SOG Ch 188

In early March, as the cold began to subside slightly, it was already Jae-chan’s fifth day of working at the Center.

Although it was a new environment with new colleagues, the work was familiar, so Jae-chan quickly adapted. The new superior who became the Guide Team 1 leader that was appointed after Han Tae-hoon’s promotion to director, and his new coworkers weren’t too bad overall.

“Hey, you little punk, are your feet triangles? Is that what you call running?”

Except for Gyeong Chang-hyun, who only knew how to berate this year’s Guide Team 1 apprentices, not teach them.

“Pull the amplifier faster! Ah, I said run! You’re unbelievably slow!”

Around evening, as sleet fell intermittently, Gyeong Chang-hyun shouted near the emergency Guiding Center. Jae-chan watched with a sour face as the male trainee who received the harsh scolding began running up the hill, on the verge of tears.

Last year, all the Team 1 apprentices Gyeong Chang-hyun taught failed their promotion exams spectacularly and fled to other districts like the ebbing tide. On his first day reporting to Guide Team 1, Jae-chan had been entreated by the seemingly timid new team leader: “I heard you were a good senior to the Team 2 apprentices. I hope you’ll lead this year’s Team 1 apprentices well too. Please?”

At this rate, next year’s Team 1 rookie guides will be wiped out too. Jae-chan was debating whether he should intervene in Gyeong Chang-hyun’s teaching methods, despite the trouble it would bring.

“Kid, now you’re starting to run properly. -Hey, aren’t you eating dinner? How about hotdogs and milkshakes?”

Gyeong Chang-hyun poked Seon Jae-chan’s side with hands full of skull rings.

“I have plans.”

Deciding to worry about the apprentices later, Jae-chan brushed off Gyeong Chang-hyun’s hand. At his halfhearted response of “Let’s eat later,” Gyeong Chang-hyun twitched his scratched eyebrow and burst out:

“Ah, can you two stop sticking together all the time!”

“What.”

“It’s that bastard Go Woo-jin, right? Shit, I’m coming too. What are you guys gonna eat! Where are you going?”

“Don’t know what we’re eating, but we’re going to your cousin’s house.”

“…Huh?”

“Going to Gyeong Hye-in’s housewarming party. Her boyfriend is coming too, wants to join?”

“……”

Heup, Gyeong Chang-hyun covered his mouth as if he’d eaten a spoiled hotdog. Then, with a pale face, he suddenly muttered about feeling a surge of duty towards this year’s apprentice guidance, and quickly fled up the path where the triangle-footed apprentice had run away crying.

Just then, Jae-chan’s phone rang. 

“Oh, I’m on my way down,” Jae-chan answered Woo-jin brightly and quickened his pace.

*

Gyeong Hye-in’s new place was a single-story detached house located near Jae-chan’s aunt’s house in the eastern region, District 71.

As it had been just about a month since the incident, Jae-chan was a bit surprised by Gyeong Hye-in’s quick independence. 

“You’re here?” Gyeong Hye-in greeted him in her usual curt manner. As Jae-chan handed over a housewarming gift and asked how she’d managed to move so quickly, her reply came:

“Money solves everything.”

Ah, that method. Jae-chan quickly understood.

“Mind giving me a tour of the house?”

The house, filled with the wafting scent of warm food, seemed to have only Gyeong Hye-in inside. Feeling awkward, Jae-chan asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know this house well either. Don’t even know where the nail clippers are. Just moved in the day before yesterday.”

Jae-chan glanced at the perfectly organized interior that was hard to believe had just been moved into, and understood. This too must have been resolved with money.

But there was someone else in the house he thought only had Gyeong Hye-in. After a brief commotion in the kitchen, a sturdy-built person comes out. As if he’d burned his hand, the man made a fuss with “Ouch, hot!” made Jae-chan’s face stiffen upon encountering him. Gyeong Hye-in pointed in that direction.

“Say hello. You two know each other, right? My boyfriend.”

“Hey, long time no see.”

Kim Geun-won, who had warmly hugged Woo-jin, greeted Jae-chan. Jae-chan dazedly shook hands with Kim Geun-won, who had shaved off his once scruffy beard and was wearing an apron while holding a ladle.

*

“It’s supposed to be a housewarming, aren’t you really going to introduce the house?”

It was Kim Geun-won’s voice asking Gyeong Hye-in.

Seon Jae-chan, who had been cutting zucchini, put down the knife after watching the two gazing at each other with honey-dripping eyes even during such trivial conversation. Taking advantage of Gyeong Hye-in checking on the delivery food order status, Jae-chan left a glance to Woo-jin, who was steaming lobster, subtly signaling him to keep GyeongHye-in distracted, then subtly pulled Kim Geun-won out of the kitchen.

“Sunbae, was the person who offered to sponsor your YouTube channel Ms. Gyeong Hye-in?”

On the terrace, separated from the living room by a macramé curtain, Jae-chan asked Kim Geun-won in a low voice.

“How did you know?”

It was because he had briefly heard the voice of Gyeong Hye-in’s boyfriend in the recording she made during the District 5 terror incident. In that recording, the man had called Gyeong Hye-in ‘boss’. So at first, he thought it might be one of her bodyguards, but to think it was Kim Geun-won.

Without answering Kim Geun-won’s question, Jae-chan abruptly pulled out his phone.

“Don’t tell me this is you too, Sunbae? This is from last summer. It was shortly after the Center’s anti-terror training began. Ms. Gyeong Hye-in also attended the training.”

“…Huh? What’s this? Where did you get this from?”

“I got it from the pub. Anyway, the person sitting next to Ms. Gyeong Hye-in, is that you, sunbae?”

Kim Geun-won turned to Seon Jae-chan and nodded reluctantly. On the phone screen Jae-chan pointed to was a CCTV image of the interior of the Center’s brew pub.

Seeing Kim Geun-won’s affirmation, Jae-chan also recalled what Gyeong Chang-hyun had said. He had said, ‘I don’t remember clearly because I was drunk, but Gyeong Hye-in’s companion seemed insignificant like Seon Eun-soo, so it didn’t seem worth paying attention to.’ Although it was questionable what criteria Gyeong Chang-hyun used to judge people, anyway…

It meant that both Gyeong Hye-in’s younger boyfriend and the mysterious man by her side were all Kim Geun-won.

“What is it? Why did you stop talking?”

“No, I think I misunderstood. I didn’t know you were dating Ms. Gyeong Hye-in. I’m sorry.”

While Seon Jae-chan placated Kim Geun-won with vague words, he was constantly organizing his thoughts. The younger man who distanced himself from Gyeong Hye-in after learning she was the President’s daughter, the owner of the deep voice that murmured something about ‘boss’ to Gyeong Hye-in – they were all Kim Geun-won.

Jae-chan belatedly understood Gyeong Hye-in’s action of readily inviting Woo-jin to the housewarming, and Woo-jin accepting that invitation.

‘It was because Kim Geun-won was in the middle.’

Perhaps Kim Geun-won and Gyeong Hye-in became close through Woo-jin. After pondering these complex thoughts, Jae-chan decided he should return to the kitchen. Before Woo-jin and Gyeong Hye-in became suspicious of this side.

But there was something that caught his hurried footsteps. Jae-chan held his breath, then bent his knee, grabbing his leg as he sat on the floor.

“…? What’s wrong with you?”

Kim Geun-won, who was following, asked curiously. Jae-chan grimaced slightly, rubbing his leg as he replied,

“I got a cramp in my leg. Ugh, no, you don’t need to help.”

“You really get yourself into all kinds of situations. Well, take your time and work it out.”

Kim Geun-won entered, pushing aside the macramé. And Jae-chan was staring, frozen, at the craft decoration that fell heavily, blocking the view of the living room.

There was something far more surprising than the fact that Gyeong Hye-in’s boyfriend was Kim Geun-won. The grand pattern hanging towards the terrace. As soon as he saw it, he felt as if the ground beneath his feet had collapsed, forcing him to pretend he had a cramp and quickly send Kim Geun-won away.

Like an unfathomable abyss, the emblem that had made all the Union people tremble in fear.

Jae-chan stared with hardened eyes at the Black Swan emblem realized in white thread and black knots.

*

Cold sweat broke out and his heart felt like it would burst, but Jae-chan pretended to massage his leg a few times before calmly returning inside.

“Are you okay?”

It seemed Kim Geun-won had already relayed the news as Woo-jin was coming out of the kitchen. Jae-chan nodded, pulling the corners of his mouth into a smile.

What he truly wanted to do was grab Woo-jin’s hand and run out of this house right away. He wanted to spill everything he had just seen, every thought racing through his mind, in a rapid-fire confession. But now was not the time.

Seon Jae-chan managed his expressions more carefully than ever as he carried food, ate, and tilted glasses of drinks. He hadn’t planned on drinking alcohol to begin with, but now he was especially cautious not to let even a single drop touch his lips. Meanwhile, his mind was in utter chaos.

Good heavens.

A house decorated with the Black Swan emblem.

As it turned out, there wasn’t just one emblem. It was as if some mental blind spot had lifted, and suddenly, he began noticing countless small versions of the emblem scattered throughout. On the front door, in picture frames, on cushions, and even intricately engraved on handmade cutting boards—this entire house was steeped in the Black Swan’s emblem…

It felt as eerie as if he had discovered a scrapbook of victims meticulously collected by a serial killer. The menacing black shapes punctured his vision like arrows, yet Jae-chan barely managed to keep his reaction in check, going along with Kim Geun-won’s endless chatter. Only Woo-jin occasionally sent Jae-chan quiet glances, but on the surface, the atmosphere continued as if it were any other housewarming party.

“I wanted to call a catering service, but Geun-won doesn’t like that.”

As the ordered luxurious dishes arrived one after another, Gyeong Hye-in explained with a regretful look. Jae-chan responded, pretending to be playful, while looking at her face that seemed no different from usual.

“No need for that. This is more than enough as it is.”

It really was more than enough.

As was the suspicion now growing in his mind about Gyeong Hye-in.