Chapter 74: Not Enough
They weren’t heading home as expected. The car carrying Dohyuk and Yeon entered a building about 10 minutes away from Dragon Holdings headquarters.
“Where is this place?”
“A building personally owned by the Managing Director,” Director Choi answered. It wasn’t as tall as the skyscrapers in Yeouido’s financial district, but it was a clean-looking building about five floors high. From what Yeon glimpsed upon entering, the first floor had restaurants and a convenience store, with what appeared to be offices above.
Director Choi parked the car in the building’s parking lot and opened the back door. After Dohyuk got out of the car, he frowned when Yeon tried to follow.
“Wait here.”
At Dohyuk’s instruction, Yeon immediately shook his head.
“I’m coming with you.”
It was better to be together than to wait alone anxiously, not knowing what might happen. Besides, he had witnessed Dohyuk being attacked twice today. Despite Director Choi and other bodyguards standing guard, he still felt uneasy.
“There’s nothing good for you to see.”
Yeon wondered what he meant before his expression hardened as realization dawned.
“You didn’t… capture that person from earlier, did you?”
Dohyuk had clearly told Director Choi to capture one of the men who had attacked Kang Sunhyuk and let the others escape. Dohyuk didn’t answer whether that was correct.
“Are you really going to torture him?”
“It’s an interrogation.”
Torture or interrogation. They should be different words, but why did they sound exactly the same when Kang Dohyuk said them?
“You wouldn’t expect me to serve tea and be gentlemanly to someone who tried to kill me, would you?”
Dohyuk asked as if such an idea was absurd. Yeon bit his lower lip hard and got out of the car. Honestly, he was worried about what he might see, but still felt it was better to be by Dohyuk’s side.
“I won’t interfere. Just don’t kill him.”
“You’re quite obsessive.”
Responding indifferently that Yeon was asking for a lot—don’t harm him, don’t kill him—Dohyuk turned away. Since he hadn’t told Yeon not to follow, Yeon looked back at Director Choi. Director Choi nodded as if there was no helping it.
They entered a passageway connected to the underground parking lot, and after passing through a dark corridor, there was a thick iron door at the end. When Director Choi knocked, the door opened from inside.
Ah… Yeon swallowed a groan in his throat. Two men were sitting tied to chairs. Their faces were already difficult to recognize in their original form. Their eyes were torn and swollen, to the point where Yeon wondered if they could even see properly.
Dohyuk approached the one in worse condition. He grabbed the face of the man whose head was hanging low, forcing him to look up and meet his eyes.
“Tell me who hired you.”
Yeon flinched at Dohyuk’s voice. It was a chillingly low tone he had never heard before. Even just from his voice, there was an oppressive feeling that seemed to constrict one’s breath.
“Kang… Sunhyuk…”
The man’s blistered lips barely moved as he managed to answer. Hah, the sound of Dohyuk’s scoffing laughter was heard. Dohyuk raised his arm and swung it wide, and with a slapping sound, the man tied to the chair toppled sideways. With a cough, blood flowed from the man’s mouth along with labored breathing.
Dohyuk’s gaze shifted to the side. Judging by his black clothes, he seemed to be one of the group that had attacked Kang Sunhyuk.
“If I ask if you two know each other, you’d deny it anyway.”
Dohyuk firmly grabbed and lifted the black-clothed man’s chin. Just from that, the man squealed in fear. This one seemed much more cowardly than the one who had acted alone.
“Are you going to say Kang Dohyuk ordered you to do it?”
Since they had attacked Kang Sunhyuk, they would have coordinated their story to say Kang Dohyuk hired them. But since that same Kang Dohyuk had saved Sunhyuk, the man couldn’t give that answer and just twisted his face in distress.
“I’m curious what you’ll answer.”
With a metallic click, Dohyuk pressed a black blade to the man’s face. When the blade touched his cheek, the flesh thinly split and blood seeped out. Unable to continue watching, Yeon turned his head away.
“Who hired you to kill Kang Sunhyuk?”
It was so devoid of intonation that it could hardly be considered a question.
“P-please… spare me…”
“If you want to live, tell the truth. Who ordered you?”
Dohyuk bent down while still holding the man’s face. His eyes gleamed brightly as he brought his face close.
“Kang…”
Dohyuk seriously contemplated stabbing the knife into the man’s neck if he answered “Kang Sunhyuk” or “Kang Dohyuk.” If Yeon hadn’t been watching, he might have done so without hesitation.
“Chahyuk…”
Dohyuk, who had been glaring at the man with narrowed eyes, released his chin. Even after that, he continued to stare at the man for a long time.
“Let him go.”
At Dohyuk’s instruction, the others standing guard were taken aback. Yeon was also a bit surprised. Would Dohyuk really just let him go if he confessed the truth? Considering Kang Dohyuk’s character, it was truly unexpected.
When his hands and feet were untied from the chair, the man hesitated, unsure if he could really leave. Only when Dohyuk turned away, as if no longer interested, did the man cautiously rise. Checking to see if anyone would stop him, he slowly moved toward the exit, and as soon as the door opened, he quickly ran out.
“Is it okay to let him go like that? Even if you release him, shouldn’t you report him to the police…”
“Track him.”
Yeon, who had been asking the question because he felt uneasy about just letting go of someone who had attacked Kang Sunhyuk, looked at Dohyuk with widened eyes at his next words. Following Dohyuk’s instruction, Director Choi took out a tablet PC and launched a location tracking app.
“Should we have someone follow him separately?”
“That would just make him wary, so leave it.”
Yeon couldn’t understand what was happening. As he stared at Dohyuk without blinking, Dohyuk finally spoke.
“A tracking device with a listening function.”
He explained that while threatening the man earlier, he had attached a thumbnail-sized tracking device with a listening function inside the collar of the man’s jacket.
“You said if he told the truth, you’d let him go…”
“I need to verify whether it’s true or not.”
From the beginning, Dohyuk hadn’t believed the man’s words at all. Whatever he confessed, there was no way to know if it was true or false. In the case of the man who had attacked Dohyuk, he had given the absurd answer of “Kang Sunhyuk,” so he wasn’t even given a chance, while the man who had attacked Sunhyuk had given a somewhat plausible answer, so Dohyuk had let him go to track him afterward.
“What are you going to do with that person?”
Yeon asked, pointing at the other man lying on the floor.
“That’s none of your concern.”
“Kang Dohyuk-ssi.”
Yeon grabbed the collar of Dohyuk, who was about to turn away. Dohyuk’s gaze moved to Yeon’s hand holding his clothes.
“You promised not to harm anyone.”
“That ‘anyone’ doesn’t include someone who tried to kill me.”
“Still…”
Kang Dohyuk wasn’t dead. He wasn’t even injured. Yeon didn’t mean to forgive the attacker. Even without dealing with him personally, there were ways to hand him over to the police. If Dohyuk handled it himself, it would only increase the number of people with grudges against him.
But seeing Dohyuk looking at him with cold eyes, Yeon couldn’t speak. He had been fine when Dohyuk returned after being attacked on the way to a meeting, but for some reason, he seemed to have been in a low mood since then. Yeon tried to think if he had made some mistake but couldn’t figure it out.
No, come to think of it, Kang Dohyuk had been like this from the beginning. He trusted no one and looked at Yeon with cold eyes. Maybe Yeon had been mistaken because at some point, the suspicion had disappeared from Dohyuk’s eyes when looking at him, and his tone had occasionally become so gentle that it made Yeon’s heart sink.
What had he expected? From this person… who was he to expect anything?
Confused by his own emotions, Yeon closed his mouth and lowered his gaze. Dohyuk had no obligation to keep his promise to Yeon. He had only made it because he wanted Yeon by his side, and if that reason disappeared, there was no obligation to keep the promise.
Dohyuk, watching Yeon who had suddenly gone quiet, let out a low sigh. He felt his insides twisting, but not knowing the exact reason made his irritation soar.
He didn’t know how to completely possess this person. He thought keeping Yeon by his side would be enough. He thought he’d be satisfied just by binding him so he couldn’t run away, but it wasn’t so. Something was missing. Despite Yeon being right in front of him, within reach, the thirst remained unquenched.
“Huhhh…”
At the sound of a long sigh, Director Choi turned to look at Dohyuk, wondering if there was a problem.
“Hand that bastard over to the police.”
“Pardon?”
Director Choi’s voice jumped in surprise. If they had handed him over to the police from the start, it would have been understandable, but after bringing him here separately for interrogation, Dohyuk would normally have ordered a quiet cleanup. But now he was saying to hand him over to the police… Looking at the man who could barely open his eyes, he was at a loss for words.
“The police might raise issues about this.”
“He came at me with a knife. Get a lawyer and resolve it as self-defense.”
Of course, if Dragon Holdings provided a lawyer, they could somehow get past it, but the process would be quite cumbersome and annoying. Director Choi couldn’t understand why Dohyuk was choosing a troublesome method over the easy one he had always used, until his gaze moved to Yeon standing beside Dohyuk.
Although he didn’t excessively try to control Dohyuk, Yeon’s very existence was clearly influencing him. Yeon, he was neutralizing Kang Dohyuk’s sharp killing intent.
Perhaps it was for the best.
While Director Choi had never objected to Dohyuk’s methods until now, he felt that this change wasn’t bad. As the scope of Dragon Holdings’ activities expanded and its influence widened, it was better for Kang Dohyuk’s future to avoid any actions that could be criticized.
***
The car ride back home was terrifyingly silent. Both Yeon and Dohyuk sat in their respective places, looking out the window without saying a word. Only Director Choi was busy gauging the atmosphere between them.
“Don’t just track his location, listen in 24/7. If anything comes up, contact me immediately.”
As they got out in front of the villa, Dohyuk emphasized once more to Director Choi. After Director Choi acknowledged with a bow, Dohyuk turned abruptly and entered the villa entrance. He left behind only the cold wind, not caring whether Yeon was following or not.
Yeon bowed politely to Director Choi before following Dohyuk. At least Dohyuk was standing at the front of the automatic door, waiting for it not to close.
Once they were alone in the elevator, the silence became even more suffocating.
“Thank you for handing that person over to the police.”
Feeling he had to say something, Yeon spoke up. Dohyuk, who hadn’t expected to be thanked for that, furrowed his brow.
