By Zephyria 
—I saw the photo. What is this……
The sound of muttering to oneself drifted. It was so faint that it could hardly be heard without concentrating. Was he saying he saw the photo of him being kidnapped and held captive?
“I shudder when I see a dimwit. Is that it? You’re dead.”
As he spoke through gritted teeth, the other party hung up first.
“Did he forget his manners? Fucking rude.”
Irritably pressing the call button again, he gestured to the man standing to one side.
“What did Son Pro drive out in?”
“Wh-what?”
“I’m asking if he took an SUV or a sports car. Whether it’s the Representative or the employee, you’re all dimwits. You want me to repeat myself twice and bullshit?”
As he stomped the floor and barked, the man’s shoulders shrank. His eyes darted around before he barely managed to answer in a crawling voice.
“SUV……”
“You should’ve just opened your mouth from the start.”
The sight of himself patting the intimidated man’s shoulder made him feel like a gangster, but he wondered if that even mattered.
—The party you have called is not available……
This time, the call wasn’t answered. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Gyu-oh tossed the phone back and immediately left the lesson studio. He pulled out his own phone from his back pocket and left a text for Mu-gyeong.
That he had headed to the outskirts of the city in an SUV and would likely have reached the destination by now. After that, he blindly got into his car.
He stepped on the accelerator urgently. The destination was the parking lot of his office-tel nearby. If it was the outskirts, a motorcycle would be far more mobile than a car. He felt it would be better to switch quickly rather than waste time hesitating. Throughout the drive, he called Min-ho and Son Pro alternately, but no one answered.
“I should have installed a GPS.”
It wasn’t that he hadn’t thought about putting a GPS on Hyung’s body. However, there had been no opportunity, and since he had even put a tail on him, he wondered if it was necessary and refrained… and now he regretted it. He had already crossed the line, so what was he trying to protect?
But there was nothing he could do about what had already happened. When he met Min-ho Hyung again, he would definitely install one. Even if he hated it, he’d cut the skin or implant it in a tooth. He would attach it one way or another. Even while having such chilling imaginations, he did not stop speeding.
How much time had passed? The moment he reached home, parked the car haphazardly, and switched to the motorcycle, he received a contact from Mu-gyeong. Even though it was just a single vibration, his heart raced violently. He had an intuition that this must be news that they had found where Min-ho was. He answered the phone with the helmet tucked under his arm.
“Did you find him?”
—Head toward the Hanam area. I’ll send the nearby address and a photo of the warehouse.
“Warehouse?”
It seemed they had locked him in a warehouse on a deserted road without an address. Fuck, Hyung is sensitive to things like that. He already has memories of being kidnapped and losing a friend, and that still haunts Cha Min-ho. He thought it had been calming down lately, but if they poked at it like this, he’d definitely suffer for a while.
“Should I really kill him?”
Gritting his teeth, he pressed the helmet down firmly. Soon, the address near the warehouse was delivered, and after roughly confirming the destination, Gyu-oh pulled down the face shield. The motorcycle tore out of the parking lot without hesitation.
Why did he let Hyung be alone in the first place? He should have told him not to pack any luggage. He regretted being so excited just because he was told he could go home.
“Just go die.”
Hyung, if something goes wrong, I’ll die too. I’ll bite my tongue and die. First, I’ll crush that rude, greasy bastard. Continuing his grim resolve, he increased his speed.
* * *
“What! How the hell do you guys work?”
Screeech, the warehouse door opened with a chilling sound. Min-ho, who had slightly regained consciousness at the loud noise, blinked.
Through a vision clouded with swirling dust, he saw someone entering. He narrowed his eyes, focusing on the silhouette. The person was still wearing a helmet, but the tinted face shield was pushed up to the forehead. As he blinked his dry eyes, he felt a hand pulling his shoulder.
His body was dragged powerlessly, and as he barely managed to lift his head, Son Pro’s face was right in front of him. As soon as their eyes met, Min-ho curled the corners of his mouth upward.
“Is this kind of hard stuff your taste? I didn’t know.”
At the heavily cracked voice, Son Pro’s brow furrowed sharply. A flicker of bewilderment seemed to cross his eyes.
“Hey, fuck!”
Son Pro jumped up and strode toward the gangsters. He had tried to lower his voice, but because he was barking, it reached Min-ho unfiltered.
“You brought the wrong person!”
“No, I’m telling you it’s him! I saw him smoking with a helmet on in the hotel parking lot, and I saw him get out of the car!”
As he guessed, they had mistaken him for Gyu-oh. Even though there was a fair difference in build, he thought they had terrible eyesight.
“And when I showed the photo, that person said it was him too!”
One of the gangsters who had shown him the photo earlier pointed a finger. Because his hands were tied uncomfortably behind his back, his shoulders were stiff. A dull pain began to bloom, and he started to confuse whether this was déjà vu or if he was actually in pain.
Could they just knock him out again like before? Should he bite his tongue? While he continued these thoughts, the tinnitus ringing in his eardrums and the sound of his pulse became wildly entangled.
“You showed him a photo?”
“Yes! Right? Hey, you said it was him!”
The guys standing around nodded quickly. To be precise, he had only said they had ‘good eyesight,’ but all the responsibility was now shifted to him. However, in the current situation, that wasn’t particularly important. Min-ho clenched his fists, twisting his tingling wrists. His ice-cold fingertips were trembling.
Ah, I’m really fucking nervous. But it can’t be helped. The situation is too similar to that time.
“Phew.”
Letting out a sigh, he lowered his head deeply. From the moment he realized the space he was in was a warehouse, he couldn’t remain sane. As he barely held onto his fading consciousness, Son Pro’s low voice pierced through.
“Director?”
“……Yes.”
As Min-ho barely lifted his head, a phone screen suddenly appeared in his vision. It was so close it almost touched the tip of his nose.
“By any chance, do you know each other?”
“He doesn’t look like me.”
Because it was too close, he couldn’t focus properly, and he also needed to buy time. After giving a nonsensical answer, he tried to force a smile with a pale face. He bit his lip between his teeth to hide the trembling.
“Suspicious. If you don’t, you should just say so.”
“Your face looks quite worn out. Do you have some worries?”
“…….”
As he kept giving irrelevant answers, Son Pro’s eyebrow twitched. After stroking his chin for a while, he suddenly let out a short exclamation. At the same time, Min-ho had the illusion of an exclamation mark appearing over his face.
“Ah, by any chance, is he someone from the Director’s company?”
“Who?”
“……Hmm.”
Since the situation was such that Son Pro had already guessed to some extent, simply denying it wasn’t the best solution. It might be better to provoke him moderately to induce violence and buy time. It would be even better if he managed to get knocked out in the process. Facing Son Pro, who was staring at him with narrowed eyes, Min-ho curled the corners of his mouth.
“I’m sorry, I’m on the verge of dying right now, so I can’t concentrate on the conversation.”
“Sss.”
Despite the words delivered with maximum politeness, Son Pro tilted his head. Although he was suspicious, he seemed to realize that Min-ho’s condition was not great.
“Director. I’ll ask one more time.”
“Aren’t you using drugs? I’m far too sober……”
“No, seriously. Answer me!”
The man who had raised his hand hesitated upon seeing the helmet on his head. Then, with a rough motion, he ripped the helmet off. His whole head rang, and his vision spun. In an instant, a cool breeze seeped through his hair.
I could stay warm thanks to the helmet, what a shame. Licking his lips, he stared blankly at the helmet rolling on the floor. Suddenly, he remembered the moment Gyu-oh had put it on him.
“I don’t have the luxury to treat you like I did before, Director.”
“Same here.”
He needed to snap out of it, but it wasn’t as easy as he wanted. He steadied his wavering vision and scanned the surroundings.
It was similar to the abandoned warehouse where he had been captured with Jae-hyeok, but different. For one, the number of gangsters surrounding him was smaller, there were no broken bottles scattered on the floor, and above all, he was the only one captured. He breathed, obsessively reminding himself that the situation was different from that day.
“You know who my father is, right?”
At the mention of his father, laughter burst out of him involuntarily. Min-ho, laughing with his shoulders shaking powerlessly, lowered his head deeply. He twisted his wrists, but the tied cords didn’t budge. Was it because he was an active professional back then that untying the cords wasn’t difficult?
“Because he suddenly said he was cutting ties, I, right now, am beyond heartbroken!”
Son Pro put strength into every single syllable. At the end, he even raised his voice as if shouting. Despite this, Min-ho continued to let out silly chuckles.
“Ahaha.”
“It’s true, isn’t it? No wonder. At some point, you started acting friendly, didn’t you? Did you think something would fall to you if you did that behind my back to separate me from my father? Huh?”
The shouting screams pierced his eardrums violently.
It feels like it’s been a while since I was brought here. Gyu-oh, who packed his things and left, must have informed the company, and he’s probably figured out my location by now, right? Let’s not try to do anything more here. Jae-hyeok ended up like that because I stepped forward for no reason. Let’s just buy time until they come to help. What if someone gets hurt because I acted out again?
Yes, at least Gyu-oh doesn’t have to suffer this fate. Come to think of it, the reason Gyu-oh was followed and put at risk of being kidnapped like this was because he took over the work for me. So, let’s do nothing.