Death's Cold Embrace
As he came to his senses at the end of his life, the faint surroundings came into view. It looked like a freezer warehouse, but he couldn't tell exactly what kind of place it was. His joints had been screaming in agony ever since he'd been roughly hauled in.
Tied to a chair, he was slumped in one corner, while someone stood by the entrance on the opposite side. Probably a thug keeping watch on him.
A scene from the movie Internal Affairs flashed through his mind.
'Am I about to get sliced up like Ahn Sang-gu now? Fuck, does it make any sense to suddenly switch to noir without warning?'
It was cold. His breath came out in visible puffs, and with the situation being what it was, his body wouldn't stop trembling. There were no cuts on him yet, so he tried to pull himself together, but as time dragged on, a suffocating fear that survival would be impossible washed over him.
How much time had passed? There was a brief commotion at the entrance, and then Director Hwang and Executive Director Park Hyungpil walked toward him.
"What... the hell is this?"
—Thwack!
He couldn't withstand Director Hwang's solid kick and collapsed to the floor. Did this bastard have some personal grudge against him?
"Don't mess up his face. He's still got some use left."
Executive Director Park tossed a few sheets of paper in front of him. He didn't need to look to know what they were—evidence meticulously compiling how he'd stroked the executive director's ego. He'd been so careful, but they'd still caught him.
"You rolled some money through a paper company under Miracle Planning, but didn't report that to me, did you?"
"I erased the source of the principal and booked it as normal revenue, taking only the investment profits. I made a separate pocket, sure, but I didn't embezzle company funds."
"I know that. On paper, not a single ten-won bill out of place. As expected of Manager Song. Honestly, compared to everything you've done for me so far, this is something I could easily overlook."
Yeah, considering all the slush funds he'd funneled over the years, they shouldn't be treating him like this.
"But you know, worrying about my family affairs? That's crossing the line, don't you think? The slush fund source details you laid out so nicely with my name front and center were really touching. Hell, I could even believe my brother planted you to bury me."
Park Hyungpil's chuckling expression was demonic. How the hell had he found out about this?
"Hanging around with those gangster punks must've made you think you could take a bite out of me, but I've got guys around me just as sharp as you. Even Grace started getting suspicious after reading the reports you sent up. So you should've hidden it a little deeper."
That bitch had tripped him up in the end. With it already exposed, no excuses came to mind.
"But get this—there's another bastard trying to screw me over besides you. I'll deal with him soon, but I need to strike first before his side blows up, or I might go down."
What? Was there another enemy he didn't know about?
"So I'm giving you a chance. You did blow up the slush fund size too much, so it's partly your responsibility. Help me out one last time."
Chance, responsibility, last time—fuck, every word dripped with despair. What the hell was this guy beating around the bush for? What new scheme was he cooking up?
"An embezzlement scandal like the old one is about to blow up. Back then, an internal whistleblower made me go through that humiliation of an investigation, but this time, I'll be the whistleblower to divert attention. Grace and a few smart guys have already set it up."
While he was in the dark, that Grace bitch had already wormed deep into the company. He'd underestimated Executive Director Park.
"But money can't embezzle itself, right? There has to be some bastard who swallowed it. You get what I'm saying now, don't you?"
He planned to cover part of the slush fund with an embezzlement case. They'd pin it on him, the core guy handling the funds, to fool the prosecutors or media. Over 5 billion won in embezzlement meant at least five years; if it qualified as aggravated economic crime, life imprisonment was on the table. He'd rot for at least ten years, no less.
"Fuck that, for whose benefit? You think I'll go quietly?"
They probably hadn't found all the dispersed evidence. If even one piece survived, taking down Executive Director Park wouldn't be hard.
"Of course you won't go quietly. But what can you do about this? Dead men tell no tales, after all."
Kuh, this fucker. He planned to kill him right here and fake it as suicide or an accident. Then fabricate evidence to pin everything on him. Things would fall into place surprisingly easily. Like the executive director said, dead men can't talk.
To survive, he racked his brain as hard as he could. Should he piss himself begging for mercy? Bluff about more evidence and try to cut a deal? With a pale face and bowed head, Executive Director Park must've thought he'd given up.
"You've been real tight with that hot actress Kang Bora lately, huh? How'd you reel in Clover Day's Han Seoah? And that Sisspatch reporter Cha Hwayoung doesn't seem like just a casual fling either... damn, you've got some skills."
His heart plummeted. His body shook harder than when he'd thought he was done for. Even if he miraculously survived this, Park Hyungpil would hunt down those three to get to him. And he'd treat them brutally.
Their relationships had been just physical, but they'd treated him special. Maybe, just maybe, a sliver of love was mixed in. He'd been too scared of ruining it to utter the word 'love,' but the emotions they shared weren't any smaller than any other lovers'.
'Now even the chance to express those feelings is gone.'
Losing that opportunity hurt more than death itself. He'd been thrashing to survive moments ago, but thinking of them made his fear of dying vanish like a lie. Dying was preferable to Park Hyungpil laying a hand on them.
"Don't... don't touch them. If anything happens to those three, I'll come back from the grave for you. I'll sob bloody tears by your bedside all night, howling. I'll pour every curse I know so you can't even die peacefully. So swear you won't touch them. Now!"
His voice carried a venom that surprised even him. Seeing his bloodshot eyes, Park Hyungpil wiped the smirk off his face.
"I'm a bad bastard, but I'm not a bully. Once you take the fall for everything, why would I bother with those girls? I'll even hand your company over to the current rep as is. Think of it as severance."
Unbelievable, but in this situation, he had no other choice. He adjusted into a resigned posture, and Park Hyungpil slipped his phone into his inside pocket. Probably rigged so forensics after his death would yield ironclad evidence.
The two burly guys behind him pried his mouth open and started pouring whiskey down his throat.
—Gulp, gulp, glug, glug!
"Gah, cough... kugh!"
Half of it spilled onto the floor, but it was enough to get him drunk. They were staging a drunk driving accident. It felt like only minutes had passed, but his vision blurred, breaths came ragged, and Executive Director Park started looking like two or three people.
"Load him into the car. Director Hwang, stick around till it's done and report back. Clean up so nothing turns up here."
"Yes, Executive Director."
The two bruisers dragged him out and shoved him into the car. Dump him in some reservoir or river, floor the accelerator, and he'd become the embezzler who got drunk, drove, crashed, and drowned. He'd spent years erasing traces for others, and now his own life was being erased like this. Fuck.
They say when the brain senses death, it frantically digs through memories searching for a way to survive. The past flashes by rapidly—commonly called a lantern show.
'But why is my lantern show just full of Bora noona's nagging?'
With no real way to survive anyway, maybe it was replaying his regrets. If he'd listened to noona and turned down Park Hyungpil's offers, if he hadn't fallen for the money even while doing the job, if he'd pulled out when he felt addicted to the taste of cash... he wouldn't be dying like this.
'I hope she doesn't get too sad. But... she'll cry a little for me, right?'
Bora noona was good at controlling her emotions, but he worried about Seoah. She'd only ever run toward the stage, so she wasn't used to this kind of thing. What if the shock hit her hard? She was the type to drown in feelings, and she'd struggle for a while.
'Sorry to Mingyu hyung.'
He'd burdened him a ton with company work and gathering evidence, and now it ended like this. He hoped Park Hyungpil left the company alone. Hyung could live comfortably just running that.
'I hope Cha Hwayoung gets laid. You can't feel that kind of exquisite pussy even in the afterlife.'
You crazy bastard, even on your deathbed, obsessing over legendary pussy. He was born with killer luck with women, but he couldn't settle for that and got greedy for money, leading to this mess. If there was a next life, he'd be content with his womanizing ways—why realize it now? Way too late.
Eh?
A voice?