TTD Ch 7

They arrived at a place a little far from Seoul after two hours. When Ja-kyung got out of the car and stared at the house in front of him, he was speechless for a moment. It was more like a mansion than a house. Countless rose vines grew endlessly around the wall. It was the same color as the flower he was holding in his hand.

Two guards standing at the gate greeted them. The house was much bigger inside than it appeared from the outside. ‘It’s failed,’ he thought first, followed by ‘Where did he hide the safe?’

There were two additional guards inside the house as they crossed the yard and entered. So far, there have been four guards. There may be more, but they were small in comparison to the size of the house. Rather, it seemed that there were more people doing housework. As they greeted them, an elderly man appeared from behind. 

“Welcome. Thank you for traveling such a great distance.”

Ja-kyung was greeted warmly by the old man. The old man was probably one of the employees, presumably because of his neat attire. Considering that he was quite old, there was a high possibility that he has stayed in this house for a long time. He didn’t see anything wrong with being close, so he greeted him respectfully and then smiled shyly.

Kang Il-hyun took off his jacket, put it to one side, and pulled out his tie.

“Tae-soo will guide you to the room. Follow him, unpack your belongings and come down.”

Ja-kyung nodded his head. Park Tae-soo dragged his luggage and walked to the small aisle at the end of the living room. Ja-kyung followed him and looked around the house. In general, the house gave a bright and warm feeling, probably because of the large windows. He thought it would have been decorated like a fortress because it had been attacked several times, but it was unexpected.

Then he found CCTV hanging from the ceiling. There were several identical ones in front of the front door, in the hallway, and in the living room. While trying to figure out the location and number of CCTVs with his eyes, he bumped into Tae-soo’s back. He stopped and pressed the elevator.

“I’m sorry. I just looked around.” 

“It’s okay.” 

Tae-soo and Ja-kyung entered the elevator shortly after the door opened. There were not only buttons on the 1st and 2nd floors inside. Ja-kyung’s eyes twinkled when he discovered that there was one more button under the first floor. It had a fingerprint reader instead of a number written on it. A place where no one could enter. The elevator door opened as he carefully examined it. Tae-soo was the first to come out, followed by Ja-kyung.

“At home… There’s an elevator.” 

Tae-soo nodded once as he walked with Ja-kyung luggage.

“Yes. Normally, you can use the central staircase.” 

“There was an extra button below, but what is that? Do you have a basement?” 

“The basement is a personal space.” 

“What’s there?” 

Tae-soo stopped walking and stared at Ja-kyung. Ja-kyung widened his eyes while holding a bouquet of roses. He radiated his eyes as if he was asking with a pure heart out of curiosity. But Park Tae-soo did not answer. He just walked forward with his luggage in hand.

There were several rooms as he walked along the long hallway. All of the doors were shut and all of the doors were locked. He counted the number of rooms with his eyes, and Tae-soo stopped in front of the last room. The door opened when he pressed the card key. 

As he entered, Ja-kyung doubted his eyes. It wasn’t just a room, it was a house within a house. There was a small living room, kitchen, and bedroom. Ja-kyung looked around with the bouquet in his hand. 

“It’s good.”

“I’m glad that you liked it. The cleaning will be done by the staff at 11 am. If you need something, please tell me separately or let the staff know. Meals are prepared whenever you want.” 

That’s right, Ja-kyung who was nodding his head stopped. There was a CCTV camera on one side of the square living room. Just in case, he went inside and checked the bedroom, but there was also CCTV there. He roughly threw the bouquet on the bed and frowned. What was this. 

He opened the bathroom to check, but luckily it wasn’t there. No, there was a situation where there may be hidden cameras. He was speechless, so he went outside. 

“Hey, I’m sorry… In the room,” 

Ja-kyung stopped walking as he came out of the living room. Park Tae-soo, who had accompanied him, had disappeared, and Kang Il-hyun sat on the sofa. Ja-kyung bit his lower lip slightly. Never get angry, never shoot, be kind. A weak young master. A young gentleman who grew up beautifully. A scared young master.

First of all, he took a step forward with a slightly uneasy expression on his face.

“In the bedroom… There are CCTV cameras.” 

“I installed it in every room, is it inconvenient?” 

“Yes… I think… I feel like I’m… being watched…” 

“I think of it as protection. Just in case.” 

“What… Just in case?” 

“If Yi An-gun dies in this house, I will be in trouble. There needs to be at least an evidence video.”

“…”  

“I’m joking, but you’re not laughing.” 

“Ahaha…” 

“Don’t force yourself to laugh. If you are uncomfortable, I will have the staff remove only the on in the bedroom.” 

“Yes… Please.”

“And if you need someone to call, do you see that?” 

He pointed to the small intercom on the wall in the living room. 

“If you press button 1 over there, you will be connected to the lower floor. Call the staff and they’ll come right up. Pressing 0 will lead you to my room, but you won’t need it.” 

“Yes… ”

“If you run into a dangerous situation, go to the bathroom. There is also an emergency button there.” 

“Dangerous…situation?” 

Uhm. Kang Il-hyun thought for a moment and then opened his mouth. 

“Like there are bullets coming from outside. Or someone comes down from upstairs and breaks the glass, or someone slams you against the bedside with an ax while you sleeps.”

“Hahaha…” 

“Why are you laughing? This is serious.”

“… ” 

“Two employees died a few years ago. I haven’t tested the performance because the glass was polished to be bulletproof and there were no intruders after that. I hope there will be no confirmation while Yi An-gun is here.”

Wang Han’s words suddenly passed by in his head. There have been several assassination attempts, and all those who tried were dead. It was true.

“I… see…” 

“That’s all I have to say. Do you have any questions?” 

Where did you keep your secret safe? In the basement? I wanted to go in there. Could you lend me your finger? You can cut it and give it to me if you don’t want me to borrow it. If you want, I can cut it prettily.  If he asked like this, he was going to go ahead and asked something else right away. 

He smiled and shook his head, saying there was nothing. He returned his gaze to the person and smiled so broadly that his cheeks twitched. He couldn’t spit on someone who was smiling. Oh, never mind. For the time being, all he wanted was for him to leave the room. Why did he make him feel so uneasy? Get out of here. Go down. 

Perhaps because of telepathy, Kang Il-hyun stood up from his seat.

“Then I’m going out because I have an appointment. Have a good rest.”

“Yes… thank you.”

“My younger brother will come tomorrow. He is the same age as you, so it will be more comfortable than me. Tell him if there’s anywhere you want to go. Although there are some negative aspects, getting close will help you a lot.”

Younger Brother? Looking at his personal information, it was revealed that he had only two half-brothers. Was it one of them? Whoever it was, it seemed more comfortable than this person. Ja-kyung forced a smile and nodded, Kang Il-hyun then turned around and walked out. He urges him to get out of the house quickly, but Kang Il-hyun suddenly looks back in front of the door.

“Ah. I have a question.” 

“Please speak…”  

“Did you say you majored in art?” 

His expression was calm, but his eyes darkened a little. Ja-kyung replied as casually as possible.

“It’s a fine art.”

“Fine art.” 

“A sculpture.” 

Kang Il-hyun nodded his head as if he understood. 

“Ah, so…” 

There was no word after ‘so’. But Ja-kyung noticed that Kang Il-hyun had been questioning him since he touched his hand at the airport. He could be confused as to why the sickly and well-groomed young master’s hands have so many calluses. In addition, it was a common thing for those who held daggers and guns all of the time.

“Then see you.” 

After confirming that Kang Il-hyun had completely left the room, Ja-kyung let out the breath he had been holding back and sat down on the sofa. He grabbed the cushion on his back and wanted to throw it in the direction Kang Il-hyun exited, but he was conscious of the CCTV mounted on it and endured it. 

Instead, he buried his face in the cushion and screamed silently. He felt like he was going to die of madness trying to play a role that didn’t suit him. In addition to that, he could not smoke, so withdrawal symptoms began to appear, which made him more agitated.

Ja-kyung, who had been agitated for a while, went into his room and unpacked his belongings. He took his phone and clothes out of his luggage, placed an e-cigarette and a detector between them, then entered the bathroom.

The detector was turned on after closing the bathroom door and visually confirming that there was no CCTV around. He checked everywhere, from under the sink to the top of the chest of drawers, but no wiretapping devices or cameras were discovered.

First of all, he turned off the detector and calmly took out the e-cigarette. Before coming, he took a drug to alleviate the urge to smoke, but it didn’t work. Sucking a cigarette brings peace to his mind. It was a pity that he couldn’t hold out in the beginning, but at least the cramping disappeared as the nicotine entered his body. 

Ja-kyung smoked like a thirsty person while staring up at the ceiling with blank eyes. The white smoke dissipated through the ventilation opening. He’d only been in Korea for half a day, yet he felt exhausted as if he’d been awake for three days and three nights.