30.
“This is more fun than I thought?”
Choi Minchul raised the corners of his mouth while fidgeting with the phone in his hand. Initially, he started this job following Ryu Jiho’s orders, but as he continued, he began to enjoy it more and more. He was the type of person who derived pleasure from tormenting others.
He felt not a hint of guilt about tormenting a poor young man with nothing.
“Pervert.”
The same could be said of Sion, who was involved in this matter. He was the one who called at 9 PM every night, using a voice modulator. The unpredictable Choi Minchul had passed this task to him because it was difficult for him to be punctual at 9 PM.
“If I’m a pervert, so are you. You’re enjoying it too, aren’t you?”
Sion silently shrugged his shoulders. Choi Minchul wasn’t wrong. When he called at 9 PM, a trembling voice always greeted him.
— Hello?
The moment he heard that voice, he knew the normally audacious young man was scared. Whenever he asked questions or gave orders, the frightened voice that came through made Sion feel so good.
‘See? You don’t have the qualities to be by that person’s side.’
Someone like Sion was more suitable for Choi Mujin. He was confident that in a similar situation, he wouldn’t be taken advantage of so helplessly like Haseo.
‘Family, what’s that supposed to mean?’
He didn’t understand why Haseo was so desperate.
“You’re something else.”
Choi Minchul clicked his tongue looking at Sion.
“Fine. Fine. But now I think it’s about time we can order him to do something?”
“What do you want to order?”
“Anything. Something that can shake Choi Mujin, anything would be good.”
“Hmm… how about drugs?”
“Drugs?”
“It’s a common method, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but would it be effective? It’s not like he’s committed a crime that would warrant searching the house. Just putting drugs there, would anything change?”
“I think it would.”
At Sion’s confident expression, Choi Minchul narrowed his eyes. Sion was currently on a leash held by Choi Minchul. So he wouldn’t be thinking carelessly. Rubbing his chin with his plump fingers, Choi Minchul nodded.
“Well, it’s not difficult to obtain anyway.”
And so Sion got his hands on the drugs.
* * *
As usual, Haseo came down from visiting his grandmother and met Sion in the parking lot. Should this be considered lucky? Usually, Park Dongsu would drive him, but today someone else was assigned because Park Dongsu had something to do.
The new person didn’t particularly interfere when told Haseo was meeting a friend.
“How long will it take?”
“5 minutes should be enough.”
“I’ll wait.”
Then he walked briskly toward the car.
“It’s a different person today?”
Saying that, Sion took out a small pouch from his bag and handed it over.
“Open it.”
Inside were a few cookies shaped like cute rabbits.
“I baked these myself for you. But don’t eat them yourself. You know where to use them, as you were told yesterday, right?”
Haseo nodded heavily.
“Come on, cheer up. Eating that won’t kill anyone, you know? Most people at that shop over there eat it, and they’re all still alive, right?”
“But it’s still illegal.”
When Haseo whispered this, Sion’s expression changed completely.
“Why are you so careless with your words? What if someone hears? That shouldn’t be your main concern.”
Then Sion glanced at the hospital.
“Quickly finish everything and live peacefully with your grandmother. Isn’t that right? Don’t think about throwing them away on your way. I’m watching you. Well then, see you next time?”
Sion waved his hand gently and walked away from Haseo. Haseo hesitated for a moment before putting the cookies in his coat pocket. The person who called at 9 PM every night told him to feed these to Choi Mujin.
— Then we’ll take care of the rest.
What could they be planning? These couldn’t be ordinary cookies. If so, all he could guess was that drugs were mixed in. The problem was that he couldn’t know what kind of drug it was. They said it wouldn’t be life-threatening, but Haseo couldn’t believe that.
“Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Even during the car ride home, Haseo was desperately turning thoughts over in his head. He searched about drugs on his phone. From drugs that make people addicted to those that lead to death. His fingertips trembled slightly as he tapped the screen.
“We’ve arrived.”
The man who dropped off Haseo left immediately. Haseo stood in front of the tall building for a while before entering. He had remaining tasks, but with all sorts of thoughts, he couldn’t focus. He placed the cookies he took from his pocket on the bed and paced around the room several times. Then he closed his eyes tightly and opened them again.
His grandmother flashed through his mind, but he just couldn’t continue like this. At the very least, he wanted to be certain that it wasn’t harmful to the body. Trembling, Haseo picked up a cookie and put it in his mouth.
Crunch.
The well-baked cookie crumbled in his mouth. After eating the entire cookie, Haseo waited for time to pass. It didn’t seem to have an immediate effect.
How much time had passed? Suddenly, the world started spinning before his eyes and everything began to shake.
“Ugh.”
Trying belatedly to vomit, he fell over on the spot.
Thud!
His head felt dull and his stomach churned. It was unpleasant, but somehow his mind felt at ease.
‘That’s strange.’
Haseo lay on the floor, blankly staring at the swaying ceiling. The world was strange.
‘I shouldn’t be like this.’
He still hadn’t done the laundry and needed to vacuum. Plus, he needed to move quickly to prepare dinner, but his body wouldn’t move. He could only laugh.
Choi Mujin finished his work and stood in front of the door. Usually, he would enter by pressing the door lock numbers, but today he tried ringing the bell. This was because he knew Haseo had already arrived and was staying at home.
Ding dong.
The simple bell sound rang out, but there was no sound from inside.
“He must be sleeping.”
“That can’t be.”
Choi Mujin denied Park Dongsu’s words. There was a period when Haseo couldn’t sleep properly for a while, and Choi Mujin had to force him to sleep. But after recovering, he didn’t even take naps and diligently worked, buzzing around. By nature, he was diligent and didn’t know how to rest.
“Let’s go in first.”
As he opened the door himself and entered, he saw the quiet living room. By now, Haseo should have been working here. Feeling puzzled, Choi Mujin headed to the utility room, but Haseo wasn’t there either.
‘Is he in his room?’
Did something happen at the hospital? Thinking this, he knocked lightly and opened the door.
“Lee Haseo?”
Haseo was curled up on the floor. When his name was called, he slowly raised his head, his eyes unfocused.
“Huh?”
He mumbled something, but Choi Mujin couldn’t understand. Choi Mujin approached Haseo and lightly tapped his cheek.
“Come to your senses.”
“Oh, oh. Choi Mujin-ssi.”
Haseo looked up at Choi Mujin with a bright smile. Then he raised his fingers as if trying to grab something, but frowned.
“But why can’t I catch it?”
“What?”
Something was wrong with him. Choi Mujin looked around Haseo and found cookies placed on the bed. He put them in his pocket and picked up Haseo. Haseo, finding something amusing, grinned and rubbed his face against Choi Mujin’s chest.
“Dongsu.”
“Yes!”
“Call the doctor and tell him we’re bringing in a patient.”
“What symptoms should I mention?”
“Drugs.”
“Drugs?”
Park Dongsu wore a puzzled expression but moved quickly. Following him, Choi Mujin carried the giggling Haseo. If he had really taken drugs, a general hospital wouldn’t do, so he chose a place that worked separately with Isaac Finance.
The collaborating hospital was in a small town on the outskirts of Seoul. Since its opening, the doctor had been unfriendly and the environment wasn’t good, so there weren’t many patients. After a few reviews were posted on the neighborhood café, even fewer people visited.
“Yet the hospital somehow hasn’t gone bankrupt?”
To a neighborhood person’s comment, another replied.
“Rumor has it he’s the building owner.”
“What, so the hospital is just a hobby?”
“No way. It’s probably just because he has a bad personality.”
“Tsk, even a guy like that becomes a doctor, but my son…”
Although rumors circulated about the hospital, the doctor wasn’t unfriendly to everyone. In front of truly important clients, he would display exceptional kindness.
“Welcome. It’s been a long time, Director Choi. Have you been well?”
The doctor, who had grown a messy beard, greeted Choi Mujin with a bow. He had studied with the capital from Isaac Finance and established the hospital with their support. Therefore, he worked for the people of Isaac Finance.
Working for gangsters. Some might laugh at such a thing, but it was different for the doctor. Without them, he might not even be alive now.
“It’s been a while.”
Choi Mujin greeted him briefly and immediately entrusted Haseo to the doctor. After examining Haseo, the doctor shook his head.
“He does show symptoms of drug use. Fortunately, the dosage doesn’t seem to be high, so he’ll recover quickly. One-time use won’t lead to addiction either. That’s a relief. I’ll have him hospitalized for a day. After that, he can recover at home.”
“I see.”
“Do you know what he ate?”
“There was this.”
Choi Mujin handed the cookies he had brought to the doctor.
“Hmm, cookies. I’ll examine them.”
“How long will it take?”
“It won’t take long. We don’t have many patients these days.”
The doctor said with a sly smile.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
