TTD Ch 54

Il-hyun couldn’t take his gaze away from the window the entire ride. It has been a week since he went out. A hot wind rushed in when he opened the window. Even though his hair was a mess, he leaned against the window like a child, looking out to see the scenery.

He eventually closed the window and leaned back in his seat. Every time he moved, the pain left an imprint on his body. Park Tae-soo kept looking at the back as he heard the sound Il-hyun made because of the pain. He ignored the doctor’s warning and went outside, but it was difficult because he couldn’t use his legs.

“Are you okay?”

“It’s bearable.”

“I’m sorry. It’s all because of my negligence.”

Park Tae-soo lived with words of apology that were uncharacteristic of him after Il-hyun was shot. Il-hyun laughed.

“How can you block the bullets that fly in my direction? Are you Superman?”

He remembered having a similar conversation with Lee Ja-kyung. The first thing he saw was a flying bullet, which knocked him to the ground. Although he later admitted that what he saw was the reflection of the light on the scope’s glass, not the bullet. He then looked for him everywhere, but Lee Ja-kyung had disappeared.

By now, he must have gone to a country other than Korea.

“I took it too easy.”

He laughed casually. After Lee Ja-kyung ran away, Il-hyun found a wiretapping device under the back seat of the car he was riding in. Lee Ja-kyung already knew he was going to kill him. Although it is late, he must admit that he underestimated his opponent.

His mouth watered just thinking about it. Would he have been able to kill Lee Ja-kyung if everything had gone as planned? Why did he change his mind on the day of the inauguration? Why did he hesitate, why did he… His phone rings as he was thinking about it.

The caller is Kang Yoo-jung. She had no choice but to attend today’s general meeting of shareholders, but the expression she saw from the front when Il-hyun misbehaved was truly… It was the kind of face that begged to be punched. He heard her voice when he put the phone to his ear.

[Did you arrive?]

“Still on the way.”

[Congratulation. The dismissal was rejected. You avoided being jobless.]

Il-hyun smiled.

“That’s what I expected. Everyone appreciated my work skills.”

Yoo-jung’s voice sounded dumbfounded.

[It must have been because they didn’t want to become dog food.]

Il-hyun’s eyebrow went up.

“Does anyone believe that joke?”

Yoo-jung said that she was tired of talking more. You said you were exhausted. I had to return to the hospital first, so I’ll see you later. He moved to another place, and Yoo-jung decided to stay there for the time being. When he got older, it was difficult to live with his sister, but he couldn’t help himself because she was so stubborn.

After the phone call, Tae-soo’s gaze went back to the rear mirror.

“Congratulations.”

Il-hyun smiled and turned to look out the window. He wasn’t sure if it was worth celebrating. He remembered the faces of the damn directors who couldn’t wait to get rid of him one by one and vowed that one day he would replace them all with his own hands. Chairman Kang will be unable to move forward recklessly unless he knows the cards he is holding.

He will save himself for the time being because he has already failed. Ironically, he was afraid of him even though he was his son. He realized it a long time ago. He complimented him with his mouth, but he was wary of him and regards him as if he were a monster..

“Tae-soo.”

“Yes.”

“Send the video taken by Lee Ja-kyung to Chairman Kang. Don’t let him think about doing anything else for a while.”

“All right.”

Outside the window, a cruise ship sailed leisurely down the ocean. The thought about Lee Ja-kyung then returned. Did he travel by boat? Where would he go if he rode? He wanted to find out, torture, and open up everyone involved, but he decided to leave it alone for the time being. He’ll stick his head out of the water if it’s safe.

That’s right. Run away as far as you can. I’ll catch you and make you realize what a huge mistake you’ve made when you’re having fun with the illusion that you’ve earned your freedom. Il-hyun feels like the cells in his body are already going crazy with pleasure just thinking about it.

Unable to contain his excitement, Il-hyun opened the window and took out a cigarette. The doctor told him not to smoke, but he couldn’t live without it today.

***

He heard a loud voice outside while buried under the blanket, curled up and sleeping late. Ja-kyung got out of bed and looked around the house blankly. Wang Han could not be found. After putting on his clothes and tidying up his tousled hair, he went downstairs, opened the door, and came out.

The grass was wet and felt especially fresh because it appeared to be raining at dawn. He stretched all the way and breathed deeply through his nose, but he could smell grilled meat somewhere. Wang Han had been grilling skewers on the grill and drinking beer since the morning.

However, he was not alone, but with two Russian women living next door.  They rented a house and became friends with Wang Han, who invited them to play frequently. Rita, the eldest, seemed quite like Wang Han.

After working on Kang Il-hyun, Lee Ja-kyung, Wang Han, and Wang Lun moved around several times.  However, it was quieter than expected at Kang Il-hyun’s side, and after about a half-year, it became common to settle down in one place for an extended period of time. And at the end of the year, Wang Lun left for Japan last week, saying he had business to do.

Ja-kyung tried to buy an island with the money he had saved, but the places he really wanted were ridiculously expensive, and the places that were suitable had only one drawback that he didn’t like. So he was still considering it.

Wang Han had his hair transplanted as planned, but the results were better than expected, and his hair grew longer than before. When he was washing his hair, he carefully touched each hair as if it were a newborn baby, and Ja-kyung laughed when he saw him from the side.

“You woke up?”

“Come over here and eat the skewers.”

Ja-kyung shook his head and walked to the other side. There was no way the meat was going down his throat as soon as he woke up. Instead, he took out a cigarette and lit it, and Sasha, the younger of the sisters, ran over to him and stood next to him.

She held out a skewer to Ja-kyung.

“Here.”

He hadn’t the means to reject it.

“Thank you.”

She followed him around and talked to Ja-kyung. With her hair braided in two pigtails, she was about Ja-kyung’s shoulders tall, had round eyes looking up, blue eyes, and a cute dimple on her cheek when she smiled.

Ja-kyung understood half of what she was saying in Russian and couldn’t understand the other half, but he answered with a guess. She reached out to a plumeria tree while walking through the garden. She appeared to be picking flowers, but when she couldn’t reach them, she looked at Ja-kyung.

Ja-kyung extended his arm, picked a flower, and handed it to her. She smiled, holds out the flower, and pretends to place it next to her ear. She asked if she was pretty while looking at Ja-kyung hesitatedly.

“Yeah, it’s pretty.”

Her bright smile was really pretty. She quickly took the cigarette from Ja-kyung’s mouth and placed it in her own. Wang Han, who was standing nearby, whistled. When Ja-kyung saw him, he gave him a strange look and walked to the other side, frowning.

Ja-kyung spent the entire afternoon lying in a hammock in the yard. The weather was clear until the morning, but it began to rain after lunch. Ja-kyung relaxed in the afternoon sun, listening to the patter of the rain.

Wang Han, who had been sleeping after filling his stomach with alcohol and meat in the morning, awoke scratching his back. He sat down in a chair and smoked a cigarette. He opened his mouth wide, yawned, and exhaled smoke as he watched the rain fall.

“Shouldn’t we start working soon?”

Ja-kyung felt the same way; he was a little sore from resting for so long. He had saved money, but it would not last forever.

“I received a call from Dmitry. There is a lot of work coming in, but no one seems to be qualified for it. It’s difficult to find someone as talented as you.”

“No. I won’t do business with him again.”

Wang Han understood Ja-kyung’s stern refusal and said nothing further. Because he changed employers without consulting them, their position was also dangerous, and Lee Ja-kyung nearly died in Korea at the hands of Kang Il-hyun.

Ja-kyung never looked for an article about Kang Il-hyun after leaving Korea. Even if Wang Han or Wang Lun asked, he would always say he didn’t know. He didn’t want to think about him at all. He knew it wasn’t just disgust or hatred he was feeling. That’s why he didn’t want to talk about him, and he didn’t want to admit it.

He could hear rain falling when he closed his eyes. Wang Han’s cigarette smoke mixed with the hot, damp air. Wang Han shifted the hammock from side to side after smoking. Ja-kyung burst out laughing when Wang Han said he was like a baby in a cradle.

“Do you remember how I used to make you sleep like this when you were little?”

“Lie. I was ten then.”

“Because you were so small that you looked like a newborn baby.”

“Don’t say nonsense,” Ja-kyung laughed. Real sleepiness poured out when his body was cradled. Wang Han san a song. It was nice to hear his distinct low tone mixed with the rain. Ja-kyung lay there for a long time even after Wang Han went in, enjoying the sound of the rain.

It was a most peaceful afternoon.