<121> Side Story. 13
Ja-kyung hurried outside and quickly moved below the wall together with Wang Lun. Sticking his head out to check, the outside was dead silent, and Wang Han's car that had been at the alley entrance had already moved up to in front of the mart. The two climbed over the wall and hurriedly got into the car.
"What's going on?"
Wang Han, sitting in the driver's seat, explained what had just happened. He said he was watching from below the alley to see if Prosecutor Jang's car would come, when a taxi stopped and Prosecutor Jang got out, apparently drunk and swaying slightly.
But the moment he was about to make a call, a man with his face covered got out of a black van that had been parked in front and kidnapped Prosecutor Jang in the blink of an eye. It was hard to believe even after hearing it. No, kidnapping could happen, but... why today of all days?
If they were unlucky and Prosecutor Jang's body was found tomorrow morning, things would get complicated. It meant that the three of them who were at this place at the same time could also be put on the suspect list. Let's just go back for now. He was about to start the engine and leave when Wang Lun in the back seat suddenly stuck his face between the driver's seat and passenger seat.
"Shouldn't we chase after them?"
Wang Han looked back.
"Why."
Wang Lun fumbled around in his pocket and took something out. It was the missing person flyer they had seen at Prosecutor Jang's house earlier. He handed it to Wang Han. Look at this, hyung. When Wang Han tried to open and read it, Ja-kyung snatched it away. Don't look. Lun hyung is talking nonsense.
He was about to crumple it up and throw it away when Lun managed to snatch it back and put it in Wang Han's hand. Wang Han's eyes grew round as he opened and checked it. After looking back and forth between Ja-kyung's face and the paper several times, he rubbed his chin and made a sound, "Hm."
"He really looks like you."
Ja-kyung responded nonchalantly.
"There are many people in the world who look alike."
Wang Han nodded in agreement. There could be any number of people in the world who look alike. But Wang Lun still wouldn't give up and kept urging them to chase after them.
"What if Wei is really the child these people lost? Then that prosecutor is his only brother."
Wang Han frowned.
"You and I are also Wei's brothers."
"Who doesn't know that. What I mean is—"
Ja-kyung shook his head and clicked his tongue. He said the big brother has been watching too many dramas lately and finally can't distinguish between reality and fantasy, going crazy. Let's just leave already.
But the car didn't move. Looking to the side, Wang Han couldn't seem to let go of the paper. Ja-kyung took it away and tossed it to the back, telling him to hurry home. He thought it was fortunate when he started driving right away, but then he turned in the opposite direction from home.
Ja-kyung frowned and looked back, and Lun had a happy face with his arm draped between the two seats, looking at Ja-kyung teasingly.
"Wei. It seems big brother is on my side this time."
Ja-kyung urged Han to go back home. But instead of answering, he activated the tracker on the car mount. The screen changed and a round light blinked from a place not too far away. Ja-kyung looked at him with an absurd expression.
"When did you install that?"
Wang Han took out something that looked similar to a pistol from under the seat and waved it. It was a device for attaching a tracker, made so it could be fired and attached even from a long distance. Lun in the back laughed saying he's indeed our brother, but Ja-kyung got annoyed.
"Why are you doing such stupid things? What are you going to do after chasing them? Save him?"
Han smiled silently and called Ja-kyung's name. Wei. When Ja-kyung, who was grumbling, looked back, their eyes met warmly.
"I think children resemble their parents. Of course not all of them do. So I sometimes wondered. How a child like you could be born under such trash parents."
Ja-kyung fell silent. Han had said something similar when they were young. At that time, Ja-kyung had scoffed. Han spoke as if Ja-kyung was special, but in the end, he was still someone who killed people.
"You never know. The parents who gave birth to you, they might have been good people."
Ja-kyung bit his lower lip gently. Both of them must be out of their minds. There are so many people in the world who look alike. But right now, he didn't have the deciding power. It's 2 against 1, isn't it. He sighed and looked at the clock. Would Kang Il-hyun have arrived home already? What excuse should he make up for tonight?
***
Lee Ja-kyung model, Lee Ja-kyung portrait, the bullet Lee Ja-kyung shot into his own thigh, the first heart message Lee Ja-kyung sent him, the frame with that printed and hung up. Besides these, things related to Lee Ja-kyung were placed here and there in the bedroom like decorations. Il-hyun, who had been sitting on the sofa, got up and went to Ja-kyung's model.
Facing it, he cupped its cheek with his hand and spoke to it as if it were really Lee Ja-kyung.
"Honey, you'll understand me, right?"
No answer would come back. His face changed to an expressionless one. He had many thoughts. It was as complicated as when he had made up his mind to kill his father, but he didn't want to change his decision. He didn't want to see Lee Ja-kyung having any blood relative or whatever, anyone else attached to him.
After being separated for such a long time, how touching would it be when they meet again? Fuck. Just imagining it, seeing how much he hated it... killing is the right thing to do.
Knock, knock. The sound of knocking scattered his thoughts. Park Tae-soo came in and began his situation report. He said the kidnapped Prosecutor Jang was being moved to a container at the pier now. He would arrive soon, and they were asking whether to kill him immediately or if there would be other instructions.
Il-hyun, who had been thinking deeply, looked again at the Lee Ja-kyung model in front of him. After reading Romeo and Juliet as a child, he had been obsessed with it for a while. It would make people laugh, but love that ends in death excited Kang Il-hyun.
"'Is love tender? It is too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it pricks like thorn.'" After reciting a line from the play and smiling bitterly, he turned and walked to where Tae-soo was.
"Let's go. He could have been my hyung, so I should at least see him off on his final journey."
***
Ja-kyung, Wang Han, and Wang Lun stopped their car at a place some distance away and observed the situation. The black van had disappeared inside the pier, and large containers were lined up next to it. They couldn't guess where they had gone.
They hid the car out of sight and followed them when a car approached from far away. They hid themselves at the same time, and when the car passed in front of them, all three had their eyes wide open. The black vehicle disappeared in the same direction as the van.
"That's... Kang Representative, right?"
"Yes."
The three thought hard. Did Kang Il-hyun order this by any chance? Since he viewed him as a thorn in his side, the possibility was high. Ja-kyung stood up first.
"I'm going."
"Why?"
"You'll see when we get there. He knows we're going around doing useless things again. Do you think Kang Representative will let that slide?"
Wang Lun chuckled.
"Don't worry. You have insurance."
Insurance? When Ja-kyung looked at him not understanding, Lun pointed between his legs. Ja-kyung immediately understood and shot back fiercely.
"There's nothing more to pound now!"
Lun asked if it hadn't grown back, but Ja-kyung couldn't bring himself to confess that Kang Il-hyun had personally pounded it recently. That he even learned from a waxing expert. Crazy bastard. How happy he looked when using what he learned, his smiling face was still vivid.
"Anyway, I'm going, so you two figure it out."
As he tried to go to the car alone, the usually quiet Wang Han urgently grabbed Ja-kyung's arm.
"Wei, wait."
Ja-kyung looked back with an exhausted expression.
"Why is even big brother doing this?"
Wang Han hesitated whether to speak or not. This is just my guess...
"What if you and that prosecutor inside are brothers, and Kang Representative found out first... Then wouldn't what's happening now be somewhat explained?"
Ja-kyung was dumbfounded. No matter how crazy Kang Il-hyun is, what reason would he have to kill someone who's said to be Lee Ja-kyung's brother?
"Kang Representative isn't that bad of a bastard."
"......"
"Even when he acts like a crazy bastard, it's actually because his heart hurts..."
Both fell silent. Ja-kyung also felt awkward after saying it and didn't add more. If they kept staying there, they might get caught up in it for nothing, so he headed to the car first. I don't know. I'm going. You two do whatever you want.
Then suddenly Kang Il-hyun's confession came to mind. In the yard of the old house, he had held out an armful of flowers picked from the flower bed.
[From now on, I'll give you all the love you need.]
[If you receive it from someone else, then this place will become your grave.]
His steps slowly slowed down. Suddenly he thought of the toothbrush that had disappeared in the morning. Until now, not a single one of Ja-kyung's belongings had ever disappeared. The cleaning staff also never touched his belongings without Ja-kyung's permission. That meant someone might have taken it on purpose.
In the end, he stopped halfway and looked back. Wang Lun and Wang Han were still standing there. Ja-kyung looked around. A perfect place to kill someone and dispose of the body without a trace. Fuck. Cursing, he turned back and Wang Lun patted Ja-kyung's shoulder and put his arm around him.
The three moved quickly between the containers. Then they discovered a faint light leaking from one container in the distance. In front of it stood a man in a black suit guarding it. It was a strange scene at first glance.
The three moved behind the container, hid themselves, and Wang Lun took out a wiretapping device from his bosom. Shaped like a stethoscope used by doctors, it could pick up sounds even through most walls. Wang Lun put the earphone in his ear and placed the rest against the container wall.
His pupils moved left and right. When Wang Han asked if he could hear, he put his finger to his mouth. Shh. He didn't even move, only his eyes kept moving. Getting curious, Ja-kyung and Wang Han looked at him like otters gathering to receive fish from a trainer.
Suddenly Wang Lun took out the earphone he had in his ear and handed it to Ja-kyung. Ja-kyung received it and put it in his ear. There was a beep sound that felt like it would tear his ear apart, and he frowned, causing Wang Lun to apologize with his mouth shape. Soon a familiar voice was heard.
Kang Il-hyun.
Ja-kyung focused on his voice. It's unfortunate we ended up like this, you should have kept your head down, this time you crossed the line first, and so on... As expected, it wasn't far from what was anticipated. Ja-kyung let out a small sigh of relief. See, Kang Il-hyun isn't that crazy of a bastard.
Just as he was about to take out the earphone, footsteps were heard, and Kang Il-hyun's voice grew quieter. Ja-kyung hesitated. A voice like a whisper came over the wall.
[Goodbye, Prosecutor.]
[Still, you're lucky. You saw with your own eyes that your younger brother is alive.]
Ja-kyung's eyes narrowed. The area under his eyes slowly distorted, and Il-hyun's voice was heard clearly.
[Still don't get it? Yang Seon-woo. That's your younger brother.]
Surprised, Ja-kyung immediately pulled the device from his ear. Standing frozen like a jangseung with a shocked face, Wang Han and Wang Lun asked what was wrong. Ja-kyung stood with lips only moving without breathing.
"Did you hear what he said?"
Ja-kyung still had a dazed face.
"Wei. Are you okay? Ja-kyung."
When Ja-kyung looked back at Wang Han, his face held mixed emotions.
"Hyung."
"Yes?"
"You brought a gun, right?"
Before Wang Han could answer, Ja-kyung reached out his hand first.
"Give it to me."