Joker 1 (Side Story) Ch 11

THE FOUL – Joker (wild card) 3

“Is this the place…?”

“According to the address.”

Joo Hawon looked around. The row of buildings along the four-lane road all seemed worn down, as if corroded by rainwater.

On either side of their destination—a two-story building—neon signs of pawnshops, the kind often seen in Macau, glimmered vividly. Many people, blinded by that light, sold their cars for a fraction of the price, and later even handed over their house deeds. A world where light turned into debt—that was what a casino, and gambling itself, was.

Hawon’s tired eyes settled on the middle shop, the only one without a signboard.

Though the cold wind swept in through the open door, the inside seemed to reek faintly of men’s stale sweat. Still, it was hard to even call the place a store—he couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be selling.

Four or five round tables made it look more like an illegal gambling den than a shop. A few were even overturned, and there were scattered spots of blood on the floor. Hawon wiped away a smear of blood that had stuck to the sole of his white sneakers. The blood wasn’t dry yet—it spread like w** paint, sending a chill up his spine.

“Did something happen here?”

He wondered if they should report it to the police, but there was no clear reason to. Taeha calmly scanned the area before making a phone call.

“Are you calling Tangbang?” Hawon asked, and Taeha gave him a silent nod.

“Looks like someone made a move first.”

But Tangbang never answered. Hawon rubbed the back of his neck uneasily.

“Let’s get out of here for now.”

The building resembled Gangho Inn in Macau—there was a staircase leading up to the second floor.

“I’ll go check upstairs.”

“I’ll follow.”

Taeha took the lead, climbing the stairs with long strides. The wooden steps groaned ominously, and as soon as he turned the corner, a dim hallway came into view.

Hawon followed behind, checking each open door. It looked like the place had once been a Chinese restaurant—there were three private rooms, each with a round rotating table. But they hadn’t been used for a long time; thick layers of dust covered everything.

No matter how much they searched, the only sounds were their own footsteps. Eventually, they returned to the car, having found nothing, but a lingering unease clung to both of them.

“What about Wagner? I’d like to get my phone back soon.” He couldn’t shake the thought that Tangbang might have tried to contact him.

“He’ll join us in Seoul. It’ll probably take him about three hours to get there. Want to nap a bit?”

“No, I’m fine.”

Hawon kept turning to glance back until the shop disappeared from sight. It felt strange to be worrying about Tangbang, but after seeing blood, he couldn’t just ignore it. What had happened here? And what exactly had gone wrong in Macau…?

“Worried?”

“Not worried—just a little uneasy.”

“Could be a turf war, since they came over from Macau.”

“But why would they set up in Jeongseon of all places?”

“Maybe they were planning to open an illegal gambling house.” From the look of the place, it wasn’t an unreasonable assumption.

“Then why did they want to see us?”

“They’ll contact us again.”

Maybe Tangbang had been outplayed, but Taeha didn’t seem particularly concerned.

To be honest, even Hawon felt that the day in Jeongseon had been something of a rare break, so he set his anxiety aside for now. Watching the snow-covered mountains fade away outside the window, he busied himself memorizing the scenery. Though Tangbang lingered in his mind, he wasn’t the type to die easily anyway.

***

The house they always stayed in when visiting Seoul was warm, thanks to the housekeeper’s diligent care.

The villa they’d lived in two years ago had long been sold off—it was rarely used, and even the swimming pool in the living room had been left to decay. After establishing business ties with Samho Shipbuilding Heavy Industries, Taeha had deliberately distanced himself from that couple. He found their excuses for inviting Hawon over—“just a neighborhood gathering” or “a small party”—utterly distasteful.

The new penthouse they bought to replace the villa wasn’t much different in design. The difference was that the building had fewer residents, and each unit had its own elevator, so they rarely ran into neighbors. With nine rooms, it was unnecessarily large for just the two of them, but the security was top-notch.

What Taeha liked most was the underground shelter. It had been designed for emergencies—never used, but still a useful safety precaution.

As soon as they came in, Hawon turned on the fireplace and stood before it, waiting for his body to warm up. He was also waiting for Wagner to arrive with his phone.

He did have the one Taeha had given him, but not having his own phone felt oddly hollow. Maybe he was just another modern man enslaved by technology.

“I’ll be out for about three hours. Wagner will be here soon.”

“Do you have an appointment?”

Hawon hadn’t heard of any scheduled business, since Taeha was supposed to be on leave. But seeing him in a suit and wristwatch made him wonder if a sudden meeting had come up. For STA’s COO, unexpected appointments weren’t unusual.

“I’m meeting Jaehee about the Killer Whale merger.”

“Alright.”

Hawon nodded, hand still near the fireplace. So that’s why Jaehee had been so busy lately, he thought.

The Killer Whale deal wasn’t something he needed to be involved in anyway, and after sitting in the car for hours, fatigue had built up. On top of that, they’d worn each other out last night in the cramped bathroom, so all he wanted now was a few hours of real sleep. He followed Taeha as he finished getting ready to leave, dressed as if heading to the office.

Jeongseon had been quiet and nice, but home was home. Following the familiar hallway, Hawon waved goodbye. Taeha, already in his shoes, stood still and looked at him.

“Joo Hawon.”

“Yes?”

Taeha’s lips parted slightly, as if he had something to say—but instead, he just smiled faintly.

“You must be tired. Get some rest. I’ll bother you when I’m back.”

Joo Hawon approached him and reached out his hand.

Kwon Taeha wrapped an arm around him, pulled him into a breath-stealing embrace, and pushed his tongue between Joo Hawon’s lips as he looked at him.

Their tongues brushed — Joo Hawon’s tongue trembled slightly as it met his.

He s**ked him in to the root, then soothed him tenderly, l**king up the traces of saliva left on his lower lip with deliberate care.

Whenever Kwon Taeha entered his mouth deeply, Joo Hawon felt as though he were being devoured whole — and at the same time, as though he were the one consuming him.

Ha… Their parted lips met again, lingering with longing.

“This way, you’ll be late.”

“Hasn’t that happened more than once?”

“That’s exactly why. President Jaehee will be waiting. Get going — I’ll take a nap.”

Joo Hawon patted Kwon Taeha’s back, a gentle motion like coaxing a child who didn’t want to go to school.

Kwon Taeha brushed his lips against him once more, unable to let go, then straightened his posture.

Knowing that if he stayed, Kwon Taeha would never leave, Joo Hawon turned first and walked toward the bedroom.

When he reached the corner of the hall, where Kwon Taeha could no longer see him, he turned around and waved.

As expected, Kwon Taeha was still standing there.

“Hurry up and go. And don’t use me as an excuse for being late.”

“Only if you go in first.”

Joo Hawon gathered the last of his lingering feelings and stepped into the bedroom, while Kwon Taeha glanced down at his shoes before turning away.

He opened the front door and walked out into the reception room.

It was the second space, after the bunker, that Kwon Taeha liked most.

Because it had been designed with the residents’ privacy as the highest priority, the reception room was set apart from the main living quarters.

He didn’t need to bring guests into the house, making it an ideal space for two people to live together.

Leaving the reception room, Kwon Taeha entered the elevator.

As he descended from the top floor to the lowest basement level, his gray-blue eyes darkened.

He had managed to locate Tangbang’s hideout a step ahead, which meant he could avoid running into Joo Hawon — but he couldn’t yet relax.

If someone was trying to dredge up the truth he had thrown into the deep sea, that person would have to be sunk along with it.

His heart was impatient, but his mind remained cold.

If he failed to control the fire raging inside him, he would repeat the same mistake he made when he lost Joo Hawon.

But who had sparked this fire in the first place?

This time, it wasn’t Kwon Yijae or Joo Sangkyung — it was himself.

“…Taeha, wouldn’t it be better if you just told him yourself?”

When he saw Joo Hawon seeing him off, his brother’s words came to mind.

Wouldn’t Joo Hawon, as he was now, accept everything? The deceitful thought crawled through his head.

The gaze once filled with affection would turn into contempt, and any excuse — that it was all out of revenge against Joo Sangkyung — would never be enough.

He said he had hidden the truth in the deep sea, but that sea was himself.

Since he had chosen to swallow the truth whole, he would have to hold it inside so it never reached Joo Hawon.

In the elevator without even a mirror, Kwon Taeha stood perfectly composed, as if facing his own reflection.

The moment he reached the basement floor, the head of security and the chief secretary of the strategy planning team approached him as if waiting.

The parking lot on basement level three was exclusively for residents of the penthouse where Kwon Taeha and Joo Hawon lived.

From here on, Kwon Taeha had nothing to hold back.

“Where’s Wagner?”

“He just finished up and is on his way here.”

Kwon Taeha sat in the back seat of the car the secretary opened for him.

As the car started moving, three similar sedans followed close behind, leaving the parking lot in a line.

Even though the house’s security was flawless, his worry was almost habitual.

Kwon Taeha brought up the CCTV feed linked to the bedroom on his phone screen.

He stared endlessly at Joo Hawon, curled up under the white blanket.

Even the image of him sleeping seemed to shimmer strangely — perhaps because of the screen’s glow.

After about thirty minutes of nonstop driving, the car entered the garage of a secluded villa on the outskirts of Seoul.

Though other villas were lined nearby, the area was filled with a desolate air.

Since none were used as regular homes, almost none had their lights on.

The villa Kwon Taeha arrived at was just as dark — not a trace of light escaped from within.

When the car came to a stop in the underground garage, the waiting bodyguard opened the back door.

Stepping out, Kwon Taeha checked the time on his wristwatch and headed toward the elevator.

The chief secretary and bodyguards followed, entering first.

Once Kwon Taeha stepped in last, one of them pressed the button for the first floor.

The elevator, which only ran from the second basement to the first floor, was still under construction — mats covered the floor as a sign.

Kwon Taeha glanced down at the dirty mat, his brows faintly furrowing.

“Was anyone hurt?”

“No one on our side, sir.”

“Good work,” he said quietly, just as the elevator doors opened.

The echo of shoes clicking down the hallway stretched on tediously until the living room appeared.

White cloths were draped over the sofas and paintings on the walls.

With few pieces of furniture, the space felt even emptier.

“He’s in the reception room.”

The chief secretary pointed to a pair of overlapping doors.

Without hesitation, Kwon Taeha stepped forward, grasped the handles on both sides, and opened them.

Inside, the reception room was no different — shrouded in white sheets, like an abandoned castle.

Standing in the middle was a man who looked completely unscathed.

Unlike before, he had adopted a modern style — slacks and a sweater, though the look didn’t quite suit him.

“CEO Kwon, wouldn’t it do you some good to show a little mercy?” Tangbang narrowed his serpent-like eyes and smiled.

“I told them to bring you here politely. Was it too rough?”

The sound of footsteps struck the walls — thud, thud.

As Kwon Taeha entered, the door closed firmly behind him.

Tangbang sat down on the sofa draped in white cloth and crossed one leg over the other.

Had he been wearing a changpao, one might have heard the rustle of a serpent sliding, but now he was quiet, coiled like one instead.

“If you came to negotiate, you should’ve stirred me up, not Joo Hawon.”

“You would’ve had to answer the phone first, wouldn’t you?”

Tangbang pulled something from his pocket — a ship’s bolt engraved with the Eure logo.

Without any visible surprise, Kwon Taeha watched him as Tangbang began to speak at length.

“This flew into Gangho Inn before the police raided the place. Origin: Germany. So at first, I suspected you, CEO Kwon. But would someone who looks down on me like a bug even bother to pay me any attention? I considered Baek Jaetak or Baek Hyunseok, but both of them are rotting in prison for embezzlement.”

Kwon Taeha walked to the opposite sofa, unbuttoned his suit jacket, and sat.

Even his relaxed posture didn’t seem careless.

“And then I heard old Heo got hit too — doesn’t that strike you as odd? Honestly, if I’d been the only one attacked, I’d have let it go. But it feels like someone’s been setting the stage all along. When even my hired contractors were targeted, I started thinking this had to involve you and Joo Hawon somehow. Don’t you think that’s a little unfair to me?”

In short, he was saying, You two got me caught up in this mess.

“Well. What information about me or Joo Hawon could you possibly have?”

Kwon Taeha let out a faint laugh.

“Maybe the one after Wikileaks — the one Joo Hawon handed to me — wants it back. If that’s the case, then it must be someone on your side or ours. The Macau police already know I quit the d**g trade. Yet they still raided me under the charge of trafficking.”

“There’s a flaw in your story. If someone wanted your information, they would’ve contacted you. But they didn’t, did they?”

“Before that someone could reach out, I came here — to Korea. You know I didn’t hesitate to burn down Gangho Inn the moment the police stormed in. I’ll be blunt. What exactly does old Heo have? What makes you go this far over him?”

He hadn’t expected a polite summit, but he hadn’t expected Kwon Taeha to tie up his men and block their limbs either.

This wasn’t the kind of move Tangbang had imagined from Kwon Taeha.

Kwon Taeha said nothing, only looked at him — a silence that seemed to say, I’ll give you the stage, so go on.

“There was a time I found it strange. Old Heo isn’t the sentimental kind, yet he left Joo Hawon alone. Why? Because Joo Hawon paid him back on time? That would’ve been nothing more than pocket change. There were easier ways to make real money. You know as well as I do, there’s no shortage of men in this business with filthy tastes — he could’ve sold Joo Hawon off to them. But he didn’t.”

Tangbang recalled the last time he’d met Joo Sangkyung alone.

“If neither she nor I had confirmed our survival… and if my son’s life were to collapse into ruin… please grant him a painless death.”

“Ruin? What do you mean by ruin, President Joo?”

“A life that’s no longer worth living.”

“For example?”

“Think of it on the level of what you sell.”

Had Joo Hawon been sold or fallen into p**stitution, Tangbang would have carried out Joo Sangkyung’s request and given him death.

But such a thing had never happened.

Tangbang decided it was time to drive the nail into his assumption.

“If Joo Hawon had been sold off to someone, he’d be dead by now.”

Kwon Taeha tilted his head slightly — a sign of reaction.