Played… Sa Gong-hyun carefully mulled over Kim Jung-han’s words. Suddenly, a sound like air being let out of a balloon was heard.
Kim Jung-han felt most chilled when facing his superior laughing as if he had lost his mind like this. Although he didn’t show it, when he laughed like that, there would soon be something he would have to carefully clean up.
Sa Gong-hyun abruptly stopped his hollow laughter. He carelessly swept back his disheveled hair and slowly rose from his seat.
“Who’s the bastard who pulled this stunt?”
“We’re still looking for him.”
Yes, that’s when it started.
“Report to me as soon as you find him.”
“Yes.”
After finding and eliminating the family that he had begged not to be touched—the family he had already evacuated overseas before begging—and handling the desperate puppet president, his anger still wouldn’t subside. When he inquired about the swindler out of anger and to inflict some punishment…
He heard Cha Seung-kwon’s name once again. And also about the man who had been with him.
***
Sa Gong-hyun’s eyes silently scanned Cha Seung-kwon’s personal information. Then his focus shifted to examine the personal details of the unidentifiable man.
Even in the victims’ testimonies, the man’s existence remained a mystery. His appearance was vaguely taking shape, but the reason it was called a mystery was one thing.
It wasn’t certain. Everyone was describing the same man, but they all spoke incoherently as if they were describing different people.
Sometimes he had a gentle impression like someone who had lived his entire life as a gentleman, sometimes he had a flashy impression like a rich family’s playboy son, sometimes he had the impression of a sharp-tongued person who could penetrate psychology well, and sometimes he had the impression of a sickly person who seemed like he might collapse at any moment despite having abundant knowledge.
Until they matched up the approximate appearance, it really seemed like they were claiming different people were that man. The man always entered operations with different names, ages, hair colors, and even skin tones.
It wasn’t strange. There are certainly people whose atmosphere changes just by changing their hairstyle.
The man in the composite sketch had quite sharp eye corners. He was about 175cm tall with a skinny build. When he smiled, he was just like a puppy. He had abundant hair, a youthful voice, a slender jaw, and thin lips.
That was all he had been told. Names and ages that might have been false were excluded.
Before long, the man who had been so difficult to calculate was discovered through Cha Seung-kwon’s acquaintance.
“Name: Do Jae-young, age: twenty-six, dropped out of high school and continued working with Cha Seung-kwon, and it seems the catalyst was when Cha Seung-kwon worked on Do Jae-young’s relative with a startup investment scam.”
“And?”
“And… he has a very picky personality and is a renowned drinker in his circle.”
Sa Gong-hyun touched the edge of the photo he was holding while listening to Kim Jung-han’s words. The man standing irritably as if he had swallowed all the world’s complaints matched their common testimony.
“Start the groundwork.”
“Yes, Executive Director.”
“Ah, since he’s a drinker, get some alcohol that would make him rush in with his eyes rolling back. Wine, whiskey, vodka, champagne, don’t be picky about types, get everything.”
“Yes.”
The full-scale design began around that time. Half a year before Do Jae-young started approaching Sa Gong-hyun.
To match their standards, to thoroughly punish them by targeting their weaknesses. He collected only the most stimulating things and spread false rumors.
Creating tastes that didn’t exist, diligently and meticulously, like installing a safe in a perfectly fine floor that would never be used.
Finally, he contacted Shin Kwang-do, the informant and confidant of Cha Seung-kwon.
His wife and children were the easiest weapons to control him. Making it so he had no choice but to participate in the job, letting them know that the cue had been given.
By subtly introducing elements that Cha Seung-kwon couldn’t refuse.
Money, and Do Jae-young.
***
The security disguised as surveillance mainly stayed only when Sa Gong-hyun was away from home. Despite being virtually confined with employees deployed outside, Jae-young remained calm.
As if he had been living such a life all along, he ate his meals regularly even in that situation. He ate every meal on time and didn’t skip his stretches.
The life that was no different from confinement gradually had fewer restrictions due to Jae-young’s brazen behavior.
During the day when there was free time, he went for walks with Ver accompanied by a guard, and on the way back, he even did some shopping.
Things that could only be obtained by going far were usually requested from the guard. Requests for spices, bath additives from specific brands, his favorite whiskey, or fresh meat that had just been butchered at dawn never ceased for even a single day.
Quite a lot of items filled the house in a period of less than a week. From a massage chair to a console game system, a turntable, exercise equipment, and even a hammock to place in the yard.
Who would consider such a Jae-young as someone under surveillance? He was like the youngest son of a wealthy family receiving extensive protection.
Sa Gong-hyun burst into a hollow laugh at the reports that continued every day.
“Hey, move aside, you bastard. A worthless guy like you is acting up… Oh, are you recording me now? Want to join? This is really fun.”
In the video, Jae-young was always lost in playing games or humming songs while cooking food to his taste.
It reached the point where one would wonder what he would demand next.
That day, he was on his way in with the wine he had said he wanted to drink. He had already heard that he was drinking the whiskey that had been procured earlier.
He said it was lonely to drink alone, so he had Ver seated beside him, and even had the guard seated in front of him.
Sa Gong-hyun got out of the car with the wine he had received from Kim Jung-han. He passed through the entrance and entered the dining room.
The guard, who had been sitting in front of Jae-young listening to his story, jumped up from his seat in surprise.
“You’ve arrived.”
Judging by his normal expression and gestures, it seemed like Jae-young was the only one who had been drinking. Jae-young, who had been speaking in a voice filled with laughter, half-turned his head.
When Sa Gong-hyun nodded, the guard left the dining room.
“You’re late. I was wondering when you’d come.”
His tongue was already completely slurred. His words dragged on, and his eyelids were relaxed. His clear face, without a trace of wariness, smiled slightly.
“Oh, alcohol.”
Soon, seeing the package box in Sa Gong-hyun’s hand, his face brightened. Jae-young stood up from his seat and approached in one step. When he rose, Ver, who had been sitting, also got up.
When his drunken legs staggered arbitrarily, Sa Gong-hyun grabbed his forearm.
“Just how much did you drink?”
“Secret.”
Despite the sarcastic voice, Jae-young was busy grinning. He snatched the package box from Sa Gong-hyun’s hand. He returned to his seat and started opening the box.
He inserted the sommelier knife he had taken out earlier into the cork. Since he was struggling with drunk hand movements, Sa Gong-hyun sat across from him and pulled the wine toward himself.
“On the way back from walking with Ver, they were selling this at a street vendor.”
He slightly raised his eyes. Jae-young was poking at deliciously ripe strawberries with a fork. It was a face that seemed deeply lost in thought. Or maybe just in a dazed state.
Sa Gong-hyun adjusted the support placed on the mouth of the wine bottle. When he pushed the handle upward using the principle of leverage, the cork immediately came out.
“Ver seemed to want to eat it, so I bought it.”
Jae-young stabbed a strawberry and pushed it into his mouth. Sa Gong-hyun smiled wryly as he watched the adorable lips chewing.
“Don’t make unnecessary excuses, just say you wanted to eat it yourself.”
He poured wine into the glass. Jae-young stared blankly at the sight. His moist lips slowly parted.
“Does Hyung Chang-woo tell you those things too? I thought he just recorded videos and sent them.”
Of course, since the guard had reported the circumstances of Jae-young’s behavior in detail, it wasn’t something he didn’t know. However, what was jarring among the words heard earlier was the term “Hyung Chang-woo.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
