TTD 148

Ja-kyung composed himself, took a long breath, and looked at Kang Yoo-jung.

“First, I’ll track down the ones who attacked us. That seems to be my job right now.”

“Director Park Tae-soo is looking into it, so you should rest at home, Ja-kyung.”

“No. I’ll feel better if I do it myself. I’m going.”

Though Yoo-jung looked concerned, she couldn’t stop him further, and after leaving the house, Ja-kyung looked back once. The swimming pool where they played together, the courtyard where they walked, the second-floor terrace where they had breakfast – everything remained the same, but only Kang Il-hyun had changed.

Feeling as if a rock was lodged in his stomach, he let out a heavy sigh when Wang Lun’s call came through. His voice rang through the receiver.

[Caught the rat! I’ll send you the address, so come here.]

***

Arriving at the scene, he found the security guard, beaten to a pulp, tightly bound with rope. As he knelt to look at his face, the man hung his head. When Ja-kyung grabbed his chin and looked into his eyes, the man averted his gaze, not knowing what to do.

“Why did you do it? I helped you.”

The man sobbed and lowered his head. I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. They came to the hospital and threatened me, I had no choice. I’m sorry. I only delivered the drinks. Please believe me. Looking at him, Ja-kyung’s eyes grew cold.

“What did you receive, threats or money?”

The man flinched and couldn’t say anything. Ha, Ja-kyung pushed back his hair as he stood up, and Wang Lun kicked the man.

“You bastard! You betray us for a few bucks? Are you human! Even animals show more gratitude than you!”

At the shouting, the man being beaten suddenly yelled, “Ah, fuck!” Several emotions crossed the man’s face as he raised his head. Regret, resentment, fear, anger. With tears in his eyes, the man shouted.

“So what should I have done! You think I wanted to do this! You’re all rich so you have nothing to worry about! With my parents’ hospital bills and my sibling lying there like that, what choice did I have! They said to take the money or die, what could I have done!”

The man shed bitter tears, and Wang Lun and Wang Han looked at him in disbelief. Ja-kyung pushed the man to the ground with his foot, stepped on his chest, and drew his knife. The man’s face filled with fear, and when he put the knife tip to his throat, he begged for his life.

“I don’t let anyone who screws with me off easy. Whether your sibling or parents are involved, that’s not my concern. Because of you, someone I love got hurt, and I’m feeling really fucking awful. So don’t take it too personally.”

As he moved to slash his throat, the man screamed.

“I can lure them out! I know where the boss is! He promised to meet with me! So you’ll need me! Just once, trust me just once! You can deal with me after we catch them! Please, please spare me… Please…”

The man grabbed Ja-kyung’s legs and begged repeatedly. Ja-kyung removed his foot and concealed his knife. The man trembled in fear as he sat up, and Ja-kyung asked Wang Lun to put him in the car, adding one last thing.

“If he tries anything funny, shoot him in the head right away.”

***

The rain poured as if the sky had burst open, and the wipers moved without rest. Worried, he stopped the car midway and contacted Jang Tae-ho, who fortunately said he was staying safely at the hotel. He reassured Ja-kyung not to worry too much, saying that the police were also patrolling around the hotel.

Ja-kyung sat blankly in the driver’s seat for a long while even after the car stopped. Though he had come back here, he couldn’t bring himself to go in. As he was considering whether to stay at a hotel instead, someone tapped on the window. Looking out, he saw the housekeeper standing with an umbrella.

Ja-kyung got out of the car, and the housekeeper held the umbrella over him to keep him from getting wet.

“You’re very late.”

“Yes…”

“Let’s go. You must be tired today.”

Led by her hand, he entered the house, where Kang Il-hyun was sitting in the living room talking to Park Tae-soo. Even though Park Tae-soo greeted him, Kang Il-hyun didn’t turn around. When the housekeeper beside him asked what he had eaten and if he wanted her to make a snack, Ja-kyung replied he was fine and went upstairs.

He came home, but Il-hyun didn’t even look.

Hiding his hurt feelings, Ja-kyung was undressing to shower when there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.”

Surprisingly, the person who opened the door was Kang Il-hyun. He looked around Ja-kyung’s room, spotted a floral shirt hanging on a chair, picked it up, and raised one eyebrow askew.

“Nice taste in shirts. Don’t tell me you bought the ones in my room too.”

The word ‘you’ stabbed at his heart like needles. Ja-kyung used to find ‘honey’ embarrassing and dislikeable, but now he missed even that. When he didn’t answer, Il-hyun tossed the shirt aside and walked right up to him with his hands in his pockets. As Il-hyun stared at his face, Ja-kyung looked back without avoiding his gaze.

“You. I hear you put bullet holes in my legs. One in each side.”

Did he hear from Park Tae-soo? Feeling somewhat defiant, Ja-kyung responded curtly.

“Originally, I meant to shoot your heart. You should be grateful I missed it.”

“Ha, what kind of logic is that? And then you ran away for a year, I hear. If you did something I should be really grateful for, why did you run?”

“…”

“Never mind that. They say you killed the old man too. Is that true?”

“Well… I suppose so.”

Il-hyun smiled kindly, unlike before.

“Thank you.”

“…”

“I mean it.”

He knew how much he hated his father. Even when he killed him, he didn’t feel much guilt. It was the same even when he said he attended the memorial service every year. He turned around and examined the items in the display case. It was full of cute little things that Kang Il-hyun had bought on business trips.

“Pretty cute taste for someone who kills people.”

“You bought them for me.”

Kang Il-hyun turned around and laughed with an incredulous expression. Me?

“Yes…”

“Lies. I never give gifts like this to anyone.”

“You did to me…”

Kang Il-hyun looked at the items with a hardened expression. Earlier he had acted like he would throw Ja-kyung out immediately, but now his attitude had softened somewhat. Did his opinion of him improve because he killed his father? What a dreadful relationship where killing someone makes one more likeable.

Kang Il-hyun turned and came closer, staring intently at Ja-kyung. He examined his eyes, nose, and mouth in detail, then traced from his shoulders down to his chest and stomach before coming back up. Then he gestured for him to turn around. When he turned as told, Il-hyun made a “hmm” sound and wiggled his finger. Ja-kyung frowned, growing irritated.

“What are you doing?”

“Suck it.”

“What?”

“We were that close, right? Then you must have sucked my dick too. So try sucking it once.”

“…”

“Who knows? If you suck well, I might remember.”

Ja-kyung clenched his molars and tilted his head back. Earlier he looked at him like an insect, and now he comes in suddenly asking him to suck his d1ck. For a moment Ja-kyung wondered if his memory had returned, but it clearly hadn’t.

“Shut up and get out. I’m tired.”

“Don’t want to suck it?”

“No, I don’t! If you want it sucked so badly, why don’t you suck mine! You’re way better at it anyway!”

Kang Il-hyun furrowed his brow.

“I sucked yours too?”

Ja-kyung let out a derisive laugh and snapped back.

“Of course! You sucked my dick, sucked my ass, sucked everything!”

“Fuck.”

“I’m the one who wants to curse, so get out. I thought I could overlook you losing your memory, but don’t come here and hurt me like this. I know it must be hard for you, but honestly, you don’t even look like you’re struggling, so I’ll say it all. I’m struggling right now, and it took all my courage to come here. But you keep coming and poking at me, hah-“

As Ja-kyung rambled on, his eyes turned red and bloodshot. Ah, fuck, it’s so annoying. As he cursed and rubbed his eyes with his palms, Kang Il-hyun asked shamelessly.

“Are you crying because of me?”

“I’m crying because it’s fucking annoying, so get lost. I don’t want to talk. If you keep talking to me, I’ll strangle you!”

“But you…”

Kang Il-hyun paused for a moment, then muttered. You look pretty when you cry. Ja-kyung glared at him in disbelief, and Il-hyun bid goodnight with an expressionless face before leaving.

Ja-kyung let out a hollow laugh, stared at the closed door, and sat down on the bed. He lay down, breathing heavily and pulled the blanket over his head. Still unable to calm himself, he stood up, and after repeating his actions, the morning had dawned.