TTD Ch 34

Ja-kyung, who was holding the steering wheel, looked at Park Tae-soo’s back. He didn’t say anything from the time he left Choi Ki-tae’s villa until he arrived in Seoul. Kang Il-hyun also granted permission, so he would spend the day at his home in Seoul. It was preferable to watch the noisy Seoul than to sit in a house with grass all around.

“Secretary Park. Can I get some coffee on the way? I’ve been eyeing a coffee shop, and there’s a store nearby…”

Park Tae-soo made eye contact with Ja-kyung through the rear mirror.

“Yes, you can.”

Ja-kyung took the replicated phone in his hands and swiped the screen sideways. He looked over the messages Choi Ki-tae had received recently. Half of the conversations were unpleasant, with messages about work and Ja-kyung.

I want to fuck, sexy, handsome, Kang Seok-joo’s guest, is it okay if I touch him? Etc.

Ja-kyung had a taste for it. Except when he was young and didn’t know what he was doing, he had never seen men actively clinging to him in his life. They had no idea that if they mess with him, they would turn into a corpse. But as soon as he arrived in Korea, two strange people appeared.

The irony was that both of them were gonna die at his hands. He checked Choi Ki-tae’s schedule, shaking his head. In two days, there was an event. It was an event that was mentioned several times in messages to subordinates.

It looked like it was being held on a ship, but there were notes and traces of the event’s progress, indicating that it was a significant event. As he recited it in his head, the car stopped by the side of the road. Ja-kyung looked out the window. They eventually arrived in front of the cafe he was referring to.

The car came to a complete stop, and Park Tae-soo, who was driving, turned around.

“You can tell me, and I will buy it.”

“No… I have to go to that bathroom too. I’ll be back soon. What would you like to drink?”

“I’m fine.”

“It’s on me. Have a drink…”

Park Tae-soo ponders for a while because it doesn’t suit him.

“Then I… AA.” Note: 아아 [a-a] It’s an abbreviation of 아이스 아메리카노. 아이스 아메리카노 [a-i-seu a-me-ri-ka-no]: Iced Americano

Ja-kyung blinked his eyes.

“AA?”

“Ice Americano.”

“Ah… I see… you shortened it… Haha…”

It was funny when he shortened the menu with a scary-looking face. Ja-kyung exited the car and entered the cafe. There were three stores in Korea, and this was one of them. There was a long line when he entered. He looked out the window as he flipped through his phone. The thick tinting made it difficult to see what Park Tae-soo was doing.

After waiting in line for a while, he placed his order and asked where the restroom was. He was told that he needed to go to the back of the store, so he took the receipt and went there. He entered the bathroom and knocked on the door of the last room.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door suddenly opens and Wang Lun appears. He pulled Ja-kyung inside.

“Why are you so late?  I’ve been waiting for 10 minutes.”

“Sorry. Where’s the item?”

Wang Lun reached into his arms and pulled out a small paper bag. He presented it to Ja-kyung and confirmed it. It was identical to the USB in Kang Il-hyun’s home. The date and handwriting in English were both copied exactly. He was going to replace this at Kang Il-hyun’s house today.

“It was a discontinued model, so it was hard to find.”

“Thank you.”

“By the way… Is that man allowing you to stay there?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s a big deal. Does he trust you enough to let you stay at his home?”

Wang Lun’s face is filled with wonder. Ja-kyung couldn’t say anything about what he’d done with Kang Il-hyun. If he had, the Wang brothers would have teased him until he died and was buried in a coffin. He turned around and slipped the USB drive into his pocket. The more time passed, the more suspicious he became.

Then someone knocks on the door.

After the knock, he heard Park Tae-soo’s voice unexpectedly.

“Are you inside?”

Ja-kyung’s face hardened coldly. Wang Lun quickly climbed onto the toilet. The two held their breath and fixed their eyes on the door.

“I’m taking care of my business. I’ll be right out.”

“Is everything all right? I came here because I was worried.”

“Yeah, it’s nothing. I’ll go get the coffee.”

“Okay, I will go and wait.”

Ja-kyung swore silently in the shape of a mouth. He heard footsteps outside then it was quiet. Wang Lun asked who it was, and Ja-kyung shook his head and shut his mouth. He lowered his body and looked under the partition, but he couldn’t see Tae-soo’s feet.

He quietly closed the door and exited after signaling to Wang Lun that he was leaving by hand. As he walked into the cafe, the vibrating bell in his pocket rang. He went to the car with two cups of coffee. Park Tae-soo was sitting in the driver’s seat, looking straight ahead.

He took the cup of coffee from the bag and handed it to him.

“Please drink. It’s cool.”

“Yes.”

He sipped his coffee and drank half of it before starting the car. Their gazes met several times in the mirror, but no words were exchanged.

***

[Did you take good care of the guest list?]

[Yes, I made a separate VIP guest list and sent it to my father now. Please confirm it. At the entrance, we will conduct a thorough inspection of invitations for general guests and a body search. You don’t have to worry.]

[I trust you. Jun-tae is dead, so you have to work hard for him.]

[I know. Trust me, Dad. I won’t make a mistake.]

Ja-kyung soaked himself in warm water in the bathtub. The rectangular bathtub is also quite large, so even after Ja-kyung enters, there is still plenty of room. He hung his arms out of the bathtub after smoking. The bathroom was filled with a mixture of cigarette smoke and water steam.

Choi Ki-tae and his father were still on the phone. They were planning a charity event on the ship two days later. They say it was a charity event, but it was like a drug party. A large number of VIP guests gathered, including some who appeared to be celebrities.

The call was disconnected after a lengthy conversation. Ja-kyung rubbed the cigarette on the floor before flushing the cigarette butt. He looked in the mirror before entering the shower, and the red mark as big as a coin on the back of his neck was so clear. He rubbed it with his hand after frowning. It could not be erased.

He kicked his tongue, put on his robe, and went outside after taking a shower. He drank a beer and sat down with his feet on the table. Wang Lun handed out a forged USB. he wondered what was in the original that was priced the same as life. He was curious but opening it was an absolute foul.

He drank the beer all at once. His thirst has subsided, but drunkenness has increased slightly. He was about to drink another beer when he gave up and got up from his seat with the USB that was on the table. He went through the house again, just in case, to see if there were any CCTV or wiretapping devices.

Park Tae-soo, who lives next door would have no idea what was going on inside. He put on gloves on both hands to avoid leaving fingerprints and strode towards the study. A second study appeared when he pushed the sliding bookshelf and then the wall.

He went under the desk without hesitation, and the safe was there. The lock turned when he pressed the eight digits he had memorized. He hummed as he slowly drew the door open. He could see the ordered USB inside. What was commissioned remained. He took out the real thing and replaced it with the fake he got from Wang Lun.

He smiled naturally as he closed the safe door. In any case, it was resolved. He should go to Chairman Kang’s house now that he has the items. Kang Il-hyun certainly did not forbid him to stay at his parents’ house. He should call Kang Seok-joo tomorrow and give him the rough idea.

If he stayed with Kang Il-hyun until the inauguration ceremony, he thought he would die from anger before that. Ja-kyung rose from his seat and was about to return when he noticed an album on a bookshelf. That was the only album among all the books.

He took out the album and turned the first page out of curiosity. There were pictures of babies. Was this  Kang Il-hyun? A slightly taller girl hugged Kang Il-hyun next to him. The smile was stunning. He flipped to the next page. The baby appears to be slightly bigger, but he was expressionless. Still, Kang Yoo-jung smiled and Kang Il-hyun looked at the camera with an expressionless face.

Even though he was a child, he had a very unfriendly expression on his face. There were no smiling pictures on the next or subsequent pages. Ja-kyung remembered his childhood. Ja-kyung never smiled and always wore the same expression. If there was a picture, it would have looked similar to Kang Il-hyun.

They didn’t seem to take pictures after they got a little bigger. There was nothing left. The ID photo he took while wearing a school uniform in high school seemed far from decent. His lips were stubbornly closed and his eyes full of rebellion.

Ja-kyung smiled and moved on to the next page of the album. All of them were empty. He was curious about Il-hyun’s mother’s face, but there was no picture left. The irony was that there were no photographs of the living father. At the elementary school graduation ceremony, he only took photos with his sister Kang Yoo-jung.

Ja-kyung closed the album and put it back in its place. After going out, he opened the refrigerator, took out a beer, and returned to the sofa. When he turned on the music, the living room was filled with magnificent classical music. He caught the night of Seoul in his eyes as he stood in front of the window with a beer in his hand.

The city’s night view embroidered the dark night streets. The headlights of a car flashed across them. The music that came out was Queen of the Night Aria. Ja-kyung sipped his beer and smiled bitterly.

Wasn’t that song suited him perfectly? Did Kang Il-hyun also look out the window while listening to this music like him? Like the Queen of the Night, he must have hated and cursed someone.