Chapter 47: Bait
The person sent on Muyeong’s errand led Dohyuk to Yeon’s room. After being told he could go in, he opened the door, but the room was completely empty. He frowned, unsure whether this was even the room Yeon had been using.
The room contained only a small wardrobe and a low table. He went in and opened the wardrobe. A row of identical white clothes hung inside. Dohyuk’s face hardened as he pulled one out to examine it. The embroidery of one bird killing another was exactly the same. The other clothes were identical too.
The person who had guided him and Muyeong wore similar clothes, but the embroidery on their clothes was completely different. It seemed that the embroidery was customized according to each person’s circumstances or preferences.
So was this really Yeon’s room?
He took out his phone and opened the tracking app. The tracking device he had planted in Yeon’s phone showed the same location where Dohyuk was standing now.
He couldn’t find the phone despite searching the wardrobe. Looking around the room, he noticed a small drawer attached to the low table. When he opened it, sure enough, the phone he had given Yeon was inside.
“Ha!”
He let out an exasperated breath. He had been careless. Most people carried their phones like extensions of their bodies, so he had naively assumed Yeon would do the same. He hadn’t expected someone unfamiliar with phones to leave it behind like this.
What did Yeon think the phone was for? It only had Dohyuk’s and Director Choi’s numbers in it. It was extremely rare for Dohyuk to personally give his phone number to anyone. Yet he had entered it into Yeon’s phone.
He had told him he could call anytime if needed. Despite knowing it might disturb him while working, he had granted Yeon that much.
But to think it would be abandoned like this. And the power was off too. Not providing a charger had been the problem… He hadn’t considered that Yeon might be in a place where he couldn’t charge a phone. He hadn’t realized it was so disconnected from modern reality.
With a deep, audible sigh, Dohyuk picked up the phone he had given to Yeon and stood up. Without needing a guide, he retraced his steps back to Muyeong.
Bang! When the door opened without a knock, Muyeong frowned and turned around.
“Who’s the client?”
Muyeong stared at Dohyuk silently. He seemed to have abandoned the somewhat respectful speech he had been using earlier. Though Dohyuk’s face had remained frighteningly cold when he first entered this place, throwing a person and putting a knife to his neck, now emotion was showing through. His eyes gleamed intensely as he looked down at Muyeong. Anger could be read in them.
It seemed he now accepted that Yeon was truly not here.
“That’s…”
“If you’re going to say you can’t tell me, you’d better not even open your mouth.”
What had made such a cold-hearted man so agitated? Just the fact that Yeon wasn’t here? Muyeong couldn’t understand what Yeon meant to this man. If it had been ordinary affection, the man’s ferocity might have been more understandable, but this was different from affection.
“Dragon Holdings.”
Muyeong looked away from Dohyuk as he answered. Dohyuk’s eyebrows shot up as if to say, “What do you mean?”
“Someone from Dragon Holdings came and took him away.”
At this calm answer, Dohyuk looked as if he’d been slapped.
“It seems to be an internal matter for your company, so you should look into it yourself.”
Indicating he had no more to discuss with Dohyuk, Muyeong turned his head away completely. Dohyuk, who had been glaring at Muyeong as if he could devour him, turned sharply and left the room.
The night, which had been so tumultuous, finally became quiet again. But Muyeong’s heart was more turbulent than ever.
***
Dohyuk returned to the car after about 30 minutes. When Director Choi, who had been waiting outside the car, saw Dohyuk approaching on the mountain path, he quickly went to him. Ignoring Director Choi, Dohyuk got into the car immediately and slammed the door hard. The sound was so loud it could have broken the door, making both Director Choi and the driver flinch.
Something bad must have happened. Even so, it was strange. Kang Dohyuk wasn’t the type to openly show his bad mood like this.
After signaling to the driver, Director Choi also sat in the front passenger seat.
“Did things not go well?”
Director Choi turned and asked Dohyuk. Deep wrinkles had formed between Dohyuk’s brows. Now that he thought about it, why was he alone? He had clearly gone to bring back Yeon…
“Find out who that bastard is.”
Dohyuk’s voice was chilling. Director Choi blinked, wondering what he meant. Usually, Director Choi could guess what Dohyuk wanted just by looking at his eyes and expression, but now the hints were too few.
“Someone got to Muryeong before me. Using the name of Dragon Holdings. Find out how the information about Muryeong leaked.”
At this more specific explanation, Director Choi was stunned. He had personally conducted the investigation into Muryeong, and he hadn’t shared the results with anyone. He had assigned people to watch Hovan Gallery, but they didn’t even know they were investigating something related to Muryeong.
So how could the information about Muryeong have leaked? It was incomprehensible. Had he made a mistake somewhere? As he carefully went through his schedule, a realization hit him.
Ah, could it be…
The only person who had visited his home last weekend was Lee Seojin. The materials about Muryeong had been spread out on the table, but he hadn’t bothered to put them away because he thought it wouldn’t matter if Seojin saw them. For years, he had been working as a spy under Kang Sunhyuk for Kang Dohyuk’s sake, so he was definitely Dohyuk’s man. But it seems trusting him had been a mistake.
“I believe it might have been Executive Director Kang Sunhyuk.”
When Kang Sunhyuk’s name came up, Dohyuk looked at Director Choi with an expression that said it was absurd. How could that idiot have found out about Muryeong? Originally, Kang Sunhyuk shouldn’t have known anything about Muryeong. The only people at Dragon Holdings who knew that Yeon was a shaman from Muryeong were Dohyuk and Director Choi.
Director Choi’s face turned ashen as he bowed his head deeply.
“I’m sorry. Lee Seojin visited my home last weekend. He said he just came for a drink because he was having a hard time… I think he might have seen the materials about Muryeong then.”
Even with Director Choi’s confession, Dohyuk couldn’t immediately comprehend. Did he mean that Lee Seojin had passed the information about Muryeong to Kang Sunhyuk? Ha, Lee Seojin?
“It seems I’ve been raising a thieving cat.”
At the voice dripping with coldness, Director Choi grimaced and swallowed dryly. While he couldn’t understand why Lee Seojin would do such a thing, in a way, he could understand his feelings. Jealousy over Yeon… That was probably the reason.
Director Choi’s gaze turned to Dohyuk. He was staring straight ahead with a face even colder than usual. He didn’t dare ask what Dohyuk was thinking. Kang Dohyuk could never understand Lee Seojin’s heart. That’s what scared him. He couldn’t ask how Dohyuk would handle Lee Seojin, who had betrayed him for whatever reason.
***
Though Kang Sunhyuk had brought Yeon from Muryeong, he didn’t know how to use a shaman. From the beginning, he hadn’t needed a shaman’s power; he had brought him solely with the intention of getting back at Kang Dohyuk.
“Where do you usually stay?”
Kang Sunhyuk asked Yeon. He had brought him to his own home yesterday, but he wondered if he should keep him there.
“I stay at the place closest to the client. That way, I can detect and sever the client’s bad connections.”
He couldn’t understand these shamanistic explanations even when he heard them. He had no interest in things like bad connections. Kang Sunhyuk was interested in how Kang Dohyuk would react when told that he had Yeon.
“Don’t you usually not meet your former clients again?”
The person who appeared to be the head of Muryeong had attached the condition that Yeon should not meet Kang Dohyuk again.
“Usually, that’s the case.”
Yeon answered in a quiet voice. Still, he was an interesting guy, more so the more Kang Sunhyuk watched him. It was amazing how someone could sit still for hours without moving. If he hadn’t blinked occasionally, Sunhyuk would have believed he was a mannequin.
“Do you guys receive some kind of special training? Like mannequin imitation or something?”
At the unexpected question, Yeon, who had been looking at Kang Sunhyuk, smiled slightly.
“Oh? You can smile too.”
At Kang Sunhyuk’s observation, Yeon quickly composed his expression, but it was too late. Kang Sunhyuk was staring at him with gleaming eyes.
“Does it reach a point where even a man becomes acceptable?”
He tilted his head and made another random remark.
“Even though you’re a shaman who needs to stay by his side all day, Kang Dohyuk wouldn’t have followed that requirement, right? The shaman part should have already disqualified you.”
The conversation jumped around. When Kang Dohyuk’s name suddenly came up, Yeon unconsciously stiffened.
“That guy has never had any issues with women, you know. Who knows? Maybe it wasn’t women he was interested in, but men.”
He rambled on, not caring whether Yeon answered or not. Listening to him, it was hard to tell whether he was talking to himself or wanting Yeon to hear.
Yeon quietly observed his surroundings. A black thread was waving around Kang Sunhyuk. It was a bad connection filled with as much intense malice as the one entangled with Kang Dohyuk. So this person must be one of Kang Dohyuk’s bad connections.
“Do you… hate Kang Dohyuk?”
It was too direct a question, but he didn’t know how to phrase it more tactfully.
“Hate him?”
Kang Sunhyuk’s face contorted.
“Isn’t ‘hate’ too pretty a word? That bastard is really, ah…”
Recalling Kang Dohyuk seemed to heat him up again; he exhaled forcefully and grabbed his forehead.
“If it weren’t for him, my life wouldn’t have been so messed up. And my mother, if it weren’t for that bastard Kang Dohyuk’s mother, she wouldn’t have ended up like she did.”
When mentioning his mother, Kang Sunhyuk’s eyes intensified. It seemed his animosity originated from his mother.
“Do you think about killing him?”
“If possible.”
Kang Sunhyuk answered without hesitation. Yeon’s heart sank at the answer.
“But that bastard won’t die. He wouldn’t be dragged away even if the grim reaper came for him. So what can I do? I just have to figure out how to live my own life.”
Having made up his mind, Kang Sunhyuk made an “oomph” sound and stood up.
“I don’t have anything against you, but consider this a consequence of being involved with Kang Dohyuk. It’s unfortunate, but you’ll have to serve as bait.”
Bait to bring down Kang Dohyuk. Saying this, Kang Sunhyuk smiled enigmatically.
