Rat Poison That Kills If Eaten #3
The morning after the boys had gone to school, the air in the basement felt as cold as winter even though summer was creeping closer. It was all because of what had happened earlier that morning.
“A cycle machine? What, did you think you were going on a picnic? Is this some kind of training camp to you?”
Seo Gaeul shot the words at Yu Yeoleum like a sharp dart. The venomous sting, like a bee’s needle, sank deep into Yu Yeoleum’s heart.
Yu Yeoleum recalled what had happened earlier. When Ha Namjin had come down to the basement to hand over the morning newspaper, she had finally voiced the request she had been hesitating over for a long time. She had asked if they could install a cycle machine down here.
She couldn’t ask to be let out or to send a letter home, but something like a cycle machine seemed like a reasonable bargaining chip.
“Health management is important.”
Her tone had been cynical, but half of it was sincere. Being trapped in this basement for so long made her feel like her muscles were wasting away, and it left her restless. Yu Yeoleum simply wanted to do something meaningful instead of just killing time, and a cycle machine was the first thing that came to mind.
But what Seo Gaeul was criticizing wasn’t the request itself. It was Yu Yeoleum’s attitude.
“Wow, so you’re the type who wags her tail at guys and only takes the good stuff for herself? I’m genuinely shocked. What was it again? Back in middle school, when a senior confessed to you, didn’t you turn him down saying you weren’t interested in dating?”
Seo Gaeul and Yu Yeoleum had both attended Baekhwa Middle School. They had never been in the same class, but one was the only daughter of a global conglomerate and the other was the daughter of a leading presidential candidate, so they had exchanged light greetings from time to time.
The Yu Yeoleum that Seo Gaeul remembered was a girl who kept her hair short and mostly wore the school’s gym uniform. She had been more popular among the girls than the boys. Still, a few boys had approached her and asked her out.
Given that Baekhwa Middle School was known as an “aristocratic school,” those boys were all sons of ministers or chaebol heirs. But Yu Yeoleum had rejected every single one of them.
“I’m not interested in that sort of thing,” she had said.
Because of that, rumors had even spread that she might like girls. But seeing her now, it was obvious all of that had been an act.
“Yu Yeoleum, what are you, some kind of prostitute?”
Seo Gaeul openly condemned her for acting cute toward the boy just to get a cycle machine.
Yu Yeoleum flared up immediately.
“What did I do? What exactly did I do that deserves this kind of insult?”
“You think I didn’t see you wagging your tail at Ha Namjin? You kept making eye contact, pretended to bump into him by accident, then apologized like it was nothing! Are you out of your mind? It’s disgusting.”
Yu Yeoleum’s face turned red in an instant. She hadn’t expected Seo Gaeul to see right through her subtle attempts to seduce the boy in order to obtain the cycle machine.
‘As expected, Seo Gaeul has way more experience with fox-like behavior than I do.’
Yu Yeoleum thought back to the Seo Gaeul she had watched since middle school. In her opinion, Seo Gaeul was the very embodiment of pretense. Every single action, even something as simple as accidentally dropping a handkerchief, was all calculated.
Isn’t living like that exhausting?Yu Yeoleum had thought at the time, but she had never felt the need to comment on it. There was no reason to.
However, after being locked in the same room together, Yu Yeoleum had begun to feel a strange sense of unfairness at how little she actually knew about Seo Gaeul. Even so, the advantage still lay with her.
After all, Yu Yeoleum had managed to obtain a cycle machine through the boy. More importantly, she had discovered that trading with the boy was possible. That was the real jackpot.
So when Yu Yeoleum had regained her composure, Seo Gaeul snapped at her with clear irritation.
“Are you really trying to pick a fight with me? Do you not know what happened to Baek Yeoul after she messed with me?”
At the name Baek Yeoul, Yu Yeoleum’s memories flew back to middle school for a moment.
Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul had been extremely close during middle school. So close that they looked more like real sisters than actual siblings. Best friends. Even Yu Yeoleum, who hadn’t known much about their relationship, could tell they were inseparable.
But after entering high school, the relationship between Seo Gaeul and Baek Yeoul had grown ice-cold almost overnight. To be precise, it was closer to Seo Gaeul unilaterally bullying Baek Yeoul.
Yu Yeoleum suddenly felt curious.
Why had Seo Gaeul bullied and ostracized her former best friend? They had been so incredibly close.
The top floor of the Seonam Group headquarters building housed a penthouse. So what was on the floor right below it?
Chairman Seo Docheol’s office.
That explained why all those bald executives had been constantly coming and going from the floor right beneath the penthouse.
Before we got off the elevator, Jin Ramen Noona had warned me several times, “Absolutely do not cause any trouble.”
Was I really that untrustworthy? Where could you find someone as well-behaved as me?
Ding-dong.
When we arrived at the chairman’s office, Seo Docheol looked even more haggard than he had the night before. His office was in such a mess that it was hard to believe it belonged to a chairman. The flowers and trees in the pots had all been ripped out, broken glass was scattered everywhere, and… ugh, was that a shattered aquarium? Only the dead fish were pitiful.
“Chairman, this is Prosecutor Jin Rihyeon. And this person here is…”
“Father-in-law, my name is Ha Namjin. Nice to see you again.”
“Hey! You! I told you to behave yourself, why are you causing trouble right away!”
Jin Ramen Noona immediately got angry. However, Chairman Seo Docheol’s eyes weren’t on us. They were fixed on the tablet PC sitting on the mahogany desk.
He was so absorbed in it that he didn’t even seem to notice we had arrived. When I sneaked a glance, Seo Gaeul’s video was playing.
Tap.
Only after rewatching the thirty-second video several times did Chairman Seo Docheol finally look up. Without any unnecessary pleasantries, he dove straight into the main topic.
“This ‘Zero Cola Fresh’ is something only a very small number of executives even know about. It’s a product that replenishes the vitality of Awakened. How could the kidnapper have known about it?”
“Perhaps it really was an inside job? The demands he made might have been a kind of warning. Something like, ‘I’m an insider who knows Seonam’s important secrets, so don’t try anything funny.’”
No, I just really wanted to drink some fresh cola. Please release it soon.
“Then what does the demand to put the drink in glass bottles mean?” Seo Docheol asked.
This time even Jin Ramen Noona shook her head and said, “I’m not sure.” Then she looked at me.
“Little brother, what does that crazy brain of yours think?”
Why put the drink in glass bottles? Because it tastes better that way.
“Maybe the kidnapper just really likes drinking beverages. Even the same drink tastes better when it’s in a cold glass bottle, right? Plastic bottles, on the other hand, taste the worst.”
“This is a criminal who kidnapped the daughter of Seonam’s chairman and only sent a message after a full month. He’s meticulous enough to leave no traces. Would someone like that really make such a demand just because he likes the taste of a beverage?”
It’s true though. This situation where I can’t convey my true feelings is seriously killing me. It’s so frustrating!
Feeling stifled, I decided to roughly steer the conversation away from the beverage.
“Father-in-law, what do you think about this first demand? It came with the condition of revealing the transaction records between the Villainers and Seonam. According to the list of demands, wouldn’t this also increase the probability of Gaeul’s survival?”
“……”
Chairman Seo Docheol stared at me. Then he asked Jin Ramen Noona.
“Why is this kid here?”
“He’s my assistant for the next few days. A trustworthy friend.”
“Get him out.”
“Alright. Little brother, can you wait outside for a bit?”
What? And just like that, I was kicked out of the chairman’s office.
But I had the Emotion concept. Even through the thick door, I could hear their conversation with almost no loss thanks to my sensitive ears.
— In my opinion, this could be the work of Gu Sejun and the rest of the Villainers. Second, there’s a chance it’s President Nam Taegeon’s counterattack. Third, it could be the Emperor Group, who have always coveted my position.
Seo Docheol had pointed to those three as the main suspects behind the kidnapping. The Villainers, the President, and the Emperor Group.
Of course, all of them were wrong.
He had so many enemies that he couldn’t even begin to guess who was actually targeting him. Anyway, Seo Docheol looked like he had swallowed my rat poison and was now suffering from an upset stomach. If I kept sprinkling more poison on him, he would eventually vomit out everything he was holding inside.
The final mastermind behind the incident I was investigating, and clear evidence that would tighten the noose around his neck.
While I was thinking that, a man who seemed to be the chairman’s secretary offered me a glass of cola.
It was Zero Cola Fresh.
“It’s a bit early, but this is the product that will start appearing in stores from this week. Would you like to try it?”
Click. Pssshhh—!
The moment the foam rose, I quickly brought it to my lips. A festival exploded from the tip of my tongue all the way down my throat.
This is it.
My head was spinning too. With my brain fully activated, I decided it would be best to move Seo Gaeul and Yu Yeoleum’s location soon. The investigation was about to accelerate, and I couldn’t keep them in the house next door forever.
Honestly, the fact that I hadn’t been caught yet was a miracle in itself.
“Please find Gaeul for us.”
At that moment, the secretary uncle spoke to me.
“Gaeul is such a good child. She’s not the kind of kid who should be treated so horribly anywhere.”
“She really is like an angel, isn’t she?”
“Ha Namjin, I’m changing your assignment.”
Jin Ramen Noona, who had spent a long time talking with Chairman Seo Docheol, informed me of my personnel transfer.
“Starting tomorrow, you’ll be joining the Great Labyrinth exploration team. I’ve already spoken with the team leader, so there shouldn’t be any issues. You know Jeon Somi, right? It might not be the best connection, but still.”
Who was Jeon Somi again? Was she the model girl from that video where she fell over and her panties showed?
Suddenly I remembered that Ppangdaengi was supposed to explore the labyrinth together with that model girl. So I was being transferred to that team?
“Why?”
“Jeon Somi has a deep connection with Wang Jahyeon. Everyone knows Wang Jahyeon was very interested in Seo Gaeul. Also, according to the access logs, Wang Jahyeon was the last person to meet Seo Gaeul.”
On the day Seo Gaeul was kidnapped, Wang Jahyeon had come to see her. It seemed that was why he was now being treated as a suspect.
“If it’s Wang Jahyeon, he might have had access to internal information that only Seonam Group executives would know, like Zero Cola Fresh. After all, the Emperor Group and Seonam used to be one and the same, right?”
“So you’re telling me to act as a spy.”
“Exactly. Get close to Jeon Somi and dig up information about Wang Jahyeon. Since you caught the Arbiter, if you approach Wang Jahyeon from the start it’ll look too suspicious. So take it slow.”
I wasn’t really feeling it. When I showed a subtle reaction, the ever-honest Jin Ramen Noona added,
“Chairman Seo Docheol said the ‘evidence’ you’re looking for is most likely with the Emperor Group. I don’t know what that means, but he said if I told you that, you’d understand?”
Evidence. So the proof that Seo Docheol had ordered the arson at N-Mart was likely with the Emperor Group. If I obtained that evidence, I would be able to make Seo Docheol cry and beg.
“Alright. I’ll do it.”
And just like that, I changed my assignment and switched my midterm exam subject to Great Labyrinth Exploration.
“Have you ever been to the Great Labyrinth before?”
“No.”
In truth, I had never been to the real Great Labyrinth either. Only the simplified version used for training at Youngsa High. It was completely unknown territory to me.
The country of the fairies, huh? I was feeling a bit of anticipation when Jin Ramen Noona said,
“Why don’t we go take a look today, just for observation? There’s an entrance to the labyrinth in the basement of this very Seonam headquarters.”
For real?
That meant the Seonam Group had independent access rights to the Great Labyrinth. No wonder they had become a global corporation in just ten years.
When we finally stood in front of the entrance to the underground Great Labyrinth, Jin Ramen Noona spoke while looking at the incredibly grand stone structure that looked like the gates of hell.
“Wait here. I’ll tell the staff to open the door. Normally it takes ten Awakened pushing together just to open this thing.”
Woooong—.
At that moment, the ring called Seed on my finger began to vibrate strangely, and the tightly sealed door opened with a tremendous noise.
Goooooooong— Thud!
“Huh? Why did it open by itself?”
Even Jin Ramen Noona, who usually had good instincts, could only tilt her head in confusion at the situation.