Chapter 3
Chapter 3
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 3
Chapter Title: You Haven't Completely Left It Behind
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It was something no one here had expected.
That someone like this would come looking for Kanghyeok—a man treated like a loser even by the children—and show him such a polite attitude.
As the confused onlookers tried to make sense of the situation, Leila pointed to the door leading to the parking lot.
“Please, come with me. Someone is waiting for you.”
“Hey…”
Leila’s gaze shifted to the man in the hat.
It was a starkly different look from the one she gave Kanghyeok, one you’d give to a piece of filth.
The man flinched for a moment but opened his mouth for two reasons.
First, he figured anyone associated with Kanghyeok couldn’t be as impressive as they looked.
Second, she was a rare type of woman to see in this neighborhood.
Thwack.
The moment the man grabbed Leila’s shoulder, about to utter some lewd remark, the woman seized his middle finger and bent it backward.
*Crack!*
“Aaargh! You crazy bitch!”
Another man hastily grabbed a liquor bottle from the display shelf, holding it by the neck. Kanghyeok let out a sigh.
A woman being harassed and a man who’d scraped by on the streets.
The difference in their builds was significant, but Leila wasn’t the one to worry about.
*Snap!*
Leila kicked the back of the man’s knee, then spun in place like a crocodile death-rolling its prey. An eerie sound came from his twisted finger.
*Crrrack!*
“Guuuh!”
Just then, the other man swung the liquor bottle at Leila.
As if on cue, Leila thrust her hand into her coat, and Kanghyeok spat out his words.
“That’s enough.”
His voice was chilling, a tone never before heard in this neighborhood.
*Crash.*
The man with the bottle froze, dropping it involuntarily. The sound of shattering glass filled the air, along with the spreading stench of alcohol.
Only then did Leila release the man’s finger and pull her hand from her coat.
It was empty.
Leila took a handkerchief from her pants pocket, wiped her hand and shoulder, and met Kanghyeok’s gaze.
“Will you come?”
Kanghyeok glanced at the sedan parked in the lot.
The windows were tinted too darkly to see who was inside, but he had a feeling a predator was lying in wait.
“Who is it?”
“The HR Manager.”
“Tch!”
Of all people, it had to be the most troublesome one.
As Kanghyeok stood motionless, Leila rolled up her sleeve and checked her watch.
“It’s time for you to get off work.”
“Did you run a background check on me?”
“I won’t deny it.”
Kanghyeok clenched his jaw, staring into Leila’s emotionless eyes.
‘Damn bastards.’
He never thought it would come to this.
After being discharged from the military, Kanghyeok had joined a certain company. He’d achieved considerable results and, just before resigning, had been the youngest Deputy Team Leader with a promising future.
Then, he had suddenly decided to quit.
He’d suspected they might send people after him, but nothing had happened for the past year. He hadn’t expected them to show up like this.
As Kanghyeok stared with his lips sealed, Leila offered a faint smile and began to walk ahead.
*You will follow me.*
The message conveyed by her back made Kanghyeok let out a heavy breath and start walking.
“Kanghyeok…”
The owner of the supermarket called out to him as he was about to leave, but Kanghyeok just gave a bitter smile and shook his head slightly.
*Jingle.*
Leila held the door open and stepped aside, allowing Kanghyeok to exit with a show of courtesy.
Everyone inside the supermarket watched the scene unfold, feeling as if they were under a spell.
*Jingle.*
The bell on the door sounded like a hypnotist’s chime, snapping them back to reality.
The man who’d been bested by the woman, now feeling the sting of humiliation, reached for another bottle on the shelf.
At the same time, as if she’d expected it, Leila turned back to him. She gestured toward Kanghyeok with her chin and drew a thumb across her throat.
A clear warning. The man shuddered and meekly returned the bottle to the shelf.
*Thump!*
Kanghyeok irritably pulled open the rear passenger door and his face hardened.
“You’re here?”
It was because of the Black man sitting inside.
Dressed in a suit the same color as Leila’s, the whites of his eyes were exceptionally yellow, purely from fatigue.
“I didn’t expect you to come in person, William.”
“It’s that important.”
“Important enough to bother a retiree?”
“Just get in. The air here is terrible.”
Kanghyeok glared at William before settling into the seat.
Leila got into the driver’s seat, and William pressed a button between the front seats.
*Whirr.*
A mini-fridge built into the car revealed itself, a bottle and glasses rising from within.
“Martini, alright?”
Kanghyeok let out a short laugh.
It wasn’t because he was happy to see the alcohol.
It was because, in the past year of working at the supermarket, he hadn’t even seen the shadow of such a drink.
“I’ll have a scotch.”
To his discomfort, William personally poured a glass of scotch and handed it to him.
*Vroom.*
The car started moving with a heavy engine roar. He didn’t need to ask their destination.
The road visible through the windshield was all too familiar.
Inside the moving car, Kanghyeok brought the glass to his lips.
The moment it touched his lips, he could tell it was an exhilaratingly fine liquor.
Neither William nor Leila spoke a word while he emptied the glass. Thanks to them, he could fully concentrate on the drink. The only thing that bothered him was the stares of the people outside.
The appearance of a strange luxury car made them stare relentlessly.
Some kids even chased after it like dogs after a fumigation truck.
‘Do they know?’
That it was Kanghyeok inside the car.
How would they react if they did?
He was curious.
But he didn’t want to find out.
They would stare at him uncomfortably, and they would be shocked.
He’d already seen it once at the supermarket.
That kind of uncomfortable reaction would pour in endlessly, and rumors would spread throughout the neighborhood.
All his efforts to remain as inconspicuous as possible would be for nothing, and it soured his mood.
“Hooo!”
“There are cigars. Would you like one?”
Leila asked, looking back at him. It felt like she was mocking him, so Kanghyeok just glared in response.
*Vrrr.*
The car stopped. Leila got out of the driver’s seat, and William exited the car as well.
A sizable crowd had gathered around.
*Click.*
Leila opened the door for him. Kanghyeok let out a heavy sigh and stepped out of the car.
Then, without making eye contact with anyone, he strode toward his shabby apartment.
*Clank, clank, clank!*
Why the hell was the lock so damn hard to open today?
Kanghyeok yanked the lock open and, as soon as the other two were inside, bolted the door from within.
*Whirrr.*
The sound of a running laptop and a fan were the only things filling the room.
“A shabby room.”
“It’s a shabby neighborhood. And I can’t offer you anything to drink.”
“I wasn’t expecting anything.”
William sat on the bed. Kanghyeok pulled up a chair to face him, while Leila stood by the door.
The atmosphere was set for a comfortable conversation.
But he had no desire to have one.
It wasn’t because he had committed any crime.
Nor was it because he had done anything to be interrogated for by these people.
It was simply because he knew what they were going to say.
“I’ll be direct. Come back to work.”
“No.”
William, who was sitting with his elbows on his knees, leaned closer. He narrowed the space between his brows, looking at Kanghyeok with eyes that didn’t seem human because of their yellow whites.
“Are you saying you like this kind of life?”
“I don’t like it. Of course not.”
“Then you’re wasting your life.”
Knowing he’d already been investigated, Kanghyeok narrowed his eyes. Leila’s and William’s gazes shifted away from him.
Toward the laptop on the desk.
Toward the laptop where the Bitcoin was stored.
“I never thought you, of all people, would waste money on something like that.”
Kanghyeok said nothing.
At this point in time, cryptocurrency was not widely known.
No one seriously believed that a mere piece of data with no physical form could become a massive fortune.
Naturally, there were no exchanges, and since it was in its infancy, cryptocurrency was traded on USBs or disks.
To be precise, a trade had been made.
Kanghyeok had met the creator of the coin in person and bought it for a large sum. The man had accepted the money with trembling hands, his face showing he doubted Kanghyeok’s sanity.
That’s what cryptocurrency was like back then.
How could Kanghyeok not know how he looked, having invested his entire fortune in such a thing?
Silently, Kanghyeok pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
*Click.*
“When did you start the surveillance?”
“From the moment you bought that.”
“Fuck.”
So they had been watching him since the day after he resigned.
“Did that guy blab? That he sold it to me?”
Kanghyeok chewed on the cigarette filter, and William wrinkled his nose.
“No. But it was a very conspicuous move.”
“Then you should have pretended not to see. Can’t you show a former employee that much courtesy?”
“Did it not occur to you that we haven’t come for you until now *out of* courtesy?”
“Hah! Just go.”
“I was speechless. Can you even imagine how I felt when I received the report that you were rotting away in a place like this?”
One corner of Kanghyeok’s mouth twisted up.
Of course, he knew.
William must have been sick to his stomach.
Kanghyeok would have felt the same in William’s position, so how much worse must it have been for William, who valued efficiency above all else?
Finding good people is a difficult task in any field.
It’s even harder for a job where you risk your life.
The company was always short on manpower, and since they couldn’t use public recruitment sites, they were constantly desperate to find talent.
“I could tolerate the rest. But you being treated like a fool even by little kids… isn’t that crossing the line by a fair bit?”
“You’re being too nosy for a retiree.”
William leaned his face even closer to Kanghyeok.
His unblinking yellow eyes looked like those of a cold-blooded reptile.
“Tell me. If you have a reason I can accept, I’ll just leave.”
*Grit!*
Kanghyeok clenched his jaw, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he shot up from his seat.
*Bang!*
The chair crashed backward with a loud noise. Leila flinched, and a faint smile spread across William’s lips.
“Goddammit! Just get out!”
It was an offensive outburst.
But William’s smile only widened, as if this was the side of Kanghyeok he’d wanted to see. Kanghyeok’s expression grew even more savage.
“What the hell! What business is it of yours how I live my life! Don’t be so arrogant and get the hell out, you bastards!”
“We’ll make sure your compensation isn’t lacking. I’ll give you one-and-a-half times what you were making before. If you want, we’ll provide a house and a car, everything.”
It was such an exceptional offer that even Kanghyeok was taken aback.
But if it had been just about the money, he wouldn’t have quit in the first place.
“I didn’t leave because of money.”
“Then why?”
“You wouldn’t understand. You’d have to die and come back to life to get it.”
Only someone like that could understand him.
Kanghyeok pressed his clenched fist to his throbbing head, and William clicked his tongue softly.
“It seems you have no intention of telling me.”
Kanghyeok answered with a nod.
A brief silence fell. William checked the time on his watch and exhaled through his nose.
He was a busy man; he couldn’t linger in one place for long.
Reading William’s intent, Leila moved her hand to the doorknob. As he rose from the bed, William looked down at Kanghyeok.
“Let me just say this.”
As Kanghyeok met his gaze, moving only his eyes, William continued.
“The moment you opened the car door, I was about to give up hope. But after coming into this room, I started to wonder.”
“Seeing me in this state?”
William didn’t answer, instead sniffing like someone with a cold. He scanned the room, though it didn’t seem like he was looking for anything in particular.
It was more like he was observing the air in the room.
“It’s faint, but this room smells of canola oil and vaseline.”
It was something only a person in this room could know.
Leila looked at Kanghyeok with a mix of interest and surprise. Kanghyeok twisted his lips and clicked his tongue softly.
Canola oil and vaseline.
Oils that seemed to have nothing in common.
But they did have something in common.
Two things, in fact.
One, they were items that could be obtained even in a neighborhood like this. The other, they were both oils that could be used to clean a gun.
“You haven’t completely left it behind, have you?”
William looked at Kanghyeok with eyes that seemed to be looking at a loaded gun, ready to be fired at any moment.