#159

Kwon Il-taek was dead.

Just a week ago, the hale and hearty, ordinary seventy-year-old man had become a notorious swindler and surfaced as a corpse in the sea off Incheon. What’s more, he had been tortured to the point where identification was difficult.

It seemed the loan sharks had found him before the police. If they had killed Kwon Il-taek as an example, there was no guarantee that the rest of his family would be safe.

“…Hey.”

“……”

“Tae-heun, you took the wrong way.”

“Huh?”

“We should have turned left back there…”

man turned around, trailing off.

“Ah… Sorry. I missed it.”

“Should I drive if you’re sleepy?”

“No. Who’s sleepy?”

Tae-heun smiled brightly at Man, checked the opposite lane, and made a U-turn.

The two were now on their way to Gimje in an Avante, having switched from the stolen Korando.

“It’s really absurd. How can a car just disappear from a parking lot?”

Once they were properly headed in the direction of their destination, the man started repeating what he had been saying since earlier.

“I know. The world is full of strange things, right?”

Tae-heun nonchalantly agreed with Man.

“It’s a good thing my sixth cousin was there, or we would have been stranded.”

“Yes. That’s really fortunate.”

man nodded vigorously.

“But now that we’re talking about it, are you sure it’s okay to go like this? I’m worried we might get called to the police station because of us.”

“Worrying is a waste of time. Didn’t you hear what he said earlier? He has friends all over the police station.”

“Still.”

“Let’s worry about ourselves. I’m starving.”

Hearing about food, the man said, “Me too.” Then he went back to talking about the stolen car, saying, “Really, all sorts of things happen.” Tae-heun chuckled, watching Man.

“Ki-beom, you’re subtly persistent.”

He said.

It was around 4:30 AM this morning when Tae-heun woke up to the sound of his phone vibrating. He had only been asleep for 40 minutes.

man didn’t even notice the phone vibrating, let alone know how to turn on the lamp. He was sound asleep, face down. He occasionally groaned and tossed and turned, but that was it. Tae-heun stroked Man’s back and kissed his neck, thinking he must be tired.

Then he reached out and groped for the side table. Opening the phone’s folder, he saw a message saying he would be called soon, along with spam messages.

Calling at this hour?

It seemed like something quite urgent had happened. But instead of feeling nervous, he felt dazed. A pleasant languor made him giggle.

He had properly slept with Man. Had real sex. No, since they were like animals, it was more accurate to say they had mated. It was that intense. It was the most satisfying sex Tae-heun had ever had in his life. Not to mention, he had reached orgasm.

As a result, his body and mind were thoroughly soaked in the afterglow of that moment.

The phone vibrated. Tae-heun waited for the call to end. He knew they would call again from the same number in five minutes. He put on a gown, making sure the man wouldn’t hear, and went out to the emergency stairs. His back ached with every step. He knew exactly why, so a silly smile leaked out.

Exactly five minutes later, the phone vibrated.

Kwon Il-taek is dead. He surfaced in the sea off Incheon three hours ago. The body was severely damaged, so it seems it took some time to identify him.

It was Helper.

I heard he was tortured.

His tone was indifferent.

Kwon Il-taek was dead.

He felt strange.

Everyone’s excited about the body. Of course, not the police, but those bastards. And some of them have decided to chase you. Lee Seok-doo raised the bounty.

‘How much?’

Enough to change your life in one go.

‘That stingy old man is quite something.’

Tae-heun chuckled.

‘Oh, what about the child?’

It was a random question at a random time. He heard a sigh over the receiver.

‘Is he doing well?’

Yeah, he’s doing well!

‘Let me talk to him tomorrow, no, today. the child’s Father is worried.’

Helper scoffed at Tae-heun’s words.

Anyone would think you’ve set up house with that Man.

‘What if I have?’

Are you serious? Is this a joke to you?

‘I’m not joking.’

Ugh, you’re not even worth cursing.

Helper brushed off Tae-heun’s words and clicked his tongue. But that was it, he immediately got to the point.

Don’t stop by Cheongyang, head straight to Gimje.

Tae-heun raised his eyebrows.

‘Is that okay?’

Yeah. It’s okay. Prosecutor Jeong changed the plan.

‘Why did he do that? He’s not the type to do that.’

It seems like that investigation you’re doing left some unnecessary traces. You should be more careful.

He had pushed him to investigate the orphanage, and now he was worried.

Tae-heun briefly pondered what kind of traces he had left. The only things that weren’t in Prosecutor Jeong’s scenario were eating stew and hamburgers with the man in Songtan. Oh, and they went to that two-story log cabin cafe. And he dropped Park Mal-ja off at the restaurant where he worked. Wait, they also stopped by the supermarket in front of the motel. Not just stopped by, but practically advertised, “I’m going to have sex.”

Shit. He really did go all out.

He smiled bitterly.

‘I’m not going to stop that.’

I know. That’s why I’m sending you straight to Gimje. Go there, find out everything you wanted to know, and finish it.

‘How much time do I have?’

Enough. I bought some time.

Helper’s voice was cheerful as he said that. It was completely different from when he had told him about Kwon Il-taek’s death. He was curious about how he had bought time, but he could hear the details later when they met.

‘What’s next?’

You’ll be moved to a safe place.

Helper’s voice turned businesslike again, losing its levity.

‘Already?’

What do you mean, already? Are you on vacation?

Tae-heun laughed at Helper’s nagging.

‘This time, ask them to send me to a business hotel. The last place was really…’

Please, grow up. I’m hanging up.

Helper hung up the phone in disgust.

The call lasted exactly two minutes. He was a thorough person, as always.

Tae-heun closed the phone forcefully and stared at the emergency exit sign.

Kwon Il-taek was dead.

He thought it was a fitting end for a con man. Most of the time, the victims died and the con men lived well, eating and prospering.

Tae-heun went back to the motel room and lay down next to Man. But he couldn’t fall asleep. The old man was practically a stranger to Tae-heun, but somehow his heart felt heavy. It was all because of Man. He was worried about how to tell the man about the old man’s death.

It wouldn’t be difficult to hide Kwon Il-taek’s death, but he didn’t want to. It would be better for him to hear the news through the news, radio, or newspaper. the man would be greatly shocked, but it could also give the man a strong motivation to protect Kwon Yong-joon.

Tae-heun decided to use Kwon Yong-joon’s name in any way he could until he went to Gimje.

He glanced back at Man. Man, who was diligently looking at the map, was more serious than ever. As soon as he had mentioned that he had received a call in the early morning, the man had mistaken it for a call from Kwon Yong-joon, which showed how sincere the man still was about Kwon Yong-joon. Thanks to that, it became easier for Tae-heun to lie.

“Do you see it?”

Man, who had been tracing the map with his finger, nodded.

“Yes. It’s right next to the local road, so it’ll be easy to get around.”

“That’s good.”

man closed the map and sighed.

“You’re not going there with bad intentions, are you?”

He asked cautiously.

“Ki-beom, you watch too many dramas. Yong-joon is probably going there to find a safe place for himself.”

“…I guess so.”

“And if he was going to commit suicide, why would he bother contacting Ki-beom so often?”

“Well, maybe just to leave a body behind…”

“Ki-beom, really.”

man immediately apologized, realizing that he had gone too far, saying, “I’m sorry.”

“I guess I was too negative.”

“That’s true. But there’s really no need to apologize. Not between us.”

Tae-heun said in a deep voice.

Then the man pretended not to hear and turned up the volume on the audio. DJ D.O.C was singing, “Grandpas and grandmas dance too.”

“By the way, how did Yong-joon know about that place? He’s surprisingly well-connected.”

Instead of changing the subject, he talked a little more about Kwon Yong-joon. He led the conversation in a positive direction if possible. Then the man said, “That’s right. He has that side to him,” and smiled.

“Yong-joon told me he ran away from home when he was a sophomore in high school.”

“Ran away?”

“Yes. I think that’s probably when he went there.”

man said this and reminisced.

“He looks gentle, but he’s got a lot of guts. About seven or eight years ago, peddlers came into our village and scammed the elders, selling them things like medicine.”

man continued excitedly.

“He happened to witness it and immediately ran over and demanded that they return the money, threatening to call the police if they didn’t. Those people have been doing business for a day or two? Of course, they didn’t pay any attention. So Yong-joon suddenly took off his clothes, tore up all the medicine in front of them, scattered it everywhere, and put it in his mouth. He was like a madman. Only then did they all return the money and run away.”

It was unexpected. Tae-heun thought to himself that he was surprisingly moral for the son of Dongjam-ri’s top con man.

“You said he was like a child just now?”

“He’s got guts because he doesn’t know the world. How can a high school student run away from home? Especially in ’86?”

“I guess you’re right. He wouldn’t have done that if he knew how scary the world was.”

The two men, who were the same age as Kwon Yong-joon, babbled like old men.

“By the way, what time did Yong-joon say to meet?”

“Midnight.”

“Again?”

“That’s what I want to say. Midnight at a reservoir. Ugh, just thinking about it is scary.”

When he acted scared, the man laughed. More accurately, he sneered.

“What kind of the man is so scared?”

“Are you talking to me right now?”

When Tae-heun widened his eyes as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have, the man shook his head.

“You should have become an actor.”

“If I had, I wouldn’t have met Ki-beom.”

He smiled brightly.

man also laughed in disbelief.

The car entered Asan. Only now did the man finally relax, and he gulped down water. Having been dragged around because the car was stolen, the man quickly finished a bottle of water.

“Drink mine if you’re thirsty.”

“No. You need to drink it too.”

“I’m okay. I woke up before Ki-beom and drank water and everything.”

“…Then I’ll just drink a little.”

man carefully opened Tae-heun’s water, drank exactly 1/3 of it, and put it down. He was a the man who was too considerate.

“Ki-beom, are you very hungry?”

“I can handle it.”

“I’m sorry. It’s time for me to have had two meals. I should have brought a bag of snacks.”

“I know. I was too distracted to think about it.”

man regretted it.

“And peaches.”

As he said this, Tae-heun stroked Man’s thigh.

man silently grabbed Tae-heun’s hand that was stroking his thigh. Tae-heun swallowed hard, anticipating what the man would do. Would he give him a kiss? Or would he suck on his fingers? He openly anticipated it. But the man dashed Tae-heun’s expectations and put his hand back on the steering wheel.

“Just drive. And don’t think about anything else.”

He said coldly.

“What did you think I was thinking about?”

He twitched his lips.

Glancing back, Tae-heun saw the man smiling. He was a handsome man even in profile. The thought that this perfect man was his filled Tae-heun’s heart with inexplicable emotion. He couldn’t help the rising of his cheekbones as he watched the road.

Man, now with the leisure to look at the scenery, soon began to nod off. Tae-heun lowered the audio volume for Man. He usually fell asleep by 9 PM, but he had barely fallen asleep after 3 AM, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he had experienced the absurd accident of having his car stolen. Tae-heun figured he must be exhausted.

Tae-heun and the man were currently on their way to Asan. The police officer, disguised as Tae-heun’s sixth cousin, had specifically asked them to go to Asan to leave behind false traces. From there, they were planning to fulfill Prosecutor Jeong’s request and then move to Gimje.

The journey was smooth.

160 – Chapter 160