Side story 2 Ch 2.3

The man stood where Seo Byung-jin’s body had been found. Before long, a commotion echoed from the foot of the mountain. Im Seoncheol, a black bag over his head, was dragged up by two employees, thrashing violently despite being restrained. One of them stomped on him, forcing him down.  

 

Kim Joongdeok tore off the bag. ‘Huff—’ Im Seoncheol gasped for air, then let out a shrill scream when he met the man’s piercing gaze.  

 

“All you do is swindle your own nephew, and for what? Card games?”  

 

The icy voice cut through the howling wind.  

 

“…Your nephew begged me to spare you.”  

 

Tsk, tsk. The man feigned pity as he slowly stepped forward. Crunch— dead leaves crumpled under his shoes. Im Seoncheol staggered back, face twisted in terror, pissing himself. The man’s eyes locked onto the hands hidden inside his parka.  

 

“Why haven’t you learned your lesson yet?”  

 

“Why the fuck are you doing this to me?!”  

 

“Why?” The man’s lips curled into a grin.  

 

“You dirty bastard. You and Seo Yeowon were in this together, weren’t you?”  

 

“In this together?” The man laughed at the vague phrasing.  

 

“‘Together’ doesn’t even begin to cover it.”  

 

He made sure to mention that he’d had Im Seoncheol followed all day. Whether he tripped on a rock or not, the man didn’t care—he lunged forward, stomping on his ankle with his dress shoe. Im Seoncheol arched back like a split log. The man pressed his foot down on his chest. A faint *crinkle* came from under his sole—probably the meager gambling winnings hidden inside his jacket.  

 

The man crouched down to his level.  

 

“Why do you think you deserve to die, Im Seoncheol?”  

 

At the word die, Im Seoncheol shrieked like a wild animal. Not that it mattered—this place was too remote for anyone to hear. Even if someone did, it would sound like the roar of a beast.  

 

The man’s voice was low, almost gentle.  

 

“The day Seo Byung-jin—Yeowon’s father—died.”  

 

The name Seo Byung-jin froze Im Seoncheol’s expression. Beneath his puffy eyelids, his pupils dilated with unmistakable fear.  

 

“You buried him in these mountains yourself, didn’t you?”  

 

“…….”  

 

“It would’ve been easier with Yeowon’s help, but you insisted on going alone. Why?”  

 

The man deliberately slowed his words. Im Seoncheol’s throat bobbed.  

 

“Was it because of the bank account?”  

 

The man lit a cigarette. The white smoke curled and vanished faster than Im Seoncheol’s frantic breaths. After exhaling seven times, he lit another. Instinctively, Im Seoncheol knew—when that cigarette burned out, so would his life.  

 

“CEO Jang.”

He wrapped his arms around the man’s legs, the same legs that were pinning his body down to the cold ground.

“I’m sorry. I swear I can get my act together and live properly. I’ll come clean to Yeowon and tell him it was all me.”

What?

The man’s eyes, which had been glazing over as if letting Im Seoncheol’s words drift away like smoke, narrowed.

“…What did you say?”

The voice that came was unnaturally damp, chilling enough to make the hair on the back of Im Seoncheol’s neck stand on end. It was the kind of voice that could make someone believe they were deep inside a cave. This was the first time the man had shown any sign of agitation. Taking it as a chance, Im Seoncheol pleaded with a more desperate voice.

“I’ll tell Yeowon everything. I’ll pay for what I did. So please…”

“…Hmm.”

“So please, I beg you. Spare me.”

Im Seoncheol began to lick the man’s shoes. He didn’t care that there were cigarette butts scattered around; he kept licking the ground without hesitation.

“Please, please, I’m begging you like this. Please let me live.”

The man who had looked down on him until the end finally raised his voice as he crawled on the floor. Dirty water streamed down from the corners of Im Seoncheol’s eyes.

“Mr. Im.”

The man knelt down to meet Im Seoncheol’s gaze. The same man who had seemed like a mountain towering far above was now looking him in the eyes, and for a moment, Im Seoncheol dared to hope. But the pupils bathed in moonlight held only a cold stillness.

The man stared down at Im Seoncheol with unreadable eyes.

“That would be a problem.”

Yes, a big problem. If that were revealed, Seo Yeowon might try to run from him again. The man held back the urge to split Im Seoncheol’s belly open with a saw and stepped back. Kim Joongdeok approached Im Seoncheol and tied a rope around his neck.

“CEO… please, just this once, show some mercy…”

The rope tightened firmly around Im Seoncheol’s neck. It replaced the dog collar he had worn just weeks ago. Tears and filth streamed down his face as he begged for his life in a frenzy.

“Aaaaagh!”

Kim Joongdeok placed a ladder beneath a tree and ordered in an emotionless tone.

“Climb.”

But Im Seoncheol, who could barely process the words, kept flailing wildly. The two employees ignored him and attached the rope around his neck to the tree. As they pulled the rope taut, Im Seoncheol’s body was lifted into the air. Dangling in midair, he clawed at his own neck as the blood circulation stopped, his face turning red. Terror seized his eyes.

“Kh… kehheuk!”

Though he had resisted climbing earlier, Im Seoncheol now barely managed to stand on tiptoe on the ladder, desperate for one last breath. It was a pitiful sight. The man stood silently, watching Im Seoncheol’s hands stretch in vain toward himself.

Kim Joongdeok shoved a will into Im Seoncheol’s chest. Then he kicked the ladder out from under his feet. It flipped with a loud crash.

“…Ugh… khk…”

The pressure around his windpipe intensified. Im Seoncheol could no longer speak.

The man stood rooted in place like an old tree as he watched Im Seoncheol’s body twitch and convulse. His eyes calmly observed as the tension stiffened Seoncheol’s body from the toes upward.

A cutting wind swept across the ground with a chilling howl. Soon, Im Seoncheol’s neck and limbs went limp all at once. His body hung grotesquely from the tree, swaying in slow, sluggish arcs.

Im Seoncheol died hanging from the very tree under which he had buried Seo Byung-jin. The man had deliberately left the shovel that Im Seoncheol used near the spot.

“…….”

As he left the scene, a trace of satisfaction lingered on the man’s lips. With this, the truth—that Yeowon hadn’t killed his own father—was erased from the world. The truth was now buried forever.

***

He entered a nearby unmanned motel. Stripping off his gloves and clothes, he thoroughly washed himself. The man leaned over the sink, propping himself up with both arms as he tried to steady his breathing. Despite the mental euphoria that gnawed at the pit of his stomach, his body was deeply fatigued.

He wanted to fall asleep with Yeowon in his arms, bury his nose into that pale neck, and inhale the sweet scent of his skin like a drug, letting it soak into his membranes and intoxicate him.

The man changed into the new clothes Kim Joongdeok had prepared. Naturally, he burned the clothes and gloves he had been wearing.

“…Hoo.”

Only at dawn did he head home. The car cruised down a dim road where the first light of morning was just beginning to appear. The man imagined the pale body waiting for him at the end of the road and thought about toasting to it one last time. Surely, it would be sweet and electrifying.

Yeowon hadn’t gone to sleep and was waiting for him. Having just finished handling the unpleasant business, the man tried to hold Yeowon in his arms like a prized trophy. But Yeowon pushed him away.

A jolt of discomfort and revulsion surged through the man’s entire body, enough to make his brain boil.

When the man didn’t bother to hide his displeasure, unexpected words came from Yeowon’s lips.

“…At the very least, you shouldn’t have done that in Mom’s hospital room.”

Yeowon glared at him with wide, accusing eyes.

This wasn’t what the man had envisioned. Again, scenes he hadn’t planned were unfolding before him. Seo Yeowon always ruined his plans.

The man couldn’t understand it. Yeowon had known he was being watched from the start. Yet he was furious to learn that there had been a camera hidden in the flowerpot placed in his mother’s hospital room.

Even after he had caressed him like he was something he cherished. The way his eyes had gently curved, the way his cheeks had rounded, the arc of his lips rising to reveal small, perfect teeth—it had been quite the sight.

But over the past few days, all the man had received from Yeowon were cold, frigid stares.

 

***

The man had been on edge for the past few days. It was because of Yeowon, who constantly got on his nerves.

Even as Yeowon repeatedly coughed up the diluted fluid into his own hands, he would flee as soon as the man appeared to be asleep—as if the moments when their skin touched had never happened. But the man had never once fallen asleep when Yeowon was by his side, so he had been watching all of it in the dark.

He had thought that once that matter was resolved, Yeowon would fall entirely into his hands—but it was no use. The way Yeowon turned his back on him was a clear rejection. The gaze that should have followed as recompense, the smile that used to faintly form on his lips, the way those lips once called his name—all of it was gone.

He acted like a child who couldn’t sleep without him. The man had to suppress the urge to tear Yeowon apart with his bare hands just so he wouldn’t slip through his fingers.

And then, the man was faced with something he hadn’t accounted for.

***

Knock, knock. 

A knock sounded during a client meeting. When the man told them to come in, Kim Joongdeok briefly explained why he had interrupted.

“Sir, there’s a call.”

A faint crease formed between the man’s brows. Normally, it would’ve been handled before reaching him, so something must have come up. After bowing his head slightly to the client, he rose from the sofa. When he stepped out and closed the door of Room 420, Kim Joongdeok who was holding the man’s phone in one hand, reported in a low voice.

“It’s from the prosecution.”

The man’s eyes gleamed a sharp blue. The prosecution? He reached out and took the phone.

“Hello.”

From the receiver came the voice of a man introducing himself as a prosecutor from a certain district office.

– Mr. Jang Ki-joo, is that correct?

“Yes, that’s me.”

As he listened to the flat tone of the prosecutor, the man’s eyes narrowed slightly. The prosecutor informed him that they needed to collect his DNA and requested that he appear at the prosecutor’s office. The man had believed he had everything under control. But the discovery of a cigarette butt in Im Seoncheol’s throat was something even he hadn’t foreseen. The image of Im Seoncheol, groveling at his feet, licking near his shoe for mercy, flashed through his mind. His jaw clenched tight.

The DNA on the cigarette found in Im Seoncheol’s throat matched the man’s.

***

“The cigarette…”

Facing the prosecutor, the man deliberately slowed his speech. Staring directly into the prosecutor’s eyes, he continued.

“When things didn’t go well in the game, I used to chain-smoke near the greenhouse. Mr. Im Seoncheol smoked the same brand. He borrowed some from me a few times too. It’s not like there are any convenience stores nearby.”

“…Is that so?”

“I figure he might have smoked one of the butts I left behind and accidentally swallowed it.”

Accidentally swallowing a cigarette butt? It was suspicious. But there wasn’t any scenario more plausible than that to explain how the butt ended up in the man’s throat. The prosecutor’s eyes narrowed behind thin-rimmed glasses. There were no CCTV cameras near the greenhouse, so there was no evidence. Naturally, that meant the man’s statement would guide the flow of the prosecutor’s reasoning.

Standing before the prosecutor, the man cursed inwardly. What a damn hassle this had become. And yet, part of him thought this might actually be for the best. If the DNA on that cigarette hadn’t been his…

He had wondered how the prosecutor even found out about him. Apparently, witnesses at the gambling den had testified that Im Seoncheol owed a large gambling debt to a young businessman.

“They said he always looked like he was being chased, even with a card in his hand.”

The man lightly raised an eyebrow.

“He was sweating profusely, shaking his head like a madman, and flinched at the slightest movement.”

The prosecutor said he had found an unexpected clue where he hadn’t been able to trace the man’s shadow anywhere else.

A photo was slid in front of the man. His eyes fixed on it. A pale face, long soft eyes stretched gently to the side.

“Do you know Mr. Seo Yeowon?”

The prosecutor asked if he knew Seo Yeowon while holding out a photo of him. It was the first moment the man’s usually composed fingertips froze cold. He forced a thin smile onto his lips but remained silent. Then, the prosecutor showed him a CCTV recording. The laptop screen was filled with footage from the hospital where Im Seoncheol had been. Standing just behind Seo Yeowon at the entrance was clearly Kim Joongdeok.

In this damn mess, the man clicked his tongue and moistened his dry mouth. The prosecutor then held out a business card. It was one with the man’s name printed on it.

“That’s my business card.”

“……”

“You wouldn’t find that just anywhere.”

When he asked where it came from, the answer was unexpected.

“A lady living next door to Mr. Seo gave it to us. We asked if she knew where he was, and she pointed us to this hospital.”

A feeling like his blood was reversing surged in the man’s chest. If he hadn’t been someone skilled at hiding his emotions, the prosecutor’s sharp eyes would have caught it right away.

“The hospital in Seocho-dong isn’t a place ordinary folks can easily enter. Just looking at that neighborhood, it’s clear how poor the mother and son are. So I asked how they managed a private room in such a fancy hospital.”

A brief silence followed.

“She said Ms. Im Gyeonghee got help from some charity.”

The man and the prosecutor locked eyes in tense confrontation. The air between them turned cold and sharp.

“…Hmph.”

The man suddenly drew the corners of his mouth into a tight smile. The expression made the prosecutor frown slightly.

“If it’s Seo Yeowon you mean, of course I know him.”

Of course? The prosecutor raised an eyebrow at the word. Then the man assumed the prosecutor hadn’t found any proof linking Yeowon to him.

The man finally spoke up, slowly.

“He’s my employee.”

“…An employee?”

The man fell silent at the prosecutor’s question. But the prosecutor was quicker to speak.

“Do you mean the JKJ company registered under your name?”

The man shook his head lightly.

“No. I run a small side business.”

“……”

“…It’s called Royal.”

The prosecutor’s fingers, previously typing rapidly on the laptop, froze.

“You mean that high-end golf course?”

The man replied that yes, that was the one.

“I thought it was run by Choi Pyeongtaek.”

“When you deal with VIPs, it’s nothing but trouble.”

The man interlocked his fingers and leaned his large frame deep into the chair.

“I handed the position over to Choi Pyeongtaek.”

Choi had taken out a loan from the man when he was gathering capital to expand his business. As the interest piled up, the man figured he couldn’t squeeze any more money out of him. So he offered Choi the role of CEO of Royal. The golf course was the perfect place to gather VIPs in one spot, but it had grown larger than expected and become quite the hassle.

Although Choi had already failed once, he had decent business sense. He was a figurehead, but his desire for prestige made him satisfied with a title, no matter how hollow. Only the two men involved in the contract knew the truth. In other words, this was the first time the man had ever stepped into the spotlight himself.

“My employee—he’s just 23, but he’s quick and sharp. I was quite fond of him. I heard his mother was ill, so I wanted to help a little.”

The prosecutor, who had a pile of files next to him, typed something into his laptop. Tap, tap. The sound of the keyboard continued without pause.

The man stared straight into the prosecutor’s eyes.  

“He stubbornly refused to take it unless it was for a good cause, so I told him it was for charity and passed it off.”  

 

The man clicked his tongue and tilted his chin. 

 

“Who would’ve thought he’d actually believe that.”  

 

The prosecutor asked for more details about Royal. The man answered smoothly, without hesitation. Upon closer inspection, it was a place rife with all sorts of dirty dealings, but on the surface, it was just a high-end golf course—nothing problematic. The VIPs were refined individuals who knew how to cover their tracks, leaving no room for serious consequences. Though they were all arrogant and difficult to handle, this very trait made them convenient as clients.  

 

“Thank you for cooperating with the investigation.”  

 

The man immediately left the prosecutor’s office. The smile that had been lingering on his lips vanished. His face hardened coldly as he got into the waiting car, which quickly drove off. Kim Joongdeok, gripping the steering wheel, glanced at the rearview mirror.  

 

“What now?”  

 

The prosecutor’s office had sent a tail. The man rubbed his dry eyes. Things had turned out more troublesome than expected. For the first time in his life, he regretted a choice he had never second-guessed before. That fucking bastard—if I’d known it’d come to this, I should’ve chopped him up beyond recognition.

 

***  

 

Now that the prosecutor’s office knew about his connection to Yeowon, sending Yeowon away was the best option. If Yeowon got dragged into this, things would only get twice as messy. It was a decision made out of necessity.  

 

The man watched Yeowon through the cameras installed in the temporary residence. The face on the screen, which had once pushed him away, was now losing vitality day by day. His eyes were dark and lifeless. On nights when he startled awake, Yeowon would curl into himself and sob.  

 

Yeowon was clearly searching for him. The man witnessed every moment of Yeowon’s slow demise, inside and out.  

 

Through the screen, the man watched Yeowon cry as he unbuckled his belt. His c*ck, straining against the black fabric of his briefs, sprang free. Gripping himself, he began jerking off roughly. Closing his eyes, he imagined shoving his d*ck into Yeowon’s mouth—that soft, wet warmth—and thrusting into it. Yeowon’s small head would bob back and forth, his delicate hair flying wildly. Grabbing a fistful of that hair, he’d yank hard enough to nearly tear the scalp, distorting Yeowon’s face in pain. Tears would gather at the corners of those long, downturned eyes, and with that very expression, Yeowon would beg for him to come inside his mouth.  

 

‘CEO…’ 

 

“…Hn, ah—”  

 

‘Please c*m in my mouth.’  

 

Imagining that white body trembling between his thighs, the man’s strokes grew faster, more frantic. His c*ck twitched like a serpent before spurting thick ropes of c*m—splattering across Yeowon’s imagined face.  

 

***

 

The case ended when the hospital handling Im Seoncheol’s records confirmed the scar on his abdomen was from an appendectomy.  

 

Only then did Yeowon willingly throw himself into the man’s arms. No coercion, no threats. The man embraced him, cupping that small face in his large hands before claiming his lips.  

 

Now, at last, Yeowon was his. In one hand, he held Yeowon’s revenge; in the other, Yeowon himself. Nothing could have brought the man greater joy.  

 

Though the plan had hit a few snags along the way, in the end, everything had gone exactly as he’d wanted. He intended to savor this moment of triumph as slowly as possible. Taking a deep breath, he inhaled Yeowon’s scent, relishing the pleasure flooding his lungs.