Small and Fragile Things - Chapter 25

No matter how urgent the situation was, they couldn’t just leave her at home alone.

Muk-hyun had specifically told them to keep an eye on her, so after some hesitation, they ended up bringing Irang along.

“Hey, are you even listening to me?”

“Me? Yeah, I heard you.”

“While Jung-pal hyung checks the situation, you’re gonna stay with me—actually, no. I’ve gotta go in too. Should I just lock the doors and leave you in the car? Sh1t… What should I do?”

Gi-seon frowned hard and flicked on the right turn signal. They were only about 100 meters from the destination. But when the car turned into the alley, he suddenly slammed the brakes.

“What the hell? Why is it so quiet?”

The office was disguised as a construction site field office, but it was eerily silent—too quiet for anything major to have just gone down. If there had been trouble, a window or two would be broken, at least. But nothing was out of place.

“You stay put. Watch the girl.”

“Hyung, this feels off. Shouldn’t we try calling the others first?”

“We’ll know once we check it out.”

“Hyung! Jung-pal hyung!”

Before Gi-seon could stop him, Jung-pal had already jumped out of the car and headed straight inside.

Now Gi-seon was left pacing, looking back and forth between the building entrance and Irang. She couldn’t just run in after Jung-pal—not with Irang in the car. But taking her inside was way too risky.

“Ugh! This is giving me a headache.”

She scrubbed his close-cropped hair in frustration, even though there was hardly enough to pull at.

“Where are we?”

“What do you mean where? It’s an office.”

“Aren’t you going in, Gi-seon?”

Gi-seon, slumped over the steering wheel, shot a glare at Irang’s cheerful tone.

“I can’t go in because of you! Jung-pal hyung could be in danger, dammit…”

“Ah… sorry.”

To be fair, none of this was Irang’s fault. She was just a hostage caught in the middle of all this.

Still, she already looked worried about Jung-pal. Even though she was the one being dragged around like a chess piece, she somehow had room to care about someone else.

Gi-seon felt a little embarrassed for snapping at her.

“Seriously. You’re something else, you know that?”

She let out a long sigh and turned her eyes back to the building entrance. But minutes passed, and there was still no sign of Jung-pal.

“This isn’t working. I—”

“I’ll be good. I’ll stay right here.”

Before she could even finish, Irang cut her off with a quick answer.

“Go. You said Jung-pal hyung might be in danger.”

Gi-seon blinked at her, a bit thrown by the way she spoke like it was her own problem too.

“…Sh1t.”

She’d seen his fair share of people who wore sweet, innocent faces while stabbing others in the back.

Just because she hadn’t tried to run yet didn’t mean she wouldn’t. Logically, it made no sense to leave Irang alone. It was breaking Muk-hyun’s orders, too.

But something felt seriously wrong.

If things were fine, the place wouldn’t be this quiet. Something had definitely happened to Jung-pal.

“You really gonna keep your promise? If you run, you’re betraying me and Jung-pal hyung.”

What a dumb thing to say to someone who was kidnapped. Her brain was scrambling in all directions now.

“We’ve been getting along okay, right? I could tie you up and leave you here, but I’m asking nicely, right? So… God, what am I even saying.”

She scrunched up his face, then laughed at herself. Whatever.

“Anyway. I’m trusting you, okay? Stay right here. Don’t move an inch. I’ll buy you a ton of bread tomorrow!”

Irang blinked, looking slightly dumbfounded.

“Uh… okay…”

But Gi-seon didn’t notice. She hurried out of the car.

The window was slightly open and the doors locked automatically, but from inside, she could easily get out if she wanted.

Irang suddenly shivered, like something sharp had traced down her spine.

What was this feeling?

“Is this… happiness?”

She was worried about the two who had gone inside. She was a little scared being alone. She felt uneasy without Muk-hyun around.

But despite all that, she felt good—so good that it made her forget all the rest.

So she clutched the seatbelt with both hands and smiled to herself.

‘She made a promise. She said she trusted me…’

Her heart thumped loudly.

She’d been held captive before—enough to be sick of it—but this time was different. She wasn’t angry or frustrated. She felt… overwhelmed.

If it was a place like this, she thought she might actually choose not to run.

Placing a hand over her chest, feeling her racing heart, Irang bit her lip to contain the feeling. But that flush of joy didn’t last long.

Knock knock.

And of course, it was the perfect person to ruin her mood.

***

Park Eun-young had finally tracked down Muk-hyun’s place the night before. She’d immediately reported it to Kim Deok-gyu, then stayed up all night trying to confirm whether Illy was with him. And that morning, she’d seen Choi Hyun leave alone.

But none of the underlings who’d gone into the house came back out. That confirmed it for her—Illy had to be in there.

And sure enough, a little while later, they came out with Illy. So she tailed them immediately.

“What the hell is this place…?”

They ended up in a sketchy-looking industrial area. No houses nearby—just woodshops, hardware suppliers, and machine part offices.

Why the hell had they brought Illy to a place like this?

“Huh?”

Just as she was feeling bewildered, something unexpected happened.

People who should’ve been glued to Illy like bodyguards suddenly left her alone in the car and walked off.

“What… the hell?”

It was like a gift from the heavens. Unless it was a trap, this was the best possible opportunity to get Illy back.

She wanted to march right over, grab her, and drag her to the prosecutor’s office. But reality didn’t work that easily. Especially when she was alone—and so was Illy. She had to be careful.

She had no idea when those guys would come back or how many were still inside. If Illy resisted or caused a scene, there was no way Eun-young could handle it alone. She needed a plan.

After a moment, she stepped out of her car and cautiously approached the vehicle where Illy sat.

Knock knock.

“Illy.”

The girl flinched like she’d seen a ghost and backed away from the window.

“H-How did you…?”

Eun-young tried the door handle, but it was locked. She clicked her tongue in frustration and forced a calm, casual smile.

“Illy, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere? I’m here to get you. Let’s go home.”

“…No.”

She’d expected that response, but it still hit hard.

It confirmed her theory—Illy hadn’t been dragged away in Mujin. She had gone with them willingly.

“I’m not going back.”

“What are you talking about, Illy? This is a kidnapping. You’re not safe with those people.”

“How do you know that?”

“Of course I—!”

She nearly scowled at the naive question, but forced her expression to stay composed.

“They don’t even know who you are, right? Wait—don’t tell me… have you been exposed?”

Eun-young peered through the slightly open window to study Illy’s face. She could tell a lot just by her complexion, breathing, and lip color. From what she could see, Illy’s health didn’t seem too bad.

“Answer me. Have you been found out?”

“…No.”

“Good. That’s really good.”

Getting her back was priority number one, but confirming that her identity was still a secret was almost as important.

“Illy, listen carefully. You’re probably feeling rough because you stopped taking the medication. If this goes on, your condition will get worse. Those people have no idea how to handle that. They won’t be able to get you the meds you need in an emergency.”

“I don’t need any of that. I’m fine now.”

“No, you’re not. I know your condition better than anyone.”

“I said I’m fine! I’m not going back!”

“Those people are extremely dangerous. Do you even know who they are? Did they tell you?”

Illy didn’t answer, and she didn’t have to. Eun-young could tell just from her face—she had no idea what kind of people she was dealing with.

“They’re the kind of people who’ll do anything for money. Do you know what that means? It means they’re capable of doing unspeakable things without a second thought.”

“……”

“You need to run. While you still can. Before they find out who you are.”