PA 68

“Chairman! Are you just going to let Junhyuk live alone his whole life like this?”

“Secretary Jeong, have the car readied.”

The Honorary Chairman took Director Min’s hand firmly and rose from his seat.

“Executive Director Cha.”

“Yes, Chairman.”

“Keep up the good work.”

“Have a safe trip.”

Junhyuk’s head throbbed. He stood up and walked over to the window. He looked out at the scenery unfolding outside the window without a word. The red sunset that had begun to spread from the west of the Han River was coloring the forest of gray buildings.

“…Director, Executive Director!”

Junhyuk, who had been lost in thought, turned his head and looked at Secretary Jeong.

“Chairman Cha’s office called to say he is not answering his phone.”

“Is that so? All right.”

Junhyuk’s gaze shifted to the cell phone glittering on his desk.

“Yes.”

— Track Lee Yejun’s location right now.

“Yes? Why are you telling me to track his location?”

— Lee Yejun just got into an unknown car, not his security vehicle!

In that moment, Junhyuk felt his pounding heart drop to the pit of his stomach. He immediately bolted out of the office and ran.

☂︎

— Ah, aaack!

Hyungyu’s scream echoed eerily over the receiver. Feeling rushed, Yejun came out to the back of the event hall and then walked toward the alley across the way. The alley was so narrow that it would be packed if two people stood in it. There, Yejun continuously called for Hyungyu in a low voice.

“Father, Father!”

— Yejun, just save me this once.

“All right, so put that person on the phone.”

— W-wait.

“Hello, hello?”

— A van will stop in front of you. Just get in it.

Yejun looked around at the somehow familiar voice. It was then. He saw Sanghyeon running out from behind the event hall building. Yejun stood behind a large clothing collection bin, pressed himself flat against the wall, and hid.

“I just have to pay back your father’s debt, right?”

— I guess so?

A black van quickly came to a stop in front of the alley where Yejun was. Yejun peeked his head out slightly, and his eyes met with those of a large man who got out of the van’s open door.

“Get in.”

“Where is my father?”

The man pointed inside the van with his thumb. There, covered in blood, was Hyungyu, looking at Yejun with a desperate gaze. Yejun quietly suppressed the anger welling up inside him and let out a deep sigh. The man pushed Yejun’s shoulders from behind, getting him into the van.

“Lee Yejun!”

Sanghyeon, who had spotted Yejun getting into the van, shouted his name loudly and started running across the road. But the van carrying Yejun quickly sped away from the scene.

“Father, Father!”

“S-save me.”

Unaware that Sanghyeon was following, Yejun moved closer to the blood-soaked Hyungyu. He held Hyungyu in his arms and checked his condition.

“Where are we going? Hurry up and go to the hospital!”

“Yejun, hello?”

The man sitting in the passenger seat looked at Yejun through the rearview mirror and spoke in an affectionate voice. Yejun turned his gaze in the direction of the sound. There, with a vile smile, was Yeongsik.

“C-CEO?”

A quiet silence flowed between the two as they exchanged glances in the rearview mirror. Yeongsik, who had been looking at Yejun for a long while, spoke kindly in a whispering voice. Yejun found his friendly tone even more chilling.

“Yejun, I have a favor to ask.”

“……”

“Call Cha Junhyuk right now and ask him to save you.”

A chilling bloodlust could be felt in Yeongsik’s murky eyes, and Yejun shut his mouth without realizing it. When Yejun sat like a statue and didn’t move an inch, Yeongsik shouted so loudly that the veins in his eyes stood out.

“I said call him!”

“……”

“Hey, take his cell phone.”

At Yeongsik’s command, the large men grabbed Yejun from both sides. Yejun struggled, trying to shake them off, but he couldn’t move at all due to the overwhelming difference in strength. The cell phone was eventually passed into Yeongsik’s hand.

“If you won’t do it, I will.”

“Give me the phone! What are you trying to do to Junhyuk?”

Yeongsik pressed and held the call button on Yejun’s cell phone. Then, Junhyuk’s name appeared, and the dialing tone was heard. Just as Yeongsik had expected, Yejun’s last call had indeed been to Junhyuk.

“Give it to me!”

He had captured Yejun at Jiyun’s behest. And he planned to use Yejun as bait to lure out Junhyuk as well. A murky chuckle leaked from Yeongsik.

— Who are you?

“Looks like you’ve already left.”

— Where is Yejun?

“If you want to find Lee Yejun in one piece, come alone. Don’t you dare bring a tail.”

— Hey, hey!

Yeongsik kept cackling as he sent an address to Junhyuk and then threw Yejun’s cell phone out the car window. Yejun, with a dark premonition that Junhyuk would get hurt, spoke urgently.

“C-CEO… Junhyuk, why Junhyuk? I’ll give you all the money you want. So please, let us go…”

“Oh my, our Yejun with the chaebol boyfriend… looks like he’s not short on money anymore.”

“CEO, please…”

“But what to do? I don’t need money either…”

“CEO!”

“Shut up. I want Cha Junhyuk to die a miserable death right before my eyes.”

Yejun tried to persuade Yeongsik somehow, but what came back was only violent restraint. Yeongsik waved a hand and spoke with an annoyed expression.

“Shove something in that bastard’s mouth. He’s noisy as hell.”

“Eu, mph!”

Another man who was watching Hyungyu took out a handkerchief, shoved it into Yejun’s mouth, and covered his eyes with a black blindfold. Hyungyu was slowly dying from losing so much blood, but there was nothing Yejun could do. On top of that, Junhyuk might be killed at the hands of these thugs.

Junhyuk, please don’t come.

Feeling helpless in a situation where he couldn’t convey a single word, Yejun could only let thick teardrops fall.

How much time had passed? The van lurched, and Yejun’s senses sharpened. It felt like they were entering a rougher, more remote road. It was then. With a thump, an enormous impact was felt.

“W-what was that?”

“Some bastard rear-ended our van.”

“Get out! I’m going to kill whatever son of a bitch it is.”

“Yes!”

It seemed a car had hit them from behind. Worried that Junhyuk had come, Yejun struggled and barely managed to lift his upper body. The blindfold that had been placed over Yejun’s eyes slipped off, and through the car window, he could see Sanghyeon, holding a hunting rifle, in a tense standoff with men who looked like thugs.

☂︎

Junhyuk, who had received Sanghyeon’s call, couldn’t remember at all how he had left the office and gotten into his car. When he came to his senses, Junhyuk was ignoring all traffic signals and driving like a madman.

“Fuck… request a location trace on my father’s cell phone right now.”

— We were already in the process of tracking the Chairman’s mobile phone. As the GPS signal is moving quickly, it appears the Chairman is traveling by vehicle. A short while ago, the GPS signal entered the Goryeosan Mountain entrance, and it is heading in the direction of Baeknyeonsa Temple, which they told us.

“Under no circumstances can Yejun be put in a dangerous situation. Do not move without my orders.”

— It is getting dark quickly. If we move quietly and fast, we can avoid being spotted by them.

“You guys wait at the mountain entrance.”

The Chief of Staff and the bodyguards tried to stop Junhyuk, but to no avail. Contrary to their anxious hearts, Junhyuk’s car soon stopped in front of Baeknyeonsa Temple at the foot of the mountain.

Junhyuk passed Baeknyeonsa Temple and ran up into the mountain, where darkness had fallen thick and heavy. Sanghyeon’s GPS location had been continuously moving until it suddenly stopped at a certain point.

“It seems to be near that area…”

The point where the signal stopped was not far from where Junhyuk was standing. Junhyuk looked around and tried to estimate the distance, but the visibility in the dark mountain seemed to be no more than a few meters.

“Where is it?”

In his anxious and urgent state, Junhyuk unknowingly muttered under his breath as if chewing on the words. It was then. A gunshot rang out loudly in the mountain, and in an instant, birds flew up into the black sky. At the sound, Junhyuk began to run through the mountain at full speed.

“Gasp, gasp!”

How long had he run? Because it was dark and deep in the mountains, Junhyuk was seized by the feeling that he was lost and circling the same spot. Junhyuk stopped in place for a moment and took a deep breath. Then, he turned on the compass function on his cell phone and moved forward, gauging the direction he needed to go.

Running through the mountain that had grown quiet again after the gunshot, Junhyuk suddenly felt one foot slip downward and his body tilted. But he quickly grabbed a nearby tree branch and looked down.

“Ah…”

Below Junhyuk’s feet, a thousand-fathom cliff, so deep it was dizzying, was spread out.

In that moment, another loud gunshot struck Junhyuk’s eardrums hard. As Junhyuk ran, following the sharp sound of the gun, a wide-open mountain ridge came into view. In the middle of it stood Sanghyeon’s car, which seemed to have rear-ended the van.

“Let that boy go.”

“Chairman, why are you being so scary? Even holding a gun.”

Sanghyeon was in a standoff with a group of thugs, with a large rock at his back. Junhyuk, hiding his body behind the rock where Sanghyeon was standing, watched Sanghyeon aiming a hunting rifle at the group of large thugs and thought for a moment.

I think I need to move at the same time as my father…

Junhyuk needed something to send a signal to Sanghyeon that he had arrived. Sanghyeon usually kept his cell phone on vibrate mode, in his inner jacket pocket. A good idea came to mind, and Junhyuk began sending text messages to Sanghyeon.

Buzz— Buzz—

A continuous vibration sounded from the inner pocket of Sanghyeon’s jacket, who was holding the gun. At the vibration, which seemed to be from deliberately consecutive texts, Sanghyeon immediately realized that Junhyuk was somewhere nearby. Thinking that Junhyuk would somehow resolve this situation, Sanghyeon trusted him and slowly advanced toward the group of thugs.