Chapter 84
“Got any more questions?”
Angel blinked his eyes. The soft skin around them was reddened.
I chewed on my dry lips.
“…What about my brother?”
For a moment, the gaze looking down at me darkened. His eyes became heavy and difficult to bear, but I forced out the words with a hot breath.
“You said Baek Ha-won killed him.”
Angel, who had stiffened for a moment, turned his head. He swept his hair back once more and pressed his hat down firmly.
With the shadow covering his face, I couldn’t see his expression.
“Do you want me to take revenge for you?”
A sharp voice slipped through his shadowed lips.
“I didn’t know you had such a meddlesome side that could even kill your brother.”
I felt that he was somehow angry. It seemed like he was silently unleashing his rage somewhere else through me.
“Does it not matter that we’re not blood-related?”
Angel muttered with a crooked tone.
I wanted to retort, but before I could, Angel opened the door and left.
Bang. The door slammed shut.
“…What the hell?”
Alone in the room, I muttered in a groan. My head felt even more disoriented.
After bringing me here.
‘If you’re confident enough to kill, go ahead. I’ll be waiting.’
Why didn’t he pull out his gun?
* * *
“You’re awake, huh?”
As consciousness returned, pain followed. Ji-woon opened his eyes and blinked a few times.
The first thing that came into his view was a shaking palm.
Ji-woon averted his gaze from the palm and calmly assessed his surroundings.
The white ceiling with the lights off. The smell of disinfectant floating in the dusty hospital room.
Turning his head, he saw a clean window. The morning sky was clear, indicating it was probably morning.
The owner of the shaking hand stood in the middle of the wide single room, dressed in clothes that seemed to absorb all the colors of this place.
There were no bloodstains on the colorful clothes, but the palm had a red, dried stain, whether forgotten or disregarded.
“The bullet removal surgery is done. This isn’t our hospital but one near the hotel. Your leg isn’t great either, and the arm is nerve-damaged, so you won’t be able to use it for months.”
Ji-woon forced himself to sit up despite the pain. His head was still foggy from the anesthesia.
Just before losing consciousness, he seemed to hear someone talking loudly nearby. He thought he saw purple hair.
“That was a shock. Why were you in such a state at the pool? All the CCTV footage was erased, so we couldn’t verify it.”
“Where is the young lady?”
The question was mixed with a groan. His shoulder, under the patient’s gown, didn’t move as intended.
It wasn’t life-threatening, but this level of injury was rare for him.
‘Hmm, the darkness isn’t good.’
In the darkened room, with a few lights off, the deep red marks stood out even more.
Although he hadn’t encountered the situation directly many times, he had received numerous reports and couldn’t ignore the rumors.
Even though he was a high-profile member of the TO Group, it was impossible to kill him without the boss’s order. It was best to stall until Yeonbyeol escaped.
The man seemed to know that fact and smiled leisurely.
‘I won’t kill you.’
Confirming that Yeonbyeol’s footsteps had faded, he adjusted his grip on the gun.
He didn’t seem to be following Yeonbyeol, suggesting there were more allies nearby.
Even if he couldn’t kill, binding him was an option.
‘I need to bring your boss here alive.’
The plan had been meticulously arranged. It was hard to guess what was at stake.
One thing was clear from what had been said. Among the things they dared to put on the table, the boss was involved.
So, it was even more crucial not to let it slip.
Bang!
An open pool with no obstacles. There was no way to block the gun barrel hidden somewhere.
His knees buckled forward. The next bullet tore through his shoulder.
Moving the pieces on a pre-arranged board as intended. With one hand remaining, he couldn’t avoid the touch.
“Miss? Cha Yeonbyeol?”
The eyes hidden under disheveled brown hair were deeply sunken. Seeing those eyes, Doshiyu chose his words carefully.
Finding Ji-woon had been merely coincidental.
He had just stopped by the pool, recalling the invitation to join Yeonbyeol on the way down from the rooftop garden.
He had known from the first day Ji-woon arrived at the casino that he was trailing Yeonbyeol.
There was no sign of trying to hide it from him; rather, he had shown boldness by following him into the VIP area.
Thus, when he saw Ji-woon in a half-dead state, the first thing that came to mind was Yeonbyeol.
He reported to the hospital and checked on Yeonbyeol’s safety.
If she wasn’t going to answer the phone, why carry it? With no time to wait for the ring, he contacted Angel immediately. The reply came quickly.
[The young lady came in carrying a heavy burden and went to sleep alone. We will move her to her room once she wakes up.]
The CCTV footage of the pool had been erased, so he checked the corridor CCTV where Yeonbyeol’s room was located.
Angel was seen escorting Yeonbyeol to the door, and she was captured entering the room.
There were no signs of anything strange.
“She’s with Angel.”
Ji-woon, upon hearing Doshiyu’s response, cursed quietly. Doshiyu was horrified as Ji-woon tried to get out of bed.
His leg was grazed, and his shoulder had been hit by a bullet. It would take months to fully recover.
It wasn’t possible to get up just hours after the surgery.
“What are you doing? The anesthesia hasn’t worn off completely yet. I’ve already contacted the boss….”
“Immediately locate the young lady.”
“What?”
“Not through manipulated CCTV, but directly.”
Ji-woon grabbed the phone from the shelf and dialed immediately. The ringing lasted a few seconds before cutting off.
“Boss.”
Ji-woon sighed.
– I heard you’re injured.
The voice on the other end of the phone was neither dark nor bright. It was hard to gauge his mood over the call.
The conversations were always brief due to the risk of eavesdropping.
“It’s okay. Have you wrapped up the situation in Russia?”
– It went well.
“It would be best if you didn’t return yet.”
Ji-woon spoke a little urgently.
It was a three-day schedule. Originally, his boss was supposed to return to Hong Kong tonight on a flight.
‘If you’re confident enough to kill, go ahead. I’ll be waiting.’
But that statement had been bothering him all along. It had been a while since he wasn’t guarding the boss, making him more anxious than usual.
Even though he could have killed, he spared him. Despite postponing the death, it was still unsettling.
– Really? But what should we do?
The fingers that had been rubbing his forehead stopped.
Ji-woon looked up suddenly and noticed the noise he had been hearing over the phone.
– They’ve already arrived. They’ll be landing in one minute.
The private jet with the Baekcheon emblem was approaching from afar.
* * *
“Three rooms reserved under my name. Right now. It’s urgent, related to Cha Yeonbyeol.”
Doshiyu spoke into the phone, nervously biting his nails. After ending the call, he kept his gaze fixed on the still phone.
The wind blew. He brushed his fluttering hair aside and looked at the sky.
The private jet with the Baekcheon emblem was about to land on the rooftop.
“Have you located the young lady?”
“Are we just going to use informal speech now? When did this start? You used to be so respectful.”
Ji-woon, sitting in a wheelchair, turned his head to look at Doshiyu. Seeing Ji-woon’s expressionless face, Doshiyu flinched.
That face is the scariest.
“Regarding your relationship with Yugyeom, I’ll deal with it later, so prepare your excuses.”
Doshiyu’s eyes widened. He couldn’t hide his trembling pupils and cleared his throat.
“Just speak informally! We grew up like siblings; why the hell are you acting like this!”
Ha ha. Ha ha ha. The throat clearing turned into an awkward laugh.
He wanted to pat Ji-woon’s back affectionately but feared that something unimaginable might happen if he actually did. Instead, he hovered his hand in the air, 3 cm away from Ji-woon’s back.
Despite his tearful efforts, Ji-woon’s face remained cold. The laughter that had been like a madman’s suddenly cut off as if the stop button had been pressed.
“…You’re really scary. When did you find that out?”
Always a ghostly kid.
Doshiyu muttered, flicking his dry lips in complaint.
“Actually, I was a bit hurt. We were close, but suddenly you became the boss’s lackey.”
Men in jet-black suits poured out of the plane that had landed on the rooftop.
Among them, a man in an elegant suit stood out even from a distance.
His naturally black hair was tousled by the wind, and the watch on his wrist, carrying a briefcase, sparkled with silver cufflinks.
It was believable that he resembled a noir movie actor more than a crime boss.
Doshiyu leaned over and whispered in Ji-woon’s ear.
“How about changing jobs now? I’ll offer double what you’re getting now…”
At that moment, a phone rang from a colorful jacket pocket. The tension was visible in his eyes as he checked the caller ID.
Black-clad men followed behind Ha-won, moving in a line. Doshiyu turned his head away from the scene, trying to ignore it, and answered the call.
“Hello. Did you find her? Is she okay?”
Think positively. There should be no problem.
He reassured himself and lifted the corners of his lips.
But before he could naturally lift the other side of his lips.
“What did you say?”
His purple eyes narrowed seriously.
