PAHO 16

Nam Gyeonhwa stared silently at Na Taebeom, his eyebrows furrowed. The windowless basement was as cold as an ice chamber due to the gloomy dampness, but in reality, cold sweat was streaming down his back.

“That thing you got from that old man that day.”

Na Taebeom, who had his chin propped on his arm resting on the back of the chair, continued.

“It seems the two of you weren’t exactly on loyal terms, were you? I barely said anything, and the old man voluntarily rattled off a description of you. And he begged, saying he was just doing as he was told.”

“…”

“Looks like you two didn’t see eye to eye.”

Na Taebeom tilted his face to the side, following Nam Gyeonhwa’s head as he deliberately turned to avoid his gaze, and clicked his tongue. It was a sound bordering on ridicule. Nam Gyeonhwa, biting his lower lip hard, squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them. His head was already a complicated mess, about to drive him crazy, and now his stomach was churning with tension.

“So, are you going to keep exercising your right to remain silent?”

Na Taebeom, who had yawned languidly, straightened his slouched posture.

“Go practice silent meditation at a temple, and just say something. I’m bored.”

While leisurely massaging his neck, he spat out the command in an arrogant tone. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been glaring at him steadily, spoke as if sighing.

“I guess kidnapping a person out of the blue and torturing them in a basement is how things are done on this side of the tracks, huh?”

“Hmm, that’s a plausible point.”

“It’s not a plausible point, it’s a fact. You suddenly drag me here and demand to know where something is. I don’t even know why I should have to answer you.”

“In other words, you’re saying, ‘I don’t know anything.’”

Na Taebeom, who briefly sang a line from an old pop song, grinned and rolled the lollipop in his mouth.

“Well, I didn’t think you’d tell me outright. In that case, I’ll talk.”

“No, I’m not interested in your story, so just untie this.”

“Listen.”

Na Taebeom pressed down firmly on Nam Gyeonhwa’s knee with his palm as he struggled to get away. His body was naturally pulled forward.

“Was it about a month or two ago? They said they found a trace of someone breaking into my office in the security records. So I followed the trail, and it turned out to be that old janitor I mentioned earlier. His explanation was that some supervisor told him to empty the office trash can, but he’d touched the computer, of all things, not the safe. He copied a ledger file from there. That was the data chip you received that day.”

“…”

“But actually, it’s a dud.”

“A dud…?”

“An empty can. There’s nothing inside.”

Nam Gyeonhwa wasn’t so surprised by the confession that it was empty. He’d felt something was off at the time, and it seemed his ominous premonition had come true. In the first place, how could it be difficult to notice one person coming and going in a limited underground area, not some vast, open land?

Considering they even had the entry screening record that was said to have been deleted, it was clear they had known all along but had let him go, pretending to be careless. He couldn’t understand their motive for investing manpower to track down the data chip. If they simply wanted to know who the client was, they could have just asked the janitor.

Perhaps the statement about it being an empty can was also a lie, a deliberate attempt to test him. Thinking about how there had been no word from Min Chanyoung’s side either, it was even harder to make a rash judgment. To put it crudely, it was a fucked-up situation.

Nam Gyeonhwa glared at him venomously to hide his complex inner thoughts. Beating around the bush and evading would only lead to a meaningless fight.

“Who did you hand it over to?”

Na Taebeom asked again. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had cleared his throat with a slight cough, gestured upwards with his eyes.

“The Seoul Station restroom.”

“Restroom?”

“I put it in the toilet and flushed it. Like you said, there was nothing inside. I had no reason to carry around an empty SD card either.”

“Hmm.”

“If you got your answer, I’d appreciate it if you’d untie me now or just get lost so I can leave on my own.”

Nam Gyeonhwa snapped at Na Taebeom in a sharp tone. At the very least, the data chip had already been passed to Min Chanyoung a month ago, so it was a clear fact that it wasn’t in his possession. However, he couldn’t openly reveal his client, so he had no choice but to speak evasively. As long as there was still money to be collected, Nam Gyeonhwa had to consider his own interests.

Na Taebeom held the lollipop between his fingers like a cigarette, sucked on it, and pulled it out. His lips, stained by the cheap coloring of the candy, drew into a smirk.

“I was hoping you’d vehemently insist that you didn’t know.”

“…”

“Well, this wasn’t bad.”

He stood up abruptly and undid the handcuffs fastened around Nam Gyeonhwa’s ankles, which were tied behind the chair’s backrest. Clink. As soon as the faint metallic sound was heard, Na Taebeom shoved the chair hard with his hands. Nam Gyeonhwa’s body, his wrists still tied to the back of the chair, swayed and toppled sideways with it.

“What are you doing.”

“Just thought I’d fix that fucking attitude of yours, showing no sign of remorse even after admitting you touched someone else’s property without permission.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit.”

“It’s not bullshit, though?”

Na Taebeom grabbed Nam Gyeonhwa, who had barely managed to support himself on his knees, by the collar, and kicked the chair with all his might again. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had fallen sideways, pressed his cheek to the floor and dry-heaved. Repeatedly falling in an already uncomfortable position while bound to the chair naturally made him feel sick.

As Na Taebeom pulled him up again, Nam Gyeonhwa slammed his forehead into him. Na Taebeom, who had slightly leaned back, kicked him in the stomach. With a loud clattering noise, Nam Gyeonhwa was pushed towards the door and coughed repeatedly. His right arm was starting to throb from hitting it repeatedly as he fell.

Na Taebeom squatted down in front of Nam Gyeonhwa, who was lying on his side, busy catching his breath, and poked the corner of his scowling eye with the lollipop.

“Come to think of it, don’t we still have something to settle up?”

The candy slid down his cheek and slowly rubbed against his lower lip.

“If I remember correctly, I think you were supposed to do it with your mouth, but you ditched me and ran off that day.”

The hard tip of the candy parted his lips and pushed between his teeth. Na Taebeom, who had been waving his hand slowly, twitched his lips.

“Honestly, I was a little surprised, because you don’t look the part. You look all meek, but you acted like a slut.”

The cherry scent forcibly probing his mouth was suffocating. Nam Gyeonhwa set his teeth and bit down hard on the lollipop stick. Na Taebeom, who naturally pulled his hand away, looked down at Nam Gyeonhwa quietly.

Without paying any mind to the persistent stare, Nam Gyeonhwa spat the candy he had crushed into small pieces in his mouth onto the floor. Splat. It was a resolute attitude, as if issuing a warning. Na Taebeom looked down at the sticky, melted candy bits mixed with saliva and took a deep breath.

“Ha, fuck.”

Agitated, he grabbed Nam Gyeonhwa by the collar. His face, a mixture of annoyance and humiliation, ruthlessly flipped Nam Gyeonhwa over and began to kick him. It was then, as Na Taebeom grabbed the hair of the helplessly fallen Nam Gyeonhwa and pulled him up again, that Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been silent, twisted his arm free and kicked him hard in the stomach with his knee.

“Ha, fucker.”

Na Taebeom let out a curse like a growl at the unexpected attack. Taking advantage of the opening, Nam Gyeonhwa, with his back to the door, thrust the chair forward as if using it as a shield.

“After taking a beating like this, I think, the rest of the payment from that day, is more than, settled.”

His voice broke off intermittently as he gasped for breath. He had struggled to forcibly break the zip ties on his wrists while being beaten, so his whole body was drenched in sweat, and both his shoulders felt paralyzed, making it hard to move.

Na Taebeom, who had been rubbing his knee-kicked stomach for a moment, looked at Nam Gyeonhwa and then burst out laughing loudly. Crazy bastard. Nam Gyeonhwa, who barely suppressed the scornful thought, ignored the base provocation and tried to push the door open and leave.

“Before you go, I think you’re forgetting something.”

The suggestive voice was quite leisurely and seductive. When he turned around, Na Taebeom, leaning against the wall, was waving a cell phone in his hand.

The screen flickered, and soon a small voice came through the receiver.

─ H-Hyung-ah, where did you go?

Nam Gyeonhwa’s face turned pale at the whimpering voice, which sounded terrified, and he lunged at Na Taebeom.

“Nam Haejin! You, you, where are you right now!”

Na Taebeom blocked the arm trying to snatch the phone with one hand and grinned.

“Ah, so his name is Nam Haejin?”

“You, son of a bitch…!”

“He’s asking where Haejin is.”

Unable to bear it any longer as Na Taebeom spoke towards the phone’s mouthpiece as if for him to hear, Nam Gyeonhwa threw a punch. His hand, exhausted from rolling on the floor and forcibly breaking the zip ties, couldn’t even form a proper fist, let alone carry any force.

“Can you hear me? Your older brother is looking for you.”

A shuffling noise was heard, and soon a sniffling voice followed.

─ Hyung-ah, wh-where are you. I, I don’t know where this is.

“Give it to me, you fucker!”

“You’re his older brother, how can you curse in front of your little brother? Loud enough for him to hear.”

Na Taebeom crudely pressed his palm over the resisting Nam Gyeonhwa’s mouth and brought his lips close to the phone’s receiver.

“What’s your brother’s name?”

Haejin, who mumbled as if troubled, cautiously continued.

─ Wh-Who is this…?

“Me? The person who’s with your brother right now.”

─ Why is my brother, there?

“I know, right? Why is he here instead of with you?”