#215

Yoon Ki-beom had a terrible nightmare.

It was a dream about Father.

A dream where Father killed Maria, and a dream where Father took Ji-hye away.

‘Shut your mouth, you son of a bitch. You know what happens if you don’t stay still, right? I’ll kill Maria and take her daughter instead. I’ll take her and raise that the child just like Maria.’

Starting with these words, he spewed out all sorts of dirty and vile things.

He was a devil. A devil that even God couldn’t handle.

He felt like he finally knew why Father had given him Maria’s the child. No, he knew it instinctively. But he couldn’t refuse.

Father intended to keep Ki-beom and Maria in his grasp forever, shaking them around. They were emergency rations and emergency supplies that he could call upon and use whenever he needed. That need was never going to be for anything good. Even if it wasn’t this incident, Ki-beom would have been called upon for a similar matter at any time and taken the blame in Father’s place.

Maria too.

Was Maria still with Father?

Had Maria still not escaped from Father?

Maria laughed. Cried. Begged Father. Begged for her life. But Father, as if something amusing had happened, smiled brightly and plunged a terrifying knife into Maria. Then, the blood-stained blade pierced Ki-beom’s stomach.

‘I don’t need you either. Now I’m going to take your the child.’

Father shook the blood off the knife. Then, that blood splattered onto Ki-beom’s precious the child. Ji-hye, covered in blood, was dragged away by Father.

“No!”

Ki-beom screamed and woke up from the dream.

He came to his senses at the sound of people grumbling in the same room where he was sleeping. He belatedly realized where he was.

Ki-beom gasped for breath, barely managing to collect himself. But soon, his heart was torn apart. Tears streamed down his face endlessly.

It was because Father’s words weren’t a dream, because they were words he had actually said to Ki-beom.

The moment Maria was revealed to the world, Father would be revealed as well. But as always, Father would avoid all punishment or receive very little, and the arrows of blame that Father should receive would be directed at Maria.

Maria was Father’s hostage.

Father was a person who never broke his promises. He was a person who always kept promises that were advantageous to him. So, the moment Ki-beom uttered Maria’s identity, she would surely die.

Ki-beom, who had witnessed countless deaths firsthand during his nine years in the orphanage, believed Father’s words. He didn’t want to believe it, but he had no choice.

‘Are you going to make Ji-hye an orphan? Do you want to send her to an orphanage! That’s not what you want. So please, retract your confession.’

Tae-heun’s plea lingered in his ears.

No. No. No!

He absolutely didn’t want to do that.

He had no intention of making Ji-hye an orphan. Let alone sending her to an orphanage.

How could he, after raising her, after raising his the child?

But Ki-beom had no choice. He had no other way but to live as Yoon Ki-beom. Even if Yoon Ki-beom was a murderer, even if it meant his the child would become an orphan.

No, no, no!

She can’t become an orphan. Then she’ll go to an orphanage like me.

Ki-beom covered his face with both hands and curled up like a shrimp.

If he could, he wanted to disappear like this.

If he could, he wanted to die like this.

Then, suddenly, it occurred to him that the person who should die wasn’t him, but Father.

That’s right. The person who should die was Father.

The person who had really done bad things. The one who threatened him, blackmailed Maria, and put his own the child in danger was none other than Father.

If someone had to die, it was Father, the vice director, that bastard Kim Sung-hwan.

Only then did Ki-beom remember that Father was shorter and had a smaller build than him. If it was Ki-beom now, if Ki-beom was determined, he would have been more than capable of defeating him.

Ah. Why did this thought only come to him now?

Ki-beom regretted it.

He felt pathetic that he had only come to that thought now, after being imprisoned.

He was so scared and afraid of Father, he felt so big that he couldn’t even dare to think such a thing.

I’m bigger. My fists must be stronger.

It was already too late.

He was imprisoned.

Ki-beom became dejected and curled up again. He buried his face between his knees.

He wished someone would kill Father for him, so that he and Maria could be free.

For the first time in a long time, Ki-beom prayed earnestly.

Please save me.

Please, someone kill that bastard for me.

He begged and begged again.

* * *

The smell wasn’t as bad as he had expected because the air purifier and air conditioner were running. Nevertheless, Seon-jae covered his nose and said exaggeratedly.

“Ugh, what the hell did you eat? Did you eat shit or something? What’s with this awful smell?”

Kim Sung-hwan, who had dozed off, lifted his head abruptly at the sudden sound of a person’s voice. His eyes gleamed in the darkness.

“You have very clear eyes. Do you hear that often?”

“Who are you?”

Kim Sung-hwan shouted.

It was a beastly cry.

“Oh, you startled me.”

Seon-jae pretended to be surprised and stepped back. He only made a gesture since he was already far away.

Even though the full face shield of the motorcycle helmet was transparent, Kim Sung-hwan could barely see Seon-jae’s silhouette right now. Eyes usually adapt perfectly to darkness in about 2 hours, but never to artificially created darkness. Seon-jae knew Kim Sung-hwan’s condition better than anyone else since he had experienced it himself.

Despite being imprisoned and bound, Kim Sung-hwan was calm. There wasn’t a trace of fear to be found.

He was a remarkable man in many ways.

Silence descended on the black space.

Who are you, why are you doing this to me.

He could have pressed him, but Kim Sung-hwan silently waited for Seon-jae to speak first.

Since the other party wanted it so much, there was no reason not to grant it.

“Kim. Sung. Hwan.”

Seon-jae called out his real name, pronouncing each syllable clearly.

Kim Sung-hwan, unexpectedly called by his real name, reacted for the first time. He flinched.

“You’ve got the wrong person.”

Kim Sung-hwan protested in an aggrieved tone. Only the tone was like that; his expression was probably still cold.

“I’m not Kim Sung-hwan, I’m Lee Sang-hoon. I don’t know who you heard it from, but you’ve got the wrong person.”

“Come on, surely. Do you think I would have come without checking that? You’re Kim Sung-hwan, aren’t you.”

As he said this, Seon-jae threw a Polaroid picture of the employee roster.

“Ah. You probably can’t see it. But you must have seen it. The Galilla Orphanage employee roster I sent.”

“Galilla Orphanage? What are you talking about?”

Kim Sung-hwan flatly denied it.

He was acting so well that he almost seemed genuinely wronged.

“I’m Lee Sang-hoon. Really.”

Kim Sung-hwan rattled off Lee Sang-hoon’s thirteen-digit resident registration number and his registered domicile. Then, he explained step by step why he had entered this building. He was quite kind and detailed, as if he were talking to an elementary school student.

“I didn’t even know there was a building like this. I just came here because the bastards who ran off with my money called me to this office. But those bastards weren’t there. Even if you’re going to make fun of someone, there’s a limit. Not only did they run off with my money, but they even made fun of me. Wouldn’t you be angry if you were me? I was so frustrated that I broke down the door and went inside.”

Kim Sung-hwan even started to sob.

“Ah. Is that so. Now that I hear it, I feel wronged too.”

He pretended to sympathize.

“But what to do. Your wife confirmed that you’re Kim Sung-hwan. Would you like to talk to her?”

At the word “wife,” Kim Sung-hwan’s eyes gleamed again.

People usually get agitated when you bring up their family. But Kim Sung-hwan was different. He didn’t reveal his emotions easily.

“Why don’t you just admit it? Mr. Kim Sung-hwan. It’s starting to get boring.”

Seon-jae yawned and shook the paper. It was a document containing Lee Sang-hoon’s personal information.

“Lee Sang-hoon. Three years younger than you, and wow, he’s good-looking. You have no conscience.”

He had memorized most of it, but he deliberately shone a flashlight on the paper.

That’s when it happened. Kim Sung-hwan quickly lowered his head and twisted his face to lift it up. He was trying to see Seon-jae’s face illuminated by the flashlight. He was a creepy bastard.

Seon-jae frowned and threw the paper away.

Kim Sung-hwan returned to his original posture and rattled off facts he hadn’t even been asked about.

“I don’t have a family. My parents died when I was young, and my grandfather practically raised me. Of course, we grew apart because I got involved in the labor movement, but we were still very fond of each other. After my grandfather passed away, I regretted my mistakes and ran away from my comrades. I even quit school. I don’t know why you’re calling me Kim Sung-hwan, but I’m Lee Sang-hoon.”

Even though he had been confirmed through his wife, Kim Sung-hwan didn’t care and insisted that he was Lee Sang-hoon.

This won’t do, this bastard.

Seon-jae narrowed his brows.

He felt at least a little sympathy for Kim Sung-hwan’s wife, but not for the bastard in front of him. He was very relieved. If it turned out that he was really a good person and sincerely regretting his mistakes, he would have felt unnecessarily sorry.

Seon-jae decided to torment Kim Sung-hwan a little more.

Honestly, he wouldn’t have minded killing him right then and there, but something felt off. He felt like he was missing something very important.

Kim Sung-hwan wasn’t an easy opponent to break down mentally. In that case, let’s torture his body, with cold. He would make him taste the pain of bones chilling and flesh cracking from the cold in the middle of summer.

“Can you lower it to 16 degrees?”

He shouted loudly into the air.

He shouted towards Mr. Kim, who would be observing this room from the machine room on the first basement floor.

Soon, the air conditioner wind intensified, and an even colder air descended from the ceiling than before.

Kim Sung-hwan looked up.

“Shit,” he cursed lowly, then lowered his gaze to Seon-jae. It was as if he was saying that the cold was nothing, that someone like you could never beat me.

Even though he was naked and covered in his own feces and urine, Kim Sung-hwan didn’t show any shame or embarrassment that a human being would normally feel. Of course, there was no fear either.

What kind of human being could be like this?

Seon-jae felt a chill down his spine at the thought that if he hadn’t walked in on his own, if he hadn’t gotten the chance to capture him, it would have been really difficult to deal with him. He was greatly relieved that he had gained the upper hand.

At the same time, he felt sorry for Man. He must have been afraid of Kim Sung-hwan all this time because he was that kind of human being.

It seemed that even Choi In-ho, a doctor who lacked nothing in money, fame, or power, was watching him because he was that kind of human being.

He must have been a hundred or a thousand times more evil when he was in the orphanage than he was now. So even Kim Young-ja, who wasn’t an ordinary woman, must have trembled. He must have stabbed Yoon Ki-beom without a second thought and made Na Jin-soo and Yoon Ki-beom’s cousin accomplices. He must have killed Lee Sang-hoon, a labor activist and college student who had secretly snuck into the orphanage to save the children, and even tortured Kim Cheol-soo while making the children take pictures.

“You son of a bitch.”

Seon-jae spat out the curse like a sigh.

“Let’s see how long you last.”

People like Kim Sung-hwan would be more afraid of dying slowly in a place where no one was around, without knowing why. The more someone was intoxicated with their own power, the more they tended to be that way. Even if they died, they would rather die being tortured, and if possible, they would want the whole world to know about their death. Even if it meant their ugly humanity and crimes being exposed.

Honestly, how much attachment to this world would he have?

Perhaps even in this situation, Kim Sung-hwan might be thinking. That he was not like others who envied money and power, but a god-like being who held people’s lives in his hands.

Not childishly playing with cats, dogs, or rats, but with great humanity, manipulating, intimidating, and even killing humans like him who breathed, thought, and spoke.

But here he was, facing a human daring to suppress him. Kim Sung-hwan was probably calculating how to defeat the enemy before his eyes. He would be racking his brain, wondering what trick he could use to lure him in and then kill him. Even though the odds were slim, he would delude himself into thinking he had a good chance.

Seon-jae noticed that the ropes binding Kim Sung-hwan had loosened, but he deliberately ignored it. Even if the outcome was predetermined, a fight was always fun.

Would it be less cold if I wore a helmet?

He chuckled at the absurd thought.

“See you later, you son of a bitch, Kim Sung-hwan.”

Seon-jae left the Black room.

Chapter 216