoping he would believe him. Even though he knew Winston would never believe him.

Looking down at Yujin’s distorted face, Winston slowly pulled up the corners of his mouth. And a low voice flowed from his lips, like a whisper.

“Naked?”

For a moment, Yujin was flustered but soon realized. The robe he had worn to sleep had gaped wide open while he slept, revealing his bare body exactly as it was.

“It’s a misunderstanding.”

Yujin barely managed to squeeze his vocal cords to get the words out.

“I told you, it was the room I was guided to. I truly didn’t know. Think about it, if I knew it was your room, why would I have done such a thing? I feel the same—I never wanted to see you again.”

“Well, you might not want to see my face, but you can spread your legs for anyone, can’t you?”

Winston sneered without hesitation. He muttered, keeping the gun muzzle fixed on Yujin’s temple.

“You’re a whore, after all.”

Even after hearing such insulting words, Yujin couldn’t refute them. More than anything, he was too terrified to even feel anger. Forcing saliva into his dry mouth, he opened it.

“It’s true I came for the money, but…”

The muzzle pressed into his temple. Startled, Yujin confessed in a rush of terror.

“I have a child.”

Unable to control his wavering voice, he finally began to cry and beg.

“My child is sleeping in another room. Please, I can’t die here.”

Yujin desperately hoped that some tiny shred of pity remained in his heart. A long time ago, Winston was a man full of mercy. He was someone who had even reached out to and fallen in love with the abandoned child the entire household shunned.

Yujin, who looked up at him with his last hope, hesitated. On Winston’s face, which had been mocking and insulting Yujin all this time, the expression had vanished for the first time.

“…A child?”

Winston muttered in a voice completely devoid of laughter. A suffocating silence followed.

Gulp. Yujin swallowed his dry saliva, his Adam’s apple bobbing, and nodded slowly. Winston watched that reaction without even blinking.

“A daughter. If something happens to me, that child becomes all alone… Please, put this gun away. I beg you.”

“You have a daughter?”

Winston repeated Yujin’s words once again. Yujin blinked in confusion. He couldn’t understand why this man was acting this way. His own heart was pounding and he felt like he was going to die of fear from the muzzle aimed at his temple, but Winston himself was nonchalantly repeating the same thing over and over.

“You gave birth to a child.”

He muttered again with a dazed, devastated face. Yujin pinned a shred of hope on that low voice, which sounded like he was telling himself. It’s okay, Winston will come to his senses soon. He will realize how dangerous and absurd what he’s doing right now is. Then he will take the gun away immediately. He might even give a bitter smile. He might hug me like he used to and say he’s sorry for scaring me…

It was just then that a corner of his heart felt suddenly desolate.

“Whose child is it?”

Suddenly, a cold voice pierced his ears. Yujin was startled back to reality. The gun muzzle was still in the same place. Winston’s cold face looking down at him and his eyes full of contempt remained exactly the same. Yujin, realizing he had been lost in an absurd delusion, was momentarily at a loss for what to do. At the sight of him unable to find a response, Winston spat out as if he had expected it.

“Of course, you wouldn’t be able to answer.”

A laugh escaped his twisted lips, like a short breath.

“What would a whore like you know about who the father of the child is?”

For a moment, it felt like something sharp had pierced his heart. Yujin just looked at Winston with a deathly pale face.

It’s you.

He opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. His desperate sincerity wandered, lost in his tightly blocked vocal cords.

It’s you, Winston.

To Yujin, who couldn’t speak due to the shock, Winston sneered and mocked him.

“Darling, I know better than anyone in the world what a promiscuous whore you are.”

He was more convinced than ever. Because of that, Yujin was left even more speechless. Yujin could also be certain of one thing. That no matter what he said, this man would not believe him. Hadn’t he seen it clearly back then? He still remembered vividly the face of this man filled with distrust and contempt for him. There was no reason for a man who had discarded him so cruelly to have changed now.

What kind of hope was I holding onto?

The moment he realized this, self-loathing and anger toward the man overcame his fear and terror. Yujin kicked his knee mercilessly into the crotch of the man who was leaning over him.

“…!”

Winston couldn’t even let out a scream and toppled over. Or perhaps a very small groan had been heard. What was certain was the fact that he had completely lost his ability to attack. Yujin quickly rolled his body to get away from the bed while Winston was curled up in pain. The cold sensation pressing against his temple was gone. Just that alone brought Yujin a sense of relief and liberation.

As if afraid he might be caught by Winston again, he urgently tightened his bathrobe and got off the bed. Yujin, who didn’t even have the luxury of putting on the shoes he had taken off and grabbed them instead, opened the door and was about to leave the room when Winston shouted.

“…Back then.”

Standing still for a moment, he was asked from behind Winston’s back.

“You said you were pregnant. …Is that the child?”

It was a question asked far too late. He should have said this before insulting Yujin. Yujin took a deep breath and turned his head. Winston was sitting on the bed, watching him. Perhaps Winston was thinking that child was Harold’s child. Just as the others in the Campbell family did.

Watching the strange expression on the man reflected in the moonlight, Yujin opened his mouth. This time, it was his turn to mock Winston.

“Not a chance. Did you forget what you said? It was a lie from the start.”

Angela was smaller than her peers, so it was a piece of cake to lie about her age. Even if he met Angela, he would never even be able to guess that she was his child. Above all, Winston didn’t believe in Yujin’s chastity at all.