TTD Ch 48

Kang Il-hyun also left work earlier than usual due to the commotion. Kang Il-hyun couldn’t straighten his wrinkled face as he saw the bodies scattered near the pool. His guard moved the body, loaded it into a car, and drove away.

How did they know that it was Kang Il-hyun who killed Choi Ki-tae? It was very likely that Chairman Kang spilled it. Kang Il-hyun called Ja-kyung to his bedroom after a brief conversation with Park Tae-soo, who had returned from disposing of the body.

He took a cigarette and lit it. He was so neat and clean that Ja-kyung couldn’t find the image of him panting on top of himself last night.

“Thank you for saving my life. How should I compensate?”

Ja-kyung took the USB from his pocket without hesitation. It came from his home in Seoul. Kang Il-hyun raised one of his eyebrows as he placed it on the table. And immediately smiled as if nothing had happened.

“When did you steal this again?”

“Chairman Kang’s terms and conditions included this.”

Il-hyun rubbed his lips with the hand holding the cigarette. His face was full of interest.

“Go on.”

“I signed a contract on condition that I get rid of the Director and bring this with me.”

At those words, Il-hyun was stunned.

“You mean, my life is just worth… 3 billion?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck. It’s the funniest joke I’ve ever heard.”

“But it was an empty file with nothing.”

“Therefore?”

“Please give me the original.”

It was absurd when he boldly demanded that he hand over the items entrusted to him. He thought Ja-kyung was overstepping after he said he was pretty, but based on his expression, he is serious. Il-hyun snuffed out the cigarette and clasped his hands.

“We’re on the same side now, why do you need it?”

“Insurance.”

“Insurance?”

“Just in case, I have to get insurance, too”

Il-hyun smiled and leaned back on the sofa, his arms stretched out.

“Come on. Do you think I will even harm you?”

Ja-kyung does not respond, despite his disappointed expression. He just lowered his gaze

“Are you scared of me?”

Ja-kyung did not deny it.

“I’m not just asking for it. I’m asking for an exchange.”

Ja-kyung immediately took another USB from his pocket. He plugged it into his laptop and played the video for Il-hyun to see. Il-hyun’s brow furrowed as he looked at the screen. Chairman Kang’s face appeared as soon as the video began to play.

[I heard that you have a lot of secret time with Director Kang these days.]

On the screen, Chairman Kang put down his teacup and smiled eerily.

[Don’t believe too much. Whoever it is.]

It was the scene he filmed last night. Kang Il-hyun’s expression turned cold. In the video, Ja-kyung brings a fountain pen and a notepad to the front and begins writing letters on them. He then held the paper up for Chairman Kang to see.

[We’re being wiretapped.]

Chairman Kang’s expression on the screen was also no different from Il-hyun’s. However, he skillfully conceals his emotions and puts on a mask of kindness and friendliness.

“This old man will sit and read your lengthy paper.”

Ja-kyung wrote the letters again.

[Kang Il-hyun is aiming for Chairman Kang’s life.] 

When he shows Chairman Kang the letter, his eyes light up. Kang Il-hyun’s eyes became as sharp as an awl as he stared at the screen. He turned to face Ja-kyung. Doing the unsettling act of purposefully writing letters and leaving evidence.

Ja-kyung wrote the following letters on the screen:

[I will take care of it. Please believe me]

Chairman Kang, who was looking at Ja-kyung, nodded slowly. Ja-kyung used a lighter to burn the paper and tossed it into the ashtray. For a brief moment, he could see his hand whether there was a camera on his glasses as the screen was shaking.

“I will keep the chairman’s words in mind.”

Chairman Kang’s lips curved into a smile. The memo Ja-kyung had written a while ago was charred to ashes in the ashtray. The screen stopped there.

Il-hyun, who was watching the video, burst out laughing with a surprised expression. Ja-kyung unplugged the USB from the laptop and set it on the table. When Il-hyun reached out and tried to grab it, Ja-kyung quickly grabbed it and hides it behind his back.

“You know the term equivalent exchange.”

“Do you think this is worth it?”

“This is evidence that Chairman Kang is trying to get rid of the Director, but it is also the other way around. You saw it earlier, right?”

Il-hyun gritted his teeth and smiled.

“Aren’t you adorable?”

“Are you going to give it to me or not?”

Il-hyun just stared at him without answering, and Ja-kyung immediately stood up from his seat.

“I don’t think you need it, so I’ll go now.”

As soon as he put the USB in his pocket and was about to leave, Il-hyun motioned for him to sit down. He took another cigarette from the case and lit it. He leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head back, and exhaled a long puff of smoke. Ja-kyung waited for him to finish smoking.

Il-hyun stood up from his seat with a cigarette and looked down at Ja-kyung.

“Close your eyes. I’ll bring it to you.”

Ja-kyung closed his eyes. His footsteps could be heard. He heard the sound of something opening and closing, followed by footsteps. It was in this bedroom. Ja-kyung traveled all the way to Seoul and endured the hardship without knowing that.

He opened his eyes because it was quiet, and Il-hyun was sitting directly in front of his nose with his face so close. Oh, shit! He scared me! Ja-kyung, who was surprised, pushed his body backward and held what he was holding in front of his eyes. It was the same USB that Ja-kyung stole.

Ja-kyung took it and connected it directly to the laptop.

“I’ll check it right away.”

Il-hyun returned to his seat, sat, and tilted his head slightly.

“It’s better not to watch it. Your eyes are going to rot.”

Ja-kyung played the video without hesitation. He could see the man’s broad back and droopy buttocks. A woman was beneath him. No, she was a young girl who couldn’t even be called a woman. He didn’t think he was Korean. Ja-kyung frowned and flipped forward the screen. The man was Chairman Kang.

Ja-kyung couldn’t watch all the way through, and after turning off the video, he looked at Il-hyun with an uncomfortable expression. Kang Il-hyun smirked, saying he knew it would be the case.

“I told you so. I told you it would be better not to watch.”

Ja-kyung disconnected the USB from the laptop.

“I know. I feel sick.”

After a brief pause, Il-hyun resumed his speech in response to that reaction.

“Do you know how old my dead mother was when she was sold to pay off her father’s debt and forced to marry?”

Ja-kyung didn’t answer.

“Sixteen.”

“…”

Il-hyun smashed the cigarette and put out a bored expression. It was as if he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

“So she died of madness. At the age of going to school wearing a school uniform, she was dragged by a 20-year-old bastard and gave birth to an unwanted child. If that’s not hell, what would it be? Don’t you think so?”

Ja-kyung was unable to respond. Il-hyun smiled and shook the USB that Ja-kyung had taken the night before.

“Is this mine now?”

Ja-kyung nodded.  Then he put the USB that Kang Il-hyun had given him in his pocket. He had no idea whether this was an original or a copy, but it didn’t matter. He was about to leave because he had gotten what he wanted, but Kang Il-hyun was staring at him.

“I think we talked about each other’s work enough, so do you want to go swimming?”

Ja-kyung flatly refused. The incident occurred during the day, but he refused to go there. However, he couldn’t ignore Kang Il-hyun’s persistent request, and he was dragged out. As they walked away, the house chef smiled at them. She seemed proud of Kang Il-hyun getting along with others.

Ja-kyung changed into shorts and a T-shirt upstairs, went outside, did a quick warm-up, and jumped into the water. Kang Il-hyun sat on a sunbed and drank only high alcohol instead of swimming. If that was the case, Ja-kyung had no idea why he had asked him to swim.

Il-hyun, who was sipping wine, looked at the still water. Lee Ja-kyung goes in for a dive, but he doesn’t come out for a long time. While watching, he quickly set down his whiskey glass and went to the pool.

Ja-kyung poked his head out of the water at that precise moment. Their eyes met under the bright moonlight, and Ja-kyung smiled at Il-hyun.

“Why are you standing there? Do you think I am dead?”

Il-hyun returned to his sunbed, smiling as if it were the same. Ja-kyung swam in the pool like a fish. He poked his face out of the water now and then, but his wet face seemed to glow even more in harmony with the lighting.

Il-hyun drew a cigarette from his pocket and lit it. Lee Ja-kyung, who was swimming, came out of the pool. After squeezing water on his t-shirt, he hurriedly approached him and pulled the cigarette from Il-hyun’s mouth. Il-hyun’s eyes widened slightly before returning to their original position.

Ja-kyung put the cigarette in his mouth and smiled at Il-hyun. Il-hyun smiled as well when he saw this.

“Are you going to smoke openly now?”

Ja-kyung looked back. He replied that he had no eyes to be concerned about for the time being, and then he sucked the cigarette and exhaled the smoke into the air.

He then took a towel from the side and went behind Ja-kyung. He rubbed the towel on his head to dry his hair, but Ja-kyung waved his hand and told him not to. Il-hyun ignored it and kept brushing his hair and took back the cigarette from Ja-kyung’s mouth.

Ja-kyung raised his head and looked up after losing his cigarette. Il-hyun inhaled the cigarette smoke before bringing it to Ja-kyung’s lips. Smoke ran down Ja-kyung’s throat and Il-hyun’s tongue licked his lips for a moment before parting.

Then he casually brushed Ja-kyung’s hair again. He said they’d just swim, but the atmosphere… Ja-kyung was embarrassed for no reason and just stared at him blankly.

“Leave it alone and it will dry out.”

As he replied bluntly, the hand that was drying his hair touched his ear.

“I’m afraid you might catch a cold. If you are sick, your work will be disrupted.”

“You are pretending to be very considerate. You do the same when we had sex.”

“Then, shall I give you a sweet sex today? Hmm?”

Ja-kyung jumped up from his sunbed in surprise when the hand that was touching his ear slipped and groped his nipples. Il-hyun smiled softly and motioned for him to come over, and Ja-kyung quickly ran away to the other side of the pool.