CH 25.1

— … injuries are not as severe as others. As you said, I tried to take him to your place of residence, but he resisted severely. Even if I said the Executive Director sent me, he did not believe it, no, he was more wary of it. Anyway, he fled to another place with his group.

The cat watcher had a weary voice. Cha Yiseok narrowed his eyebrows.

“Where did he go?”

― It’s a detached house near the dorm. A young man seemed to be living alone, but the man ran into the house when the fire broke out. For now, both the singers and the injured gangsters went to the house.

“Find out who that is and keep an eye on him.”

— I was about to tell you that. I revealed my identity in a hurry, and my face was exposed, so it will be difficult to follow him for the time being. Either have someone else stick to them, or it may be better not follow him for a while.

“I’ll think about it.”

The cat watcher finished the report and hung up. He heard a report from the watcher that the singers’ quarters had a suspicious atmosphere. The situation was over before he could even send the subordinates he had known for a long time. At least in a hurry, the watcher rescued him. This incident was, without a doubt, a surprise event from Chairman Cha.

“I thought you were going to run out, but I’m surprised.”

Cha Yiseok escaped from his thoughts at the shrill voice. Han Sungjae raised his head through the large window. He was pouring coffee into a mug on his home bar. The new dorm was upstairs in Cha Yiseok’s apartment, and the brains were having a meeting in the room as they were afraid to unpack. Cha Yiseok put a smile on one of his lips.

“This is a punishment that Chairman Cha imposed on Paradiso, but there will also be times when I benefit. I can’t let the chance slide.”

“To you?”

“The day I got out of the press conference, Yaba ran to my apartment and stayed until the next morning. I’ve had someone tailing me since before, so they must have seen more than that. Everything must have gone into Chairman Cha’s ears.”

Han Sungjae said, pouring coffee into the last cup.

“Well, even if you do all kinds of promiscuity outside, you won’t let it inside the house.”

To think of Yaba as a mere scammer, his actions must have been questionable. The old man still doesn’t completely trust him about Cha Myunghwan’s issue. This incident was retaliation against Paradiso, and it was no different than testing whether or not he would cross the line drawn by the old man.

“The kids1 are waiting, so please do it in moderation. Gosh, life is really poor. It was convenient because everything was provided at the hotel, but there are not just one or two things to buy, from bowls to blankets to pots.”

Han Sungjae held the mugs in both hands and walked to the conference room.

“Don’t forget that I bet everything on you.”

At the sudden words, Cha Yiseok turned his gaze to Han Sungjae. Han Sungjae said seriously.

“You are in danger these days.”

“You can change ships whenever you want. I’ll wave you a handkerchief.”

“Is the other hand holding a bomb that will wreck my ship?”

Cha Yiseok let out a pleasant laugh. But Han Sungjae did not laugh.

“If this goes wrong, my father and I will all die. The Brains also risked their lives on this. Don’t forget that it’s you who made me coax the kids. Well, of course, if it wasn’t for you, they would have gone to the pound too, but you might think that going there would have been better, don’t you? Do you know why I went all-in with you?”

Han Sungjae added.

“Because once you start, you can finish whatever you do and step on the finish line first. Red in tooth and claw, even if family and friends get in the way, and even if you break your leg. Like an honorary president. At first, I thought punks like this existed a dime a dozen, but now that I think about it, when the time comes when I have to abandon you too, I don’t think I need to be sorry, so I’m rather thankful.”

Cha Yiseok raised his lips and lit a cigarette.

“What’s there to be thankful for between us.”

The red cigarette light was aimed at Han Sungjae’s eyes. Han Sungjae stared at him with heavy eyes and entered the conference room. Cha Yiseok looked out of the window. The face reflected in the window was like a jittery child. He felt like he was going to go crazy wanting to run to the cat… If Chairman Cha saw this face, he would enjoy the victor’s leisure and wield himself to his heart’s content. He was swayed even though he knew for sure. He bit his molars. Cigarette smoke waving like a cry over the night view of the city.

***

“Ugh… ! H- Hurry… ! When is my turn?! Hurry up!”

The injured were staying in a detached house close to the accommodation. The shabby house had a small yard, two rooms, and a floor. On one side of the yard, unpacked moving items piled up. Beautiful songs and groans filled the house. They were all seriously injured, but because of the song of miracles, they refused to take the ambulance, and Kang Giha’s gangsters got on the ambulance except for the serious ones.

Kang Giha told the investigating detective that one of the singers accidentally set fire. Kang Giha was also seriously injured to the point of being unable to move, but after being healed by Cocaine, he ran straight to the store. The eunuchs, who had soot all over their bodies, lost their homes overnight and were dazed. Hashish with a broken nose and forehead, Morphine covered in blood with wounds under the eyes, Heroin with fractured limbs, the henchmen mourning with burns… Cocaine sang nonstop to save the suffering beings shrouded in pain. After receiving emergency treatment, the thugs gathered in the yard and burst into rage.

“The bastards from the coalition faction! Why are they attacking us all of a sudden?! Dokki, do you not know the details?”

“I don’t know. In the meantime, the boss only told me to be careful, he didn’t tell me the details.”

Yaba was sitting on one side of the floor. His teeth trembled a bit, and he didn’t seem to have broken anything other than throbbing in his knees and shoulders. He was caught by thugs and received simple treatment at the hospital. The hospital was disgusting. Going to the emergency room at this late hour, the doctor will put a scalpel and suture it in the operation while dozing off.

When the dorm lights went out and he came to his senses, the person in shit-colored jumper was gone. He said Cha Yiseok sent him. If so, all the more he shouldn’t even follow him. The shit-colored jumpered man would have buried Yaba in the hills without even a mouse or a bird knowing. He stroked his chest, recalling the moment when he almost was enticed for a moment. Kang Giha said the attack on the dormitory was the work of Chairman Cha, but Yaba knew who the real culprit was.

It was Cha Yiseok. He even mentioned Yaba’s family before, and even conciliation and intimidation didn’t work, so he chose this method. Cha Yiseok must have even calculated that people would conclude that Chairman Cha would be the culprit of this incident. Yaba thought that he could overlook things as long as he didn’t interfere with him singing to Cha Myunghwan. But this time he really won’t sit still. He wanted to call Cha Yiseok right away and ask him, but his cell phone was set on fire. Books, poisons, and antidepressants were all ashes. Yaba bit his lip and stared at the floor.

Bugs roamed over the bandage around his knee. He popped the worm with his fingernails, revealing their intestines. At that moment, a large hand came down and took his hand off his knee. At the same time, a large man sat down with his legs bent. His gaze pressed his forehead. He couldn’t even move and his body was stiff. He cleaned up the messy bandages on Yaba’s knee. The clumsy hand movements like that of a child were trembling so hard that it could not be hidden. Yaba barely relieved his paralysis and jumped up. As he sat down again, he looked at him unintentionally. His facial features were a combination of only the strengths from his mom and dad…

“You are hurt…”

Yaba was reflected in his clear eyes. His refracted figure is like a crack in a glass bead.

“Leg… got hurt.”

Jang Sejun’s lips trembled as if he was trying to say more. There was no warmth in Yaba’s gaze that looked back at him. He tried to pretend he didn’t know. The last time he saw him was in middle school. In the meantime, he had gained weight and his face had been devoured by bugs, so it will be difficult to find his former self. But he had eyes that clearly remembered. He couldn’t have imagined that his older brother would appear like this, but it was clear that there would be no emotion when a half-wit and eunuch met.

Then a high-pitched aria spread out from the small room. The eyes set on Yaba did not hesitate to go towards the room. Sejun instantly plunged into the world of Cocaine, his lips parted and his eyes widened.

He thought his head exploded at the scream of Cocaine and died. He should have just died like that.

“Go and listen to the song. You dunce bastard.”

It was the first time they met each other in 10 years. Yaba limped down from the floor. His hand, pulling Yaba’s collar, fell powerlessly. As he was about to get out the gate, a thug blocked him. He was frustrated. Just being in the same space with Jang Sejun made him go crazy. The thugs never gave way.

Yaba couldn’t help but sit down on the cold floor by the gate. Cha Myunghwan said he would send someone tomorrow. He wanted to go somewhere where no one was and practice singing. He once tried to run away from singing, but it was unfamiliar to him that he was now trying to find a breakthrough through singing.