You'll Regret This
Tae Ju-ha finished getting ready early in the morning and stepped into the living room. An odd silence hung in the air.
“Did he already leave?”
In-hyuk’s shoes were nowhere to be seen by the front door.
She headed down to the parking garage, got into the car, and Heo Yu-rim handed her a tablet from the passenger seat.
“Today’s bond management division meeting, plus scheduled meetings with the management division head and the legal team.”
“Any external appointments?”
Until recently, there had been far too many client-management duties at Tae Shin Asset Management.
“Nothing scheduled at the moment.”
They spoke only about work until they arrived at the office.
Once inside the representative director’s office, Tae Ju-ha spent the morning clearing urgent approvals.
Then a call came in from Song Tae-ho, Chairman Tae Geon-seung’s secretary.
“The chairman would like to have lunch with you and In-hyuk?”
It was so unexpected that Tae Ju-ha tilted her head.
[Please decide on a suitable date and time and let us know.]
“…Do you know what this is about?”
[I wasn’t told that much.]
“Understood. I’ll discuss it with In-hyuk and get back to you.”
After hanging up, Tae Ju-ha set her phone down and reached for the internal line. Even though they were married, calling him felt strangely personal, so she hesitated.
The line rang for a long time before it connected.
[Stock management… no, M&A Team 1, Seo Jae-young speaking.]
He still got the department name wrong after the recent reorganization.
“I’m looking for Division Head Kang In-hyuk… Is he not at his desk?”
The phone in the division head’s office kept ringing, so Seo Jae-young had picked up.
[May I ask who’s calling?]
Tae Ju-ha hadn’t expected the question and paused.
“Ah… this is the representative director’s office.”
[If you mean the representative director…]
Seo Jae-young fell silent for a moment, then asked carefully.
[…Are you referring to our representative director?]
“That’s right. Where did the division head go?”
[Ah, Representative Director! My apologies! The division head took the day off today. He didn’t come in.]
“A day off? Do you know why?”
[I’m sorry, I don’t know the reason either.]
“All right. I’ll contact him separately. Thank you.”
After the call ended, Tae Ju-ha pressed Kang In-hyuk’s name on her phone.
.
.
.
In-hyuk had left the house early and driven toward Andong. As expected, several cars had been tailing him since he departed.
“They really don’t get tired of this…”
After driving for some time, a call came in from Tae Ju-ha.
[I heard you took the day off?]
“I have personal business in Andong.”
[Ah… Andong, you said?]
“I’m on my way to the orphanage where I used to live. I don’t believe anything urgent came up at work. Did something happen?”
At In-hyuk’s calm question, Tae Ju-ha hesitated briefly before answering.
[Grandfather asked us to have a meal together.]
“The chairman? I doubt he simply wants to share a meal… Did he say why?”
[I don’t know either. He told us to pick the date. When would be convenient for you?]
In-hyuk let out a short sigh through his nose.
“I’m driving right now. If it doesn’t have to be decided immediately, I’ll check my schedule tomorrow morning and let you know.”
[Ah, understood.]
After ending the call, In-hyuk glanced at the familiar cars reflected in the rearview mirror. They maintained a steady distance behind him.
An hour later, he arrived at Hanseung Orphanage in Jeong Sang-dong, Andong.
The orphanage, built on roughly 6,000 square meters, consisted of three two-story buildings—one in the center and one on each side. Behind the left wing stood two single-story structures used as storage, laundry, and dining facilities.
From the outside, it looked clean and peaceful. But to the original Kang In-hyuk, this place had only ever offered narrow-minded contempt and discrimination.
“These aren’t even my memories, yet they still make me sick…”
The memories of the original Kang In-hyuk’s time here surfaced, bringing a dull ache to his head.
He clicked his tongue and walked into the main building. Children passing by glanced at him.
Soon Park Mi-jeong, who had spotted his car parked outside, came down from the upper floor.
“You’re here.”
Now in her sixties, she wore a floral two-piece suit with her hair neatly pinned up and offered a smile.
In-hyuk knew exactly what kind of person hid behind that face.
“Is he here yet?”
“You just arrived and you’re already in a rush? Let’s go to the director’s office and have some tea first. Since it’s been a while, you should look around too.”
In-hyuk’s brow furrowed slightly as disgust rose in him.
“I’m busy with work. Once I’m done here, I need to head straight back.”
At his explanation, Park Mi-jeong’s expression wavered subtly.
“Even so… shouldn’t you feel at least a little gratitude toward the place that fed and housed you as a child?”
“I believe I’ve already repaid that debt sufficiently.”
“There are many mouths to feed here. Do you really think that’s enough?”
“True. For a facility receiving support from the Tae Shin Education Foundation, quite a few areas look run-down. Anyone seeing this might suspect someone’s been skimming funds on the side.”
Her face turned cold.
“What are you implying…?”
“It was a joke. Just a joke.”
In-hyuk suddenly recalled something the original Kang In-hyuk’s memories and his own discomfort had buried: Director Park Mi-jeong of Hanseung Orphanage had been caught embezzling most of the foundation’s donations—an incident that would surface in about three years.
Of course, the current In-hyuk could easily move that timeline forward.
“More importantly, your father’s acquaintance seems to be running late.”
“How late?”
“At the very least, it’ll be evening.”
Vrrr— Vrrr—
Just then, his phone rang. After checking the message, In-hyuk’s expression hardened.
“Hoo—! When did you find out about the delay?”
“I just got the call. So… will you wait?”
“Give me the contact number. I’ll reach out myself.”
“You’re really going to do this?”
“I have nothing more to say.”
After his reply, he waited in silence. Park Mi-jeong let out a sigh.
“They say you shouldn’t carelessly take in black-haired beasts…”
Coming from the mouth of an orphanage director. In-hyuk felt irritation surge.
“If you keep failing to distinguish right from wrong, Director, you’ll regret it one day.”
“What did you say?”
“Just give me the number.”
Park Mi-jeong’s gaze sharpened further.
Realizing she had nothing left to say, she took out her phone and held it out.
“This is the number.”
In-hyuk saved it, then pressed the call button while deliberately ignoring her.
Ring… Ring…
The line rang for a long time but never connected.
“He’s not answering. I’ll head back for now. If I leave a message, he can call me if he wants.”
“You’re leaving already?”
“I made myself clear earlier. I have no reason to come here again.”
“Don’t you feel sorry for the children like your little brother?”
Now she was using the children as hostages. In-hyuk’s stomach churned with anger.
“If you feel sorry for them, then stop being so greedy yourself.”
He walked straight out of the building toward his car.
But he didn’t get in right away.
‘They used that short window to tamper with the car again?’
The vibration earlier had been an alert from the program Go Mi-ah had installed in the vehicle’s system. It meant someone had at least opened the door.
Vrrr—
A call came in from Hong Yu-geon of Charybdis.
[Boss. You’re not seriously thinking of getting into that car, are you?]
He was watching from somewhere nearby.
“When did you get up there?”
In-hyuk had already sensed the gaze directed at him.
On the roof of the right annex, Hong Yu-geon was peeking out with a telescope.
[Huh? How did you know?]
His voice was startled; he had been confident no one would notice him.
“I have my ways. Where’s Van?”
[Watching the guys who visited your car. More importantly, you’re really getting in?]
Hong Yu-geon had seen the uninvited guests tamper with In-hyuk’s car. He couldn’t tell exactly what they had done, but it clearly wasn’t a repair.
“If I don’t get in, they’ll realize something’s wrong.”
[How about we strike first? We don’t normally do that kind of thing, but… we can make an exception.]
Charybdis was the team Hong Yu-geon and Van Hester had formed last year after growing disgusted with indiscriminate assassination contracts.
However, surviving on tracking and information gathering alone had proven difficult. With insufficient operating funds, they had accepted In-hyuk’s proposal for the future.
“Do you know who’s behind them?”
[Ah…]
“If we act recklessly, I won’t be able to avoid suspicion.”
[You mean we have to take out everyone who gave the order to Daemyung too?]
In-hyuk had already heard the tapped conversation from Daemyung Detective Agency through them.
“If possible.”
[So what are you going to do?]
“Just a moment.”
In-hyuk got into the car and pulled out a detector from his jacket, sweeping it around. Fortunately, no signals from bugs or cameras appeared.
“Anyway, it would be nice to find out why they’re targeting me, but that’s not easy right now, so I’ll have to deal with this first.”
[You have a plan?]
Press— Press—
In-hyuk pressed the steering wheel and pedals one by one, noticing a subtle difference in feel.
“Looks like they messed with the brake pushrod.”
It was the support that moved when the pedal was pressed.
[Those guys earlier?]
“They adjusted it so it would break under moderate stress.”
[You’re not actually planning to drive this, right?]
“If I want to draw them out, I have to step into the trap myself.”
He started the engine, turned the car around, and pulled onto the road.
Hong Yu-geon’s voice came through the speakerphone.
[You’re insane.]
“Have you figured out how many of them there are?”
[Two teams of two, each in separate vehicles. Looks like they’re moving in three teams like Daemyung said, planning to make their move.]
“The rendezvous point?”
[We don’t know that either.]
Because the tapped conversation hadn’t mentioned an exact location.
“Then we’ll have to lure them out.”
[You sure you’re okay with this?]
“Just make sure you follow. And when it happens…”
In-hyuk explained his plan to Hong Yu-geon based on the information gathered so far.
─┼
A black sedan followed In-hyuk’s car as it left the orphanage.
Inside were Kim Jun-hyung and Lee Chang-soo from Daemyung Detective Agency.
The distance between their car and Kang In-hyuk’s was about fifteen meters.
Then a voice came over the walkie-talkie resting on the dashboard from another team.
Chik—
[Five kilometers to the target point. Operation commence.]
They had confirmed the location via GPS linked to each vehicle.
Kim Jun-hyung, gripping the wheel, sped up. He overtook Kang In-hyuk’s car, then hit the brakes.
Screeech—
At the same time, In-hyuk also braked, forced to slow down.
From then on, the two cars repeatedly sped up and slowed down as if provoking each other.
“Give it a little more time. If we’re too hasty, the brakes might break before we reach the target point.”
He was referring to the brakes they had tampered with on Kang In-hyuk’s car.
Kim Jun-hyung eased off the accelerator slightly to adjust. The tense driving continued until they entered a tunnel.
At that moment, Kang In-hyuk’s car, which had been following, didn’t brake—instead, it slammed into their rear bumper.
“Haha! Looks like it broke right on cue.”
Lee Chang-soo, sitting in the passenger seat, turned his head forward after being jolted and burst out laughing, then pressed the walkie-talkie button.
“We’re going in.”
Meanwhile, Kim Jun-hyung accelerated alongside Kang In-hyuk’s car, which had tried to overtake them, created a precarious gap, and then slammed on the brakes.
CRASH—!