A dry, hollow laugh escaped him, and his steps halted. The excitement that had been rising quickly subsided, and at the same time he felt the blood drain from his entire body. His once-heated head turned cold in an instant.
Again. Kim Kang-woo—who had seemed as if he would quietly fall into his grasp—had toyed with him once more and vanished.
“Still, I figured it’d be better to let you know, as a friend.”
The person on the other end spoke in a subtly smug tone. In his own mind, he was probably praising himself as some loyal friend, but in truth he was nothing more than a hyena sniffing around to see if he could get something out of Kyung-wook from this.
“So the point is—you lost him. Kim Kang-woo.”
—“Well, yeah. But right now we’re still—”
“Next time you run into him, don’t let him get away.”
Ignoring whatever the other person was trying to say, Kyung-wook ended the call.
“Fuck!”
His trembling hand hurled the phone with all his strength. With a sharp crash, the phone slammed into the wall and tumbled across the floor.
The noisy hallway, which had been filled with chatter, fell silent. The student’s gazes stabbed toward Kyung-wook all at once. Unbothered by the sudden shift in atmosphere, Kyung-wook ground his teeth.
Just where the hell are you hiding, Kim Kang-woo?
He forced down the rage boiling inside him. Even so, one thing had become clear.
Kim Kang-woo wasn’t far away. That bastard was still hiding somewhere nearby like a rat.
***
Seok-ho returned home after finishing his workout as usual. When he opened the front door and stepped inside, a silent space greeted him. The person who usually came toddling out to greet him the moment the door opened was nowhere to be seen.
Walking into the living room where the noon sunlight streamed in, Seok-ho’s gaze naturally drifted toward Kang-woo’s room.
He still hadn’t come back. It had already been at least an hour since he went out.
Maybe he decided to take care of everything he had been putting off while he was out. Or perhaps he ran into someone he knew and ended up having a long conversation. With various guesses passing through his mind, Seok-ho headed straight for the shower and washed the sweat from his body.
[There’s fried rice I made yesterday in the fridge. Please heat it up and eat.]
While drying his wet hair, he walked over to the refrigerator and noticed a Post-it stuck to the door. His gaze lingered on the neat handwriting for a while.
Just like the owner of the note, the handwriting was impeccably tidy. Seok-ho peeled off the Post-it, took out the fried rice, and heated it in the microwave.
He set the steaming fried rice on the table and absentmindedly scooped bites into his mouth while looking at his phone. In the quiet kitchen, the only sound was Seok-ho eating, echoing faintly in the silence.
In less than ten minutes he finished the meal quickly and even washed the dishes.
Around 2 p.m., Seok-ho went to his shop and received a customer who had made a reservation.
Normally when he worked, the customer did their thing while Seok-ho did his. He had heard that some tattoo artists kept chatting during the procedure to distract customers from their nerves and pain, but Seok-ho never had that kind of service mindset to begin with.
Was it okay to act so unfriendly while working in the service industry? Well. He had never once received a complaint because of it, so he didn’t really care.
Regardless of whether the customer was a woman or a man.
“But boss, do you not have a girlfriend?”
However, today’s female customer in her twenties had been talking nonstop throughout the entire session, gradually grating on Seok-ho’s nerves.
“You’re in really good shape. Do you work out every day?”
On top of that, the way she looked at him was so blatant that for a moment it almost felt like the two of them had checked into a motel together. With her naked gaze sweeping over his chest and her fingers subtly brushing his arm, there was no way he could fail to notice she was openly flirting with him.
Seok-ho wasn’t the type to reject someone who approached him. Pleasure occupied an important part of a person’s life. After all, people did these things to enjoy life. If it was a consensual relationship, Seok-ho didn’t particularly refuse.
The problem was that today he simply wasn’t in the mood.
Seok-ho gave the chattering woman halfhearted responses while focusing on the area he was working on. As he lowered his head toward her collarbone, the heavy scent of perfume stabbed into his nose. It was sharp enough to give him a headache.
“Wow! It turned out so pretty. I really, really love it.”
After finishing the three-hour session, he explained the aftercare instructions to the customer, who stood in front of the mirror taking photo after photo, and then sent her on her way.
Even as she left, the woman looked at Seok-ho with lingering regret in her eyes. In cases like this, there was a high chance she would send him a private message through the shop’s promotional SNS, but he could simply ignore it.
About thirty minutes later, after finishing tidying up the workstation and cleaning the floor, Seok-ho finally raised his head. The clock was already pointing to 6:30 p.m.
Seok-ho rubbed his stiff neck and sat down on the sofa. When he spent long hours working with his head lowered, chronic pain inevitably built up in his shoulders and neck.
“Don’t your neck and hands hurt if you keep working like that? You have to keep your head down and move like this.”
Suddenly, a voice without much rise or fall slipped into his mind. At the same time, he pictured that guy’s wide, round eyes. Since he wasn’t the type to complain to others, he had brushed it off with a vague answer back then, but maybe he really should go to the hospital.
His gaze drifted unconsciously toward the phone lying on the table. Now that he had a moment to breathe, the thought that had been nagging him all day seemed to grow heavier. After hesitating for a while, Seok-ho finally reached out and picked up the phone.
When he turned on the screen, a series of unchecked notifications appeared. Of course, none of them were from that guy.
There were no missed calls from an unknown number either.
Kim Kang-woo didn’t even own a basic cellphone. There was no way to contact him, so Seok-ho couldn’t even call to check where he was.
He hadn’t come home before Seok-ho left for work either. Seok-ho had tried to brush it off as nothing, but a corner of his mind had felt uneasy all day.
“What the hell?”
The irritated words slipped out.
For some reason, his nerves were sharply on edge. Maybe because there was another person in the house now, he had started worrying about pointless things too. Seok-ho didn’t like the unfamiliar feeling at all.
Sitting there, bouncing his leg, he eventually grabbed his cigarettes and lighter and stepped outside.
He needed nicotine.
He went to the smoking area and flicked the lighter wheel.
One cigarette wasn’t enough, so he smoked two more in succession right there. Even then, the uneasy feeling in his chest didn’t fade. Just then, the cigarette pack ran empty.
One last drag.
He exhaled slowly—hoo—and crushed the shortened butt before tossing it into a paper cup.
Checking the time on his phone, Seok-ho pressed his lips into a straight line. His thick eyebrows twitched before he finally moved.
Returning to the shop, he immediately grabbed his coat and car keys. He decided to close early today.
He knew it wasn’t like him, but his body moved ahead of his thoughts.
Seok-ho locked the shutter and headed to the parking lot. He got into his sleek jet-black car, which looked oddly polished compared to the old building, and started the engine.
Rows of orange streetlights flashed past rapidly.
As he gripped the steering wheel and drove home, the inexplicable anxiety inside him only grew stronger. His foot pressed harder on the accelerator, and the car’s engine roared more fiercely.
Screech.
With a sharp sound, the car pulled into the parking lot. Fortunately, there was one parking space left near the officetel entrance.
Seok-ho passed through the entrance and called the elevator. After a short wait—
Ding-dong.
The mechanical sound rang out. He stepped inside the open doors and pressed the button, watching the numbers on the panel rise.
Today, the elevator felt unusually slow.
Leaning against the wall, Seok-ho clenched and unclenched his fist.
It’s probably nothing. At this hour, he must’ve already come home.
With the arrival chime, the elevator reached the 12th floor. Seok-ho stepped out and walked toward his apartment door.
Calmly, he unlocked the door lock and pulled the handle.
When the hallway light turned on, pitch-black darkness spread across the living room to greet him.
***
He didn’t know how much time had passed there.
When Kang-woo regained his senses, the surroundings were dark and silent.
Even after coming back to himself, he remained crouched for a long time, clutching onto his sanity. He listened carefully to the sounds around him.
Five minutes. Ten minutes.
Still, there wasn’t the slightest sign of anyone.
“…Home.”
He had to go home.
The moment that thought crossed his mind, Kang-woo slowly pushed himself up from where he was. Because he had been crouched in the same position for so long, every muscle in his body screamed in protest. His legs even buckled briefly, making him stagger.
But there was no time to rest.
Lee Seong-cheol’s group could come back here at any moment.
With his mind still hazy and unfocused, Kang-woo slipped out of the alley. He limped forward step by step.
Even after getting off the subway and heading toward Seok-ho’s officetel, his dazed state didn’t clear.
Only when he entered the familiar neighborhood did he feel a little relieved.
Then he realized something—his head felt empty.
He had lost his hat. It had been the one thing he chose to bring with him when he left home, the thing he cherished most.
With no other choice, he pulled the hood of his hoodie low over his head and walked with his head down.
Then suddenly—
A hand shot out from behind and grabbed his shoulder.
Fear seized Kang-woo instantly. Could Lee Seong-cheol’s group still be looking for him?
Even before his mind could register that it made no sense for them to follow him all the way here, horrifying thoughts flooded his head.
“Let go!”
Without even checking who it was, Kang-woo shouted hysterically and shook off the hand. But his arm was grabbed again.
“Let go…!”
Kang-woo squeezed his eyes shut and struggled violently. The hand clinging stubbornly to him suddenly released.
At that moment, Kang-woo started running.
His heart pounded like crazy.
But he didn’t get far before someone grabbed the back of his neck. The other person dragged the struggling Kang-woo into a dark alley.
“Let go! I’m not going! I said I’m not going! I don’t want to! Let go of me!”
The person gripping his arm tightly suddenly stopped walking.
In the darkness, Kang-woo shoved at the body holding him. But the other person seized both his arms with overwhelming strength and pinned him against the wall.
“Stay still, Kim Kang-woo! It’s okay—it’s me!”
“No! I said no!”
“Kim Kang-woo, open your eyes and look at me. It’s me—Kwon Seok-ho!”
The firm, scolding voice rang out.
Until then, Kang-woo’s ears had felt blocked, as if he were underwater. But now the other person’s voice slowly began to register.
“Get a hold of yourself, Kim Kang-woo!”
The sharp voice sounded strangely familiar.
Only then did Kang-woo stop struggling. His ragged breathing gradually slowed, and he slowly raised his head.
In his field of vision was a man breathing heavily, his shoulders rising and falling as if he had just run a long distance.
His pitch-black eyes glinted in the darkness.
“…Hyung?”
Seok-ho was standing right in front of him.
“Hyung, h-how… are you here…?”
Kang-woo’s eyes darted around rapidly. He knew this was Seok-ho’s neighborhood, but somehow it still didn’t feel real that they had run into each other here at this time.
After all, it wasn’t time for Seok-ho to get off work yet.
“Did… you not go to work today?”
