<48>
Thanks to the commotion, Kang Il-hyun left work earlier than usual. Seeing the corpses scattered around the swimming pool, Kang Il-hyun couldn't smooth out his wrinkled face. His subordinates moved the bodies, loaded them into cars, and disappeared somewhere.
How did they know that Kang Il-hyun was the one who dealt with Choi Ki-tae? There was a good chance Chairman Kang had leaked it. After talking with Park Tae-soo who returned from disposing of the bodies, Kang Il-hyun called Ja-kyung to the bedroom.
He put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. His face was neat and clean, showing no trace of the way he had panted on top of her last night.
"Thanks to you, I saved my life. How should I compensate you?"
Without hesitation, Ja-kyung took out a USB from her pocket. It was something she had brought from his Seoul house. When she placed it on the table, one of Kang Il-hyun's eyebrows crooked upward. Then he laughed in disbelief.
"When did you steal this?"
"Chairman Kang's deal conditions included this."
Il-hyun rubbed his lips with the hand holding the cigarette. His face was full of interest.
"Continue."
"The contract was to eliminate Managing Director and bring this."
At those words, Il-hyun was dumbfounded.
"So my life was only... 3 billion won?"
"Yes."
"Fuck. That's the funniest joke I've heard lately."
"But it was an empty file with nothing in it."
"So?"
"Give me the original."
She demanded confidently, as if asking for something she had left for safekeeping, which left him exasperated. He had thought she was pretty, but now she seemed to be getting too cocky. Yet looking at her expression, she was serious. Il-hyun crushed out his cigarette and interlaced his fingers.
"We're on the same side now. Why do you need that?"
"Insurance."
"Insurance?"
"I need to take out insurance in case something happens."
Il-hyun laughed as he leaned languidly against the sofa and stretched his arm upward.
"Why are you like this? You're not thinking I might harm you, are you?"
Even with his hurt expression, Ja-kyung didn't answer. She just kept her eyes lowered.
"Are you... afraid of me?"
Ja-kyung didn't deny it.
"Just give it to me. Let's make an exchange."
Immediately, Ja-kyung took out another USB from her pocket. She connected it to a laptop and played the video for Il-hyun to see. Il-hyun's brow narrowed as he watched the screen. As soon as the video started, Chairman Kang's face appeared.
[I heard you've been spending quite a bit of private time with Managing Director Kang lately.]
On screen, Chairman Kang set down his teacup and smiled chillingly.
[Don't trust him. Whoever he is.]
It was the scene she had recorded last night. Kang Il-hyun's expression turned cold. In the video, Ja-kyung silently brought a fountain pen and memo pad forward, then began writing on it. Then she held out the paper for Chairman Kang to see.
[You are being bugged.]
Chairman Kang's face on screen wasn't much different from Il-hyun's expression. But he skillfully hid his emotions and put on a benevolent, amiable mask.
"The old man sure talked a lot when he had someone sitting there."
Ja-kyung wrote again.
[Kang Il-hyun is after Chairman's life.]
When Chairman Kang saw the words, a murderous glint appeared in his eyes. Kang Il-hyun's eyes also sharpened like an awl as he watched. He looked at Ja-kyung. How cunning of her to deliberately write words to leave evidence.
On screen, Ja-kyung wrote the next line.
[I will definitely handle it. Please trust me.]
Chairman Kang, who had been staring at Ja-kyung, slowly nodded up and down. Ja-kyung lit the paper on fire with a lighter and threw it into an ashtray. Whether there was a camera in the glasses, a hand briefly appeared and the screen shook.
"I will keep Chairman's words in mind."
A smile slowly spread across Chairman Kang's lips. In the ashtray, the memo Ja-kyung had just written was burning black, turning to ash. The screen stopped there.
After checking the video, Il-hyun laughed out loud in disbelief. Ja-kyung disconnected the USB from the laptop and placed it on the table. When Il-hyun reached out to grab it, she snatched it quickly, clutching it and hiding it behind her back.
"You know what quid pro quo means, right?"
"You think this is worth that much?"
"This is evidence that Chairman Kang wants to eliminate Managing Director, but it works the other way too. You saw it earlier, didn't you?"
Il-hyun clenched his teeth and smiled.
"Acting very cute, aren't you?"
"Are you going to give it to me or not?"
When he didn't answer and just stared, Ja-kyung immediately stood up.
"Seems like you don't need it, so I'll be going."
Just as she was putting the USB in her pocket to leave, Il-hyun gestured for her to sit. He took out a second cigarette from the case and lit it. He exhaled smoke at length, leaned back against the sofa, and tilted his head back. Ja-kyung waited until he finished smoking.
Il-hyun stood up with the cigarette still in his mouth and looked down at Ja-kyung.
"Close your eyes. I'll bring it to you."
Ja-kyung closed her eyes. She heard his footsteps. She heard something open and close, then footsteps again. So it was in the bedroom after all. And here she went all the way to Seoul, working so hard for nothing.
When it went quiet, she opened her eyes a crack to find his face pushed right up to hers. Ah, shit! What a start! She recoiled in surprise, and he thrust what he was holding right before her eyes. It was the same USB Ja-kyung had stolen.
She took it and immediately connected it to the laptop.
"I'll check it first."
Il-hyun returned to his seat and tilted his head slightly.
"You'd be better off not watching. Your eyes will rot away."
Ja-kyung ignored him and played the video. A broad man's back and sagging buttocks appeared. Below him lay a woman. No, it was a young girl too young to even be called a woman. She didn't seem to be Korean. Ja-kyung scowled and skipped the video forward. The man was Chairman Kang.
Ja-kyung couldn't watch to the end and turned off the video, then looked at Il-hyun with a sour expression. Kang Il-hyun smirked as if he knew that would happen.
"What did I tell you? I said you'd be better off not watching."
Ja-kyung disconnected the USB from the laptop.
"You were right. It makes me sick."
At that reaction, Il-hyun paused before continuing.
"Do you know how old my dead mother was when she was sold for her father's debt and forced into marriage?"
Ja-kyung couldn't answer.
"Sixteen."
"...."
Il-hyun crushed out his cigarette and wore a bored expression. He looked as if he were talking about something that had nothing to do with him.
"That's why she went crazy and died. Dragged off by some guy over twenty when she should have been wearing a uniform and going to school, giving birth to a child she never wanted and living that life—if that's not hell, what is? Right?"
Ja-kyung couldn't answer. Il-hyun scoffed and took the USB Ja-kyung had filmed last night, shaking it.
"So this is mine now?"
Ja-kyung nodded. Then she pocketed the USB Il-hyun had given her. She didn't know if it was the original or a copy, but that didn't matter. She had gotten what she came for. As she was about to leave, Kang Il-hyun looked up at her.
"Seems like we've finished talking business. Want to go out for a swim?"
Ja-kyung refused. After what happened during the day, she didn't particularly want to go. But in the end, unable to resist Kang Il-hyun's persistent demands, she was dragged outside. As they came out, Sang-ju's wife looked at the two of them with pleased eyes. She seemed quite proud to see Kang Il-hyun interacting properly with someone.
Ja-kyung changed into shorts and a t-shirt upstairs, came outside, did some simple stretches, and went straight into the water. Kang Il-hyun didn't swim, instead sitting on a sunbed drinking strong liquor. She couldn't understand why he asked her to come out if he was going to do that.
Il-hyun, tilting his glass, looked at the quiet water surface. Lee Ja-kyung had gone under, but quite some time had passed and she still hadn't come out. He hurriedly set down his whiskey glass and stood up, approaching the pool.
Just then, Ja-kyung's head popped out of the water with a splash. Their eyes met under the bright moonlight, and Ja-kyung smiled at Il-hyun.
"Why are you standing there? Did you think I might die?"
Il-hyun laughed as if it was ridiculous and returned to his spot, sitting on the sunbed. Ja-kyung drifted leisurely through the pool like a fish. Occasionally her face emerged from the water, and her wet face seemed to shimmer more brightly in the lighting.
Il-hyun put a cigarette in his mouth and lit it. Lee Ja-kyung, who had been swimming, walked out. She wrung water from her t-shirt, approached with long strides, and plucked the cigarette right out of Il-hyun's mouth. Il-hyun's eyes widened slightly, then returned to normal.
Ja-kyung put the cigarette in her mouth and smiled broadly at Il-hyun. Seeing this, Il-hyun laughed in disbelief.
"Now you're smoking openly?"
Ja-kyung looked behind her. There's no one watching now anyway, she retorted, and inhaled the cigarette, blowing smoke into the air. Il-hyun watched her lying languidly on the sunbed, smoking and smiling, then stood up.
He took a towel from nearby and went behind Ja-kyung. When he placed the towel on her head to shake it dry, she waved her hands telling him not to. Ignoring that, he dried her hair and took back the cigarette from Ja-kyung's mouth.
Having her cigarette suddenly taken, Ja-kyung scowled and looked up at him. Il-hyun held smoke in his mouth, then pressed his lips directly against Ja-kyung's. The smoke passed into her throat, and his tongue briefly swept inside her mouth before withdrawing.
Then, as if nothing happened, he went back to drying her hair. She had just wanted to swim, but the atmosphere was turning again... Ja-kyung felt awkward and stared blankly ahead.
"If you leave it, it'll dry on its own."
She answered curtly, but the hand drying her hair moved to toy with her ear.
"I'm doing this so you don't catch a cold. If you're sick, it affects work."
"Acting like you really care. You should be like that when you're fucking me too."
"Then should I fuck you gently today? Hmm?"
The hand touching her ear slid down to grope her nipple, and Ja-kyung jumped up in alarm from the sunbed. Il-hyun laughed softly and beckoned her to come closer, but Ja-kyung quickly fled to the opposite side of the pool.