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Translated by Springlila
Ja-kyung rushed out and moved quickly down the wall with Wang Lun. He looked out the wall and confirmed that it was quiet. Wang Han’s car had already pulled up to the front of the mart at the alley’s entrance. They jumped over the fence and ran into the car.
“What happened?”
Sitting in the driver’s seat, Wang Han explained what had just happened. He’d been observing Prosecutor Jang’s car from below the alley when a taxi pulled over and Prosecutor Jang got out, stumbling slightly as if drunk.
However, the moment he picked up the radio, a man with his face covered came down from a black van that was parked in front of him and kidnapped Prosecutor Jang in a blink of an eye. It was hard to believe. No, he could be kidnapped… Why did it have to happen today of all days?
If Prosecutor Jang were to be found as a corpse tomorrow morning, the situation would become complicated. The three of them who were at the same place at the same time would all be considered suspects. For now, they should go back. Wang Han was about to start the engine and leave, but Wang Lun from the backseat suddenly leaned his face between the driver’s seat and the passenger seat.
“Shouldn’t we chase after them?”
Wang Han looked back.
“Why.”
Wang Lun takes something out of his pocket. Ja-kyung looked at it and it was a missing person report leaflet he saw at Prosecutor Jang’s house earlier. He handed it to Wang Han. look at this hyung. When Wang Han tried to open it, Ja-kyung snatched it away. Don’t look. Lun hyung is talking nonsense.
Ja-kyung was about to crumple it and throw it away, but Lun snatched it away and gave it to Wang Han. Wang Han’s eyes widened as he opened them to check. After looking at Ja-kyung’s face and the paper several times, he rubbed his chin and made a muffled sound.
Theft is never good, try looking at bit.ly/3iBfjkV.
“You look very similar.”
Ja-kyung replied nonchalantly.
“There are many people in the world who look alike.”
Wang Han seemed to agree as he nodded. Indeed, there could be many people who look alike. Despite this, Wang Lun couldn’t give up and kept urging them to chase after the kidnappers.
“What if Wei is really the child these people lost? Then that prosecutor is his one and only older brother.”
Wang Han frowned.
“You and I are Wei’s older brothers.”
“Who doesn’t know that? What I mean is…”
Ja-kyung shook his head and clicked his tongue. He remarked that his brothers had been watching too many dramas lately and were finally losing touch with reality. He urged them to start moving already.
However, the car didn’t move. Ja-kyung looked beside him, only to find Wang Han couldn’t seem to let go of the paper. Ja-kyung snatched it and pushed it aside, urging him to return home. Wang Han started the car, and Ja-kyung thought they were finally leaving, but Wang Han turned in the opposite direction.
Ja-kyung frowned and looked back, and Lun happily looked at Ja-kyung with his arms between the chairs.
“Wei. It looks like Han hyung has decided to side with me this time too.”
Ja-kyung stubbornly insisted that they should go back home. However, instead of responding, Wang Han activated the location tracker on the car’s mount. The screen changed, and a circular light flickered in the distance. Ja-kyung looked at it with a bewildered expression.
“When did you install that?”
Wang Han took out something resembling a pistol from under the seat and waved it. It was a device for attaching a tracker, and it was made so that it could be launched and attached from a long distance. Wang Lun, who was sitting in the back, also laughed and said “As expected of our hyung,” but Ja-kyung was annoyed.
“Why do you do such stupid things? What are we supposed to do, chase him down and save him?”
Han smiled silently and called Ja-kyung’s name. Wei. Ja-kyung turned around to find Wang Han looking at him warmly.
“I believe that children resemble their parents. Of course, it’s not always the case. So, I sometimes wondered how a child like you was born under such trash-like parents.”
Ja-kyung was silent. Han said something similar when he was young. Then Ja-kyung laughed. Han said that Ja-kyung was special, but that didn’t change the fact that he was a hitman.
“You never know. The parents who gave birth to you must have been good people.”
Ja-kyung bit his lower lip. Neither of them seemed to be in their right mind. There were so many people who look alike in the world. However, he didn’t have the authority to decide now. It was two against one. He sighed and checked the time. He wondered if Kang Il-hyun has arrived home. What excuse should he make tonight?
***
There were models of Lee Ja-kyung, portraits of Lee Ja-kyung, the bullet Lee Ja-kyung had shot into his thigh, the first heart message Lee Ja-kyung sent him, and frames with printed images of it. Other items related to Lee Ja-kyung were placed throughout the bedroom like decorations. Il-hyun, who was sitting on the sofa, got up and went to the model of Ja-kyung.
He faced it, cupped his cheek with his hand, and spoke as if he were talking to the real Ja-kyung.
“Baby, will you understand me?”
There was no response. His face became expressionless. He felt conflicted just like when he had decided to kill his own father, but he didn’t want to change his decision. He didn’t want to see anyone, whether they were related by blood or not, standing by Ja-kyung’s side.
How bittersweet it would be if they met again after such a long time of being apart. Damn it. He hated even the thought of it… Killing was the right choice.
Knock-knock, the sound of knocking interrupted his thoughts. Park Tae-soo came in and he started to report the situation. The kidnapped Prosecutor Jang was now being moved to a dockside container. They would arrive shortly and wanted to know if he should kill him right away or if there were other instructions.
While deeply pondering, Il-hyun looked back at the model of Ja-kyung in front of him. He had fallen deeply into reading Romeo and Juliet when he was young. It might sound laughable to others, but the love that ended in death excites Kang Il-hyun.
‘Is love a tender thing? It’s too rough, too rude, too boisterous, and it’s prick like a thorn. That’s love.” He muttered a line from the play, smiled bitterly, and turned to walk toward Tae-soo.
“Let’s go. He could have become my brother, so I should at least see him off on his final journey.”
***
Ja-kyung, Wang Han, and Wang Lun parked the car at a distance and observed the situation. The black van disappeared inside the dock, surrounded by large containers lined up in a row. They had no idea where they went.
Hiding the car to avoid attracting attention, they followed them from afar. Soon, a car approached in the distance. They all hid themselves, and as the car passed by, their eyes widened. The black car went in the same direction as the van.
“That… CEO Kang, right?”
“Yeah.”
The three of them thought carefully. Could it be that Kang Il-hyun gave instructions? Considering how he had seen them as thorns in his side, there was a high possibility. Ja-kyung stood up first.
“I want to go home.”
“Why.”
“You’ll never know. If he finds out we’re messing around again. Do you think CEO Kang will leave you alone?
Wang Lun chuckled.
“Don’t worry. You have insurance.”
Insurance? Ja-kyung couldn’t understand and looked at Wang Lun, who was pointing between his legs. Ja-kyung understood it instantly and retorted sharply, ‘There’s nothing more to wax now!’
Wang Lun asked if it hadn’t grown back, but Ja-kyung couldn’t bear to admit that Kang Il-hyun had waxed him himself recently. He even learns that from a waxing expert. What a crazy guy. The way he enjoyed using what he learned was so vivid in his memory; he could still see his smiling face.
“Anyway, I’m going, so you two take care of yourself.”
As he was about to leave alone, the once quiet Wang Han grabbed Ja-kyung’s arm urgently.
“Wei, wait.”
Ja-kyung looked back with a tired expression.
“Why is hyung like this?”
Wang Han hesitated whether to speak or not. This was just his guess…
“If you and the prosecutor inside are brothers, and if CEO Kang knew that first… Wouldn’t that explain a little bit what’s happening now?”
Ja-kyung was dumbfounded. No matter how crazy Kang Il-hyun was, why would he kill him if he was Lee Ja-kyung’s older brother?
“CEO Kang isn’t such a bad guy.”
“…”
“He might be acting crazy, but maybe it’s because he’s actually hurting deep inside…”
Both fell into silence. Ja-kyung also refrained from adding to his words, feeling uncertain even after saying them. Staying longer might cause unnecessary problems, so he headed toward the car first.
“I don’t know. I’m leaving. Figure it out between yourselves.”
Then suddenly, Kang Il-hyun’s confession came to mind. In the yard of his old house, Il-hyun had picked a beautiful flower from the flowerbed and said,
[From now on, I will give you all the love you need.]
[If you receive it from someone else, then this place will be your grave.]
His steps slowed down. He suddenly remembered the toothbrush that disappeared in the morning. Not once had any of Ja-kyung’s belongings gone missing. The cleaning staff never touched his things without permission. That meant someone might have intentionally taken it away.
In the end, Ja-kyung stopped midway and turned around. Wang Lun and Wang Han were still standing there. Ja-kyung looked around. It was a perfect place to kill someone and leave no traces. Fuck. He cursed and turned back, only to have Wang Lun pat his shoulder and offer his comradeship.
The three moved swiftly between the containers. As they did, they spotted a faint light coming from a container in the distance. A man in a black suit was guarding the entrance. It was a strange sight at first glance.
They hid themselves behind the container, and Wang Lun took a listening device from his pocket. It could pick up sounds even through significant barriers, similar to a stethoscope used by doctors. Wang Lun pressed the rest of his body against the container’s wall while wearing the earphones.
His eyes darted left and right. When Wang Han asked if he could hear anything, Wang Lun signaled him to be quiet and brought his finger to his lips. He didn’t move, just shifting his eyes. Curious, both Ja-kyung and Wang Han stared at him like otters gathering to eat a fish offered by their trainer.
Suddenly, Wang Lun takes out the earphones from his ears and hands them to Ja-kyung. Ja-kyung accepted them and put them on his ears. Beep- the sound made him think his eardrums would burst, so he frowned, and Wang Lun mouthed an apology. Then, a familiar voice came through.
Kang Il-hyun.
Ja-kyung focused on his voice. How we ended up like this is regrettable, and you shouldn’t have been nosy, and this time, you crossed the line first. Etc… It was as expected; not far from his predictions. Ja-kyung let out a small sigh of relief. See, Kang Il-hyun wasn’t that crazy.
Just as he was about to take off the earphones, shuffling footsteps were heard, and Kang Il-hyun’s voice became faint. Ja-kyung paused. The whispering voice seemed to pass through the wall.
[Goodbye, Prosecutor.]
[Still, you’re lucky. You saw that your little brother is alive with your own eyes.]
Ja-kyung narrowed his eyes. His lower eyelids slowly twisted, and Il-hyun’s voice became clear again.
[Still don’t get it? Yang Seon-woo. That’s your little brother.]
A stunned look appeared on Ja-kyung’s face. He quickly pulled the device out of his ears. Wang Han and Wang Lun asked what was happening, looking concerned. Ja-kyung stood still like a statue, with his face still filled with shock.
“What did you hear?”
Ja-kyung still had a bewildered face.
“Wei. Are you okay? Ja-kyung.”
Various emotions mixed on Ja-kyung’s face as he turned to look at Wang Han.
“Hyung.”
“Yeah?”
“Did you bring the gun?”
Before Wang Han could answer, Ja-kyung reached out his hand.
“Give it to me.”