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Upon entering the house, the gazes directed at him were far from welcoming. Kim Seon-young, who was in the living room, glared at Il-hyeon with axe-like eyes.
"Have you been well?"
"No contact, and now you show up? What's going on?"
In a situation where no one welcomed him, Il-hyeon smiled calmly.
"I came to see Father. He's upstairs, right?"
"He's busy right now. Come back later."
Il-hyeon ignored her completely and headed upstairs. Kim Seon-young found his behavior displeasing but couldn't find a proper pretext to stop him. Once upstairs, Il-hyeon went straight to Chairman Kang's study, and after a brief knock, he opened the door without waiting for an answer.
Chairman Kang, who had been conversing with Manager Kim, shot a glance at Il-hyeon. Though it was only for a brief moment, displeasure could be read in his eyes. Il-hyeon unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat across from Chairman Kang.
"No contact, and now you come. What's the meaning of this?"
"You're saying the same thing as Mother. Does a son need a reason to visit his father?"
"I'm not in the mood to talk to you today. Go back."
Il-hyeon didn't respond and simply stared at Chairman Kang. Their gazes locked in tension, and eventually Chairman Kang couldn't hold it and signaled Manager Kim with his eyes to take him out. Manager Kim approached and bowed his head.
"Representative Kang. It would be best for you to leave today."
When Il-hyeon remained motionless, leaning against the sofa, the man grabbed his arm. 'Representative?' In that instant, Il-hyeon drew a gun from inside his coat and aimed at Manager Kim's instep. Bang—along with an ear-splitting roar, a bullet embedded itself in his foot, and he screamed in agony before crumbling forward.
Chairman Kang sprang to his feet with a startled face, and shortly after hearing the gunshot, three large men came running and kicked open the door. With an indifferent expression, Il-hyeon tossed the gun onto the table and brushed off the part of his arm that Manager Kim had touched earlier.
One of the bodyguards who rushed in helped Manager Kim out, while the remaining two stood behind Il-hyeon, waiting only for Chairman Kang's orders. Il-hyeon draped his arm over the sofa and smiled with a leisurely expression.
"Don't touch me. If anyone lays a hand on my body, should I chop them up right here?"
Though the words were directed at the bodyguards, his viper-like gaze was fixed on Chairman Kang. Enraged, Chairman Kang picked up the gun Il-hyeon had thrown down. Then he aimed it at Il-hyeon.
Il-hyeon didn't even blink and smiled.
"Shoot."
The area beneath Chairman Kang's angry eyes trembled violently.
"You! You bastard. You've gone completely mad!"
"Are you afraid of me?"
As if his inner thoughts had been exposed, Chairman Kang's jaw stiffened rigidly. His lips twitched, and murderous intent flickered in his gray eyes. Il-hyeon, still wearing a smile, repeated the same question.
"Tell me. Father, is your son monster-like and frightening?"
Chairman Kang's finger twitched on the trigger. Il-hyeon smiled and rose from his seat.
"I clearly gave you a chance."
He pulled his jacket front to straighten his appearance, then walked leisurely around the sofa toward the exit. Just as his hand touched the door to leave, a click sounded from behind—the sound of the trigger being pulled. Il-hyeon slowly turned around. Chairman Kang, who had just pulled the trigger, stood pointing the gun with a bewildered expression. His cheek twitched as if in spasms, and seeing this, Il-hyeon let out a snort of laughter.
"Father, you've lost your touch."
The loaded gun had only a single bullet—the one fired at Manager Kim. Yet Chairman Kang pulled the trigger several more times toward Il-hyeon. Click, click—only the empty cylinder rotated; no bullets were fired. Realizing he had been toyed with, Chairman Kang's anger exploded. His face flushed crimson as he hurled the gun at Il-hyeon without hesitation.
Bang. The gun hit the door and fell to the floor, and Il-hyeon watched it with an emotionless expression.
"Family members must never inflict harm upon one another."
"...."
"However, if harm is inflicted first, any punishment must be accepted."
He recited the family rules as if reading a verdict. Then he smiled chillingly at Chairman Kang.
"Since Father shot at me today, next time it's my turn."
Chairman Kang picked up an ashtray and threw it this time. Il-hyeon lightly dodged it, then moved only his head in a slight nod of greeting before opening the door and stepping out. A thunderous shout and sounds of things being smashed could be heard. As he walked down the corridor, the smile gradually faded from his face, and his eyes filled with a mixture of anger and hatred.
***
Ja-kyeong looked out the window with a serious expression, chain-smoking cigarettes. Wang Ryun still remained completely oblivious to the fact that his girlfriend had betrayed him. He had asked acquaintances who might know something, but they all uniformly answered that they didn't know.
After being in a relationship for several years, how could she deceive him so completely? Since arriving home, he had put his heads together with Wang Han to think, but no sharp solution emerged. Eventually, they decided by rock-paper-scissors who would break the news to Wang Ryun, and fortunately, Wang Han won.
After finishing his cigarette and opening the window to air out the room, he lay down on the bed. Having stayed up all night, sleepiness poured over him the moment he lay down. In his dreams, last night's scene was vividly recreated. The appearance of the masked young man suddenly transformed into his true form, vomiting blood and collapsing. What woke him was the faint sound of footsteps and a door opening. Still half-asleep, he lifted his head to see Kang Il-hyeon.
He had brought a chair and sat beside the bed. His face looked utterly exhausted and weary.
"You were sleeping without eating, so I came up to check."
Checking the time, it was past 8 PM. He had slept for a long time. Trying to wake up, he rubbed his face mindlessly, but the pain from his injured arm made him wince. Il-hyeon took that hand and examined it. The back of his hand had been torn and stitched, but fortunately it wasn't a major wound.
"Was it uncomfortable to wash?"
He asked in a gentle voice.
"Hyung washed me perfunctorily."
No sooner had the words ended than one of Il-hyeon's eyebrows shot up. Ja-kyeong tried to pick up a T-shirt to put on, but his shoulder was grabbed by Kang Il-hyeon. Seeing his eyes growing increasingly nasty, something must have rubbed him the wrong way.
"Do brothers normally wash each other?"
"When injured, sometimes. Besides, when we were young, Hyung always used to wash me too."
Sitting with a displeased expression, he stood up, went to the table, and brought back a memo pad and ballpoint pen. Ja-kyeong couldn't understand what he was doing. He handed the paper and pen to Ja-kyeong, then said something unexpected.
"Write them down in the order of who's most precious to you."
"What?"
"Write Wang Han, Wang Ryun, and me in order of who's most precious."
Ja-kyeong frowned. Waking up to something so out of the blue—he had no idea what this bullshit was about. He held the pen and looked at him with an incredulous expression, but Il-hyeon applied pressure with his eyes to write quickly. When he resisted, the bastard forcibly made him grip the pen and write.
Ah, seriously. Why is he like this again. Ja-kyeong wrote Wang Han at the top. Then Wang Ryun below, and at the very bottom, he scrawled Kang Il-hyeon roughly. When he showed it, the man ground his teeth.
He snatched the pen, drew lines through Wang Han and Wang Ryun's names, then smiled refreshingly.
"If I kill both of them, I'm first place, right?"
Ja-kyeong crumpled the paper in distaste and snatched back the pen. He had felt a bit excited because the man acted normal this morning... Fuck, of course. He returned to being a crazy bastard. Too annoyed to respond, he ignored him, lay back on the bed, and pulled the covers over himself.
"Get out. I'm going to sleep more."
"Tell me. What do you need?"
When he stayed under the covers, a hand gradually wormed its way inside.
"Should I give you money? Hmm? You like money."
"...."
"I have overflowing amounts of money."
"...."
"If I give you all the money I have, will you think of me first for once?"
Ja-kyeong bolted up from his spot, shoved Il-hyeon's shoulder hard, and got off the bed. He opened the secret safe below, took out three bundles of dollar bills, and yanked at Il-hyeon's shirt. As the buttons tore off and a gap opened, he stuffed the money bundles inside.
Whether his face crumpled or not.
"I'll give you the money. Now get out, please."
As he pulled out the money bundles from inside his shirt, Il-hyeon's eyes turned sharp as awls.
"Why are you so skilled? Is this the touch of someone who's stuffed money into men before?"
He threw the wad of money and climbed on top of Ja-kyeong. When his injured arm was suddenly grabbed hard and he screamed, Il-hyeon quickly let go and apologized. Sorry. Then, burrowing into Ja-kyeong's embrace as he tried to push him away, he acted spoiled like a child. Ja-kyeong, who had considered grabbing his hair, just left him alone.
"Don't do that, just hug me. I had a really upsetting day today."
With a large man nearly 190 centimeters tall clinging to his chest, the sight was ridiculous. He thought he'd let go soon, but he stayed attached without budging. When asked what the upsetting thing was, there was no answer. Ja-kyeong carefully moved his injured arm and draped it over his shoulder.
Ten minutes passed, then twenty, and still it was quiet.
"Lee Ja-kyeong."
After a long silence, he spoke.
"Go ahead. I'm listening."
If he brought up money again this time, he intended to beat him up.
"I have a villa in Hawaii."
After boasting about money, now he's boasting about a villa.
"Would you go stay there for a while?"
At the unexpected words, Ja-kyeong's eyes widened. Was he suggesting they go on a trip together? When he looked down, Kang Il-hyeon raised his face at the same time. His mouth was smiling, but his eyes held the stillness before a storm sweeps through, with deep darkness spread within.
"One month should be enough. Think of it as a vacation."