“Contacting me for the first time in five years without even asking how I am and saying you need to dunk someone, Boss Han, you really are a cold-hearted person.”
Even though Taeseong threw a fit telling him not to call, Captain Hwang insisted on talking over the phone. His reasoning was that it might be voice phishing. What did this guy even think 'voice' meant in the first place? Of course, he was probably just saying that because he suspected Taeseong had been caught by the cops and was being used in a sting operation.
“How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not dunking him.”
Taeseong was only able to answer the phone after slipping into the officetel's emergency stairwell, having barely shaken off Manager Kim, who was being exceptionally annoying today by asking if he needed medicine bought for him and insisting on escorting him right to his front door.
“If stuffing a person into a sack and throwing them away in Qingdao isn't dunking them, then what is it?”
“I said it's a delivery. Don't you know what a package delivery is? I'm telling you to just take it exactly as I packed it without touching anything and drop it off right at the destination. No, fuck, why are you making a fuss trying to do more when I'm reducing your workload?”
“What's the cargo, anyway? A junkie? Junkies can throw a fit at any time, so I have to deal with them separately.”
“It's not a junkie, and I'll take care of all the prep work perfectly, so just tell me when I need to send the cargo.”
“Then are you selling him? If it's an expensive good, I can't work for pocket change either, you know.”
“Hey, you...”
Taeseong rubbed his face dryly and swallowed his anger. Yeah, well, it was good that he was honest. Since they were making a deal anyway, it was better to lay everything out openly and get the talk over with beforehand.
Taeseong had agonized the entire time over what method could at least save Jaeha's life. No matter how much he racked his brain, there was only one conclusion. Strike him in the back of the head to knock him out or feed him drugs to put him to sleep, then just toss his body onto a boat and send him across the sea.
If he went that far, Jaeha would understand. This time, he'd be dumped in a foreign land with his limbs intact and that would be the end of it. But he would realize the reality that if he crawled back to Korea again, his internal organs might be completely harvested, or the tendons in his hands and feet might be cut and he'd be thrown to some unimaginable perverted bastard. Because a fearless newborn puppy running wild only comes to its senses after being severely bitten.
“Crypto. He went completely bankrupt pulling a crypto scam, so he commissioned me to pin it all on his partner, saying that bastard took everything and smuggled himself overseas.”
He felt his temperature rising. Pressing his forehead, Taeseong blabbered whatever lie came to mind. But to Captain Hwang's ears, this story seemed to sound plausible.
“Then he's penniless. Even if he disappears without a trace, there won't be anyone looking for him.”
“No, he needs to be perfectly alive in case of a future investigation. Fuck, you're not even a psychopath. Why are you so anxious to kill a person!”
Taeseong, who was trying to cater to Captain Hwang's mood as much as possible, eventually couldn't hold back and yelled. Only then did Captain Hwang chuckle. He had definitely provoked him on purpose.
“When did I say I was going to kill him? I just asked because I wondered if I could have some fun.”
“Hey, Captain Hwang. If you lay a single finger on my cargo, your fucking dick is getting split in half, you hear me? Like I said before, I don't just snip it off and end it. I slice it vertically, you fucking bastard.”
“I'm so scared I'm pissing myself. I don't think I can steer the ship.”
His voice didn't sound scared at all. Skepticism washed over him, wondering if it was really okay to entrust the job to this bastard. Just as the anxiety started to crawl up his chest, making him wonder if he was throwing someone into hell with barely a breath left while trying to save their life...
“Come by 1:48 AM.”
An unexpected notification struck his ears.
“Tonight?”
“Once it passes midnight it's tomorrow. How is it tonight?”
“There's not even ten hours left. This suddenly?”
“If you don't like it, don't do it. The next boat isn't for half a month.”
“This is driving me crazy, seriously.”
How the hell was he supposed to cook that guy, who was thrashing around like a freshly caught live fish, within ten hours so he could put him on the boat? While Taeseong was racking his brain, Captain Hwang urged him once more.
“So are you making the reservation or not?”
“For now, for now, okay. Over in Gunsan?”
“Payment in advance. If you're even one second late and the boat leaves, I'm not taking responsibility.”
The money I worked to death to save is all flying away to a useless place. Taeseong continuously grumbled curses and sent the money to Captain Hwang's account.
He checked the time once more. Including the travel time to Gunsan, there was barely eight hours left. Would he be able to meet Jaeha if he went to Baekjin Arcade? Rather than rashly swinging his fists first and only making him more on guard, wouldn't it be better to smoothly coax him with words?
Fortunately, he had some sleeping pills he had obtained earlier. To be exact, rather than Taeseong obtaining them, it was something he picked up after a stupid accountant, who dared to forge Jang Hyeokjin's ledgers to steal money, had tried to slip them into the drinks of Taeseong and his crew when they went to beat him up. He couldn't exactly remember what he was thinking when he took the drugs back then.
Did I bring them to take them myself, or to feed them to someone else?
Anyway, let's ask him to talk a bit. Then, slip the drug into his alcohol or snacks and put him to sleep first. Let's drop bullshit like, 'Jaeha, I'm doing all this for you,' and just clear this annoying headache far out of my sight tonight.
His fingertips grew cold. Taeseong rubbed his pale hands together and climbed the emergency stairs. Even though he wanted to reach the kitchen cupboard where he hid the drugs as late as possible, the anxiety of having to meet the set deadline of 1:48 AM kept Taeseong's legs moving.
Reaching the fourteenth floor, Taeseong opened the emergency exit door with trembling hands. In the middle of the hallway, which was dark even in broad daylight because the sun didn't shine in well, he saw the silhouette of someone crouching down. Taeseong abruptly stopped in his tracks. Cold sweat, which hadn't even seeped out while he climbed the stairs, beaded thickly on his forehead.
“Hyung!”
Jaeha was sitting in front of Taeseong's front door. He had come on his own two feet, so there was no need to even go out looking for him.
“I thought about picking the lock, but I just waited. It didn't seem polite to the owner of the house.”
Jaeha smiled radiantly, revealing his white teeth. Unable to even look at him, Taeseong approached his own front door feeling like a stranger. Jaeha, who was quietly looking down at his hand typing on the keypad while resting his chin on Taeseong's shoulder, whispered ticklishly.
“Can I come in?”
His finger, which was about to press the final star button, hesitated.
“...If I tell you not to come in, will you just leave?”
“I guess I'll just keep pressing the bell until you open it.”
“You shouldn't even bother asking.”
Taeseong flung the front door open. Jaeha stretched out his long arms and hugged Taeseong's waist from behind. Normally, he would have shuddered and struck Jaeha's solar plexus with his elbow, but right now, Taeseong didn't have the energy left to care about his gross physical affection. He stayed on high alert, carefully entering the house, worried that Jaeha, who had conveniently rolled in on his own at the perfect timing, might notice something strange and run away.
The front door closed behind his back. Beep, the sound of the locking mechanism activating rang out. Jaeha's fluttery hair kept tickling one of Taeseong's cheeks. Of all places, it was the exact spot where he had been beaten by Jang Hyeokjin.
“Where did you go and get beaten up like this again?”
He thought the swelling had gone down quite a bit thanks to the ice pack, but the injury must have been visible to Jaeha's eyes. Jaeha's soft cheek touched the throbbing wound. Only then did Taeseong grab Jaeha's small head and detach it from himself.
“Knock it off.”
“Mhm.”
Jaeha obediently unlaced his fingers and let Taeseong go.
“You properly destroyed the bastard who hit my hyung, right? My hyung, you have a bad brain and no talent, so you live trusting only your fists. If you get robbed of that too, wouldn't you become a total idiot?”
“Did you come to pick a fight, you punk?”
“That's not it, but strangely, whenever I see you, hyung, I end up picking a fight. I wonder why.”
Jaeha smiled brightly and suddenly thrust something out in front of Taeseong. Over the black plastic bag, plump, light green grapes were protruding. It seemed he had bought Shine Muscats or whatever the hell they were again.
Jaeha, having even completed his 'gift delivery' to Taeseong, peeked around the narrow officetel before slyly plopping down on the bed. Then he patted the mattress to check the cushion's condition. While Jaeha was paying attention to useless things, Taeseong found the drugs in the kitchen cupboard. Even though quite some time had passed, they were still exactly where he first put them, neatly wrapped in a ziploc bag.
“Oh right, hyung.”
Startled, he forcefully shut the cupboard door. It wasn't something he could do twice. So please, he hoped today would be the last time he saw Jaeha.
“What?”
“Aren't you hungry?”
“What the hell have you been doing wandering around that you haven't even eaten yet?”
“What did you eat, hyung?”
What did I eat today? Fuck, now that I think about it, it was only Jang Hyeokjin's cum.
Taeseong annoyedly messed up his own hair. As if finding his appearance amusing, Jaeha let out a refreshing laugh.
“Haha.”
“Do you want to go out? Or should we order something? Remember the old days? Whenever I went over to play at your house, hyung, you made me order fried chicken with my card. The most expensive one.”
“I told you to order it because you like fried chicken. I don't even fucking like chicken.”
“Then what does my hyung like? The ramen you always used to boil for me?”
“You ate it up perfectly well every time I gave it to you, and now you're saying something else?”
“I like ramen. The problem was that you only ever boiled the mild flavor for me.”
“Isn't that because you can't eat spicy food?”
“No. I'm good at eating spicy food.”
Taeseong swallowed a sigh and looked at Jaeha. Jaeha was tapping something into his cellphone, then, as if conscious of Taeseong's gaze, raised his head and grinned.
