Chapter 91
Chapter 91
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 91
Chapter Title: Find Lee Bora III
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Na Gang-in and Shin Eun-ha headed to the house of someone whose path had crossed with Lee Bora's. This time, it was a standalone house.
Na Gang-in didn't ring the doorbell at the gate. Instead, he lightly vaulted over the fence. He planned to scout the interior alone. But Shin Eun-ha knocked on the gate.
Na Gang-in opened the gate for her and said,
"What if we get in trouble for breaking and entering? Why are you coming in too?"
"What about you, Gang-in oppa?"
"You're a celebrity."
"And you think you're not? You're doing movies and dramas, and you're about to release a song soon."
"My face and name aren't public knowledge."
"Whatever. Is that guy here?"
Na Gang-in shook his head.
"No signs of life."
"So no one's home?"
"We have to check."
The front door was secured with a digital lock that required a password.
"Ji-in-ah. Got a skill that makes these things go 'beep' and unlock automatically?"
"Right? Then can you tell which numbers get pressed the most?"
A translucent red glow overlaid four buttons on the lock.
"No way the password's 3459."
Na Gang-in tried it anyway. With a 'beep', the lock disengaged.
"Uh... it opened."
Shin Eun-ha marveled.
"Wow. I figured picking a lock with a hairpin was one thing, but you even crack digital door locks. How'd you do that?"
"Just tried it and it worked."
"Did you get some divine possession or something? Like a ghost whispering the code?"
The AI Jeon Ji-in protested.
"Hey, hey. Calm down."
"When did I get excited? I was just impressed."
"No divine possession or ghosts, so cut the nonsense."
"Got it."
Na Gang-in opened the door and stepped inside.
The house was empty. No signs of a fight either.
However, a few documents were scattered on the living room table.
"Hm... Trying to buy some land?"
Shin Eun-ha peered at the papers too and said,
"Standalone house in Seoul means they've got money. So they're looking at rural spots... like here in Pocheon?"
"This place is rented. Police records showed it."
"Huh? Why rent a standalone in a residential neighborhood? It's not like it has a view or a big yard. They'd go for an apartment or villa if that was the case."
"Not necessarily wrong, but suspicious in this context, right?"
Shin Eun-ha glanced around the house and said,
"Anyway, Bora's not here either. Did she really just turn off her phone and ghost us? Were we overreacting?"
"Hm... Still, let's check it out."
"Huh? Where?"
Na Gang-in pointed to the address on the documents. There was a photo of an old rural house too.
"Here."
Shin Eun-ha grinned faintly.
"Road trip?"
"If nothing's up here too, yeah."
Shin Eun-ha suggested excitedly,
"Then after checking there, let's grab I-dong galbi for lunch. My treat!"
Cheon Mun-sik paced endlessly around the yard of the old rural house.
A car pulled up there.
The man who got out raised his hand.
"Hey, Mun-sik. You're early."
Cheon Mun-sik said gravely,
"Deok-gu. Something came up."
Park Deok-gu frowned.
"What? Client suspicious? No way. We forged perfect docs, even grabbed a namesake homeless guy for the deed."
"Nah. Handed docs to the client in Yangpyeong today. No suspicion. Money's coming soon."
"Damn right. We've been drugging those folks for a year for this project."
Park Deok-gu gestured around.
"Sell all this land? We're talking big bucks. Heh heh heh. Mun-sik, once this project's done, let's bounce overseas. Lay low a year, hit Southeast Asia resorts, then come back."
They were planning to sell the surrounding land to someone from Yangpyeong.
But they weren't the owners.
This old rural house was too inconvenient to live in. The real owner had no plans to sell or move here. So it had sat vacant for ages.
Cheon Mun-sik and Park Deok-gu had found a homeless man with the same name as the owner and borrowed his identity. They'd even lined up a buyer.
It took a year.
Now the buyer's almost hooked. Get the money, dip overseas for a bit to let things cool.
Plus, they'd shown fake IDs to the buyer.
Park Deok-gu said,
"Cops investigate all they want, they won't ID us. Once that's solid, we stroll back easy. Mun-sik, life's a breeze. Heh."
Cheon Mun-sik said anxiously,
"Not that. Something else."
"What?"
"Saw Lee Bora on my way back from Yangpyeong today."
"That Lee Bora from the drama you're obsessed with?"
"Yeah. Watched from afar. She headed north of Seoul. I was coming this way anyway, so I followed. Figured if she stopped to rest, I'd stop too and watch."
"Heh. Stalker vibes."
"But she took a rural road, so I got close... and accidentally clipped her."
"Huh?"
"Lee Bora passed out."
Park Deok-gu stood stunned, then exploded.
"You idiot! How far from Yangpyeong was the crash? If cops dig into our scam later and trace you there, we're screwed!"
"Don't worry. Far from Yangpyeong. Pretty far."
Park Deok-gu sighed.
"Hoo. Fuck. So? Hit and run? Let's ditch that burner car quick."
"Nah... Thought she was hurt bad..."
"You didn't..."
"Stuffed her in the trunk."
Park Deok-gu gaped.
"What?"
"Lee Bora's in my trunk right now."
"Holy shit..."
Park Deok-gu blinked, then scanned around.
"Where's her car?"
"Crash site was remote, forest nearby no one visits, so I hid it deep in there."
"Fuck. Reservoir nearby? Dump the car in one."
"Uh, maybe?"
Park Deok-gu glared.
"No fingerprints on it, right?"
"Obviously."
Park Deok-gu fetched a blanket from his car to cover his face. Then,
"Pop the trunk. Check if she's alive."
Cheon Mun-sik covered his face with his left hand and opened the trunk.
Lee Bora's hands and feet were taped, mouth taped too. Dried blood crusted her head.
The trunk opened, and she screamed.
"Mmph!"
Park Deok-gu slammed it shut.
"Fuck. It's really her."
"She was out cold earlier. Woke up now, I guess. What now?"
"You moron! Why drag her all the way here?!"
Cheon Mun-sik had his side.
"Celebrity crash draws cops, project tanks. Can't ditch the biz that's gonna make us rich right before payoff."
"At least you've got a sense of responsibility."
"Panicked earlier, just grabbed her. Now no clue."
"What? Let her go?"
Cheon Mun-sik asked uneasily,
"I'd get arrested, right?"
"Just you? You squeal, I'm fucked too? We got more than one project under our belts?"
"So what?"
Park Deok-gu's eyes turned cold as a snake's.
"Bury her."
Finally, the words Cheon Mun-sik wanted.
He hadn't thought past bringing Lee Bora here. Once arrived, he'd just paced the yard clueless.
Then Park Deok-gu's car showed, and a plan formed: use him.
Cheon Mun-sik thought,
'Now it's you saying murder. I just panicked from the accident and grabbed her. No intent to kill.'
Not that he'd rat him out. Park Deok-gu caught meant Cheon Mun-sik wanted too. He aimed elsewhere.
'If his crime's bigger, my leverage beats his even if we mutual blackmail.'
Cheon Mun-sik hid his intent, feigned panic.
"Murder's a bit much..."
He'd arrived first, had time to stew.
Park Deok-gu hadn't. He was panicking hard.
Park Deok-gu raged,
"You idiot! Rot in jail buddies? Or scrap the project? Nail this, we live large overseas! Fuck Korean cops!"
Cheon Mun-sik shrugged deliberately.
"Fine. Don't blow up. I'll do what you say."
Na Gang-in and Shin Eun-ha arrived at the old rural house in Pocheon.
Shin Eun-ha said,
"That's the one from the photo."
A car was parked in the empty lot out front.
"His car?"
"No vehicle info in police records."
It was Park Deok-gu's car.
The old rural house had no gate left. Shin Eun-ha peeked into the yard.
"Looks empty now? No Bora either. Guess not this guy."
Na Gang-in tried the car's door. Unlocked. Checked the trunk: nothing odd.
Na Gang-in strode into the house.
"Still gotta confirm."
No one inside. Not even recent habitation traces.
Shin Eun-ha grumbled,
"So Bora powered off her phone, and we wasted our time. Gang-in oppa, let's hit I-dong galbi for lunch. My shout!"
Cheon Mun-sik and Park Deok-gu moved into the mountains.
They picked a spot lower than surroundings, thick with trees and brush. Invisible from roads, even with binoculars.
They dug with a single shovel from the house, taking turns.
Park Deok-gu passed it to Cheon Mun-sik, wiped sweat, griped.
"Fuck. Your mess, now I'm suffering too?"
Lee Bora thrashed, tears streaming, bound limbs useless. Muffled pleas.
"Mmph!"
Tape sealed her screams.
Park Deok-gu griped at her,
"Why run into that idiot? Why crash and make us kill y..."
Trailing off, something felt off.
'Wait. He crashed, why am I digging?'
Panic had blocked thought earlier. Now resting, his mind cleared.
'Why'd I suggest killing? He should first. I'm scamming; he's assault and kidnapping.'
Both con men, profiting by deceit. Not always cash.
Park Deok-gu scowled.
"Hey, Mun-sik. You set me up with her on purpose?"
Cheon Mun-sik paused digging.
"Huh? What're you saying?"
"Led me to say kill her!"
Caught. But no honest con man admits.
"No way I'd do that."
"You got a recorder? Pockets!"
Cheon Mun-sik climbed from the pit, shovel in hand, furious.
"I said no, asshole!"
"Then why hide pockets?!"
"Pisses me off you're suspicious!"
Park Deok-gu glared.
Shovel made Cheon Mun-sik advantaged in a fight.
Park Deok-gu pointed at Lee Bora.
"Then you kill her! Share the load! You kidnapped!"
Terrified, Lee Bora flailed bound.
"Mmph!"
Cheon Mun-sik clicked his tongue inwardly.
'Damn. Dragged too long. He sniffed it all.'
No bigger leverage now. Avoid his instead.
Cheon Mun-sik approached Lee Bora.
"Fine. Fuck. Toss and bury together. Happy?"
Her wild thrashing half-peeled the mouth tape.
Crying, she begged,
"Please spare me! Please!"
Cheon Mun-sik asked,
"Spare you, you say nothing about me?"
"I won't! No reporting, ever!"
"Yeah?"
Park Deok-gu snickered aside.
"You buying that?"
"Nah. Just asking."
"Past the point of no return. She dies or we jail. Your fault, so grab her head."
"Got it!"
Lee Bora despaired, gazing skyward.
"Please, someone save me."
Suddenly, Na Gang-in's voice rang in her ears.
"Found you."