Dead on Paper
He really is something else.
Oh Seung-hyun was, without question, remarkable.
That's right — the very Oh Seung-hyun who had shoved me into a four-lane road back in elementary school.
And here I was, thinking of that lunatic and feeling nothing but pure, unfiltered admiration.
How much of an idiot do you have to be to live like that?
The thought came as I watched the image Angae had floated up to the ceiling. Oh Seung-hyun sat hunched over a computer, snickering to himself as he typed out posts about me.
I was genuinely awestruck by the sight of him commenting on his own posts while cycling through different accounts.
What reason could there possibly be for getting ostracized? Absolute nonsense.
It was stupidity almost beyond belief. He wasn't even bothering to mask his IP address while doing this.
Why does he even carry that head around?
I was deep in serious contemplation when Angae, who had been resting quietly in my arms, suddenly erupted.
"I hate that human so much!!"
"Yeah. Me too."
I patted Angae's back soothingly as it fumed in my arms. It rubbed its face against my chest, grumbling.
"Why do people like that even exist? I hate him. I can't even stand looking at him!"
"It's okay. I'll take care of it. Cheer up."
"This isn't the first time, or the second — he keeps tormenting Yeonjae! Someone like that is never going to change no matter what happens to him?! I just wish he'd disappear from this world entirely!"
Coming out of Seong Ijun's face, that was a little terrifying. Angae, buddy.
I calmed Angae down as it casually declared it wished Oh Seung-hyun dead.
It's not wrong, though.
People don't change. And Seung-hyun had never had any intention of changing to begin with.
It was probably the same reason I'd thought Jinbae was extremely wise when he had the Seung-hyun family emigrate. Just as Angae said — I couldn't actually kill the guy, and honestly, not having to see his face was the more comfortable option.
Still, the fact that he's carrying on like this even abroad really is impressive.
How was he capable of it? Both of his parents had lost their jobs because of him, and he'd gotten them driven out to a foreign country.
Unfortunately for them, both of them had worked in law. Jinbae's parents ran one of the largest law firms in the country in that exact industry, and while the legal world was a famously tight-knit circle, it was still staggering how quickly a person could be cut off from it entirely.
Well, Jinbae himself was pretty surprising too.
I'd never known that Jinbae, who smiled so gently in front of me, had such a talent for tormenting people with vicious efficiency.
In an instant, Seung-hyun's parents lost their careers, a red mark straight out of a drama stamped itself onto their household, and they were pressured into emigrating — on the condition that they never set foot in Korea again.
Just in case, I had checked in on Seung-hyun's memories from time to time, and I'd often seen his mother crying during that period.
I'd also seen Seung-hyun sniffling in front of her as she wailed about how much she missed her family back home.
'Sniff... I'm sorry, Mom. It's all because of me.'
'...No, Seung-hyun. Mom is fine. Mom is the one who's sorry.'
And then Oh Seung-hyun had walked straight back to his room and started writing posts about me with a smile on his face.
Is he actually a psychopath?
An idiot and an unfilial son — he sure was busy collecting titles.
What am I going to do with him?
That thought had occupied me for a long while as I spent time with Angae.
But for all my agonizing, the problem resolved itself with surprising ease.
The next morning, the moment I woke up, CEO Jang summoned me.
The instant I arrived at his office, the words came pouring out in a flood — from how they'd traced the IP address and identified the poster, all the way to how he'd contacted Oh Seung-hyun's father directly.
What the explanation was less forthcoming about was how exactly Oh Seung-hyun would be "handled."
"Well, it's been more or less taken care of. His father and I have already talked it through.... Those people will live quiet, ordinary lives from now on, without ever crossing paths with us again."
It was a tidy ending for everyone involved.
I echoed his murmured aside back at him, puzzled. "So what exactly did you say to Oh Seung-hyun?"
"....That's not something you need to know. Telling you would put me in a bit of a... mood."
"Sorry?"
"Regardless — I guarantee you, on my life and on this company, that you will never lay eyes on Oh Seung-hyun again, and you will never hear his name again."
The eyes of CEO Jang as he said it were full of absolute certainty.
"Forgive me for not saying more, though. Honestly, I wasn't going to tell you even this much, but your manager raised hell insisting that a situation like this has to be shared with you. Said you'd never rest easy otherwise."
I gave the CEO an awkward smile at that.
Jinbae really did say all kinds of things. But he wasn't wrong.
"That's true. Thank you for telling me. And for resolving it so cleanly, too."
Not that I had any idea what he'd actually done or how....
But I'd find out tonight anyway, once I saw Angae.
At my words of thanks, CEO Jang waved a hand as if it were nothing.
"That's my job, isn't it? A manager's role is taking care of the agency's talent. If I couldn't even handle this much, why would I be charging you a commission?"
"The commission and my thanks are two separate things. I spent all night worrying about it, and you resolved it for me. Thank you, truly."
"......"
CEO Jang regarded me in silence for a moment, then let out a short laugh.
"Right. You must be busy juggling school and acting. I hear you've started attending an action school now, too."
"Yes. I went for the first time yesterday."
"Learn well. And like I told you before — if you need anything, just say the word."
Just as the conversation was winding down, CEO Jang spoke up hurriedly.
"Oh, right. Stop by and see Team Leader Woo before you head home. I've lined up a number of interviews for you. She'll walk you through the details."
"Interviews?"
"Yeah. It's a little awkward to say this to your face, but.... the word 'outcast' isn't exactly a boon for a celebrity."
He had a point.
At his careful, sidelong phrasing, I nodded along agreeably.
"You're already famous around the entire—"
"CEO-nim. I'm sorry, but leave out that word and just tell me the rest."
"....Right. Anyway. You're hot property right now, so negative labels need to be cleaned up early and thoroughly. These interviews are exactly the place to do that. Got it?"
At the trailing "got it?", I gave an obedient nod.
As I left the office, I thought to myself: he really is good at his job.
Where am I?
That was Oh Seung-hyun's first thought upon opening his eyes. He vaguely remembered walking down the street in broad daylight when an overwhelming impact had struck the back of his head.
No matter how hard he turned his neck, he saw only the inside of an unfamiliar room.
"—!"
He wanted to scream, but no sound came out.
Of course it didn't. His mouth was sealed with tape.
His arms, wrenched behind his back, were bound by something, and his legs wouldn't move either.
"......."
Overwhelming terror. Oh Seung-hyun's pupils dilated with fear.
He'd been trembling for several minutes when a man flung the door open and strode in. Spotting the huddled Seung-hyun, the man clicked his tongue.
"Tch. You're awake, huh?"
"Mmph—!"
"Good timing. Your photo just came in, and I was on my way to wake you up anyway."
The man crossed the room in long, unhurried strides and crouched down in front of Seung-hyun. At the same time, he held a phone up before his eyes. A single photograph glowed on the screen.
"Here — a picture of your funeral. It's live."
"......."
"See your mom there? Crying her eyes out. Well, I suppose if my firstborn son died, I'd be devastated too."
The tender words kept coming — that with a second son and a husband still alive, his mother would pull through just fine.
"Your body was handled so that only your father saw it. Which means the only person who knows you're alive is your father. Your mother and your little sister don't know a thing."
"......."
"I called your father, actually.... He's a genuinely good man, you know."
The man's expression turned bitter.
"If I'd had a dad like that, I never would've lived this gutter of a life. And you — you had a father like that and... you kicked your own fortune away with your heel. Tch."
The man spoke of how much Seung-hyun's father had suffered — how long the choked, ragged sobbing had continued through the phone, how many times he had begged the man to take care of his son. Then the man suddenly noticed something and shouted.
"Ah, damn it! Hey! What are you doing pissing yourself?! There's not even a change of clothes for you in here!"
"Hhk—."
Oh Seung-hyun simply shook and shook. The tears streaming down his face soaked into the tape over his mouth, and every muffled sob made the adhesive crackle.
The man only looked annoyed.
"Ugh, whatever. It's not like we know how long you'll even last in here anyway.... Once the work's done later, go ahead and wipe yourself down and change."
"Mmph."
"Yeah, yeah. Kid. Impatient little thing, aren't you. Fine, I'll take it off."
Rip!
The man peeled the tape away without a shred of gentleness. His freedom returned, but Oh Seung-hyun couldn't bring himself to speak. The man seized the opening and rattled on without pause.
"Now, the rules are simple. Wake up when the alarm goes off, eat, work, sleep. This room is yours, and the bathroom's shared. Oh — and as you walk down the corridor, there are spots where you can't just run out mid-way. Be careful. You'll get tetanus. There's no doctor here."
Which was more merciful — an instant death, or dying a horrifying death from tetanus? The man delivered this thoroughly unfunny joke with a snicker.
Oh Seung-hyun forced out a single question through his still-trembling body.
"Wh-where... is this...."
"No idea. Somewhere around Russia, I'd guess?"
"...What?"
"Doesn't matter either way. None of us will ever set foot on land again until we die. We're on a ship."
At the man's flat reply, Oh Seung-hyun stopped breathing. Only then did the queasy, rolling sensation of seasickness register. Nothing about it felt real.
"Why am I here... Dad — why did Dad...."
His head went foggy with unreality. Listening to Seung-hyun's muttering, the man arched one eyebrow.
"I heard the story, and you really are shameless, aren't you."
"......."
"Look, let's be frank. How many people have suffered because of you? Honestly — do you think your father could live with himself? He flat-out said he'd rather it had been him instead."
"......."
"Tch. Still, it was probably the best option for your father, wasn't it? He's got two more family members to take care of besides you. No matter how much he loves his son — how do you raise a murderer?"
"....He's not a murderer. The kid didn't die."
At that murmured correction, the man burst out laughing. His booming laughter filled the empty room.
"You adjusted your shove so he'd only land in the roadway? A real prodigy. Absolutely outstanding!"
"......."
"You were supposed to start a new life after emigrating — that was the whole deal. So why'd you go posting garbage like that? Think about how much it cost your father just to hear from you again."
Whether Seung-hyun wore a dazed expression or not, the man paid it no mind and kept talking.
"Oh, right. And one more thing — if you're going to kill yourself, just jump into the sea. If you go off and die alone in some corner, you really will die. Corpses are a nightmare to deal with, you know."
"I did... something wrong. I'm sorry."
"Huh?"
"I really did — I really did wrong. I'll never mess around again. I'm sorry."
"Well, look at this kid. Why are you apologizing to me?"
He called all of it "messing around," did he? So to this man, it had all been a prank.
Even at the man's incredulous tone, Oh Seung-hyun wept and apologized. For once, the tears were genuine — not a performance.
But he'd chosen the wrong audience.
"Hey. Get it together. You're dead already. Registered on paper and everything, I'm telling you."
"Hhk... hhu-uk."
Oh Seung-hyun broke down sobbing, his breath coming in ragged gasps. Watching him finally, truly grasp what had happened to him, the man let out a short laugh.
"He's a lot weaker than I expected. And here we were told you'd tried to kill a man in broad daylight — I had such high hopes."
"I just — I only.... I already apologized. It's all, it's over now...."
"That's exactly what I'm asking — why did you write those posts? You were supposed to kick up a fuss in moderation and stop."
With that, the man offered his parting words of wisdom: since things had turned out this way anyway, they might as well get along until the day Seung-hyun died.
"......."
Oh Seung-hyun blinked. The tears fell in heavy, unbroken drops.
And so his true hell began.