Chapter 153 - Surviving

"Can I get one?" Hei-Ran excitedly asked as she picked the pair she liked most.

"No!" Eun-sun declared as she stood up and snatched her shoe from Hei-Ran before packing up the rest, much to Hei-ran's surprise. "Go ask your boyfriend to buy yours" Eun-sun blurted out before realizing what she had just said. She blinked her eyes when she realized how ambiguous her statement was. She wishes in her Hei-Ran had not caught on to it.

"Boyfriend huh?" Hei-Ran asked. "Because I have a fake, self-imposed boyfriend, you're going to treat me badly now right?" She asked but Eun-sun ignored her and hurriedly packed up her shoes.

Hei-Ran's eyes widen when she finally realized what Eun-sun had said.

"Did you just admit he's your boyfriend?" She ask-yelled behind Eun-sun who was walking away with hurried steps. She stood up and hurried after her. "You've started dating him haven't you?" She questioned as she hurried after her but Eun-sun locked her out.

"Eun-sun you're not falling in love because of shoes right?" She yelled from the door.

"That girl is crazy" Eun-sun muttered to

herself.

"Your imagination is bewildering" Eun-sun replied to her from the room.

*************

At the entrance of the underground casino, a little commotion was taking place. A small-framed middle-aged woman was being prevented from entering the house by some burly and frightening-looking men.

"You can't go in," A big burly man, who looked like a bouncer said as he blocked the entrance with his body, While the others stood beside him waiting for him to give the orders to remove her from there. 

"Why?" She asked with annoyance.

"Because boss says so" He curtly replied.

"Carlos? He wouldn't do that" She declared in an angry tone, but the man looked down at her and ignored her.

"Come on, please let me in. Let me pay this time" Song-Hee pleaded with the burly men who were blocking her path from accessing the place.

"Boss said you're not allowed to play till you pay up," Another of the men said, his hand folded across his chest as he looked at her angrily.

"When did he say that? You're just lying. Today is my lucky day believe me I'm going to play as soon as I play, Carlos can have his money back after I win" She assured them. Her response made the men cackle.

"She's crazy" One of the men whispered to another but he was audible enough for Song-Hee to hear them.

"Leave, you're not allowed in here until you pay. House rules" The first guy said to her, while she frowned.

"But I can pay after I win, just let me in" She stubbornly said.

"Do you know how much you owe?" One of the men asked.

"A couple of thousand" She irritatedly replied

"Five hundred thousand," The big guy said, just in case she had forgotten. Song-Hee looked at them in surprise, she didn't know she owed that much, the last time she checked she only owed a few thousand. How did she owe so much?

[A/N: Is she asking me?]

"Call Carlos to tell him I have a deal he'd like" 

"Pfft...What deal can a junkie have with the boss? Just scram and go get our money else no entry" One of the men told her, as he eagerly waited for the second boss' order to drag her out.

"I'm serious," Song-Hee said gingerly. 

"Let's hear it," A voice said from behind the big guy blocking the door.

"Boss" They echoed and bowed when their leader made a sudden appearance.

"Carlos I have a deal for you" She hurriedly said the moment the man showed up.

"Let her in" Carlos ordered before he turned around and walked away while Song-Hee trailed behind him till they walked into a luxurious room that served as his office.

"What's the deal?" The man impatiently asked as he lolled on the sofa and poured himself a drink which made Song-Hee thirsty, as she gulped down her saliva. The man saw her reaction but he didn't care. She was a debtor who wasn't allowed to have his drink.

"Speak I don't have all day" The man drawled.

"You like my daughter don't you? Take her and have my debt cleared" Song-Hee announced.

The man looked at her with surprised eyes, before erupting out into laughter. Song-Hee let out a creepy smile when she saw the man laugh. She knew he'd like the offer, after all, he had always had his eyes on Eun-sun for a long time but the girl was too stubborn to be his kept woman.

"Aren't you too vicious?" The man asked her as he stopped laughing, his face suddenly turning dark like he hasn't been the one laughing.

Song-Hee shifted from foot to foot when she observed the change in his look. She knew Carlos was a dangerous man, and he could kill her right there and then if he was vexed with her.

"No...noo... I'm only surviving" She stuttered as she tried to explain.

"Hmm, surviving" He muttered against the cigar pressed against his lips which he was trying to light up. He took a long drag from the cigarette in his hand and looked back at Song-Hee.

"I heard your daughter is the one struggling to help you survive," He said slowly.

"No, that's not true. Just take her and write my debt off and let me play here" She pressed.

"Where's she?" Carlos asked.

"At her friend's place. I can help you get her. Just take her virtue and she'll be yours" Song-Hee shamelessly told him. The man looked at her with surprised eyes. He had a question he'd like to ask, so he did.

"Are you truly her mother?" He was sure no mother would want to do this to their child, talk more of an only child, most especially one like her who had been keeping the family. Everyone from the vicinity knew the tales of the Park family.

Song-Hee frowned when the man asked her that question.

"Yes," She curtly replied, making the man laugh out hysterically.

"You're not a good one mother then. But I like you"

He wouldn't lie that he wasn't enticed by her offer. He had always had his eyes on Eun-sun for so long, but the girl was too stubborn. She had always warned him off and on several occasions beat his men up whenever they approached her on his behalf.

Her tenacity had heightened his interest in her, but that girl was like a wild cat.

What victory it would be if he finally has a taste of her. He'd like to see the broken and destroyed look in her eyes when she wakes up to discover she has been taken by him. He cackled out at the thought. Thinking about her small body under him was already getting him aroused.

He looked at Song-Hee and smiled eerily and Said,

"You have a deal"