<127> Side Story. 19
Ja-kyung frowned as she looked in the mirror. Perhaps from crying yesterday, her eyes were puffy. After washing her face repeatedly with cold water to clear her head, she came out of the bedroom, but Kang Il-hyun, who had stayed by her side all night, was nowhere to be seen, apparently having gone to work.
Should she sleep more, or go down and eat breakfast? As she pondered this, she realized his birthday was just two days away. Thoughts of a gift completely woke her up. What should she buy? While thinking about gifts and changing clothes, she discovered a box placed on the bedside table.
It hadn't been there yesterday. The palm-sized box had a large ribbon on it. And on top of that, a card. Upon opening the card, neat handwriting was written:
[My birthday present. Wear this when we go on our date.]
Her face instantly scrunched up. With a skeptical feeling, she slightly lifted the lid of the box, then immediately closed it and squeezed her eyes shut. Ah, fuck. After calming herself, she opened the box, took out the contents, and examined them properly. The underwear, which an artisan had supposedly stitched by hand, was white lace, and to her horror, a cat was embroidered on the butt area.
Ja-kyung recoiled and shoved it back into the box, closing the lid. This guy, of course he would. He was fine until last night when he was comforting her. Fearing someone might see, she hid it in the drawer and then went outside to the living room.
After putting a cigarette in her mouth and sitting on the sofa, she opened the album she had received from Jang Tae-ho. As she flipped through the album page by page, thinking of her mother whose face she couldn't even remember, a message arrived. It's Kang Il-hyun.
[I'll be expecting my gift.]
Ugh, she frowned and tossed her phone aside.
***
He clearly saw the message, but there was no reply. Il-hyun clicked his tongue. He told him to wear it and have a meal together in two days, but whether that would happen was questionable. Just imagining that appearance for a moment seemed to arouse him.
"Will you be alright going alone?"
Park Tae-soo, seated in the driver's seat, sent a somewhat worried gaze through the rearview mirror. Il-hyun smirked. He knows what he's worried about. Through the window, the letters reading Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office came into view at a glance. When he came before, reporters were swarming everywhere.
As he got out of the car, Tae-soo opened the trunk and grabbed a fruit basket. After receiving the basket, he adjusted his tie once and walked inside. He could feel people stirring at the visit of an unwelcome guest. Kang Il-hyun, who had gone up to the 3rd floor, stopped in front of a door labeled Jang Tae-ho, Prosecutor.
Knock, knock. After tapping on the door and entering, he first encountered his administrative officer. She recognized Il-hyun, her eyes widened, and she abruptly stood up from her seat. Another employee nearby was also surprised, mouth agape as he stared.
Il-hyun gave a slight nod, then placed the fruit basket on the table in front of the sofa. Jang Tae-ho, who had been on a call behind him, turned around a beat later, spotted Il-hyun, stopped speaking, and immediately furrowed his brow.
He ended the call and then asked the staff to leave for a moment. After they disappeared and only the two remained, the atmosphere became even more awkward.
"What brings you here?"
"Let's sit and talk first. My legs hurt."
Without waiting for permission, Il-hyun took a seat on the sofa. He crossed his long legs, rested his hand on the armrest, and tapped his fingers. Tae-ho looked disapprovingly at the fruit basket he had brought before taking a seat across from him.
Kang Il-hyun looked around the office. Something he had felt since last time:
"It's small. The chief prosecutor's room was quite large."
"Stop with the useless talk. I'd appreciate it if you'd just get to the point and leave."
At the hostility-filled gaze, Il-hyun smiled leisurely. Then he took something out from inside his coat. It was a USB the size of a finger joint. Tae-ho looked at it, then raised his head and glared at Kang Il-hyun.
"What is this?"
"Things that might be useful to you."
"Don't beat around the bush, just tell me."
"For example, materials that would support someone's corruption, or suspicion of sexual bribery, or evidence regarding embezzlement?"
Tae-ho glared at the USB, then looked at Kang Il-hyun. With an expression asking what his scheme was.
"Prosecutor Jang is overflowing with a sense of justice, and I'm overflowing with power instead of justice. If the two of us team up, wouldn't that make for quite a splendid picture?"
Tae-ho scoffed.
"Stop with the schemes. Do you think I don't know CEO Kang? Even if you combined all the bad guys in here, none would be worse than you."
"You say such hurtful things."
"Be honest. What's the real reason you're doing this to me?"
Kang Il-hyun laughed as if he'd heard a stupid question.
"You don't know so you're asking? It's because of your younger sibling."
"Don't drag Kyung-joon into this. He's different from you. If he had grown up properly, he would never have gotten involved with someone like you."
Il-hyun chuckled. In Jang Tae-ho's eyes, Lee Ja-kyung must appear as just a cute and gentle younger sibling lost in childhood.
"Exactly. That's why I came to make peace. If we keep fighting, how upset would the kitty be? Don't you think? I can't stand seeing that."
"If such a situation were to arise, Kyung-joon would stand on my side."
At the confident tone, Il-hyun laughed in disbelief.
"That's something we'll have to wait and see. Going forward, let's please get along. This isn't a threat, it's a request."
As Kang Il-hyun, having finished his business, rose from his seat, Jang Tae-ho sighed and pointed at the fruit basket. Take this back with you. At that, Kang Il-hyun picked up the box cutter nearby and pushed it upward. With a grinding sound, the blade came out, and the moment Tae-ho flinched, he tore open the packaging and took out an apple.
He took a big bite of the apple and waved it at Jang Tae-ho as if to show off.
"Alright? Now you can eat it."
As Kang Il-hyun exited the office, Jang Tae-ho glared in the direction he had disappeared, then stood up. And his gaze immediately fell on the USB left on the table. His fist tightened. That son of a bitch... What does he take people for?
After coming outside, Il-hyun tossed the apple he had been eating into a trash can with a plop. Son of a bitch. If it weren't for Lee Ja-kyung's brother, I'd just kill him. Grinding his teeth as he headed toward the car, a message arrived from Lee Ja-kyung. I'll visit your brother's house today. He asked to see me.
He stopped, unable to take another step, and looked back. This bastard. He couldn't erase the thought that Jang Tae-ho had deliberately called Lee Ja-kyung to provoke him. Tilting his head back and grinding his teeth, he sent a reply. Alright, have a good visit. He even deliberately sent a smiling expression, and a thank you message arrived.
***
The ice filling the glass tumbler clinked. After pouring alcohol and downing about half, Il-hyun lay on the sunbed and took out a cigarette. After a heavy rain in the evening, the sky was clear. While gazing at the stars, footsteps were heard. Looking back, Lee Ja-kyung was standing there. Wearing a calm-looking shirt and trousers.
Il-hyun sat up from his seat.
"You came quickly."
"Why are you out here?"
Il-hyun showed his glass. Having a drink before going in to sleep. After finishing the remaining alcohol, he placed the empty glass on the table. Ja-kyung brought a chair and sat across from Il-hyun, then reached for the fruit that had been set out as a snack.
"What did you do?"
"Ate dinner, heard about our parents, just various conversations like that?"
"Must have been fun."
Ja-kyung nodded.
"I was always curious why I like watermelon. He said when I was young, our parents ran a fruit store. Even back then, I ate watermelon the best among fruits. Amazing, right?"
As Ja-kyung excitedly talked about childhood stories, Il-hyun poured the remaining alcohol.
"Did Jang Tae-ho say anything else?"
"What kind of talk?"
"About you and me."
Ja-kyung hesitated. Actually, Jang Tae-ho had asked today when they met if he really had to stay at Kang Il-hyun's house, if he couldn't come home. Fearing that leaving room for ambiguity might give false hope, he had flatly refused, saying he had no such intention. Jang Tae-ho seemed a bit surprised, and also seemed a bit hurt.
"He didn't say anything in particular."
After spitting out a watermelon seed, Ja-kyung moved his hand to his back pants pocket, took something out, and held it out. Il-hyun raised one eyebrow at the sight. A USB. At first he thought it was the one he had given Jang Tae-ho during the day, but looking closely, it was different. As he looked at it with a puzzled face, Ja-kyung slipped the USB into Il-hyun's shirt pocket.
"CEO, birthday present."
Il-hyun took it out and checked. Three letters of the name Kang Il-hyun were written on it.
"It was at your brother's house. I don't know how many bad things he's done, but it was stuck at the very top."
Il-hyun's eyes widened greatly. He had already been tracking a team leader in charge of accounting who had suddenly cut off contact and fled overseas. According to Park Tae-soo, there was evidence that he had met with Jang Tae-ho before leaving the country.
Looking at him with an incredulous expression, Ja-kyung said there was no need to thank him.
"Did you see what it was?"
Ja-kyung bit into the watermelon and moved his lips as he chewed.
"Looked like some kind of slush fund files. The amount was... wow."
As Ja-kyung shook his head, Il-hyun's eyes narrowed.
"How did you find it?"
"When I sneaked in last time, I planted a camera and wiretap. I was trying to recover those and delete the recording files when I accidentally found out."
Doing something completely unexpected and yet acting nonchalant about it. Ecstasy began to spread across Il-hyun's face. Look at this, Jang Tae-ho. You made a big mistake. The kitty isn't that innocent. As he laughed and tried to pull him into an embrace, Ja-kyung pushed with his finger to stop him.
"I gave you a present, so cancel the panties."
"Just let me hug you first. I'm so excited right now I think I might come."
Even saying that, really. As he subtly pushed him away, he persistently clung. Come here. He eventually hugged Ja-kyung tightly. Actually, the USB wasn't important. Even if something like this fell into Jang Tae-ho's hands, he could render it useless at any time. But he had been anxious all along. Whether he might be wavering, whether he might want to return to his original place. It was enough to make his confident declaration to Jang Tae-ho meaningless.
"If your brother finds out about this, he'll flip out. Is that okay?"
"I don't know. Since we met after a long time, let's just ask him to let it slide. If not, I'll get beaten up a few times."
Il-hyun whispered quietly near Ja-kyung's ear. Thank you.
"If you're grateful, make the panties never happened."
But to those words, in the end, he received no answer.