Payback

The buses kept stopping in front of me, but I couldn’t think of which bus I had to take. After sitting on a bench and spending a few moments like that, I finally figured out why. It was because I didn’t know where to go. The company? The goshiwon? There are only two places, so why can’t I decide? I got frustrated and tried to get up from my seat. However, Hansoo’s voice, whom I thought had already gone to the subway, was heard next to me. 

“Are you okay?”

As I turned my head, Hansoo, who was a little far away, approached me and sat down in the vacant seat next to me. As I looked at him with a “what do you mean?” expression, he pointed a finger at my shoulder.

“Shoulders. You kept holding it. You got hit by that guy earlier, right?”

“…” 

“At first glance, I saw two people fighting. At that time, I didn’t know exactly who it was, so I didn’t stop it…”

He bowed his head as if I had been hit because of him.

“I should have actually called the police. That way, Myungshin hyung can come to his senses and never call someone like that again.”

Again?

“Have you seen that mad dog ​​before?”

Hansoo flinched at my words and mumbled.

“Myungshin hyung came to the office with that man when he and the CEO had a bad relationship over a lawsuit. It was almost before closing, so the CEO was alone…”

Hansoo’s head fell deeper. 

“I then looked inside through the open door from the outside, and I was terrified and ran away.”

“Aren’t I stupid?” Hansoo closed his mouth at the end of the question. A brightly lit bus stopped, and several people hurried to get inside. There was no one getting off, and as the number of riders increased, the black-haired heads moved around. It was interesting. The fact that they were clear enough about a destination to go to endure the inconvenience.

“Why did you follow me?”

Did he notice that the manager drinking was a lie? Contrary to what one might have guessed, Hansoo took something out of his bag. 

“Oh, you didn’t take this.”

That was the screenplay for the movie I asked for.

“And coincidentally, the manager came…”

Hansoo trailed off and looked at me with anxious eyes. 

“You didn’t let me come because you thought that would be Myungshin, right?”

Instead of answering, I took the script and changed the topic.

“You have three sisters?”

“Yes? Oh, no. Four.” 

And, without even asking me, he succinctly confided about his family relationship.

“I am the youngest. Everyone says that when you are the only son in the family with four older sisters, I would have been coddled, but our family is definitely not like that. Because my father’s family is not a house where a son was particularly precious, and they didn’t particularly want to bear a son. That’s why when I was young, I was my older sisters’ servant!”

As he spoke, Hansoo’s voice rose as if he felt unfair.

“Unfortunately, only my mother adored me because I was the youngest, but my older sisters just told my father that we were treated differently, so I always got scolded by my father. In front of our father, my older sisters trembled and said, ‘Daddy~ I love you~!’ and he’ll do everything for them. Tsk, and he was strict with me, saying that I have to grow up strong because I’m a man.” 

Pouting his dissatisfaction, he immediately shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

“Still, when my parents objected to me being an actor, my sisters helped me. When I first went up on stage, all my sisters came to see me. But the play was a comedy, and as soon as I came out and acted, everyone started crying. I was so flustered. Now, because of school, I live alone, so sometimes I miss them.”

He was originally a talkative guy, so I knew that if I didn’t stop him at this point, I would have to keep listening. However, after receiving the next question, I couldn’t say anything like, “Stop talking and go.”

“Taemin, you live alone, right? Then you won’t be able to see your brother and parents that often.” 

“… Yes.”

“Um, didn’t you say your brother had the same name as me? If he’s in middle school, there is an age difference, so don’t you want to go see them often? I’m 15 years younger than my eldest sister. I think she cares more about me than her own kids. She looks at me as if she looks at her son. Oh, are brothers a little different? My sisters just checked my transcripts when I was a student. Doesn’t Taemin look at his brother’s report card?”

“I don’t have to look.”

I answered dryly and added, looking back at Hansoo. 

“He studies well.”

“Wow, when you say that, it sounds like he’s at the top of the country. Gasp! Is he really a top student?”

“Well,” I muttered and pulled my phone out of my pocket. The call was from an unknown number.

“Yes.” 

[Hello? Oh, you were the one who came to Cha Jungwoo’s house with Manager Choi yesterday, right?]

The face of the other party immediately came to mind with the voice. Cha Jungwoo’s road manager with a bruise on his face.

“That’s right. What’s the matter?”

[Uh, Jungwoo… Well, Jungwoo wants to talk. Not with Manager Choi, but with you.] 

“Why?”

[I don’t know about that either…]

After blurring his words, he lowered his voice as if in a whisper.

[After a day, I think his anger has subsided. So, he’s thinking about what Manager Choi said. But before he talks to him again, I think he’ll try to find out what Manager Choi is like first.] 

Hmm, the manager sent the police to scare him a little bit, didn’t he? Or maybe he’s forced to choose because he’s the only one who suggested a solution in the worst situation. I don’t know if I should scare him even more here.

“I can’t go now.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

[Yes? Then when…]

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“Can you get the catalog I was talking about tonight?”

“Oh, the luxury catalog?”

“Yes”, when I nodded my head, Hansoo blinked and answered. 

“Yeah, I asked a very rich senior who’s knowledgeable about that, and he said he would just give me everything he had. But I was supposed to get it tomorrow.”

“Go and get it now. And bring it to Cha Jungwoo’s villa tomorrow morning at 10.”

There seemed to be a lot of things he wanted to ask, but Hansoo only nodded his head.

“Okay. But you said you were going early on the phone a while ago. I can go earlier.” 

“It’s okay. The person who’s desperate will have to wait.”

Hansoo, who knew that the manager had been hit by him, smiled and said he got it, then turned around and ran off. Watching him move away, I got up from my seat and looked in the direction the bus was coming. Then I remembered what I was worried about here in the first place. Where should I go? I stared blankly at the lights of cars rushing as if attacking, and the phone rang again. A short message.

— Go to my house and look for a briefcase on the table.

This bastard… he indeed gave me the key to boss me around? Suddenly, a fit of anger erupted inside. I stared at my phone screen and turned to the subway. The decision to go and burn the briefcase soon filled the inside. Maybe it was lucky that I didn’t know where to go. But at that moment, I didn’t realize it more deeply. It was not bad to have something filling up inside me. 

***

Beep~

When I pulled open the front door with an electronic sound, the light at the entrance turned on. But other than that, the interior that should have been dark was already bright. With a curious mind, I went inside with caution. The center of the bright light is the living room. It was not so different from when I had been there before. A wide window with a clear view of the twinkling night, Scenarios, books, and papers that look cluttered on the floor and on the table.

Nothing was unexpected about that, but the problem was the madman sleeping on the sofa. He was lying on his back with one arm covering his face and the other dropping off the sofa. At the tip of his fingertips that touched the floor, a paper full of English words was unfolded like a fan. My anger of having to run all the way here turned into irritation. 

I was about to turn around, but a white briefcase on the messy table caught my attention. I glanced at the still unmoved guy and picked up the documents. With the other hand, I pulled the lighter out of my pocket. I don’t smoke, but after I got off the bus, I bought it on purpose. Of course, to burn the papers.

Click.

Flames rose in an instant. A flame the size of a thumb struggled hard to escape from the lighter. But as long as I press the switch on the lighter, I have to hold on to it. The moment I brought the envelope to the flame who was struggling to fly away, I saw the letters written on the envelope.

‘Cha Jungwoo’ 

Huh?

I hadn’t thought that the documents that the madman asked me to look for were related to me. I turned off the lighter reflexively. When I saw a few sheets of paper inside, I pulled it out, and at first glance it was a familiar document. A format like you’ve seen it before. When I took it out completely, I understood why.

‘contract’

As I checked the bold title and lowered my eyes, I heard a voice interrupting me. 

“You don’t need to see.”

When I turned my head, the madman just raised his upper body and looked down at his wrist watch.

“It’s going to be torn by Cha Jungwoo’s hand anyway.”

“What are you talking about?” 

“I heard Cha Jungwoo called you alone?”

Asking drowsily, he turned his shoulders as if to relax.

“Take it to him when you meet him. If you say the company gave it to you, he will look at it.”

“And rip it right away?” 

‘Ah, yes,’ he muttered, raising his long body from the couch, finally snapping his neck from side to side. Did he hear from the road manager that Cha Jungwoo called me? No matter how much time was given, Cha Jungwoo is an important property of the company, so he wouldn’t let it go… I looked at the contract with a frown.

But had he already made a contract? Even if it was a contract that Cha Jungwoo could tear as soon as he saw it, it would be unfavorable to him. Come to think of it, the company said that they were aware of Cha Jungwoo’s issue in advance. I remembered the information the manager had given me, but I still felt like something wasn’t right. Maybe it was because of his easy going way of saying he’s going to tear it apart’. Then his words interrupted my thoughts.

“He needs to relieve the shock in advance so that you can sign properly when your manager picks it up again.”

“Do you trust my manager?” 

Did he think Cha Jungwoo’s mind will change by tomorrow? The answer was also ‘no’.

“No. I trust Cha Jungwoo.”

He checked his watch once more to see if he had to leave, and picked up his suit jacket that had been draped over the sofa.

“The more you have, the greater your fear of losing. Now Cha Jungwoo is more scared than angry. So, we should take this opportunity to get his signature.” 

… Aren’t you the Director? I felt a sense of disappointment that this was the unhappy feeling I had a while ago due to some crude plan. Since yesterday morning, the executives have been meeting intensively, and in the end, are they just going to sign a favorable contract with Cha Jungwoo? It didn’t seem like the executives were great, but then he asked nonchalantly.

“By the way, haven’t you listened to Cha Jungwoo’s recording file yet?”

“I heard. But that’s no longer needed. Even without it, Cha Jung-woo suspects the manager as the culprit, so the evidence is needed.”

“I didn’t mean for it to be used for Cha Jungwoo.” 

What? Looking up, he jogged my memories.

“I said You can find something interesting if you listen with the volume up.”

“Yeah, I found it. The voice of the manager of Cha Jungwoo was recorded.”

But he twisted his lips derisively. The look was annoying, but I pressed on, recalling the conclusion I had made. It’s best to end the conversation with that guy quickly. 

“Is this what you called me for?”

Putting the contract back into the envelope and asking, the guy in the coat looked indifferent.

“Do you think I would have you come to the house on purpose just to give you that?”

“yes.” 

“…”

The guy who was about to pick up something from the table slowly straightened his back. And he smiled habitually. Yes, ‘habit’ was the correct expression. It was a habit to say things like that with a smile. I realized again by his sharp voice that he was a lunatic.

“No matter how much I enjoy your idiocy, I can’t smile and listen to this.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he added, “Ah.” 

“Do you know what idiocy means?”

Damn it, this jerk…

“I know. Fuck, my only weakness is English.”

I’m pretty good at Korean. Surprisingly, I know a lot of old-fashioned idioms. But the madman immediately countered. 

“You’re weak in geography, too.”

“And you? You didn’t even know the time of the first subway.”

Besides, he even acted arrogantly to the President when I was the one who told him. The anger from that time flared up again, but he gave me an answer that proved that he was indeed crazy.

“That’s not common sense.” 

“… Then, is the capital of Lithuania common sense?”

“Of course. Lithuania has a lake in the shape of the Korean peninsula, so it is natural for Koreans to know.”

“…”

What… What’s this crazy logic? I wanted to lash out at him, but I didn’t know how to respond. I thought I’d just say “You crazy punk!” in a row, but only another line came out. 

“…You don’t have any friends, do you?”

However, like his usual self, he did not panic at this question and smiled happily.

“No. A lot of people think of me as a friend.”

“Then what do you think of them?” 

The man answered confidently.

“Subordinate.”

I think I lived a difficult life in the past, but when I saw this guy, I suddenly wondered. What are the parents of this guy doing? While I was so uselessly lost in his family history, he gently comforted me.

“Oh, I don’t think you are a subordinate.” 

In an instant it became ominous. If he said something like a plaything, I decided to flick the lighter on him and just as I put my hand in my pocket, one word followed.

“Heart.”

“…”

“Should I say this?” 

The slowly added question seemed to be directed at himself. And I remembered what he said before when he stared still at me who was wondering if he really said what he said.

‘My heart moved.’

A voice mixed with bizarreness as if he did not even understand it himself. A feeling similar to that time was mixed in his gaze.

“How do you feel?” 

I raised my eyes, becoming conscious of the voice that asked me slowly.

“Nothing much.”

When I answered dryly, he turned around the table and stood in front of me. Unlike his smiling lips, a cold gaze caught my eye.

“As I said before, you can’t pay for your sins until you die.” 

When the topic changed to me, I stared at him. But he made an expression with dimples.

“The atonement ends only in death… Then your present life must be painful. Living happily is not an atonement, so you choose that kind of life on purpose. So you think you’re blocking me? Trying not to think about everything about me pretending to be stupid. Because you know that if you accept me, you will be happy.”

“Stop talking nonsense.”

“Honestly, it’s fun to see such a clumsy rebellion.” 

“Stop talking. What do you think you know about me?”

“I know you can’t cry alone.”

“… What?”

Suddenly, a cold chill passed through my body. What the hell is that prick talking about? Under the embarrassment, an unknown fear was mixed. Perhaps it was because I realized that everything he said was true. Unable to open his mouth any longer, he put his hand on me and ruffled my bangs. However, unlike his kind gestures, there was a certain cruelty in his voice. 

“As I said before, I don’t care what you do as long as you don’t die. But, if your thinking of denying pleasure interferes with my enjoyment, I have no choice but to care. I want to hear you begging for me more when I fuck you. Isn’t it so simple?”

“That simple dream will never come true.”

“We’ll have to wait and see. Shall we try it after the urgent incident this time?”

A hand that was running through my hair came down to the side and touched my earlobe. I turned my head in annoyance and took his hand away. 

“Do it yourself.”

“Sure. I’m thinking of doing it myself. You, who is shy, just follow me.”

“Wake up from your dream. whatever you do…”

Smack! 

I tried to hit his hand as it approached me again, but instead got grabbed by the wrist. But the wrist of the arm that he grabbed was the one that of the injured shoulder. Thanks to the momentary strength, I squinted my eyes and let out a groan without realizing it.

“Ah-.”

My aching shoulder curled up and I swallowed a curse, but suddenly a strong force twisted my aching shoulder.

“Ugh!” 

This bastard! Knowing that the madman had grabbed my sore shoulder, he lifted his head and looked at him. However, the smile that had always lingered on his face disappeared and he asked again with a rather frightening look.

“What’s this?”

“Let go! … I just got hurt.”

I tried to remove him, but instead he forcibly grabbed my hand and ripped off the shirt without permission. 

Tap, tap~

The button was ripped off with a sound and fell to the floor. What’s this guy doing now? Meanwhile, the guy took my clothes off my shoulders. Subconsciously, I turned my eyes to my shoulders. Bruises, which had already turned black, were spread over the area where the forearm and shoulder were connected. He looked at the bruise with his narrowed eyes, then returned to his usual routine and asked lightly.

“Why are you hurt?”

“It just happened.” 

He smiled faintly at the repeated answer.

“Who hit you?”

“…”

I looked up at him quietly, and he pulled up my clothes properly again. He even tidied up clothes that had already been buttoned off. Then he took a step behind and tilted his head to the side. 

“It looks ugly.”

“It’s because of you.”

“Did you just get hit?”

He casually asked as I put my hands through the unbuttoned clothes. 

“Did you just get hit?”

“Do you think I was just being beaten like an idiot?”

Of course, it was a blow that wouldn’t even cause a bruise to the opponent. However, as if satisfied with my answer, he nodded.

“Okay. good job So who is it?” 

“…”

“Who is it?”

It was a soft voice, but to my ears, it sounded like a trick to appease me and get an answer..

“My revenge is mine.” 

“Yeah, you do it. But like I’ve told you over and over again, it becomes my problem if you’re willing to die.”

He said “Hmm” and stared into the air after saying something that would be annoying no matter how many times I heard it.

“Among the people around Song Myungshin, the one who can make you like this.”

Then he raised one corner of his mouth as if he remembered someone. 

“Ah, Chairman Kim’s underling.”

“Is it that big guy?” he mumbled, giving him a brief warning instead of accusing him of not being too big for your size.

“Don’t touch that guy. He’s my food.”

But the guy smirked. Anyway, tiredness washed over me, and I turned to leave before the guy. It’s best not to look. Then he grabbed my shoulder again. 

“Ah.”

My upper body flinched, he only apologized with his mouth.

“Sorry. I forgot you were hit here.”

But his hand continued to squeeze my shoulder tighter. 

“Hey, let me go.”

I frowned and grabbed his arm and pushed him away, but he only smiled brightly.

“Why? Does it hurt a lot?”

“I told you to let go!” 

“I don’t want to.”

Maybe my expression was stupid. I couldn’t believe it, so when I opened my mouth half way, he smiled more and looked down at my shoulder.

“If I crush this bone, it’ll only leave my mark on your body, right?”

“…” 

“You look tired.”

He slowly released his hand from my shoulder and pointed to the bedroom.

“Go to sleep.”

It was because of the guy’s eyes that I couldn’t respond. For a moment, goosebumps ran up my spine. The fear of not knowing what he might do to me if I move even a little bit here. It was only after the sound of the door closed that I realized it. 

Tang~

I was able to breathe in the breath I had been holding in the room where I was alone.