Double Junk - 106

Jingeol was Gold Boss’s adopted son? They had such a relationship? Jingeol? Why didn’t I know? After investigating his whereabouts so thoroughly, how did I not know?

It was Seokju’s oversight.

Seokju bit down hard on the inside of his cheek before releasing it. Whether he said anything or not, Isunee continued her rambling, staring out the window.

“He wasn’t Gold Boss’s biological son, but Gold Boss treated him like one, giving him money and work. Ah, our Gold Boss was quite the softie and generous.”

“…”

“Jingeol only had one younger brother as family, and after his brother died, he followed Gold Boss around like a shadow. But it was President Kang who killed Gold Boss.”

“…”

“So I went to find him. I asked if he wanted to do various tasks together, and he agreed.”

“Ha…”

“Well… President Kang didn’t expect Jingeol to be killed so easily… Even though he did, but still… Won’t Gold Boss be laughing heartily with him in heaven? President Kang played right into Jingeol’s hands. Besides, Ajin also wanted to give him a piece of her mind. President Kang did it for her.”

Isunee chuckled. She even tapped the table with her palm. Seokju stared at her intently. His Adam’s apple bobbed in and out.

Unaware, unaware… I wondered how Ajin and Jingeol could be buried together in one place. Jingeol despised Ajin so much. He must be doing everything to shield me. Seokju even clicked his tongue, thinking.

As he watched Isunee laughing heartily with her mouth wide open, Seokju sneered bitterly. He couldn’t believe Isunee’s words blindly. She could be lying at Kang’s behest, or she might just be insane, or there could be another hidden agenda.

But it was strange. He couldn’t swallow the idea that she was lying. Why? Was he afraid of hearing the terrifying truth or fearful of what he might hear?

Seokju sipped his overly bitter coffee. Then, he relaxed his stiff shoulders and asked again.

“Why did Flower Lady take the woman?”

“Oh, that woman was suspicious. We were thinking of dealing with her soon, but she conveniently dropped dead. And Ajin was fond of her, you know? So I thought, ‘This could be useful.'”

“Did you kidnap the woman to frame Ajin?”

“No, no, no.”

Isunee shook her head vigorously. She waved her hands wildly. Then, she buried her back deeply into the chair. Untangling her skirt caught between her legs, she spoke.

“I used her to deceive you.”

“What?”

“I used her to divert Gold Boss’s attention and block his ears. If I vaguely connected her to Ajin, President Kang would have naturally come and ruined everything, right?”

Thought she was smart, but she was just a fool. Isunee shook her head as if to say, ‘How foolish can you be?’ and chuckled, swaying her head from side to side.

Seokju couldn’t say anything.

“Naturally come and ruined everything.”

The words were too clear. Too poignant. He felt too ashamed and embarrassed to speak.

If it had been a carefully crafted plan, he might have thought, ‘Ah, I’ve been fooled.’ But hearing it now, it was a plan so poorly executed. Everything Isunee had said so far couldn’t have been completed without ‘Kang Seokju.’

While Ki-heon and Isunee dug the pit, I, the prey, rolled into the pit, twisted my ankle, and closed my eyes.

Seokju’s expression cracked. Isunee, staring intently at the handsome loser’s face, smirked.

“Why? Why that expression? It’s all because of Gold Boss, whom you killed a while back. Did you not know it would come to this?”

“…”

“It’s all your fault. Why did you mess with my husband? Why did you kill such a fine man and bring things to this point?”

Isunee glared at Seokju. Then, she took another bite of her moldy cookie. Her gestures were very elegant. With a smirk on her face, she covered her mouth with the cookie and nibbled delicately, which was quite eerie considering she had just laughed out loud earlier.

Seokju spread his palms wide. Sweat soaked through his fingers. Sweat also dotted his forehead.

Despite Isunee’s, or rather Gold Boss’s, house having no heating, Seokju felt unbearably hot. His heart pounded so loudly it felt like flames were licking at his chest. The rain outside sounded like crackling firewood burning.

Seokju, swept away by waves of confusion, tried to regain his composure by splashing cold water on his face. Then, hesitantly, he spoke up.

“Ajin… ran away…”

“Ran away? Ajin? That troublemaker?”

Isunee chuckled as if she didn’t understand at all. Seokju stared at her persistently. How could she not know? Why didn’t she know? She said it was all him, so why didn’t she know? That day, when Doeun died and the backyard caught fire…

If Ajin had just stayed home, if he had just stayed somewhere in the house, sleeping or pretending not to know, none of this would have happened. It was the moment when he realized he didn’t know the most crucial fact.

Isunee raised her eyebrows as if she had figured something out.

“Oh, that’s right… What Jin-geol and Chang-du did.”

“…Chang-du?”

Another unfamiliar name emerged. Seokju frowned deeply, and Isunee kindly added an explanation.

“He’s the guy Boss cut off his arm for stealing a long time ago. His name’s Chang-du.”

“…”

Seokju clenched his jaws tightly. It was another seed of malice, starting from his own actions. Of course, Chang-du, or the pig, did commit the first crime by touching Seokju’s property. But still, at that time… If he had just scolded him roughly without cutting off his arm, none of this would have happened.

Seokju closed and opened his eyes, shaking his throbbing head. Isunee continued to observe him, speaking in a soothing voice.

“I didn’t recruit Chang-du. It was Boss Park Ki-heon who told me. Chang-du went to Jong-ho-pa first. He wanted revenge on Boss Kang, willing to do anything.”

“…”

“But Chang-du was already a known criminal, so there wasn’t much use for him. That’s when Jin-geol offered a good plan.”

“To… remove Ajin from the house?”

“Yes. When Hwang Myung-jin got injured, and the Boss and his men rushed to the hospital. That day, when I killed Doeun. I opened the door to let Chang-du in.”

“…”

“That day, Ajin was doing dishes in the backyard when suddenly Chang-du, with one arm missing, appeared in front of him holding a scythe.”

Isunee mimicked the scene, drawing her arm in to imitate a severed limb. “Ajin was terrified,” she said, chuckling. Then she abruptly stopped laughing and sipped her coffee. When she put the cup down, she returned to her dignified demeanor.

“I don’t know if you know this, but Ajin is quite cowardly. He’s been beaten since he was young, and he’s small and skinny, so he can’t help but be scared even if he tries not to.”

“…”

“Anyway, that day, Ajin was scared out of his mind and ran away. But in front of him stood Jin-geol with a sickle.”

Seokju’s eyebrows twitched. It was that day. The day I killed Jingeol. When I found Jingeol, it took hours for him to appear. He arrived panting as if he had been exercising vigorously, sweating profusely on his forehead even though it was winter. Since I was going to kill him anyway, I didn’t bother to track his whereabouts.

He went home then. He pushed the sickle into Ajin.

Seokju massaged his neck. The headache was severe. His eyeballs throbbed, and his Adam’s apple hurt like someone was poking it with a needle.

“Ajin, cornered by both of them, escaped through the back door I had left open in advance. And he fled on foot.”

“…”

“He didn’t flee from the boss, but from Changdu and Jingeol, who were chasing him with a sickle and a knife.”

“…”

“To survive. To see if he could live.”

Isunee clicked her tongue. Her face seemed sympathetic towards Ajin, even though she had caused him to become like that.

“That’s how his life always was. He had to run away every moment to survive. But I thought it would be less so after he went to the boss’s house. Guess not. Maybe it’s inevitable.”

Isunee smiled and sought Seokju’s agreement, then lifted her teacup. “Back then, Jingeol really wanted to kill Ajin, but I had a hard time stopping him,” she chuckled.

“…”

Seokju didn’t respond. Was it because of Ajin’s fate? Was this happening because of Ajin’s stubbornness?

…Could even this be blamed on Ajin? Can it? Is that fair?

Seokju swallowed dryly. Isunee, who stared at his hardened face, crossed her legs in the opposite direction. Her high heels clattered to the floor. She had forced them on, despite them not fitting her feet properly. “My husband doesn’t even know my shoe size, how…,” Isunee muttered as she picked them up and put them back on. Then she looked at Seokju.

“Originally, I planned to keep the boss from coming down the mountain until he confirmed Ajin’s absence. But if he died on the mountain, nothing could be done.”

“…”

“But then the boss unexpectedly came home early that morning. It was a perfect fit.”

Isunee clapped her hands together. Seokju let out a bitter laugh. At his sarcastic response, Isunee smirked, recounting what had happened.

“Mingjin got hurt, Doeun died, the back house caught fire, Ajin disappeared, and the boss who came home found the evidence I had gathered under the floor.”

“…”

“Well, it was quite an entertaining play, wasn’t it? I wrote the script, Boss Ki-heon performed it, and you were the protagonist.”

“…”

Funny. It was truly an amusing play. The only problem was that I didn’t know I was the protagonist. Seokju took out a cigarette from his jacket and slammed it on the ground.