#22
“I don’t know how such a coincidence could happen.”
Shin Taeon looked at Yeoul with a smirk. Then he gulped down the iced americano in front of him. Yeoul also drank the apple juice in his glass cup, soothing his burning insides.
After running into each other on the street earlier, Shin Taeon had dragged Yeoul to a cafe in a nearby alley. Then he suddenly handed a bundle of money to the cafe owner and whispered something.
At the same time, the owner’s eyes widened in surprise, then told the customers inside that they were closing early today due to personal circumstances and sent everyone outside.
It turned out he had done this troublesome thing because he wanted to talk with Yeoul alone. Thus, Yeoul found himself facing Shin Taeon alone in the fairly large cafe.
“I received news that a debtor had fled to this neighborhood, you see? I was coming out after catching that rat bastard and squeezing interest out of him, when I saw you with some old woman?”
“……”
“Did you also run away from Eun Sajun without knowing your place?”
“No.”
Yeoul shook his head firmly. There was no way he could act on his own leaving Yeojin behind.
“Really?”
Shin Taeon, who had been looking at Yeoul sideways, put a cigarette in his mouth. And he lit it with a Zippo lighter. The non-smoking cafe filled with hazy smoke.
The cafe owner’s face at the counter was colored with bewilderment. But perhaps because of the money he received from Shin Taeon, he didn’t easily stop him. Instead, he brought an ashtray with wet tissues and placed it on the table before retreating.
“Then why are you out on the street making a fuss?”
“Well… I suddenly had to change my contact information.”
Yeoul explained that Eun Sajun had given him a new phone, and because of that, it would be difficult to contact him like before.
“So I was trying to inform you of this fact using a public phone, and that’s when we met.”
“……”
Shin Taeon was silent for a moment. And he stared at Yeoul intently. He could feel the chillingly sharp intensity like an awl.
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“No! And why would I lie about something like this?”
“Well, if you had any sense, you wouldn’t act recklessly.”
He raised the corners of his mouth in a smirk and stubbed his cigarette in the ashtray.
“But when Eun Sajun changed to a new phone, he would have transferred the contacts. Didn’t he see my contact or messages in that process?”
“That won’t happen. My phone broke right before changing phones, so all the data was lost.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
Yeoul couldn’t bring himself to say that he had smashed the phone with a rock. It was too extreme an action, and he didn’t want to expose this violent weakness of his to Shin Taeon.
“You’re lucky. Then that’s fortunate.”
“It seems like it’ll be difficult to contact you from now on.”
Even as Yeoul spoke, he expected Shin Taeon to give an irresponsible answer like “that’s your problem, figure it out yourself.”
“Actually, I don’t have the leisure to contact you about every little thing either. Then let’s meet here every Thursday evening at 8 PM from now on. Report to me how you spent the week trying to extract the code from Eun Sajun’s side.”
“Ah… Then even if I find out the code, I have to stay in that mansion until Thursday?”
“Of course.”
I want to get out even a day sooner…
Yeoul was burning with anxiety. Instead, the anxiety about having to guard his phone from being discovered in contact with Shin Taeon had disappeared. He would have to go out every Thursday… but it was fine since he could come out like today.
“So how far have you found out about the code?”
“I only found out that the first digits are 20.”
Yeoul’s voice trembled, feeling like he had found out too little compared to the infiltration period.
“Oh. But the progress is faster than expected?”
“What?”
Yeoul’s eyes widened at his unexpected response.
“Until now, other organizations have also planted informants around Eun Sajun to extract that code. They disguised themselves as employees of the company Eun Sajun runs, housekeepers, bodyguards, etc. But every single one of them was kicked out in less than a day.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. Even though they were professional spies, it wasn’t easy. Eun Sajun has also carried out undercover missions, so he must have smelled the scent of his own kind. So while thinking of other methods, I thought it was all or nothing and tried to deploy Geum Yeojin. But the day before deployment, Geum Yeojin had a traffic accident, so you stepped up.”
“Ah…”
“My choice was right. Not only did you last several days, but you even found out the first digits.”
Shin Taeon’s corners of his mouth rose as if ascending to heaven, seeming pleased. Yeoul was also bewildered by his unexpected praise.
“Catching him off guard was a divine move.”
“Don’t… don’t you think he noticed?”
From what he heard, he seemed very sensitive.
“No. If he had noticed, you wouldn’t be alive like this.”
“What?”
“All the guys who infiltrated to find out that code until now have been eliminated by Eun Sajun’s hand.”
“Eliminated?”
“Yes, it means they crossed the river of death. They were murdered.”
“Huk.”
At the same time, Yeoul saw the image of him casually taking Baek Cheonhui’s life flickering before his eyes.
“So you be careful too.”
Shin Taeon looked at the tense Yeoul with interest and chuckled. It was the look of someone who had discovered an interesting toy. Yeoul’s mouth felt bitter as if he had swallowed wormwood.
“But did you sleep with Eun Sajun?”
“What?”
“No… I can see red marks on your neck.”
“Huh?”
Yeoul touched his neck in panic. It seemed to be marks from last night’s caressing. Yeoul raised the collar of his coat as high as possible.
“Fuck.”
The laughter that had briefly lived in Shin Taeon’s eyes gradually became cold. He pressed the cigarette in his mouth into the ashtray.
“Tell me clearly. Did you do it with that bastard?”
“N… No.”
Yeoul denied it to hide the fact about the pregnancy contract.
“Ha.”
Shin Taeon stared at Yeoul’s face intently. His gaze was so intense that Yeoul wondered if holes were forming in his face.
“Which part of Eun Sajun’s body was the code carved on?”
As if he had noticed Yeoul’s lie, he asked coldly. Facing the crisis, Yeoul hesitated for a moment but soon opened his mouth.
“His chest.”
“Torso?”
“Yes.”
He couldn’t truthfully say it was on his member. It wouldn’t make sense for a mere housekeeper to see his genitals. But he couldn’t bring himself to say arms or legs either, as those were easily exposed areas.
A moment of silence flowed. Yeoul felt like his breath was completely blocked. Shin Taeon faced Yeoul as if frozen, then soon checked the watch on his wrist.
“Got it. For now, keep finding out the code as you have been. I have to go greet the next money source.”
He called customers “money sources” and stood up from his seat.
“W-wait a moment.”
Yeoul urgently called out to stop him.
“Is Yeojin doing well?”
Right now, at this moment, he was the face he was most curious about and wanted to see more than anyone.
“He’s doing well, which is why I’m not saying anything.”
“Is… is he eating well?”
“Would a grown adult not have the strength to lift a spoon?”
Shin Taeon smirked.
“Geum Yeojin’s life depends on how you act.”
“……”
“The drinks are on me, so finish drinking and go.”
Soon he left the cafe. Left alone, Yeoul looked at the apple juice that was more than half remaining.
His heart tightened at Shin Taeon’s threat. Moreover, he was bewildered to face the fact that Eun Sajun was more perceptive and cruel than he thought. What he was doing now was a life-risking infiltration. Shadows gradually fell over Yeoul’s moistened eyes.
Baek Cheonhui died by Eun Sajun’s hand. Yeoul could end up the same way if the purpose of this infiltration was discovered.
Me with a knife stuck in my neck. Blood flowing coldly through my chilling body.
Dying was scary. Painful. Moreover, leaving Yeojin behind to meet their parents who had gone to heaven first was too sad.
“That absolutely cannot happen!”
Yeoul screamed convulsively and threw the water glass in front of him to the floor. The glass cup that had been intact shattered into pieces on the floor.
And the cafe owner at the counter also turned pale at Yeoul’s sudden action.
“Huk.”
What did I just do? Yeoul’s body trembled at the impulse that had risen from within him.
Because of that, an even scarier thought occurred to him at this moment.
At this rate… am I going to kill Eun Sajun?
If he found himself in the same extreme situation as Baek Cheonhui, he didn’t know what would happen to himself. Beyond simply showing his violence to Eun Sajun, he could lose his reason and cause a big accident due to the instinct to protect Yeojin.
Murder was wrong. It was the worst thing that shouldn’t be done morally or socially.
Yeoul felt fear toward his own instincts and held his head. He hurriedly drank the apple juice. The cold sensation dominated his mouth due to the ice that hadn’t melted yet. His anxious heart that had been burning like fire cooled down a bit and calmed down.
He suddenly wondered if he should go to a psychiatrist again. But what could he do when he wasn’t in a situation to go to the hospital now? For now, he had to control his emotions himself as much as possible. Yeoul repeatedly inhaled and exhaled. His heart pounded wildly.
“Are you alright?”
The cafe owner, who had been checking Yeoul’s complexion, looked ready to call an ambulance immediately.
“No, I’m fine. I’ll pay for the broken cup. I’m sorry.”
“Oh, no. It was old anyway, so it’s fine.”
Perhaps because Shin Taeon had given him a large sum earlier, he was showing magnanimity. After that, Yeoul carefully left the cafe. The cold winter wind tore at his cheeks. His somewhat stuffy heart seemed to clear up. Then he felt vibration from his coat pocket.
“Huh?”
There was only one person who could contact him on his phone now. Yeoul nervously picked up his phone. As expected, it was Eun Sajun. A phone call at this timing made Yeoul even more troubled. He first controlled his erratic emotions and answered the phone.
[Where are you?]
Perhaps it was his imagination, but his voice was low.
“I met a friend. I’ll be home soon.”
[Did you really meet a friend?]
“Yes…? Yes yes…”
Yeoul felt even more choked up by his question when he was already confused.
[Where are you now?]
“I’m in front of the house now.”
As soon as Yeoul answered, he felt hands wrapping around his waist from behind. Soon, along with a familiar body scent, hot air caressed his ear. Yeoul could tell who it was without looking back.
“Baby. This isn’t in front of the house.”
As expected, it was Eun Sajun.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
