DI Ch 9

I suddenly crave ice cream. I don’t even like snacking, so I’m not sure why I crave it so much. Is it because my body is hot from the alcohol? I needed something cold to soothe my mouth. Oh, I’d like to eat some jelly as well. I’m not a kid. Why do I suddenly want to eat soft and sweet things? Still, I went to a convenience store right away because it’s been a long time since I’ve wanted to eat something after having a compulsory meal. However, there were too many people at the nearby convenience store, perhaps because all the surrounding areas were bars.

I was walking for a while, but no matter how far I went, I couldn’t find a convenience store with few people. It was fine though. Because my two heavy legs had never been as light as today. I think I drank a few drinks. Sometimes if it’s too hard, I should have a drink. Don’t drink too much, just enough to avoid headaches…

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

I bumped my forehead into his forearm because I couldn’t see the person in front of me. It was hard enough that I felt like I’d been hit by a stone, so I gently touched my forehead and took a step back. The man was quite tall. I was also tall, so when I saw someone, I often looked down, but this person was much taller than me.

When I met his piercing gaze, I snapped back to reality. His sharp eyes were so fierce that I felt like my hair stand up. The tall man’s height and size suddenly felt menacing.

“You go in first.”

“Yes?”

“Aren’t you going to enter the convenience store?”

Stunned, I looked at the man and then at the convenience store. In front of me is a convenience store with only a few customers.

“Uh. No. Uncle, go in first.”

“…”

I took a step back, but the man did not move. He looked down at me, opened the door ahead of me, and winked at me to go in.

“Student go in first.”

“Oh, thank you.”

I was embarrassed to be scared because he was such a nice person. When I lowered my head slightly in gratitude, I froze on the spot again. At first, I thought I saw it wrong. You can’t see things clearly because you’ve been drinking, no matter how sane you are. But when I realized I had seen it right, I was suffocated.

This man is missing a pinky finger on his left hand. He was Tae Seong-je’s right-hand man and was called the venomous snake, Moon Gyeong-rok.

The information that flashed through my mind hit me in the back of the head. The drunkenness disappeared instantly. This person’s presence means that Tae Seong-je is nearby. Because Moon Gyeong-rok was always there to assist him. ‘Tae Seong-je’, just thinking of his name made beads of sweat form on my forehead.

Why…Why was he here? Were we supposed to meet like this? Was Tae Seong-je and Seo Seung-won met at the beginning of part 1? Not part 2? No, it wouldn’t be… My parched stomach churned and I gulped down my saliva. Suddenly, my eyes trembled. If I didn’t give strength to my legs, my knees would stagger and I would fall.

Damn it. What am I doing. Come to your sense. The important thing was not to have confidence in the information at this moment. I bit my trembling lips. I’m more nervous than I should be right now, and I don’t want to reveal it. Moon Gyeong-rok was Tae Seong-je’s right-hand man, and he was a person with a good sense as he directly assisted Tae Seong-je, who had enemies in all directions. It would be strange to know that someone in one place is self-conscious and nervous.

Let’s not make it obvious. I clenched my fists tightly enough to allow my nails to push in and keep my hands from trembling. I knew the day would come when I’d run into Tae Seong-je anywhere, at any time. Because the book is told from Woo Ji-min’s point of view, it is unclear when Tae Seong-je and Seo Seung-won’s love affair began. Seo Seung-won only said it was a coincidence, so it was difficult to predict.

What Woo Ji-min doesn’t know, I don’t know either. So, I wasn’t sure about anything else. I promised myself not to be surprised no matter what happens when I meet Tae Seong-je, but the sudden situation flustered me enough.

That’s right, it’s part 1 now. I thought I would meet Tae Seong-je in the second part of the story…

My heart pounded. I couldn’t remember how I got into the convenience store. I barely dragged my heavy legs into the convenience store. I think I’m walking normally, but I can’t tell if I am. I hung my head and held something in my hand, ignoring the cold sweat. I lost all of my drunkenness and my appetite plummeted.

Tae Seong-je wanted to bring down Kang Moo-hyun’s grandfather, the chairman of Hyun-seong Group. Hyun-seong’s entire life, as well as that of his grandson, Kang Moo-hyun, are all at the end of the abyss.

Chairman Hyun-seong Group and Grandmother Tae Seong-je were siblings and extremely wealthy. As a result, both Kang Moo-hyun and Tae Seong-je, who are related through their second cousins, were able to live a perfectly organized life as the third generation of chaebol. Even if Chairman Hyun-seong’s son and his wife had not died in an unexpected accident. Chairman Hyun-seong devised a strategy to secure management rights and transfer Hyun-seong to Kang Moo-hyun.

To get rid of his young rival, he killed his sister and Tae Seong-je’s parents by disguising their deaths as accidental deaths and sending the young Tae Seong-je, who lost his guardian overnight, to an orphanage. I had no idea what happened to the media or the assets of the third-generation conglomerate. In any case, Tae Seong-je knew everything by the time he was an adult and was deeply involved in the organization.

Surprisingly, Tae Seong-je was uninterested in revenge, let alone gnashing his teeth. Rather, he found it interesting. Even humans are interested by how hideous they can be. Tae Seong-je, who has a bad personality, wanted to show Chairman Hyun-Seong the end of a dirtier, nastier, and more disgusting human obsession for fun.

Tae Seong-je, who wanted to give his grandson Kang Moo-hyun, who is Chairman Hyun-seong’s treasure, learns about Kang Moo-hyun’s distress through a background investigation while making the Hyun-seong group into toilet paper. That was Woo Ji-min. Tae Seong-je attempted to separate the two, but Woo Ji-min was not the type to do so. In the end, Tae Seong-je finds Seo Seung-won, the closest acquaintance of Woo Ji-min, in order to treat him as he wishes.

“Excuse me, are you okay?”

A sweet part-timer with a pleasant voice asked cautiously. I could feel a gaze from behind me. It wasn’t explicit, but it was quiet and sharp, and I felt like I was going to be stabbed.  It had to be a small matter on his part, but he was surprisingly open to listening and paying attention. They’ll see right through my awkward acting. They are not an opponent for an ordinary college student like me.

“Huh. Seung-won!”

Then a familiar voice turned me around. It was Kim Young-ji.

“You also come here because there are so many people, huh. Your complexion is very bad.”

When I saw a familiar face, I let out a sigh of relief that I had been holding. It felt like there was no blood flowing. My heart was completely relieved, but Kim Young-ji, who didn’t know anything, looked at my appearance with pity.

“Just go home. I’ll cover for you.”

“… Thanks.”

The squeezed voice was barely audible. I left the convenience store without buying anything. My whole body seemed to be cracking. Then I noticed that the stinging gaze had disappeared. It doesn’t pay attention to me. Maybe it’s a matter of course. The poisonous snake had a sharp appearance, just like its nickname. It may be normal for strangers to be afraid of him. That meant that my being too startled might not be an unusual reaction to him.

“… I’m sorry. I’ll go first.”

“Yeah. Go home safely.”

A cool breeze brushed my cheeks as I stepped outside. What should I do next? Tae Seong-je is an extraordinary presence, unlike Woo Ji-min and Kang Moo-hyun, who move within the line I know. Dealing with an anomaly is similar to confronting a blank scenario with a weapon. Not a single development can be predicted.

I  wiped away the cold sweat and let out a sigh I had been holding back. I should go to sleep as soon as I get home. The moment I decided to get a good night’s sleep and think about what to do next, I heard a dull sound from the alley I was passing by. It was a terrifying sound that struck a person’s bones.

My body froze. I slowly turned my head and cast my gaze into the dark alley. It was too dark to see anything. Somehow that made me feel more secure. I thought I had misheard it, so I tried to walk through it and ignore it. But I couldn’t move because my breathing was tangled at the terrifying sound.

Is it because I stared at it for too long? The darkness began to move. There were some men present. Only one man stood out among them, with a gloomy expression, and the sense of intimidation was so strong that time seemed to stand still. I couldn’t see his face properly, but the atmosphere was dreadful.

The lighted cigarette that was barely bitten by the man’s lips trembled nervously. Ah, that goblin-like fire must have been the cigarette spark. Cold sweat ran down my forehead. The man sucked the cigarette until both his cheeks fit into it, then blew it out. When the wafting smoke disappeared, the man opened his mouth.

“That’s strange. Did you really think I couldn’t find you?”