ACJY C7

D-Day

It was a continuous stream of tension. Seonjae felt as if someone would burst in at any moment, throw a hood over his head, and drag him away. So this is what formless fear feels like, he realized with a chilling clarity. He recalled all his misdeeds and scoffed, thinking, poetic justice.

At 4:30 a.m., as Friday bled into Saturday, he left his apartment and got into his old Elantra. 

Be as natural as possible. Don’t take or touch anything inside the house.

These were the two requests from Detective Oh Daeo, codenamed Turtle.

As expected, he was being followed. It had to be his uncle, who knew he’d be leaving early in the morning. Originally, Seonjae had planned to take a day off. But before he could even mention it, his uncle had ordered him to go to Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, where the family grave was located. Suspecting ulterior motives, Seonjae had taken an ambiguous stance and quickly consulted with Detective Oh. The detective had reassured him, saying it was actually a good thing—if Seonjae died in an accident on his way to Andong on the detective’s orders, his uncle wouldn’t be able to argue. They quickly revised the plan.

Trying to ignore the tail, Seonjae started the engine. The car’s thermometer read 17 degrees Celsius (62.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The rain and wind made the atmosphere eerie. His hands trembled as he gripped the steering wheel, not from the cold, but from fear.

Shit. Why am I like this all of a sudden?

He was baffled by his own reaction.

Lee Seonjae had been an unusually fearless boy. Throughout his arrogant youth and into his current state—despicable, vile, and devoid of any elegance—his innate disposition hadn’t changed. But now, to be trembling with fear? It was ridiculous. His heart pounded so hard he was grateful he hadn’t wet himself.

Assuming his car was bugged, he turned on the radio. Loud, erratic trumpet music blared from the speakers. He pressed the accelerator and left the rain-soaked apartment complex. As he approached the tollgate, a truck, part of the plan to lose his tail, moved in. Seonjae focused all his attention on driving.

He drove for a while. The designated meeting point drew closer. His mouth was dry, and his breath came in short gasps. He’d been so tense he hadn’t even noticed the trumpet music had stopped. After a few failed attempts, he finally managed to press the play button again. The previously silent car was once again filled with the near-deafening sound of trumpets.

Hazard lights flashed directly ahead. Seonjae slowed down and gently applied the brakes. A man in a black raincoat got out of the car in front. Seonjae quickly released the steering wheel, got out of his car, and climbed into the other vehicle as if in a relay race. They didn’t exchange greetings or even glances. Taking the wheel as if it were his own car, he drove away. This was the extent of Seonjae’s role.

Everything else would be handled by the others. Doubt and anxiety churned in his mind, but it was water under the bridge now. He had no choice but to trust them.

Seonjae drove blindly towards the prearranged location, 30 minutes from where he’d switched cars. This time, a van was waiting. As soon as he got in, a hand holding a hood lunged at him. Instinctively, he grabbed the arm and twisted it, only snapping back to his senses at a shriek of protest.

“Good work, sir.”

A familiar face spoke.

The man holding the hood scowled at Seonjae. Instead of apologizing, Seonjae meekly put on the hood.

“Where are we going?” Seonjae asked.

“Somewhere safe.”

“What about Turtle?”

“He’s waiting there.”

The van, carrying Seonjae and two others, drove on and on, seemingly without destination.

Anxiety churned in his stomach. He fought back the urge to vomit and focused on the sounds outside. Except for the clicking of the turn signals, the van remained silent as it drove on and on.

“Congratulations.”

The sudden congratulations startled Seonjae.

“Mr. Lee Seonjae, you officially passed away a short while ago.”

The voice was so light it sounded like a joke.

He let out a short laugh.

I’m dead. Lee Seonjae, the adopted son of Lee Seokdu, was dead. He should have been dancing with joy, but a sudden wave of grief washed over him. He bit his lip to hold back the tears, but it was no use. His face contorted, and he finally burst into tears.

He sobbed, wracked with emotion.

The man who had congratulated him asked nervously if he was alright.

Embarrassed and ashamed, Seonjae managed to stop crying. A tissue was pressed into his hand. The hood was loosened slightly, and he reached inside to blow his nose and wipe his tears.

A moment later, the tears welled up again.

Once the floodgates opened, there was no stopping them.

Lee Seonjae wept silently.

He cried and cried until the hood was soaked.

✽✽✽

“Congratulations.”

Detective Ohdaeo filled a paper cup with goliangju (Chinese sorghum liquor). Jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) and tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) were also on the table.

“Mr. Kim Taeheun, congratulations on your new life.”

“Thank you.”

Seonjae, now Kim Taeheun, accepted the cup with eyes swollen from crying.

The liquor, over 40% alcohol, burned a path down his throat. It was sweet, despite not being soju. Still, the strong alcohol made him grimace.

Kim Taeheun. Tae, meaning great, and Heun, meaning joy. Great joy. It was the name of his uncle, who had supposedly died in an accident at the age of six. It had happened when his father was five and his aunt was seven. The three siblings, close in age, had lost a brother early in life, and after his death, no one in the family ever mentioned his name. Seonjae himself barely remembered the name, having heard it only once from his deceased aunt.

Seonjae must have been seven years old at the time. His aunt, who had adored him more than her own children, had taken him to the park that day. Passersby had commented on their resemblance and how handsome he was, and each compliment brought a bright smile to his aunt’s usually melancholic face.

They sat on the sunny lawn and ate the lunch his aunt had packed. She hadn’t eaten a bite, only watching Seonjae eat. Then, out of the blue, she had called out, “Taeheun!” Startled by her own words, her face had paled. That day, his aunt had talked about her brother, who had lived for only six years. She spoke of the child who had been so much like Seonjae, a boy even more beautiful than his angelic aunt. At the end, she had placed her index finger on his lips and whispered, “Shhh. This is our little secret.”

At the time, Seonjae hadn’t been interested in the child who had died so young, the boy he could hardly call an uncle. He had simply been thrilled to have a secret with his aunt.

“Taeheun. It’s a bit of a difficult name.”

“Just call me Director Kim. The name is still unfamiliar to me, too.”

Seonjae said, refilling Detective Oh’s empty cup.

“Yes, of course.”

Detective Oh smiled.

“This place is quite humble. Please bear with it for a while. We’ll move you to a better place as soon as things are settled.”

Detective Oh took back the bottle and refilled Seonjae’s empty cup.

“You’ll receive a phone call three times a day at random intervals. Think of it as a roll call. It will ring once and hang up, then ring twice a minute later and hang up. A minute after that, when the phone rings again, wait for it to ring five times before answering. You must answer. If it rings once and hangs up and there’s no subsequent call, that’s a notification for your meal delivery. You don’t need to answer that one.”

Detective Oh explained the two rules he had to follow while staying there.

“Never make calls from this phone. And don’t go outside the walls. We’ll have someone stationed outside at all times just in case, but let’s avoid any unnecessary confrontations. It’s necessary for both your safety and ours, so please cooperate.”

“Alright.”

“Meals will be delivered twice a day. If you have any requests, let us know during the call. We can get you pretty much anything you want, as long as it’s not lobster or caviar.”

Detective Oh joked to keep the atmosphere light.

“If you have anything to tell me, please do so during the last roll call. Unless something comes up, I don’t plan on coming here again. Better safe than sorry.”

They were silent for a moment. Detective Oh ate the tangsuyuk and jajangmyeon with his goliangju, while Seonjae just drank.

“How are things on the other side?” Seonjae broke the silence.

“I was wondering when you’d ask.”

Detective Oh smiled. He quickly chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth before answering.

“They’re in disarray, as you can imagine. It’s only natural, with the brains of Ilgwang Financial now deceased.”

“Do they suspect anything?”

“No signs of that yet. The guys who were tailing you that day saw you get into that car with their own eyes, so even Lee Seokdu will have to fall for it this time. Besides, the body was badly burned in the fire, beyond recognition. It’s awful to say, but it’s completely unidentifiable. They’re checking the dental records to confirm if it’s Lee Seonjae, but it will come back as a 100% match.”

“Easy, huh?”

Seonjae expressed his honest feelings, and Detective Oh waved his hand dismissively.

“Don’t say that. You wouldn’t say that if you knew how much we’ve been sweating this.”

“Really?”

“Absolutely. The preparations alone took three months. If you include recruiting you, it’s been over a year in the making.”

Detective Oh opened up about the arduous preparation period and the nerve-wracking past three months. He even brought up something from ten years ago. The incident Seonjae had already forgotten, or rather, chosen to forget.

“I was truly sorry about what happened back then. I was young and reckless, and the atmosphere in the police force was very different then. Still, it was a terrible thing to do to a kid who had just turned twenty.”

“That kid is now thirty-one. You should forget about it, Detective. I have.”

Seonjae clinked glasses with Detective Oh as he said this.

“Thanks to that, I’ve been reborn.”

“Is that so?” Detective Oh laughed his good-natured laugh. He smiled a lot, despite his appearance.

They finished two bottles of goliangju and parted ways around midnight.

“Take care.” Seonjae said.

“Yes, I will. Please rest well, Director Kim.”

Detective Oh bowed respectfully.

“Just follow the rules. We’ll take care of the rest.”

He added this to reassure Seonjae and then left the safe house.

Seonjae was left alone.

Lee Seonjae was dead. In a matter of hours, he had been reborn with the name of his uncle, who had lived for only six years. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t live much longer himself.

Kim Taeheun.

Seonjae murmured the name, staring at the wall.