“What does it look like I’m going to do?”
Choi Sang-hyuk asked, his voice chillingly calm. His face was devoid of emotion, but it wasn’t the usual blank expression Kim Min-seok had grown accustomed to. This was different. This kind of emptiness sent a cold shiver down one’s spine.
Choi Sang-hyuk moved behind Seo Chang-seop, standing just behind his chair. He spread the rusted blades of the bolt cutter wide and slipped them around Seo Chang-seop’s thumb. With just the slightest squeeze, the jagged, corroded edges clamped down threateningly. Even though it wasn’t his own finger caught in the cutter, Kim Min-seok felt a sharp, phantom pain race up his hand. His fingertips tingled, and goosebumps crawled up his skin.
“Wait! Wait! I’ll talk! I’ll tell you!” Seo Chang-seop screamed in panic.
“Talk,” Choi Sang-hyuk ordered, keeping the pressure steady. There was no sign that he would ease up until he got what he wanted.
“I’ll tell you! I swear! But just hear me out first! Just one billion won! Just give me one billion, and I’ll disappear. I’ll be gone from Seo Ha-yoon’s life forever!”
“Wrong answer.”
Choi Sang-hyuk said coldly. Then, without hesitation, he clenched the handles tight.
“AAAAAAGH—!!!”
A bloodcurdling scream ripped through the empty basement, bouncing off the cold concrete walls. Kim Min-seok stared blankly at the severed thumb that had tumbled onto the floor, at the fresh crimson pouring down in thick rivulets, at Seo Chang-seop writhing in agony.
“UAAAAAAGH!!”
The shrieking was so relentless and agonizing that Kim Min-seok wanted to cover his ears. But his body refused to move.
Choi Sang-hyuk remained impassive, completely unaffected by the desperate wailing beside him. With the same eerie composure, he positioned the cutter over the next finger and applied slight pressure. His voice was disturbingly quiet.
“Ten fingers. Ten toes. If that’s not enough, we still have hands and feet left. You were a narcotics detective once, weren’t you? You must’ve seen plenty of guys die in all sorts of fucked-up ways. We have plenty of time, so let’s keep going. This is only the second finger, isn’t it? Talk.”
“Hnnngh… Hrrrk….”
Seo Chang-seop’s entire body trembled violently. Drool streamed uncontrollably from his lips, his teeth clattering from the unbearable pain. He choked out a whimper, but Choi Sang-hyuk pressed down again, forcing another broken scream from his throat.
“I’LL TALK! I’LL TALK!”
“Then do it.”
Choi Sang-hyuk’s response was short and devoid of emotion. Meanwhile, Seo Chang-seop’s eyes darted wildly, desperately searching for an escape. But no matter how hard he tried to think, he found no way out. His face drained of all color, turning ashen with despair.
“……The ID is ******. The password is *******.”
Seo Chang-seop finally spat out the information, his lips wet with saliva and blood.
“You’ll let me live since I told you, right? Forget the money, just let me go. I swear I’ll never contact Ha-yoon again. Do you think I’d be stupid enough to after what you’ve done to me? Just let me live. Huh? That’s all I ask. Just let me live!”
Seo Chang-seop shouted desperately. But Kim Min-seok paid no attention to his words. Instead, he entered the ID and password Seo Chang-seop had given him. It wasn’t a lie—the account opened immediately.
Inside the cloud storage, there were far more photos and videos than in the previous account.
“You fucking bastard…”
Kim Min-seok muttered under his breath. He didn’t even have the courage to click on the files to confirm them. Without hesitation, he wiped everything.
The other cloud apps used the same ID and password. Kim Min-seok accessed each one, systematically deleting every file. Finally, he placed the phone on the ground and stomped on it, crushing it beneath his heel.
“Ha-yoon… Ha-yoon! Don’t you remember? How much I adored you when you were little? Even when your mother mistreated you, I always protected you. You remember that, don’t you? Even after your mom died, I never abandoned you. I could’ve dumped you in an orphanage, but I didn’t. I fed you, clothed you, raised you as my own son. You remember that, right?”
Seo Chang-seop struggled in his restraints, his voice filled with raw desperation. If a stranger had been listening, they might have been fooled by how pitiful he sounded.
“O-of course, I… I just lost control for a moment because you were so beautiful. That was my mistake. But Ha-yoon, I’m your father. I’m the only father you have!”
“You should’ve just left me in an orphanage.”
Kim Min-seok’s voice was cold as ice. Then he turned his gaze toward Choi Sang-hyuk.
“He’s obsessive. Even if we’ve dealt with the phone and the cloud storage, there could still be backups. A computer, a USB, an external hard drive… he might have stored them somewhere else.”
“Then we’ll burn his whole fucking house down.”
Choi Sang-hyuk spoke as if he had already planned for this.
“Wouldn’t that cause trouble for the neighbors?”
“Don’t worry. The people I work with aren’t that careless.”
As Kim Min-seok and Choi Sang-hyuk talked as if Seo Chang-seop wasn’t even there, he suddenly started screaming.
“Help!! Somebody help me!! Help meee!!”
His voice was so loud that it hurt Kim Min-seok’s ears. Instinctively, he raised both hands to cover them.
Choi Sang-hyuk strode toward Seo Chang-seop and delivered a brutal punch to his stomach.
“Kugh—!!”
The impact was so intense that Seo Chang-seop couldn’t even scream anymore. He choked and wheezed, struggling for breath.
Choi Sang-hyuk scowled, as if even touching him was disgusting. Kim Min-seok watched him return and hesitated before grabbing the sleeve of his jacket.
“But… what happens to him now?”
Their business with Seo Chang-seop was done. But with one of his fingers severed, would he really let this go? He no longer had anything to blackmail Seo Ha-yoon with, but he still had his grudge. And Kim Min-seok was worried. If he held a grudge against Choi Sang-hyuk, what if he tried to take revenge?
“Don’t worry. He won’t be bothering you again.”
Choi Sang-hyuk said firmly.
Kim Min-seok hesitated, debating whether he should ask the question that was on his mind. Then, cautiously, he spoke.
“…Are you going to kill him?”
“Someday, he’ll die. But not today.”
At Choi Sang-hyuk’s response, Kim Min-seok felt a deep sense of relief. Not because Seo Chang-seop would survive, but because he no longer had to worry about Choi Sang-hyuk killing someone because of him.
“Thank you! Thank you, Ha-yoon! I knew you wouldn’t kill me! I really did!”
Seo Chang-seop, who had been holding his breath while listening to their conversation, suddenly shouted in gratitude.
Choi Sang-hyuk leaned down, bringing his lips close to Kim Min-seok’s ear as he whispered.
“He’s a junkie who’s been around for a long time. There were others after him besides me. If I leave him here, he’ll either run or get caught. Drug addicts dying? That happens every day. If anything, it’s a miracle he’s still alive.”
Kim Min-seok lowered his gaze to the floor.
So, even if Choi Sang-hyuk didn’t kill him, Seo Chang-seop’s death was inevitable. But there was no reason to save someone who had dug his own grave. Instead, the thought that he might disappear for good brought a quiet sense of relief.
Should he really feel relieved about someone’s impending death? That doubt crossed his mind for a moment, but he quickly shook it off. This was a man who had sexually abused his own foster son, taken pictures and videos, and used them for blackmail. A piece of human garbage. Whether he lived or died was entirely his own doing. There was no reason for Kim Min-seok to feel guilt.
“Let’s go.”
Choi Sang-hyuk placed a firm hand on Kim Min-seok’s shoulder.
“W-What about me?!”
Seo Chang-seop shouted.
“I’ll tell them to let you go tomorrow.”
Choi Sang-hyuk spoke as if he couldn’t be bothered, then guided Kim Min-seok toward the exit.
“Ha… Ha-yoon! I—I really did love you!”
Seo Chang-seop’s voice rang out from behind.
Something inside Kim Min-seok snapped.
Without a second thought, he spun around and sprinted toward Seo Chang-seop. The moment he reached him, he swung his fist with all the force in his body, smashing it directly into Seo Chang-seop’s face.
“You filthy bastard!!!”
Puhk!!
The punch landed squarely. Pain shot through his knuckles, but he didn’t care. Seo Chang-seop, still tied to the chair, toppled over onto his side. Without hesitation, Kim Min-seok began stomping on his face, again and again.
“Never say Seo Ha-yoon’s name again! Just hearing it come out of your mouth makes me want to vomit!”
He spat the words through clenched teeth as his foot crashed down on Seo Chang-seop’s face. After one final stomp, he spat on him in disgust.
Breathing heavily, Kim Min-seok turned around—and saw Choi Sang-hyuk standing exactly where he had been, watching silently.
For a moment, Kim Min-seok worried that he might have looked ugly—pathetic, even. But Choi Sang-hyuk, unfazed, simply extended a hand and gestured for him to come.
“What are you waiting for? Hurry up.”
At his call, Kim Min-seok felt like he had been saved. He ran straight into Choi Sang-hyuk’s arms, clinging to him tightly.
For some reason, tears welled up in his eyes.
Choi Sang-hyuk held him close and led him out of the basement.
Outside the underground storage, in the empty lot, Kim Min-seok buried his face against Choi Sang-hyuk’s chest and broke down in sobs. He wasn’t Seo Ha-yoon, and yet, it felt as if he had become him. The past humiliation, despair, pain, hatred, loneliness, and sorrow surged over him like a tidal wave.
With the tears streaming down his face, it felt as if fragments of the dark past were slowly being washed away. So he didn’t hold back. He let himself cry, wailing openly, releasing everything he had bottled up.
Choi Sang-hyuk said nothing. He simply held Kim Min-seok tightly, patting his back in silence.
