Chapter 59: The Real Bad Fate
Though it was past time to leave for work, Dohyuk remained seated in the living room without moving. Director Choi, who had come to pick him up, kept checking his watch.
“Managing Director, we need to depart now. Missing the morning meeting would be problematic.”
Director Choi finally urged him, unable to wait any longer. Dohyuk’s gaze shifted to Yeon. Yeon, sitting across from him, silently met his stare, wondering what was wrong. After staring for several seconds, Dohyuk’s face hardened as if displeased.
“Managing Director.”
Director Choi called Dohyuk again, looking back and forth between him and Yeon. Yeon was already prepared to go out. Dohyuk shook his head at Director Choi’s silent look that seemed to say, “Can’t we just leave now?”
“It’s dangerous to bring him along.”
Having already been targeted by a sniper once, Dohyuk was reluctant to bring Yeon along in case he sensed danger again and acted rashly. But he wasn’t comfortable leaving him at home either. Kang Sunhyuk was already seething with anger toward him, and the identity of who killed Sunhyuk’s mother still hadn’t been revealed. That person might target him as well. So leaving Yeon alone at home was dangerous. Stationing security guards outside wouldn’t be enough to ease his mind.
Maybe he should lock Yeon in the hidden room inside the bedroom. That room couldn’t be opened without Dohyuk’s permission and was completely sealed, so no one could attack anyone inside.
“Haa…”
He never expected to be troubled by such things. He never imagined a day would come when he’d worry about someone else’s well-being. Having Yeon right in front of him created a different set of problems.
Moreover, he couldn’t ignore what Yeon had said. Yeon had said he would die because of Dohyuk. At first, Dohyuk dismissed it as nonsense, and at some point, when Yeon said if he died, Dohyuk would die too, Dohyuk thought he was keeping him close only for his own safety. But now, the very idea of Yeon dying bothered him. It wasn’t because Yeon’s death would lead to his own death; he simply couldn’t tolerate Yeon being hurt at all.
Because I’ve started defining him as mine, and I hate anyone touching what’s mine. Despite trying to find his own reasoning, the conclusion was that Kang Dohyuk was wishing for someone else’s safety, not just his own.
This emotion would become poison. If the person who targeted Kang Sunhyuk’s mother was also targeting him, they would surely aim for Yeon’s life to strike a blow at him.
“Are you worried about me?”
Yeon, who had been quietly watching Dohyuk, asked. It seemed like he was trying to gauge Dohyuk’s thoughts from his comment about it being dangerous to bring him along. Dohyuk didn’t answer, but Director Choi looked back and forth between them with a deliberately surprised expression.
“If you leave me here, I’ll move around on my own.”
Dohyuk frowned at Yeon’s response.
“If I leave you here, I’ll take measures to ensure you can’t move around freely.”
Yeon’s expression hardened at the unhesitating answer. He seemed to be recalling the hidden room inside the bedroom. Remembering that day didn’t leave Dohyuk feeling particularly good either. Above all, he didn’t want Yeon to be frightened anymore.
This is really troublesome. Don’t like this, don’t like that. What did he want from that guy? Most of all, he felt a slight irritation at his own emotions being the least transparent.
Dohyuk closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He hated wasting time like this too.
“Get up.”
Dohyuk stood as he spoke to Yeon. Director Choi’s tense face relaxed, thinking they were finally heading to work.
“When I’m not around, always move with Director Choi.”
After instructing Yeon, Dohyuk turned to Director Choi.
“Don’t even let him go to the bathroom alone.”
Despite the ambiguous order—whether it meant to monitor or protect—Director Choi answered without hesitation that he understood.
When Dohyuk went down to the villa’s parking lot, he frowned at the sight of someone standing in front of his car. Kim Seonuk of Star Finance was waiting for Dohyuk.
“Let’s talk for a moment. Just five minutes.”
Kim Seonuk grabbed Dohyuk as he tried to ignore him and walk past. Dohyuk shot him an icy glare. He had no reason to deal with someone who had hired a contract killer to try to kill him. He had kept him in the investment company only because Star Finance was a top player in Korea’s financial industry with a good reputation among the public, which he thought would be beneficial for the Yeouido project in the future.
“You’d be better off not approaching me personally. Didn’t Chairman Kim advise you against it?”
Dohyuk had warned that Kim Seonuk could be next by giving Chairman Kim a video showing how he dealt with the contract killer, so he expected Kim Seonuk would never approach him first. He thought he would at least be cautious for a while, but for some reason, Kim Seonuk kept trying to meet Dohyuk. At first, he said he wanted to apologize in person, but despite being rejected once, his persistent appearances were strange.
“I have something I really need to say. Just five minutes—no, three minutes is enough.”
How dare you still have words for me? Dohyuk wanted to pull out a knife and slash his throat right there. He had dealt with the contract killer and used it as leverage to extract investment from Star Finance at a bargain price, but he had never forgiven Kim Seonuk himself.
Just as he was about to coldly reject him again, he noticed Yeon staring at Kim Seonuk. Yeon was intently scanning the area around Kim Seonuk as if searching for something. Dohyuk immediately realized what he was doing. He’s looking to see if there’s a black thread connecting me to Kim Seonuk.
This man had tried to kill him. So there was no doubt it was a bad fate. If that thread was visible to Yeon, he would surely try to cut it. Remembering the unpleasant black energy crawling up Yeon’s arm made Dohyuk’s mood instantly sour.
“Get in the car.”
Dohyuk stood blocking Yeon’s view of Kim Seonuk and gestured toward the car.
“Ah, just a moment…”
“I said get in the car.”
Though Yeon seemed reluctant to take his eyes off Kim Seonuk, Dohyuk instructed Director Choi to take him in. Only after confirming that Director Choi had somewhat forcefully put Yeon in the car and closed the door did Dohyuk turn back to Kim Seonuk.
“Keep it brief. Since you came all this way, I assume you won’t waste my time with nonsense.”
He was prepared to turn around immediately if Kim Seonuk started with apologies.
“It wasn’t me.”
But something unexpected came out of Kim Seonuk’s mouth.
“I mean, I did hire the contract killer, but it wasn’t me who wanted to kill you.”
What kind of trick was this? Dohyuk’s eyes narrowed.
“There was someone who kept pressuring me to kill you. At first, I refused. Really! It’s true I dislike you, and I did think about killing you, but just because I thought about it doesn’t mean I’d actually do it. But he kept instigating me. He was the one who introduced me to the contract killer.”
Dohyuk started to frown, thinking he was making excuses for hiring the contract killer, but then paused. Someone who instigated Kim Seonuk and introduced him to the contract killer—that caught his attention. Could it be the same person who was driving a wedge between him and Kang Sunhyuk?
“Who is it?”
Seeing Dohyuk’s interest in this person, Kim Seonuk seemed relieved and took a deep breath.
“Keep it a secret that I came here. I don’t know what that bastard might do to me.”
“For someone so cautious, what sense of loyalty makes you want to tell me the truth?”
Kim Seonuk was just as untrustworthy. Though he claimed there was someone else, it could all be lies.
“I don’t think that bastard will stay quiet. He might do something to you again, and in the current situation, you’d misunderstand and think it was all my doing.”
After saying this, Kim Seonuk cautiously gauged Dohyuk’s reaction. Having apparently seen the video given to Chairman Kim, his fear of Dohyuk was evident. If Dohyuk had known he was this timid, he would have threatened him directly earlier.
“It’s someone you know well.”
Kim Seonuk looked around, extremely tense as if worried someone might be listening.
“Kang Chahyuk.”
He uttered a name Dohyuk knew well. Kang Chahyuk? Dohyuk’s eyebrow quirked.
He had anticipated that someone had provided Kim Seonuk with the contract killer’s contact, as Kim Seonuk wouldn’t have had the ability to find one himself. If that person was from Dragon Holdings, since they went as far as to encourage murder, he thought the probability was higher that it would be someone closer to Kang Sunhyuk than Kang Chahyuk. However, after Kang Sunhyuk’s mother was murdered, he had been considering whether to exclude him from the list of suspects.
“Kang Chahyuk… Ha.”
Dohyuk let out a hollow laugh and turned away.
“Be careful! That bastard is more of a snake than you think. That meaningless smile isn’t everything, I’m telling you.”
Kim Seonuk shouted at Dohyuk’s back. Dohyuk opened the car door without responding. He already knew that Kang Chahyuk was different from how he appeared. Following Lee Seojin’s warning, now Kim Seonuk’s confession also mentioned Kang Chahyuk.
“So the real enemy wasn’t Kang Sunhyuk but Kang Chahyuk, it seems.”
At his low mutter, Director Choi looked back. Dohyuk instructed him to start driving, saying it was nothing.
“You saw it, so tell me.”
Only after the car had been driving for a few minutes did Dohyuk speak to Yeon. Though Yeon looked like he had a lot to say, he kept his mouth tightly shut, perhaps considering Dohyuk’s uneasy mood.
“Who was that person?”
“Kim Seonuk. Heir to Star Finance.”
It was information that would impress most people, but Yeon’s expression remained unchanged. What he was curious about wasn’t such superficial information.
“He hired the contract killer who shot at me during the Yeouido project presentation.”
When Dohyuk gave him the information he was curious about, Yeon let out a short “Ah” and turned his head away.
“Is that guy one of the three bad fates you mentioned?”
He asked, assuming Yeon had seen it clearly this time. Even if the answer was yes, Dohyuk was about to tell him not to touch it, that he would handle it himself.
“No.”
Yeon shook his head. Neither Kang Sunhyuk nor Kim Seonuk? Dohyuk frowned, unable to understand.
“He was a bad fate, but not one threatening Kang Dohyuk-ssi. Moreover, the bad fate with that person was already fading.”
If what Yeon said was true, then everything Kim Seonuk had just told him was the truth. He had seemed genuinely frightened, so he probably wouldn’t come after Dohyuk again.
“So I need to catch the real one.”
Thanks to Yeon, he was even more certain. One of the bad fates that could threaten him—it was definitely Kang Chahyuk.
