Chapter 27
Hahyun approached Juwon and reached out his hand. Juwon flinched and backed away.
“D-don’t come any closer.”
Given the situation, he should have understood why Juwon avoided his touch. But Hahyun felt unbearably angry, thinking all of this was his fault for momentarily losing his mind.
“Hyung, are you avoiding my hand right now? Seems like you don’t understand the situation. If you’ve found out everything, you should be grateful—so why are you avoiding me? Does that make any sense? Ah… have your memories all returned, and you’ve gone back to how you were before? Then would you like to be tied up again?”
Hahyun had said this thinking that if he mentioned tying him up, Juwon would try to avoid the situation by at least outwardly not rejecting him. But Juwon couldn’t do anything and just kept trembling.
“Enough, stop it. Juwon needs time to process this too.”
At Hajin’s words—who had been watching the two of them—Hahyun took a step back. He wanted to urge Juwon to snap out of it right away, but fearing it might have the opposite effect, he gritted his teeth and held back.
I shouldn’t have lost my mind. Because of Secretary Kim… I…
A deep sense of regret washed over him.
***
The first thing I heard was that the brothers had been abused by their father. Until then, I only thought the brothers were pitiful, but I wasn’t shocked. However, the story that flowed through the door was shockingly unbelievable.
Having remembered the clue of “surrendering,” I’d expected that Yoon Juwon had committed a crime. But I only thought the crime would be related to sponsorship—not that it would be murder.
Why did Yoon Juwon kill the chairman? For the brothers? Given the brothers’ reactions so far, that seemed absurd because Yoon Juwon didn’t love them. Then was it because the chairman, who was his sponsor, made unreasonable demands? This also seemed unlikely for Yoon Juwon, who had been willing to do anything for his modeling career.
Then, the most convincing truth was one:
That the brothers were deceiving me.
I shuddered at the thought that they had even lied about Yoon Juwon committing a terrible murder to justify imprisoning him. But it also didn’t make sense that Hahyun, who didn’t seem to be in good condition, believed that lie as truth.
Could it be? Did Hajin kill his father and lie to Hahyun? This seemed more convincing, since Hajin was someone who rarely revealed his true feelings and had a sinister side.
Hajin approached and tried to lift me up.
“This must be shocking, but try to calm down first.”
I knocked Hajin’s hand away. I didn’t want to rely on someone who had told such a terrible lie even to his own brother. For now, I trusted Hahyun more—the one who couldn’t hide his true feelings. I reached out my hand toward Hahyun.
“Please take me to the sofa. And give me some water, too.”
Hahyun seemed startled, his large eyes widening, then picked me up and carried me to the sofa. Hajin snickered as if finding it ridiculous and sat across from me.
The fact that he could laugh in a situation like this confirmed my belief that Hajin was the real psycho.
Hahyun brought me water filled with ice and handed it to me. After drinking it and regaining my composure, I looked straight at Hajin. Brazenly, Hajin did not avoid my gaze.
“You’re saying I killed the chairman? Why on earth would I? Do you think it makes sense that I, who was obsessed with being a top model, would kill the chairman?”
“Hyung, that’s—”
“Quiet! I asked Hajin-ssi. Hahyun-ssi, please stay quiet.”
I had long since lost my fear. Now that I was a murderer, whether I died at the brothers’ hands or spent my life in prison, it was all the same. An artist who valued spiritual freedom above all else, in prison… that was nonsense.
“Our Juwon’s charisma is no joke.”
“I’m not in the mood for wordplay. If I let this slide this time, you’ll realize I’m just as crazy as you both. So explain properly so I can understand.”
I was worried that Hahyun might have another episode and interrupt, but fortunately, he just stared at my face, not knowing what to do.
“I told you from the beginning. Choose whether to hear about the secrets or live without knowing. The one who chose the latter was you, Yoon Juwon.”
“Don’t change the subject. I’m telling you now that I want to know.”
Hajin sighed, closed his eyes, and pressed his lips together. I moved to sit beside Hajin. Hahyun, who’d had his seat taken in an instant, resisted briefly, but when I glared at him with wide eyes, he gasped and stepped back. I shook Hajin’s shoulders vigorously.
“Why are you running away? Well… you can’t tell me that you killed him and pinned the crime on me, can you? Am I right?”
Hajin, who had been swaying as I shook him, slowly opened his eyes. His blue pupils, which seemed as if they could reveal everything inside, were deeply sunken.
“You can think whatever you want, but could you please let go? Even if you don’t do this, I’ll let you grab and shake me all you want tonight, so why are you in such a hurry?”
“Fuck!”
For the first time, I cursed loudly as if for both of them to hear. At my reaction, Hahyun gasped in surprise, while Hajin curled up the corners of his lips as if finding it interesting. Without removing my hands from Hajin’s shoulders, I urged him to answer.
“Stop the bullshit and tell me the truth. Do I look sane to you right now? I’m just as crazy as you both. If you don’t speak within ten seconds, I might bite my tongue and die right in front of you.”
“No!”
At the mention of death, Hahyun grabbed my waist and clung to me.
“I’ll tell you everything, just don’t talk about dying. If you die, I die too. No—do you think I’d just let you die? Don’t even dream of it.”
I roughly pushed Hahyun away. Of course, I couldn’t push him away with my strength, but true to his character of attributing meaning to even small actions, his eyes filled with shock.
“Shut up and get out of the way. I need to hear from Seo Hajin what happened and why.”
“In-informal speech and even cursing…”
While Hahyun was muttering to himself, I shoved him away the moment he momentarily relaxed his body. Hajin looked at Hahyun as if checking whether he was okay, then shifted his gaze to me.
“Yoon Juwon. I understand you’re shocked, but you’re going too far.”
“Too far? What’s too far? Could it be worse than what you did?”
“I can’t help it. I’ll show you the evidence, so wait a moment.”
Hajin spoke calmly and went into his room. Since he said he would bring evidence when I told him not to avoid the issue, I waited patiently until he returned.
As I glared at the stairs Hajin had gone up, Hahyun placed his hand on my back and said,
“Hyung, I understand you’re surprised, but take it easy. You’ll really regret it later. Hajin hyung lying… isn’t your imagination a bit too active?”
Whether it was because he was young, or because he’d been brainwashed by Hajin, Hahyun had an excessively naive side.
“I’m not in the mood to talk much right now, so let’s talk later. Let’s first see what Hajin-ssi brings out.”
“Sigh… what are you trying to do, really.”
Hahyun mumbled something to himself while looking at me with a worried expression, but it didn’t register in my ears. Shortly after, Hajin came out with a phone and handed it to me.
“I’ve unlocked it, so see for yourself. Looking at your state, I don’t think you’d believe anything I say. Well, it would be hard for someone who was a model and would stop at nothing to understand that they killed Chairman Seo.”
I was momentarily confused by his confident attitude and his precise identification of the part I found questionable, but then I regained my composure.
“What am I supposed to look at?”
“Play the video. There’s only one anyway.”
I immediately played the video. The image quality was clear, but judging from the lack of recorded audio, it seemed to be CCTV footage.
“I obtained this before the police did. That’s why you’re currently a wanted person. There’s no concrete evidence, but since you disappeared, it’s enough to raise suspicion.”
“…”
Judging by how confidently he was speaking, I thought that maybe Yoon Juwon really did kill him, when a scene appeared showing Juwon talking with Chairman Seo and then protesting with violent gestures. Whatever he was so worked up about, Juwon was acting like a madman, and he pushed Chairman Seo with all his might. Momentarily losing his balance, the chairman unfortunately hit his head on the corner of a table and collapsed.
The recorded part of the video ended there. Not only was the face clearly visible, but it was also difficult to think that Hajin was impersonating Juwon because the two had completely different physiques.
Even seeing it with my own eyes, it was hard to believe, and it didn’t feel real.
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