Several middle-aged women, whom Jae-young had never encountered during his stay, also cleaned the house.
His gaze fell to the laptop placed on his knees. Repeatedly pressing the left arrow key, he examined the segment where Sa Gong-hyun had carried him.
If I’m a bother, why even suggest playing with emotions? Sure, I might have been clingy but… does that mean he’ll meet with just anyone who clings to him? His lips unconsciously jutted out in a pout.
Buzz-
At that moment, his personal phone, which was placed next to the sofa, vibrated. Jae-young picked up the phone and checked the message that appeared on the screen.
[Uploaded]
It was a message from Ju-yeon. What Ju-yeon had sent was a recording file of Sa Gong-hyun’s calls over the past few days.
Jae-young, who had minimized the video he was watching, clicked on the share site. When he played the audio file that appeared at the top, two men’s voices flowed out.
—Executive Director, Hayashi Ren is currently in Japan.
—Japan?
—He has never been dispatched to Korea, and there are no plans for him to do so. It seems someone has been impersonating Hayashi Ren.
—If it’s about reporting identity theft, it might be better to tip off the actual person rather than me. Whether it’s the real Hayashi Ren or the fake one, bring him to me immediately.
—We’re searching in every possible way, but since the face is covered in every photo, it might take some time. I investigated Chairman Choi’s underlings first, but it doesn’t seem to be someone acting under Chairman Choi’s orders. I’ll trace the description from that time and check nearby CCTV footage.
—Is that so?
Jae-young listened to the conversation intently while gently scratching the touchpad with his index finger.
—If it’s not Chairman Choi’s person, don’t make a big deal out of it, just find him and end it with a warning. Tell him if he wags his tongue recklessly again, next time he’ll be sucking on a gun barrel.
—Excuse me? …Yes, understood. What about the reporters?
—Let them dig all they want. They won’t find anything now that the cleanup is done. Lie low until the sun rises for the time being.
—Yes, understood.
He felt completely deflated. He had gone through the trouble of impersonating a reporter, but they had already “finished cleaning”… Roughly speaking, finishing the cleanup meant that they had already gotten rid of all potential evidence.
What did “lie low until the sun rises” mean? It probably wasn’t referring to the sun in the sky. Was it drug-related…
His head hurt. He bit his thumb vertically with his teeth. He sent a message to Ju-yeon to understand what “the sun has risen” meant.
The text from Ju-yeon was brief:
[Smuggling successful]
“…Infuriating bastard.”
Jae-young tilted his head back. There was absolutely no opening. Not only was there no opening, but he couldn’t understand any of his actions.
What was he thinking, and why did his thoughts change so easily, like flipping the palm of his hand?
Usually, after being intimately involved with someone for several days, one should be able to read the person’s moves a little, but Sa Gong-hyun didn’t have that. Half of what Seung-kwon had investigated was correct, and half was wrong.
Jae-young rubbed his face with his hands and resumed playing the file that had been paused.
—Executive Director, Chairman Jang is looking for you. It seems he’s quite worried about this LK matter.
“—Tell him I’ll come looking for him soon.
—Director-nim, is it okay to talk right now?
—Speak.
—Regarding the redevelopment project in â—‹â—‹-dong that I reported earlier…
—Director-nim, from Hajeong Enterprise…”
What’s with all these reports? With this much workload plus dealing with drug transactions, no wonder a person can’t sleep. Jae-young snickered as he listened to the calls Sa Gong-hyun had received during those few days he’d been at his house.
In three days, there were more than 10 calls with Manager Jo. Most were about work. There was no more mention of Hayashi Ren, nor any talk about reporters.
He compared the number of times Sa Gong-hyun had gone out to take calls with the number of voice files. Even from his hazy memory, the numbers didn’t match. It seemed that anything potentially suspicious was handled through that feature phone. He didn’t seem to have been this secretive even during Chairman Choi’s case.
“Could he possibly know something…?”
He muttered quietly. Jae-young clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth, then opened the additional photo Ju-yeon had attached. It was a photo of the man called Manager Jo.
He exhaled softly while looking at the man’s photo. It was him. The uptight underling he’d seen on the morning of his first visit to Sa Gong-hyun’s house.
As he tilted his head and scrutinized the man’s face, his personal phone vibrated at length. Jae-young kept his gaze fixed on the screen while feeling around the sofa to pick up his phone.
“Yes.”
His dry voice filled the silence, without even checking who was calling. Jae-young closed and opened his eyes indifferently.
—Has everything been okay?
It was a familiar voice. Cha Seung-kwon. At the question of whether everything was okay, he briefly considered telling him about the suspicious parts.
The silence lasted as long as his deliberation. Then Jae-young carefully broke the stillness.
“…Hyung, about our undercover work. We did finish it without any loose ends, right?”
—Yeah. Why?
“No, I was just wondering if Sa Gong-hyun might have caught on to our plan.”
—Why? Did something happen?
“…Not really. Just wondering.”
—That’s impossible. I was more careful than usual.
Jae-young lowered his chin slightly, choosing his words carefully. He rubbed his lower lip roughly with his hand.
—What’s going on?
When Seung-kwon asked again, he finally raised his head. Jae-young shook his head from side to side and let out an innocent laugh.
“There was something to report about what you asked—if anything happened.”
—What is it?
“I’m dating Sa Gong-hyun.”
—…
“Well, am I dating him? Anyway, we’re either going to date soon or we’re dating now, one of the two. He speaks so ambiguously that it’s confusing.”
It was something he could have figured out on his own. If the undercover work was definitely completed, it would be difficult to identify the intentions behind the conspiracy.
He could still observe a little longer. He couldn’t keep asking Seung-kwon for help forever. All Jae-young should be relaying to Seung-kwon was news of victory.
—Really?
“Yeah, it’s amazing. Do Jae-young isn’t dead yet. Now I’m even seducing men.”
—That’s something.
Seung-kwon seemed to laugh along with the humor-filled tone. His laughter sounded drained, as if work was wearing him down.
It was just recently that he’d been threatening to kill Sa Gong-hyun because his pride was hurt, but now Jae-young laughed innocently as if he’d forgotten all about it.
He was so proud of himself that he felt like thorns would grow in his mouth if he didn’t brag about it right away.
“Oh, remember how you said his type was cute and calm guys? I don’t think that’s true. He likes it more when I act bratty.”
—You’re really excited about this.
“Of course I am. The goal is right in front of me. But why do you sound so tired?”
—I haven’t had time to sleep because of work, you brat.
Jae-young nodded lazily as he heard that weary voice. It made sense. Seung-kwon wouldn’t just be keeping tabs on Sa Gong-hyun alone.
“Want me to help?”
—How could you possibly help?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
