Chapter 147
Director Nam knocked on the bathroom door. He had called Eunseong for dinner, but when he didn’t come out and wasn’t in his room, Director Nam searched for a while before finally discovering the locked bathroom door.
“Eunseong, are you in there?”
There was no response despite repeated knocking. He put his ear to the bathroom door. There was only the steady dripping sound from the sink, with no sign of anyone inside.
“Eunseong, are you in there? I’ll open the door in one minute. Don’t create an awkward situation; please answer.”
Director Nam warned Eunseong. When there was still no answer or response despite his warning, he couldn’t even wait the full minute and hurriedly found a key to open the bathroom door.
Fearing that Eunseong might have collapsed in the bathroom or been kidnapped, or that something else had happened, he flung the door open, only to find Eunseong sitting on the bathroom floor staring at a phone—not at all what he had expected.
“I was worried! I thought something had happened to you!”
“…”
“Eunseong?”
“…”
Eunseong’s vacant pupils slowly moved toward the source of the sound. He looked at Director Nam blankly, still holding the phone with both hands.
Eunseong’s behavior was strange. Puzzled, Director Nam approached, bent one knee, and tried to take the phone from his hands. Eunseong startled violently, tightly gripping the cracked phone and hiding it behind his back.
“What are you doing? What were you looking at?”
“…”
“That phone… doesn’t look like the one I gave you. Is that right? Give it here. Where did you get it?”
“W-when is ahjussi coming back?”
Eunseong’s voice was pale and trembling.
“The CEO? I was informed he’d be late today. I thought he told you before he left. No, that’s not what’s important—hand me the phone. What were you looking at that shocked you so much? Hurry, give it to me.”
As Director Nam approached with a gesture to take the phone, Eunseong pushed him away and stood up. He escaped from the bathroom like he was fleeing and roughly pulled down a jacket hanging in the dressing room. Eunseong shoved his arm into the sleeve and ran out of the room.
“Eunseong! Where are you going? Eunseong! Hey!”
Director Nam hurriedly chased after him. Eunseong finally paused at the entrance hall while putting on his shoes. His jacket was a mess, not properly worn. Still maintaining his shocked and rigid expression, he turned to look at Director Nam who had followed him.
“What’s wrong with you? What’s happening?”
“…I need to go somewhere, I need to go now. Take me there. You take me, Director.”
Eunseong rambled incoherently. He looked like he wasn’t in his right mind, shocked by something.
“Where? It’s too late. You can’t go out at this hour.”
“Right now! This instant! I need to go now!”
Eunseong shouted. His throat cracked as his harsh cry echoed. Director Nam supported the staggering Eunseong who was screaming that he needed to go right now. Eunseong’s hands were ice-cold, showing how long he had been in that state in the bathroom.
“Why are you acting like this? Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“I need to go… now, I need to go and confirm something. Please take me, Director. Quickly, please. Please don’t tell ahjussi. Don’t tell anyone. Please…”
Eunseong clung to Director Nam. Regardless of the content, Director Nam’s brow furrowed involuntarily at the sight of Eunseong desperately clinging and pleading. He could understand why Siwoon was so obsessed with Eunseong. There was a poignancy in Eunseong’s appearance that extremely stimulated and scraped at people’s emotions. When that beautiful face earnestly appealed, it naturally evoked painful sympathy.
Director Nam calmly tried to soothe Eunseong, who seemed unable to gather his wits, as if in a state of panic.
“I need to know what’s going on before I can take you anywhere.”
“I can’t tell you… I shouldn’t tell you. Don’t tell ahjussi.”
“…Why are you like this? Why shouldn’t I tell the CEO? Reporting everything to the CEO is my job.”
“No. He’ll kill you too.”
“…What did you say?”
“You’ll die too, Director.”
“…”
What on earth is this kid talking about?
Director Nam was looking at Eunseong with disbelieving eyes. Even while staggering as if about to collapse, Eunseong was still clutching him and continuing to plead to be taken somewhere.
“What… did you find out? Let me explain first.”
“Hurry. We need to go now. While ahjussi is away, we need to go quickly. I need to confirm it myself!”
Eunseong didn’t seem to hear his words. He just grabbed Director Nam, insisting they leave. One shoe was properly on, the other crumpled with just his foot inside.
Eunseong pulled Director Nam forcefully and opened the door to leave.
They hadn’t taken more than a few steps when they encountered the group of crows standing steadfastly without shrinking despite the cold weather. All the gazes of the executive officials, even those at a distance, simultaneously turned toward Eunseong and Director Nam.
Director Nam instinctively knew they shouldn’t be caught doing anything or showing anything to these people. He supported the staggering Eunseong to help him walk straight.
One of the executive officials approached and asked:
“Where are you two going at this hour?”
“Eunseong likes tteokbokki. We’re going out to buy some since delivery isn’t available here.”
“For something like that, you could ask us. We’ll go buy it.”
“Like you’d know what to get.”
“What did you just say?”
The executive official’s eyes, though calm, sharply turned toward Director Nam with a fierce gaze, as if he had misheard.
“Like I’d trust you with what goes into his mouth.”
“What? You dare insult me with such irreverent words?”
The executive official furrowed his brows as if his pure and deep faith had been sullied with filth. With eyes that seemed about to bare teeth and make animal sounds, he showed fierce antipathy toward Director Nam.
Director Nam swallowed tensely but feigned composure.
“I manage everything that goes into Eunseong’s mouth. That’s how it’s been and how it will be. That’s why you people shouldn’t know what he eats or will eat.”
“…”
“You’re making the situation uncomfortable. Eunseong will catch a cold. Can you take responsibility if he does?”
Knowing what Eunseong meant to them, Director Nam actively utilized him.
The executive official who had been glaring at Director Nam hurriedly checked Eunseong’s expression and backed away as if apologetic.
Director Nam casually walked with Eunseong to the car. He helped Eunseong into the passenger seat first, then walked around the hood to get in the driver’s seat. He started the engine, deliberately ignoring the sharp attention of the executive officials who were watching him with disapproving eyes.
Only after driving away from Siwoon’s residence and merging onto the road did Director Nam finally release the breath he had been holding in tension. He glanced at Eunseong in the seat beside him. Eunseong was staring out the window with vacant eyes. They were the eyes of someone completely unaware of the intense confrontation that had just occurred between Director Nam and the executive officials.
“Where… where should I take you?”
It wasn’t clear if Eunseong heard Director Nam’s question, but his dazed voice murmured about a charnel house.
They drove through the dark night. Occasionally Director Nam asked why Eunseong was acting this way, but Eunseong wouldn’t answer hastily. He was determined to first confirm with his own eyes.
After about an hour’s drive, they arrived at the charnel house parking lot Eunseong had mentioned. Eunseong jumped out of the car before Director Nam even turned off the engine. Director Nam, who was about to check his phone to see if this incident had been reported to Siwoon, hurriedly followed Eunseong.
“Let’s go together, Eunseong! You shouldn’t go alone!”
Eunseong didn’t even hear his call and ran ahead. Director Nam followed with large strides, chasing after the frantically running Eunseong. When he arrived, breathless, at the spot where Eunseong had stopped, he turned his head curiously, following Eunseong’s gaze that was fixated on something.
[Seo Jeong-gi]
“…Seo Jeong-gi? Why…”
It was the name of Eunseong’s father. Director Nam’s eyes moved in confusion between Eunseong and the urn with Seo Jeong-gi’s name enshrined in the charnel house. Next to the urn were a half-wedding photo showing only Eunseong’s mother, a photo of Seo Jeong-gi, books commemorating the deceased, artificial flowers, and items like miniature bottles of soju that Seo Jeong-gi had enjoyed in life. Traces of someone’s hands indicated that Eunseong’s visits here weren’t just once or twice.
Director Nam had believed until now that Siwoon was keeping Seo Jeong-gi’s body in a freezer at the abandoned medical center. Director Nam had heard from Siwoon about how he eventually had to tell Eunseong the truth about his father’s death because he couldn’t keep lying when Eunseong asked him to find his father. He hadn’t known that the body had been moved, cremated, and enshrined in the charnel house.
It wasn’t necessary for him to know everything Siwoon did, and Siwoon didn’t have an obligation to tell him everything, but Director Nam felt somewhat uneasy. His discomfort grew even more upon learning about Siwoon meeting with some gangster without telling him—information he had obtained through Team Leader Lee Joon-seung.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
