That was the last scene Jae-young remembered. Before he could even be conscious of the heavy pain he felt on the back of his head, Jae-young’s body pitched forward.
***
The dark view suddenly cleared. The completely blocked airway suddenly burst open, and a stinging pain was felt from the back of the head.
“…Ugh.”
Jae-young, who swallowed a moan between his teeth, lowered his head as if curling it inward. His whole body was stiff. The air was too humid, and the floor his face was pressing against was also damp.
Even amid the confusion, he felt the presence of someone approaching. The footsteps were very calm. As if he hadn’t been alone in the surroundings before, some rough footsteps also continued together.
Only after his drooping body was seated with both arms held by someone could he fully come to his senses. The hands that twisted and gripped both of his arms hurt. Even though he tried to shake off the grip by raising one shoulder, the persisting force was dropped due to someone’s gesture.
Sa Gong-hyun. Jae-young forcibly gathered his breath. He fiercely glared at the figure approaching him.
Sa Gong-hyun had definitely been arrested. There was no time to figure out why he was already outside. Could it be that so much time had passed while he was unconscious?
Sa Gong-hyun, who sat down on his knees in front of Jae-young, had a nonchalant face. The corners of his mouth were smoothly raised, but it wasn’t such a kind smile.
As he looked at even that smile with a disrespectful gaze, Sa Gong-hyun gripped Jae-young’s lower jaw.
“Who looks at their lover with such eyes?”
“…Ungh.”
“You should look with the most loving and yearning eyes.”
His grip was quite strong. Trying to endure the force, his eyes naturally strained.
“I believe I told you to stay put.”
“…”
“I brought you in because you kept wandering around ignorantly.”
Instead of responding, he twisted his bound hands behind him here and there. It was firmly tied. Not just his wrists. His ankles were the same.
Before he could chew back curses between his teeth, Sa Gong-hyun burst into a hollow laugh. His hand climbed up to his temple and wiped the hardened bloodstain as if pushing it outward.
“That must have hurt.”
His brow naturally furrowed.
“…Get off.”
He ground his words while clenching his molars. At that sound, the gaze that had been directed at the bloodstain was fixed on Jae-young. In contrast to Jae-young, who was covered in all kinds of anger, he was hanging an emotionless gaze.
“Release him.”
Sa Gong-hyun instructed toward the back while gazing at Jae-young. Immediately, his tightly bound wrists were freed. Due to being tightly constrained, an unpleasant pain rose from his wrists.
As soon as his hands were free, Jae-young immediately grabbed Sa Gong-hyun by the collar.
“Hey, you trash bastard!”
The anger he had gathered all at once burst out simultaneously. His body popped forward as if beans were being roasted in a lightning fire. Because an organization member held Jae-young’s arm, there was no incident of his center of gravity being tilted forward.
“What are you? Why are you doing this to me?”
Sa Gong-hyun blankly looked down at the hand gripping his collar. A hand with protruding tendons overlaid and grabbed Jae-young’s left hand.
His pupils leisurely rose. His lips parted, and a chilling voice followed.
“Is that what you say to a lover who has put up with such petty ploys?”
It was absurd. His breathing swelled large on its own.
“Stop with that lover crap! Do you think everything becomes true just by saying it? The scheme… shit, the deception wasn’t done by me but by you.”
“…”
“It was you who commissioned the job, and while knowing everything from the beginning, you pretended not to know… You’re the same… You’re no different, so why are you acting like a victim!”
“You still haven’t realized.”
His lips, which had been closed in a straight line, continuously parted from that point on.
“You’re the one who rejected the opportunity I gave you and ran away. Since this operation began, you’ve continually made choices, and I’ve been patient with your decisions.”
It was chilling with each word he emphasized.
“I told you. Take the opportunity when it’s given. That it would be the last opportunity.”
“…”
“You’re the one who ignored my goodwill.”
Though he seemed to be trying to maintain his composure, the face before him had lost its previous insensitivity.
“I even offered to help you.”
It was indeed Sa Gong-hyun’s intention. It was what he had said knowing that Jae-young would discover the ID card. When he had told him that he could alleviate his worries.
While his bewildered gaze intermittently examined his countenance, force was applied to Jae-young’s hand, which was gripping his collar.
“…Let go of this.”
The grip was so strong that his hand lost its strength. Sa Gong-hyun easily removed Jae-young’s left hand. Even when he twisted his wrist to resist, it didn’t budge.
“Sa Gong-hyun!”
“Are we still the same?”
He was extremely indignant. The not infrequent moments when he had hesitated at the thought of deceiving him now felt unfair.
His molars clenched more tightly. Suddenly feeling a sting around his eyes, he turned his head at an angle.
It was complicated. He didn’t want to show his erratically jumping emotions. He couldn’t look for long into Sa Gong-hyun’s eyes, which were overflowing with immense agitation. His suddenly intensified breathing showed no sign of calming down.
Unexpectedly, his hand began to knead Jae-young’s wrist deeply. Just as he was about to pull his arm inward to shake off his hand, a cool metal wrapped around his wrist.
“Now…”
The sound he had barely uttered scattered feebly.
The metal that encircled Jae-young’s wrist was a bracelet. It was Sa Gong-hyun’s gift, his first and last, which Jae-young had left in the hotel room.
His vision captured the man before him, who had by now killed his emotions and carved an expressionless face.
“You don’t really think the bracelet was what left your trace, do you?”
His mouth moved silently. If not the bracelet, what on earth had remained as his trace?
“What’s the use of this now?”
He found it chillingly detestable. Apart from looking back with lingering attachment when he had left the bracelet behind, he now wanted to break off this disgusting bracelet that felt like shackles.
“Think of it as a kind of marker. When you pick up a dog, it’s only right to replace the collar that the previous owner put on.”
“Owner, my ass…”
A heaping of mockery permeated his face. Sa Gong-hyun, who rose from his seat just like that, put a cigarette in his mouth. The pupils inside his languidly lowered eyelids shone mercilessly.
A man with a shaved head approached and naturally lit it for him. He seemed to have inhaled with the cigarette just resting on his lips, as smoke seeped out from between them.
He extended his hand, palm facing upward. The man respectfully bowed his head and placed several photos on his hand.
“If you had listened when told, this could have ended easily.”
Sa Gong-hyun spoke while casually flipping through the photos. Seeing that, it seemed to sink in. This arrogant attitude was much more like him than his appearance when he was with Jae-young.
Sa Gong-hyun slightly nodded and threw three or four photos in front of Jae-young. Jae-young silently looked down at the face captured in the photos.
His jaw trembled slightly. Despite his efforts to regulate his breathing, it became rough again.
“Why create unnecessary trouble.”
There was one subject per photo. And embedded in those photos was a face Jae-young knew well. It was Seung-kwon.
“…”
Instead of words, only empty breaths burst forth in succession.
Click, the clear sound of a lighter rang above his head. Tss, soon after came the sound of fire rising. Tap, tap, photos with fire attached to their edges fell one by one in front of Jae-young.
Each was a photo taken on a different day. They had captured everything Seung-kwon had been doing behind the scenes, without missing a single day.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
