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Even after opening his eyes, the bedroom remained as dark as midnight. Only after fumbling to check the time did he realize noon had passed. When he pressed the button, the blinds rose and sunlight poured into the bedroom. Ja-kyung rose from bed with a swollen face.
Pain radiated up from his tailbone, forcing an involuntary groan from his lips. Kang Il-hyun had been holding him from behind until dawn, but had vanished, likely having gone to work. After looking at the empty space where he had lain, Ja-kyung climbed down from the bed. Clothes were scattered across the floor, and the wet towel used to wipe his body lay discarded to one side.
He entered the bathroom and put a cigarette between his lips. He was about to light it when he caught sight of himself in the mirror and froze. There was not a single unmarked spot on his body. He laughed in disbelief, then turned to examine his back. Anyone seeing him would think he was a plague victim. Not just his body, but kiss marks were vivid even below his jaw, and a faint bite mark remained on his cheek. This crazy bastard. Why didn't he just eat me alive?
Grinding his teeth, he lit the cigarette and walked out. The table was piled with medicated patches that Kang Il-hyun had brought yesterday. He had wondered why he brought so many, but now suspicion arose that perhaps he had expected this.
He peeled off the patches one by one and plastered them over his neck to cover the marks. After stubbing out the cigarette and changing clothes, he went outside. Standing in the hallway, he knocked on the door next to his. Silence. As he descended the stairs, raucous sounds reached his ears.
When he came down, Wang Han and Wang Lun were talking with the lady of the house at the dining table. She noticed Ja-kyung first and greeted him.
"You're awake?"
Wang Han and Wang Lun turned around.
"He's up."
"Come have lunch. This lady made food for us, and it's really delicious."
The two of them looked comfortable, as if it were their own home. Ja-kyung sat across from them with an expressionless face. Wang Lun leaned forward and asked,
"You okay?"
Ja-kyung raised his eyes to look at Wang Lun.
"What?"
"Should I get you a cushion? Want to sit on it?"
His scowl deepened instantly, and Wang Han smacked Wang Lun's side, telling him to cut it out. Wang Lun held back his bursting laughter as he put food in his mouth. His cheeks kept twitching. Ja-kyung gritted his teeth and glared. Fuck, they all heard.
For the next hundred years, he would be teased about this. If it were Wang Han, maybe not, but Wang Lun would absolutely do it. As a child, he had been teased for years just for wetting his pants while being chased by a dog. Grinding his teeth, he cursed Kang Il-hyun internally. Who was there to blame? He should have just thrown him out, but he had gotten completely swept away just from getting his cock sucked once.
After finishing the meal, the three went outside and sat together near the swimming pool. When a staff member came to ask if they wanted tea, they politely declined, scanned the surroundings for anything that might be bugged, and then lit up cigarettes. There were bodyguards passing by, but they paid no attention to this side. In fact, they kept their distance to allow for conversation.
Instead, CCTV cameras were rotating in all directions. Not wanting to be unnecessarily conscious of them, all three sat comfortably and talked.
"Have you thought about it?"
Wang Han asked Ja-kyung, and Wang Lun snickered.
"Like he had any mental capacity for that yesterday?"
"Brother Lun. Shut that mouth."
"Don't tell me that bite mark on your cheek is from CEO Kang too? He's as intense as his personality, huh?"
Ja-kyung scowled deeply with the cigarette in his mouth, warning that if he kept that up, he would shoot him. Wang Han stepped in and scolded the two of them, saying this was no time for joking around. When he finished, Wang Lun raised his bandaged hand.
"I'm in favor. One year isn't long, and I think it's appropriate. I'm tired of running around anyway, so this works out. Plus, he's offering a lot of money."
Wang Han's gaze shifted to Ja-kyung. Ja-kyung smoked his cigarette, deliberated for a long while, and then spoke.
"For now, I agree."
Even if he refused, Kang Il-hyun would find some way to make him sign the contract. He might even cut off his hand and use his fingerprint in his place. He was certainly the type to do that and worse. Ja-kyung surveyed the surroundings, confirmed no one was nearby, and lowered his voice.
"But we bail in the middle."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean we take the money and run."
The two men's eyes widened.
"That thing yesterday, that wasn't a joke?"
"I was serious."
No sooner had the words ended than the corners of Wang Lun's mouth kept rising. What a cute bastard. He tried to grab Ja-kyung's face and kiss him, and Ja-kyung pushed his face away.
But Wang Han's expression was quite serious.
"Will it be okay?"
"Even if the job ends, do you think someone with his personality would let us live? It's also a problem if Kang Il-hyun's father finds out. Then he'd come for our lives first. I don't think we can last a year here. The best approach seems to be handling a few things and then pulling out."
"Hmm."
"We'll have to live in hiding for a while, but that's our specialty, isn't it?"
While Wang Han deliberated, Ja-kyung glared at Wang Lun.
"As long as Brother Lun doesn't come to Korea, we won't be caught easily."
Wang Lun coughed falsely and looked away. He had come to Korea on his own to see his girlfriend, and even went to church on top of that. But he hadn't expected them to show up right then. If he received money, he wanted to get new identities and spend the rest of his life with his girlfriend in a place with good air like Norway or New Zealand.
The eldest brother Wang Han couldn't easily make a decision. Betrayal... It was commonplace in this world, but until now, Ja-kyung's choices had always been different. He had said trust came first, yet here he was stabbing Kang Il-hyun in the back for the second time already. Of course, Kang Il-hyun had instigated the first one.
With a troubled heart, he sighed but couldn't give a definitive answer. Would it be okay? As the team's leader, it was a difficult choice. If things went wrong, given Kang Il-hyun's personality, he would kill all three of them without hesitation.
***
Chairman Kang examined the documents Il-hyun presented while holding a cigar in his mouth. He had been pushing forward a project to build a hotel and shopping mall together in Jeju Island, and this was the report regarding it. The work was progressing more smoothly than expected, but the problem was that if this strengthened Kang Il-hyun's position, the executives following him would increase. This was especially true when Kang Tae-han had yet to show any notable achievements.
"Not bad."
Il-hyun laughed softly. Though the words said one thing, he knew better than anyone that he was dissatisfied inside. After the incident a year ago, Chairman Kang had treated Il-hyun as if nothing had happened. Il-hyun had done the same.
There had been the USB file Lee Ja-kyung gave him, but it also contained evidence that he himself was targeting Chairman Kang. In the end, they were back at the starting point. The two of them spent their days like any other father and son, each waiting for a chance to tear the other's throat out.
"But the directors are strongly opposing, so I think we need to watch and wait for now."
Of course you should. Il-hyun nodded with a smile. It wasn't that the directors were opposing, but rather Chairman Kang must have given instructions. No matter how much of an old has-been he was, they couldn't ignore the influence those men held in the company.
Moreover, there was steady talk of holding a general meeting soon to determine the successor. If that happened, Chairman Kang, who held more shares, would have the advantage. He sneered inside but pretended to be calm as he agreed and drank his tea. The bitterly brewed tea tasted exactly like his inner state.
After finishing the conversation, he went out and headed down to the floor where his office was. As soon as he entered, he turned on the TV with the remote. When he changed the channel, CCTV footage from inside and outside the house appeared in split screens. Lee Ja-kyung was now gathered with the two Wang brothers in front of the swimming pool.
When he pressed a button, the screen enlarged. Tae-soo, who had followed him in, briefly stopped his gaze on that screen.
"Should we wiretap?"
Il-hyun smiled and took out a cigarette.
"Leave them. At best, they're probably just plotting to take the money and run."
He lit it, inhaled the smoke deeply until his cheeks hollowed, then exhaled. Lee Ja-kyung's face on the screen couldn't be seen clearly, but he seemed to be enjoying himself. In contrast, Tae-soo's face beside him was unusually dark. He knew well what he was worried about. He had already pointed a gun at him once, so a second time wouldn't be difficult.
"Worried?"
"No, sir."
"Lee Ja-kyung doesn't trust me right now anyway. I have no choice but to play along and coax him gently."
Whether he wanted to possess him that way or just wanted to keep him around because he was amusing, he still didn't know. But he now knew it wasn't a feeling that would easily pass. The problem was that Lee Ja-kyung had absolutely no such feelings toward him. He was simply a source of pleasure—metaphorically speaking, no different from an expensive masturbation device. Thinking that, his mouth tasted even more bitter than when he had been facing Chairman Kang earlier.
The three people on the screen stood up simultaneously. He didn't know what Wang Lun had said, but Ja-kyung slapped his shoulder hard. Then immediately, Ja-kyung grabbed his own waist and bent his upper body forward in pain. It felt like he could hear him cursing from beyond the screen.
A smile formed on Il-hyun's lips as he watched.
"Looks like they've reached a conclusion?"
"Yes."
"Check Choi Man-sik's personal information, movement patterns, and schedule, and bring it to me this evening. Tell them to start work right away."
Tae-soo bowed his head. Il-hyun stubbed out the cigarette and leaned back on the sofa. The screen continued to change, following Lee Ja-kyung's movements. Unlike when he was with him, he looked far more comfortable with the brothers. Even so, he kept rubbing his waist now and then.
Did I go too hard yesterday? His remorse was brief. Watching that repeated action, the indecent face he had seen in bed came to mind, and his lower abdomen grew tight.