<123> Side Story. 15
His eyes opened on their own at the noisy bird sounds. The morning sun rises red. It was the first time in his life he had spent the night sitting up, and outdoors at that, to greet the morning. As he rose from his spot, his whole body was stiff. Fuck. He spat out a curse quietly and peered inside the wall.
The lights had been on until dawn, but now it was quiet. He brushed off his pants and stood before the firmly closed gate. The door was tightly locked. Breaking it down would cause a scene, so he climbed over the wall. He's done all sorts of things in his life.
He jumped down and crossed the yard. Crushed beer cans were rolling on the porch. Standing before the door, he called out "Honey," but there was no answer. Still sleeping? He took off his shoes, stepped up onto the wooden floor, and knocked.
No response, and knocking harder made no difference. At this level, anyone would wake up, but the continued silence was suspicious. A chill ran down the back of his neck.
"Damn it."
He stepped back and kicked the door with his foot—bang, and the door opened. The upper hinge had come loose. He pushed the dangling door panel and went inside. Lee Ja-kyung was visible under the covers. Ha, sleeping. He let out a relieved sigh and went to pull back the blanket.
"Honey."
His face completely hardened. Two pillows were placed there instead of Lee Ja-kyung. He stood up and searched the small room across and the kitchen thoroughly, but not even a hair was visible. In this tiny house, only Lee Ja-kyung had vanished without a trace. He took out his cell phone and called, but immediately got a message saying it was turned off.
Walking around the house with a hardened expression, he stopped when he discovered a low wall at the back. A climbing rope was connected from inside the wall to the outside. With skepticism, he went to check. Behind the house was practically a cliff. The rope hung down below.
He couldn't believe his eyes, so he pulled up the rope—nothing. He was so dumbfounded he let out a hollow laugh. To think he had guarded the front gate all night without knowing she had escaped. He struggled to suppress his anger and contacted Park Tae-soo first.
"Tae-soo. Check Lee Ja-kyung's location."
***
Ugh. Jang Tae-ho, groaning as he tossed and turned in bed, rolled onto the floor. He barely got up, stumbled along the wall, and found his way to the bathroom. As soon as he entered and grabbed the toilet, nausea rose.
After vomiting for a while, he washed his body with cold water. Coming out, he looked at his face in the mirror—his eyes were hollow. To clear his head first, he took cold water from the fridge and gulped it down. He felt like he might live.
What time did I come home? He checked the clock and tried to recall, but his memory was cut off as if sliced with a knife. Yesterday during the day, he visited Yang Sun-woo's house but gained nothing. Rather, his curiosity only grew about why such a person would stay there.
Then on the way back, he heard unexpected news. A victim from a case he handled years ago had committed suicide. So after work, with complicated feelings, he went to the funeral hall to meet the bereaved family with Administrator Park.
The victim was a 13-year-old girl at the time of the incident. The perpetrator was a thirty-year-old man from a family that had produced three National Assembly members across generations. During the trial, they hired top lawyers from a prominent law firm, and claiming he was heavily intoxicated at the time of the crime, they cited his history of mental weakness and depression treatment to receive a suspended sentence.
That day, the child's expression he saw was unforgettable enough to appear in his dreams for a while. For the first time in his life, he regretted choosing this profession. And yesterday at the funeral hall, the child's father grabbed Prosecutor Jang and asked through tears.
Isn't what people like you do supposed to punish bad guys? Then why is my daughter dead while that bastard shamelessly lives? Is this the justice you speak of?
Jang Tae-ho dragged his exhausted body to the sofa and lay down at length. He blinked slowly, staring at the ceiling. His head felt like it would split from the hangover. There was still time before work. Just as he was about to close his eyes a bit more, someone's voice flashed through his mind like lightning.
[Still, you're lucky. You saw with your own two eyes that your sibling is alive.]
He opened his closed eyes. The fluorescent light was dim, needing replacement. With a headache rushing in, he furrowed his brow deeply and sat up. He wrapped his head with both arms. Then the voice came even more vividly.
[Still don't get it? Yang Sun-woo. That's your sibling.]
Jang Tae-ho slowly lifted his buried head and glared straight ahead. The house was so quiet that even breathing couldn't be heard. He rose and moved to the master bedroom, taking out a sheet of paper from the stack on the dresser.
He compared the composite sketch of the presumed recent appearance with Yang Sun-woo's face. His temples throbbed as if pressed with a nail, and memories from last night surfaced in fragments like broken film. Warehouse, gunshots, Kang Il-hyun. And... the man pointing a gun at him. The face on the flyer and that man's face overlapped, becoming one person.
Confused, Jang Tae-ho paced back and forth in the room. That can't be. Absolutely not. If it were my sibling, I would have recognized them. I saw the face directly. I even went to where they lived.
Eventually, he wrapped his head again.
I don't know. I really don't.
***
Wang Han and Wang Ryun, who were having breakfast, stopped when they saw Kang Il-hyun's disheveled state entering the house. His suit was covered in dirt and in shambles, his hair was messy, and his cheek had red marks—maybe mosquito bites. Even if he had lost his country, he wouldn't have such an expression.
Entering the house, he headed silently toward the bedroom, then suddenly turned around. Wang Han and Wang Ryun, who had stretched their necks to watch, flinched and straightened their posture. They had heard early this morning from Park Tae-soo that Ja-kyung was missing. They didn't know how Kang Il-hyun was feeling, but seeing his eyes, they could tell he wouldn't let it slide if caught.
Heading to the bedroom, he came back again and stood before Wang Han and Wang Ryun, tilting his head crookedly.
"Tell me honestly. You two know where she is, right?"
Ryun answered with a wronged expression.
"I told Manager Park too, we don't know. Right, hyung?"
Wang Han also nodded in agreement. But even if they didn't know where she was, they knew this.
"Just leave it. He's scary when angry. Before, when he fought with Ryun, he didn't speak for 3 months."
At the word 3 months, Kang Il-hyun's expression darkened significantly. Wang Ryun also recalled that time with a fed-up expression.
"It wasn't 3 months. Exactly 4 months. I apologized and did everything, but he wouldn't accept it. Why was Wei angry then?"
"You kept doing what I told you not to do and teased me."
"Ah. Right. It really wasn't anything big."
Ryun tore off bread and put it in his mouth, looking at Kang Il-hyun with a pitying gaze.
"Representative Kang might take even longer."
Sensing Kang Il-hyun's expression growing increasingly menacing, the two grabbed the remaining bread and fled upstairs. The housekeeper nearby asked if he wanted breakfast, but Il-hyun had lost all appetite.
He entered the bedroom and threw off his dusty jacket. The face in the mirror showed clear exhaustion. He had put location trackers on the watch and sneakers Lee Ja-kyung wore, but even those signals were cut off. She had left her cell phone off, and even removed the chip secretly planted behind it. This meant she hadn't been unaware of it from the start, but had known and left it alone.
Anxious, he put a cigarette in his mouth. He looked outside through the window. The pool where Lee Ja-kyung always sat and rested was empty. Where did you go, Meow. He exhaled a sigh and smoke together, and his cell phone rang.
It was an unknown number.
He answered just in case, but it was not a welcome person.
[This is Prosecutor Jang Tae-ho. I contacted you because I'd like to meet.]
The voice was as cold as ice. He didn't want to admit it, but hearing only the voice, it strangely resembled Lee Ja-kyung. Without answering, he stared out the window with the cigarette in his mouth.
[Are you listening?]
He exhaled smoke, fogging the window. Fuck. He should have killed him before. Il-hyun suppressed his rising murderous intent and forced a smile. He relaxed his voice and mixed in extra kindness.
"Sure. Prosecutor Jang. Where shall we meet?"
***
Strange. Ja-kyung stared at the fishing line, again and again. It definitely used to catch well this way. However, contrary to expectations, he'd been catching nothing for hours. Oh well, don't know. He lay on a large rock beside him and looked at the sky. Dark clouds were thick, looking like rain was coming.
He dug through his pocket and took out a piece of paper. Missing child. He read it, and read it again. The appearance of the child smiling brightly in the photo was unfamiliar. What was so exciting? Is this really me?
[You shouldn't have been born. I should have killed you when you were in my womb.]
Ja-kyung's late mother lived with those words on her lips. A child who shouldn't have been born. Was she really not my biological mother? Then why did she say she gave birth to me?
He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. Kang Il-hyun must have noticed by now that he ran away. He could guess the expression without seeing it. The voice apologizing from below the wall until dawn came to mind. Is he really sorry? The fact that he can't simply hate him even though he did hateful things is resentful. Why did he have to like such a crazy bastard?
He sighed, and the fishing line pulled taut. He quickly reeled in the line, but the bait had vanished somewhere, leaving only the empty hook dangling. With a disappointed face, he tossed the fishing rod aside.
Ah, if I'd known this would happen, I should have bought some sashimi on land.