—Calling after 5 years without even asking how I’ve been, saying you need to dunk someone—President Han really has no heart.
Even when Taesung told him not to fucking call and just text, Captain Hwang insisted they had to talk on the phone. His reason was that it might be voice phishing. What the hell did this bastard think “voice” meant? Of course, he probably said it because he suspected Taesung had been caught by the police and was being used for a sting operation.
“I told you how many times it’s not dunking.”
Only after barely shaking off Manager Kim, who was being annoying today insisting he should buy medicine and drive him home, and entering the officetel through the emergency exit, could Taesung answer the phone.
—If putting someone in a sack and dumping them in Cheongdo isn’t dunking, then what else is it?
“I said it’s a delivery. You know courier service? Just take what I’ve packaged as is, don’t touch anything, and just drop it off at the destination. Jesus, I’m reducing your work for you, so why are you making a fuss trying to do more?”
—What’s the cargo? A druggie? Druggies can flip out at any moment, so I need to handle them separately.
“Not a druggie, and I’ll handle all the preprocessing myself, so just tell me when I can send the cargo.”
—Then are you selling them? If it’s expensive cargo, I can’t work for pocket change.
“Hey, you…”
Taesung dry-washed his face and swallowed his frustration. Well yeah, honesty is good. Since they’re doing business anyway, it’s better to lay everything out in advance and finish the discussion.
Taesung had been agonizing all along about what method there was to at least save Jaeha’s life. No matter how much he wracked his brain, only one conclusion came out. Knock him out by hitting the back of his head or drug him to put him to sleep, then just throw his body on a boat and send him across the sea.
That should be enough for Jaeha to understand. This time he’d be abandoned in a foreign land with all his limbs intact and that would be it, but if he crawled back into Korea again, he’d realize the reality that his internal organs might get completely harvested or his tendons cut and he’d be thrown to some perverted bastard beyond imagination. A newborn puppy that doesn’t know to fear tigers and thrashes about needs to be bitten harshly once to come to its senses.
“Coin. He went completely broke doing a coin scam, but his business partner is trying to pin everything on him, saying he ate up everything and fled overseas illegally.”
He felt feverish. Taesung held his forehead and spouted lies as they came to mind. But to Captain Hwang’s ears, this story seemed plausible.
—Then he’s got nothing. Even if he disappears without a trace, there won’t be anyone looking for him.
“No, he needs to be alive and clean for when they investigate later. Fuck, I’m not a psychopath—why are you so desperate to kill someone!”
Taesung, who had been trying his best to accommodate Captain Hwang, finally couldn’t hold back and snapped. Only then did Captain Hwang giggle and laugh. He’d clearly provoked him on purpose.
—When did I say I’d kill him? I just wanted to see if I could have some fun.
“Hey, Captain Hwang. You touch a single hair on my cargo and your dickhead will be split in half, got it? I told you before, but I don’t finish by just snipping it off. I split it lengthwise, you fucker.”
—Oh, I’m so scared I’m pissing myself and can’t drive.
His voice didn’t sound scared at all. Doubt surged about whether he should really entrust this job to this bastard. Just as anxiety crept up in his chest that maybe he was trying to save a life but would end up throwing him into hell barely breathing.
—Come by 1:48 AM.
An unexpected notification struck his ears.
“Tonight?”
—After midnight is tomorrow, how is it tonight?
“There’s not even ten hours left. So suddenly?”
—If you don’t like it, don’t do it. The next boat won’t be for at least two weeks.
“This is driving me crazy, really.”
How the hell was he supposed to prepare that freshly caught fish flopping around to get on the boat within 10 hours? While Taesung was wracking his brain, Captain Hwang pressed him again.
—So are you making a reservation or not?
“Okay, okay for now. Gunsan, right?”
—Payment upfront. If you’re even 1 second late and the boat leaves, I’m not responsible.
The money I saved like crazy is all flying away to the wrong place.
Taesung grumbled fuck fuck repeatedly as he sent money to Captain Hwang’s account.
He checked the time again. Including travel time to Gunsan, only about 8 hours remained. Would he be able to meet Jaeha if he went to Baekjin Shopping Complex? Rather than rashly swinging his fists first and just making him more wary, it would be better to smooth-talk him, right?
Fortunately, he had some sleeping pills he’d obtained before. To be precise, rather than Taesung obtaining them, he’d picked up what a stupid accountant who dared forge Jang Hyeokjin’s books and embezzle money had tried to slip to Taesung’s group when they came to kill him. He didn’t remember exactly what he was thinking when he kept the pills.
Whether he brought them to take himself, or brought them to give to someone.
Anyway, let’s say let’s have a conversation. And slip the drug into the alcohol or snacks to put him to sleep first. Put aside bullshit like ‘Jaeha, I’m doing this all for you’ and just get rid of the annoying troublemaker far from sight tonight.
His fingertips went cold. Taesung rubbed his pale hands together as he climbed the emergency stairs. While wanting to arrive at the kitchen cabinet where the pills were hidden as late as possible, the impatience to meet the set deadline of 1:48 AM kept Taesung’s legs moving.
Reaching the 14th floor, Taesung opened the emergency exit door with trembling hands. He saw the silhouette of someone crouching in the middle of the hallway that was dark even in broad daylight because sunlight didn’t reach it well. Taesung stopped dead in his tracks. Cold sweat that hadn’t appeared even while climbing the stairs formed on his forehead in beads.
“Hyung!”
Jaeha was sitting in front of Taesung’s apartment door. Without even needing to search for him, he’d come on his own.
“I thought about picking the lock but just waited. Didn’t seem like proper courtesy to the homeowner.”
Jaeha smiled freshly, showing his white teeth. Taesung approached his own apartment door awkwardly, unable to look at him. As Jaeha watched intently at his hand pressing the keypad with his chin resting on Taesung’s shoulder, he whispered ticklishly.
“Can I come in?”
The finger about to press the last asterisk button hesitated.
“…If I told you not to come in, would you just leave?”
“I’d have to keep ringing the bell until you open it.”
“That’s what I thought.”
Taesung threw open the front door. Jaeha stretched out his two long arms and hugged Taesung’s waist from behind. Normally he would have shuddered and struck his solar plexus with his elbow, but right now Taesung didn’t have the capacity to care about Jaeha’s creepy skinship. He carefully entered the house without letting his guard down, worried that Jaeha, who had rolled in on his own at such a ridiculous timing, might notice something strange and run away.
The front door closed behind him. Beep—the sound of the lock engaging rang out. Jaeha’s feathery hair kept tickling one of Taesung’s cheeks. It happened to be the spot where Jang Hyeokjin had hit him.
“Where did you get beat up like this again?”
He thought the swelling had subsided quite a bit thanks to the ice compress, but the wound seemed visible to Jaeha’s eyes. Jaeha’s soft cheek touched the throbbing wound. Only then did Taesung grab Jaeha’s small head and pull it away from himself.
“Cut it out.”
“Mm.”
Jaeha obediently unclenched his interlocked fingers and released Taesung.
“You beat up the bastard who hit you properly, right? Our hyung, your head’s bad and you have no skills, so you live relying only on your fists—if you lose even that, you’ll be a complete idiot.”
“Did you come to pick a fight, you bastard?”
“Not really, but strangely when I see you, I end up picking a fight. I wonder why.”
Jaeha grinned and suddenly held something out in front of Taesung. Plump light green grape berries were bulging out over a black plastic bag. It seemed he’d brought Shine Muscat or whatever the hell again.
Having completed ‘gift delivery’ to Taesung, Jaeha wandered around the narrow officetel and casually plopped down on the bed. Then he patted the mattress, checking the cushion condition. While Jaeha paid attention to useless things, Taesung found the pills in the kitchen cabinet. Even though quite some time had passed, they were still there in the same spot where he’d first put them, carefully wrapped in a zip-lock bag.
“Oh, hyung.”
Startled, he slammed the cabinet door shut hard. He couldn’t do this twice. So please, he hoped today would be the last time he saw Jaeha.
“What?”
“Aren’t you hungry?”
“What have you been doing wandering around until now that you haven’t even eaten yet?”
“What did you eat?”
What did I eat today? Fuck, thinking about it, only Jang Hyeokjin’s cum.
Taesung irritably ruffled his hair. As if his appearance was amusing, Jaeha laughed refreshingly, “Haha.”
“Want to go out? Or should we order something? Remember the old days? When I came over to your place, you made me order chicken with my card. The most expensive one.”
“I told you to order because you liked chicken, I don’t even like chicken, fuck.”
“Then what does hyung like? The ramyeon you always made?”
“You ate it up just fine every time, and now you’re saying something different?”
“I like ramyeon. The problem was you only made mild flavors.”
“That’s because you can’t eat spicy food.”
“I can though. I eat spicy food just fine.”
Taesung looked at Jaeha while swallowing a sigh. Jaeha was tapping something into his phone, then perhaps sensing Taesung’s gaze, raised his head and grinned.
