Winter season volume 5

Minor Cold: A Little Chill (2)

The next day, the first thing I-hyeon saw when he opened the bedroom door was Seung-hyuk sitting on the sofa. He had his arms folded, and the television was switched off, sitting in silence as though he had been waiting for I-hyeon to come out.

 

I-hyeon watched him, wondering whether he ought to speak first. Should he ask if Seung-hyuk remembered what had happened yesterday? As if sensing his gaze, Seung-hyuk turned to look at him.

 

There was no way to guess what he was thinking from the eyes that quietly looked up at him. All I-hyeon could tell from his set expression was that he was not in a particularly good mood.

 

Was he angry because he'd heard I-hyeon had slipped away from the hospital yesterday? Or did he remember what had happened at the bar?

 

Not wanting another confrontation, I-hyeon looked away first and turned towards the kitchen. Just then, Seung-hyuk spoke without warning.

 

“Pack your things and come out. Kwak Tae-sik will take you home.”

 

I-hyeon stopped mid-step. He looked back, wondering whether he had heard correctly, but Seung-hyuk was already looking down at his phone.

 

He could not immediately tell whether those words meant he no longer had to stay here or whether there was some other meaning behind them. As he stood there blankly, Seung-hyuk continued.

 

“I'm putting some men on you until I've dealt with Gu Jin-hyuk.”

 

“...”

 

“I've told them to stay out of your sight. Once the job's done, I'll call them all off, so don't worry about it. Just get on with your life.”

 

Had hearing about I-hyeon's escape from the hospital yesterday changed his mind?

 

He had been certain that he wanted nothing more than to hear Seung-hyuk say those words, to see the day when he could leave this place and no longer have to look at his face. Yet now that he had actually been told to go, his feelings were complicated rather than joyful. He could not even understand why.

 

I-hyeon stood there with a faint frown, and silence settled between them. The atmosphere seemed to have grown a little colder. Noticing it, Seung-hyuk raised his dark eyes from his phone.

 

Apparently, he thought the change in I-hyeon's expression was because of what he had said. His brows drew together. A moment later, he shut his eyes, pressed his forefinger between his brows and spoke.

 

“I know it's fucking unpleasant. Just think of it as... the price of getting involved with me.”

 

“No. Think of it as part of the thirty million won you took.”

 

“Then maybe it won't feel so unfair.”

 

His voice was low and flat, and it unsettled I-hyeon's stomach for no good reason. The strangely exhausted look about Seung-hyuk made I-hyeon's fists clench again and again.

 

He wanted to know whether the urge to break something came from his anger and hatred towards this man, or from some other reason he did not understand.

 

But before he could ask Seung-hyuk anything or even say he understood, there came the sound of buttons being pressed on the keypad. The front door opened.

 

Click.

 

The atmosphere, stretched as taut as a bowstring, abruptly snapped. I-hyeon turned his head in a hurry, as though escaping from the moment itself.

 

Tae-sik, who had just come in, looked puzzled by his reaction. He glanced between I-hyeon and the living room before speaking in his usual matter-of-fact tone.

 

“Have you finished packing?”

 

I-hyeon pressed his lips together. Instead of answering, he went back into the room and began putting his belongings in a bag. All the clothes had been bought and left there by Gu Seung-hyuk, so he had no reason to take them. The only things worth packing were small personal items such as underwear and medicine.

 

Everything fitted into a single bag. He came out carrying it, deliberately avoiding looking at where Seung-hyuk sat.

 

“Let's go downstairs, then. The car's been ready for a while.”

 

Tae-sik went ahead and opened the front door. As I-hyeon slipped his feet into his shoes, he happened to catch the living room reflected in the mirror: Gu Seung-hyuk, sitting perfectly still, staring at the black television screen.

 

I-hyeon clenched his teeth once, straightened up and picked up his bag.

 

Stepping through the open doorway was not difficult. Not another word passed between them before he left the flat for good.

 

If this was the end of things between him and Gu Seung-hyuk, it was the strangest ending I-hyeon had ever known.

 

The quietest, emptiest and most wretched... ending.

 

──── 📘📘 ────

 

“I-hyeon, just pass me that tub of sliced limes and then get ready to clock off.”

 

Hae-won reached back with an arm towards him, and I-hyeon leaned forward to pick up the plastic container.

 

Perhaps the biting cold outside was driving more people indoors. There seemed to be even more customers than before. Having finally served them all and found a moment to breathe, I-hyeon lowered his head and washed his hands.

 

“Would you look at this? I told you! I said all that extra takings we had back then were thanks to I-hyeon! Look at tonight. We didn't have this many customers even last week.”

 

Someone's arm landed heavily on his shoulder. When I-hyeon turned, he found the owner beaming at him. He straightened with an awkward smile, and the owner gave his shoulder a couple of hearty pats.

 

“Anyway, I-hyeon, I'm glad you came back. I thought another place had poached you. I was kicking myself, wishing I'd treated you better.”

 

“Kicking yourself, my arse. You were saying there was no point treating young people well these days.”

 

Hae-won's snort followed the owner's exaggerated laughter. The owner stared at him, wide-eyed.

 

“What? Wow, Moon Hae-won. I didn't think you were like that...”

 

“Like what? It's not as though I made it up.”

 

The owner kept making indignant noises, but he did not deny it, perhaps because Hae-won was right. Watching them, I-hyeon tucked his lips in and lowered his gaze.

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

“Ah, no. I-hyeon, you can stop apologising. You said there were things going on at home, didn't you? When life's really hectic, you forget what you need to do and lose track of the time. It happens.”

 

Just as the owner said, I-hyeon had gone through so many incidents that were too much to handle alone that he had barely known how one day passed into the next.

 

It had not taken too long to put his disordered surroundings back together, piece by piece, and recover some sense of reality. One part of the everyday life he had regained was this place.

 

After returning from the lounge, while he was so ill he could scarcely stay conscious, the last contact he had with the convenience-store manager and the bar owner was a message, almost a notification rather than a request, stating that he probably could not come to work for a while.

 

Then he had spent several more days virtually confined to Seung-hyuk's flat, unintentionally disappearing without a word. Of course he ought to have been sacked.

 

He had no intention of making excuses now, but sending such a one-sided message and missing work had weighed on him. So, a few days earlier, he had bought some food and visited his former workplaces. The convenience store had already hired someone else, but the bar owner had told him he had been waiting for I-hyeon to return.

 

The owner even brushed aside his mistake, saying he could take time off whenever something urgent came up, so long as he came back. That kindness had only left I-hyeon feeling more indebted. After rearranging his shifts, he had started working here again a short while ago.

 

“Oh, I-hyeon. Ready to leave already? You're off tomorrow, right?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“It's freezing outside. Don't go wandering about; stay at home and get plenty of rest. You look dreadful.”

 

I-hyeon gave Hae-won, who was looking at him with concern, a manufactured smile. He quietly nodded goodbye to the others and left the bar.

 

As soon as he came down the stairs, a blade of freezing wind swept across his face. He pulled his scarf up over the bridge of his nose, drew his coat tightly around himself and set off towards home.

 

Whether because of the weather or the hour, even the drunks had vanished from the roads. With his hands thrust into his pockets, I-hyeon walked slowly along streets broken here and there by pools of yellow lamplight.

 

In that place where there was nothing but the sound of the wind and his own footsteps, I-hyeon was quieter than ever.

 

Since leaving Seung-hyuk's flat, his daily life had settled down quickly. Days in which nothing happened almost felt unfamiliar. Yet something was wrong. This was the life he had wanted, and it was hardly different from the one he had led before, but he could not get rid of the inexplicable emptiness somewhere inside him.

 

Sometimes, if he had a moment's rest at work or was walking down the street, his mind would go blank. Then fragments of the past would appear before his eyes and vanish again.

 

A black night spent drinking in the living room. A white path they had walked through snow piled up to their shins. A blue sea where memories had come flooding back.

 

Why do I keep missing those few brief moments?

 

I-hyeon stopped walking and lowered his head. His face was cold, but his eyes and nose felt hot. It was infuriating to be tossed about by feelings he did not even understand, yet there was no one he could blame. He covered his eyes with one hand.

 

He stood like that for a long time. When he finally raised his head, he felt as though someone was watching him from somewhere. He turned sharply, but the view was the same as before.

 

Just my imagination.

 

He did not know whether someone really was following him, keeping watch as Seung-hyuk had said, but until now he had never noticed a gaze on him or sensed anything strange.

 

There was nobody else on the street even now. I-hyeon shook his head and rubbed his face with both hands.

 

Let's just get home.

 

He murmured the words and started walking again.

 

Buzz.

 

A brief vibration from somewhere roused I-hyeon from a shallow sleep. He opened his eyes and lay with his face covered by both hands for a long time. When he slowly sat up, he could see a long strip of light on the floor where it had entered through a gap in the blackout curtains.

 

He shuffled over to the window and drew the curtains back. Brilliant white light poured in. After squinting for a moment, he opened his eyes again and blinked slowly at the sight of the world outside blanketed in white snow.

 

Large snowflakes were still pouring from the sky, covering everything. He looked up at the indistinct, pale sky, where the flakes seemed to fall without end.

 

They did not plunge straight down as quickly as raindrops. They drifted slowly, as though each had a scrap of white cloth fastened behind it. I-hyeon stood watching, captivated, for quite some time.

 

Buzz.

 

His phone vibrated again on the bed. Only then did I-hyeon notice the cold coming through the window and give a small shiver. He left the curtains open and returned to the bed. The phone screen still showed the home page of a job-search app he had been browsing before falling asleep the previous night.

 

He pulled down the notification bar without thinking, then parted his lips slightly when he saw the cause of the vibration.

 

[I-hyeon. Call me when you have time.]

 

[Text me when it's convenient and I'll ring you.]

 

There were two messages from his older sister. A few minutes had passed between them. That small gap felt like a sign that she had hesitated over what to say, and I-hyeon pressed his lips together.

 

The pointless thought wandered through his head that he might be taking up some of her time when she must already be busy preparing for her wedding.

 

It had not been long since the second message, so instead of replying, I-hyeon pressed the call button. The ringing had barely sounded before the call connected. Sitting on the bed, worrying the duvet between his fingers, he stopped moving at the unexpectedly quick answer.

 

“...”

 

He had expected her to say hello first, but only faint breathing came through the phone. I-hyeon glanced aside and spoke instead.

 

“You asked me to ring.”

 

As soon as his calm voice reached her, she let out a sigh so long it seemed the earth might cave in. The voice that followed, which he had not heard in some time, sounded artificially bright.

 

“Oh, I-hyeon. You've been keeping well, haven't you?”

 

“Yeah. What about you? Are the wedding preparations going all right?”

 

“They said there'd be a lot to sort out, but it really isn't easy. I suppose this is why so many couples argue.”

 

In the brief moment when I-hyeon pressed his lips together, unsure what to say, another awkward silence formed. When he said nothing, Seo-hyeon broke it.

 

“Anyway, I was hoping we could meet for a little while. There's something I want to discuss, and something I need to give you.”

 

Was there anything left for him to receive from his sister? Ever since he had practically been driven from the family home after transferring schools and had stayed at her place, all he could remember was being helped by her time and again.

 

He had only just begun to feel he was living a life in which he could take responsibility for himself. He could not begin to guess what she wanted to give him.

 

But he had neither a reason nor an excuse to refuse to meet her, so he nodded faintly and spoke.

 

“All right. When would be good?”

 

“Would right now be possible?”

 

“Now?”

 

He glanced at the clock. It was nearly lunchtime. He was still looking for daytime part-time work and was not due at the bar today, so he answered without hesitation.

 

“I'll come to your university. It'll take about an hour.”

 

The university where she attended graduate school required two bus changes from his flat, but he spoke as though it were nothing unusual. His sister had started her master's degree later than most and was struggling with her dissertation. It was better for him to make a little extra effort than to ask her to travel all the way here.

 

He named a café he remembered near the university's back gate. Even after the call ended, I-hyeon sat on the bed in a daze. He was worried and a little afraid about what she needed to discuss, which had made her sound so subdued.

 

It'll be nothing serious. It has to be.

 

He pressed his lips together and fiddled with his fingertips before forcing himself to his feet, trying to shake off the mood. If it were something serious or very bad, she would surely have given him some warning over the phone.

 

At least he could ask about Horang, the cat she had been looking after for him. He could not tell whether getting sacked from Nexus had been a misfortune or a blessing, but it meant he now spent far more time at home than he used to. Perhaps he could bring Horang back. Trying to think positively, he got up.

 

The flat was unusually still when he looked around. The square room, containing nothing living apart from himself, felt particularly empty. What was the point of discovering loneliness so late in a life he had spent mostly alone?

 

He pushed his hair back, thinking of his timid cat, whose name, Horang, hardly suited him. Then he headed for the bathroom, working out which buses he would need to take to his sister's university.

 

When I-hyeon arrived near the university and went into the café they had agreed on, it was quiet inside. There seemed to be few people around during the holidays.

 

Brushing snow from his hair, he looked around, spotted his sister sitting in a corner and quietly took the seat opposite her.

 

“I'm here.”

 

She had been staring at her phone with a worried frown. Only then did she jerk her head up. At the sight of him, her eyes widened.

 

“I-hyeon, why have you lost so much weight since I last saw you? Are you sure you're all right?”

 

He had lost weight, but not as much as she seemed to think. It was probably more noticeable to someone who had not seen him for a while. I-hyeon touched an eyebrow and lowered his gaze to the table.

 

“I've just been busy.”

 

“How busy do you have to be for your face to get that thin? Even I haven't lost that much weight, and I'm finishing my dissertation while planning a wedding.”

 

The mention of the wedding offered him a chance to change the subject.

 

“Are the preparations going well?”

 

“Don't get me started. There's so much to think about. My boyfriend—no, my future husband—does his best to help, but honestly, I don't think I could go through this twice. Once is quite enough for me.”

 

Her voice was serious despite the joking words. Yet there was a small smile on her face, so she seemed happy even if it was hard work. Relieved by that, I-hyeon gave a faint smile and asked another question.

 

“Is my future brother-in-law a decent person? I didn't get to meet him even once while you were dating.”

 

“He's hardworking and kind. Yes, he's a good person. I introduced him to Mum and Dad the other day, and they both seemed to like—”

 

Seo-hyeon had been talking with a slight smile after taking a sip of coffee, but she stopped abruptly at the mention of their parents. Suddenly tense, she searched his face. I-hyeon, however, sat there looking more expressionless than ever.

 

Watching him fiddle with his cup, Seo-hyeon awkwardly resumed.

 

“Anyway, he's fine. So far, he seems fine.”

 

I-hyeon nodded faintly and murmured, “That's good.”

 

“So, why did you want to see me?”

 

He had asked in an effort to clear the awkwardness between them. Contrary to his intentions, Seo-hyeon's face grew more serious. She lifted her coffee cup with both hands and took a drink.

 

“I'm embarrassed that I'm only bringing this up now, but I only found out recently...”

 

Apology, shame and hesitation all mingled in her voice. She caught her lip between her teeth for a moment, then looked up and met his eyes.

 

“Mum contacted you about money, didn't she?”

 

“Ah...”

 

“I had a huge row with her. I asked what she thought she was doing to someone who hasn't even managed to graduate because he's had to earn his own tuition and living expenses without a penny of help from them.”

 

“It's not like that.”

 

“Where did you get the money?”

 

“I just...”

 

He could never tell her that he had borrowed it from the illegal moneylending company run by an old friend with whom he had parted on the worst possible terms. Nor could he tell her how that debt had bound him to the man and dragged him into more incidents than he could ever have imagined.

 

I-hyeon lowered his eyes.

 

“I managed somehow.”

 

Seo-hyeon frowned slightly, apparently dissatisfied. Then she picked up the bag beside her, took something out and set it down on the table in front of him with a tap.

 

“Here.”

 

“The thirty million won Mum borrowed. I wanted to give it back to you. That's why I asked to meet.”

 

There was a paper bankbook and a personal seal stamp on the table. I-hyeon had thought they might discuss their parents when they met, but he had never imagined she would hand him the money so directly.

 

He looked down at the bankbook without changing expression. It felt strangely hollow to think the money that had driven him to despair could be contained in a few small pieces of paper. Seo-hyeon continued as she watched him.

 

“Why should you have to find that money? It's something we should have dealt with ourselves. I've been putting money aside little by little for emergencies since I was freelancing. It has nothing to do with the wedding fund, so don't worry.”

 

I-hyeon lowered his head and ran his tongue over his lips. It seemed entirely natural now that he was excluded from the family she meant by ‘we’, and for some reason, that made him unbearably sad.

 

The sudden realisation that he really was alone brought a piercing sense of loneliness. I've lived nearly ten years thinking I don't have a family. It's ridiculous to feel like this now.

 

He tried to set aside his feelings and think rationally, but it was not easy. He forced the corners of his mouth upwards. His attempt at a smile only made his face twist awkwardly.

 

Seeing him stare down at the table with such a troubled expression, Seo-hyeon frowned. She pushed the bankbook and seal towards him again, as though he had no intention of taking them.

 

“Don't tell me you won't accept it. I'm still in a position where Dad supports me financially, and I've always felt guilty that I couldn't even pay your tuition once. I'll get the operation costs back from Dad later, so take this for now.”

 

Only then did I-hyeon reach for the paper bankbook. It was pristine, with no transaction history other than the single figure of 30 million won.

 

He had suddenly come into a large amount of money, but he felt neither excited nor pleased. Seo-hyeon added, staring at the printed entry.

 

“That should be enough to let you finish university without taking any more time off, shouldn't it?”

 

“...I don't know yet.”

 

After hesitating, I-hyeon replied quietly and closed the bankbook. He thanked her and put everything away. When he looked up after closing his bag, he found his sister gazing at him with pity. Uncomfortable, he looked aside and brought up something else.

 

“Oh, and I think I can take Horang back now.”

 

“Really? You left him with me because you were working day and night. Have you cut down your hours?”

 

“I've found another job that finishes at dawn. Most of the daytime jobs available lately are only short shifts, so I think I'll have time to pop home between them.”

 

“All right, then. I'll bring him over when I have time. I've grown quite attached to him, though. I'll miss him.”

 

Buzz. Seo-hyeon glanced at her phone as it vibrated briefly, her eyebrows drooping. She seemed to exchange a few messages with someone, her frown deepening. Then she put the phone down decisively, gathered her bag and stood up. She looked apologetic as she spoke to I-hyeon.

 

“I'm sorry, I-hyeon, but I've got another appointment. I need to go.”

 

“Oh, yeah. That's all right.”

 

“Call me if anything comes up.”

 

I-hyeon watched her wave hurriedly and leave the café. Once he was alone, all the strength seemed to drain from his body. Apparently he had been tense without realising it, unsure what his sister would have to say after so long.

 

I'll sit here for a little while, then go.

 

He glanced at the heavy snow still falling beyond the window and sank back into the chair. He took out the bankbook she had given him and opened it again. The first thing he saw was the figure thirty million.

 

As I-hyeon sat there, slowly revisiting the past bound up in those eight digits, a conversation at the next table suddenly caught his attention.

 

“Hey, did you see that article earlier?”

 

“Yeah. The drug scandal with Ha-yun from VikiToki and Kim Cheol-jung?”

 

“Apparently they weren't just taking drugs quietly at home together. It was at some sort of club party. There are supposed to be loads of people involved, politicians and businessmen and all sorts.”

 

“Tch. The poor celebrities will get all the blame again while the powerful people wriggle out of it.”

 

“Why feel sorry for them? They took the drugs themselves.”

 

They giggled, agreed that was true too and moved on to another subject. But I-hyeon's hands and eyes had frozen the moment those familiar names came up.

 

Ha-yun and Kim Cheol-jung. As soon as he heard them, the scene in the Nexus basement flashed through his mind: drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and clothes strewn everywhere. And the sight of Ha-yun and Kim Cheol-jung, a couple openly dating, tangled up with other partners.

 

When he thought again about what the people beside him had said, he was struck dumb—and Gu Seung-hyuk's face came to mind. If the gathering had been exposed, it was surely only a matter of time before people learnt that Seung-hyuk had organised it.

 

He knew perfectly well that it was none of his concern. Yet the image of eighteen-year-old Gu Seung-hyuk being led away by police in handcuffs kept appearing before his eyes. He felt as though Seung-hyuk might be arrested and appear on the news at any moment.

 

But I-hyeon bit his lip hard and stood up. Repeating to himself over and over that he had sworn never to become entangled with the man again, he set off home.

 

──── 📘📘 ────

 

“...There has been controversy after arrest warrants for several well-known celebrities, including actor Kim Cheol-jung and singer Ha-yun, suspected of taking illegal drugs, were rejected. The court stated that, considering the suspects' occupations and their conduct towards investigators and the court, it was difficult to conclude there was a risk of destroying evidence or fleeing. Some critics have argued that the court, on grounds of public interest...”

 

The news played all day on a phone he normally barely used. I-hyeon was tidying his flat when something the newsreader said made him stop and turn his head.

 

“...The prosecution is expected to continue investigating possible accomplices and suppliers. This is Kim Seon-young reporting for Channel Zero.”

 

“...Hah.”

 

I-hyeon set the vacuum cleaner down almost as though throwing it away and covered his eyes with the back of his hand.

 

He grew increasingly irritated with himself for caring so much about a case connected to Gu Seung-hyuk. Whenever he heard something about drugs, he became strangely on edge. For several days now he had been listening carefully to every report, afraid it might mention the supplier or the person who had hosted the party.

 

I-hyeon rubbed his face with both hands and switched off the live news video. Silence immediately filled the room. With a heavy sigh, he slumped into a chair, tipped his head back and closed his eyes.

He had sworn never to see Seung-hyuk's face again, yet he kept imagining him being dragged away. Even now, when the uproar over the so-called Kim Cheol-jung scandal had quietened somewhat beneath the news of an idol couple's romance and a famous actor's military service controversy, the image would not leave him.

 

Perhaps it was because the sight of Seung-hyuk being taken away in high school had left such a deep impression on him. Whatever the reason, he did not want to become entangled with Gu Seung-hyuk again.

 

I-hyeon bit his lip hard and straightened his head. Then his gaze happened to settle on the bankbook he had tossed into a corner of his desk.

 

Ever since returning home, he had tried to forget about the bankbook containing thirty million won. The money had fallen into his hands so suddenly that it did not feel like his at all. It would be a lie to say he did not want it, but the thought that he ought to repay Gu Seung-hyuk outweighed any temptation.

 

Seung-hyuk had told him the debt was completely settled. Yet ever since hearing that nothing had been recovered from the lounge, a nagging unease had remained in the back of I-hyeon's mind. He had merely forced himself to ignore it because he had no way to pay it back.

 

Now, perhaps it would be better simply to return the money and put everything neatly to rest, as though nothing had ever happened between them. Maybe then he would stop thinking about Seung-hyuk so much.

 

Staring at the bankbook, I-hyeon slowly reached out. The little bundle of paper was remarkably light. If he had to name it, this was probably the last remaining connection between himself and Seung-hyuk.

 

He ran his fingertips over its smooth cover. Then, as though he had reached a decision, he closed his hand around it, rose and collected his coat before leaving the flat.

 

He could not tell on his own whether the steps carrying him towards an ending felt heavy or light.

 

──── 📘📘 ────

 

Bang!

 

Because of the unusually heavy snow over the past few days, the gang members had gathered in the office to play hwatu. At the tremendous noise from the entrance, they were startled and turned their heads.

 

The door stood wide open. Beyond it, several burly men in black suits were lined up. One of the gang members frowned and stood to demand what they wanted. The suited men pushed quietly and swiftly into the office and began hauling the men seated in the centre to their feet.

 

Caught completely off guard, the gang members rose almost automatically, then grimaced and struggled against them.

 

“What the—what the fuck? Who the fuck are you?”

 

At first, they thought another gang had come to raid the place. But the suited men seemed interested only in getting everyone outside, pulling at their arms and pushing their shoulders and backs.

 

That proved less easy once the gang members began swearing and fighting back. As the two groups squared up and strained against each other, the atmosphere quickly turned threatening.

 

“Oi, who the fuck are you? Where've you come from?”

 

Someone brandished a wooden bat he had picked up from somewhere and barked the question. The men in suits merely stood there expressionless, adopting guarded stances.

 

From the innermost sofa, Seung-hyuk watched the entire commotion with his fingers pressed to his temple. After a moment, his red lips parted in a small, derisive laugh.

 

It took them long enough to come storming in. Chairman Gu really has become an old man tucked away in the back room.

 

Just then, the chairman's chief secretary appeared, parting the suited men as he walked through them. He headed directly towards Seung-hyuk without so much as looking at anyone else. The gang members faltered, glancing uneasily at one another.

 

Still sitting with his legs crossed and his feet resting on the table, Seung-hyuk wiggled his toes and addressed his men.

 

“Lads, go and get yourselves something to eat.”

 

At that single remark, arms that had been raised ready to swing whatever weapons they held slowly descended. The men were still visibly wary.

 

Seung-hyuk waved a hand once more. One by one, they began moving towards the exit, glaring murderously at the suited men they passed.

 

Once half the people in the office had left, the chief secretary gave an instruction to someone who seemed to be leading the men in black. Some bowed stiffly and went straight out, while the others remained standing by the door with their hands clasped behind their backs.

 

“You can tell he used to be a gangster. Even his bodyguards are all that sort of bloke, eh?”

 

The chief secretary's expression did not change at Seung-hyuk's sniggering remark. He merely stepped aside and took up a posture similar to the remaining guards.

 

Then heavy footsteps began sounding from the stairwell below.

 

Here he comes.

 

Seung-hyuk removed the hand from his temple, interlaced his fingers and rested them comfortably on his stomach.

 

Step, step. Step, step.

 

The approaching footsteps sounded like those of two or three people. Soon Chairman Gu entered the office, accompanied by two trusted aides.

 

Even after being ill, the chairman retained his imposing build. Apparently he still had some life in him. Seung-hyuk greeted him without changing his position, sunk back into the sofa with his feet on the table.

 

“If you wanted something, you could've sent for me. Why go to the trouble of coming yourself?”

 

He gave a short laugh. Chairman Gu said nothing, simply jerked his chin. The two large men behind him came forward, seized Seung-hyuk by both arms and hauled him up.

 

Seung-hyuk did not bother resisting. He followed them to the side of the sofa, grinning.

 

“If you'd told me you were coming, I could at least have got some drinks ready.”

 

“Make him kneel.”

 

The chairman's brows contracted at the openly mocking tone. No sooner had he given the order than the men holding Seung-hyuk kicked the backs of his knees and pressed down on his shoulders. Seung-hyuk frowned and made an exaggerated groan.

 

“Oh, come on... You're ruining my image.”

 

But the moment he sank to his knees, still acting relaxed, the pointed toe of Chairman Gu's shoe struck him in the solar plexus. Seung-hyuk involuntarily doubled over with a choking noise, and heavy kicks began raining down on his side and stomach.

 

“You little bastard. You fucking bastard!”

 

The raw curses falling over Seung-hyuk's head had nothing dignified about them.

 

Each kick landed with a thud that echoed around the office. The chairman panted from exertion, but kept lifting his foot to strike Seung-hyuk again.

 

“Didn't I tell you to stop fucking about with drugs? Didn't I? Eh?”

 

Thud! Crash!

 

Thoroughly worked up, he had abandoned even his customary pretence of gravitas. His face was red with fury. Soon, however, he seemed to realise that kicking Seung-hyuk would do little more than dirty his clothes, and began hurling office furnishings as well.

 

Despite the tremendous racket, everyone apart from the chairman and Seung-hyuk stood as though nothing were happening. Seung-hyuk simply curled his body and endured the kicks.

 

Fragments flew everywhere. He barely blinked, merely drawing his brows together, until one sharp piece scraped a long line beneath his eye and finally drew blood. Only then did a strangled gasp escape him.

 

Chairman Gu seized the opportunity to drive his foot hard into Seung-hyuk's solar plexus. Seung-hyuk curled into a ball and began coughing and choking. At last, the kicks stopped.

 

“Cough, cough...!”

 

Only Seung-hyuk's coughing and the chairman's laboured breathing broke the silence. Chairman Gu surveyed the wrecked office, and Seung-hyuk crouched in the middle of it. Only then did he seem calm enough to stand still, his shoulders still heaving.

 

He looked down at Seung-hyuk with furious eyes and held out one hand. The chief secretary immediately placed a cigar between his fingers.

 

“Hoo. Listen, Seung-hyuk. How many times have I told you? I don't give a damn whether you take drugs or go around fucking whoever you please, so long as you do your bloody job. I told you again and again not to make trouble, at least until the management succession was complete.”

 

After drawing on the cigar and exhaling several times, he seemed to have regained a little composure. Blowing out a long stream of smoke, he continued in a less furious voice.

 

“I indulged and raised a worthless little bastard like you, and just when I thought you might finally be earning your keep, you go and make this mess? And you still feel like lying there?”

 

Thud!

 

The chairman frowned and nudged Seung-hyuk's long legs with his foot. Only then did Seung-hyuk put his hands on the floor and struggle to his feet. His entire body was covered in dust.

 

“You have to give me, cough, time to get up.”

 

He wiped the blood running down his cheek with the back of his hand, still sounding as though he were making a joke. Chairman Gu scowled in irritation.

 

Seung-hyuk had only just managed to rise. He bent forward with both hands on his knees and coughed several times, tasting something metallic on his tongue. When he spat on the floor, his saliva was streaked with red blood.

 

“This was definitely an inside job. The authorities couldn't possibly have uncovered the whole network so quickly unless someone inside deliberately leaked it. Just how the hell have you been managing the people under you, eh?”

 

As the chairman's voice rose into another furious tirade, Seung-hyuk gave a small laugh with his head still bowed over his knees. His back and shoulders moved with it, though anyone watching might have taken it for another fit of coughing.

 

There was precisely one thing Chairman Gu had got right: it was all the work of someone on the inside.

 

In truth, Seung-hyuk had planned the entire thing and deliberately released the information. The chairman, however, did not seem capable of even imagining such a scenario.

 

After laughing silently for a while, Seung-hyuk closed his eyes and steadied his breathing.

 

Yes. Keep thinking so complacently. That way, even when the blade swinging right in front of your face cuts all the way to your throat, you'll still be gasping for breath and looking for someone else to blame.

 

He composed his expression and slowly straightened up. When he stood with his back straight and his hands clasped behind him, the extent of his dishevelment became plain.

 

Blood was smeared messily around his mouth and across his cheek. His black jacket was covered in footprints and dust. Seeing him like that, Chairman Gu gradually subdued his anger and let out a long breath.

 

He scrutinised Seung-hyuk from head to foot, frowning. Then he stepped closer and spoke in a low voice, as though sharing a secret.

 

“At the next board meeting, a motion for my resignation and another for Jin-hyuk's appointment as chairman will be proposed at the same time. See to it that I don't have to come and see your face like this again before the transfer of control is complete.”

 

He gave Seung-hyuk one final piercing look, then led the others out of the office in a crowd.

 

When silence finally settled, and he was left alone, Seung-hyuk looked around and snorted.

 

“Fuck's sake. Who's supposed to clean all this up...?”

 

Files had been scattered across the floor. The ashtray was smashed to pieces, the monitor was broken, and the chairs were overturned.

 

It looked as though a typhoon had passed through the office.

 

He rubbed between his brows, let out a bitter laugh, and pushed aside whatever lay in his path before collapsing onto the nearest sofa.

 

Seung-hyuk took a crushed cigarette packet from his inside pocket and put one between his lips. He picked up a lighter from the floor and lit it.

 

He let the strength drain from his stinging, aching body and tilted his head back. The mould-stained ceiling came into view. Staring at the wormlike patterns on its panels, he slowly exhaled smoke.

 

His attempt to swallow Taeseong had only just moved beyond its initial stage. The drug scandal that began with celebrities was dying away before it could reach the high-ranking people involved, buried under other stories that news organisations had deliberately pushed into the headlines.

 

Some were protesting that the matter must not be allowed to disappear like this. But the public seemed much more interested in which idols were dating than in which celebrities had taken drugs.

 

While a small number of disillusioned people quietly burned with anger, Seung-hyuk intended to tie the scandal to Gu Jin-hyuk once more and bring him down so thoroughly that he could never recover. The rebellion had only just begun.

 

Things were going well with the Seungri gang and his other plans, but he felt neither a sense of accomplishment nor elation. Recently, Seung-hyuk had been spending his days in a state of greater indifference than ever before. He felt neither guilt nor joy, only exhaustion, as he watched dark clouds gather over Taeseong.

 

He had barely lifted an arm, yet his whole body throbbed. A wry laugh slipped out before he could help it.

 

Perhaps it was because he had spent weeks thinking, planning and worrying without proper rest, but the effects of being beaten for the first time in a long while were severe. With a splitting headache and exhaustion washing over him, Seung-hyuk closed his eyes.

 

He had spent years preparing for this beneath the surface. Why, then, did it feel so empty?

 

Whenever he had wondered whether any of it mattered and wanted to abandon everything, he had pulled himself together, driven himself harder and waited impatiently for the day when he could finally act.

 

Yet now that day had arrived, all he felt was an urge to get everything over and done with as quickly as possible. There was none of the anticipation he had imagined he would feel.

 

He had no expectation of what he might do after it ended, no resolution about the life he wanted to live. It was simply... simply that everything had become exhausting.

 

“...Hah.”

 

Recognising the emptiness filling his mind, Seung-hyuk let out a soundless laugh. They were absurdly sentimental thoughts for a situation in which a single mistake might cost not only his own head but also several others'.

 

He lay looking up at the ceiling, opened his lips and breathed out cigarette smoke with a hollow expression.

 

At that very moment, someone knocked twice on the closed door.

 

It was far too polite to be another visit from the chairman's people, and the lads he had sent out were hardly the type to knock. Seung-hyuk lowered his head and stared silently at the door.

 

Creak.

 

The door slowly opened. A pair of white trainers came into view first. Behind them, I-hyeon appeared, his eyes widening at the wreckage inside the office.

 

He surveyed the scattered documents and broken furnishings. When he noticed the bloodstains dotted across the floor, his face tightened slightly.

 

I-hyeon's gaze gradually rose until he found Seung-hyuk sitting in the middle of the sofa. He froze, silently taking in the complete absence of humour on Seung-hyuk's face and the dried streaks of blood that still marked it.

 

“Did I get hit on the head too hard earlier?”

 

Seung-hyuk tilted his head to one side as he muttered. I-hyeon replied,

 

“You're not seeing things.”

 

What the hell did I stay away from you for, if you were just going to turn up here?

 

The words he could not bring himself to say lingered irritably on Seung-hyuk's tongue. He closed his eyes slowly, opened them again and flicked his cigarette end behind him.

 

Stepping around the things on the floor, I-hyeon came inside and stopped in front of Seung-hyuk, who sat there without any strength in his body.

 

Still sunk into the sofa with his head and back against it, Seung-hyuk raised only his eyes to look up at him. Their gazes met.

 

Something about those unusually dry, subdued eyes made I-hyeon's throat tighten. He bit hard into the soft flesh inside his cheek, took something from his bag and held it out.

 

Seung-hyuk reluctantly dragged his gaze away from I-hyeon's pale face. What he found held out before him was a paper bankbook. His eyebrows lifted.

 

“What's that?”

“Thirty million won.”

 

“You didn't find what you were looking for at the lounge. It kept bothering me that you said you wouldn't take the money, regardless of everything else.”

 

Seung-hyuk's mouth twisted into a crooked smile at I-hyeon's matter-of-fact explanation. He simply stared at the hand extended towards him. I-hyeon spoke again.

 

“Take it.”

 

“Once you do, there'll be nothing left between us.”

 

Keeping his eyes on Seung-hyuk's expressionless face, I-hyeon held out the bankbook again. Seung-hyuk made no move to accept it.

 

I-hyeon pressed his lower lip between his teeth. He was about to set the bankbook on the table when Seung-hyuk gave a short laugh.

 

“Oi, Kwon I-hyeon.”

 

“...”

 

“Instead of giving me thirty million won, couldn't you just put some ointment on my wounds?”

 

“What?”

 

“There's a first-aid kit over there.”

 

He seemed to be deliberately making light of it, and I-hyeon could not tell whether he was joking or serious. There was indeed a first-aid kit inside the cupboard he pointed to, but I-hyeon remained where he was, looking down at Seung-hyuk.

 

Neither spoke for a while. Reading the refusal in I-hyeon's silence, Seung-hyuk laughed so softly it was almost inaudible.

 

“Last time, you came and patched me up without being asked. Today, even thirty million won won't persuade you.”

 

It sounded like a joke, but neither of them smiled. I-hyeon kept his face blank, his fists clenched. Seung-hyuk merely crooked his mouth into a bitter-looking smile.

 

Silence settled over the office again, so complete that even the sound of swallowing might have been heard. I-hyeon opened his mouth, trying to think of something to say, but Seung-hyuk spoke first.

 

“Just take it back. I wasn't saying it for the sake of saying it when I told you the debt was cleared.”

 

“If you need more, say so. You've done enough to deserve at least that much.”

 

At Seung-hyuk's indifferent words, I-hyeon clenched and unclenched his fist. The way Seung-hyuk kept trying to put a price on everything he had done was getting on his nerves. I-hyeon slapped the bankbook down in front of him and answered coldly.

 

“No. I'm not taking any more money from you.”

 

“I've come to settle everything, so take it even if you don't need it. If you refuse, I'll contact Mr Kwak Tae-sik and have it transferred to your account.”

 

Having said everything he intended to say, I-hyeon turned towards the door. But before he could take a single step, Seung-hyuk let out a long sigh and tipped his head back against the sofa.

 

I-hyeon found himself turning to look at him again. A voice lower than usual emerged from Seung-hyuk's parted lips.

 

“If I take that, it's over?”

 

With his head thrown back, Seung-hyuk's expression was hidden. But his voice sounded wretched in a way I-hyeon had never heard before.

 

“Why would there be nothing left between us, I-hyeon?”

 

I-hyeon's fingers trembled. He watched Seung-hyuk's Adam's apple move in the middle of his exposed throat. When he did not answer, Seung-hyuk continued.

 

“You asked me whether I liked you.”

 

His voice was perfectly even. The pointless thought crossed I-hyeon's mind that, if voices had colours, those words would have been a deep grey.

 

Seung-hyuk knew I-hyeon was watching him, but he spoke to the ceiling.

 

“Instead of being embarrassed that you keep seeing me beaten to a pulp, all I can think while I'm sitting here is, maybe if I look like this, he'll pay me some attention.”

 

“Doesn't that sound about right?”

 

After a brief pause, Seung-hyuk went on.

 

“I think I like you.”

 

The moment he heard it, I-hyeon felt as though his heart had shot up into his throat and then been hurled to the floor. Blood rushed to his fingertips, and his pulse began to race. He stepped backwards without realising it, a breath of a word escaping his lips.

 

“What...?”

 

The question slipped out before he knew he had spoken. Could a person's heart really beat this fast because of one sentence? At the same time, Seung-hyuk's words and actions flashed through his mind like a succession of images.

 

*But you keep making me notice you. You get under my skin. Constantly.*

 

*You asked if I still hated you. Fuck it, yeah... Let's see what happens if I make a complete idiot of myself.*

 

*What choice do I have? The one who wants something has to swallow his pride.*

 

I-hyeon hid his trembling hands behind his back. Seung-hyuk had not moved. He still sat staring up at the ceiling, his stomach rising and falling faintly as he gave an incredulous, breathless laugh at himself.

 

“...Don't talk nonsense.”

 

Even as he denied it, the thought occurred to I-hyeon that his shock might have been so great because he had sensed Seung-hyuk's feelings somewhere deep down all along.

 

Once that possibility took hold, he felt as though he were confronting a truth he had hidden away and deliberately ignored, protecting himself with the firm conviction that it could never be real.

 

His own words came out haltingly, but he knew at least that Seung-hyuk was neither joking nor trying to make fun of him. That only made it more confusing. Not even in his youth had he imagined a situation like this. Of course he had no idea how to react.

 

Seung-hyuk's continued silence, rather than any answer to his denial, made his heart race faster still. Whispers of a buried truth filled I-hyeon's mind. It was more than he could bear, and he did not want to bear it.

 

“I need to go.”

 

And so I-hyeon chose the easiest, most irresponsible option: escape. He could not bring himself to dismiss Seung-hyuk's words as nonsense and be entirely confident of his own denial. He hurried towards the door and gripped the cold handle tightly. Even then, Gu Seung-hyuk said nothing behind him.

 

He had come determined to settle everything and reach an ending, yet he was leaving the possibility of meeting again untouched. All I-hyeon could think, however, was that the wild beating of his heart might somehow reach Seung-hyuk's ears. He needed to get away from there, at least for now. He turned the handle sharply.

 

Thud.

 

As soon as the door shut behind him in the stairwell, I-hyeon pressed his back against the wall and crouched. Bitter cold seeped through the hard concrete.

 

“...What was that?”

 

Was it possible for his heart to become so heated just because he had heard something unexpected? Was he remembering the young Kwon I-hyeon who had loved Seung-hyuk all those years ago?

 

Not understanding what had happened and unable to control his senselessly racing heart, I-hyeon rested his forehead on his knees and struggled to breathe.

 

What good does saying something like that do now?

 

Resentment welled up, but there was no one there to direct it at.

 

Thump, thump, thump, thump.

 

His pulse pounded fiercely in his fingertips all the while. He had no idea why.

 

──── 📘📘 ────

 

Apart from the moments when that scene came flooding back, peaceful days passed. It had already been a week since I-hyeon had last seen Gu Seung-hyuk at the office.

 

As soon as he stepped outside to go to work, a cold wind brushed the tip of his nose. A pungent smell like burning wood drifted from somewhere and suddenly made him want a cigarette.

 

Intending to smoke one before setting off, I-hyeon rounded the corner of the building, put a cigarette between his lips in a shaded spot and lit it.

 

Scrape, scrape.

 

Ahead of him, the man who lived upstairs was sweeping the ground with a plastic broom. He wore a black padded coat and gloves. Each time the stiff bristles scraped the cement, they made a crisp sound. The man, who looked to be in his late sixties, swept his way along the path until he reached a pile of cigarette ends beside the building entrance. He frowned.

 

I-hyeon watched, drawing on his cigarette.

 

Judging by the sweeping he heard every morning and evening, the man must clean there daily. Yet in that exact spot by the gate, several cigarette ends of the same brand always accumulated. At first, I-hyeon had looked at them longer than necessary because they were the same kind someone he knew used to smoke. But after seeing this repeated for about a week, he had grown accustomed to it and thought little of it.

 

As usual, he watched without much interest as the older man swept the ends into a long dustpan. Several cigarettes, burnt down to the filters, vanished into the orange container. I-hyeon breathed out a long stream of smoke.

 

By the time he came out of the alley onto the main road, a bus was approaching. He hurried over and boarded. Only the two seats immediately behind the rear door were empty.

 

There was no reason to sit beside a stranger when he could have a pair of seats to himself, so I-hyeon settled there. A moment later, the rear doors hissed open, and a rush of freezing air poured in. He immediately understood why nobody else had sat there.

 

He still had twenty or thirty minutes before his stop. After redirecting the warm air blowing straight down on his head, I-hyeon hesitated and switched on his phone.

 

The internet opened onto a screen filled with celebrities' faces and cosmetics advertisements. Instead of tapping any of them, he typed into the search box.

 

[Taeseong Gu Jin-hyuk]

 

As soon as he entered the name's three syllables, a succession of near-identical articles appeared at the top of the search results. They concerned a large donation made by Taeseong's Global Business Division, headed by Gu Jin-hyuk, to establish protection centres for infants and young children in civil-war regions in partnership with UNICEF.

 

Frowning, I-hyeon skimmed the headlines and began moving back through the results pages.

 

After repeating this about five times, he finally found the headline and opening paragraph he wanted. The article had been published eighteen hours earlier.

 

[Gu Jin-hyuk, Taeseong division head, investigated by local police on suspicion of drug use while studying abroad]

 

[It has belatedly emerged that Gu Jin-hyuk, head of Taeseong Group's Global Business Division and a candidate to become the group's next chairman, was questioned by local police over suspected drug use while studying overseas. A representative for Director Gu stated that while drugs had indeed been present at a party he attended, Gu himself had not taken any, and the inquiry was merely a witness interview...]

 

I-hyeon opened the article. He did not bother dismissing the advertisement that appeared over the text, nor did he reread the full article he had already seen several times. Instead, he scrolled straight to the bottom.

 

[Comments (0) Recommendations (0) Likes (0)]

 

He gazed at the empty comment field beneath the message *You must log in as a member to post a comment*and sighed.

 

Only four days earlier, I-hyeon had watched events unfold tensely, wondering whether this was what Gu Seung-hyuk had been planning. The public already knew that Taeseong Group's origins were hardly respectable. As soon as the article appeared, people had angrily brought up the Kim Cheol-jung drug scandal and demanded that it be investigated again, even now.

 

But after news broke about a famous celebrity's property speculation, discussion of Gu Jin-hyuk diminished sharply. Unlike when the first article appeared, nobody seemed interested in it any longer. The occasional new reports attracted so few views that they were unlikely to be seen at all by anyone who had not deliberately searched for them, as I-hyeon had.

 

He pressed the recommendation button, changing the number in brackets to one. After a moment's hesitation, he pressed it again, removing the highlighted colour.

 

He was already worried that Seung-hyuk's involvement might be exposed through the Kim Cheol-jung scandal. If Jin-hyuk's past became an issue as well, he could not imagine what effect all of it might have on Seung-hyuk.

 

I-hyeon stared at the number beside the recommendation button, now back to zero, then frowned and switched off the screen. His own face stared back at him from the dark glass. It seemed the time had come to admit something, whether he liked it or not. For the past week, only one thought had occupied his mind.

 

The office that looked as though a natural disaster had torn through it, and the man sitting alone in its midst. The clear line of his Adam's apple moving as he spoke to the ceiling. His voice, devoid of emotion, as though he were discussing something ordinary. Gu Seung-hyuk, who was homophobic and yet had calmly said he liked him.

 

I-hyeon tightened his grip on the phone and bit down on his lower lip. His thoughts had long since escaped his control. Worse, since saying that he thought he liked I-hyeon in the office last week, Seung-hyuk had neither appeared before him nor contacted him even once.

 

Seung-hyuk was getting on with his own life while I-hyeon alone kept reliving that day. The thought disgusted him.

 

Surely, after everything he had suffered, he could not be feeling this way because the emotions he had briefly harboured nine years ago were returning? Could he really be that stupid?

 

The fact that he was more shaken by the confession than the person who had made it was utterly ridiculous.

 

I-hyeon let out a short sigh and looked out of the window. Bare trees stretched along the road, and shops that had already switched on their signs passed swiftly behind the bus.

 

Then, quite suddenly, he was struck by a belated resistance to it all. What good did it do him to keep thinking about Gu Jin-hyuk and Gu Seung-hyuk?

 

Enough. It's all over now. Stop thinking about it.

 

Trying to forget them both, I-hyeon gently pressed his forehead against the misted window. Cold seeped into his skin with a stinging ache, but he did not pull away.

 

He wanted to wipe his mind completely clean. He knew he could not do it by force of will, so this was the only method he could think of.

 

“And now, some news our listeners, who must have been worried by the recent spate of disturbing incidents, will be glad to hear. A man in his thirties, identified only as Mr A, has turned himself in to the police over at least four similar offences, including the murder at the Dajeon-dong construction site. Police believe there may have been additional crimes beyond those to which Mr A has confessed...”

 

The presenter's clear voice from the bus radio slowly receded from I-hyeon's hearing. Night after night, even sleeping pills had given him only shallow sleep. Now, as a brief but irresistible wave of drowsiness washed over him, he closed his eyes rather than fight it.

 

By the time he got off the bus, drunken people were already wandering the streets. He passed two who were staggering, arms around each other's shoulders, and entered the alley where the bar stood. Someone was standing in front of the building, his coat collar turned up.

 

The neighbouring building had switched its lights on a little early, illuminating the man's face. Shadows fell across it from his high nose. The man standing there was Gu Seung-hyuk, whom I-hyeon was seeing again for the first time in a week.

 

I-hyeon stopped on his way towards the bar and stood about ten paces away, silently looking at him.

Seung-hyuk stood at the top of the stairs with his arms folded. Two men who appeared to be together hesitated in front of him before going inside. He openly frowned and looked them up and down, rolling his eyes. Even from a distance, the crease between his brows and the way he surveyed them made it look as though he was trying to pick a fight.

 

Though he doubted anything would happen, I-hyeon hurried forward, afraid Seung-hyuk might start an argument with the customers. As he drew closer, he heard Seung-hyuk mutter under his breath.

 

“Are there nothing but fucking gays in this place...?”

 

Fortunately, rather than saying anything more to them, Seung-hyuk turned aside to give them room to climb the stairs. That brought his gaze directly into contact with I-hyeon's.

 

“...What are you doing here?”

 

The moment he saw the face marked with several scars, I-hyeon spoke sharply, as though defending himself. His heart was racing helplessly, and he was afraid Seung-hyuk might notice; the hostility was partly a reaction to his own guilty unease.

 

Seung-hyuk did not answer his curt question. He only looked at him. I-hyeon added,

 

“I told you not to come looking for me.”

 

Even at I-hyeon's cold tone, nothing stirred in Seung-hyuk's eyes. For a man who had made that confession the last time they met, his gaze was remarkably calm. I-hyeon felt tense, wondering what Seung-hyuk's first words to him would be.

 

Just as I-hyeon tucked his lips in, unable to bear the silence any longer, Seung-hyuk opened his mouth.

 

“Come somewhere with me.”

 

I-hyeon clenched his fists. Something like bitter indignation surged in his chest.

 

He had spent an entire week in turmoil over those three little words, *I like you*, which Seung-hyuk had apparently uttered without a second thought. Wasn't this an outrageously irresponsible way to begin speaking to him again, as though nothing had happened?

 

“Move. I've got work.”

 

I-hyeon frowned slightly and tried to step around him. Seung-hyuk shifted one foot to block his path. When I-hyeon looked up with a scowl, Seung-hyuk met his gaze and sighed.

 

“Kwon I-hyeon.”

 

“...”

 

“Just this once. Hear me out.”

 

His low voice sounded a little different from usual, but I-hyeon stared firmly back. He had no intention of giving in, no matter what Seung-hyuk tried to say to persuade him.

 

“My shift's about to start. I need to go upstairs.”

 

Seung-hyuk clenched his molars, then suddenly seized I-hyeon's wrist and led him up the stairs. I-hyeon hurried to keep up.

 

“Oi, let go. What are you doing...?”

 

But Seung-hyuk did not loosen his grip even when they reached the bar entrance. He pulled the glass door open, and a little bell rang out across the room, where preparations for opening were in full swing.

 

Behind the bar, Hae-won was drying glasses. He looked up at the bell, noticed I-hyeon and Seung-hyuk holding his wrist, and trailed off mid-greeting.

 

“Oh. I-hyeon, you're he—”

 

The sudden silence made the owner, who had been working on his laptop beside the counter, jerk his head up too. Seung-hyuk glanced once around the interior and went straight towards him.

 

The owner immediately recognised the man who had scattered a considerable amount of cash around the last time he came and ordered them to delay closing. He straightened, looking puzzled but rather pleased.

 

“I'd like to borrow Kwon I-hyeon today and tomorrow. What hours is he supposed to work here?”

 

At Seung-hyuk's casual question, the owner first glanced at I-hyeon. I-hyeon was glaring fiercely at Seung-hyuk's profile. The owner licked his lips, rubbed his hands together and answered with studied nonchalance.

 

“Tomorrow it's five until closing, and tonight he's meant to be here until nine. But may I ask what this is about...?”

 

He tried to suppress the anticipation spreading across his face and appear unconcerned. Seung-hyuk, however, seemed entirely uninterested in that. He took out his wallet, pulled out a dozen or so fifty-thousand-won notes without counting them properly and laid them on the bar.

 

Though the owner could no longer conceal his brightening expression, his instinct to bargain had not deserted him. He added hesitantly,

 

“Ah, but I really ought to ask what he wants first...”

 

It was I-hyeon who answered. Until then, he had done nothing but glare at Seung-hyuk and twist his captive wrist. Apparently giving up on pulling free, he spoke coldly.

 

“He's got loads of money.”

 

“Eh?”

 

“If you're going to let me go, squeeze some more out of him.”

 

The owner immediately glanced at Seung-hyuk. Seung-hyuk showed no reaction; his unwavering gaze was fixed solely on the notes lying on the counter.

 

Seung-hyuk's expression did not change. He took out his phone and called someone.

 

“Oi. Bring one big bundle from the boot.”

 

Shortly after his low instruction, a tall man dressed in black opened the bar door and came inside.

 

The incongruously cheerful bell tinkled behind him as he went straight to the counter, handed Seung-hyuk something and left again. Seung-hyuk ran his fingers over the stacked notes as though counting them, then set the bundle down with a sharp tap. The owner's eyes widened more than I-hyeon had ever seen them at the sight of a hundred-fifty-thousand-won note bound together.

 

“I'd say that's generous for two days. I trust you'll conduct yourself accordingly and make sure I don't hear that Kwon I-hyeon has come to work tomorrow.”

 

The owner's face remained radiant despite the chill in Seung-hyuk's voice. He gathered up the bundle with a smile that seemed to say, *what a windfall*, though he kept stealing glances at I-hyeon.

 

When he lowered his eyebrows into a pitiful expression, silently begging for understanding, I-hyeon sighed.

 

At this point, it would be difficult not to go with Seung-hyuk. If he had bought I-hyeon's working hours, as he claimed, there would have been little ground for refusal. More than anything, I-hyeon did not want to see disappointment spread across the face of the owner who had taken him back.

 

He stopped struggling and stared bitterly into the distance. Seung-hyuk glanced down at him and led him towards the door.

 

Jingle.

 

“Take care!” the owner called cheerfully behind them, his booming voice fading as they left.

 

Seung-hyuk went down the stairs and set off towards the main road.

 

All the while, the warmth passing through the skin where Seung-hyuk had been gripping his wrist felt uncomfortable. I-hyeon twisted his arm slightly and spoke quietly.

 

“At least let go while we're walking.”

 

Seung-hyuk glanced down. Instead of loosening his grip, he slid his hand down between I-hyeon's fingers. I-hyeon had asked him to release his wrist, and now they were holding hands instead.

 

“...Oi.”

 

I-hyeon flinched at the movement, then frowned and called to him. But they had already reached Seung-hyuk's car.

 

Seung-hyuk opened the passenger door and practically pushed I-hyeon inside. Only then did he release his hand without any lingering reluctance. He went around to the driver's side and took the key from the man standing nearby.

 

An odd sensation still lingered in I-hyeon's hand. As he stared at his palm and its creases, Seung-hyuk settled into the driver's seat and spoke.

 

“Put your seat belt on. You'd hate it if I did it for you.”

 

What a ridiculous thing to say. Had he held I-hyeon's hand because he thought I-hyeon *wouldn't* hate that?

 

But I-hyeon concealed his feelings as usual. Without answering, he pulled his seat belt across himself, expressionless.

 

The car travelled along the main road for a considerable time. An hour after leaving, it turned onto a deserted country lane. They continued for some way along a poorly maintained two-lane road, then crossed a gravel track before stopping near a river bordered by a vast reed bed.

 

I-hyeon had stared out of the window in silence throughout the journey. Only now did he turn to Seung-hyuk.

 

Seung-hyuk understood the unspoken question *Where are we?* but offered no answer. He merely said, “Get out.”

 

The moment I-hyeon stepped from the passenger seat, his foot sank deep into the snow. As though proving that nobody had set foot there, the thick white layer bore no marks except the fresh tracks of their car. He slowly looked around.

 

The reeds swayed with the wind, like waves rolling across the sea. Snow balanced precariously on tree branches that looked like lines slashed through the air with a black pen. On the frozen river, little heaps of snow glittered in the sunlight.

 

The landscape was painted entirely white. It seemed peaceful and lonely at the same time, for there was not the faintest trace of the energy particular to living things.

 

I-hyeon stared blankly at everything buried quietly beneath the snow. Seung-hyuk's voice brought him back to himself.

 

“Come this way.”

 

Seung-hyuk went ahead, breaking a path through the untouched snow. With each step, the surface gave way beneath his feet and then compressed with a satisfying crunch. It reminded I-hyeon of Jeongseon the last time they had been there.

 

He tried to push the memory from his mind. Head bowed, he stepped carefully into the footprints Seung-hyuk left behind. Only when Seung-hyuk's trainers appeared motionless in his field of vision did he realise the man had stopped.

 

He lifted his face and found an unobstructed panorama spread out before him. Half of it was filled with a brilliant scarlet sky.

 

“...Ah.”

 

The sun, shimmering deep orange, hung almost at eye level. Its red glow washed over the sky and the earth, colouring both in similar shades.

 

Seung-hyuk watched I-hyeon stand transfixed before the view. Then he withdrew to a bench behind them, swept the snow from it and sat down. The red-and-gold world and I-hyeon's back were both visible from where he sat.

 

“Beautiful, isn't it?”

 

“...”

 

“When I was a kid, every time my father beat me and threw me out of the house, I'd come and sit here.”

 

“I'd wait until the sunset was over and get up when it was almost dark. By then, my arse would be so numb it felt frostbitten, and my legs would be tingling like hell. It helped me forget the pain from being beaten.”

 

His voice was calm as he recalled the past. I-hyeon turned around and saw Seung-hyuk's face coloured red by the sunset. Watching him gaze at the sinking sun, I-hyeon felt, for reasons he could not explain, that he was like an empty shell which might vanish at a touch.

 

Whoosh.

 

A fresh, clear wind swept across his face. The air was so pure that everything he looked at seemed to have been washed into perfect focus: the crystals of snow lifting like powder from the accumulated drifts, the reddish-yellow light colouring the air, and even Seung-hyuk's eyes, where the sunset penetrated deep into the irises and outlined the shape of his black pupils.

 

The moment their gazes met, I-hyeon felt as though he were being pushed backwards over the edge of a cliff. He clenched his fist instinctively, but all he caught was cold air.

 

His heart lurched, and his expression stiffened without him realising it. Seung-hyuk, however, was looking at the sky instead of I-hyeon, and did not notice. He spoke in a low voice.

 

“Kwon I-hyeon.”

 

“...”

 

“What do you say we chuck all this in, move to the countryside somewhere and live off the land?”

 

It sounded like an idle remark made in jest, yet there was no smile on his face. When I-hyeon said nothing, Seung-hyuk continued in an even lighter tone.

 

“Or maybe we should just fucking die together?”

 

Although both corners of his mouth rose in a handsome smile, his eyes were cold and still. I-hyeon suddenly wanted to ask what, above all else, was hurting Seung-hyuk so badly. But far more complicated and weighty feelings held him back: the shock and betrayal of knowing Seung-hyuk had sent him into danger despite being fully aware of everything, and the resentment that accompanied them.

 

In the end, I-hyeon suppressed every impulse and spoke in a voice that sounded cold even to himself.

 

“...If you want to die, do it on your own. I've no intention of dying.”

 

At those words, Seung-hyuk let out a bitter laugh. He brushed a hand across his eyes. The gaze revealed afterwards seemed even more self-mocking than before. But he said nothing further, only looked out at the distant scenery.

 

During the brief time they sat together on the bench, watching the twilight settle, all their worries and troubles seemed to amount to nothing. It felt almost as though they had entered another world.

 

But the sun vanished quickly, and the sky that had been red began turning blue. The wind grew noticeably sharper. Seung-hyuk carelessly pushed his windblown hair back, raised his wrist to check the time, then rose without hesitation and gave I-hyeon a slight nod.

 

“Get up. We'll have to leave about now if we're going to arrive on time.”

 

“I only borrowed you until your shift would have finished.”

 

I-hyeon watched Seung-hyuk walk back towards the parked car after speaking so casually, then turned to look at the sky where the sun had already set.

 

A strange, oppressive feeling he could not name spread through him and lingered, like the orange traces still left where the red sun had shimmered.

 

As Seung-hyuk had said, the return journey took a little longer than the outward one. By the time they reached I-hyeon's flat, it was just after nine. Seung-hyuk stopped on the quiet road outside the building but kept his hands on the steering wheel, staring ahead as though lost in thought.

 

They had driven the long distance without even turning on any music, so I-hyeon was accustomed to the silence. But now they were home; there was no reason to linger. He was about to reach for the door handle when Seung-hyuk spoke.

 

“Kwon I-hyeon.”

 

“Will you sleep at my place, just for tonight?”

 

The way his voice fell made it sound almost like a statement rather than a question. I-hyeon stopped moving and looked at him. Seung-hyuk averted his gaze and added,

“I'm not trying anything. Things are probably going to get messy because of Gu Jin-hyuk, so I'm only asking you to stay until tomorrow. My place is still the safest.”

 

Even after hearing that, I-hyeon said nothing. He simply looked at Seung-hyuk's face. Feeling his gaze, Seung-hyuk reluctantly turned to meet his eyes. I-hyeon broke the silence.

 

“...Safe?”

 

“...”

 

“How could being beside you possibly be safe for me, Gu Seung-hyuk?”

 

There was bitterness and grief in the face, recalling the not-so-distant past. I-hyeon slowly closed his eyes and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.

 

“You've already abandoned me once.”

 

At the same time, both of them remembered the moment they had faced one another in the basement of Jin-hyuk's banquet. Seung-hyuk's jaw tightened. He looked down at I-hyeon with troubled eyes, then turned aside.

 

“All right, then. Don't go anywhere tomorrow. If you don't have anything you absolutely need to do, stay home. If you've got plans, put them off.”

 

“I've posted people nearby, so that should be enough.”

 

I-hyeon wondered what Seung-hyuk was planning that required such precautions. But he hesitated to ask, afraid that doing so would draw him back into their affairs.

 

He considered whether to say he understood, then simply undid his seat belt and got out without a word. He did not want to make a promise that could turn into a lie if something urgent happened. There was also a small measure of petty defiance in his decision: why should he do exactly as Seung-hyuk said?

 

Perhaps he had become accustomed to the warmth inside the car throughout the drive. The instant he stepped out, the freezing wind made him shiver.

 

I-hyeon hurried towards his building. He could feel a gaze following him from behind, but he walked straight ahead without looking back once.

 

──── 📘📘 ────

 

Brrr. Brrr.

 

The phone beside his pillow vibrated in a series of short bursts. The vibrations had woken him, but the sunlight pouring deep into the room—he had forgotten to close the curtains—dispelled the last of his drowsiness in an instant.

 

I-hyeon got straight out of bed and checked his phone. His brows drew together.

 

[One o'clock at Melosh, in front of campus! Last one there buys lunch.]

 

It was a group chat containing the dozen or so students who shared the same studio. With the new term only a few weeks away, they had arranged to meet for lunch. Until he saw that message, I-hyeon had completely forgotten.

 

He had applied to return to university, but when he said he did not know whether he could afford the tuition, the younger students had told him it did not matter—he should come and show his face for the first time in ages. Remembering them, he grew anxious about how little time remained before the meeting.

 

I-hyeon changed quickly and began brushing his teeth. He opened a maps app to check how long the bus journey would take. Then he suddenly remembered what Seung-hyuk had said the previous evening.

 

*Don't go anywhere tomorrow. If you don't have anything you absolutely need to do, stay home. If you've got plans, put them off.*

 

Seung-hyuk could not have known that he had an appointment. Even so, when I-hyeon tried to ignore the warning and continue getting ready, his hands hesitated. Remembering the expression Seung-hyuk had worn when he said it left him feeling stifled.

 

He slowly finished brushing his teeth, went back into the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

 

[Wow, it's completely deserted near campus because of the holidays. Where's everyone?]

 

[Why did you get there so early? I'm just getting off at the side gate.]

 

[Traffic's bad, so I'll probably be about ten minutes late. Where are you, I-hyeon hyung?]

 

I-hyeon's fingers twitched as he looked at the messages. When he thought about it, a lunch gathering before the new term was hardly a vital appointment. Nor was it especially difficult to honour a request to stay home for just one day because something might happen.

 

The problem was that the two commitments required him to do opposite things.

 

But I-hyeon began typing without further hesitation. The moment he decided that, just this once, he ought to heed Seung-hyuk's warning, he seemed to feel more at ease.

 

[Sorry, everyone. I'm not feeling very well today, so I don't think I can come. Sorry for telling you so late. Let's meet another time.]

 

As soon as he sent it, the chat filled with weeping emojis and messages from several people. I-hyeon left them unread and went back to his list of conversations.

 

At the top was another group chat with an unusually large unread-message count. It belonged to the bar staff.

 

The chat had been made mainly for shift information and the occasional bit of casual conversation, so he did not think he had ever seen such a large number beside it before.

 

Without thinking much of it, I-hyeon got up and walked towards the fridge as he opened the chat. But the moment the messages appeared, certain words caught his eye and brought him to a halt.

 

Taeseong. Gu Jin-hyuk. Drugs... Contract killing?

 

His grip tightened around the phone. The first three terms had appeared in the news earlier that week, so they were hardly surprising. But seeing the words *contract killing* made his breath catch.

 

Was this the trouble Seung-hyuk had warned him about? Biting his lower lip at the thought, I-hyeon scrolled upwards through the conversation. Most of the messages were between Hae-won and two other part-time staff members.

 

[Bloody hell, have you lot seen the article that's just dropped?]

 

[Another Gu Jin-hyuk scandal?]

 

[Scandal? That old thing about him being investigated for drugs?]

 

[Not that! Shit, this is unbelievable, hyung. You know that bloke who turned himself in a while ago saying he'd killed and buried a few people? Apparently he's told the police Gu Jin-hyuk ordered him to do all of it.]

 

[WHAT???]

 

[He said he was going mad from withdrawal because he couldn't get hold of drugs, and Gu Jin-hyuk approached him first. Promised to give him drugs if he quietly carried out a few jobs. Bloody hell, but that bloke was clever too. Seems he kept evidence to save his own neck even while he was doing it. Apparently the prosecution's already applied for an arrest warrant for Gu Jin-hyuk!]

 

I-hyeon gripped the phone harder, afraid his hand would begin to shake. Everything was moving in a direction he had never imagined. He could not begin to guess what would happen next.

 

He was about to open a news website to find a proper article when someone knocked.

 

Knock, knock. Knock-knock-knock.

 

“Mr Kwon I-hyeon, are you in there?”

 

The stranger's low voice brought an instinctive wave of revulsion. They were ordinary words, yet goosebumps spread from the back of his hand across his entire body.

 

I-hyeon covered his mouth with one hand and stayed absolutely quiet, pretending nobody was home. But when the man knocked again, his next words were unexpected.

 

“Mr Kwon I-hyeon, Seung-hyuk hyung has been seriously injured. He's at the hospital asking urgently for you and nobody else. Please spare us a moment.”

 

I-hyeon's eyes widened at the news that Gu Seung-hyuk was hurt. He had only spoken to him and parted ways yesterday. Where had he been injured? How? His heart sank.

 

How badly hurt did *seriously injured* mean? If he had been taken to hospital, wasn't it something grave? I-hyeon checked the time and hurriedly searched for his coat, calling out,

 

“Just a moment. I'll come out.”

 

Fortunately, he had already got most of the way ready to leave earlier. All he needed was the padded jacket hanging in his wardrobe. He hurried to the entrance and took hold of the door handle.

 

Then a strange sense of familiarity struck him.

 

He definitely told me not to leave the house today, no matter what. So why would he send someone to fetch me like this?

 

I-hyeon stopped, frowning at the air in front of him. He heard low voices murmuring outside before the stranger called again.

 

“Mr Kwon I-hyeon, can you hear me? It's urgent! You need to hurry!”

 

“I'm going to check first. Just wait a moment.”

 

Something felt wrong about the way they kept trying to lure him outside. He backed away hesitantly and pulled his phone from his pocket.

 

He searched for Seung-hyuk's number, but the man outside continued shouting his name and pounding on the door. As his anxiety mounted, his fingers kept missing the screen.

 

“Fuck... Oi, this isn't working. Break it open.”

 

The pounding changed to the rattling of the locked handle a short while later. The old, worn handle jerked violently up and down, making the entire door shake.

 

Frozen with shock, I-hyeon forgot he was even holding his phone. He could only stare anxiously at the locked door. Then a harsh drilling sound began, accompanied by a vibration so loud it seemed to shake the whole building.

 

Who were they? Burglars? Should he run? But he could not jump from his window, and there was nowhere in his flat to hide. Terror had left him unable to think.

 

“Wh-what are you doing?”

 

All he could do was shout, and even that seemed to be drowned out by the shrill noise, like something from a construction site. One of the projecting catches in the door lock bent into a grotesque shape, then dropped to the floor and broke with a crash.

 

He had never imagined anyone would simply smash through a perfectly ordinary front door to get inside. I-hyeon backed away instinctively. Not even thinking of dialling 112 for the police, he pressed the number for Seung-hyuk that was already on his screen.

 

Creeeak.

 

With a noise like a sound effect from a thriller film, the tightly shut door began to open. Fear had stiffened I-hyeon's whole body. He watched the person coming through with trembling eyes.

 

A moment later, the man kicked aside the fallen lock mechanism as he entered. Recognising him, I-hyeon ended the call before it connected, his reaction almost automatic.

 

“Tch... If you're careless with this sort of thing, the neighbours complain about the noise. Wouldn't it be easier for both of us if you'd just opened the door quietly?”

 

The man entered without taking off his shoes. He wore a shabby jacket and had a mean-looking face. The instant I-hyeon saw the long scar beside his eye, he remembered meeting him nine years earlier.

 

The man sauntered further inside as I-hyeon retreated, one hand in his pocket and his head thrust towards him.

 

“Let's see... The name was Kwon I-hyeon, wasn't it?”

 

“We've met before. It was such a long time ago that I don't know if you'll remember me.”

 

It was a face he could never forget. This was the man who had taken Seung-hyuk away from the fast-food restaurant and beaten him savagely. The same man had calmly directed everything at the abandoned construction site when Seung-hyuk stabbed someone.

 

Time had left marks on his face, but his eyes still held the same chilling look.

 

Backing away, I-hyeon felt his calves strike the bed frame. He dropped his phone beside him and sank onto the bed as though pushed there. Bracing himself, hands behind him, he glared at the man through trembling eyes.

 

“What do you think you're doing?”

 

“Didn't I tell you your friend had been in an accident and was lying in hospital? We need to hurry, and you wouldn't open the door.”

 

He seemed to have no intention of concealing the lie. His expression was cheerful throughout, and the smile on his rough face looked perfectly genuine.

 

As I-hyeon searched the nearby furniture for anything he might use as a weapon, the phone beside him suddenly began to vibrate. Both men looked towards the screen at once.

 

[Gu Seung-hyuk]

 

Recognising the caller, the man laughed, his face lighting up even more than before.

 

“What's this? Are you two still close?”

 

“We're not.”

 

“Well. That's none of my business.”

 

The man approached I-hyeon, still wearing that smile. He took something from his pocket and muttered,

 

“Mr Kwon I-hyeon. How did you end up catching the director's attention? The best thing to do with people like that is never get mixed up with them in the first place. I suppose you didn't know.”

 

So this was Gu Jin-hyuk's doing. The moment I-hyeon realised it, the instinctive thought flashed through his mind that he might become Seung-hyuk's weakness. Perhaps he already had.

 

The man was examining and fiddling with something in his hand. Watching him closely, I-hyeon slowly moved his hand, seized his phone, and rejected the call still ringing. He switched it off entirely and slipped the silent phone into his back pocket. At that moment, the man looked up with a broad grin.

 

“We're all just trying to earn a living, so let's have a little cooperation, all right? It'll only sting for a moment.”

 

Perhaps they were worried I-hyeon might escape, because the large men who had been waiting outside now surrounded the tiny room. Where had the men Gu Seung-hyuk said he had stationed nearby gone? There was nowhere to run and no way to call urgently for help.

 

I-hyeon bit his lower lip until it turned white and clenched the fists resting on his knees. Then something sharp pricked the back of his neck—a needle.

 

“Urgh...!”

 

The fear of what would happen next was far greater than the pain in his neck. He was terrified of not knowing what had just been injected into his body, or what these men intended to do to him once they had rendered him helpless.

 

Yet something else troubled him just as much: Seung-hyuk's name, which had filled his phone screen a moment ago. He was afraid that the call he had made without thinking might bring trouble to Seung-hyuk too.

 

He had resolved to draw a line between them and stay away. Yet the instant something happened, he had turned straight to Seung-hyuk. He was ashamed of his own weakness and contemptible behaviour.

 

My fault mustn't ruin what Gu Seung-hyuk is trying to do. I can't get in his way.

 

As his vision darkened, the image of Seung-hyuk's empty face bathed in sunset colours spread before his eyes. There had been something inexplicably desolate about him as he stared into the distance.

 

I-hyeon did not want to share in Gu Seung-hyuk's sorrow. Even as his eyes closed, that was the only thought in his mind.

 

“Ugh...”

 

His throat was so dry and hoarse that the sound which came out hardly seemed his own. He coughed weakly a couple of times before managing to open his eyes. The place that met his gaze was somewhere he had never seen in his life.

 

As I-hyeon coughed and looked around, a man leaning against the wall opposite him, watching videos on his phone, climbed a wooden staircase beside him and went somewhere upstairs. Creak, creak. The stairs made a tearing noise beneath every step, as though they were very old.

 

While he searched his memory for what had happened, a strange smell pricked his nose. It was something between the metallic scent of blood and the musty stench of urine.

 

He struggled against a stabbing headache and turned his head. On three sides of the room, apart from the wall where the man had stood, large objects were piled beneath white sheets.

 

The rectangular shapes were about chest-high and stacked two or three layers deep. Hidden under the cloth, they gave the room a strangely oppressive air. There were also little windows high on the walls, like those in a semi-basement flat, cobwebs stretching across the wooden flooring, and a bare bulb swaying from a single wire in the ceiling. Everything suggested that the building was quite old.

 

When I-hyeon looked straight ahead again, he noticed something he had missed before. A camera mounted on a tripod stood directly in front of his chair. Frowning, he tried to get up, but could not move.

 

He lowered his eyes slowly. His wrists and ankles had been bound with what looked like rope.

 

Someone tied to a chair in the middle of an unfamiliar room. A camera positioned in front, as though someone intended to film everything.

 

He suddenly remembered a video he had once seen of foreign extremists executing a captive. His body went rigid.

 

The breath he released in haste broke into white mist before his lips. Only then did he feel the cold seeping through his whole body, and fear began to overwhelm him. He strained against the ropes with his trembling arms and legs, but there was no slack in them at all. All he accomplished was to rub the skin beneath the bindings raw.

 

Woof! Woof!

 

Dogs barked beyond the high window. Even that small sound made I-hyeon tremble in terror. Then the door above the wooden stairs opened. Lively music drifted in for an instant before it was shut off again.

 

Light spilt down from upstairs just as briefly. He heard footsteps as someone began descending.

 

Comfortable-looking slippers and the hems of perfectly tailored trousers slowly appeared at the top of the old staircase. Then a familiar face came fully into view.

 

“Ah, Mr I-hyeon. You're awake?”

 

Jin-hyuk leaned against the wall, holding a steaming mug in one hand. He took a sip and looked I-hyeon up and down with his usual air of easy confidence. I-hyeon glared at him and pulled at his bound arms. His lips trembled with anger and fear.

 

“What... what are you doing?”

 

“I'm sorry. That was a rather rough way of bringing you here, wasn't it? But I didn't think you'd come if I simply asked.”

 

As Jin-hyuk approached, however, his languid tone struck I-hyeon as very different from before. Looking closely, he seemed unusually excited. There was something unfamiliar about his constant, sly little smiles.

 

I-hyeon stared at him warily, but Jin-hyuk smiled as though the hostility meant nothing. He dragged a chair from beside the staircase and placed it about a metre in front of I-hyeon, next to the camera, which stood stiffly on its tripod.

 

He sat down with his legs crossed, tilted his head and met I-hyeon's eyes.

 

“I understand you might be a little bewildered or feel unfairly treated by something happening so suddenly.”

 

“But there's a reason people have always said you should choose your friends carefully.”

 

He could only be referring to Seung-hyuk. I-hyeon stopped wriggling his hands and glared at him. Had he kidnapped I-hyeon and brought him here because of Seung-hyuk?

 

“If you're doing this because of the things you stored in the lounge, there's no point going to Gu Seung-hyuk for them. He doesn't have them.”

 

He remembered Seung-hyuk finding it strange that Jin-hyuk had remained quiet after losing the things stored in his lounge and suffering that humiliation at the party. But Jin-hyuk looked at I-hyeon with raised eyebrows, as though he had heard an absurd joke, then burst into loud laughter and clutched his stomach.

 

He laughed by himself for a long time in front of his bewildered, tense captive. Eventually he seemed to calm down and wiped the corners of his eyes with his palm.

 

“Ha ha ha, ah... Mr I-hyeon. Do you really think I'd be doing this over a few measly kilos of drugs?”

 

Still finding it funny, he made a show of wiping his dry eyes with a finger, then sighed with a smile. The smile gradually disappeared. When his expression was completely blank, he pressed his fingers firmly against his eyes.

 

“If losing thirty kilos of drugs was the whole problem, I wouldn't say a word. Seung-hyuk may have a shitty attitude, but think how much he's earned for us.”

 

“...”

 

“But it's a different matter when he tries to break the rules.”

 

Jin-hyuk took a sip from his mug and added, almost to himself,

 

“Bringing prosecutors into a business that's been rotten from the start is as good as telling all of us to go and die together.”

 

I-hyeon frowned, remembering the group-chat messages about the application for an arrest warrant against Gu Jin-hyuk. Had he fled to this deserted place because of it? That seemed unlikely, though. The blaring music and footsteps of several people upstairs were far too carefree for fugitives in hiding.

 

He looked up at Jin-hyuk with suspicion, trying to work out what he intended. Then something above the ceiling crashed again, as though another object had been smashed.

 

The bulb swung back and forth, throwing moving light across Jin-hyuk's face. His expression twisted with irritation. He jumped up and suddenly hurled his mug towards the stairs.

 

“You fucking bastards! I told you to take your drugs and just fuck! Which brainless prick is smashing things again?”

 

I-hyeon had never heard Jin-hyuk bellow like that. Until now, the man had always maintained a leisurely, refined air. And what he had just shouted did not sound like something a man hiding from an arrest warrant ought to be saying.

 

Seeing I-hyeon's confusion, Jin-hyuk took several deep breaths as if to calm himself, then explained.

 

“Ah. This is just somewhere to have a bit of fun until the work's finished, so I haven't bothered furnishing it properly. When that cheap stuff breaks, the fragments scatter everywhere. Even when you clean thoroughly, you still end up stepping on bits of it.”

 

The more I-hyeon heard, the less he understood. If what he had read in the group chat was true, Jin-hyuk ought to be worried about the warrant and being taken into custody. He certainly ought not to be acting so confidently, talking about parties and drugs as he was now.

 

I-hyeon could not hide the confusion in his eyes and bit his lip tightly. Jin-hyuk noticed and began to smile. He peered at I-hyeon's face with a somewhat incredulous laugh.

 

“What's that expression for, Mr I-hyeon? You didn't seriously think a little trick like that would bring me down, did you?”

 

“Ah, you're so innocent. Maybe that's why Gu Seung-hyuk kept you so close.”

 

Chuckling to himself, he returned to his chair, spread his legs and sat comfortably. Then he frowned as if pondering something, staring into space and stroking his chin.

 

“Mr I-hyeon. How many people do you think I've had to sweeten up and clean up after to get where I am?”

 

“...”

 

“How long do you think it's been since we stopped driving around at night with wooden clubs wrapped in blue tape and baseball bats? We've changed our entire way of operating.”

 

Jin-hyuk shrugged with a playful air as he spoke. He seemed certain he had someone to rely on. Otherwise he could never have been so confident in a situation like this.

 

“Soliciting murder? I don't know who heard what from whom and put that little scheme together, but the warrant won't be approved. There won't even be a proper hearing. The deal was already settled on my way here.”

 

There was no trace of anxiety in Jin-hyuk's leisurely voice. That made I-hyeon fear he might be telling the truth.

 

“But I'd be pretty fucking angry if I just let this slide, wouldn't I? Gu Seung-hyuk, that little bastard, snapping at his owner's heels because he thought he could get a bite in.”

 

Jin-hyuk had been speaking easily until he said Seung-hyuk's name. Then his face tightened. He slowly raised his eyes to I-hyeon.

 

“That's why I brought you here, Mr I-hyeon.”

 

“That bastard Gu Seung-hyuk doesn't get hurt by most things.”

 

Jin-hyuk took a metal case from his inside pocket and pulled out something resembling a hand-rolled cigarette. He continued indifferently.

 

“You need to own something before someone can take it away. You need to want something before someone can get in your way. That bastard has nothing like that.”

 

“...”

 

“But after you appeared, Mr I-hyeon, you seemed to be the one thing he actually reacted to.”

 

Jin-hyuk lit the end of the white roll and inhaled deeply. Then he rose slowly and approached I-hyeon. He passed the camera, stopped about a step away and bent at the waist to meet his eyes.

 

“I'll say it again. I've got nothing against you personally, Mr I-hyeon.”

 

“Still, you'd be wise to cooperate.”

 

His face was reflected clearly in I-hyeon's dark pupils. Seeing the fear hidden beneath the attempt at a blank expression, Jin-hyuk grinned and blew smoke directly into his face.

 

“I haven't decided whether to send Gu Seung-hyuk your body after you've been gang-raped or send him your head soaked in tears.”

 

“Cough, cough!”

 

The pungent smell was unmistakably different from tobacco. I-hyeon grimaced and coughed. The foul, grassy odour was that of cannabis, which he had occasionally smelt in club back alleys or toilets. As he continued coughing and turned his face aside, Jin-hyuk chuckled and cocked his head.

 

“Is that really all it takes? Haven't you done worse things with Seung-hyuk?”

 

When I-hyeon's coughing finally subsided, he glared at Jin-hyuk, unable even to wipe away the involuntary tears that had gathered in his eyes. Jin-hyuk gave another disbelieving snort at his reaction.

 

“Oh, that bastard hasn't done anything with you? Wow... He's a funny one, too. He kept you around while the men he'd assigned to make friends with you drugged you half senseless with something nobody had ever heard of.”

 

His last words dwindled into a mutter, almost as though he were talking to himself. Jin-hyuk stepped away and slowly began circling I-hyeon. Then he seized one of the white sheets covering the objects and yanked it down.

 

Beneath it were dozens of raised wire cages, each roughly the size of a person's torso. The stark metal mesh filled three walls of the basement. I-hyeon broke out in goosebumps.

 

What sort of place is this? What on earth is happening?

 

His eyes widened with belated terror and dread. Following Jin-hyuk's gaze, I-hyeon began moving his hands cautiously. He was sure he had put his phone in his back pocket, but with his hands bound in front of him, he could not reach it.

 

He shifted his hips, wondering whether he could use the chair back to push it out somehow, but it was no use.

 

For a long time, he tried to work out how to escape and how to secretly call 112 without Jin-hyuk noticing. At that moment, their eyes met. Jin-hyuk was holding a familiar phone.

 

“Looking for this?”

 

Somehow he had switched it on and unlocked it. He dangled I-hyeon's lit-up phone as he spoke.

 

“Your last call was to Gu Seung-hyuk, wasn't it? I'm impressed you had the presence of mind to call him even in that situation.”

 

“...”

 

“But there seems to be one thing you don't know, Mr I-hyeon...”

 

Jin-hyuk took a long step towards him and leaned close with a chilling, almost deranged smile.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk can't come here.”

 

“Even if he knows where this is, he won't be able to walk in here of his own free will.”

 

Raising his eyebrows, Jin-hyuk grinned and drew back, straightening up. Then he looked down at I-hyeon and smiled broadly.

 

“He received some rather severe training here from the time he was young. Seems he developed some sort of trauma from it. Just coming anywhere near this place makes him lose his head.”

 

“So don't waste your time hoping he'll turn up. Let's talk a bit more instead. It'll still be a while before the people who are going to film arrive.”

 

At the mention of Seung-hyuk's past, I-hyeon's heart dropped. But then he noticed the camera standing directly in front of him, and his breath caught.

 

Jin-hyuk had definitely said people would be coming to film. I-hyeon could not even imagine what they intended to record with him here. He enclosed his trembling hands in one another to hide the shaking and clenched his fists. Jin-hyuk returned to his original chair and spoke.

 

“Oh, that's right. Come to think of it, this is our sixth meeting today, isn't it? I promised I'd give you the USB if you met me five times.”

 

I-hyeon's downcast eyes flickered and shot up. Jin-hyuk looked as if he could not conceal his excitement at seeing the emotions churning within them. He chuckled slyly.

 

He opened the laptop beside him and inserted the USB he had once waved in front of I-hyeon. Then he carried the whole laptop over and set it on I-hyeon's knees.

 

“I always keep my promises. Here you go.”

 

I-hyeon slowly lowered his gaze. In an otherwise empty folder, a single video file with a numerical title sat at the top. He had never imagined he would see Seung-hyuk's leash again after believing he had destroyed it. His hands trembled.

 

Chan-yang's explanation for why he had not made a backup had been entirely convincing at the time. And because he had never approached I-hyeon to use the recording against him again, I-hyeon had believed the video was gone from the world for good.

 

He could not summon the courage to watch the video that had returned to him after nine years. As he hesitated and gnawed at his lower lip, Jin-hyuk grew impatient, came over and personally lifted I-hyeon's bound arms onto the keyboard.

 

“Just press Enter.”

 

At that moment, several loud reports, like gunshots, rang out beyond the small high window. I-hyeon's eyes widened in shock, but Jin-hyuk merely scratched near his eyebrow and shrugged, as though it were nothing.

 

“Looks like one of the dogs we let loose has bitten someone.”

 

Terrified by the unmistakable gunshots echoing through the place, I-hyeon shook all over. Without realising it, he pressed the Enter key with his fingertips. A black video player appeared on the screen.

I-hyeon clenched his teeth and tried not to look, but his gaze slowly dropped against his will. The crackling interference coming from the laptop seemed to drain the strength from his entire body.

 

Crackle. Hiss.

 

But something was wrong. The progress bar at the bottom of the player continued moving, yet the picture remained black.

 

Confused, I-hyeon looked up. Jin-hyuk appeared to be struggling to contain his laughter. I-hyeon could only gasp for breath, unable to speak, until Jin-hyuk finally curved his eyes into crescents and opened his mouth.

 

“You're really such a fool, Mr I-hyeon. You did every stupid thing I told you, just to protect one video that doesn't even exist...”

 

“...What?”

 

“Before making a deal with anyone, the first thing you do is check the goods. Especially when the person you're dealing with can't be trusted.”

 

Jin-hyuk approached with light steps and snapped the laptop shut on I-hyeon's lap. Picking it up with one hand, he added under his breath,

 

“Though I suppose there's not much point learning that now.”

 

The laptop had been taken away, but I-hyeon's gaze remained fixed on the space where it had been. He had heard Jin-hyuk perfectly well; his mind simply could not process it.

 

After moving his lips several times in an effort to speak, he finally managed to force out a question. His shock was unmistakable in his voice.

 

“A video that... doesn't exist? But you talked as though you'd seen it back then...”

 

“I said that videos like that could be restored clearly these days. I never said I'd watched it.”

 

“...”

 

“Lee Chan-yang explained what was on it. Apparently, even if you ran it through software to make it clearer, the quality was so poor that you couldn't identify Gu Seung-hyuk anyway.”

 

As Jin-hyuk casually reeled off those words, I-hyeon felt all the strength leave his body. The thought that he had staked everything on a video treated as utterly worthless washed over him with emptiness.

 

His heavy head slowly dropped. Jin-hyuk chuckled at the sight.

 

“You even took the original, didn't you? What in the world were you so frightened of after that?”

 

“And I already told you. Both he and I have people in all sorts of places, so something like that wouldn't even be enough to hurt us.”

 

There had been so many things I-hyeon feared. He had lived believing the video was gone for good, only for it to reappear—and in Gu Jin-hyuk's hands, no less. That alone had frightened him. Jin-hyuk speaking as though he knew everything had frightened him. So had the possibility that Seung-hyuk might learn the video had been made because of him.

 

But most terrifying of all was the thought of what might happen to Seung-hyuk because the recording had resurfaced after nine years.

 

Seung-hyuk had already committed so many crimes. I-hyeon feared the video would become the most damning evidence against him, and that I-hyeon would push him into the abyss all over again. That had been his greatest fear.

 

Tears began gathering beneath his closed eyelids. Were they from relief that Seung-hyuk would not suffer because of him after all? From the release of guilt? Or from regret that he had understood everything far too late? He could not tell why he was crying.

 

With his head bowed, tears silently fell onto his knees and the backs of his hands. Jin-hyuk stood over him with folded arms and a blank expression, watching indifferently.

 

Then the music upstairs cut off abruptly. Voices rose, followed by another crash of something breaking.

 

Jin-hyuk scowled and got to his feet, about to head up the stairs.

 

Bang!

 

The door flew open with a tremendous noise. Someone appeared beyond it, descending the stairs without the slightest hesitation.

 

I-hyeon hunched, tense at the thought that this might be one of the people Jin-hyuk had mentioned coming to help with the filming. But the person who emerged on the stairs was Gu Seung-hyuk, pale-faced and spattered with blood in several places.

 

He wore a black shirt and matching waistcoat, as though he had come from somewhere that required formal dress. But his jacket, which should have been immaculate, had been forcibly torn and was wrapped around one hand. His partly rolled-up sleeves, exposed neck and face were a mess of bloodstains that might have belonged to anyone.

 

I-hyeon froze as he looked up at Seung-hyuk. Jin-hyuk, meanwhile, burst into laughter as though genuinely astonished. While Seung-hyuk had looked only at I-hyeon from the moment he came downstairs, Jin-hyuk stared at him wide-eyed and doubled over laughing.

 

“Wow! Fucking hell, ha ha ha! Oi, Gu Seung-hyuk. You came here?”

 

“...”

 

“You actually walked down here on your own two feet? Fucking hell! Ha ha ha!”

 

Seung-hyuk slowly turned towards the vulgar laughter. Leaning against the wall, he felt for the switch and turned off the single hanging light bulb. Although the electric light went out, the daylight coming through the windows meant the room merely grew dimmer.

 

He turned away from the wall and strode towards Jin-hyuk, whose entire body was shaking with exaggerated laughter. Clenching his teeth, Seung-hyuk drove a fist into Jin-hyuk's face, as though ordering him to shut his mouth.

 

Jin-hyuk's cheek, thrust out as he laughed, snapped to one side and his body staggered. But Seung-hyuk staggered too. He seemed far from well, his shoulders continually heaving. He spat to the side.

 

Glancing at Jin-hyuk, who had fallen to the floor, still snickering, Seung-hyuk looked away and approached the bound I-hyeon.

 

“Gu... hhh... Gu Seung-hyuk...”

 

The moment he saw Seung-hyuk there, a strange rush of relief swept through I-hyeon. The tears he had been holding back finally burst free. He bit hard into the soft flesh of his cheek in an attempt to stop crying, but it did no good.

 

“Why are you crying?”

 

“Hhh... hic...”

 

“Kwon I-hyeon. Why are you crying?”

 

“H-how did you... get here? They said... they said you couldn't come... hhh.”

 

As Seung-hyuk drew near, the smell of blood became overpowering, far stronger than mere splashes across his clothes and skin ought to have produced.

 

Seung-hyuk looked at I-hyeon, who was crying yet still staring at him in wide-eyed disbelief, and lifted one corner of his mouth. He took a multi-tool knife from his back pocket and began cutting through the ropes around I-hyeon's wrists and ankles.

 

The baseless conviction that everything would be all right now filled I-hyeon's mind. He could not stop the tears and merely bit his lip, watching the top of Seung-hyuk's head. Then he noticed Jin-hyuk struggling to keep up behind him, looking as though he were suppressing his laughter. Brushing the dust from his clothes, Jin-hyuk spoke with a laugh in his voice.

 

“Oi, you can leave those. We were going to untie him once our people arrived anyway.”

 

Something was wrong with how relaxed Jin-hyuk remained, even in this situation. As I-hyeon watched him anxiously, Seung-hyuk cut the rope from his ankles, sprang up and pulled him to his feet by the slender wrist.

 

But after sitting for so long, I-hyeon's legs suddenly weakened, and he staggered.

 

Just as Seung-hyuk caught him by both arms to steady him, Jin-hyuk's oily voice rang out through the room.

 

“Oi, you ought to treat Mr I-hyeon a bit better. Look how you're behaving towards someone who's done all sorts of things to protect you.”

 

“What?”

 

Jin-hyuk smiled and waved his arms as he spoke. At last Seung-hyuk turned to stare at him. His face twisted into a savage frown, as though demanding to know what Jin-hyuk was talking about. Jin-hyuk gave a startled, disbelieving laugh, apparently realising something.

 

“Wow, what? Gu Seung-hyuk, you don't know anything?”

 

“Mr I-hyeon, this bastard really doesn't know a single thing? And you've been doing all that on your own?”

 

“What the fuck is it? Speak properly.”

 

Seung-hyuk strode over, grabbed Jin-hyuk by the collar and hauled him up, furious at the way he kept laughing and tossing suggestive remarks at I-hyeon. Jin-hyuk only chuckled, as though being held by the collar did not bother him at all.

 

“Wow. So you really didn't know. That's why you sent Mr I-hyeon to me without a care in the world.”

 

Seung-hyuk's fist was trembling with the force of his grip as Jin-hyuk snickered. I-hyeon bit his lip hard, realising that things were going terribly wrong.

 

The only one of the three still smiling, Jin-hyuk looked between the other two and contorted his face with amusement.

 

“That bastard still has no idea what he's done. Ah, fuck. This is absolutely hilarious.”

 

“...Fuck. Oi.”

 

“Oi, Seung-hyuk. You've heard of a sex tape. Ever heard of a murder tape?”

 

I-hyeon's heart seemed to fall through his chest at the words. Now that it was all over, he had absolutely no intention of telling Seung-hyuk about it. He had meant to keep the secret buried forever, where Seung-hyuk would never learn of it.

 

“...Hhh, don't tell him.”

 

“There's something Mr I-hyeon risked everything he had to protect, from high school until now. Know what it is?”

 

“I said don't tell him...!”

 

I-hyeon lunged forward as though he might run over and clamp a hand over Jin-hyuk's mouth. But Seung-hyuk caught his wrist to stop him. I-hyeon faltered at the heat travelling up his arm from Seung-hyuk's hand. At that moment, Jin-hyuk opened his mouth and spoke quietly.

 

“A video of you killing someone.”

 

“...What?”

 

The atmosphere abruptly turned cold, as though someone had thrown icy water over them. Jin-hyuk alone remained excited. Perhaps the drugs were finally taking effect, because he no longer seemed entirely in his right mind.

 

He began pouring out the story like someone recounting an entertaining incident from years ago.

 

“When you were seventeen or eighteen, in high school. You stabbed someone for the first time as part of your initiation. A video of that.”

 

The words I-hyeon had dreaded finally came from Jin-hyuk's mouth. His vision went dark. He felt Seung-hyuk's grip on his arm tighten. As I-hyeon clenched his fist and closed his eyes in despair, Jin-hyuk continued enthusiastically.

 

“I met some bastard called Lee Chan-yang while I was digging through records. He told me there was a video taken at a construction site with Kwon I-hyeon, showing Gu Seung-hyuk stabbing someone. It wasn't clear enough to be useful, apparently. And even that copy seems to have ended up with Kwon I-hyeon the day you beat Chan-yang half to death. Something along those lines.”

 

“...”

 

“He wasn't in any position to release it or use it for a proper deal, so he just had a little fun making Kwon I-hyeon do things with it. I thought I'd try the same, but wow...”

 

Jin-hyuk shook his head with a delighted smile, as though overcome by admiration.

 

“Your friend is still just as hopelessly innocent after nine years, Seung-hyuk.”

 

“That's pure devotion. Pure devotion.”

 

Before Jin-hyuk had finished speaking, Seung-hyuk released I-hyeon's wrist and drove a fist into his face. Seung-hyuk breathed in harsh, ragged gasps, looking ready to climb onto Jin-hyuk as he sprawled on the floor. But I-hyeon saw Seung-hyuk swaying and caught his arm first.

 

“Kwon I-hyeon, let go.”

 

Instead of answering, I-hyeon looked up sharply, startled by the searing heat of Seung-hyuk's arm beneath his hands. There was something alarming in Seung-hyuk's unusually bright eyes. I-hyeon hurried to seize his arm with both hands.

 

“Wait, just wait... Hhh... There's something wrong with you.”

 

Ever since Jin-hyuk had mentioned Seung-hyuk's trauma associated with this place, I-hyeon had been unable to stop worrying. The dangerously high temperature of his skin made it worse. Above all, the way Seung-hyuk seemed only half-conscious and fixated on one thing was frighteningly unlike him.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk... Gu Seung-hyuk!”

 

Seung-hyuk seemed determined to pry his hands off his arm. Just as his free hand closed around the back of I-hyeon's, more commotion sounded upstairs, and several pairs of feet hurried past.

 

“Ptoo.”

 

At the noise, Gu Jin-hyuk's face, still lying on the floor, brightened. He shoved Seung-hyuk aside, stood with his face twisted into a vicious scowl and spat blood-streaked saliva onto the floor before heading towards the stairs.

 

“Fine, fuck it. I'll send you both off together, you bastards.”

 

No sooner had he finished than Jin-hyuk flung the door open. But instead of finding his men standing ready with weapons, he came face to face with the pale chief secretary, who held the handle with an expression of helpless panic.

 

Before Jin-hyuk, frowning at the unexpected sight, could say anything, the secretary's trembling voice rang out.

 

“Director, they've issued the arrest warrant. The police have almost forced their way in!”

 

“...What?”

 

“And on top of that, allegations of large-scale drug distribution have come out...!”

 

The chief secretary seemed too overwhelmed by the information she needed to relay and the urgent decisions she had to make to finish her sentence. She looked frantically around.

 

“First you need to get away—or no, we need to clear this place first...!”

 

The rooms were filled with drugs, cannabis and people sleeping in drugged stupors. It was such a mess that she could not work out where to begin.

 

I-hyeon stared in bewilderment as the usually composed secretary looked wildly from side to side and spoke without making sense. He had never seen her so flustered.

 

Jin-hyuk seemed equally stunned. His face turned red, and he shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

“They issued the warrant? What the fuck are you talking about?”

 

He stormed up the remaining stairs, pushed past the secretary and hurried away. She followed him, leaving I-hyeon and Seung-hyuk alone in the basement.

 

I-hyeon turned urgently towards Seung-hyuk, about to say something. But Seung-hyuk, who had been moving violently only moments before, was now bent double with his hands braced on his knees, his back heaving. He looked scarcely capable of standing upright, let alone holding a conversation. An ominous feeling crept up I-hyeon's spine.

 

Seung-hyuk had turned off the basement light earlier, so only the daylight entering through the windows illuminated the room. Hurrying to the switch beside the stairs to check whether Seung-hyuk was seriously injured, I-hyeon flicked it on. When he turned around and saw the floor covered in blood, his breath stopped.

“Gu... Gu Seung-hyuk...”

 

The blood smeared everywhere, as though a murder had taken place, could not possibly belong to Jin-hyuk, who had only been punched once and suffered a split lip at most. Looking again, I-hyeon realised that Seung-hyuk's clothes, which he had thought were simply black, were soaked through with blood.

 

Stunned, I-hyeon rushed towards him and grasped his arm. But Seung-hyuk seized his hand instead, straightened up, and hurried somewhere.

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk, Gu Seung-hyuk...! Wait, all right? Just wait. You're bleeding!”

 

Seung-hyuk paid no attention to his pleas. He began moving past the stacked cages. After briefly grimacing at the foul smell that struck them, he noticed something between the flat sections of wall and kicked hard into a gap. A concealed door flew open with a bang, letting in a blast of cold air.

 

I-hyeon could hardly understand what was happening. He simply hurried in whatever direction Seung-hyuk pulled him.

 

Beyond the door lay a snow-covered slope thick with trees and undergrowth. With nothing else to hold on to, he ran, depending entirely on Seung-hyuk's grip, his heart beating with sickening anxiety. Seung-hyuk's hand, which had been burning hot only a little while ago, now felt completely cold.

 

I-hyeon desperately wanted to stop and examine his injuries, but Seung-hyuk seemed interested only in getting them out of there. He limped onwards without stopping.

 

Then a loud shout came from behind them.

 

“Catch those bastards!”

 

“...Shit.”

 

Looking back briefly, I-hyeon saw several burly men coming down from the open back door. The slippery ground seemed to be slowing them down.

 

Seeing that, Seung-hyuk pulled I-hyeon along even faster. Each time the chilling sound of a barking dog rang out from somewhere, his grip on I-hyeon's hand tightened.

 

They ran downhill for what felt like an age, their feet sinking into deep snow as they pushed aside bushes that struck their faces. Gradually, Seung-hyuk began to slow down. Harsh breaths burst from between his pale lips.

 

I-hyeon felt he had to check whether Seung-hyuk was all right before going any farther. He pulled on the hand he was holding, brought him to a stop and moved in front of him. Then he noticed a long tear in the right side of Seung-hyuk's black waistcoat, near his waist, and the blood that kept welling out of it. He covered his mouth without thinking.

 

“Gu... Gu Seung-hyuk...”

 

“Hhh... Hhh...”

 

“Gu Seung-hyuk, why... why are you like this? What happened?”

 

Seung-hyuk stood with his head lowered, his chest and shoulders heaving as he breathed. When I-hyeon reached towards his injured side, he weakly caught the hand to stop him.

 

He squeezed I-hyeon's hand tightly for a moment, then straightened his back and rubbed his face with the other hand. Looking at I-hyeon, he made a strange expression, his face twisted in pain even as he smiled.

 

“If they catch us again now, I'm finished too. Just run a little farther.”

 

After taking a few more breaths, Seung-hyuk caught I-hyeon's hand again and started running. Now that I-hyeon looked properly, there was something wrong with the way he ran, and his face was contorted with pain. Following him, I-hyeon could no longer hold back the tears he had been suppressing.

 

Hot liquid streamed down his cheeks, and the blade-sharp winter wind seemed to scrape across it.

 

He gasped out something tangled between sobs and breaths, barely keeping up behind Seung-hyuk. Then Seung-hyuk, who had been moving almost at a run, suddenly stopped.

 

I-hyeon bit his lower lip hard to keep from sobbing aloud and moved beside him. A vast sea stretched out below a cliff that looked dozens of metres high.

 

He looked around, but every side appeared to end in a steep drop towards the water. There seemed to be no other way forward.

 

Terrified, I-hyeon retreated a few uncertain steps. But the barking of dogs and the shouts of several men were drawing closer from behind.

 

Unable to go forward or back, he bit his trembling lip. Beside him, Seung-hyuk sighed and squeezed his hand tightly, looking back over his shoulder.

 

The undergrowth and tangled branches had grown thick despite the winter, so Jin-hyuk's men apparently could not pinpoint their location. They were stumbling down the slope, looking around in confusion. There was still a little time.

 

Seung-hyuk loosened his hold on I-hyeon's hand, gripped his narrow shoulders and turned him round to face him. He looked down at the tear-streaked, dishevelled face for a while before pressing his forehead to I-hyeon's. Their eyes met at a distance where they could come no closer.

 

Even then, I-hyeon could not calm himself. He only gasped for breath, his gaze darting between Seung-hyuk's wound and the rest of his body. Seung-hyuk firmly caught the back of his neck, making him look directly at him, and spoke in a low, hoarse voice.

 

“Listen carefully. No matter what happens, I'll keep you alive.”

 

At those words, I-hyeon's unfocused, trembling gaze slowly lifted to meet him. Their reflections appeared clearly in each other's eyes, one pair desperately restrained, the other blurred by tears.

 

Seung-hyuk looked deep into I-hyeon's dark eyes, past the reflection of his own face, and said the words that might be his last.

 

“So, Kwon I-hyeon. Just this once—one last time—trust me.”

 

I-hyeon could not make a sound. Tears simply poured down his pale cheeks. Tiny beads of red blood appeared on the lower lip he had bitten so hard.

 

Seung-hyuk lowered his gaze and stared at those lips for a long moment. Then he clenched his teeth so hard that his jaw bulged, pulled I-hyeon close and enclosed him in his arms. He pressed firmly against the back of I-hyeon's neck.

 

The cold wind carried the heavy smells of blood and tears. Holding I-hyeon's face against his chest so he could not see ahead, Seung-hyuk looked down over the cliff. Sea water so dark blue it appeared almost black smashed against the rocks below, waving white hands upwards.

 

“I-hyeon.”

 

White foam formed and vanished where the waves met the snow-covered sand. Looking down at the fragile white froth scattering into nothing, Seung-hyuk murmured,

 

“I'll take all the unhappiness you've been carrying. So...”

 

“...”

 

“Don't be unhappy any more.”

 

Hearing the voice through their bodies pressed together, I-hyeon tried to raise his head, but Seung-hyuk held him firmly in place. Before anyone could stop him, Seung-hyuk threw himself over the cliff with I-hyeon clutched in his arms.

 

It was a long, long fall until both of them disappeared completely beneath the water's surface.