# Chapter 109
Thud! His body was pushed back hard enough to make a sound. Lee Hwan pressed his back against the sofa and glanced down at the hand that had shoved him.
He didn’t feel any pain. To be honest, it was such a weak force that if he had braced his waist, he wouldn’t have moved at all.
Nevertheless, he sank into the sofa obediently because somehow it seemed like the right thing to do. The guy was already angry, and if he exploded at seeing resistance, it would be quite troublesome to deal with.
Indeed, hands that had never done any rough work were white and lean. However, there was a peeled wound along the bones on the back of his hand, making Lee Hwan wonder if this frail guy had hit something hard in a fit of anger.
‘…This won’t be resolved easily.’
He had expected this, but facing it directly was still awkward. Until now, Kang Dongha had always been the one to stab him in the back or commit wrongdoings, so Lee Hwan had been the one to yell at him. This was the first time he was being seriously interrogated by Dongha.
“Did you extract information from downstairs? No, that can’t be it. You already know more than I do, don’t you?”
His mocking voice was filled with anger. He had struggled to gain access to information that Lee Hwan seemed to have known from the start, so whether it was real or bluffing, he couldn’t be pleased.
Moreover, this time he had been backstabbed for the first time. Normally, he would have schemed behind the scenes and paid Lee Hwan back in kind.
So had he already prepared his own punishment this time? Or was this something he couldn’t openly show his hand in, so he was just venting his anger?
“I would have even arranged for you to sit in on the experiments to gather information, and as usual, if you had just kept helping, I would have safely delivered that too within two years.”
Thump! This time he was pushed hard enough to make quite a loud noise. Regardless of Dongha’s grip strength, Lee Hwan was starting to get annoyed.
Sure, Kang Dongha had reason to be upset. Lee Hwan had done something dangerous using his identity. But by that logic, had Kang Dongha ever behaved himself? There were times when Lee Hwan had nearly died because of his antics.
Despite all the crap Dongha had pulled, Lee Hwan had let it slide without lifting a finger, yet here Dongha was resorting to violence after being wronged just once.
“…Would you let go?”
“You’re still not an industrial spy. If you wanted to spy, you would have waited longer. There’s still a limit to the information accessible with just my ID. You would have approached someone else from the beginning, as someone once said. Right?”
Kang Dongha slowly laid out his conjectures. He was still a sharp and perceptive bastard. It wasn’t the first time he’d gradually pieced things together to figure out Lee Hwan’s intentions.
But this time the situation was different. What Lee Hwan had been searching for underground wasn’t partially erased information or objects, but intangible fragments that would have completed causality and disappeared once he discovered them.
Since he was the only one in this world who knew this fact, no matter how much Dongha racked his brain, he couldn’t possibly make the correct guess.
…That should have been the case. That should have happened. If only Lee Hwan hadn’t hastily taken the drug.
“Then what did you go down there to get? What did you touch? For whose benefit?”
“Certainly not for yours.”
Perhaps he’d hit a nerve. The bridge of his nose supporting his glasses wrinkled suddenly.
“Just because you give your weird gathering a name and operate, do you think they’re a joke? Do you think those old men are easy marks just because I’m in there?”
His usual languid attitude was nowhere to be seen. His eyes, which were typically narrowed, were wide open. Lee Hwan frowned as he stared at him, noticing that his pupils were slightly dilated.
Had he taken something? No. His mind seemed perfectly clear and sharp. Even in his anger, he appeared to have enough rationality to somewhat contain his emotions.
Come to think of it, Lee Hwan had seen a similar look before. When he had completely crushed Dongha’s office. When Dongha had tried his best not to show that he was terrified.
“Two weeks. From what I’ve found out, there’s a monthly security check, so you have two weeks left. Whatever you took, put it back by then. Up until that point, I can handle it at my level.”
The clavicle being pressed down felt light, without any pain or impact. Yet Lee Hwan felt a choking sensation at Dongha’s announcement.
Partly because he realized that the vaguely anticipated crisis was really approaching with rapid strides. The thought that something could happen in just two weeks brought a sudden sense of reality.
And it was shocking that Kang Dongha had warned him about this crisis. This incident was clearly Lee Hwan’s fault. Hadn’t he stolen something from underground while leaving records with Kang Dongha’s ID card?
True to his selfish nature, normally he would have reported this fact to the higher-ups without any warning.
‘I had no idea what he was up to. I’m a victim too, but since he almost caused major harm to the research, I apologize. Please handle it accordingly.’
After that, Lee Hwan would have been cleanly disposed of, and Kang Dongha would have escaped the incident without any threat.
Of course, because of his mistake, he would have lost the authority he had worked hard to expand, but perhaps that’s what he wanted. In the memories shown by the fragments of causality, he had always feared the research building he couldn’t escape from.
Yet despite having a clear escape route, he bypassed all the superiors to warn Lee Hwan first. What could his intention be?
‘Still, persuading me within two weeks would be the best approach for him…’
The current Kang Dongha hadn’t yet experienced that fear. He didn’t know what had happened, what situation he’d been forced into, or what choices he had made. So perhaps his ambition and greed were still alive, making him covet Lee Hwan’s abilities.
Moreover, his desire to awaken, though not as strong as before the regression, might still be budding to some extent. He might have judged that it would be a waste of all his efforts to let this opportunity slip away.
Unaware of what Lee Hwan was thinking, Kang Dongha looked down at him, gritted his teeth once, and gave his final warning.
“If not, I’ll have to find my own way to survive.”
Lee Hwan couldn’t affirm or deny his words, and simply removed the hand pressing him down. He wanted to give some kind of response, but didn’t want to offer excuses that would obviously be caught.
Then, frowning in anticipation of more anger, he was surprised when Kang Dongha just returned to his place and turned his head as if nothing had happened.
As if there was no one in the room besides himself.
In the deliberate silence, only the sound of turning pages fluttered. Sitting on the sofa, Lee Hwan quietly pondered the two-week period Dongha had mentioned.
‘To think I’d hear this directly from that guy of all people…’
Perhaps it was the most necessary information he could have received. He now knew the approximate time limit he had. Though he didn’t yet understand Dongha’s intentions, it was a truly strange feeling that he was being helpful in a crisis Lee Hwan had created.
“I’m leaving.”
Kang Dongha didn’t respond to the stiff farewell. As he left the office, Lee Hwan quietly began a D-day countdown in his mind.
Two weeks from now. Within that time, Lee Hwan had to choose among his options and put them into action urgently.
One was to give up on extending Jade’s lifespan, get the drug back from him, return it to the underground facility, and wait for the next opportunity.
The other was to follow his original plan: pass the collected information to someone else and then disappear.
Naru Group undoubtedly knew his identity, which Jade had discovered. If they were determined to investigate, they could dig up all his personal information within a week.
So he had two weeks until the research facility was turned upside down, and a few more days until Naru investigated Kang Dongha and traced him. He needed to completely disappear within less than three weeks.
There was nothing more to consider. If he was going to take the drug from Jade and cut his life short again, he wouldn’t have taken it in the first place. Lee Hwan chose the latter option without hesitation.
‘Haa. Just when I was starting to adapt.’
It looked like he would be drifting without a destination again. Lee Hwan pressed his eyes with his palm and then released. How long could he run after making an enemy of Naru?
Kang Dongha seemed sick of the fact that all the old men associated with the Health Promotion Association were formidable figures, but Lee Hwan was most worried about Naru.
The members of the Health Promotion Association would quickly withdraw and flee if things got serious. But Naru had too much at stake. They had many vulnerabilities but nowhere to run.
What would a cornered lion do to the mouse that bit its weak spot?
After seeing the underground laboratory, he knew to the bone that their immoral acts had no ethical boundaries. At minimum, getting caught would mean death.
Lee Hwan continuously massaged his stiff nape, feeling chilled just from setting foot in Building D, as if he might faint. Now he was on a train with broken brakes. He had to move as much as possible before crashing at the dead-end station.
Would Taesung think it was for the best when he heard that Lee Hwan was being hunted and had sided with someone like Kang Dongha? How much help could he get from Jade? As for Kang Dongha… hopefully he wouldn’t do anything strange if left behind.
At the end of this ordeal, would there truly be peace, happiness, and a Taesung who fully remembered and looked at Joo Lee Hwan?
Woong-.
Just as Lee Hwan was sinking deep into thought, his watch vibrated again with a notification. Frowning at the thought of who might be contacting him, Lee Hwan froze like a stone when he checked his phone.
‘Praxis…’
As soon as he saw the sender’s name written in English, it felt like a starting pistol had been fired with a bang.
‘Thank you for your tip… we would like to hear more detailed information about him, so I’ve left contact information below…’
As if signaling the start of events to come, a reply had arrived from the Journalist Association.
