SOG Ch 186

The next day around noon, after snow had fallen all night covering the world in white, Jae-chan and Woo-jin left the officetel together again. This time it was to take care of Jae-chan’s errand.

With plenty of time before their appointment, the two bought coffee at a drive-thru on the way. When they briefly parked next to a quiet park, Jae-chan realized the winter park with snow-covered branches was a familiar place. It was the park where Woo-jin had parked the car on the day they first shared their body heat.

“I was so nervous then. Waiting for you.”

“Me too. I was out of breath not from running, but from nervousness.”

Recalling memories intertwined with roses and scented candles made them keep smiling. Their eyes met repeatedly between sips of coffee. Seon Jae-chan, glancing around with wide eyes over the rim of his takeaway cup, finally gave in, leaning over to give Woo-jin a kiss.

Just as he was pulling away from a small kiss on Woo-jin’s coffee-warmed lips, a strong force held Jae-chan back. Woo-jin kept playfully kissing Jae-chan’s cheeks and lips while taking away his coffee and setting it in the cupholder. He even unbuckled the seatbelt and was starting to get fully absorbed in the moment.

Suddenly, Woo-jin’s phone rang. Woo-jin tried to ignore the mood-killing sound, but Jae-chan mischievously whispered, “I thought you said no doing it in the car.” So with an exasperated laugh, Woo-jin had no choice but to answer the phone.

“Hello.”

– It’s been a while.

The caller was Gyeong Hye-in.

Seeing that the call seemed like it would be long if Jae-chan listened in, he also took out his phone and checked the Guide Team 1 work schedule he had badgered Gyeong Chang-hyun to give him.

5 minutes later, after finishing the call with Gyeong Hye-in, Woo-jin asked Jae-chan.

“Are you free next Friday evening?”

Jae-chan looked at him in curiosity. Woo-jin explained.

“She’s having a housewarming party.”

Seon Jae-chan knew that Gyeong Hye-in, who was in the midst of a fierce battle with the president, had become independent. He’d heard she was staying at a hotel until now, but it seems she’s already bought a house. Jae-chan’s eyes flickered.

“You’re going?”

“Yeah.”

Hearing Woo-jin’s answer, Jae-chan thought it was unexpected. He knew from before the regression that Woo-jin met with colleagues quite often, but he didn’t think that category included Gyeong Hye-in.

‘He doesn’t look particularly happy about it…’

After observing Woo-jin for a moment, Jae-chan soon nodded. He didn’t mind going anywhere this guy went. And checking the work schedule, Friday evening happened to be his day off.

By then their appointment time was approaching, so the two reluctantly shared only a soft kiss before setting off again. They passed through roads neatly cleared by snow plows and left the busy downtown. They headed towards the outskirts of the city.

The person waiting for them at a quaint townhouse under snowy mountains on the outskirts was Han Ji-hoon.

“Welcome.”

Han Ji-hoon, the man with a gentle impression wearing rimless glasses, who looked similar yet different from his younger brother Han Tae-hoon, was also the father of Han Roy whom Jae-chan had personally rescued.

Jae-chan recalled the stormy summer ceremony from the previous year. Han Ji-hoon, who had gotten his son back, had offered to grant whatever he wanted. He had made two requests.

The first was access to investigation records for the Universal incident and Han Roy kidnapping case. Thanks to that, he was able to connect with the two investigators Kwon Hwi-young and Kwon Joon-young, and even receive help for this recent District 5 gun terror incident.

The second was…

‘I want to know Director Yoon Seo-mi’s weaknesses. Whether it’s corruption data or anything.’

Jae-chan recalled his last request. Though it took a long time, Han Ji-hoon had steadily updated him on the progress of the second request. And a few days ago when he got his phone back, Jae-chan belatedly saw an email from Han Ji-hoon saying he wanted to discuss that matter in person.

“I was worried you might be locked up somewhere since I couldn’t reach you for so long.”

The world’s been quite suspicious lately, hasn’t it? Han Ji-hoon joked with his eyes crinkling, but Jae-chan and Woo-jin didn’t react much. Han Ji-hoon gave a small nod to himself and seated the two in front of the large living room window. He had sent the staff away for today, so he brought tea himself.

“I thought investigating Yoon Seo-mi wouldn’t be too difficult.”

Han Ji-hoon said in almost a whisper. Woo-jin, who had been briefed by Jae-chan beforehand, wasn’t too surprised. Han Ji-hoon had also been told by Jae-chan that it was fine to speak freely even if he brought a companion, so he continued without concern.

“But she was meticulous. It took more time and money than expected to dig up dirt on Director Yoon. To the point where I thought Seon Jae-chan had proposed quite an appropriate deal.”

It was around early last autumn when they finally succeeded in approaching Yoon Seo-mi. One evening, Yoon Seo-mi, who had been consistently ignoring Han Ji-hoon’s cautious contacts, reached out first. With an exhausted voice that seemed like one could almost smell the acrid scent of cigarettes through the phone.

“To get to the point, despite all the human and material resources invested, the results were meager. We managed to get evidence that Yoon Seo-mi was the biggest sponsor of the organization behind this District 5 terror attack—but that’s already been made public, hasn’t it?”

They were on the verge of obtaining evidence that Yoon Seo-mi was involved with people from District 5 Center related to the terror incident, besides the Black Shadow Group, when the terror incident broke out. Once a weakness is widely known, it loses its power as a weakness.

“Now there’s only one weakness of Yoon Seo-mi’s that hasn’t been made public.”

Before revealing that, Han Ji-hoon furrowed his light eyebrows slightly. He took a breath and said in a quiet voice:

“Her son, Go Se-jin.”

This was the reason he wanted to talk in person. As a parent who cherished his own son Han Roy, Han Ji-hoon felt uncomfortable discussing Yoon Seo-mi’s son Go Se-jin over email.

“Did you know your brother’s eyes were not good?”

Han Ji-hoon suddenly asked Go Woo-jin, who had come with Seon Jae-chan. Woo-jin remained silent without giving much of an answer. Han Ji-hoon shrugged and continued explaining.

“Go Se-jin cannot see out of one eye. It’s a congenital disability, I hear.”

Jae-chan suddenly recalled Go Se-jin, who would occasionally appear at gatherings of influential figures in politics and business alongside Director Yoon Seo-mi. The light-haired boy with dreamy, hazy eyes.

“Ah, I heard Seon Jae-chan also injured his eye. The situations are somewhat similar. What an odd coincidence.”

Han Ji-hoon smiled, having heard about Jae-chan’s vision when they exchanged recent news before setting the meeting place.

But to Jae-chan, it didn’t feel like a coincidence. If his own eye hadn’t been damaged, it would have been Woo-jin’s eye. He remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“You mentioned that Yoon Seo-mi was Gil Young-woon’s biggest sponsor. Could you elaborate on that?”

The terrorist boss Go Young-woon was generally known to the media as researcher Kim Young-ho, or by his real name Gil Young-woon. Han Ji-hoon nodded.

“Yes, it seems Gil Young-woon initially approached Yoon Seo-mi to secure research funding. This happened a long time ago. Their connection spans quite a few years.”

Han Ji-hoon estimated it had been nearly 10 years. Jae-chan noticed this was around the same time Chairman Go Young-chang brought Woo-jin to J Pharmaceuticals.

“From the circumstances, it seems Ms. Yoon Seo-mi couldn’t accept her young son’s disability. It looks like Gil Young-woon exploited that weakness, enticing her with promises like curing her son’s disability, manifesting him as an Esper, or destroying Esper Go Woo-jin.”

Han Ji-hoon brought out related documents. They were research topics Yoon Seo-mi had commissioned from the Technician. Seon Jae-chan realized these were topics he vaguely recognized.

– Research on Esper manifestation in ordinary people

– Effects of Esper manifestation on physical disabilities

Jae-chan thought he understood why the Technician had been so fixated on harming Woo-jin’s eyes. It was probably Yoon Seo-mi’s intention as the Technician’s sponsor. If she couldn’t “fix” Go Se-jin to her standards, she wanted to break Go Woo-jin in the same way.

“But even these materials have become useless now. What’s the point of having leverage over an enemy who’s already beyond recovery?”

Han Ji-hoon shrugged. Though not public knowledge, Yoon Seo-mi’s current state was well known in certain circles—she was a completely broken figure.

Chairman Go Young-chang, who had stripped her of all real power due to the bomb planting incident and the Black Shadow Group affair, completely abandoned her after this District 5 terror attack. Divorce proceedings were quietly underway. If it weren’t for the fact that the J Group would be gossiped about along with her, Chairman Go would have let the media tear her to shreds.

“No, this has been a great help.”

Jae-chan bowed his head slightly in thanks.

The conversation with Han Ji-hoon didn’t last long. As Jae-chan gathered all the materials just in case, Woo-jin observed him with a strange gaze.

Woo-jin had been surprised when he heard Jae-chan had asked Han Ji-hoon to investigate Yoon Seo-mi, but piecing together what he heard today, something bothered him.

“Did you already prepare yourself for injuring your eye?”

When Han Ji-hoon referred to Jae-chan’s eye injury as a ‘strange coincidence,’ it wasn’t just Jae-chan who thought it wasn’t a coincidence.

When Go Young-woon had blackmailed him, demanding specifically his eye rather than simple self-harm, Seon Jae-chan had responded as if he’d been waiting for it. Telling him to take his eye instead. As if there had been a previous incident where the Technician had targeted Woo-jin’s eyes.

“No, that’s not it.”

Jae-chan denied it immediately, but Woo-jin wordlessly pulled him close. Examining the right eye that was still slightly impaired from a nose-touching distance, Jae-chan awkwardly avoided his gaze. Woo-jin placed a light kiss on the fragile eyelid before releasing Jae-chan, pretending not to notice. He thought about how there were many things he needed to hear properly as he spent the rest of his life with this guy.

They were on their way back, having loaded the received materials into the trunk. On the winter streets where dusk had fallen early, watching people hurrying their steps in the cold, Woo-jin suddenly spoke up.

“I wonder what happened to Esper Seon Min-yeol and Seon Eun-soo.”

Jae-chan looked up at the unexpected topic. It was information he could have easily found out by watching the news a few times or searching a bit on web portals, but he had been deliberately avoiding news related to his family. Judging by Woo-jin’s manner, it seemed he wanted to tell him.

“I’ll find out eventually anyway, so just tell me comfortably.”

Jae-chan replied. The day after tomorrow was already his return date, and once he started going to the Center, he’d inevitably hear news about his father and Seon Eun-soo from people gossiping behind his back.

It wasn’t that he had been purposely avoiding information about Seon Min-yeol and Seon Eun-soo. He had simply been truly indifferent.

Jae-chan expressed his honest feelings, but Woo-jin still spoke cautiously. Jae-chan listened impassively to the tragic news of people who were once his family. He was less interested than in news reported on the radio, but he paid attention only because the speaker was Woo-jin.