CNC Ch 5

Where was the salaryman who goes to Yeouido to work? It looked like an actor’s profile picture.

Although he thought that in his mind, he couldn’t say a word. Socially, he was an incredibly remarkable person, someone who, in Choi Hong-seo’s eyes, seemed to have the ability to do anything in the world. Moreover, he was twelve years older with a robust physique, yet his awkward appearance was somehow endearing. His lips twitched as if wanting to smile, but instead, he just bit them.

Was it because he felt unfamiliar, shy, or lacked the courage… Were these the reasons he couldn’t say those words to him?

His heart, which had been racing, convulsed even more, pumping even more blood at once. He touched the related news articles below the profile as he peeled the chapped skin off his lips with his fingertips.

The title of today’s news caught his eye first.

‘Vice President Lee Hae-seong Departing for Canada Tomorrow… Expectations for North American Business Trip Results’

Tapping on the article, he found a picture of him at a press conference held at the airport before a previous business trip.

Lee Hae-seong was relatively less exposed to the public compared to the other prominent business leaders in Korea. It was in contrast to the Hanseo Group family, which was led by his cousins, who were also third-generation entrepreneurs. While the Hanseo siblings didn’t necessarily enjoy media exposure, they didn’t strongly object to their private activities being shared. In contrast, Lee Hae-seong was known to be somewhat “mysterious” as he quietly focused only on running the company.

The general public was unaware that Lee Hae-seong, the CEO of ARA Electronics and later the ARA Group, is a movie enthusiast who has personally established an investment company and sponsored the production of several films unrelated to ARA’s capital. But that wasn’t particularly secret.

The fact that he was an avid camera collector and enjoyed photography to the extent that he had held several exhibitions in secret under pseudonyms was not known at all. Except for his personal secretary, Choi Hong-seo was the only one who knew about this closely guarded secret.

For him, photography was an enjoyable hobby that nobody else knew about. It was the only outlet where he could exist as a human being, free from his role and obligations.

Choi Hong-seo continued to scroll down with trembling fingertips, delving into the past.

‘ARA Vice President Lee Hae-seong secretly and urgently departs for Bangkok, Thailand… Why?’

‘Lee Hae-seong returning home in a distressed state’

‘Lee Hae-seong personally drives to his vacation villa after getting time off, concerns over ‘health issues’ raised in some circles’

Among the news articles related to Lee Hae-seong’s activities at ARA Electronics, Choi Hong-seo’s gaze lingered on some of them. The dates all pointed to the time just after he had jumped from the 32nd floor in Bangkok.

So he had come to Bangkok… Choi Hong-seo’s hand stopped picking at his lips. His eyes shook as he read the article one by one.

Lee Hae-seong had hurriedly departed for Bangkok right after Choi Hong-seo’s jump, and it wasn’t due to any official schedule related to ARA. Then, speculating that it was a sudden departure due to Choi Hong-seo’s accident wouldn’t be entirely unfounded.

So… what happened after that?

What was the nature of our relationship?

Was Lee Hae-seong disappointed that he did that? Probably. Or maybe… He found out the entire story of the X Group scandal and lost all affection for him from there.

So, there was nothing left for him in the future with Lee Hae-seong…

His profile as he grabbed the steering wheel and left the parking lot at his home in Seocho-dong was not very clear. This was because it was photographed at night and through a tinted window.

But it was fine. His face, which had always shown a gentle and affectionate expression, now appeared unfamiliar and sharply edged, but it was still nice to see him alive and breathing in this world.

But now it’s all over.

Lee Hae-seong’s gentleness, affection, caution, and secrets, were all no longer his. Choi Hong-seo had given them all back to him with his own hands. No, maybe he doesn’t think he got them back, but that they were callously discarded. He had thrown away all the precious values he had given him as if they were scraps of paper on the 32nd floor.

Not only his fingers, but Choi Hong-seo’s entire body began to tremble violently.

The nausea was building up. He was told to call for assistance immediately if something was wrong, but he didn’t think he could wait for a nurse to arrive. He rushed to the restroom inside the single-person hospital room. Although he could walk slowly, running was still out of the question. His knees buckled several times as he waited for his breath to catch up, finally arriving at the restroom.

The only thing he passed down his throat after regaining consciousness was three or four sips of bottled water, but Choi Hong-seo vomited out an unknown yellow liquid.

After a few tries to stand up, he held onto the edge of the sink and tried to steady himself. He timidly wiped the corners of his mouth with his wet palm and unintentionally met his own eyes in the mirror.

“…”

Shaaaaaa. The water continued to pour in the sink, and Choi Hong-seo couldn’t even scream.

What felt unfamiliar were the people who came to the hospital room and spoke warmly. It was nothing special.

Compared to the reflection of his face in the mirror.

*

It was the end of midsummer.

Even though it was still part of the peak summer season, it felt like the heat had subsided compared to the scorching days.

Lee Hae-seong was sitting on a single sofa by the window, staring at the tablet screen. Slowly rising from the cigarette between his fingers was an unusually pale smoke.

Having moved back and forth between Bundang and Seocho-dong, he had recently relocated to this place, a mansion in Hannam-dong. Although this place was also his property, he had always rented it out and had never actually lived in the real estate.

This place had also been the last accommodation where Hong-seo had stayed with his group members.

So after ‘the accident’, he couldn’t rent it to someone else, and thus, he hadn’t dared to set foot here for a long time.

That’s how Lee Hae-seong left this place for a while, not allowing anyone to touch it. Like someone trying to preserve the traces of Choi Hong-seo.

Checking the traces of Choi Hong-seo was like confirming his absence… So staying in this house still brought pain.

But now, he had decided to stop making efforts to shed and forget them. He had tried hard enough, and he had learned that such efforts were futile. Just like trying not to like someone, trying to forget someone was also meaningless.

Rather than trying to forget, it was better to long for him within the traces. Even when he tried to forget, he still missed him just the same.

Lee Hae-seong kept his gaze fixed on the tablet screen, tapping off the ash into the ashtray.

The articles he was carefully reading on the tablet were about his cousin, Lee Seo-kyung, or more precisely, about Lee Seo-kyung’s death.

All problems started with the ‘X Group scandal’. It was the spark that ignited everything.

A scandal with provocative content that actor X, who originally debuted as an idol group member, was revealed to have been a former host club entertainer and continued to accept jobs through his connections even after his debut. The scandal began on a few entertainment channels on video-sharing websites and quickly spread.

Several individuals were specifically targeted as X, and during this process, one actor who was mistaken as X attempted something drastic. Fortunately, he survived, but the madness of some of the public did not stop.

In the meantime, the case reached a new turning point.

It was revealed that there was a separate figure who forced X into prostitution and exploitation, and that person turned out to be the current CEO of X’s agency. 

As Choi Hong-seo’s agency, UB Entertainment’s CEO Myeong Do-hoon was booked as the real suspect in the figure, and so Choi Hong-seo was pointed out as actor X on the web.

It took only a few hours for Myeong Do-hoon, who attempted to flee overseas, to be arrested at the airport, and for Choi Hong-seo, who was in Bangkok, Thailand, to commit suicide.

And the person at the top of the pyramid of exploitation in the “Group X Scandal” food chain.

That was Lee Hae-seong’s cousin, Lee Seo-kyung, executive director of the Hanseo Group.

Lee Hae-seong collaborated with Lee Seo-kyung’s younger brother and longtime enemy, Lee Han, to prosecute and bring Lee Seo-kyung to court. And Lee Han, who held a grudge against Lee Seo-kyung, had suggested taking personal revenge.

【Do you ever think you want to cut off one of his arms? Like he had no choice but to jump… dragging him up to the same height and repeatedly pushing him away, don’t you ever have such thoughts? If such a thing had happened to someone I loved, I would… at least go as far as killing my brother and confiscating his property… well, I mean, I don’t think forgiveness can be achieved through just legal punishment.】

At that time, Lee Hae-seong rejected Lee Han’s proposal.

But after that, he changed his mind.

He found out that it was Lee Seo-kyung, the executive of the Hanseo Group, who maliciously triggered the “X Group Scandal,” and that Lee Seo-kyung was deeply involved in creating Choi Hong-seo as “X” in the first place.

Lee Seo-kyung should not have touched Choi Hong-seo.