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On the way home, Ja-kyung dozed off in the car. He had intended to leave immediately after his brief conversation with Chairman Kang, but as he was leaving, Kang Seok-ju detained him and delayed him for quite some time. Kang Seok-ju lamented bitterly that Choi Ki-tae's death was unbelievable, while also expressing regret that he was about to lose the money he had invested.
Driving along the night road with only streetlights on, the dark and gloomy forest seemed like something might leap out from it. On top of that, rain was falling, making the atmosphere even more sinister. In the dark sky, light suddenly flashed, appearing then vanishing, followed by a rumbling sound that shook the ground.
As he neared the house, someone was waiting in front of the gate with an umbrella. Park Tae-soo? Ja-kyung, about to open the door, hesitated. It was Kang Il-hyun. Seeing him approach with an umbrella, his mood felt slightly strange. He's not a child, so there was no need for him to come out and wait.
As soon as he opened the door, Il-hyun held the umbrella over his head and smiled affectionately.
"It's raining quite a lot."
He closed the car door and went inside. With the rain pouring down, the umbrella tilted toward Ja-kyung, and Il-hyun's right shoulder grew wet. Once inside the house, Ja-kyung casually brushed off the raindrops on his shoulder with an indifferent expression. Seeing that, Il-hyun seemed pleased.
"How thoughtful."
Not wanting to respond, Ja-kyung pretended not to hear and headed upstairs, but Il-hyun followed. If left alone, he would likely follow him right into the bedroom, so Ja-kyung turned around at the door and blocked him.
"I'm tired. Say what you need to say."
Il-hyun brought his nose close to Ja-kyung's face.
"Did you drink?"
"No."
"What did you talk about there?"
Ja-kyung removed the watch from his wrist and handed it to Il-hyun. When Il-hyun didn't take it, he grabbed his hand and pressed it into his palm.
"You already heard everything. Why are you playing innocent?"
When Il-hyun tilted his head, Ja-kyung pointed at the watch again with his eyes. The corner of Il-hyun's lips rose.
"So you found out?"
"Is it a new model? It didn't even show up on the detector when I came in?"
Ja-kyung had wondered why he was suddenly putting an expensive watch on him, and just in case, he examined the back of it in the car. Sure enough, absurdly enough, a listening device had been planted inside. The chip, slightly larger than a grain of rice, appeared to be a recent model. It hadn't triggered the detector and was perfectly concealed.
Honestly, the listening device was more tempting than the watch.
"By any chance, is there one in my room too...?"
When he asked with suspicious eyes, Il-hyun furrowed his brow.
"No. It's a new model that came out yesterday."
Why did he not believe it? When he had time, he would have to search his room and bathroom thoroughly, like hunting for lice.
"If you like it, shall I get one for you?"
"Then I'd be grateful."
There was no need to refuse when he was offering. At that, Il-hyun reached out and stroked Ja-kyung's head. The soft hair catching on his fingers felt pleasant. It was a dark brown color similar to his eyes.
"Don't let what Chairman Kang said bother you."
"I'm not particularly bothered. I don't completely trust you either, Managing Director."
The hand resting on his head slowly moved down and touched his tie.
"I'm hurt. We've already shared our bodies. If we share once more, will you trust me?"
"I don't think that will happen. Get some rest. I'm tired too."
Ja-kyung gave a bitter smile and turned around. As soon as he opened the door, Kang Il-hyun pulled the handle and shut it. Looking at the closed door, Ja-kyung let out a small sigh. When he turned around with a scowl, Il-hyun pressed his body against his.
"Do you want to go out and swim?"
Ja-kyung looked outside with a bewildered expression. He wanted to ask if he was out of his mind. Swimming when the rain was pouring so hard you couldn't even see ahead? With the sky flashing like that? There was a saying that sinners get struck by lightning, but Kang Il-hyun apparently wasn't afraid of lightning.
"The weather outside... can't you see it?"
Il-hyun looked out the window and replied nonchalantly.
"It's nice. Swimming on a rainy day, don't you like it?"
"You swim all you want... I'll pass."
"Then how about tea in my room? I have some very fragrant tea."
"I'll pass on that too."
"Or how about shooting in the basement?"
He was about to refuse outright but hesitated. His body felt stiff, and he had been thinking it would be nice to get some exercise somewhere, but when he heard about shooting, his eyes lit up. Seeing the positive reaction, Il-hyun took a step back.
"Wash up, change into comfortable clothes, and come down."
He willingly backed away and went downstairs. Ja-kyung let out a small sigh. It was too early to sleep anyway. It wouldn't be bad to loosen up his body with some shooting.
Watching Il-hyun press his fingerprint on the elevator, Ja-kyung thought of the fingerprint gloves he had received from Wang Lun. Thanks to the USB he had obtained relatively easily, he hadn't needed to use them, but he had kept them separately just in case. The two of them went down to the lower floor and moved to the shooting range.
Unlike when viewed from outside, the scale of the shooting range interior was unexpectedly large. As he entered and looked around, Il-hyun pressed a button on the wall. The wall moved, revealing a space inside, and an unbelievable scene unfolded before his eyes. At most, he had imagined a few pistols, but he was wrong.
What filled the wall was a variety of firearms of different types. From Glock, Beretta, and revolvers to shotguns, sniper rifles, and even anti-materiel rifles. As he admired the many types and quantities, Il-hyun signaled with his eyes for him to choose whatever he liked.
Ja-kyung's eyes sparkled as he approached to examine the guns. Seeing this, Il-hyun gave a bitter smile and tossed out a remark.
"So all this time, I've been treated worse than a gun."
Pretending not to hear, Ja-kyung took out a rifle, checked it, and inserted the magazine. After shouldering the stock, he immediately turned and aimed at Kang Il-hyun, who was leaning against the door. Kang Il-hyun's handsome face came into the sight.
Bang, he pretended to shoot, and Il-hyun grabbed his heart with an agonized expression. At the absurd response, Ja-kyung lowered the gun.
"If you actually get hit there, you won't even make a sound."
"You'll know if you try."
He put the gun back in its place and looked around, then took out a .38 caliber revolver. A snake was drawn on the handle.
"That's a gift from my father."
"Nice. Do you like snakes, Managing Director?"
"No. I like dragons."
A snake could never become a dragon. Chairman Kang might have given this gun to remind him of that fact.
"Try shooting it."
As soon as the words fell, Ja-kyung turned toward a human-shaped target. He loaded six bullets into the cylinder and pulled the hammer back. Il-hyun stood close behind him, pressing his lower body firmly against his hips and whispering in his ear.
"Think of someone you hate."
He immediately assumed a stance, aimed, and pulled the trigger. Bang, bang, bang, all six bullets flew toward the crotch of the target. Il-hyun's eyes narrowed. Still not satisfied, he quickly reloaded and shot again. Now the target's groin was in tatters.
Il-hyun smiled bitterly.
"Surely... it's not me, right?"
Without responding and just loading bullets, Kang Il-hyun came over and grabbed the gun.
"Let's stop and go out. I really feel like that area hurts and I can't stand it anymore."
He took the gun away, placed it in its original position, and pressed the button. Ja-kyung frowned. If he had his way, he would have liked to imagine that was Kang Il-hyun and spray him with a machine gun. He said he'd let him shoot to his heart's content, but he didn't know why he brought him here if he was going to do this.
When they went outside and headed straight for the elevator, he grabbed his arm and took him inside. Remembering how he had acted crazy after inhaling the excitant before, Ja-kyung stood his ground.
"Why? Where are you going?"
"Since we're here, let's watch a movie."
"I'm tired. I'll just go up."
"Don't do that, let's go. You can watch lying on a bed, so you can sleep if you want."
He dragged him along by his arm. Going further inside, there really was a movie theater. There was a large screen, a sofa bed, and even a refrigerator and wine cellar.
"What do you want to watch?"
If he had to choose, he wanted to see a romance.
"Romance is obviously out. War? SF? Thriller? Horror?"
With such poor imagination. Does he think that because he kills people, he only watches those kinds of movies? When Ja-kyung didn't answer, he chose a Korean thriller with an unfamiliar title. Not really wanting to watch it, Ja-kyung stood there blankly, but he pulled him by the arm and made him sit on the bed.
The thriller mixed with gore elements was a mess from the beginning, cutting and stabbing limbs left and right. A man holding a knife suddenly plunged it into another man's stomach. Ja-kyung and Il-hyun shook their heads almost simultaneously.
"That's not right."
"Who holds a knife like that..."
"Why would they cut like that? They don't even know the basics."
"Ah, that's not it. The blade gets caught on the ribs."
"Fuck. They made this without any research at all."
Ja-kyung agreed with that statement. It was a mess.
"Exactly. The director has no conscience. If it were someone I invested in, I'd be so angry I'd kill them."
Il-hyun stared at Ja-kyung instead of the screen. His face showed he had a lot to say.
"Why?"
"How did you know?"
"What?"
"Our company's affiliates train singers and actors, and also make movies. That was the first movie I invested in, and it flopped completely. I was so angry I almost killed that director bastard, but I held back."
Knowing it was that kind of movie, why did he suggest watching it together? Ja-kyung parted his lips to speak, then closed them. He had completely forgotten that Kang Il-hyun's company handles various businesses including trade, construction, distribution, entertainment, and hotels. But the more he watched the movie, the more he understood exactly why it flopped. It was surprising that Kang Il-hyun hadn't killed the director, given his personality.
In the end, they turned it off without even finishing half of it.