Chapter 52
Han Jae-woo.
As soon as I heard the name, I felt something crack in my head. With a sense of disbelief, I stared blankly at the extended hand. A gentle face with handsome rather than pretty features, a proper impression, and a smile that reminded me of someone.
Even though Igeon was staring at him blankly and keeping him waiting, the man smiled kindly.
“…It’s been a while.”
Igeon took his hand. Seeming a bit nervous, Han Jae-woo let out a sigh of relief as soon as Igeon accepted his outstretched hand.
“It’s been a while.”
“You’ve really grown. I hardly recognize you.”
Despite meeting just once, for just one day, he had left an impression. Perhaps it was because he was full of positive energy despite experiencing a major ordeal. I thought he was someone not easily forgotten.
“Are you doing okay?”
“That was so long ago. I’m fine. I’m healthy. By the way, Seo Igeon the athlete is still the same. You’re more impressive than any alpha I’ve ever met. Belated congratulations on your gold medal.”
“…Thanks. And I’m not an athlete anymore. Just call me hyung comfortably.”
“Haha. Yes, hyung.”
His friendliness was nice, and his bright smile was pleasant to see. Above all, seeing that he was still full of positive energy, Igeon thought with relief, “His life must be going smoothly.” He was glad that such pain hadn’t happened to him twice.
“Sit down.”
“Okay.”
Igeon sat down first and placed the bundle of sundae on the table. Instructor Jin said he couldn’t leave this out when a guest had arrived, so he took the package and went to make coffee, and Igeon looked at Jae-woo.
“I wonder how you came here. May I ask?”
“Of course. I came here as a client.”
“A client?”
“Yes.”
“What kind of request? As you can see, this is a private security guard employment office with only me here. As far as I know, you are…”
Igeon was about to say “a member of the NI owner’s family, just like that guy,” but swallowed the words. As Igeon frowned while rubbing his lips, Jae-woo seemed to understand what he was about to say and smiled bitterly.
“Yes, I’m from NI. If I needed security guards, they’re already available internally, and if I wanted, I could hire guards from large companies or even foreign mercenaries. But right now, it has to be you, hyung.”
“Why?”
“…I need a security guard who is famous and knows everyone’s faces.”
“I don’t understand. If you need a figurehead, I’ll have to decline. Sorry. I don’t really like that kind of thing.”
“It’s not just for appearances.”
“So you do need a figurehead.”
Igeon decided there was no need to continue the conversation and stood up. He wondered if it was right to send a guest away like this, but it seemed correct to cut off this kind of request cleanly. It wasn’t that welcome of a face anyway.
“Hyung!”
‘Hyung’ – that wasn’t referring to Igeon. He was talking about his real ‘hyung.’
“My hyung… is in danger.”
“What does that have to do with me?”
Surprisingly, the answer came quickly. Yes, what does it have to do with me? Whether Han Jae-woo’s ‘hyung’ is in danger or not.
“Instructor Jin! The guest is leaving!”
“Taekyung hyung! He had an accident!! That’s why he couldn’t contact you!!”
Igeon was about to tell Instructor Jin that the guest was leaving so coffee wasn’t necessary, but he froze at Han Jae-woo’s words. It felt like time had stopped. Slowly, he turned around to look at Han Jae-woo. The face that had been smiling comfortably until just now had changed to one of anguish and struggle.
“Taekyung hyung… his contact would have been cut off. Since he not only withdrew from school but also cut off contact, you naturally would have been angry and felt hurt. If I were in your position… I would definitely have felt the same. But it was an unavoidable situation. I won’t ask you to understand. I would like you to listen to what I have to say. Please spare just five minutes. And if nothing changes after hearing my story, I’ll give up. I won’t bother you. Please. Hyung.”
He was pleading so desperately with sincere eyes that it was impossible to refuse. And the word ‘accident’ was very disturbing. I wondered what kind of accident he had suffered that he couldn’t even contact me. I was curious about why he was trying to reappear now. So Igeon sat down again.
“Tell me.”
“…I think you know that hyung went to Germany.”
“I know.”
“…It took a week in Germany to schedule the surgery. Until then, hyung’s body wasn’t normal. On the way to the hospital for surgery, when his body had barely stabilized, there was an accident. A truck hit hyung’s car.”
“What?”
“The driver and the attendant sitting in the passenger seat died instantly, and Kang Yuhan, who was riding with hyung, was also injured in the accident.”
Han Jae-woo took out his phone, touched it, and handed it to Igeon. It was CCTV footage from the road. A black car, rumored to be sturdy, was driving on the road. But a large truck from the opposite direction charged at the car without hesitation. Like an arrow flying toward a target. With a loud crash, the car was instantly deformed. To the point where it seemed unlikely anyone inside could have survived. Igeon was so shocked that he felt his heart drop.
“Please keep watching.”
When Igeon tried to return the video as if he couldn’t bear to watch anymore, Jae-woo asked him to continue. Soon, someone got out of the truck. Then three black cars parked in a row, disassembled the crumpled car, and took out unconscious Han Taekyung and senior Kang Yuhan from the back seat and loaded them into the truck. The two were covered in blood to the extent that it was clearly visible on the distant CCTV. Something was wrong. Nothing in this video seemed normal.
“Hyung was kidnapped.”
“What?”
“They deliberately caused the accident. To take hyung away.”
For a moment, men in black hoods flashed through Igeon’s mind.
“No way… was it those bastards who targeted Han Taekyung at the gym back then?”
“It was a bigger organization than that. But I can’t say they’re completely unrelated.”
“So what happened??”
“There’s no footage after this, but fortunately, thanks to the trackers attached to hyung, they were quickly caught, and hyung could be rescued. But he was severely injured… especially the brain damage was too extensive. His whole body was crushed, and nothing was intact. It was miraculous that he was alive. I took a plane to Germany as soon as I heard the news. I held onto our trembling fathers and told them hyung would be fine. When I arrived and saw hyung… he was not fine at all. It seemed like he was about to leave us. Our fathers said hyung was very strong, so he would endure. They said he had endured worse than this and would be fine. Fortunately, hyung held on well and survived several major surgeries. But he didn’t regain consciousness. He kept sleeping. During that time, Igeon hyung won a gold medal, and I showed him that news too.”
‘Hyung! Look at this. Igeon hyung won a gold medal! It seems he kept his promise with you, so you should wake up soon and keep your promise too.’
Jae-woo’s hands trembled as he recalled the time when he held Taekyung’s cold, withering hand tightly. Igeon held Jae-woo’s hand firmly.
“When hyung was leaving for Germany, I told him he had to come back. Then hyung said he would definitely return. Because he had a promise with Igeon hyung. That he would come back healthy. That I shouldn’t worry.”
“Then is he still…”
“No. Fortunately, he woke up a year later.”
At the news of him waking up, Igeon let out a sigh of relief. That’s good. If he’s alive, something can be done.
“But he changed a lot.”
“What do you mean by changed?”
“For almost a year, he just had his eyes open but was practically unconscious. He couldn’t move his body properly. Still, he had his own will and worked hard on rehabilitation, but it took a year just to learn to walk again. And another year until he could speak again…. But a problem arose. When having a proper conversation with Taekyung hyung, something felt strange. He seemed to remember, but everything was jumbled… it felt like a puzzle was put together, but all the pieces were fitted incorrectly. Moreover, after injuring his brain, he seemed to lack some emotional aspects. He wouldn’t laugh, make jokes, or play around. Just giving cold and indifferent answers with a really expressionless face. Many things changed.”
I don’t know what to say. Igeon clutched his head in sympathy.
“Then… now?”
“A lot has happened since then, but hyung survived. He came back to Korea. He’s very different from before, but he still values family the same way, so we thought nothing had changed for us. Hyung didn’t try to find what he had lost. He just did his best with what he remembered, studied again, and now he’s working at the company, helping father.”
It’s not just an ordinary company. The fact that he’s working at NI means he has recovered significantly, which was a relief.
“But the reason you came to find me must be because there’s a problem, right?”
Jae-woo nodded.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
