“So the murderer is… that loan shark?”
—Yes.
The corners of his mouth twitched involuntarily. It made no sense. He had seen Sa Gong-hyun’s face in the photo with his own eyes, so what was all this about?
The real murderer had been with him until just moments ago, but now he was supposedly awaiting trial. It was so absurd that he could only laugh.
—And about Cha Seung-kwon.
However, as the voice continued without stopping, even his pointless smile had to cease.
“I have one more job to entrust to you.”
That day, Jae-young had commissioned more from the man than just confirming whether Kim Jung-min was alive or dead.
“Has Cha Seung-kwon recently commissioned any jobs from you?”
He had regretted it. He thought he had done something unnecessary. He had also felt somewhat wasteful for transferring a lump sum of money that he had been saving to buy drinks.
“If it’s difficult, forget it, but please just follow Cha Seung-kwon around. Find out what he’s doing these days. Keep it a secret from him.”
“…Were you scammed?”
They had stuck together for nine years. They had been so close that Ju-seong was suspicious. During that time, Seung-kwon was the only person Jae-young somewhat trusted.
If asked whether he still felt that way, he couldn’t be sure. He was suspicious of him.
Seung-kwon’s plan had clearly changed. Yet he claimed that the plan remained unchanged. Moreover, even though he knew his lie had been exposed, he didn’t offer Jae-young any explanation.
Seung-kwon had always faithfully followed through with his plans. This time… he didn’t.
Even if he had no intention of backstabbing, creating secrets while working together was dangerous. It also meant that he didn’t trust Jae-young.
That’s what hurt the most. While Jae-young trusted Seung-kwon completely, everything he got in return was filled with suspicion.
So he couldn’t tell him. That he was going to Gangwon Province with Sa Gong-hyun this evening, that Sa Gong-hyun had given him the front door code. That he should take a look around the house with Ju-yeon after disabling the cameras.
“I don’t have any money that he owes me, so just find out what he’s up to.”
When his aunt and uncle had lost all their wealth through fraud, Jae-young and Seung-kwon had shared drinks that night. That day, Jae-young had asked.
“In movies, people always have partners, but why are you alone? Didn’t you say that you hadn’t seen the hyung who helped us for three years?”
Seung-kwon had laughed at that naive question. And then he said that there was no one he could trust, asking if Jae-young trusted the hearts of con artists. That they were the kind of people who might backstab you at any moment, even if you were currently working together. That you always had to be careful.
Jae-young acknowledged that statement. There were no con artists who kept their loyalty even in the face of death, like in the movies. In a world where they backstabbed each other, there was no lifelong loyalty among them.
That was no different for Seung-kwon.
***
By nature, he didn’t trust people easily. But if asked whether he completely distrusted others, that wasn’t quite true either.
He wasn’t particularly interested. Whatever the truth might be, whatever people might say, it was their individual freedom.
From verbose speech steeped in vanity, he selected what to believe. Most of it was related to work, and if something seemed odd, he just laughed it off.
Seung-kwon was an exception. Although he was a con artist, he was trustworthy. One of Jae-young’s flaws was that once he started to care for someone, an objective perspective ceased to function.
The thin veil that had covered his vision fluttered in the wind. As the veil was lifted, the clear lens sought to reveal Seung-kwon’s bare face.
When he first witnessed this, the emotion he felt was emptiness.
As if he had been rejected in love, he felt no motivation. Not being able to drink on a day like this was truly sad.
“…Do you have wine?”
Jae-young opened his eyes wide as he looked at the wine bottle in front of him. At this moment, the most welcome sight was not the delicious steak or pasta, but the alcohol.
In his current state of mind, he could have downed not just strong soju but strong wine too.
“You look like you’re more excited about the alcohol than the ocean.”
“You didn’t know? Atmosphere and alcohol are best friends.”
Sa Gong-hyun looked at Jae-young and laughed softly. Of course, the ocean was nice too. Sa Gong-hyun’s villa had a swimming pool on the first-floor terrace, and from the second-floor balcony, you could see the vast ocean.
Even though the sea wasn’t clearly visible as night had fallen, listening to the sound of the waves inexplicably calmed his heart. The same was true for the sea smell that came with the wind.
Jae-young stared blankly as Sa Gong-hyun poured wine into a decanter. Watching the rose-colored wine fill the transparent crystal glass, he belatedly felt hungry. Only now did he remember that he had eaten poorly all day.
After filling his stomach, he went out to the first-floor terrace and dipped his feet in the swimming pool. The water was extremely cold. Thinking it wasn’t as deep as he expected, he went down holding the stair-like railing. The water level came up to his chest.
In the distance, he could see Sa Gong-hyun approaching with wine. It was the second bottle of wine, as one wasn’t enough. If it had been a situation where he could drink until intoxicated, he might have begged him to open one more bottle.
Sa Gong-hyun knelt down on the deck. He held out a wine glass, which Jae-young took and drank a sip.
“Hyun-ssi, are you good at swimming?”
“I can swim well enough not to drown.”
“When I was in middle school, my nickname was ‘dolphin.’ Since my last name is Do, it was ‘Do-lphin.’ Funny, right?”
Jae-young smiled broadly as he rested his arms on the deck. Sa Gong-hyun also had a smile on his face.
“They say I almost drowned when I was young. My dad often took me to the swimming pool to teach me how to swim.”
“Judging by the dolphin nickname, it was worth it.”
“That’s right. I think I learned more diligently back then because I was embarrassed to only play in the children’s pool. That water depth was just right for me.”
“Do you miss it?”
Jae-young, who had his cheek against his arm, straightened his head. In the past, he seemed to have missed the absence of his parents, but now he didn’t feel that way anymore.
“…I haven’t thought about it these days.”
He had passed the age of missing his mom and dad, and much time had flowed since then.
Jae-young smiled briefly and emptied his wine glass. Then he suddenly pulled Sa Gong-hyun’s hand. In the blink of an eye, Sa Gong-hyun fell into the water. After sinking to the bottom of the pool, Sa Gong-hyun rose to the surface while hugging Jae-young’s legs.
“Ah!”
Thanks to that, his body was lifted high. Jae-young hugged Sa Gong-hyun’s head and burst into laughter.
“Refreshing, isn’t it?”
“You’re a real water ghost.”
“It’s fun, isn’t it? I thought you wouldn’t come in if I just asked you to.”
The outer wall of the swimming pool touched behind his buttocks. Jae-young brushed Sa Gong-hyun’s wet hair back.
Maybe it’s because his forehead is pretty. He looked sexier with his hair brushed back. The fact that such thoughts came without hesitation meant that he had become quite accustomed to this lifestyle.
It wasn’t something to jump about, wondering if he had become gay himself. A man can sometimes look sexy. He had just become familiar with it. He had just moved one step further away from being a fool.
“I knew and let it happen.”
“Whose boyfriend are you anyway, such a gentleman.”
“So.”
Jae-young, who had been wiping the moisture flowing down under Sa Gong-hyun’s eyes, raised his gaze. He met Sa Gong-hyun’s eyes affectionately.
“So it would be better not to think about backstabbing.”
Despite the chilling meaning of his words, his eyes were still gentle. Was it a warning, or a hint for the future?
“If it’s Do Jae-young, I’d obviously let it slide even if I knew. You’d probably vent your secretly built resentment on your affair partner.”
Jae-young’s lips moved silently. A hollow laugh escaped involuntarily, and he grabbed Sa Gong-hyun’s cheeks and pressed their foreheads together.
He had almost become a thief caught by his own guilt. Seeing how he preemptively warned, it seems he too was afraid of someone betraying him. Even over just an affair.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
