“Ah, yes! Don’t worry! I’ll finish everything up nice and clean!”
“Alright.”
Ganghyuk walked past Sucheol toward the car. When he gave a look to one of the subordinates waiting nearby, a large man quickly got into the driver’s seat and started the engine.
“Your skills are dead, getting stabbed by a knife.”
Sucheol sneered at Jaehyun following behind Ganghyuk. Jaehyun smiled faintly and said a word.
“Shut up. And if anything happens, contact me right away. Don’t handle things stupidly. You know you can’t leave a single trace, right? You need to recover all the nearby CCTV footage too.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot? I can do it all. Don’t worry!”
“I trust you, really.”
Jaehyun looked at Sucheol with a still-anxious face before getting into the passenger seat of the car Ganghyuk had boarded. He entered the hospital address into the navigation and pressed the guidance button.
Looking back, Ganghyuk was holding Ian in his arms while endlessly stroking only his face.
It was fortunate they’d found him safely, but…
Jaehyun hardened his expression to hide his complicated feelings. Imagining what would happen if Ian didn’t wake up like this made his body grow cold.
In the heavy air inside the car, the large man sitting in the driver’s seat was sweating profusely. Though his hands gripping the steering wheel were rough, his driving was smooth.
The car smoothly exited the blood-soaked space. Jaehyun pressed the bleeding wound area with one hand while checking his phone with the other.
A message had just come from Sucheol.
“Executive Director, what should we do with Gal Hongdo’s son?”
Gal Hongdo was dead. Ian had been safely rescued. Essentially, Gal Hongdo’s son’s value had to be considered gone.
“Kill him.”
“…Understood.”
Jaehyun, who’d hesitated briefly at the cold command, sent a message to Sucheol. Soon a reply came saying he understood. It was pitiful, but if Gal Hongdo hadn’t kidnapped Ian in the first place, this wouldn’t have happened.
He’d known from the moment Ganghyuk killed Gal Hongdo in one blow. Ganghyuk’s anger hadn’t cooled yet. This anger would probably only gradually subside after making it burn fiercely all the way to Tae Minjae and Tae Nayeon.
Though Ganghyuk’s methods were cruel, he never touched others first. He often indifferently overlooked even those who bothered him or provoked him.
But when someone touched his people, Ganghyuk’s anger threshold dropped significantly. When his subordinates were hurt it was like that, so since Ian had nearly died, it might be better for those two to just commit suicide.
Once he’d made up his mind, Ganghyuk wouldn’t stop until they’d completely fallen into ruin.
The car quickly arrived at the hospital. Director Kim, who’d come out after receiving advance notice, bowed his head to Ganghyuk.
Ganghyuk carefully laid Ian down on the mobile bed. Two nurses who’d been waiting pulled the stretcher toward the hospital room.
Director Kim followed alongside Ganghyuk who was following behind. Jaehyun also tried to follow, but Ganghyuk shook his head.
“Jaehyun, you go get treated quickly too.”
Blood flowing from his abdomen had already soaked his pants. Unable to refuse, Jaehyun followed a nurse.
Ian underwent various tests after being moved to the hospital room. Director Kim quickly took the necessary measures. An IV and nutrition pack were connected to Ian’s arm.
Especially since he had a history of heart surgery, an electrocardiogram test was also conducted. In preparation for any possibility, Director Kim continued heart monitoring.
“How is he?”
Ganghyuk, who’d been watching the scene without missing anything, couldn’t hold back any longer and asked. He was worried there might be a problem with Ian’s heart.
The fact that he still hadn’t regained consciousness also fueled his anxiety. At Ganghyuk’s question, Director Kim, who’d been examining the chart, spoke.
“Fortunately, his heart condition is fine. There’s a slightly torn wound on his tongue, and though he has bruises all over his body, no bones are cracked or broken.”
“Then why is he still unconscious?”
“There could be various causes, but there’s a possibility of a brain issue. What the patient experienced could naturally have an effect as well.”
Evidence of assault clearly remained on Ian’s body. Director Kim subtly mentioned that aspect.
“His body might be too exhausted and he’s fallen into a deep sleep. Since there’s nothing wrong with his heart, let’s just watch a bit longer.”
No matter how deep a sleep one fell into, it was definitely problematic to not open one’s eyes even when a needle was stuck in one’s arm and various tests were being conducted.
Ian showed almost no eyelid trembling. If not for the faintly rising and falling chest, his physical responses were so minimal he felt like a truly dead person.
Feeling frustrated, Ganghyuk unbuttoned his shirt. Though not as much as Jaehyun, Ganghyuk also had several wounds on his body.
“Nurse Im, please bring a wound suturing kit.”
“Yes, Director.”
At Director Kim’s words, a nurse went out and returned carrying a stainless steel tray containing various tools.
“Executive Director, I’ll check your wounds.”
Director Kim asked Ganghyuk for permission. When Ganghyuk nodded, Director Kim cut the edge of the shirt with scissors.
Stab wounds that appeared to be easily over 10cm were visible on his forearm and side. Director Kim nodded after examining the wounds.
“The forearm wound isn’t deep, so dressing it should be enough, but the side needs suturing. May I remove your shirt?”
At those words, Ganghyuk silently removed his shirt. A body stained with blood in places appeared. The nurse gulped at the tiger tattoo with living eyes.
“I’ll disinfect. It will sting a bit.”
Ganghyuk didn’t even twitch an eyebrow even when sterile gauze soaked with saline solution touched the wound area. It was the same when the anesthetic injection was administered to his side.
Director Kim treated the forearm and side wounds at a calm yet fast pace. After the suturing was finished, he covered the wounds with clean gauze and wrapped them with compression bandages.
After all treatment was finished, Ganghyuk brought over a chair and sat beside Ian’s bed. Director Kim brought hospital clothes and handed them to Ganghyuk. Ian had been changed into hospital clothes while receiving tests.
“Take the antibiotics right away. If you develop a severe fever, press the call button. Also call when the patient wakes up. I’ll continue monitoring.”
“Alright. Thanks.”
“Yes. Then I’ll be going.”
The sound of the hospital room door closing was heard. It was the hospital room Ian had stayed in before. Was it because of the pure white hospital room? Ganghyuk swallowed the antibiotics without water while looking at Ian, who appeared especially thin and gaunt.
Ganghyuk reached out to stroke Ian’s cheek, then discovered drops of blood splattered on his hand. He got up from his seat, washed his hands in the bathroom inside the hospital room, and returned.
Ganghyuk let out a long breath at Ian’s appearance as he continued to breathe only faintly. Sitting in the chair, he stroked Ian’s face with his now-clean hand.
Seeing Ian’s cheeks swollen and bruised, he thought he’d killed Gal Hongdo too easily. He should have returned the fear and pain Ian must have experienced tenfold, but at the time, he hadn’t had the leisure to think about various things.
“Baby, it’s safe now, so you can wake up.”
His voice came out hoarse. In nearly three days, the time he’d slept didn’t even amount to four hours. From the moment he learned Ian had been kidnapped until now, even though Ganghyuk was breathing, he hadn’t felt alive.
And it was similar now. Though he’d rescued Ian, he still felt suffocated. He hadn’t kept his promise. He’d said Gal Hongdo would absolutely never appear before his eyes again, yet the bastard had violated Ian once more.
If he’d been just a bit later in finding him, Ian would have died in that pitch-black space without a single ray of light. How scared must he have been to bite his tongue?
When he saw the wound remaining inside his mouth, Ganghyuk truly wanted to turn back time. He couldn’t even bear to touch his reddened, chafed eyes.
“Open your eyes. You need to hear me apologize. You need to resent me for coming so late.”
The time working under Chairman Tae had certainly been brilliant in its own way, but within it, Ganghyuk had always lived with an indefinable emptiness.
No matter how much money he earned, no matter how many people followed him, no matter how much his abilities were recognized, the joy was only momentary. Rather, an unfillable thirst followed afterward.
So he lived going with the flow. As if he’d have no regrets whenever he died. Appropriately dealing with whatever situations were given at the time.
He’d lived meaninglessly and then met Ian. With a face where soft down was fluffy, holding sadness to the full, yet with curiosity dwelling in the eyes looking toward him.
That appearance was truly fascinating. Though they’d clearly reunited after a long time, though he’d now become a proper adult, the little kid who used to nestle into his arms overlapped before his eyes.
