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"The surgery seems to have gone well."
"What about Lee Ja-gyeong?"
"He arrived in Korea three hours ago."
Il-hyeon looked at his wristwatch. He had told him to come to his home, so he would see him soon. Surely he wouldn't come armed with a gun when there were hostages involved. But having been stabbed in the back once, he didn't know how things would play out, so Il-hyeon had stationed additional guards at his home and was fully prepared.
Looking out the window, the rain was falling quite heavily. Suddenly, Sung-min in the driver's seat slammed on the brakes. With a screeching sound, their bodies lurched forward, and Tae-su immediately turned around.
"Are you alright, Chairman?"
"I'm sorry. A motorcycle suddenly cut in front of us!"
Il-hyeon, who had been frowning, straightened his body and raised one eyebrow. When he stared intently ahead, Tae-su's gaze also shifted forward. A single motorcycle was blocking the road in the rain. Sung-min kept apologizing from the driver's seat, but it fell on deaf ears for Il-hyeon.
Tae-su also sensed something was amiss and reached inside his jacket to grip his gun. Sure enough, the man who got off the motorcycle removed his helmet. Though the rain made it hard to see clearly, it was definitely Lee Ja-gyeong. Ha. Il-hyeon laughed with an incredulous expression.
When Tae-su tried to get out with his gun, Il-hyeon raised his hand to stop him. Then, with his arm draped over the seat, he watched out the window as if viewing a movie. Ja-gyeong took out a gun in the rain, loaded it, and aimed it this way. Tae-su's face hardened while Il-hyeon, on the contrary, smiled.
"Tae-su."
"Yes, Chairman."
"Isn't it fucking sexy?"
Tae-su looked back with an expression wondering if he had misheard. The corner of Kang Il-hyeon's mouth kept rising.
"That's why I couldn't take my eyes off him and couldn't let him go."
Il-hyeon ordered them to stay put, then got out of the car and soon unfolded an umbrella. Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat. The sound of rain falling on the umbrella was fierce. From just over 10 meters away, Ja-gyeong stood aiming his gun this way, motionless.
Fuck. Until yesterday I wanted to kill him, but now that I actually see him, my thoughts are changing again. Il-hyeon walked forward step by step holding the umbrella. His trouser cuffs and shoes got wet from the rain, but he didn't care. When he got within 2-3 meters, Ja-gyeong's face became clearly visible.
His skin was slightly tanned, his eyes still like a wounded cat, and the sight of him thoroughly soaked in the rain while aiming a gun was arousing.
With the gun barrel in front of him, Il-hyeon stopped walking.
"Long time no see."
Ja-gyeong kept the gun aimed without even a twitch.
"Looks like you still don't want to let me hear your voice."
Il-hyeon smiled and walked forward. As he approached, the gun barrel touched his left chest precisely. Ja-gyeong looked up with his eyes, glaring at Il-hyeon.
"Where is Wang Lun?"
Il-hyeon grabbed the gun barrel with his hand, moved it aside, and tried to take another step forward. But Ja-gyeong wouldn't allow him to approach and aimed the barrel under his chin. With the determination to blow his skull off at any moment.
Their gazes became entangled. Kang Il-hyeon, whom he was seeing for the first time in a year, had a somewhat softer expression than that viper-like look he had on screen. Even with a loaded gun under his chin, he didn't bat an eye and rather looked delighted as if he had received a bouquet of flowers.
"Your brother is fine. I even reattached his fingers. Of course, I don't know if they'll attach well though."
"……."
"If you want, I can let you talk to him right now."
When Ja-gyeong didn't answer, he made a call somewhere. Soon Wang Lun appeared on the video screen. He was wearing hospital clothes and his hand was bandaged. Compared to when he saw him yesterday morning, his condition was relatively good. With a surprised face, he shouted at Ja-gyeong.
[You came here? You came alone? I told you not to come,]
Tuk, the call ended. Ja-gyeong took his eyes off the screen and glared at Kang Il-hyeon in front of him. His fierce demeanor softened somewhat with relief that he hadn't harmed Wang Lun.
Il-hyeon asked with a smile.
"Can I put the umbrella over you now? I don't like you getting rained on."
Il-hyeon stepped one step closer and slowly pushed aside the gun barrel that had been aimed under his chin. Ja-gyeong came under the umbrella. The sound of rain filled the silence between the two. Il-hyeon gazed at Ja-gyeong and extended his hand.
"We haven't met in a long time, surely a handshake is okay?"
"Cut the crap."
Suddenly he grabbed Ja-gyeong's hand. When he tried to pull away, he instantly applied force and yanked him hard. His body was pulled forward, and Ja-gyeong lost his balance and was dragged into Il-hyeon's arms. He frowned and tried to push away, but he hugged him tightly.
Just as he was flustered by the unexpected action, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck. Ja-gyeong's eyes went wide. Il-hyeon had pulled a syringe from inside his sleeve and thrust it into Ja-gyeong's neck, pressing the plunger. The drug entered, and an aching pain rushed through his neck.
Ja-gyeong pushed Il-hyeon away forcefully, pulled the syringe from his neck, and aimed his gun again. But Kang Il-hyeon quickly snatched the gun and threw it aside, then grabbed Ja-gyeong's throat with one hand. His airway was constricted, and his vision went distant. He tried to pull the hand away, but no strength entered his body.
Kang Il-hyeon pushed the syringe, still half-full of the drug, before his eyes and smiled kindly.
"Sorry. There's still some left."
He couldn't distinguish whether he was suffocating because of the drug or because he was being strangled. His vision grew increasingly blurry. When the drug was fully administered, he threw the syringe on the ground. Ja-gyeong staggered and drew a knife to slash at him, but he stepped back a pace.
He tried to change the knife's direction and grip it properly, but his hand lost strength, and with a clatter, it fell to the ground. His eyelids fluttered, and his breathing grew rapid. Il-hyeon approached with steady steps and kicked the knife aside.
Ja-gyeong finally collapsed to the ground and barely managed to lift his head to glare at Kang Il-hyeon. Fuck. You bastard... Rain poured over his face. He tried to speak, but only his mouth moved without any voice coming out. Il-hyeon lowered himself in front of him and brought his lips to his ear.
"Welcome back."
His voice felt distant, like a dream.
"I'll stuff you beautifully, so just wait a little."
Sounds buzzed, and his consciousness gradually faded. He tried to reach out his hand to grab the gun again, but it was futile. He felt like he was sinking into the ground, his body fell backward, and he lost consciousness completely.
***
Covered in blood, Ja-gyeong opened his eyes inside a shabby warehouse. Seeing bugs and rats crawling at his feet, he scowled. Breathing heavily, he looked around, but there were only drums and nothing else.
He tried to stand up with difficulty, but his legs wouldn't obey. He collapsed weakly back to his spot. He tried to crawl outside. At that moment, a spine-chilling sound came from the drum right in front of him.
He moved his pupils to stare at the drum. Bright red fingernails appeared over the drum, then a head slowly rose. Seeing the cheap sparkling gem bracelet on the wrist, Ja-gyeong's eyes grew impossibly wide.
The woman who emerged over the drum was his dead mother. From another drum nearby, the man he had called father crawled out head first. With that terrifying expression he had when he beat him. With that face that looked like it would jump out of the drum at any moment and kill him.
Terror-stricken, Ja-gyeong scooted backward while sitting. They flowed out of the drums like liquid and crawled toward Ja-gyeong like spiders.
[You're happy you're the only one who survived? You traitorous bastard!]
[Something like you should never have been born in the first place!]
[I should have broken your neck, not your legs, and killed you!]
[Come with us! You come too!]
Their voices, filled with malice, felt like they were tearing his ears apart. N-no, don't come. Don't come! Ja-gyeong
groped beside him to throw something. The smooth texture felt
slick on the floor that had been hard until moments ago. He turned his head to look up and his mouth fell open.
Kang Il-hyeon stood there holding a scalpel, looking at him with a devilish smile.
[I'll stuff you beautifully.]
As soon as the words ended, he thrust the scalpel toward Ja-gyeong's eyes. Aaaah!
Heok. Startled, Ja-gyeong bolted upright from his spot. Breathing roughly, he looked around and only then realized it was a dream. After rubbing his face covered in cold sweat with both hands, he collected himself and surveyed his surroundings again. Somehow the place felt familiar.
Inside, there was not only a bed but also a refrigerator, dining table, sofa, and most basic living necessities were all there. When he got off the bed and planted his feet on the floor, his legs lost strength. His body still couldn't muster proper strength. Now that he thought about it, Kang Il-hyeon had injected him with something. After running his hand over his neck once, he proceeded cautiously forward while staying alert.
Stepping outside the door, Ja-gyeong discovered a long corridor. And rooms along each side of the corridor. Belatedly, he realized he was standing in Kang Il-hyeon's basement. Frowning, he checked if anyone was there, but not even a single ant was visible.
Instead, CCTV cameras had been installed in various places on the ceiling where there hadn't been any before. His clothes had been changed to sleepwear, and somehow his chest area felt strange. He lifted the clothes slightly to check and saw his nipples were slightly swollen with clear bite marks.
His buttocks were fine though. Only then did he realize this was Kang Il-hyeon's doing and grit his teeth. This nipple pervert bastard! Seething with anger, he went to the elevator, but even when he pressed the button, it didn't respond. Just in case, he had kept gloves made with Kang Il-hyeon's fingerprints in his bag.
Damn it, that's probably in Kang Il-hyeon's hands right now.
He banged on the elevator door with his fist! Bang! Bang! But it didn't budge. Ja-gyeong moved to where the shooting range had been. Looking inside, sure enough, it was empty. Every room that should have had things in them was empty, and only the space where Ja-gyeong stayed was furnished with living necessities.
He was completely trapped, unable to go out.
Ja-gyeong grit his teeth audibly and glared upward.
You bastard. What the hell are you trying to do with me.