Chapter 148
Chapter 148
Filicide (6)
Don’t skip meals just because I’m gone. I trust you’ll live well. You don’t need me. Study hard and go to college.
He finished it without hesitation, then crumpled the paper and shoved it deep into the trash can. Then, he sat beside his soundly sleeping grandson.
Hwang Min-jae had been out for a while and fell asleep quickly. Hwang Dae-sik’s hand, reaching for his grandson, paused.
‘I’m sorry.’
His palm, which had hovered over the boy’s face for a long time, gently landed on his grandson’s forehead. He awkwardly stroked his grandson’s hair and sat there for a long while. Outside, as if reflecting his heart, the rain poured down fiercely.
The next day, Hwang Min-jae woke up earlier than usual. Had there ever been a day he felt this good? He got up first and helped his grandfather, who was making breakfast. His body felt light, and so did his spirits.
“You didn’t have to do all this.”
“You need to eat a lot if you’re going to do that after school.”
There were more side dishes than usual. Hwang Min-jae, feeling no sense of unease, sat at the table and ate heartily.
“I think it’s going to work out.”
“Really?”
Things were resolving smoothly with the company he was protesting against. They wanted to avoid any trouble due to their upcoming public listing, and Hwang Min-jae didn’t want much—just enough for his grandfather’s medical bills.
“Make sure you go to the hospital today.”
“Alright.”
“My vacation starts next week, so let’s go together then.”
“Okay. Now, you should get going.”
Hwang Dae-sik answered calmly, without protest. A sudden wave of anxiety washed over Hwang Min-jae, and he stared at his grandfather. The gruff demeanor, meant to keep him at a distance, was gone, replaced by a natural smile at the corners of his mouth.
“...I’ll be going then.”
It’s probably nothing, Hwang Min-jae thought as he left the house.
As soon as his grandson left, Hwang Dae-sik cleared the table as usual. Then, he began to tidy up and throw away his belongings, which would be of no use after today.
He sat at his desk to write a new letter, replacing the suicide note he had written and discarded the night before. After hesitating several times, he wrote a brief message and put down his pen.
Is there any need to write a long letter? In the end, I’m just a worthless grandfather leaving you all alone...
Before leaving, Hwang Dae-sik glanced around the house and lightly brushed his shoulders, as if dusting off an invisible, formless burden.
Perhaps due to his age, he couldn’t remember what had happened with his son. His grandson had filled that void instead.
“Where are you headed?”
“Oh, uh… just out front.”
“Your face has brightened up since your grandson came. It’s good to see.”
Those who had worriedly shared food with him no longer worried about Hwang Dae-sik. They were inwardly relieved that the grandfather and grandson were relying on each other. Hwang Dae-sik accepted their greetings with a smile. His expression was bright, perhaps from a sense of release.
Without hesitation, he crossed the bridge at the entrance of the village. He couldn’t remember the details exactly, but he had crossed this bridge once with his son, daughter, and late wife.
Hwang Dae-sik leaned over and looked down. The river had swollen considerably. At this level, he wouldn’t wake up in an emergency room like last time.
“Ah…”
I should leave the shoes.Someone bought them for me. He couldn’t let them get swept away.
He carefully placed the shoes he had worn so cautiously, afraid of scuffing them, neatly on the ground. Then, without any lingering attachment, he stepped off from the world.
Hwang Min-jae, uneasy about sending his grandfather to the hospital alone, left school early. On the desk, he discovered a concisely written letter.
[Live well.]
The moment he saw it, he shot up and ran. He sprinted through every nook and cranny of the alleys, grabbing passersby and asking if they had seen his grandfather.
‘Where is he?’
After asking around, he paused at the village entrance, breathing heavily. He looked around in every direction, like a lost child searching for his parents.
“Heok, heok…”
Sobs escaped with his breaths. He ran on, tears streaming down his face.
(You and your dad used to have a lot of fun here…)
A place suddenly came to mind. The bridge at the edge of the village. The river must have risen a lot after yesterday’s downpour… No way.
‘Please…’
He wiped his tears with his sleeve as he ran. He was out of breath, but he didn’t stop. He felt that if he was late, he would lose his grandfather.
After a desperate sprint, he reached the riverbank. There was no one on the bridge.
“Grandfather!”
No one was on the bridge. However, something in the middle caught his eye.
“No, it can’t be…”
A pair of neatly placed shoes. Even from a distance, he was sure. They were the shoes he had gifted him. His legs gave out as he ran, and he fell. In his haste, he didn’t get up but crawled forward, as if trying to grab his grandfather and stop him from leaving.
“G-Grandfather…”
With trembling hands, Hwang Min-jae touched the shoes. They were the shoes Hwang Dae-sik had cherished, never wearing them for work for fear of wearing them out, only putting them on for brief outings.
The river flowed with a cool, rushing sound, but Hwang Min-jae was sobbing. Unable to support himself, he collapsed, then pushed his upper body up again, over and over.
Then, he tried to lift his head to look at the riverbank. But he couldn’t bring himself to look, so he bent over and cried until he was gasping for breath.
“Cut! Okay!”
To preserve the actor’s emotional thread, the director had scheduled the shoot as chronologically as possible. With the final scene of Hwang Min-jae wailing on the bridge, filming for Filicide concluded.
The staff watched Yu Yeon-seo, who was still collapsed on the ground, holding their breath. Someone swallowed hard. Just as Lee Tae-gyeom and Im Seung-hyeon were about to step forward, he got up, dusting the dirt from his knees.
“Yeon-seo. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
The crowd of onlookers had caused several NGs during the running scene.
At one point, the camera rail couldn’t keep up with his speed, forcing a halt. Yu Yeon-seo had felt a surge of irritation then. I need to find my grandfather right now, but this damned camera keeps stopping me.
‘Ah… I felt like I was about to get it if I just went a little further.’
The line between Hwang Min-jae and the actor himself had blurred. And though the sensation was brief, it had been quite euphoric.
It was different from the acting where his past memories had intervened. That time, the situation had been perfectly aligned to create a masterpiece; today, he felt he had completely become ‘Hwang Min-jae.’
I think some people call this method acting… Thinking this, he stretched his arms out to the sides.
“Hey, water.”
“Here.”
Yu Yeon-seo exhaled deeply. He was naturally out of breath from the sudden sprint. However, perhaps due to the influence of the spirit, it didn’t take long for his breathing to even out.
He went straight to the monitor and stared intently at Hwang Min-jae on the screen.
“I don’t think we need any more takes…”
Even though it was just a scene of him running frantically, it exuded Hwang Min-jae’s unique atmosphere.
At the director’s words, Yu Yeon-seo nodded, though he was a bit disappointed. The result was quite good. Besides, the sensation of being Hwang Min-jae had already vanished, and his eyes stung at the slightest breeze from crying so much. The assistant director stood up abruptly and shouted.
“Alright, great work, everyone!”
“It’s a wrap!”
Cheers erupted from the staff. Even the actors who weren’t scheduled for today’s shoot were present.
“Let’s go for the wrap party!”
“Yeon-seo, let’s go.”
As Yu Yeon-seo followed them, he looked back. The village where Hwang Dae-sik and Hwang Min-jae had lived. A strange feeling washed over him, and he took it in for a long time.
“Hey, we’ve graduated. What are you gonna do? Let’s hang out with the guys.”
“I can’t. I have to go to my part-time job.”
“What? Didn’t you get the settlement money?”
“You think they’d pay on time? Besides, that’s for tuition. It’ll be tight even with that if I want to live in Seoul.”
“Tch, you’re no fun.”
Park Ji-woo waved his hand dismissively, and Hwang Min-jae swiftly turned to dodge it. The dark, withdrawn atmosphere from his first appearance was gone. A gentle smile lingered on his lips.
“I’m leaving. See you later.”
“Yeah. Go on.”
Hwang Min-jae turned and walked away, wearing the long padded coat his grandfather had gifted him. It was cold, but the sky was a cloudless blue, and though it was an uphill path, the slope wasn’t steep.
It wasn’t the shabby neighborhood with winding, narrow, and steep alleys he had run through searching for his grandfather. The main road stretched out in a straight line. Unlike back then, he wouldn’t get lost because the addresses weren’t properly marked.
Hwang Min-jae, who had just begun to stand on his own, simply walked forward without obstruction.
‘Choi Nam-yun shouldn’t have died…’
The diary could be crucial evidence, but it was weak. Plus, what Yu Yeon-seo had said bothered him.
[There’s definitely an accomplice. Find them.]
‘Easier said than done…’
Baek Seo-jun groaned and leaned his weight back against the chair. The chair creaked precariously.
“Detective Baek, why are you ignoring me?”
“I have my reasons.”
You ignore me all the time, Baek Seo-jun thought, grinding his teeth. His dismissive reply made Gwak Chi-hun, sitting next to him, frown, but only for a moment.
“I heard you’ve been hanging out with Senior Managing Director Yu from Juseong lately?”
“...How would you know that, Detective Gwak?”
Baek Seo-jun straightened up from the backrest and glared at Gwak Chi-hun. Gwak Chi-hun gritted his teeth, his pride wounded for being intimidated by that glare.
“Well, he’s quite popular, isn’t he? I saw you in a picture.”
Right, that Yu Eun-ho is practically a celebrity himself. I thought I felt eyes on me… Baek Seo-jun sighed. Hanging out with those two brothers always brought some kind of unwanted attention.
“He and I were high school classmates.”
“Hmm, really? Are you close?”
“We are. We’ve been friends for ten years.”
He would have normally ignored the man who kept hovering around him, but he answered curtly. As soon as he heard that, Gwak Chi-hun’s expression changed.
“Well, if you need any help, let me know. I have a surprising number of connections.”
Baek Seo-jun read the greed in Gwak Chi-hun’s eyes. He let out a small laugh. It was amusing how his connection to the eldest grandson of Juseong Group worked where the police chief’s son’s background didn’t.
“I’ll handle it myself.”
“No, but still…”
Just then, his phone vibrated. Baek Seo-jun shot up.
“Hey, did you get the records?”
(You owe me a meal for this.)
“Of course, send them over quickly.”
It was Choi Nam-yun’s call log, which he had been eagerly awaiting. He had plenty of connections, even without Gwak Chi-hun’s help.
‘If it becomes a problem, those brothers will cover for me.’
Besides, it’s not a crime if you don’t get caught, right? Baek Seo-jun smiled faintly, hoping there would be a clue.
Watching his back as he rushed out, Gwak Chi-hun muttered a curse under his breath.
“Son of a bitch…”
He hated being looked down on just because he had some connections.
“Reporter Han, was it…”
Fiddling with the business card in his pocket, Gwak Chi-hun entered the number into his phone.
[My colleague has been meeting with the Juseong heirs quite often lately… Senior Managing Director Yu and Yu Yeon-seo.]
[Oh, I’m not asking for anything grand. You don’t think I’d ask you to be a spy, do you?]
[It’s just, you know, when he suddenly leaves for something other than work? Just give me a call then.]
His thumb hovered over the call button for a moment before Gwak Chi-hun pressed down firmly.