As expected, Jung Kyungwoo remained silent.
“If you won’t talk, I’ll look into it myself. I need to at least figure out whether the thread I’ve caught is rotten and will fall apart on its own or not.”
“Do what you want. My head hurts, so shut up.”
“You’ve got quite the attitude.”
With that, Kyungwoo turned his head completely toward the window. He really looked exhausted.
“What kind of situation is this.”
Kyungwoo, with both arms folded over the steering wheel, let out an incredulous breath. Then a slightly unstable voice was heard.
“Did you bring the video?”
“Of course I didn’t.”
Kyungwoo snorted.
“I knew it. Son of a bitch.”
“If I gave in too easily right away, it wouldn’t be fun.”
“Gave in, my ass. I’m the one who’s been letting you slide, trusting in your measly prosecutor authority and acting so cocky.”
“Then keep letting it slide from now on.”
Snicker, snicker.
Kyungwoo chuckled and turned his head to look at Jaeha.
“You’ll get yourself killed at this rate. Seo Jaeha. Keep it reasonable.”
“Then let me keep it reasonable.”
“How am I supposed to keep turning a blind eye to a criminal prosecutor who blackmails people with illegal recordings?”
“This side overlooked attempted murder too.”
“That’s what happens when you pick a fight without knowing your place.”
“I’ve secured evidence. The more this goes on, the more disadvantageous it becomes for you. No matter how powerful Taeryoung is, they can’t cover up the heir with seizure symptoms attempting to murder an active prosecutor.”
“You think so?”
“Even if you control the media, Jung Taeho or the board will abandon you.”
A flash of energy surged through Kyungwoo’s languid body. He glared at Jaeha with terrifying eyes and clenched his right fist. But his eyes were still swollen, and more importantly, his left arm wasn’t in good condition. Jaeha naturally grabbed Kyungwoo’s left wrist.
“You know perfectly well you can’t do it, so why do you keep trying to use force against me?”
“Let go.”
“Don’t show your weak spot so obviously like that. It doesn’t look good.”
“Just you wait.”
Kyungwoo threw out that trite line that wasn’t scary at all and trembled as if he couldn’t contain his anger.
“Must be frustrating not having an ashtray to throw.”
Jaeha grinned and tightened his grip on Kyungwoo’s wrist. The eyes glaring at Jaeha flinched.
“I get it, so let go.”
“What do you get?”
“Stop ending every sentence with a question. That’s an occupational disease.”
“I feel reassured when I hear direct testimony.”
“That’s why it’s an occupational disease.”
“Then what’s your occupational disease?”
“Dealing with crazy bastards who think they’re hot shit.”
“Are there many guys like that besides me?”
“You sure know your own condition well.”
“No, I don’t mean it like that. How many crazy bastards do you deal with, anyway? It’s just me, isn’t it?”
“I get it, so let go and talk. Seo Jaeha. You like unnecessary physical contact way too much. Is it because you’re a pervert?”
At those words, Jaeha abruptly released the wrist. Not realizing how hard he’d been gripping, Jaeha only saw the bright red mark on the wrist after Kyungwoo rubbed it and added, “So brutish.”
“What kind of man has such delicate skin?”
“Whatever. Just tell me what you’re going to do from now on.”
Finally, the opportunity for a proper conversation had come.
“There’s no need for us to see each other in a bad light. Let’s just get along reasonably well.”
“In a relationship that started with blackmail?”
“The blackmail you started. I’m saying I’ll make it so it never happened.”
Jaeha made it clear that Kyungwoo had started it first.
“Didn’t you provoke me first? Have you forgotten how you turned away the person who took the trouble to visit you?”
“That’s… let’s make sure that doesn’t happen again. And humanly speaking, what did I do wrong? I took care of someone who collapsed, I comforted someone who was crying.”
“You’ve got some nerve saying that after the hidden camera and making my hand like this.”
“Don’t forget the attempted murder—I’ve told you several times.”
At the endless loop, Jaeha unconsciously slammed the steering wheel hard. Then Kyungwoo shut his mouth.
“I won’t tolerate violence.”
“Stop being so stubborn.”
“……”
Silence fell inside the car again.
“……Let’s keep it reasonable, Jung Kyungwoo. I’ll never let you and Taeryoung go. So give up and accept it.”
After remaining silent for a long while, just as Jaeha was half-giving up and wondering whether to arrest this bastard right here and now for special assault, Kyungwoo finally opened his mouth.
“Fine. But I have conditions.”
“I’ll at least hear them.”
Kyungwoo, who had returned to a perfectly normal expression as if he’d never cried, stared straight at Jaeha.
“The one letting you slide isn’t Taeryoung, it’s me. Be clear about that.”
“What do you mean?”
“We have factions too. Don’t you get it?”
“I thought the succession structure was already established on your side.”
“It is. But the Chairman is still too healthy. And so are his vassals.”
Jung Taeho’s influence was naturally immense. Also, Kyungwoo hadn’t yet completely solidified his position within Taeryoung. The reason Jaeha’s blackmail earlier had worked was related to this as well.
“My call takes priority over anyone else in Taeryoung. Got it?”
“Over Jung Taeho, you mean.”
“If you don’t like it, we can end it here and have a dogfight.”
Then Kyungwoo continued.
“The ones who tried to block you over the Kim Gilsu case, I stopped them from sending you up. Just for that alone, you should be grateful to me. Otherwise, you’d be meeting village elders at Hallyeo Maritime Park right now, not Han River Park.”
“That’s chillingly realistic.”
“There’s no choice. For you… and for me.”
“Fine.”
Nodding, Jaeha held out his hand. Kyungwoo stared at it blankly.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Let’s shake hands.”
“Don’t do pointless things.”
“How cold.”
Kyungwoo turned his gaze back to the window.
“My head hurts, so shut up and start the car.”
“Am I your driver?”
“Didn’t we just agree to work together? Are you already breaking it?”
“No. Why are you acting like it’s so natural……”
Kyungwoo held up his left hand, still wrapped in bandages. Jaeha shut up and pressed the start button.
“Stop by a convenience store on the way and buy me water.”
“Who do you think I am, your servant?”
They left the Han River and entered the city. There should be a convenience store somewhere, but it wasn’t as visible as expected.
After driving around for a while, he found a convenience store that wasn’t even a brand name. He parked the car in front of it for a moment, went inside, and picked out bottled water. Just as he was about to hand over his card, Jaeha asked the clerk to wait a moment.
‘They sell painkillers at convenience stores too.’
Sure enough, there were medicines on the display nearby. He picked up a bottle of painkillers and added it to the purchase.
As soon as he came out with the water and medicine, Jaeha froze. The car he’d definitely parked in front of the convenience store had disappeared.
He reflexively looked left and right. Forget the same model—there were hardly any cars at all.
He immediately pulled out his phone. The signal connected then abruptly cut off. When he called again, this time he got a response that the phone was turned off.
“Honestly, he doesn’t give me a moment to feel sorry for him.”
Jaeha snorted as he looked at the painkillers he’d bought.
*
Early Saturday morning. It was a holiday due to the five-day work week, but Dohyun was waiting in front of the elevator in the underground parking lot of her employer’s luxury apartment from early in the morning.
Five minutes past the appointed 7 o’clock. The elevator arrived.
“Good morning.”
Dohyun greeted Jung Kyungwoo politely as he appeared in a perfect suit. Opening the passenger door, Kyungwoo approached and asked.
“Have you eaten?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s leave right away.”
After closing the door, Dohyun went to the driver’s seat. Since she hadn’t turned off the engine, the car departed immediately.
They exited the underground parking lot and headed toward Gangnam. Today they planned to take the highway going south.
Bright sunlight entered through the car’s darkly tinted windows. At times like this, checking on Kyungwoo’s condition through the rearview mirror was Dohyun’s long-standing habit.
Whether his condition was okay, whether his mood might be off.
These were matters that any personal secretary and driver would naturally be concerned about. However, Dohyun wasn’t sure if she could pay such fervent attention to anyone else’s mood besides Jung Kyungwoo. One thing was certain—she paid extraordinary attention to Jung Kyungwoo.
For example, Kyungwoo was five whole minutes late today. Usually, he arrived right on time. Even when late, it was one to two minutes. If something came up that might make him later, he’d contact her in advance. Sometimes he was suddenly late without any notice, though it was rare.
Such instances mostly occurred right after he’d been under significant stress. Whether he took a hot shower a little longer than scheduled, or he’d lost sleep and zoned out while drinking coffee, losing track of time.
Contrary to his cold appearance, Kyungwoo had some careless aspects, and Choi Dohyun knew this better than anyone.
But nothing had happened at the company yesterday, and Kyungwoo had left work much earlier than usual.
‘He said he’d rest at home.’
His face, paler than usual, didn’t look rested at all. Even his eyes seemed faintly red.
‘Does he have a fever?’
Emergency medicine was always stocked in the trunk. Just as she was thinking she should stop at a rest area on the pretext of using the restroom and get the medicine out for him—
“Do you have something to say?”
“Pardon?”
“You keep checking on me.”
“Not at all. I was looking at the car behind us.”
“I thought you had something to say. If you have something to say, say it now.”
“No. I really don’t.”
In truth, she wanted to ask what happened last night, but if she did, Kyungwoo would get angry. Choi Dohyun kept her mouth firmly shut and focused on the road ahead.
“Then that’s fine. I’m going to get some sleep now. Wake me before we arrive.”
“Understood.”
Was it because of today’s business? Kyungwoo regularly visited a specific city on weekends once every few months. Dohyun herself was the only person who knew about this extremely personal and secret schedule.
‘If he wasn’t concerned about it, he wouldn’t go down there every time like this.’
Having tentatively concluded it was because of today’s schedule, Dohyun adjusted the rear window from the driver’s seat to make it darker.
