MIM 116

“What did you say?”

At the cold voice, the hyung flinched back. Reading the clear agitation on Ma Jae-seung’s face, he pulled his trembling lips into an eerie smile. He looked shocked, as if unable to believe what he had just witnessed.

Ma Jae-seung, unfazed, roughly grabbed him by the collar. It couldn’t be a mere coincidence that Shin-woo’s name came up at this timing.

“What did you just say?”

“Did you two become friends or something? I didn’t believe Mother when she said it.”

His sneering voice was choked with fear. Meanwhile, Ma Jae-seung’s mind, still reeling from the news of Shin-woo’s kidnapping, began filling with horrible images. He could vividly see Shin-woo, whom he had only wished to keep safe, withering away, lying collapsed in a pool of blood.

His heart raced. Uncontrollable fear and rage swept over him, and his patience instantly vanished.

“You really were plotting something with that bit, ugh!”

Ma Jae-seung cut himself off mid-sentence and dragged the hyung by force. As he strode up the third-floor stairs, the hyung couldn’t keep up with his pace, constantly falling and stumbling, but Ma Jae-seung never once stopped to wait for him. He couldn’t hear the screams as the hyung’s body slamming into the hard stairs everywhere.

Only Shin-woo’s voice, sometimes cynical and sometimes playful, echoed in his ears.

Upon reaching the already wide-open third-floor door, Ma Jae-seung immediately threw the hyung inside.

“Ugh!”

He pointed his gun at the hyung, who fell to the floor, writhing around. Though he had no intention of shooting him dead before getting more information about Shin-woo, the hyung turned pale at the sight of the gun. He begged while lying prone in a strange position, either trying to protect his head or grovel.

“Wait! I’ll contact her! I can persuade her! I’ll try to negotiate, tell her not to kill him!”

“Kill?”

“Mother has a lot of grudges against that bastard. She’s desperate to kill…”

With a crack, the hyung’s head snapped to the side. Blood flowed from his lips, which had burst from just one hit. He stomped and broke one of the hyung’s legs as he tried to curl up to avoid the punches. Though the screams of pain mixed with crying were deafening, Ma Jae-seung felt no guilt. This was the sort of thing that could only end with someone’s death.

Only after being beaten to the point where he had no strength left to resist did the hyung finally close his mouth. Ma Jae-seung went back downstairs to retrieve the bag abandoned near the car. Inside were fake IDs, cash, a phone, and a laptop. After dumping the bag’s contents on the floor, Ma Jae-seung picked up the phone and crouched next to the fallen hyung.

“Call and beg for your life. If Shin-woo is brought here safely, I’ll let you go too.”

As he gently held the phone on speaker mode to the hyung’s ear, his cheek trembled violently. While the hyung dialed as instructed, Ma Jae-seung pressed the gun muzzle firmly against his temple.

“Fuck, fuck.” After the third ring, he began compulsively muttering to himself and biting his nails. When there was finally a click on the other end, he visibly relaxed and let out a collapsed breath.

“Jae-seung, Jae-seung is here. He’s pointing a gun at my head, so choose your words carefully.”

Instead of an answer, a sigh came from the other end. Joo-yeon’s irritated expression was vivid in his mind. She clicked her tongue and responded coldly.

“So you’re going to kill your brother?”

At the direct question, Ma Jae-seung pressed the gun harder against the hyung’s head. As the hyung began hyperventilating severely, Joo-yeon seemed to grasp the gravity of the situation. She tried to persuade him in a more subdued voice.

“As you know, your brother is incompetent and contributed nothing to this. He just wants to live his own life now. Why don’t we let him go and resolve this between ourselves?”

“Where is Shin-woo?”

The talk of resolution was laughable. When he ignored her and asked directly about his main objective this whole time, Joo-yeon sighed deeply again. “How did you even get there…” She dragged out her words as if tired. Whether fortunate or unfortunate, at least she didn’t seem to be planning to deny anything at this point.

“You were born to inherit the company and seize enormous wealth. You just had to go with the flow—everything would have been resolved if you’d just listened to me, you fool!”

He had no patience left to listen further. When Ma Jae-seung fired at the floor, the hyung screamed in shock. As he jumped up and tried to crawl on all fours to hide under the table, Ma Jae-seung dragged him back and sat him in front of the phone again. Having lost his mind, the hyung pressed his lips against the phone and started shouting in a half-threatening tone.

“Cut the nonsense! This isn’t what you promised! You seem confused, but you’re nothing. If I die, my shares disappear too. Everything goes to Jae-seung, and you won’t get a penny. Got it?”

“Alright, calm down!”

Joo-yeon raised her voice to calm down the hyung who kept shouting. Though Ma Jae-seung didn’t understand why all the shares would come to him if his brother died, his confusion was brief. Watching them openly reveal that some sort of deal had been made while plotting his death, he couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Ma Jae-seung picked up the phone and commanded firmly.

“Show me Shin-woo.”

“He’s not here.”

When he twisted the hyung’s arm, he cried out in pain more dramatically than necessary. “It’s true!” After hearing his continued whimpering, Joo-yeon shrieked sharply.

“I’ve locked him up somewhere else since I was planning to deal with you first and then kill him. I kept him alive for now thinking he might be useful as a hostage in case something like this happened.”

The answer made sense. After the shares were mentioned, she had become more anxious than when she first answered the call. A good sign. If he had to hear one more lie about not planning to kill anyone, he might not have been able to control himself. Ma Jae-seung looked at his hyung and nodded toward the laptop on the floor.

“I need solid proof that Shin-woo is safe. I think there’s a way.”

“We can do a video call. If they have a laptop there, I can send an invitation. You can verify he’s safe first, then exchange him for me.”

Though cautious, the hyung was eager to resolve the situation. He picked up the laptop, limped to the kitchen table, and immediately started typing. Joo-yeon wasn’t thrilled about the video call, but fear of losing her shares kept her from objecting. The hyung logged into a portal site, created a room for video chat, and shared the access address and password.

Following Ma Jae-seung’s instructions, Joo-yeon connected first. Like the hyung, she appeared thinner than when he’d last seen her, with bloodshot eyes. She was dressed more casually than usual, and the background was dark. It looked like an outdoor balcony or perhaps a bar. Wherever it was, it wasn’t somewhere familiar.

Though she’d said she wasn’t with Shin-woo, could he be nearby? Ma Jae-seung narrowed his eyes, focusing on the scenery behind Joo-yeon. As he did so, she suddenly spoke up.

“There’s no one where Shin-woo is, so it’ll take some time. We need to bring a laptop too. I’ve sent someone, so wait.”

“No one there? Don’t lie.”

There was no way she would have left no one guarding Shin-woo after planning a murder and taking a hostage as backup. She was stalling for time. She must have sent more armed men this way as soon as she got the hyung’s call. They needed to finish this and leave quickly before those guys could storm in. Ma Jae-seung emphasized again.

“There must be at least one guard. Tell them to join now. They can connect by phone too.”

Right after speaking, Ma Jae-seung fired several more shots into the sofa. The terrified hyung once again threatened Joo-yeon about money. Thanks to this, he learned more than necessary about what conversations had passed between them and how things had come to this point. It seemed Joo-yeon had been steadily sending letters to the hospital to persuade the hyung.

“If I’d known you’d mess up like this, I wouldn’t have accepted your proposal.”

“Stop talking.”

“I kept all the letters you sent. You think I’m going to die alone?”

“Stop! Fine. They’re joining now.”

Shortly after Joo-yeon raised her voice, a notification popped up on the laptop screen. The hyung, who had been eyeing the gun nervously, jumped and turned the laptop screen toward Ma Jae-seung.

“They’re in! Someone just connected!”

The hazy screen shook. At first, nothing was visible, then the finger blocking the camera lens moved away and someone’s face appeared. Though the quality wasn’t great, Ma Jae-seung recognized him immediately.

The duo. It was the one with the sharp eyes.

So much for having no one there, a professional hired killers were with Shin-woo. Even as anger surged through him, the scene beyond the screen looked familiar. A narrow room without any sunlight. A solitary bed…

Just as he recognized where it was, the screen shook violently. The camera panned around the room before finally settling on a man tied to a chair. With his hands bound behind him and head hung low, it was hard to guess his height or appearance, but his blood-stained ears were round.