73.
How could he refuse when invited? Lee Jeongin discreetly looked around before joining the man’s table. Including him, they were now four people—just the right number.
‘Still…’
Although Lee Jeongin had dressed in a neat suit, there was something different about these men. Even though they seemed casually dressed, each exuded an aura of luxury. They appeared to be of a different class.
‘No, what am I thinking about class for?’
In the end, they were all just people stuck in a gambling den. Lee Jeongin forced himself to smile. For the first round, he just sat in his chair and observed.
“Two more cards.”
The coin denominations were different from the lower floor. Yet they casually stacked their coins, chuckling as they continued their game. The first round ended with the victory of the man who had initially spoken to him. He roughly piled his coins to one side and addressed Lee Jeongin.
“Come to think of it, I haven’t caught your name.”
“It’s Lee Jeongin.”
“Lee Jeongin.”
Just as he was about to ask for the man’s name, the stranger spoke.
“My name is Ryu Jiho.”
Though Lee Jeongin didn’t know many people, the name sounded strangely familiar. Where had he heard it before? While pondering this, the second round began. This time Lee Jeongin joined in. The cards he received were quite good, allowing him to win the coins. Clutching the coins in his hand filled him with immense happiness. And at that moment, he remembered where he’d heard the name Ryu Jiho.
Toho Construction. When he worked in construction, he had worked there briefly. Something about it had seemed dangerous, so he hadn’t stayed long, but he had heard some names related to Toho Construction from the workers’ gossip. Ryu Jiho was the second son of Toho Construction, said to be an uncontrollable troublemaker.
‘Is that why he frequents gambling dens?’
Well, whoever Ryu Jiho was, it didn’t change anything. Lee Jeongin participated in a few more rounds of gambling, losing half and winning half. Losing money was incredibly sad, painful, and infuriating, but thinking about his winnings made it bearable.
‘At least I still have the money I won downstairs.’
As he was grinning at this thought, Ryu Jiho stopped Lee Jeongin as he was about to leave.
“Mr. Lee Jeongin. Could I have a word with you?”
“Wh-what about?”
Despite Ryu Jiho being younger, Lee Jeongin felt strangely intimidated facing him. Not as much as when facing Director Choi Mujin, but still.
“Hey, I’ll rent a room here.”
Ryu Jiho spoke to the security guard watching over the VIP room. The guard nodded and personally escorted them to a small room. It appeared to be a place for preparing tea. Besides a small table and two chairs, there was only a teabag and an electric kettle.
“Lee Haseo. You know that name, right?”
Ryu Jiho, having brought Lee Jeongin in, immediately posed the question.
“No, I don’t know that name.”
He denied it reflexively, but Ryu Jiho didn’t take his denial at face value.
“What, a father doesn’t even know his own son’s name?”
Ryu Jiho had already dropped formal speech. Lee Jeongin sensed something was wrong and hunched his shoulders.
“Mr. Lee Jeongin. You really don’t know?”
Lee Jeongin’s eyes darted around nervously.
“I’m a pacifist, but I can’t say the same for my friends outside.”
“I do know! I know!”
Quickly changing his answer, Lee Jeongin saw Ryu Jiho smirk.
“I want something.”
“What is it?”
“Lee Haseo. I want to extract that guy.”
At those words, Lee Jeongin recalled Director Choi Mujin’s cold gaze and Seo Miso. The thorough training they had instilled in him began to resurface. Lee Jeongin trembled and lowered his head.
“W-why do you need him?”
“Do I need to tell you why? That doesn’t seem like something you need to know. You just need to do as we say and help get Lee Haseo out. It’s not like you love your son anyway, right?”
“N-no.”
“Were you going to deny it?”
Ryu Jiho took out a cigarette from his pocket and put it in his mouth.
“Let’s not say things that even a dog wouldn’t believe.”
Lee Jeongin obediently kept his mouth shut.
“Still, it would be disappointing if I asked for a favor without giving anything in return. If you move as we instruct, let’s see… I’ll give you as much money as you want. Money that can’t be compared to what you earned downstairs. With that kind of money, you could do anything you want. Right?”
“…You’ll really give it to me?”
“Of course I will! Plus, what you need to do isn’t difficult. It’s definitely doable.”
“Can I refuse?”
“Are you going to refuse?”
Ryu Jiho looked at Lee Jeongin with mocking eyes.
“You. You know who I am, right?”
At those words, Lee Jeongin had nothing more to say. Everyone knew Toho Construction was connected to gangsters. If he refused here, he might be dragged somewhere and buried in the ground.
“Wh-what do I need to do?”
In response to Lee Jeongin’s question, Ryu Jiho blew out cigarette smoke and began to speak.
About 10 minutes later, Lee Jeongin left. But Ryu Jiho remained in the small room, smoking cigarettes.
“Crazy bitch.”
His father and older brother cherished Ryu Jiyeon, their only daughter, but Ryu Jiho didn’t. While everyone else was covered in filth, she acted innocent and pure, which he found annoying. Plus, receiving affection without effort? Ridiculous.
“Fucking hell, making things difficult.”
This current situation was a prime example. Falling for a guy and wanting to rescue someone under Director Choi Mujin? He couldn’t understand why his father would agree to such a thing. Even more irritating was that Ryu Jiho had to be the one to move in this process. He had successfully lured Lee Haseo’s father, but there was still more to do.
“What am I even doing?”
Ryu Jiho roughly stubbed out his cigarette on the table and stood up. He planned to report today’s events to his father and then find somewhere to drink.
‘Nothing goes according to plan.’
He could only sigh.
Director Choi Mujin twisted the corner of his mouth as he looked at the information Seo Miso had delivered. Lee Jeongin hadn’t disappointed his expectations. He had fallen back into gambling and incurred another massive debt, and he had met with people from Toho Construction. Not only that, but after leaving the gambling den, he seemed to have met with Chairman Jang’s people. In a way, he was like a shrimp caught between fighting whales.
To think such a person was Haseo’s father. It seemed Haseo took after his mother more than his father. After confirming everything about Lee Jeongin and the people around him, Choi Mujin turned on his tablet PC. Though he had placed various items for Haseo to play with at the villa, Haseo hadn’t shown interest in any of them. He had tried to engage with the gaming console and books, but that was as far as it went.
In the end, he put everything down and spent time alone, sitting blankly. Even with a mobile phone, he didn’t seem to do much with it. He didn’t behave like typical young people these days.
Today, too, Haseo was sitting vacantly on the living room sofa before getting up. Then he headed to the bathroom. He spent a longer time in the bathroom than would be necessary for just relieving himself. Sometimes he simply locked himself in there.
There were no CCTV cameras in the bathroom, but there were listening devices. Haseo didn’t know that. So he must be talking to that guy named Jeong Heejun every day in there. So far, Haseo had been rejecting Jeong Heejun’s proposals, but he seemed to enjoy their conversations.
Initially lifeless, his voice had now found some vitality. Just thinking about it made Choi Mujin’s insides twist, but he didn’t immediately confront Haseo about it. It wasn’t time yet.
When he got rid of Chairman Jang soon, he planned to eliminate Jeong Heejun as well. Haseo would go through despair once more, but that might be better. Deep sorrow and isolation would weaken Haseo, and then Choi Mujin planned to be by his side. Haseo already liked Choi Mujin, but Choi Mujin couldn’t fully trust that.
He wanted to be the only existence in Haseo’s world. Then there wouldn’t be failures like with Seo Jaewoo. Unnecessary consideration or kindness had taken others away from Choi Mujin. This time, he was determined to do things right without mistakes. For that, Choi Mujin was willing to do anything.
Even if it meant taking family away from Haseo. Haseo’s mother had chosen her current family and didn’t reach out to Haseo. Haseo’s father was of no help, so he planned to remove him this time.
As for the grandmother…
‘She won’t last much longer. The fact that she’s held on this long is already a miracle.’
She was practically a half-corpse with no consciousness. Although he provided everything necessary for life support because Haseo wanted it, she would soon depart from this world.
This was the kind of person Director Choi Mujin was. Gentle and tender love didn’t suit him. Forgetting that had led to mistakes in the past.
“Haseo.”
On the screen, Haseo was just coming out of the bathroom. His face, more lively than usual, looked strange.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
