Chapter 77: The Real Culprit
After climbing about ten steps, a security guard standing in front of the mansion blocked his way.
“Move aside.”
Even when Kang Chahyuk glared at him with a curt command, the guard didn’t budge an inch.
“Do you know who I am?”
He tilted his head up as if to say ‘look at my face properly,’ but the guard’s rigid expression remained unchanged.
“We were instructed not to let anyone in.”
Only a mechanical response came back. Kang Chahyuk clenched his molars tightly.
“Go and tell him. Say Kang Chahyuk is here.”
Though his body trembled with humiliation, he didn’t dare push past the well-built security guards. If he forced his way in, his life might actually be in danger.
The guard signaled to another standing nearby, who then went inside. A few minutes later, the man who had gone in returned. Chahyuk thought they might finally let him in, but the guards still firmly blocked his path.
“What the hell?”
He was bewildered that the guards’ attitude hadn’t changed even after they’d been told who had arrived.
“‘I have no obligation to help a fool. Take responsibility for your own actions.’ That’s what he said.”
Chahyuk’s face hardened at the guard’s stiff response. He glared intensely at the guard, who didn’t even look in his direction, apparently having nothing more to say.
“Did you properly tell him I was here?”
“…”
“I’m asking if you told him Kang Chahyuk was here!”
“I did inform him.”
“And that’s all he said?”
“That’s correct.”
“Ha, fuck!”
A harsh curse escaped his lips. He tried to force his way past the guards and into the house, but it was futile. Two guards grabbed Chahyuk by both arms and forcibly dragged him out, practically throwing him down the stairs.
“Please leave.”
“Fuck! What responsibility am I supposed to take!”
He shouted loudly, but the guards pretended not to hear. They simply stood guarding the entrance like robots programmed to follow commands.
No matter how much he stomped his feet and yelled, nothing changed. Only now did he fully understand what was happening. He had been thoroughly used. This person had no intention of helping him at all. On the contrary, it seemed like he planned to pin everything on Chahyuk.
Perhaps he was also the one who killed Kang Sunhyuk’s mother. The mere possibility made his body tremble. Kang Dohyuk was frightening, but this man was even more terrifying.
If he caused any more trouble here, he might be killed on the spot. A chill ran down his spine, and he quickly returned to his car and locked the doors.
“Dreams are nice, but they’ll shorten your life, son.”
His mother’s warning from some time ago echoed in his ears.
“Ha, no way… This can’t be… How could he… Ha, haha…”
His head felt like it was spinning. After the shock, he couldn’t help but let out bitter laughter.
His hands trembled violently as he took out his phone. He fumbled with the screen lock and dropped the phone on the floor. As he bent down to pick it up and raised his head, he could see the security guards standing in front of the mansion through the windshield. He felt as if they were glaring at him, though it might have been his imagination.
He swallowed dryly and dialed his mother Lee Miseon’s number. His mother could at least hide him, couldn’t she? Maybe he could leave the country. What if the police had already put out a warrant and blocked overseas travel? Would he need to smuggle himself out?
Whatever happened, he needed someone’s help. Now that this person had abandoned him, his mother was his last hope.
But no matter how many times the call rang, she didn’t answer. Hearing the automated message saying she couldn’t take the call right now, Chahyuk cursed under his breath.
“Why even mother at a time like this!”
He started to blame his innocent mother but stopped. The last time they spoke was when he asked about Lee Seoyoung, the representative of Hovan Gallery. Since then, they hadn’t even exchanged casual greeting messages.
Could something have happened to his mother too? He shook his head at the absurd thought, but then remembered Kim Yumin’s murder, and his mind went blank.
He had taken a wrong step. As his mother said, he shouldn’t have been so needlessly ambitious…
It was too late for regrets. Now he couldn’t trust anyone.
“Fuck…”
Bang, bang, bang! He pounded the steering wheel hard with his fist, but it did nothing to alleviate his desperation.
“I won’t die alone. If we’re going to die, we should all die together. That’s only fair, right?”
As Chahyuk’s anxiety reached its peak, poison seeped into his eyes. He started the car while glaring at the security guards in front of the mansion as if he could devour them. He gritted his teeth, determined to finish off both the person inside the mansion who had used and abandoned him, and Kang Dohyuk, who always looked at him with disdainful eyes.
***
“He did board a flight from Shanghai, China two days ago.”
Director Choi confirmed to Dohyuk that Chairman Kang Mansik had purchased a ticket to Shanghai and completed immigration that day.
“This is information about the company in Shanghai that invited the Chairman.”
He also placed a thin file on the desk. Dohyuk opened the file to check its contents. It was a small to mid-sized company in Shanghai that had been in real estate and was now preparing to enter the construction business as well. Besides Dragon Holdings, they were in negotiations with several investment companies within China.
Dohyuk’s eyes narrowed. This wasn’t a small deal. Though it was still just a mid-sized company, their proposal encompassed all of Shanghai. If successful, the expected return would be over 200%. It was strange that he hadn’t known about such a significant deal.
“What should we do? Shall I book a flight to Shanghai?”
Dohyuk thought carefully about Director Choi’s question, then shook his head. If Kang Mansik had deliberately hidden this from him, there must be a reason. It was better to pretend not to know for now. There was no need to stir things up and heighten his wariness.
“Keep monitoring it. Everything—the direction the deal is taking and which companies they’re contacting.”
He gave the instruction while closing the file. He could intercept the deal anytime, so there was no need to rush.
“Also, contact the Chairman’s office and tell them to get in touch with me. Say it’s because of the series of attack incidents.”
Dohyuk hadn’t been able to reach him. Kang Mansik was clearly avoiding him intentionally. If he was ignoring Dohyuk because of this business deal, Dohyuk needed to make it clear that his reason for contact was different. The incident had become quite a sensation, with everyone in the company knowing about it after the detectives had barged in, so the Chairman’s secretaries must be aware of the situation too.
“Understood.”
Director Choi bowed his head and turned around. Just then, he met eyes with Yeon, who had just finished bathing.
“Are you leaving now?”
“It’s well past the end of the workday.”
Director Choi answered with a smile. Indeed, it was already well past 9 PM. Yeon thought he must be working hard, handling not only company matters but also all of Kang Dohyuk’s personal issues until this late hour.
Yeon accompanied Director Choi to the entrance to see him off, then returned to the living room and sat across from Dohyuk. With his head tilted back against the top of the sofa backrest, Dohyuk looked quite tired. He seemed quite irritated after the consecutive attack incidents yesterday and the police coming today to ask the same questions over and over.
Despite all this, he had worked non-stop. The Yeouido project was progressing smoothly, and he had three meetings with other investment firms on top of that. Watching him from the side, Yeon thought he truly seemed to have no time to breathe. Someone else might have collapsed already under such a murderous schedule.
Others whispered that Kang Dohyuk was a monster, without blood or tears, seemingly immune to fatigue. But Kang Dohyuk was human too. With the endless work alone being exhausting, the added murder and attack incidents followed by police investigations must have worn him out.
“Should I draw you a bath?”
Yeon was surprised by his own question. That wasn’t his job. It was just… Dohyuk looked so tired, and Yeon wanted to help in some small way, so the words came out before he could think.
“You?”
Dohyuk also seemed surprised.
“You look tired.”
“I appreciate the thought, but it’s not exactly a difficult task.”
He said he’d do it himself and got up from his seat. Watching him enter the bathroom attached to the bedroom, Yeon exhaled softly. He wondered if this was really the same man who, until recently, had demanded that Yeon even feed him when he sat at the table Yeon had prepared.
People don’t change easily. Especially innate nature—it seems to repeat in similar patterns even after reincarnation, though it might appear different.
Kang Dohyuk’s soul was cold and callous. Yet, at times, he could be frighteningly tender. Yeon had always been captivated by that hint of tenderness and swept away by him.
He had thought this life’s Kang Dohyuk was colder than before. But he was gradually changing. After that day when he said he wanted to see Yeon smile, a different side of him had definitely emerged.
Just this morning, when Yeon came out after washing up, Dohyuk was preparing toast himself. When Yeon smelled the savory aroma of bread filling the house, he’d thought Director Choi had arrived early, but that wasn’t the case. It was just bread toasted in a toaster, but that alone was enough to surprise Yeon.
Others might ask what was so impressive about that, but Yeon knew. This subtle change was just the beginning. As time passed, as Dohyuk’s desire for him grew stronger, Kang Dohyuk might become tender, at least toward Yeon.
But that tenderness was poison. Though tender, he still made ruthless choices for his ambitions, and that coldness eventually returned to Yeon too.
Knowing the whole process, perhaps Yeon wanted to cut off their ill-fated connection and get away from him as soon as possible, before Dohyuk became tender toward him.
“Am I too late this time…”
Yeon was becoming increasingly accustomed to spending time by Dohyuk’s side. Would he be trapped again like this?
“Neither of us will die. I won’t let either of us get hurt.”
Could things change? Could this endlessly repeated relationship take a different form this time? He repeatedly felt empty after harboring hopes only to find them seeming futile.
He shook his head vigorously to clear his thoughts. Let’s not think about other things now. Cutting off Kang Dohyuk’s ill fate had to come first.
Ding. At the sound of an incoming text message, he checked his phone. It was a message from Director Choi.
– I forgot a document that I need to give to the Managing Director. Could you come down to the first floor to pick it up? I’ll wait in front of the elevator.
Since he had just left, Yeon thought Director Choi might find it bothersome to come back up. He considered whether he should tell Dohyuk before leaving, but decided to just quickly go get the document and come right back.
After leaning against the inside of the elevator, he moved to stand in front of the door when it signaled arrival at the first floor.
“Huh…?”
But instead of Director Choi, what he saw through the opening door were unfamiliar men. Behind them, a thread originating from someone was directed toward the upper floors, toward Dohyuk’s apartment. When Yeon recognized its color, he turned pale and stepped back.
It was a black thread. The very black thread connected to Kang Dohyuk, carrying murderous intent.
