He grabbed his phone and hurriedly left the house. He needed to meet his group. Rather than just waiting for contact, he needed to meet and inform them of this fact.
Jae-young, who was about to dial Seung-kwon’s number, momentarily closed his hand into a fist.
The voice message left last night had just caught his eye. At the time the voice message arrived from an unknown number, Jae-young was intimately engaged with Sa Gong-hyun. He briefly swallowed a sharp breath, almost like a scream.
The saliva, burdened with a handful of tension, went down heavily. While slowly taking steps, he pressed the voice message.
He pressed the number according to the guidance. Once again, he swallowed the tension that was not only heavy but also sharp. After a moment of silence, Seung-kwon’s voice flowed from the voice message.
“Do Jae-young! Get out of there right now! Han Ju-seong isn’t being cautious because of the job. That bastard, shibal! Han Ju-seong, that bastard is dead. Sa Gong-hyun already noticed and took care of him. Logan Pierce too… Haah, Logan Pierce is Sa Gong… Uh. …Now that bastard is going to the police station to hand over the file, so run away immediately… If you check this… Immediately…”
The message ended there. Eyes filled with confusion were finally covered by eyelids. Legs that had been walking steadily somehow froze on their own at some point.
“…Shit.”
Along with a short breath, a curse burst out.
The voice message sent by Seung-kwon was recorded in a very busy environment. A voice muffled by rough breathing, quite chaotic background noise.
It was then that what he had been trying to deny became certain. The operation had gone wrong. Jae-young unconsciously took out his ID card that he had brought with him.
He couldn’t believe Sa Gong-hyun’s face embedded on the left side of the ID card.
“Haah, shit…”
A sound without a single grain of hope scattered weakly. His focus couldn’t stay on a single point and wavered.
He tightly gripped the ID card in his hand. The only sounds escaping his mouth were curses.
There was no room for doubt. He had known everything from the beginning. That Jae-young had deliberately approached him, that the Do Jae-young he knew was a character crafted by acting, and finally, that he would eventually betray him—everything.
Suddenly feeling a presence behind him, his back stiffened. He stretched out his steps without delay.
Though his completely hardened face stubbornly stared straight ahead, all his nerves were directed backward.
Was it an illusion? He couldn’t tell. But Jae-young couldn’t stop walking. Sa Gong-hyun had clearly noticed that Jae-young had discovered his ID card.
Perhaps… that ID card was also something he had deliberately dropped. Wasn’t it strange? Just shaking the jacket a few times, there’s no way the ID card would fall out of the pocket.
Sa Gong-hyun was the type who would track Jae-young’s movements and more. If not today, when the time came, he would catch those conspirators and crush them.
There was no room for doubt. It didn’t matter if the person seemingly following him was a complete stranger with no such intention. Even if he was dealing with premature fear, there was nothing for Jae-young to lose.
After calmly turning the corner, Jae-young hurriedly moved his eyes. He needed to safely escape this road and shake off any possible shadows.
Whenever saliva collected in his mouth, he swallowed it without rest. Finally, Jae-young reached the end of the road and was about to turn the corner. Seeing the green number 3 flashing at the pedestrian crossing signal, he started running.
He belatedly joined the crowd of people. As Jae-young finished crossing, he turned his back and checked behind him. Fortunately, the situation he had worried about did not occur.
“…”
Not a single suspicious person was visible. Most of the people who coincidentally made eye contact with Jae-young were busy going their own way.
Jae-young forcibly gathered his panting breath. Although he had determined that no one was following him, his unstable stride moved through the crowd.
He got into a taxi that was parked nearby. Every time the taxi smoothly rolled on the road, Jae-young had to urge the driver.
As far as Jae-young knew, Ju-yeon had never been exposed, so she shouldn’t be in a situation where she couldn’t answer the phone. However, the ringing tone that continued several times ultimately failed to capture Ju-yeon’s voice.
“What on earth are you doing…!”
He muttered to himself while nervously chewing his fingernails. At that angry outburst, the driver glanced at Jae-young through the rearview mirror.
Confirming this with a sideways glance, Jae-young exhaled a deep sigh. He irritably messed up his hair.
After getting out of the taxi, Jae-young immediately entered Seung-kwon’s officetel.
His mind went blank. His heart beat as if it had received a rapid blood flow, almost like it was curving.
It was time to accept it now. The dirty house and the countless footprints on the floor seemed to be telling him not to postpone facing reality any longer.
Seung-kwon is currently being chased by someone. Unfortunately, that someone would be Sa Gong-hyun’s underling.
Then what about Ju-yeon? Ju-yeon, who should be the safest in the current situation. Why isn’t she answering the phone? Is she already on the run?
Jae-young, who had been pressing his fingertips firmly, walked through Seung-kwon’s house without even taking off his shoes.
He opened the drawer where Seung-kwon kept his car keys and looked for the motorcycle key. He also grabbed a jack knife that could serve as a weapon just in case.
Jae-young, who was about to move immediately, blankly looked down at his attire.
There is something that must be engraved when escaping. One of them was ‘do not insist on one type of clothing.’ He rummaged through Seung-kwon’s dressing room and took out a rider jacket to wear.
“If you’re worried, I can ease it for you. So ask me for help.”
Suddenly, his voice penetrated his eardrums sharply.
It didn’t make sense common-sensically. Why would he, who is Logan Pierce and Sa Gong-hyun himself, request a job against himself?
Whatever his purpose, it was certainly not a light intention.
“A bastard like you would really help me.”
His sharp words stirred the empty air, but somehow it felt like tears would burst out. Jae-young, who clenched his molars, forcibly held back the tears that were about to pour out.
If Jae-young and his group’s involvement in this game was all designed by Sa Gong-hyun. Then the fact that he was gay, and the emotional connection they had while being intimate… could all be lies.
He couldn’t guess which parts were sincere and which parts were false. Above all, that was the most frustrating thing.
He felt like he was going to vomit. Successive doubts endlessly spread their wings.
The fact that Seung-kwon is being chased means that Sa Gong-hyun has started to move. Then, from when? From when his contact with him was cut off? Then why Ju-yeon specifically at this time? How did he know about Ju-yeon’s existence in the first place?
Jae-young, who was pursuing the origin of the incident, exhaled a long sigh. For now, survival was the priority. He connected Seung-kwon’s Bluetooth earphone to his phone and inserted it into his ear.
Jae-young, who had attempted to contact Ju-yeon several times, came down to the underground parking lot and pushed the kick stand of the motorcycle with his heel.
Ju-yeon’s workshop was locked. The more missed calls accumulated during his rush, the more he realized the seriousness of the situation.
Jae-young raised his right hand and knocked on the door several times.
“…Noona.”
There was no voice coming from the other side.
“Ju-yeon noona, are you not inside? It’s me, Jae-young.”
Jae-young lifted his head while gripping the doorknob that wouldn’t go down smoothly because of the lock.
She would have hidden a master key somewhere. First, he checked the cooler bag hanging on the front door. It only contained a 200mL milk carton. He could feel that the milk had become lukewarm.
Next, he ran his hand over the window sill that filled the space between the office and the ground. He only touched the accumulated dust.
Going out into the hallway, he examined one by one the flowerpots placed at the edge of the passage. While lifting the flowerpots to check underneath, Jae-young found the master key about ten steps away from Ju-yeon’s workshop.
When he brought the master key, which was attached like a keyring, to the door lock, the lock was released. When he inserted the key into the doorknob and turned it, the doorknob went down easily.
“…”
Jae-young, who had finally entered the office, silently surveyed the interior. Unlike what he had seen at Seung-kwon’s officetel, there were no signs of someone having rummaged through.
“…When is this from?”
After checking the food that Ju-yeon had left behind, he lifted his head. It was food that had been abandoned for at least four days. That meant that Ju-yeon was not safe either.
There was no more time to waste. First, he turned on the computer that had its power off.
Sitting in the reclining office chair where Ju-yeon always sat, he rummaged through the drawers. Suddenly, the programs that Jae-young was familiar with appeared on the screen that he thought was off. It seemed that it had automatically gone into power-saving mode due to being untouched for a long time.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
