My Bloody Valentine - 63

In front of Han were seven men kneeling on the cement floor without chairs.

Among them, there were some he was seeing for the first time, and others who were just familiar enough that he recognized their faces, even if he didn’t know who they were.

Han’s eyes narrowed as he looked at one man with his entire arm in a cast, and then he startled and stepped back.

It was one of the Tacenda’s henchmen who had tried to rape Han a few days ago but was beaten up by Wooshin.

“That, that person is…”

“I wondered how the security was breached, so I checked the CCTV, and something interesting was caught.”

The man, with tears streaming down his face, was constantly pleading something through his gagged mouth. It was obviously a predictable plea to spare his life.

Next to him sat Manager Jo Kyeong-cheol, his face so swollen and beaten it was hard to recognize, and right beside him was that man.

The man who, as if cornered, had looked at Han with murky eyes and told him to give up one finger. And the man who had taken out the knife from his pocket and…

At the sensation of that situation unfolding before his eyes again, Han’s chest heaved. His shaky vision was filled with a scene that, despite having experienced it before, still felt unreal.

There was a man far off vigorously mixing cement with rebar, and like before, Youngdal in a gaudy Hawaiian shirt was rolling over empty drums with a smiling face while humming. There were seven drums, the same number as the kneeling men.

Han’s legs gave out as he guessed roughly what was about to happen here.

“Huu…”

As Han collapsed and was about to fall forward, Taeshin’s solid knee suddenly appeared between his legs.

Taeshin, firmly supporting Han from behind to keep him from collapsing and embracing his waist, grabbed Han’s chin with his other hand and made him look straight ahead.

“Do you remember who it was?”

Taeshin’s low voice reached Han’s ear. Han nodded.

“Who?”

The fact that someone would die at his word came with a weight Han had never experienced before. Taeshin, who pulled Han close, whispered in a sweet voice. As if he would take revenge on his behalf.

“Who stabbed your friend?”

All those kneeling on the floor sent desperate gazes. They knew that if Han’s finger mistakenly pointed at them, they would immediately become targets for execution.

“Ah, should we start by getting Manager Jo out of the way first?”

The first one Taeshin had brought here was Manager Jo Kyeong-cheol.

It was suspicious that the incident happened on a day when Jina was absent. Jina doesn’t take a day off more than once or twice a month, except for Sundays, which are holidays for all of Tacenda. And the incident happened in that gap? There was no way such a coincidence could happen.

Moreover, Junho said he had clearly warned Han not to work. Han, who was afraid of everyone except Taeshin, wouldn’t have gone up there to work wearing his uniform brazenly on his own. Not without someone’s instructions.

The radial doubts quickly pointed to one place. Taeshin dug into Manager Jo Kyeong-cheol’s account, his past actions, and his surroundings.

Then, during the period when he was hospitalized, Taeshin found a record of Choi Kijun, Oh Seong-jin’s personal secretary who was also captured here, visiting him, and he could find a large flow of funds from Jo Kyeong-cheol’s own brother’s account.

It was clear that he had sided with Oh Seong-jin.

“Ump! Ump…”

Two men dragged away Manager Jo, who was a mess of tears and snot. Over there, Youngdal was setting up a portable table and arranging equipment.

When he unrolled a bundle that looked like a scroll, all sorts of tools like knives, pliers, and skewers glinted under what looked like squid skin.

He picked up a sharp-looking sashimi knife and turned it over under the light, checking the condition of the blade.

Taeshin turned Han’s chin, who was watching that scene with a terrified expression, back to the front.

Taeshin hurriedly stepped back, passing by Myeongseop who had moved his body aside, and walked step by step towards Han.

Myeongseop, who had glanced at Taeshin’s face as he passed in front of him, froze on the spot.

No emotion could be found on Taeshin’s face. There was neither fear, nor sadness, nor anger, nor a fighting spirit; it was just calm. But it wasn’t hard to guess that something tremendous was boiling beneath that surface.

Soon, Taeshin’s steps stopped, and he put Han down beside him. But Han was still trembling, eyes closed.

“Not there, over here.”

Taeshin grabbed and lifted one of Han’s arms, still trembling. And he leaned in close, as if to press his lips to Han’s ear, and whispered.

“Try pointing with your hand.”

“Huu…”

Han had lived without harboring ill will towards others, but now it was different.

The small spark that had caught on one end of the once pure white drawing paper was burning bright red, feebly asserting its existence.

Han’s trembling arm moved slowly. The tip of his slender index finger beneath his bandaged hand pointed at the man who had stabbed Yujung.

Taeshin’s gaze moved languidly towards where Han’s hand was pointing. Eventually, the man who met Taeshin’s eyes had his pants soaking wet.

“Well done.”

Taeshin kissed Han’s cheek as if praising him. Then he turned his head and beckoned Myeongseop, who was standing far off, with a nod.

“Take him to the car, and guard him well.”

“Yes.”

Myeongseop carefully approached and led Han away in the opposite direction.

The men in the construction site moved in perfect unison. Someone brought black leather gloves and held them out to Taeshin, while two others began laying thick plastic on the floor. Taeshin, who had taken off his jacket and hung it on a folding chair, received the gloves from his subordinate and put them on.

Myeongseop urged on Han, who had stopped hesitantly and turned to look back.

“There’s nothing good to see. Let’s go out.”

“…”

Han quietly nodded and followed him. But soon, as if drawn by something, he turned back again.

He saw Taeshin’s back, his shirt sleeves rolled up to his forearms. He was holding up something that looked like a long construction tool.

Han quickly turned his head away, as if fleeing. When he squeezed his eyes shut, his hearing became more acute.

Thunk-, thunk-, thunk-.

When he was young, he and Taeshin often went to the town to see the market that opened every five days. The sound was just like when the fishmonger, amidst the reeking smell of fish, used a clumsy-looking knife to process the fish on a wooden trunk. The sound of cutting through the head, body, and tail.

❖ ❖ ❖

At the sound of the car door opening, Han was startled as if lightning had struck right in front of him.

Taeshin, now perfectly dressed in his suit again, got in the seat next to Han. Looking at his appearance alone, one could believe he had just come from sitting at a desk, going through documents. But he had a faint smell of iron and blood.

“…You smell of blood.”

“Really? I can’t tell.”

Taeshin, seemingly unconcerned, put his nose to his forearm and sniffed.

“What… happened…?”

“Want me to tell you?”

Taeshin smiled with a refreshed expression, like a child who had just finished his long-postponed homework.

Han didn’t even want to think about what might have happened inside while he wasn’t looking. Nor was it the right time.

“Ah, no. It’s fine.”

Taeshin had extracted all the necessary information from the man.

He was a low-level member of Oh Seong-jin’s organization, who out of curiosity had gotten his hands on some drugs that had just been brought in. Then he had diverted part of the drugs and sold them with his colleagues through the internet.

But he got caught in a police sting operation, and his colleague was arrested on the spot. The higher-ups found out about it, and soon, organization members burst in to catch the man who was hiding in his monthly rented room.

They gave him one task on the condition of sparing his life. It was to cut off one finger of the guy Director Jang was hanging around with.

If a severed finger is properly preserved, it can be reattached within a day, so it was common to use part of a family member or a relative’s finger as a card for quick negotiations.

Before they knew it, the sedan carrying the two arrived at the hotel. Tacenda looked peaceful as if nothing had happened. It was probably time to start business, as the sign made with elegant font lit up.

Han returned to Taeshin’s suite room, not the underground quarters. He no longer asked why he wasn’t being sent back to his own room. It seemed he was aware of his changed circumstances.

Han sat obediently on the sofa and looked down at the bandage wrapped around his injured hand, and asked.

“About Yujung…”

“…”

That woman again.

Taeshin looked at Han with a faint wrinkle between his brows.

“When Yujung wakes up… you’ll let her go, right?”

Is that all he wanted to ask? The subject of the conversation seemed quite unsatisfactory as Taeshin’s eyebrows knitted together.

“Why would I?”

“What…? Then, are you saying you’ll make her work again after she got hurt like that while working here?”

“Let’s say I cover her medical expenses as industrial accident compensation. But why should I pay off her debts too?”

“How, how can you…”

Han looked up at Taeshin with eyes that seemed utterly disbelieving. His gaze was full of contempt and disgust, as if looking at a primitive life form below human. Then, as if something occurred to him, he suddenly took on a determined expression.

“What if I take her place?”

“…What?”

“If I say I’ll repay that debt instead of Yujung…”

Taeshin’s eyes stared at Han as if piercing through him.

“You mean you’ll sell yourself to me to repay Yujung’s debt?”

“…Yes.”

“Do you think you have enough value for that?”

Taeshin sneered, pulling up one corner of his mouth. And Han, looking back at Taeshin with stubborn eyes, returned it just as he received it.

“Whether I have value or not… anyway… you’re the idiot who pays ten million won a night for this unsound body.”

“…”

“It’s already a sold body, so whether it’s once, ten times, or a hundred times… what’s the difference?”

Taeshin, who had been quietly looking at Han, laughed as if sighing. Then he made a phone call somewhere.

“Bring up all the documents related to Yujung, a female employee of Tacenda. All of them.”

And so, they were facing yet another contract.