Chapter 81
“I’ll decide.”
At least on this, it seemed I had the final say.
“……Right?”
I nodded, roughly wiping my tears with the back of my hand. After a sharp sniffle, I spoke to Yu Hyunjae, my voice unsteady.
“Let’s talk later tonight.”
“At home?”
“Wherever you’re comfortable.”
“Okay. Your room, then.”
Even after the conversation ended, Yu Hyunjae kept staring at me.
“What?”
“Why are you so afraid, Chanhee?”
……
“How can you be so sure I’ll hate you no matter what?”
……
“How much I—”
……
“……know.”
I hung my head. He was right. The strange, stubborn belief that Yu Hyunjae wouldn’t hate me—no matter what—had carried me this far. And Yu Hyunjae had never once doubted me. But the reason I hesitated wasn’t him. It was me. I couldn’t forgive myself. Not for what I’d done, but for who I was—their son.
Just then, the bell for class rang. Without another word, I turned and walked back to the classroom. The tears stopped. My mind cleared. The moment to face everything was coming.
***
But my plans to talk to Yu Hyunjae that evening were suddenly canceled.
He had to handle some last-minute study abroad paperwork. I sat alone in my room, waiting for him to come home, rehearsing how I’d tell him—calmly? Crying? My phone buzzed. It was Han Jaemin’s number, buried in the corner of my desk.
[Come out now.]
I almost ignored it out of habit, but I replied.
[What do you want?]
[Just come out.]
A few seconds later, another message arrived.
[Hyunjae’s already here, so ㅎㅎ]
Fuck. Seriously?
I cursed under my breath, grabbed my jacket, and rushed downstairs, heading straight for the front door.
“Chanhee! Where are you going?”
Mom hurried over in her slippers and grabbed my arm. Without turning back, I answered,
“Meeting a friend.”
“At this hour? Who?”
“……You don’t need to know.”
“Your father said you’re absolutely not allowed to go out alone. If you don’t tell me, I won’t let you leave.”
I sighed deeply, rubbing my face. I could ignore her and leave, but not when it was Mom.
“I’m going to pick up Hyunjae.”
“Hyunjae’s on his way here in the car your father sent.”
“What?”
“I just talked to your father. He said they’re coming together. Why don’t you just wait here?”
I frowned, fiddling with my phone in my pocket.
“Is he really with my father?”
“Of course. Did you talk to Hyunjae?”
“……No.”
“Then just stay home, okay? Stay with me.”
Still suspicious, I turned my phone back on and reread the message. I hadn’t misread it. In the end, I called Yu Hyunjae directly. After a few rings, someone picked up immediately.
“Hyunjae, it’s me—”
—Oh, Chanhee.
I froze mid-sentence, my lips trembling. A familiar but wrong voice greeted me, calm and mocking.
—I told you I’m with him. Why are you trying to contact him again?
“……Why do you have Yu Hyunjae’s phone?”
—I said we’re together. I’m just holding his phone for a second.
“Cut the bullshit. Is he really with you? Put Hyunjae on.”
—Chanhee. If you say ‘put Hyunjae on,’ do you really think I’ll just go ‘okay!’ and hand him the phone? Who benefits from that? Just come outside quietly. Why do you keep complicating things?
……
—Or I’ll tell him everything.
“……What……”
—Your family’s fucked-up drama.
“What……?”
—Oh, you have no idea how hard I laughed. Should we give Yu Dohyun a posthumous ‘Model Ghost Citizen’ award or something? How the hell did he live so virtuously?
“How do you know about that?”
—I told you, Chanhee.
……
—I know every way to make you miserable.
……
—So shut up and get out here. Now.
The call ended.
I didn’t know how Han Jaemin found out, but I had to see for myself. I somehow convinced Mom to let me go, agreeing to stay only as far as the gate where the intercom was visible. Still on guard, I kept scanning my surroundings. Even if it was Han Jaemin, this was right in front of my house. Mom was watching. Witnesses could appear at any moment—he wouldn’t make a reckless move.
I slowly opened the gate and stepped out, scanning the empty alleyway.
A soft engine hummed, and a foreign car rolled around the corner, approaching slowly. Behind the wheel sat Han Jaemin, uncharacteristically wearing glasses.
“Get in. Now.”
“Where’s Hyunjae?”
“Tsk. Just get in.”
Still hesitating, I finally climbed into the passenger seat. The moment the door closed, Han Jaemin started the engine and drove off slowly. Another car approached from the opposite corner. I recognized the license plate and widened my eyes. A familiar driver, my father in the back seat, and—
“Hyunjae……?”
The car carrying my father and Yu Hyunjae passed by me. I sat frozen, watching Yu Hyunjae go by.
“What the hell is this……”
“Manipulating a phone’s reception isn’t that hard.”
“You……”
“That’s why they say book-smart idiots who only know theory are easy to handle in practice.”
I tried to shout, but someone in the back seat quickly clamped a hand over my nose and mouth. It was probably some kind of anesthetic or sedative. There was no way I’d lose consciousness this fast otherwise.
***
When I opened my eyes, I was lying in a room that resembled a hospital—or more accurately, the inside of the National Mana Research Institute. Several needles were inserted into my forearm, and electrode patches were stuck all over my head and chest.
“Oh dear. You sleep like the dead for a young man.”
A middle-aged woman in a lab coat and latex gloves walked over briskly. The “Hansung Hospital” logo on her coat told me this was Han Jaemin’s territory.
“What the hell are you doing to me?”
“No need to be so scared. It’s the same as what they do at the National Mana Research Institute. Well, maybe a bit more advanced? Government organizations tend to be conservative, you know. Too much.”
“This is kidnapping.”
“That’s for Chairman Han to handle. I just follow orders. Sorry, kid.”
Her expression didn’t look sorry at all. I stared blankly at the patient gown I’d been changed into.
“Your arms and wrists are all prepped. Looks like we’ll have to use your legs, too.”
An absurd amount of liquid was being injected into me, drop by drop. I winced as I felt a needle prick the veins in my ankle.
“The deadline’s tight, so we have to do it all at once.”
“Where’s Han Jaemin?”
“Ugh, no manners. They say kids these days have no respect, and they’re right. Talking back to the chairman like that.”
“Where is he?”
“Where? He needs rest, too. What’s he gonna do here? Sing you a lullaby? You want that?”
I finally lost my temper and cursed at her. The middle-aged woman didn’t even flinch at my venomous words and just taped the injection site.
“Just take the shots and do a few things we ask, and we’ll send you home before school starts. This bed’s comfy, right? Just sleep.”
“Does that even make sense?”
She gave my taped ankle a light pat, pulled off her gloves, and stuffed them carelessly into her coat pocket.
“I’ve been up for two nights straight, so I’m exhausted. Once you hit forty, your body just gives out. So if anything feels off, press the button next to you. You know the drill from the National Mana Research Institute, right?”
She left the room without a care, not even bothered by my outburst. Before she went, she delivered a sharp warning.
“If you move around on your own, Chairman Han might get really pissed, and I don’t know what he’ll do. Stay put, got it?”
Slamming the door shut, I was left alone in the suddenly silent room, staring at the ceiling.
The situation was absurd. I wanted to rip out the needles and run, but with Han Jaemin in control, I had to be careful. I looked around, but there was no sign of my clothes or phone.
“……Fuck.”
I closed my eyes and sighed deeply.
Did they really need to kidnap me like this when I hadn’t even refused to cooperate? Questions piled up, each one leading to another dead end. Why go through the trouble of lying about being with Yu Hyunjae just to bring me here? There must be something they could only do now. I needed to find out what that was.
And so, I lay awake, staring at the ceiling until dawn.
