CH 79

“Are you really okay? You weren’t tortured?”

If it was torture, it’s torture, except the weapon is a dick. Ja-kyung shook his head, saying he didn’t want to say anything. After a late lunch, the three sat in the yard and talked about what had happened that day. Fortunately, the two seemed to get along well without Kang Il-hyun’s retaliation while Ja-kyung was away.

Wang Lun sighed as he remembered what had happened that day.

“Who would have guessed he’d show up in a helicopter and beat us up with rifles and grenades? CEO Kang, he’s a more powerful man than I thought.”

Wang Han sighed.

“That’s why I told you not to run away.”

“Hyung. Next time, be aggressive to stop him from running away. Or beat him up.”

Ja-kyung sneered.

“You’re giving up after just that? What makes you so afraid of Kang Il-Hyun?”

Wang Lun trembled.

“You said that when you saw it yourself? When CEO Kang appeared from the sky, I thought the devil had come down. I even peed myself. Touch me. My pants are still damp.”

Ja-kyung slumped his shoulders and muttered to himself.

“Don’t make a big fuss about it. I really peed.”

After rubbing the cigarette under his feet and standing up, Wang Lun asked what he was talking about. Ja-kyung could never tell the truth. They’d probably look down at him if he told them he had to pee because he couldn’t cum anymore.

He looked up at the sky and let out a long sigh, but the gate opened and two employees came in carrying something. It was a box as tall as a man, but at first glance it looked like a coffin.

Wang Lun and Wang Han also stood up from their seats.

What’s that?

Ja-kyung became ominous as he remembered the doll that was modeled after him. He thought Il-hyun left it behind. He hurriedly followed them in, and sure enough, they had dropped the box downstairs. When they opened the lid, a replica of a Ja-kyung was lying inside.

The Wang brothers looked at it with wide eyes.

“Wei… Is this you?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no? It’s the same.”

“It’s similar, but it’s not.”

It was no use arguing. Kang Il-hyun came out of the bedroom while they looked at each other in amazement. Kang Il-hyun directed the staff to place the model in Lee Ja-kyung’s room on the second floor. He did something to make himself unable to say no, so he couldn’t bear the thought of resisting and accepted it without hesitation.

Ja-kyung eventually left the creepy doll in one corner of the bedroom. Wang Lun, who had followed him, frowned as he lifted the pants.

“Oh my God. There’s a dick too.”

Wang Han was also curious and snooped around. He expected it to be hard like a mannequin, but it’s surprisingly soft. They eventually dragged Ja-kyung next to it and made him alternately look at them. They didn’t even take Ja-kyung’s pants off to check, but his dick was much bigger.

“He used his heart to make this. But it’s a shame he had to make it so small.”

“That’s right. I have a man’s pride. CEO Kang was too much.”

“Wei, are you upset?”

Ja-kyung glared at them both and told them to stop talking. Just then, the door opened, Kang Il-hyun, who was downstairs, appeared, and the atmosphere turned cold in an instant. Wang Lun and Wang Han try to run away, but Il-hyun slams the door shut and stands in front of them, looking at the three in turn.

Wang Lun laughed heartily as he looked at the model.

“CEO Kang has great sense. To even think of giving him a doll like this as a gift.”

Il-hyun smiled kindly.

“Yes. I felt bad that he ran away, so I took him to be preserved, but I couldn’t bring myself to kill him.”

“Oh, so it wasn’t just a gift…. You were trying to preserve him….”

They swallowed hard and tried to smile, but Kang Il-hyun’s eyes lit up.

“I can make one for you two if you want.”

Wang Lun and Wang Han both waved their hands at the same time. They immediately understood what he meant. That means the next time they run away, he’ll preserve them. It also meant putting it here to look at it and reflect on it. Hearing that story made the model feel even creepier.

“I’m sure you have a lot to talk about after a few days, but I’m going down now. Secretary Park will tell you the next schedule tomorrow. Until then, take a good rest.”

Well then. Il-hyun bowed slightly, closed the door, and walked away.

The three exchanged glances and sighed.

“I think we’re in trouble, right?”

“It was wrong to take the money and run away in the first place.”

“Shall we all have a drink to celebrate our survival?”

“I’m out. I want to sleep.”

Wang Lun begged him to have a drink, but Ja-kyung shook him off and went into the bedroom. He was tired because he couldn’t sleep properly, and his whole body hurt like he had been beaten. Seeing that the noisy living room was quiet, both of them must have gone back to the next room.

Ja-kyung stood in front of the bathroom mirror and peeled off the patch. He used more patches because of sex than when he worked. In the place where the patch disappeared, there were a lot of red marks. He took off his shirt and examined his chest and stomach, but nothing was in good condition.

As he came out and collapsed in the bedroom, the phone rang at his bedside. When he looked up, he noticed a mobile phone on the bedside table. It was the one Kang Il-hyun had bought but left behind when he ran away. Ja-kyung’s eyes twisted as he checked the number.

[My darling♥]

When did he change this?

The bastard finally became himself.

Ja-kyung ignored it, but it kept ringing. After swearing, he picked it up.

[Did you sleep?]

“I’m lying down…”

[I’m going back to my place for dinner, I might be late].

“…”

[Do you want me to come up to see you before I go?]

He kept asking for permission even when it wasn’t necessary. Ja-kyung wished Il-hyun had asked for permission to have sex as well. The clear handprints on his neck showed what he’d done the night before.

“Goodbye. I’m really tired.”

Ja-kyung lay on the bed like a corpse after hanging up the phone. He slowly looked around the bedroom after staring at the ceiling for a long time. It’s pretty comfortable here now. He wondered if he could return to where he was.

He couldn’t sleep, but his mind was racing with thoughts.

***

It was quiet and cold, more like a funeral home than a dinner. All kinds of delicacies were served on the long table, but dinner at this house always felt like a last supper to Il-hyun. He casually exchanged company stories and had casual conversations with his mouth while doing other calculations in his head.

“It seems you had a good vacation.”

At Chairman Kang’s question, Il-hyun nodded. Yes.

“Did you go alone?”

Il-hyun smiled sheepishly. He already knew everything, so why was he asking?

“My sister went for a short visit at night.”

Yoo-jung was on vacation and was staying at the resort until tomorrow, so she couldn’t attend the dinner. Everyone seemed to be eating, but Il-hyun could feel that they were paying attention to his voice.

“She was secretly hiding to surprise me, but I misunderstood and ran her over.”

“Misunderstood?”

“I thought it was someone who came to kill me.”

Il-hyun laughed as if telling a funny joke. He could see Kim Seon-young’s hesitation even if it was only for a split second. On the other hand, Chairman Kang was calm. Rather, Kang Tae-han, who was sitting in front of him, looked fed up.

“How can you live like that? If I were you, I’d die of stress.”

Il-hyun laughed.

“It’s okay. Because I’m not you, hyung.”

It felt strangely sarcastic, but Kang Tae-han glared at him and shut his mouth, not wanting to ruin the dinner. He said something unnecessary because he couldn’t think of anything else. Seok-joo, who was watching the carnivores, waited for the right moment to speak up.

“I saw Zhang Yi An the other day.”

He forgot to mention that he saw him at the club. Kang Il-hyun did not respond or react. Kang Tae-han tilted his glass of wine and looked at Seok-joo.

“Zhang Myung’s grandson? The one with the erotic eyes?”

Il-hyun’s hand paused on the steak he was slicing. His eyes shifted to look at Kang Tae-han, who was sitting in front of him, as he continued to speak with a puzzled expression.

“He stayed at CEO Kang’s house last year. What’s he doing here? Did you see him at the club?”

Seok-joo nodded. Tae-han clicked his tongue in surprise. He was impressed that he knew how to hang out in a place like that, when he thought he was just a naive child who didn’t know anything.

“Well, I heard that there are a lot of perverts among the art students, but what brings him here without a call? Have you heard anything, father?”

“You’re noisy. Stop talking and eat.”

Kang Tae-han remained silent. Chairman Kang put the food in his mouth and looked at Il-hyun’s expression. He was calm without any agitation. Like someone who hears something they don’t know at all. But he wasn’t sure how long that calmness would last.

***

Il-hyun opened the window and lit a cigarette as the car drove away. He was tired, as if he had just fought a war and not having dinner. He reached into his tie and pulled it, unbuttoning his shirt’s top button. Haa, he exhaled cigarette smoke and looked out the window calmly.

Next to him lay something he had received as a birthday present from Chairman Kang. When he turned his head and took out the box, inside was a drinking cup made of fine jade-colored porcelain. Il-hyun laughed softly and ran his tongue around the inside of his mouth. He could feel Park Tae-soo’s gaze glancing back through the room mirror.

It’s Gye Young-bae.

A glass that overflows from the outside if you drink more than a certain amount. Chairman Kang used to give this as a gift before purging competitors when he was younger. It was a warning. Don’t do anything that overflows in minutes. It also meant that they would pay the price by shedding blood or sweat.

Finally this came to him.

Il-hyun roughly shoved the glass into the box and handed it to Tae-soo, who was sitting in front of him.

“Tae-soo.”

“Yes, sir.”

Il-hyun lit a cigarette and laughed like a villain.

“Keep it well, and put it on the old man’s table. We’ll see who gets to use it first.”