Prey - Chapter 4
At the lawyer’s puzzled comment, Seol Suhyeon stopped walking and turned her gaze.
Outside the main entrance, a large crowd of reporters had gathered. Do Jeonghan and his lawyer were making their way through the throng.
Journalists surrounded them, shoving smartphones in his direction.
“Is it true you’ll be paying a huge alimony?”
“Why did this verdict come out?”
“Director Do Jeonghan, did you anticipate this outcome?”
Despite the bodyguards trying to block them, the barrage of questions couldn’t be stopped.
Flashes went off in a frenzy, and smartphones with recording devices and broadcast microphones were shoved toward him from all directions.
Watching the scene, Seol Suhyeon’s lawyer muttered in confusion,
“Is he desperate to get caught by the press? He’s walking right into them.”
“…”
Seol Suhyeon stood still for a moment, looking out at the scene unfolding outside.
Even among the crowd, Do Jeonghan’s tall figure stood out unmistakably.
Despite the press swarming around him, blocked by the bodyguards, he remained unshaken, maintaining his poised demeanor.
So like him.
Though she hadn’t expected him to look defeated, seeing him climb into the waiting car with such ease and composure left her feeling conflicted.
At that moment, Do Jeonghan turned around.
“!”
Seol Suhyeon’s breath caught in her throat.
It felt as though his gaze pierced through the mass of reporters and landed directly on her.
‘Is he looking at me?’
…No way.
From that distance, there’s no way he could see her.
She quickly steadied her wavering emotions and shifted her eyes away.
“Thank you for today.”
“You worked hard as well, Ms. Suhyeon. Get some good rest tonight.”
After exchanging farewells, the lawyer turned first. Seol Suhyeon followed suit.
As she got into the car she had parked earlier and reached for the ignition, her movement suddenly paused.
‘What was that? That smile right after the verdict…’
A vague sense of unease clouded Seol Suhyeon’s face.
In the five years of her marriage, she had never once seen Do Jeonghan smile like that.
‘And he’s smiling now, right after losing the trial?’
The inexplicable anxiety gnawed at her heart.
After enduring so much, she had finally been handed the flag of victory, yet in that exact moment, when Do Jeonghan should have been in despair, he had smiled.
As if to show off.
As if to suggest that her victory was nothing more than an illusion.
No, not an end at all, but as if the real beginning of everything was the very moment the world confirmed her victory.
‘…That can’t be.’
Seol Suhyeon shook her head quickly, as though trying to drive away the unsettling thoughts rising in her mind.
She started the car and, as if being chased by something, hurriedly drove away from the courthouse.
At that same moment, Do Jeonghan stood calmly, enduring the barrage of camera flashes.
“Director Do Jeonghan! Just one word, please…”
A reporter holding a smartphone with the recording app on found his gaze meeting Do Jeonghan’s.
“!”
The icy stare stopped the reporter in his tracks, his confidence faltering under Do Jeonghan’s overpowering presence.
The tension from the intimidated reporter quickly spread to the surrounding journalists.
In the sudden quiet, Do Jeonghan spoke in a low voice,
“I trust no unauthorized photos will be published.”
He didn’t say her name, but the reporters knew he was referring to Seol Suhyeon.
“Th-then the article…”
Someone stammered but immediately fell silent. The moment Do Jeonghan’s cold gaze landed on them, it felt as if their entire body froze.
He wasn’t glaring, yet his mere look was enough to make people tense. While they stood there, involuntarily shrinking back, Do Jeonghan calmly stepped through the door that Chief Secretary Ju opened for him.
As the bodyguards closed the car door, Ju turned to the reporters and said,
“Please wait for the official statement from the secretary’s office. It will be provided shortly.”
It was a clear warning to follow Cheonkyung’s article guidelines. They weren’t to write just anything they pleased.
After leaving that message, Ju circled the car’s bonnet and climbed into the driver’s seat.
The car soon pulled away.
“Why are we still not allowed to use Seol Suhyeon’s photos?”
It wasn’t until the heavy luxury sedan had disappeared into the distance that a frustrated voice rose from the back.
