Double Junk - 104

“…Spirit?”

Seokju furrowed his brows in confusion at the incomprehensible words and twisted his head. In response, the Flower Lady abruptly rose from the sofa. Despite being small in stature, her demeanor was far from docile.

“You… you… what did you do to Ajin?”

“I didn’t do anything.”

Seokju blatantly lied. He couldn’t simply tell the truth, not knowing what mischief the Flower Lady and Ki-heon were up to.

Seokju glanced at his watch. It had only been 30 minutes since the last report about Ajin. Yet, there was unrest. Seokju thought he should instruct his men at home to report every hour from now on.

“If Ajin wants to see him, he needs to know where he’s been, who he’s seen, what he’s been up to, and why he’s suddenly appeared.”

The Flower Lady’s eyes moved rapidly. It seemed she was pondering Seokju’s words, deducing something from them. And in a matter of seconds, the Flower Lady’s face turned red and green, fluctuating. With an uncontrollable body, she began to jump and scream, making enough noise to shake the company.

“You crazy bastard! These idiots! These idiots!”

“Ma’am.”

“I thought you were smart, but you’re a fool! You idiots! Useless fools! You’ll get what you deserve! You crazy bastard! They… they… did this to Ajin, heuuk…”

The Flower Lady’s struggles didn’t last a minute. Clutching her chest, she violently thrust her upper body forward. Since the surgery hadn’t been properly treated, her body couldn’t be in good condition. Intermittently twisting her back, she gasped for breath. Her fingers, which weren’t moving properly, curled like claws.

Seokju approached her.

“First, to the hospital-”

Slap!

Seokju couldn’t finish his sentence. The Flower Lady suddenly slapped him on the cheek. Due to the sharpness of her hand, Seokju’s head turned sideways. With inadequate fists, the Flower Lady struck Seokju’s chest repeatedly, shouting in anger.

“I specifically asked you to do it well! I said that! I said that!”

“….”

“Even when I looked like this, I still trusted that Ajin would be okay with you by his side! What is this! Oh, what is this!”

The organization members intervened to stop the Flower Lady’s outburst. They grabbed her hands and arms, forcing her to sit back on the sofa. The men surrounding her scolded her harshly.

“Is this woman out of her mind?”

“Do you want to die, lady? Who do you think you’re raising your hand to?”

“Damn it, I couldn’t stand that brat from the beginning. Who is she treating like a criminal now? It was Ajin who did everything, so why blame our boss?”

The Flower Lady’s eyeballs turned a reddish hue with the virulent accusations towards Ajin. Holding onto her waist with one hand, she shouted loudly like a village elder.

“You don’t know what he did! What could that tender kid have done! He could have done nothing! It must have been Choe Jin-geol, those bastards!”

At the mention of an unexpected name, everyone’s breath caught in their throats. The organization members exchanged glances in surprise.

“What?”

“What did you say, ma’am?”

“Who?”

The name was unfamiliar to the organization members. Unless she was family. They didn’t have the leisure to remember the names of the subordinates. The Flower Lady exploded with frustration at their confused and clueless expressions.

On the other hand, Seokju’s face turned numb. He recognized the name, Isun.

She was the woman who took care of his room. Filling water bottles, tidying up the desk, spreading blankets or grooming dogs, doing kitchen work, and sitting by Ajin’s side in the evening to do the dishes. She was a female subordinate with a flat forehead, lots of freckles, and short hair.

Why would that woman’s name come out of her mouth? Seokju couldn’t understand at all.

As Seokju was stroking his own lips, the Flower Lady shouted again, her voice ringing out like a slap to the back of the organization members’ heads. Some of the organization members even flinched.

“Isun, I’m talking about Isun! That woman went completely crazy because of Gold Boss!”

“….”

“She’s been following Gold Boss around since he was at the gambling den. Does that crazy woman really think she’s become Gold Boss’s wife! Thinking she’s going to take revenge, oh, that crazy woman!”

According to the incessant and disjointed words of the Flower Lady, Isun had admired Gold Boss since she joined the Gold Hotel staff several years ago. Before tampering with drugs, Gold Boss used to wear fancy suits, often winked at female staff, and tried to satisfy his lust with sweet words.

Isun was also used a few times for that lustful desire, and she fell head over heels for Gold Boss. The Flower Lady called it ‘sickness’.

Isun sometimes acted as if she were Gold Boss’s lover or wife, harassing female employees at the gambling den or bothering women who exchanged glances or conversations with Gold Boss.

But when the Taehoe faction took over the gambling den, that strange ‘sickness’ naturally disappeared. She seemed surprised to hear that Gold Boss had died, but that was it.

The Flower Lady thought that Isun’s ‘sickness’ had been cured by Gold Boss’s death. Isun hadn’t sought out Gold Boss, hadn’t brought up his name, and had just smirked when Taehoe faction members stripped off their clothes and exercised.

But this time, she was caught by the Jungheo faction, and she was seen there.

As it turned out, Isun still admired Gold Boss and was collaborating with the Jungheo faction for his revenge. Although she didn’t know what Isun had done or how she had done it from the fragmented scenes, she was sure she had done something.

“….”

Seokju’s vision blurred. His ears felt stuffy, and his hands and feet tingled.

The appearance of Isun’s name was surprising enough, but it was even more shocking to have Gold Boss come up behind that name. Isun was in such a relationship with Gold Boss, the one I killed. So she collaborated with the Jungheo faction.

He didn’t know at all. Really, he didn’t know at all. Because Isun was a subordinate, a woman.

Seokju was narrow-minded. When he heard ‘perpetrator’, he thought of a man, and when someone was injured or killed, he also suspected a man.

In fact, it wasn’t narrow-mindedness, but it was an efficient inference. Killing a woman was also a man, and killing a man was also a man. Women were always the victims.

So Seokju never suspected a subordinate, especially a female subordinate. That was the word of his narrow-mindedness.

As Seokju swallowed a bitter pill and closed his eyes, the Flower Lady approached, pushing aside the organization members. She grabbed the lapels of Seokju’s coat with her blunt hands.

“D-Did our Ajin die? Huh? Did you kill him?”

“….”

“Why won’t you answer! Did you kill Ajin?”

“I… didn’t kill him.”

“He’s alive? Really? But… why… Why are there so… many? Why is there so much buried?”

The Flower Lady scanned Seokju’s body all over, or more precisely, around his body. It was like shooing away flies with her gestures. Seokju was uncomfortable with her actions. The Flower Lady, who seemed to see what wasn’t visible, was eerie, and Seokju felt guilty as if she could see him defiling Ajin’s bl00d.

The Flower Lady’s grip on Seokju’s coat gradually tightened. It wasn’t that her grip became stronger, but rather, she was gradually collapsing downward.

“Bring Ajin… bring Ajin here…”

“….”

“Bring him… Ajin…”

The Flower Lady, who called for Ajin until the end, soon lost consciousness. Seokju supported her falling body. The organization members helped him and placed the Flower Lady back on the sofa. Seokju gently placed his index finger under her nose. It was faint, but he felt her breath.

“Take her to the hospital.”

“Yes, boss.”

A member nodded quickly. As he sat down on the sofa, another member helped lift the Flower Lady onto his back. Some members hurriedly left the company, centered around the ones carrying the Flower Lady.

Seokju lit a cigarette as he watched the Flower Lady being taken away. Then Deokjae lit it for him.

“Boss. Should we believe what the lady said?”

“Well…”

“Then… what now?”

“We have to find a woman named Isun.”

“Is she still in Seoul?”

At that question, smoke billowed from Seokju’s mouth. He pulled the coat, crumpled in the Flower Lady’s hand, down and nodded his head.

“She’ll be there.”

Because Gold Boss’s house was in Seoul.