Chapter 195
Chapter 195
It’s All Your Fault
Yu Yeon-seo visited Lee Tae-gyeom’s hospital room. Before heading to where Min Seong-cheol was being held, he went to the place where Min Seong-cheol had lived—the old dorm for One Seven. Yellow police tape was stretched across the area, indicating Baek Seo-jun had already been there.
‘It’s been a while.’
Did seven people really live in a cramped house like this? It was shabby, but it was a place with its own memories. Min Seong-cheol had ruined it all.
Yu Yeon-seo entered the house and looked around the living room and kitchen. It felt lived-in, as if someone had been there for a long time. He then headed to the bedroom. The space that had once been filled with bunk beds was now completely…
“Crazy bastard…”
Covered in photos of Lee Hui-seo and Yu Yeon-seo. Yu Yeon-seo coughed quietly and stood before a corkboard that filled an entire wall.
‘He’s been investigating for a long time.’
From street photos taken by a stalker fan during his debut to, most recently, the filming location for ‘Filicide’. A street where he held a surprise fan meeting to promote ‘Snake’, his face visible among the crowd. And even the hat he wore the day he disguised himself as a staff member.
‘It doesn’t seem like he has a job…’
So how does he make a living? Yu Yeon-seo searched every corner of the house. Thanks to ‘Insight’, it seemed, he found something hidden everywhere his hands reached.
‘Is this the price?’
An old bankbook showed deposits of money that someone like Min Seong-cheol could never touch in his lifetime.
‘…It’s time to start digging into Min Seong-cheol.’
There was nothing that could serve as solid evidence. Perhaps Min Seong-cheol himself had it. He left the old dorm.
An obsession spanning decades, centered on Lee Hui-seo and Yu Yeon-seo. Could Min Seong-cheol really not have known that Lee Tae-gyeom and Im Seung-hyeon were watching him? How many years had he been a stalker? He probably knew.
Min Seong-cheol had intentionally revealed himself, letting them catch his trail. Fleeing in a car might have been a whim. In any case, he was caught easily, but it didn’t seem like he would talk easily.
‘I need to know what that bastard is thinking.’
No, I have to become Min Seong-cheol himself. Only then will I know what he wants. Instinctively, Yu Yeon-seo decided to treat Min Seong-cheol as a character in a script and analyze him.
Min Seong-cheol had relentlessly stalked Lee Hui-seo since her days in the group. He’d been in and out of police stations more times than one could count. According to an agency official at the time, he firmly believed he and Lee Hui-seo were lovers.
‘Min Seong-cheol felt betrayed by Lee Hui-seo for denying him, but he probably didn’t hold any ill will back then. He couldn’t live without seeing her. He must have thought that if he tried hard enough, Lee Hui-seo would come back to him.’
The narrator shifts from ‘him’ to ‘me’. He was gradually immersing himself in the role of Min Seong-cheol.
‘But marrying another man, abandoning me… that’s not right.’
Yu Yeon-seo clenched his fists. The person he thought was entirely his had abandoned him.
Besides, the Chairman’s mansion was heavily secured, and Lee Hui-seo left the entertainment industry as soon as she married.
Traces of her past were easy to find, but Lee Hui-seo’s ‘present’ was nowhere to be seen. I wanted to be your present.
‘Why did you leave me for a guy like that? We were good together. Even if you disliked me a little, you accepted me. If we had just tried a little harder, we could have had a normal family.’
I can’t see her with my own eyes, but I hear news of her through articles. They say she had her first child. That the son is a genius. And how he resembles me.
‘Why can’t I see you? What about our son?’
Juseong Group released a family photo as a New Year’s greeting and for the fans curious about Lee Hui-seo’s life. The faces of the two sons were obscured. Why am I not there?
And just then, ‘the head’ approaches. He slyly tempts me, asking if I don’t want revenge on Lee Hui-seo, who betrayed me and left for another man.
‘If I can’t be your present, I will be your end.’
I look at the sprawling garden and the grand, opulent mansion. Did you abandon me just for money? Rage begins to boil inside me. I stroke Yu Yeon-seo, who could have been my son. No, if he’s her son, he’s my son. My heart calms down a bit.
I’m not in my right mind; my emotions are all over the place. It’s not too late. If I persuade her to come to our home, and if she follows…
[You, you’re that stalker…!]
Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t look at me like I’m a monster. I did it for you…
But Lee Hui-seo keeps rejecting me. The murder was planned, but it was also impulsive. Anger surges.
‘It’s all your fault.’
You rejecting me, my life being ruined because of you.
“…Hah!”
Briefly breaking from his immersion, Yu Yeon-seo took a ragged breath and looked in the mirror. What would Min Seong-cheol think of the legacy Lee Hui-seo left behind? One that looked exactly like her. As if possessed, Yu Yeon-seo raised a hand and caressed his own face in the mirror.
‘Now, let’s really go to our home.’
“Ugh…”
Snapping out of his immersion, Yu Yeon-seo covered his mouth and retched. He wasn’t coughing up blood from mental shock; a sour taste rose from his throat. It was a purely physiological reaction.
‘It seems he goes back and forth between seeing me as his son and a substitute for Lee Hui-seo…’
If I were a woman, he might have mistaken me for Lee Hui-seo and become even more obsessed. After only watching from afar, he now wants to talk and interact with me, just as he did when he approached Lee Hui-seo.
If I coax him well, he might just open his mouth… though I don’t like the method.
Before facing Min Seong-cheol, Yu Yeon-seo changed his clothes. A white shirt and white cotton pants. As if to evoke Lee Hui-seo’s final moments.
Before opening the door, he glanced up once and forced back a cough. Just looking at it made him feel sick, but he had to see it to steel his resolve.
“You’re here?”
As soon as Yu Yeon-seo entered, Min Seong-cheol slowly raised his head and grinned. He looked as excited as if he were unwrapping a present.
Yu Yeon-seo decided to hide his own feelings and act out what Min Seong-cheol desired. He smiled the same smile that had caused a sensation when Lee Hui-seo was in ‘Under the Persimmon Tree’. It was an expression he had practiced all day in front of a mirror.
[I understand you. I will listen to what you have to say. This kind of attitude is dangerous. It could make the delusions even worse.]
[You can’t communicate normally with people like that. You should stay as far away as possible. If you’re being victimized, it’s best to seek help from law enforcement or the legal system immediately.]
It doesn’t seem like the law protected anyone, though… Anyway, if they say not to do it, I have to try it even more. I have the means to protect myself. I still have the future body.
“…Hello. It’s been a while.”
“You, you know me?”
“We met back then. Didn’t you call me your son?”
I knew you would remember. Min Seong-cheol, who had frozen for a moment upon seeing the same smile as Lee Hui-seo, had life return to his eyes. He suddenly grabbed Yu Yeon-seo’s hand, which was disgusting. It felt like insects were crawling up his arm.
“Yes. You remembered.”
“How could I forget?”
I could never forget. I’ve suffered for almost my entire life because of you.
But Min Seong-cheol took it differently. Blood is thicker than water, after all. He recognizes me. Unlike his stupid mother.
“Why did you let yourself get caught on purpose?”
Just as I’d expect from my own blood, he understands my intentions perfectly. So different from his mother. I’m proud. Min Seong-cheol chuckled as he answered.
“It’s fun. You and I never had time to build a bond…”
He dreams of a normal father-son relationship with me, I see. Yu Yeon-seo thought it was a relief he was born a son and nodded as if he understood. According to Lee Seon-ja, who had acted with Lee Hui-seo in a drama, she had a habit of looking into the other person’s eyes and nodding slowly.
“You didn’t have to go that far; I would have played along. My manager got hurt for no reason…”
“That bastard is no good for you!”
Min Seong-cheol suddenly shouted. His emotions are all over the place. But the more Min Seong-cheol loses his reason, the better.
“S-sorry. Did I scare you?”
When Yu Yeon-seo pretended to flinch in surprise and showed a disappointed expression, Min Seong-cheol immediately backed down, flustered.
“Please don’t be like that. It’s scary.”
“I’m really sorry. I just have these outbursts sometimes.”
“Did you kill my mother during one of those outbursts?”
Min Seong-cheol’s flustered movements stopped. His ecstatic expression hardened in an instant.
Damn, was that too soon? No, I have a good feeling about this. I should use this as an opportunity to coax him more.
“Yes, I did… You came to catch me, didn’t you?”
“No, it’s not like that… I just wanted to know why you did it.”
“…Really?”
“It’s been twenty years. I don’t even remember it well anymore…”
He spoke as if he held no resentment. Even now, he could see two pale white legs resting on Min Seong-cheol’s shoulders, but he forced himself to ignore them.
“If I know why you did it, I can understand.”
I understand you. You must have had your reasons. If you explain it so I can accept it, I’ll do whatever you want.
Persuaded like that, Min Seong-cheol’s expression alternated between hardening and smiling. He was truly insane. Goosebumps crawled all over Yu Yeon-seo’s skin.
“Yes, I killed her.”
“…Why?”
A camera installed in the corner was recording the entire situation, but there was no sense of accomplishment in getting a confession. He had known, but hearing him admit it with his own mouth made his fists clench tighter.
“She abandoned me. For that damn money!”
He didn’t want to listen to this childish whining, but he had to. His head was sending signals. Was it from Beta?
Min Seong-cheol kept muttering, alternating between expressing his affection for Lee Hui-seo and trembling with rage at her betrayal. Yu Yeon-seo played along, giving vague responses.
“I didn’t like that bastard Park Gyeong-seok either.”
“…Park Gyeong-seok?”
“Yeah, your uncle.”
When his younger uncle’s name was mentioned out of the blue, Yu Yeon-seo felt as if he had been struck by lightning.
‘Don’t tell me…’
“He had lecherous thoughts about your mother. A filthy bastard who tried to steal Hui-seo’s accomplishments when he didn’t have the ability…”
His heart pounded. Yu Yeon-seo moved his dry lips.
“…That’s hard for me to believe. Are you saying my younger uncle instigated you to kill my mother?”
“That’s right. He came to me himself.”
Seeing the shocked look on his son’s face, Min Seong-cheol slapped his own mouth as if he regretted saying anything.
“…You’re not trying to lie to me, are you?”
“I can see why you wouldn’t believe it. You probably thought that bastard was a good person.”
Then, he slyly held out a memory card hidden in his sleeve. He shook it gently. He was trying to test Yu Yeon-seo until the very end.
“Want it?”
“Do as you please. That’s not what I wanted.”
He was appealing that he had arranged this meeting to understand and talk to him, not for something like this. Only then would he hand it over willingly. Min Seong-cheol’s gaze changed subtly. Yu Yeon-seo drove the final nail.
“I’ll visit often.”
“You will?”
“You must be tired of watching from the shadows. Isn’t it more fun talking with me like this?”
With the object of his obsession gone, he must have felt empty and kept reliving the past. Then he found a substitute. This time, he wouldn’t be able to get rid of it so easily. Yu Yeon-seo had keenly observed Min Seong-cheol’s thirst for this interaction, even as they spoke.
“…Alright.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Min Seong-cheol held the memory card out right in front of Yu Yeon-seo.