Double Junk - 54

54

Ajin swallowed hard. Regardless of how much he disliked Jin-geol, he didn’t want to witness his arm being severed right before his eyes. It would be fortunate if only the arm was severed; who knows, maybe the neck could be cut off. How gruesome that would be.

A trembling Ajin grabbed Ms. Flower’s hand.

“Ms. Flower. Shall we go in too? I have something to give to Ms. Flower from the boss.”

“…”

“Actually, the boss gave us some drugs. They’re delicious. I saved some for Ms. Flower too. Let’s go.”

“…”

“Ms. Flower?”

With no response from Ms. Flower, Ajin kept calling her. She kept looking at Seokju and Jin-geol, her lips tightly sealed. Her pupils became darker, as if seeing something beyond reality. To Ajin, those eyes were familiar.

Seeing that, Ajin closed his mouth. He didn’t want to disturb her. He wondered what she was seeing. Was she foreseeing Seokju’s future, or maybe Jin-geol’s? Or was it the complicated relationships intertwining?

At that moment, five members of the organization rushed from a distance. They held flashlights, and each one of them had sweat-soaked faces. They went straight to Seokju and Myung-jin to report the situation.

“There’s no sign around the back hill.”

“Not a single trace. No footprints or clues.”

“Geumtae last confirmed the drugs around five in the afternoon. It’s past six now. Since then, no one has left the house, and no one is missing. So, it must be somewhere in the house.”

“Even if it’s just 5kg, it’s bigger than a person’s head. If it’s hidden, we should be able to find it, right?”

Seokju took a deep breath. After looking at Jin-geol and the sweaty faces of the organization members, he finally turned his gaze to the closely gathered servants. In a low voice, he ordered.

“Search. Search anywhere in the house.”

Seokju’s black pupils undulated like deep sea waves.

The search continued until past midnight. The organization members searched the kitchen, the living room, the main hall, beneath the floorboards, and even their own rooms. Seokju ordered them to search the organization members’ rooms first, then the servants’ rooms.

It was to give legitimacy and trust to the servants. It was a divine statement that said they wouldn’t only search theirs, they wouldn’t only suspect them. Because of this, the servants couldn’t even express their dissatisfaction.

The organization members were not as harsh when searching the servants’ rooms as they were when searching Jin-geol’s belongings. However, regardless of how one looked at it, rummaging through someone’s room was not a pleasant sight. Various embarrassing items, like neatly folded dried meat, underwear, money hidden away, and flatly pressed cigarettes, things that were not crimes but would be embarrassing if seen by others, were scattered everywhere.

Servants who couldn’t swallow their shame furrowed their brows. Sturdy organization members moved around, asking if they had seen or noticed anyone suspicious regarding the drugs.

The servants remained silent, their heads down. The atmosphere suggested that even if they knew, they wouldn’t speak. It was a mood of not revealing even if they knew. They felt uncomfortable.

One organization member chuckled, cleared his throat, and said as if soothingly,

“Oh, and if you have any clothes or belongings damaged today, the boss said he’d pay double. Don’t think of cleaning up as a bother. He even said he’d give an extra 50 won per person as a daily wage.”

At that, the faces of the servants brightened. Ajin, who seemed to be smiling somewhere, heard it. Ever since he brought people to the gambling den, he had felt this; Seokju knew how to handle people.

The servants exchanged glances with each other. After some hesitation, they spoke a few words.

“Well… We didn’t see anything special…”

“We haven’t seen anyone suspicious. It’s been several months since we moved here. Among ourselves and even the gangsters or those hyung-nims, we may not know their names, but we know their faces. If there was someone suspicious, it would have been obvious.”

“Right. Nothing unusual happened… Oh! Wait! There was! There was almost a fire. Just before the boss left work.”

“Oh, oh! That’s right. Over there, next to the kitchen, there’s a warehouse, right? A fire broke out there, for some reason.”

“A fire?”

“Right. It was about thirty to forty minutes before the boss arrived, so around half-past five, or something similar.”

“Yeah. But it wasn’t a big fire. Ms. Flower noticed it early. When flames started to rise with a whoosh, she yelled, ‘It’s a fire!’ and overturned a basin she was using for dishwashing.”

“We all rushed out because of the commotion.”

“There’s no one around the back of the warehouse, and there’s nothing there except for some rusty tools, so we rarely use it. Dry leaves have piled up there, and it seems the spark spread there.”

“Who the hell would intentionally set a fire?”

“Oh, some crazy bastard did. It would have been a bad sign if he set the house on fire, not the warehouse.”

“Right. I was cooking soybean paste stew in the outdoor cauldron, and it seems sparks flew over there. In autumn, forest fires are common, you know. It’s dry, there are lots of fallen leaves, and the wind blows a lot.”

“That’s right, that’s right.”

The suspicious situation unfolded smoothly, and an organization member nodded with a stern expression. After some further inquiries, he returned to Seokju and reported what he had heard. Ajin was observing the scene intently. Seokju nodded and dismissed the organization member. Then, he looked at the wide-open doors of the servants’ rooms. Ajin followed his gaze.

The rooms of the male servants were in complete disarray. Organization members rummaged through everything, overturning drawers, digging through farming tools, unfolding blankets, and meticulously checking behind dusty farming tools.

At that moment, one organization member gripped the locked drawer of a cupboard. Seokju’s forehead crumpled instantly—it was Ajin’s drawer. As the member attempted to open it, another organization member beside him stopped him, murmuring something. The member then moved away to check a different place. Seokju’s tense expression eased.

“…”

Ajin bit his lower lip, contemplating something for a moment. He then hesitatedly navigated through the crowd and left. No one paid him any attention until he stepped onto the platform; only then did everyone turn to look at him.

Ajin climbed up onto the platform, discarding his shoes carelessly with a light toss. One of his worn-out shoes rolled down under the platform. Ignoring it, Ajin entered the room. His slender figure seemed even smaller as he navigated through the bulky men.

Ajin stood alone in front of his intact drawer. He pulled it out decisively and flipped it open without hesitation.

A cascade of shabby clothes tumbled out. Each one looked old and worn. The only item worth looking at was the jacket Seokju gave him. There were crumpled notebooks with scribbles, pencils, and even scattered chocolates.

One organization member, holding a tightly closed drawer, glanced at Ajin. He then tactfully released the drawer, moving on to another spot. Seokju’s tense expression relaxed.

“…”

Observing this, Ajin chewed on his lower lip. After a moment of contemplation, he clumsily picked up one clean and crisp piece of clothing from the fallen pile and exited the room. As everyone looked on, Ajin sat on the platform, intending to put on his shoes. At that moment, a long shadow loomed over him.

It was Seokju.

Seokju sat down in front of Ajin and picked up the rolled shoes. Placing them neatly on the platform, he opened the shoes wide for Ajin to step into. Ajin inserted his foot without a word.

“You’re not suspected. So, don’t worry, Ajin.”

Seokju spoke in a low voice. Ajin shook his head slightly.

“I’m also a servant. I don’t want to leave any room for suspicion. What if the boss, for a moment, doubts me later, thinking, ‘What if?'”

“That’s not the case.”

“The boss may not think so, but others might. What if that crippled guy stole it? We should have searched that drawer back then. Acting suspiciously like that.”

“He… thinks of everything.”

“Surely he will.”

“Okay. You’re right. Since you’ve overturned it as you wished, just stay in your room now. It’s cold.”

Seokju chuckled as he gently stroked Ajin’s head.

“What about the boss?”

“Keep searching. You can sleep first. Ah, dinner. You probably haven’t eaten. Go to the kitchen and have dinner. Flower and Ms. Ahjumma must be having some medicine too.”

“…Yes.”

Ajin nodded and stood up.

“I’ll take this shirt to the boss’s room.”

“Sure.”

Ajin bowed slightly towards Seokju. Then, he limped across the yard and moved away. The servants glanced back and forth between Ajin and Seokju. Their mouths twitched as if they wanted to say something, but they managed to stay silent.

Once Ajin disappeared around the corner, Seokju turned his head. Mingjin, who had been waiting, quickly approached.

“Hyungnim, it seems like it’s not in the house… Uh, I feel like I’m burning up inside. Is that irresponsible jerk behind all this?”

“Could be.”

“Is it related to the incident with Jung-ho-pa from last time? Setting fire and causing a ruckus, did he already get what he wanted during that chaos?”

At those words, Seokju furrowed his annoyed eyebrows. A sudden surge of anger and irritation made his head ache.

Lately, he had been happy, sticking close to Ajin, embracing him, and even buying him food. The unexpected turn of events was unpleasant, stealing not only his peace but also a sense of being robbed of happiness. Despite Ajin still being in his room, ready to be held and comforted at any moment.