Perhaps feeling relaxed because he felt this was a stage he had set, Jung Kyungwoo leisurely drew out his words.
“I wish I had something better to offer, but this is all there is. Unfortunately. It would be nice to talk slowly over quality food and a glass of wine at a good restaurant. But Prosecutor Seo doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy such leisure, so I had no choice but to invite you here.”
“We’re not in a relationship to leisurely date, are we? Since you’re busy, let’s get to the point simply.”
“Ha. I don’t know if you still haven’t grasped the situation, or if your guts have spilled outside your belly.”
Jung Kyungwoo’s straight brow furrowed.
“You really seem like someone who has something to rely on. Prosecutor Seo Jaeha-nim.”
“Even if I do, what business is it of yours, Jung Kyungwoo-ssi, and if I don’t, what are you going to do about it?”
At Jaeha’s words, Kyungwoo laughed coldly and cast his gaze out the window.
“That’s more troublesome than expected. It’s not a pleasant method either.”
“So?”
“I’m putting in this much effort, so why don’t you just let it go?”
At Kyungwoo’s attitude of pretending not to know even though they were his subordinates, Jaeha ground his teeth inwardly. Jung Kyungwoo wasn’t the straightforward type. Just like himself.
“I came all the way here, so I can’t return without results. I’ve taken on a lot of risk. If things go wrong… Prosecutor Seo understands, right?”
The pale-complexioned opponent had an attitude like a VIP service staff member apologizing that additional service was difficult.
If he got beaten here, would evidence remain? Even if there was evidence, the probability of it being destroyed was greater.
“Let me take a piss. I was suddenly dragged here and couldn’t go to the bathroom.”
“You’ve got incredible guts. The bathroom is over there.”
Despite being cheap, it was equipped with an indoor bathroom. It wasn’t that he really had an urgent need.
The bathroom had no window, only a ventilation fan running. This pension was an enclosed space where, once the main entrance iron gate was locked, there was no suitable route for escape or intrusion in any other direction. Jaeha was a fish in a fishbowl.
It looked difficult to bounce out of here. Having kidnapped, extorted, and threatened an active prosecutor, Jung Kyungwoo had also abandoned flowery words and brought up the main point.
‘Now’s not the time to gamble with my life.’
He flushed the toilet he hadn’t even used and washed his hands.
As soon as Jaeha came out of the bathroom, he spoke expressionlessly.
“The conditions?”
“Is now the time for Prosecutor Seo to be discussing conditions?”
“Or should I just get buried? For reference, I’ve entrusted the materials from my independent investigation to a specific person, and if I lose contact for more than a certain period, it’s set to be distributed through various routes.”
There was no such person, nor had such a promise been made. But Jung Kyungwoo didn’t need to know that fact.
“Don’t you think about your parents or younger brother?”
“If I die anyway, what use is family? Whatever happens after I die.”
“You’re more cowardly than you look.”
“That’s not something you should say.”
“Your attitude is so insolent, really.”
Even though Jaeha changed his attitude, Kyungwoo didn’t change easily. He was more arrogant and stubborn than expected.
“Then there’s no choice.”
Jaeha headed toward the door. Whether it became porridge or rice, it wouldn’t be bad to try a physical fight first. He gripped the key ring that was in his pocket. In an emergency, it would make an excellent weapon.
“Even if you go out, you’ll only hurt yourself, Prosecutor-nim.”
“Who said I’m going out?”
Jaeha, standing in front of the iron gate, clicked the door locked.
“What?”
When he turned his head, he saw Kyungwoo flinching with a surprised look. Jaeha slowly took off his suit jacket and hung it on the iron gate handle.
Then he undid the cuff buttons of his dress shirt and removed the steel wristwatch he favored, gripping it in his hand.
Kyungwoo’s complexion stiffened moment by moment.
“Using force doesn’t suit my personality. But you made it this way, so you understand, right?”
Thanks to his natural constitution, even without working out diligently, he boasted a physique and strength that didn’t fall behind most athletes.
Tendons writhed in his forearms revealed with each movement.
Click.
When the iron gate locked, Kyungwoo almost jumped in place. The reason he kept his feet properly planted was thanks to practicing his poker face since childhood while being severely scolded.
His heart pounded and his lungs heaved.
He was alone with a sturdy man in an enclosed space. It was the situation Jung Kyungwoo most detested and avoided.
Fuck.
Really, a string of curses burst out inside.
He had thought it was a point completely under his control.
Outside was Director Oh, Jung Taeho’s long-time confidant who wouldn’t hesitate to draw blood at a single glance. Additionally, Choi Dohyun, who was more trustworthy than his parents, was also on standby.
But with just the locking of one door, the entire situation had flipped.
“The conditions?”
With the cold question, Seo Jaeha removed his wristwatch and clenched his fist. He had occasionally seen Director Oh do that.
When he asked Choi Dohyun about it later, she explained it was “a method to protect the hand when striking and intensify the impact on the opponent.”
He never expected to see such behavior from an active prosecutor. Director Oh, who had looked into Seo Jaeha in advance, had said he would have been very successful if he had played sports, but in the records, it was hard to find traces of belonging to any sports team or so-called deviant behavior of being a “school gang leader.”
Born in an ordinary common household, with lives to feed hanging in clusters, a dragon from a stream with a temperament too timid to become a great figure. That was Seo Jaeha.
“Unexpected.”
The first words directed toward the staring Seo Jaeha were sincere.
“The conditions?”
Seo Jaeha, having thrown off his mask, asked once more. There were occasionally humans who showed their bare true colors at decisive moments. They weren’t difficult to deal with. Rather, they were on the easier side.
But Kyungwoo’s brain creaked like a rusty cogwheel. It wasn’t because Seo Jaeha was special.
Damn it.
The medication treatment phase had ended long ago. Trusting his doctor’s assurance, and moreover trusting his own condition, he returned to the country and met his father.
Occasionally when stress piled up, he would take narcotic anesthetics and deliberately stop his spinning brain, but that was a loophole that even celebrities or busy office workers often used, not just Kyungwoo.
“Hurry up, won’t you? I’ve been saying I don’t have time since earlier.”
Seo Jaeha’s attitude continued to be irritating.
That attitude tightened around Kyungwoo’s throat even more. Threatening eyes and a tense body as if ready to pounce at any moment.
His breathing became rough. He wanted to run out the door immediately. But if he did that.
“That’s why you’re no good.”
His father Jung Taeho’s cold gaze and contemptuous tone came to mind.
It wasn’t Kyungwoo’s fault at all that things had turned out this way. However, Jung Taeho thought it was Kyungwoo’s fault for being hung up on past incidents even after 20 years.
He spent the period when parental care was most needed alone in a foreign country. The internal humiliation and anger accumulated during those terrible times sometimes drove Kyungwoo hard.
Son of a bitch.
Not even Jung Taeho, but someone like Seo Jaeha… How dare… threaten this Jung Kyungwoo?
His surprise at the threat was brief, as a fiery rage surged up.
“You’re already speaking casually after only meeting a few times.”
“You do it too then.”
“Your presumptuousness is remarkable.”
The pension that wasn’t operating had very few furnishings left.
A dirty sofa that completely eliminated any thought of sitting, and a water dispenser used by Director Oh and his party who occasionally stopped by. On the small table next to it were paper cups and a box of instant coffee. Lastly, a dirty ashtray.
The ashtray, clearly taken from some room salon, was a tacky-shaped heavy crystal. Kyungwoo took out his handkerchief and picked it up.
“I don’t smoke. The smell disgusts me. Still, when working, there are times when the urge to smoke comes. There are so many infuriating things, you see. Prosecutor Seo, have you never felt like that?”
“……”
“There are ways to relieve stress other than unnecessarily inhaling carcinogenic substances that damage my body.”
Simultaneously with finishing his words, Kyungwoo threw the ashtray.
Thud!
The heavy ashtray narrowly grazed Seo Jaeha’s head, hit the iron gate, and then crashed to the floor. It was so sturdy that it wasn’t broken anywhere and remained intact.
“President?”
Thanks to the loud noise, Director Oh, who had been preparing work outside, shouted in surprise.
Thunk.
Following that, with the sound of a heavy car door closing, Choi Dohyun appeared outside the window. Choi Dohyun, examining the inside, saw Seo Jaeha’s stance and said seriously.
“I’ll break down the door and enter immediately.”
“No, give me a little more time.”
Kyungwoo, who had been fixing his disheveled clothes from swinging his arm at the maximum possible angle, spoke to the driver-bodyguard glaring from outside the window into the interior. She had already drawn her gas gun.
Clank. Clank.
Meanwhile, Director Oh, who hadn’t heard Kyungwoo’s words, was already trying to open the iron gate.
“Hey! Bring the sledgehammer! Open the door right now and cut off that bastard’s neck!”
Bang bang.
He really was striking the door with a construction hammer.
“Go stop him.”
“Executive Director-nim.”
“Didn’t you hear me? Go and make Director Oh quiet.”
The order that flew to Choi Dohyun was sharp. She glared at Seo Jaeha with fierce eyes, then disappeared toward the opposite door.
Soon the commotion outside the door quieted down.
Meanwhile, Seo Jaeha picked up the ashtray that had fallen in front of the door.
“Why? Are you going to throw it?”
“No. Assault is illegal.”
A faint smile spread across the face of the bastard saying such things. It was absurd.
“Do you find this situation amusing?”
“You’ve got more temper than expected.”
Saying that, Seo Jaeha folded his eyes and smiled faintly.
“I like it.”
