Boundless Love – Chapter 31

? Views,

31.

The hospital room was on the second floor. Since it was originally a hospital without many people, Haseo was the only inpatient. Choi Mujin sat beside Haseo, who was groaning in the bed. A nurse who entered shortly afterward greeted Choi Mujin before inserting a needle into Haseo’s thin arm. Soon, IV lines were connected, and Haseo’s expression improved slightly.

“Please press the bell when the IV is empty.”

After the nurse withdrew, only the two of them remained in the small space. Choi Mujin examined Haseo carefully and suddenly noticed his bandaged finger.

He had mentioned getting cut while preparing food last time, but it still hadn’t healed. After a moment’s hesitation, Choi Mujin unwrapped the bandage from Haseo’s finger. He thought it would be good to have everything treated while they were at the hospital. Under the bandage, red flesh soaked with blood was visible.

The nail, which appeared to have been bitten, was miserably short, causing blood to pool in the skin.

“You said you were cut by a knife?”

A knife wound could never look like this. It looked like it had been bitten by mouth. Choi Mujin sighed quietly, touching his forehead. Haseo had seemed so happy when they celebrated his birthday not long ago.

‘Let me think.’

Lee Haseo was someone who would do anything for his hospitalized grandmother. That’s why he had done dirty work and ended up working as Choi Mujin’s housekeeper after getting caught by him. But would he have taken drugs that weren’t good for him?

Choi Mujin didn’t think so. Though he didn’t have solid evidence yet, considering Haseo’s behavior so far, it seemed unlikely. Then how did he get cookies containing drugs?

Was he caught up in an untargeted attack? But there had been no news about such incidents. If so, there was only one conclusion.

Director Choi of Isaac Finance had many enemies. It wasn’t strange since he had climbed up from the bottom by stepping on others. This industry was known for backstabbing anyway. To such people, Haseo, whom Choi Mujin kept by his side, would have been good prey.

He had assigned people to watch over Haseo, but that was it. They only considered his safety while traveling back and forth. They were of no help in other areas.

Choi Mujin wasn’t unaware of this. But he hadn’t done more because this was just a relationship started for fun. He didn’t feel the need to do more. No matter how similar they looked, Lee Haseo could never be Seo Jaewoo, whom he loved.

“Ugh, urgh…”

Haseo groaned and clutched the blanket with his hand. His brow was terribly furrowed as if having a nightmare. Choi Mujin looked down at him and rubbed his forehead with his thumb. Just that small gesture made Haseo’s breathing become more regular.

Knock, knock.

A knocking sound echoed through the quiet hospital room.

“Come in.”

The door opened, and a doctor entered.

“Director Choi, the results are in.”

“What is it?”

“It’s a drug popular these days. Popping candy, as they call it, circulating among young people. It’s not too strong, but sensitive people can experience various symptoms beyond dizziness and vomiting.”

“I see.”

Now that he knew the name of the drug, finding its source was Choi Mujin’s job. He lightly tapped his hand with his fingers.

“Please assign a nurse. And I will send some people.”

“Is it dangerous?” the doctor asked, shrinking back.

“Not particularly.”

“Well, you are Director Choi after all.”

Besides, this was a hospital protected by Isaac Finance. Most hospitals had an implicit agreement not to interfere with each other, so nothing major would happen.

A nurse was immediately assigned to Haseo, and when a few men arrived, Choi Mujin left the hospital as if changing shifts with them. The first thing he did was to investigate Haseo.

On the day Park Dongsu was away on business, the person who drove Haseo was one of Choi Mujin’s secretaries. Though flustered at being called late at night, he calmly explained what had happened that day.

“Nothing unusual occurred. Upon arrival, we stopped by the administration office before heading to the patient room, and Haseo-ssi came out about 30 minutes later. If there was anything noteworthy, it would be that he met someone he knew and talked for about 5 minutes.”

“Someone he knew?”

“A young man who looked slightly older than Lee Haseo-ssi.”

“Do you remember what he looked like?”

“I do. Though his face was different, his overall style was similar to Lee Haseo-ssi’s. He had slightly curly brown hair and a face that people these days would find attractive.”

“A face people these days would find attractive?”

“He looked like an aspiring idol.”

The secretary said this with an awkward expression. He seemed unsure if this was the right way to describe it.

“Do you know his name?”

“I was too far away to hear.”

At the man’s words, Park Dongsu, who was standing nearby, stiffened. Park Dongsu’s exact position at Isaac Finance was head of security. While they were called the security team, most of the people there had experienced or used violence. In other words, they were what you’d call former gangsters.

In contrast, the secretarial office hired based on education and ability, like normal companies. Recently, they had been replacing staff with people who had studied with funding from Isaac Finance, but the proportion of ordinary people was still quite high.

They knew that most people here were gangsters, but they didn’t really feel it. The man before them was one such case. So even though Park Dongsu had given detailed instructions, he had worked like this.

“Shall we teach him a lesson?”

At Park Dongsu’s words, the man looked startled.

“No, it’s fine. We can’t do that to civilians.”

Choi Mujin sent the trembling man away. Then, in the office with only Park Dongsu remaining, he put a cigarette in his mouth. Successful people often changed their cigarettes. Smoking expensive foreign cigarettes looked good to others and made them feel successful. But he wasn’t particularly picky, so he always bought the cheapest ones.

The taste might not be good, but smoking these reminded him of the time when he was at rock bottom. The time when he couldn’t eat properly, couldn’t get an education, and had to beg. Choi Mujin bit the end of the cigarette and smiled.

“The house?”

“We haven’t touched it yet.”

“Then I’ll search it. You find the guy he met at the hospital. He’s probably at the establishment.”

Driven mad by his first love, he sought out similar-looking people at the establishment. That place would offer whatever the customer wanted, even if they had to create it. He had created several people who looked like Seo Jaewoo.

‘It was stupid, but.’

Even knowing this, Choi Mujin always looked for people who resembled Seo Jaewoo. It would have been better if he had been a heartless villain. What was love, anyway?

“I’ll look right away!”

After sending Park Dongsu away, Choi Mujin headed home. As soon as he entered, he went to the guest room with its door wide open. Only one person had ever used the room created for potential guests.

Lee Haseo. Seo Jaewoo had also entered the guest room, but only to clean it.

The room was clean except for the rumpled bed covers. However, there was one incongruous item: a box in the corner. It was a folded snack box obtained from somewhere, which at first glance might have looked like trash. Looking inside, there were a few pieces of clothing.

I bought him new clothes because I didn’t like seeing things like this. Clicking his tongue, he opened the wardrobe to find new clothes neatly arranged. Original clothes in the paper box, new clothes in the wardrobe.

‘But it doesn’t seem like he was planning to throw away his original clothes.’

Choi Mujin thoroughly examined the inside of the wardrobe and then closed the door. He also checked the drawers but found them empty. Seeing this made him feel strangely dirty.

“Like a beggar.”

He should have money by now, so I don’t know why he’s still like this. Choi Mujin continued to turn over everything in the room. Finally, under the bed sheet, he found a cell phone.

It was an old model that nowadays no one would use even if given for free. When he turned it on, he saw the call history. The time was always 9 PM. The calls usually lasted 5 to 10 minutes. He also checked the text messages, but there was nothing. Either there never were any, or they had been deleted.

When he tried to redial, the other party didn’t answer. After the dial tone, only a pre-recorded voice played.

His hand holding the phone unknowingly tensed.

Had Lee Haseo betrayed Choi Mujin voluntarily, or had he been forced? Nothing was clear yet.

The establishment was in an uproar from the unexpected visitor.

“You can’t do this here!”

A security guard tried to stop Park Dongsu at the entrance, but it was futile. He wasn’t stupid enough to visit the establishment alone.

“What’s going on?”

With the commotion at the entrance, Pyo Sera, who happened to be in the establishment, came out.

“Oh, aren’t you Director Choi’s right-hand man? What brings you here? And where is Director Choi?”

“Director Choi is busy with something else. That’s why I had to come alone.”

“Why?”

“I’m looking for someone.”