CH 8.2

After about 30 minutes, they arrived at Paradiso. The young men who had been cramped in the narrow van got off noisily. Hashish refused to be handed the bag, so Cocaine picked up Yaba’s bag and carried it. With his honorable hands. Yaba moved his squishy body and got out of the van. After talking on the phone at the back door of the store, Imsoo approached.

“You have to leave right away, so follow me.”

Yaba’s pulse accelerated. He looked around quickly, but Cha Yiseok was nowhere to be seen.

“Isn’t he coming to pick me up?”

“He’s not someone who has enough time to pick you up. Don’t fuss and follow me. And don’t talk informally.”

“He said he was coming to pick me up?”

“That was yesterday.”

Imsoo snapped and walked away. Yaba grabbed his mask and followed him.

“There must be something going on. Why did they call for that crazy punk separately?”

“I know right. He’s so hard to deal with.”

The remaining young men exchanged curious glances. Cocaine watched Yaba getting into the car. The car soon departed and went out of sight.

“Does it bother you?”

Cocaine looked at Hashish at that unexpected question.

“What are you trying to say?”

Hashish had an unrecognizable expression. And then, he laughed.

“Don’t be anxious over nothing. Do you think it has something to do with yesterday? It was strange that he was suddenly called to the boss’s office. Besides, with Executive Director Cha… When you went into the room yesterday, didn’t Director Cha say anything?”

“He’s not the kind of person who says stuff like that, and I don’t ask about personal matters.”

Hashish had always been sensitive when Executive Director Cha came to Paradiso. It was the same with Yaba. Thanks to that, when he found Executive Director Cha on the reservation list, he was doubly tired of keeping an eye on the two. Cocaine went into the store with Yaba’s luggage.

Meanwhile, the car with Yaba left Seoul and was driven for a while. They passed the milestone marked Yangpyeong and continued driving. When it was completely dark, they arrived at a green area overlooking the lake. Surrounded by darkness and trees, the field of view was narrow and there was nothing like a hospital. Yaba asked.

“What about the hospital?”

“Wait. You were told to come here.”

Imsoo looked ahead and answered. Yaba sat in the backseat of the car and looked outside. Surrounded by lakes and mountains, it was difficult to distinguish between water and land, and there were few people, so it was a perfect place to dump a body. At that moment, thumping sounds came from his chest. He counted how many points he had left before he was automatically ‘out’. It was dangerous, but there was still some room. After thinking about it, one thing came to mind.

It was about what happened yesterday. Yaba knew all about Cha Yiseok and Giha’s conspiracy, and they won’t leave any evidence. No doubt about it. There was only one reason Imsoo brought him here. When he realized the situation, his body temperature dropped in an instant, and he panicked. If he had known he was going to die like this, he would have spent all his money. It was a pity that he didn’t add all the poison to Cocaine’s water.

He had not yet undergone testicular surgery, and he was dying in an unfinished body. In the end, he would follow the same footsteps as his mother. He glared at the back of Imsoo’s head with bitter eyes. Why did you turn on the heater while you were going to kill me like this? The guy who pretended to be humane was abominable. His fingertips became cold, and he was getting short of breath.

“… We didn’t come here to see Cha Yiseok, right?”

Imsoo stared through the rearview mirror.

“What?”

“I know the appointment has been canceled. Because I know all about the important inside story, you brought me here to deal with me. That’s what you’re doing.”

Imsoo was a former thug, so he would be familiar with killing enough to write a book about it. This was the best environment for him to show off his skills to his heart’s content. He looked quickly at the back seat, looking for something to hit Imsoo’s head with. Even if he knocked him out and ran away, he had nowhere to turn for help in this barren field. Imsoo’s eyes narrowed in the rearview mirror.

“You know what? When I hear your nonsense, sometimes even I get confused. If you don’t want that delusion to become a reality, change your habit of talking first.”

“Don’t think about evading the subject… !”

Tap tap~ Yaba was about to snap at him when suddenly, there was a knock on the car window, Yaba turned his head sharply. Someone from outside was bending over and looking inside. It was Cha Yiseok. This time, his mind went blank in a different way. Yaba let out a sigh that made his heart shrink. Despite being in danger of dying, he thought he was lucky enough that he had already put on a mask to cover his face.

Imsoo got out of the car, greeted Cha Yiseok, and got back into the driver’s seat. As the window went down, Cha Yiseok leaned deeply and looked into the car. He mouthed ‘hello’ expressionlessly. A strong neck and collarbone twitched through the gray knit. As Yaba stared at him from a distance, he turned his head to the driver’s seat.

“I’ll take him when I’m done, so go ahead.”

“No. It must be troublesome, so I will wait until the end.”

“Let’s go.”

Before he could stop him, Cha Yiseok pulled Yaba out of the back seat and firmly grabbed his forearm. He glanced over from Yaba’s head to his feet.

“Are you going to go like that?”

“Yes. Why?”

Yaba was wary. He came in a hurry, so he didn’t even have time to dress up. His black shirt and cream pants didn’t match the Venetian mask, but for Yaba, it wasn’t just a mask. It was a protective device that covered his own ugliness and filtered people’s eyes.

Cha Yiseok took the lead without saying a word. Yaba double-checked the knot on his mask, remembering that he almost had his face exposed yesterday. Yaba, who lacked exercise, gasped after a few steps but Cha Yiseok did not slow down his stride. He saw a wide back moving away.

Why did you contact me so late? If you were going to be late, call me so I didn’t have to wait. You don’t know my phone number, do you?

There were a lot of things he wanted to ask, but his lips uttered other words.

“I thought I was going to the hospital.”

“There’s no point being in the hospital for him.”

“If he lives in a place like this, even a non-existence disease will get worse. No cars, no people…”

Cha Yiseok looked around and inhaled the air lightly.

“It’s not bad to wait for death in a place like this. Where the noise is completely silenced, you feel every minute of your death.”

Yaba was curious. Why Cha Yiseok rebelled against his father, why he fuelled the death of his brother, and why he had eyes that resemble the deep sea. Below the distant waters was an unknown area full of vitality. However, if you trespass the hidden secret, it will become a place of death…

His back that was at a distance was the only shield in an unfamiliar place, but it was also an impenetrable wall. One day, would he match Yaba’s steps? Will the day come when he would walk side by side with him? With that thought in mind, Yaba increased his pace.