Chapter 67: Curious About Kang Dohyuk’s Weakness
After placing the cremated remains in the columbarium and throughout the return journey, Kang Sunhyuk remained silent. Sitting in the backseat of the car, he leaned his forehead against the window and stared outside like someone who had lost his soul. Lee Seojin occasionally checked the back through the rearview mirror while driving. Sunhyuk had tossed the car keys to Seojin, saying he didn’t want a chauffeur either, but he didn’t seem to be in the mood to talk to him either.
Though he had been caught acting as a spy, Seojin had wanted to quit, but even that wasn’t possible. On one hand, he felt uneasy about leaving Kang Sunhyuk in this state. Sunhyuk had told him to stay by his side and help with work as atonement, but Seojin thought that was said in anger. He planned to properly resign once Sunhyuk became more stable.
“Executive Director.”
Lee Seojin called out upon arriving at the house. After confirming that Sunhyuk had straightened up, he pointed at the windshield, saying, “There, in front…” Narrowing his eyes to check, Sunhyuk staggered out of the car.
A familiar face was standing in front of the parking area of Sunhyuk’s house. Even after recognizing the person, Sunhyuk tried to walk past without acknowledgment.
“I heard today was the funeral procession?”
Kang Chahyuk grabbed Sunhyuk’s arm.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t attend the funeral. I thought it might look a bit ridiculous to others if I went.”
“It doesn’t matter, so get lost.”
Sunhyuk made no attempt to hide his foul mood. Lee Seojin, who had followed after parking, bowed to Chahyuk and handed the car keys to Sunhyuk. However, Sunhyuk just stared blankly at the keys in Seojin’s hand without taking them.
“Come pick me up in the morning.”
“Are you… planning to go to work?”
“Shouldn’t I? Well, I guess you’d prefer if I just sat around doing nothing and removed myself from company affairs.”
“No, that’s not what I meant… No. I’ll come to escort you in the morning.”
Lee Seojin wanted to say that since he had just held a funeral, he could take at least a day off, but he kept quiet and retreated, fearing his words might sound hypocritical rather than concerned.
“Are you okay?”
Chahyuk asked only after confirming Seojin had left. In normal circumstances, Sunhyuk would have responded irritably, asking if he looked okay, but he seemed too tired even for that as he silently opened the gate and went inside. Chahyuk quickly followed before the door closed, walking alongside Sunhyuk.
“I heard it was that bastard Kang Dohyuk’s doing.”
At those words, Sunhyuk stopped walking. He turned his head sharply and glared at Chahyuk as if he would devour him. Chahyuk swallowed dryly and opened his mouth, finding the atmosphere more menacing than he’d expected.
“But why would Kang Dohyuk suddenly do this? He’s not the type to do crazy things without reason. Unless there was something that would benefit him.”
When Sunhyuk didn’t respond, Chahyuk frowned deeply and muttered, “Could it be…” Sunhyuk stared at him intently, wondering what he was about to say.
“Is it because of Baek Hyeri from Kangsan Construction? I heard you’ve been seeing Baek Hyeri lately.”
A harsh breath escaped at this unexpected hypothesis.
“Are you saying that bastard killed our mother because of Baek Hyeri?”
Chahyuk seemed to realize how absurd that sounded from Sunhyuk’s tone, and he let out a pained groan.
“Then what is it?”
“It seems it wasn’t him who killed her.”
“But I heard you were furious, saying you’d kill Kang Dohyuk?”
Chahyuk asked what that was all about, clearly having heard something from somewhere. Sunhyuk turned his head away, exhaling a long breath.
After confirming his mother’s body, when he heard that Dohyuk was the first person to discover and report it, something seemed to snap in his mind. The reason that bastard had come to the house was obvious—to find Yeon, that shaman. Anticipating this, he had already moved the shaman to Seojin’s house.
At the time, with his blood boiling, he had thought Dohyuk must have harmed his mother because the shaman wasn’t there, and he had gone berserk. But as he conducted the funeral and pondered over everything, something felt off. For Dohyuk to have killed his mother seemed too impulsive and direct. Dohyuk wasn’t such a simple-minded bastard.
If anything, he might have held his mother hostage and requested an exchange for the shaman.
The police had initially placed Dohyuk on the suspect list based on Sunhyuk’s statement, but after checking Dohyuk’s car’s black box and all the CCTV footage from the alleyways near the house, they concluded it probably wasn’t him.
If not him, then who? Who had murdered his mother? It wasn’t a simple robbery; the killer had murdered his mother but hadn’t touched anything in the house.
He usually despised pondering and thinking, but this time he had to think and think again. This was about the person who killed his mother. He vowed to tear apart and kill whoever he found responsible.
“The police confirmed it. It wasn’t him.”
He answered briefly, not wanting to talk at length. Right now, he just wanted to get into the house and rest as quickly as possible. Both his mind and body seemed to have reached their limit.
“I heard Kang Dohyuk came here, discovered her, and reported it. Why did he come here?”
But Chahyuk didn’t seem to have any intention of leaving.
“He wouldn’t have come all this way without a reason. If he had something to discuss with you, he could have met you at the company. And isn’t the timing odd? Why would he come here at that time?”
He asked as if he absolutely needed to know the reason, almost like an interrogation. Sunhyuk stared at Chahyuk, his lips set firmly.
“Why are you so curious? What does it have to do with you?”
“I’m just worried about you…”
“You? About me?”
A bitter laugh escaped him. The idea of Chahyuk being concerned about him would make even a passing dog laugh. Though Chahyuk always grinned and pretended to be friendly, Sunhyuk knew well that Chahyuk wasn’t much different from Dohyuk.
“You’re annoying, so get lost.”
He brushed past Chahyuk, bumping shoulders as he went.
“Hyung!”
Though Chahyuk called from behind, Sunhyuk pretended not to hear and slammed the front door shut. The lights in the entryway came on automatically, revealing the empty living room. Thanks to the cleaning crew Seojin had hired, there wasn’t a trace of blood—everything was spotless. It was hard to believe his mother had died here.
“Mother…”
Just uttering those three syllables felt like scraping his throat with a sharp awl.
‘Sunhyuk, is that you?’
He could hear his mother’s voice greeting him as always. But there was nothing in front of him. His legs gave way, and he slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor.
“Hic… hk…”
Suddenly, emotions overwhelmed him. The realization that no one was left in this house, that he was truly alone in the world, hit him, and the tears wouldn’t stop.
Chahyuk, who had been staring at the door that had slammed shut, let out a sigh. He had come hoping to extract something useful from Sunhyuk, but there had been no gain. The only thing that became clear was that Sunhyuk wasn’t as resentful toward Dohyuk as he had thought. In fact, perhaps because of the profound loss of his mother, he seemed to have lost even more of his fighting spirit than before.
This isn’t good…
Sunhyuk should have been the one to check Dohyuk’s power, but in this state, what should be done now? Somehow, Dohyuk needed to be dealt with, but even the hired assassin had failed, making it seem daunting. Chahyuk was anxious to the point of madness, fearing that while he was standing here dazed, Dohyuk might make a move against him instead.
It would be good to find Dohyuk’s weakness, but that inhuman bastard didn’t seem to have any. If someone tried to threaten him by capturing his mother, Cha Yuseon, he seemed like the type who would simply say “Kill her.” Recently, when he saw Dohyuk walking around with a young guy, he thought Dohyuk might have a sponsor, but that wasn’t the case either. The guy, who appeared delicate and pretty on the surface, turned out to be a bodyguard and had taken a bullet meant for Dohyuk—Chahyuk was genuinely disgusted to learn Dohyuk had brought someone like that to use as a shield.
But he’s still human; there must be at least one spot where he’s vulnerable. Maybe he just hadn’t found it yet. If he kept searching, something would turn up. Even if it was as small as the eye of a needle, Chahyuk desperately needed to find Dohyuk’s weakness now.
***
The daily routine of following Kang Dohyuk was quite similar to before. The only difference was that now, unlike then, Yeon wore a hat and sunglasses to cover his face, which made him look more suspicious. The secretaries in the Managing Director’s office, having apparently heard something from Director Choi, no longer looked at him with the curious eyes they had on the first day.
When Dohyuk went to meet clients or had meetings, Yeon waited with Director Choi. Sometimes they waited in the car, other times in a nearby cafe. No matter where, Director Choi truly followed him even to the bathroom. He was strictly following the instruction not to leave Yeon alone for even a minute.
Though Yeon didn’t express any complaints, Director Choi apologized and seemed bitter about it. He explained on Dohyuk’s behalf that since Kim Yumin had been murdered and the culprit hadn’t been caught yet, they should be as cautious as possible.
Even without Director Choi’s explanation, Yeon had no intention of moving around carelessly. Now, he could become Kang Dohyuk’s weakness. The changing look in Dohyuk’s eyes and his attitude day by day made Yeon more certain of this. At the same time, this point also made Yeon anxious. He was concerned about Dohyuk being harmed because of him. Even if that wasn’t the case, if the situation around Dohyuk was unsettled, it was right to be careful. He was determined to follow instructions until he resolved the ill-fated connection tied to Dohyuk.
That ill-fated connection had been emanating an even darker energy recently. It wasn’t just that the thread’s color was black anymore; black energy was flowing from around the thread. He didn’t even need to try to find it deliberately. It floated around Dohyuk, coiling around his neck as if it would strangle him.
“Could you get me some sleeping pills?”
While waiting in a cafe while Dohyuk was at a meeting with Baek Hyeri from Kangsan Construction, Yeon asked, and Director Choi looked at him with a puzzled expression.
“Are you having trouble sleeping?”
Yeon shook his head.
“Then why…?”
“I want to make Kang Dohyuk sleep.”
Director Choi blinked, as if wondering what this was all about. Yeon just sighed and turned his head away.
I need to put him to sleep somehow so I can deal with that ill-fated connection.
He swallowed those words along with his sigh. It was obvious that Director Choi, being Kang Dohyuk’s person, would report directly to him anyway.
“Has the ill-fated connection attached to the Managing Director worsened?”
Director Choi was a perceptive person. He seemed to guess the situation from Yeon’s behavior that he had observed so far. Instead of nodding, Yeon met his gaze.
“The Managing Director will be fine.”
He firmly believed in Kang Dohyuk.
“He’s the type who would return alive even from hell.”
The following words made Yeon laugh involuntarily. Though he knew it was an absurd statement, somehow he couldn’t deny it.
“So you laugh like that.”
At Director Choi’s remark, Yeon cleared his throat awkwardly and turned his head away in embarrassment.
“Indeed.”
Yeon’s face froze at the voice that came from beside him.
