VDN Ch 174

Seo-oh climbed on top of the fallen man and grabbed him by the collar fiercely.

“Do you think I don’t know?”

“W-what are you—”

“Do you think I don’t know what you did?”

“Ugh…”

“Tell me. Where is my Hyung?”

The eyes looking down at him flashed terrifyingly. Director Yoon trembled at the voice that was cold and the rough demeanor that seemed ready to catch someone. However, the grip on his collar only tightened. Then, the sharp pheromones of the dominant Alpha began to pour out. 

Director Yoon gasped for breath and trembled. He had only been releasing suppressed groans, but as he felt the urgency of his situation, he shouted desperately, 

“I—I don’t know anything! Really, I swear. That son of a bitch, Chairman Seok, he just threw me away… huurk.”

“……”

“I was just trying to deliver this…”

His trembling fingertips pointed to a yellowed file sprawled on the dirt floor. It didn’t seem like a lie. 

Seo-oh, glaring at him with piercing eyes, roughly released his grip. He picked up the nameless file that had fallen to the ground and flipped to the front page. Flip, flip. The speed of turning the documents gradually increased. 

After checking all the documents inside the file, the color drained from Seo-oh’s face. Seizing the opportunity, Director Yoon, who had managed to raise his body with great effort, stammered out his words, 

“The original file went missing, so it took me a while to track down a copy. As you’ll see, it’s all records on your father, Kwon Sang-moon.”

The three characters “Kwon Sang-moon” written on the paper made Seo-oh feel as if his heart was collapsing.

He suddenly recalled the time he reunited with his father. When they met again, his father couldn’t detect his pheromones and avoided eye contact, saying that he was no longer an Alpha.

No matter how many times he asked, his father wouldn’t explain why he suddenly lost his trait. However, he had a guess. Chairman Seok. He suspected that Chairman Seok had done something terrible to his father, and now that suspicion was confirmed. His father’s pheromones had been cruelly extracted, causing him to lose his trait. By the hands of Chairman Seok.

The documents contained detailed records of dozens of pheromone extraction experiments and their results. Just by looking at the words, he could imagine how hard his father had struggled and how terribly he had suffered. Crunch. The file was crumpled without mercy. Director Yoon rubbed his butt on the dirt floor and jerked his body backward as the pheromones grew stronger.

“It wasn’t me…! Everything was done at Seok Jin-cheol’s orders! Seok Jin-cheol had been targeting you from the beginning to get the Dominant Alpha pheromone, and to get rid of Kwon Sang-moon, who was in the way, he kidnapped him first and made him almost like Beta… Hu-euk!”

The mouth that had been spitting out words like a machine gun was forcibly shut. This was because a firm hand was squeezing his throat with incredible force. Director Yoon’s face turned bright red in an instant. A soft voice followed over the merciless violence.

“Why are you telling me this now?” 

“Ugh… cough!”

“Were you hoping I’d avenge you?”

Director Yoon barely managed to hold his hand and muttered.

“Seok Jin-cheol should suffer the same… cough, for what he did to you and others, he must pay for his sins… ugh.”

“Sins?”

Seo-oh, who had been smirking, wore a cold, expressionless face.

“You’re in no position to say that. Don’t talk nonsense. You’re just the same as him.”

“Ugh…Nam… ugh!”

At the mention of the name, his grip momentarily weakened.

The name that brushed past his ear made Seo-oh’s grip loosen for a moment. Seizing that opportunity, Director Yoon gasped,

“It was Chairman Seok who ordered Seok Nam-woon to be disposed of! I didn’t touch a hair on Seok Nam-woon’s head!”

The strength in Seo-oh’s hands completely faded. However, his gaze sank deeper than ever before. Unaware of this, Director Yoon coughed and pulled his body back.

“Ah, disposed…”

Bright red blood splattered across Seo-oh’s white shirt and pale cheeks. However, the punches did not stop. It was only when Director Yoon squirmed like a bug that Seo-oh rose to his feet with an expressionless face. The back of his hands, once clean, was now covered in red wounds.

Seo-oh stared down at Director Yoon, who had fallen at his feet, lost in thought.

Chairman Seok. As long as that guy is here, my family and Hyung will never be happy.

He had endured it for a long time. At first, for Se-han, the only family left by his side after his father disappeared, and later for Nam-woon, who had come to him despite the cold treatment he received from him. He had suppressed negative emotions like anger burning deep in his heart, engraving those precious people in his heart.

But was that really the best option? What were the results of doing that?

He had made a mistake. Holding back didn’t solve anything. There was a faster and easier way to resolve it, but he had wasted time by taking the wrong approach. This should have been done long ago.

Seo-oh seemed to know very well what he needed to do right now. He left the house, leaving behind Director Yoon, who was writhing on the floor.

***

“Deok-chil, where are you?”

– We’re almost there. The Namdong-gu guys are running a bit behind schedule. It’ll take about 5 minutes, so you guys should start getting ready.”

“Okay. How’s your body?”

– I’ve told you a dozen times I’m fine. What’s with all this fuss over one broken arm, Hyung?

“Drop the guys off here and head straight out.”

– Ah, Yong-deuk Hyung! Seriously, why are you—

Before the other person could finish speaking, Yong-deuk hung up the phone and looked up. In the distance, he saw the gray building that Chairman Seok had built. It was a building stained with the tears and blood of countless people.

Jang-mi quietly approached him.

“The kids from Yongcheon-dong will be arriving soon too.”

“Let’s go in as soon as they arrive.”

“Yes, Hyung.”

Jang-mi nervously took out his cigarette. The red lighter light cast a shadow on his cheek. He had been forced to quit smoking after Nam-woon’s declaration of the office, but he seemed nervous enough to touch it again. Yong-deuk, while quietly gazing at the place where Chairman Seok would be leisurely spending time, inhaled the stale cigarette smoke.

“These days, he’s useless, tsk. Report everything, who he’s talking to, who he’s meeting, what he’s eating, all of it.”

It was a few months ago that Chairman Seok had assigned him to monitor Nam-woon. Given that Chairman Seok had seemingly severed ties with Nam-woon, let alone monitored him, Yong-deuk couldn’t help but feel uneasy about the sudden order. He wondered if the Chairman had noticed the young master’s changed condition. What if he discovered discrepancies in the books and decided to abandon Nam-woon?

So for only the second time in his life, Yong-deuk lied to Chairman Seok.

“Everything is the same as usual. Around 2 PM he came in, had a beer, then took an afternoon nap. Around 5 he went to the Youngho intersection, collected some payments, grabbed a quick dinner, and then headed to a club.”

Chairman Seok, who had been staring at Yong-deuk, blurted out a word.

“That’s not what I’ve heard.”

“……”

…Was there another watcher? Yong-deuk couldn’t tell why the chairman had now put Nam-woon under double surveillance but for him, it was a disaster. He swallowed hard, yet Chairman Seok said nothing more and dismissed him.

At first glance, it might have seemed like he was being let off easy, but knowing Chairman Seok’s temperament well, Yong-deuk couldn’t sleep from that day on. As his anxiety grew, an incident finally occurred.

“Deok-chil, Are you okay?!”

Deok-chil laughed, saying that the only broken parts were one arm and one rib, but Yong-deuk couldn’t laugh. This was because he knew that this was Chairman Seok’s warning to him. It was a terrifying message that if he didn’t follow his orders properly, those around him would suffer.

Chairman Seok was a person who would harm people without a moment’s hesitation in order to achieve his own goals. Those who were dealt with like that still remained in Yong-deuk’s memory.

Yong-deuk, who recalled all the past memories buried deep in a corner of his heart, finally decided to do something he had been putting off.

“Deok-chil, once your treatment is over, gather the kids from Namdong-gu. Jang-mi, you go to Yongcheon-dong  and check on the situation with the guys there.”

He had held a blade of betrayal toward Chairman Seok. It was by no means an impulsive decision.  It was a decision that dated back to when he first started working under Chairman Seok. Not long after, Chairman Seok discovered that Nam-woon was acting strangely. As soon as he confirmed it, he ordered Yong-deuk’s group to eliminate him..

“Lock him up with the betas. Try injecting pheromones, and if he becomes useless, discard him immediately.”

Yong-deuk followed Chairman Seok’s instructions for now. If Chairman Seok suspected something was off, everything he had prepared would be in vain before he could even do anything.

He moved Nam-woon to a hideout near the research institute and secretly gathered the people he had recruited from the organization. The young master didn’t need to know about this. He could just live his life as usual, unaware of anything. Yong-deuk would take care of the dirty work, just like he always did.

“Hyung-nim, they’ve arrived.”

Yong-deuk was snapped out of his thoughts by Jang-mi’s voice. When he turned his head, he saw a group of thugs armed with various tools gathered together. Yong-deuk straightened his head and headed towards the building. Soon, the sound of multiple footsteps echoed through the dark alley.

***

“You’re just like a piece of taiyaki that was thrown away! I’m going to take your head off today!” 

“I’m the butcher who kills men, you fucking bastard!”

Seo-oh stood still, looking up. The building’s front and lobby were already crowded with people who had arrived earlier. Seo-oh didn’t react to the chaotic scene and just stared at the building. The top floor was still brightly lit.

There, Hyung was beaten constantly until he couldn’t bear the pain and shed blood.

Seo-oh’s jaw muscles bulged. Chairman Seok should suffer the same fate. In a much more painful and cruel way than Nam-woon.

He suppressed his boiling emotions and moved his legs. But something dull caught his foot. When he lowered his gaze, he saw a long wooden stick lying on the floor. It was when he stared blankly at it and bent down to grab it.

“What are you doing?” 

A large man, hands in his pockets, was staring at Seo-oh. He spat at Seo-oh’s feet and asked,

“Kid, where the hell did you come from?”

“……”

“Got cotton in your ears? I asked where you’re from, you fucking asshole!”

The man let out a sound like a pig being slaughtered. Only then did Seo-oh respond with a blank expression.

“The Good People Center.”