MIM 111

“Are you okay?”

When Shin-woo asked again, Ma Jae-seung furrowed his brow. This was the fifth time he’d answered that he was fine.

“I said I’m fine.”

Ma Jae-seung replied grumpily and tried to adjust his position, fidgeting around. Tilting his body slightly in one direction seemed to make it feel less cramped. Above all, he didn’t want to crush Shin-woo. With Maro at his feet, there was even less space to spare.

They had limited options since they needed to find a flight with the shortest waiting time that allowed pets on board. Considering various priorities, they chose economy seats on an airline notorious for poor service, which departed immediately but required one layover. There was one business class seat available, but Ma Jae-seung had insisted they sit together.

Shin-woo’s eyes were full of mischief, as if he had read Ma Jae-seung’s regret about not putting Shin-woo and Maro in business class.

“Stop pushing.”

“I’m not pushing.”

“We should have booked three seats. Your butt alone takes up two spaces.”

“You can put your legs up here.”

Their bickering didn’t last long, and Shin-woo, who still looked unwell, soon fell asleep. Once it got quiet, Ma Jae-seung covered him with a blanket and struggled to pull Maro closer to his feet. After finding a more comfortable position, the tension in Shin-woo’s brow eased, his eyebrows softened, and his breathing became quieter.

His face suggested he was in a deep, dreamless sleep.

During their two-hour layover, they first checked the news. Somehow, the fight at the cabin, the contract killing, and the shooting incident had been transformed into a “drug cartel junkie incident.” It seemed Joo-yeon had acted quickly. Perhaps the police, who had declared war on drugs, had leaked false evidence or information that would benefit them, or maybe there really had been a member of the organization among those who had ordered the hit.

Whatever the case, it was clearly a premeditated plan with thorough cleanup preparations.

“Your brother was discharged from the hospital yesterday.”

Shin-woo added after checking the mental hospital records. It was exactly as expected.

“Since family consent is needed for discharge, your mother must have pulled him out.”

“So they agreed that he’d get the shares after killing me. I wonder if more guys will be waiting when I return home?”

“They’ll try to make it not look like a contract killing. If someone killed you, suspicion would fall on her too since she’s involved. They tried to frame it as a drug incident this time too.”

“Then maybe they’ll try to disguise it as an accident?”

“Probably. Be careful since they’ve used tranquilizer guns before. If it were me, I’d knock you out while you’re at home and make it look like suicide.”

Ma Jae-seung licked his dry lips at these chilling words.

“Why disguise it as suicide instead of an accident?”

“It’s easier. You’ve been through a lot of hardship, so it would be believable. They could even forge a suicide note if needed.”

“The police would investigate that more deeply. Whether the person was really suicidal, if they actually wrote the note…”

“If Janggang police were that diligent, would I still be running around freely?”

Shin-woo finished his French toast with a smirk. Judging that attackers wouldn’t risk anything in a crowded airport where bringing weapons would be difficult, they used their time to eat well and even shower in the airport facilities. The reason was that they needed to maintain good condition since they couldn’t predict what Joo-yeon’s next move would be.

Finally, on the plane to Janggang, Ma Jae-seung gradually grew calmer. Even thinking about his mother, he felt no sense of betrayal, sadness, or self-loathing. Only Shin-woo’s presence beside him grew heavier. For the sake of this person who had protected him through all sorts of humiliation without a single complaint, he felt he could do just about anything.

He carefully took Shin-woo’s hand. Shin-woo, who had been watching Maro, lifted his head and met his eyes. There were so many promises made since childhood and unfinished conversations, but it was regrettable they didn’t have time to share them. He swore to himself that when this was all over, they would definitely spend more time sharing their lives with each other. Ma Jae-seung squeezed their joined hands, looking forward to the near future. As always, Shin-woo smiled quietly without asking anything.

As soon as they arrived at the airport, they moved quickly. While collecting their luggage and heading straight to the taxi stand, Ma Jae-seung brought up the plan he had been considering.

“What if I contact that duo first?”

“What? Absolutely not.”

“We can’t just wait around. If mother hasn’t hired them yet, I can get ahead of them, and if she’s already bought them off, we’ll have to kill them. If we make contact first, we can at least choose the meeting place. Rather than being ambushed, if we call them to a place we’re familiar with—”

Shin-woo’s expression darkened as his gaze shifted beyond Ma Jae-seung’s shoulder. Seeing Shin-woo’s eyes turn cold in an instant, Ma Jae-seung quickly turned around. Even at a glance, he could clearly see three or four large men with short hair striding toward them.

“They’re detectives,” Shin-woo whispered to Ma Jae-seung, who was clenching his fists.

Similar-looking men were also closing in quickly behind Shin-woo. As a startled Ma Jae-seung moved closer to shield Shin-woo, Shin-woo lowered his voice so only Ma Jae-seung could hear.

“Find your brother first.”

“What?”

“If your brother dies, they won’t be able to kill you easily. They’ll want the money.”

Shin-woo’s eyes met Jae-seung’s. His instructions were clear. As soon as he finished speaking, the men who had approached within two meters suddenly rushed in from all directions as if on cue. They pushed Ma Jae-seung aside and had Shin-woo surrounded.

“Police. Please cooperate.”

Handcuffs clicked around Shin-woo’s wrists. Ma Jae-seung’s heart tightened at the familiar yet completely different scene. He recklessly blocked the path of those trying to roughly take Shin-woo away.

“What’s going on? This person is my bodyguard.”

“You’re Ma Jae-seung, correct? Your father Ma Jin-seong’s head has been found.”

The detective who recognized Ma Jae-seung immediately explained the situation. “Father’s head.” Ma Jae-seung numbly repeated the unbelievable words and shook his head.

“That’s…that’s impossible. He died so long ago. Why now…?”

“Someone anonymously reported where the head was buried.”

“Anonymous?”

“We’re working on identifying the informant, but we suspect it’s someone who worked at the mansion.”

“But why are you arresting Shin-woo?”

“According to the informant, this guy gave them the head and ordered them to dispose of it. Said they were too scared to come forward until now. Look at his eyes. Can’t blame them.”

When Shin-woo laughed in disbelief, one of the detectives holding him grabbed his hair.

“What’s so funny, you piece of trash?”

“Is this just based on the word of an unidentified informant?”

Ma Jae-seung asked calmly, suppressing his emotions. His eyes slowly moved from the hand gripping Shin-woo’s hair to the detective’s startled face.

“The head must be skeletal remains by now. Do you have definitive evidence that Shin-woo killed him?”

“…Leave that to us, we’ll find it soon enough.”

They ended the conversation firmly and dragged Shin-woo to a police car that had pulled up nearby. While Ma Jae-seung stood watching in disbelief at how quickly everything had happened, Shin-woo, who had seemed to be cooperating, suddenly bent at the waist. The detectives holding his arms were slammed to the ground with a thud, yelling out.

As soon as he was free, Shin-woo ran to Ma Jae-seung and grabbed his collar with his cuffed hands. “Hold yourself together.” The warm breath brushing against his lips snapped Ma Jae-seung back to his senses. Ma Jae-seung held onto his hands until the detectives pulled Shin-woo away from him. When he firmly stroked the back of Shin-woo’s hand with his thumb, Shin-woo looked up at him with determined, bright eyes.

After Shin-woo was taken away in the police car, Ma Jae-seung remained alone and calmly hailed a taxi. While the driver was loading the luggage into the trunk, he called Butler Hwang. As if he had been waiting, Butler Hwang answered almost immediately.

“Prepare a gun and fifty thousand in cash. Put them in a bag.”

Butler Hwang didn’t ask anything more, and Ma Jae-seung didn’t bother to explain any further. He hung up and got into the taxi.