Kill Your X Chapter 63

Once permission was granted, the thugs opened the door and shoved me into the room. They pushed my back so hard that I fell forward onto the floor, ending up in what looked like a kneeling position.

A chilling silence filled the spacious room. A man sitting in front of me tilted his teacup nonchalantly, even after seeing me. He had the face of a sick man, yet his physique was impressively robust. His graying hair suggested he was not young, but apart from that, his piercing eyes radiated an aura that suggested one wrong move and you wouldn’t even be able to collect your bones.

Along the walls on either side, men in black suits stood in a line with their hands clasped in front of them. As I glanced their way, the man let out a short, airy laugh.

“I’ve seen Song Jeonggun quite often, but today is the first time I’m seeing his son.”

Hearing another man call him ‘Hyungnim’ just a moment ago, and feeling a strange sense of déjà vu from his face, I naturally recalled a name.

Si Seunghwan, the boss of the Kumto-pa. The biological father of my ex-lover, Si Yeonho, and the man who took Seo Seunghan in as a child and used him like one of his own limbs.

“……”

“Don’t glare so much. I may look fine on the outside, but my insides are a mess right now. It hasn’t been long since I sent my only son off, you see.”

His expression revealed no particular emotion, making me doubt the sincerity of his words. His emotionless face was similar to Seo Seunghan’s, yet different. If Seo Seunghan simply had a narrow range of emotions, this man seemed to be wearing several layers of masks.

“He never did a single thing to please me except when he was a baby, but he was still my son. The thought that he’s no longer of this world leaves my heart feeling empty.”

“Did my father hand me over to you?”

At my direct question, Si Seunghwan laughed out loud. The gaze he fixed on me gained a little more strength.

“Well now, I wasn’t on the best of terms with that Yeonho fellow either, but Song Jeonggun is even worse, it seems. No matter how high a position one reaches, it seems raising children well is a completely separate matter.”

I didn’t get the answer I wanted, but I didn’t dare ask a second time. Si Seunghwan enjoyed his tea at a leisurely pace before finally asking me.

“Your name is Song Gyujin, was it? You look like you’d act all prim and proper, but it seems your preference is actually for fooling around with men, is it?”

“……”

“My son wasn’t enough, so you even screwed the one I cherished like a son. Your preference must be quite firm. Since you’re here anyway, why don’t you pick one from the men standing here. Their stamina should be pretty good. It would be even better if you could show this old man, who finds no joy in life, an amusing sight while you’re at it.”

My jaw clenched at the vilest insult I had ever heard in my life. Frustratingly, the man before me had the power to make the low-class joke he had just thrown a reality.

“At first, I didn’t quite understand when I heard the report. No matter how small the world is, how can such a coincidence exist? It’s strange enough that there’s a bastard fooling around with two of my precious boys at the same time, but to think that bastard is Song Jeonggun’s son.”

I scraped together every last bit of courage that had long since run out. The continuation of this kind of conversation was, in itself, a great stress to me.

“So, what is it that you want from me?”

At my second question, Si Seunghwan pushed his thick eyebrows upward. He seemed to be leisurely appreciating my frightened state before continuing.

“I want things to proceed according to the picture we originally drew. To do that, we inevitably need a suitable actor.”

The ‘actor’ mentioned here was surely not a professional performer who appears in the media. A hollow laugh escaped me at the decision that had come full circle.

“In the end, you’re saying you’ll finish this by making Seo Seunghan take the fall for everything.”

“That is the way for everyone.”

Si Seunghwan tilted the white teapot and filled a teacup. It was a green tea with a unique aroma, and I belatedly realized it was the same product my father always enjoyed.

“And to correct a misunderstanding you seem to have, it’s true that I cherished that Seunghan fellow like my own son. I promised him, in my name, that I would give him a great reward in exchange for a short time in prison.”

“A short time, you say.”

“Of course. Studying abroad would be a few decades at most, and that Seunghan fellow is still young and unmarried, isn’t he? He’s spent his whole life taking on all the dirty work within the organization, so I also wanted to let him get a good rest this time. That way, we could also minimize the number of our family members getting hurt. Isn’t that a beautiful picture?”

He wasn’t being sarcastic; he seemed to genuinely think that way, and it left me speechless. Seo Seunghan’s own will was never a consideration from the start.

“Normally, he would have just accepted it even if I’d given him a more unreasonable mission, but you know, for the first time, he said no to my face. Spouting some nonsense I couldn’t understand, about how he’d waited and that even ten years was too long.”

Si Seunghwan clicked his tongue, tsk tsk. I was on the verge of tears, feeling sorry for Seo Seunghan who had spent a lifetime under such a vicious man.

“But what can you do, even if he says no? It’s already all been settled with Song Jeonggun. Hmm?”

“You said you considered Seunghan your own son. What father in the world thinks of framing his son and sending him to prison? After all the years he has been loyal to the organization, do you truly not feel any pity for him?”

Si Seunghwan didn’t flinch at the accusations I poured out. I could feel a wall in his rigid expression. I knew, even as I said it, that an emotional appeal would not work.

“You seem to be mistaken about something. I didn’t call you here to kindly explain the progress of the matter.”

“Then.”

Si Seunghwan flicked his finger, and the men standing against the wall took a step closer to me. Belying my loud outburst from a moment ago, my shoulders flinched. I had to consciously make an effort not to let my breathing become ragged.

“Song Jeonggun said it was fine to rough you up a bit if necessary, but even for me, I’m reluctant to lay a hand on another man’s son. After all the years I’ve known the guy.”

I chewed on my innocent lower lip. It was a moment that made the twisted, collusive relationship between my father and the Kumto-pa clearer than ever.

“Once Seo Seunghan arrives safely, we’ll send our Song Gyujin home. Let me give you some advice as an adult: it’d be best for you to live like a dead mouse from now on. And cut back on the disgusting faggotry, too. Your father is about to do something big; as his son, should you be blocking his path?”

The worst-case scenario I had feared had come to pass. They had marked me as bait to lure Seo Seunghan.

Following the boss’s orders, the subordinates surrounded me, created a threatening situation, and then took several photos. It was obvious who they were intended for, without me having to ask.

“Tsk, if he had just done as I said from the beginning, there would have been no problem in keeping his life. The ungrateful bastard not only disobeyed my orders but also tried to sell all our information overseas. If our tracking had been just a little bit slower, we would have been in real trouble.”

Si Seunghwan rose from his seat and came closer to me. The hand that slowly stroked my head was unspeakably repulsive. I was sick of my own powerlessness, unable to offer even the smallest resistance.

“Our Song Gyujin has made a great contribution to catching that fellow. That stone-faced bastard keeping a separate phone just for his lover—in the twenty-plus years I’ve had him, I never knew he had that side to him. Haha.”

Large teardrops finally fell onto the floor. It was all my fault. Because I had stubbornly insisted that he must be reachable anytime, anywhere, he was caught.

“Heub…”

“I secretly thought he was dead. We just couldn’t retrieve the body, but who would have thought that after taking on so many people by himself, he’d be walking around on two perfectly good legs, not some zombie.”

Si Seunghwan straightened his back and asked a subordinate standing beside him.

“Where is Seo Seunghan now?”

“He’s almost here. He was sitting at the negotiation table with the Russian mafia when he heard the news and left immediately.”

“Did that bastard check the bait photo?”

“Yes, Hyungnim.”

“Try to connect the call. And give Song Jeonggun a heads-up too.”

The gang member, presumed to be the boss’s right-hand man, brought a cell phone to my ear. The ringing tone cut off quickly, but I kept my lips tightly sealed. Then, the man standing directly behind me kicked me hard in the back.

“Ugh!”

―Sunbae, are you okay?

The moment I heard his voice, tears welled up in my eyes again. Under the surrounding pressure to tell him to come quickly, I squeezed my eyes shut and shouted.

“Don’t… Don’t come, you son of a bitch. You’ll die if you come here! Agh, aaghh!”

―Sunbae!

The call ended there. The kicks that rained down on me stopped quickly at Si Seunghwan’s intervention. Even so, I was a complete mess in that short time.

“Take it easy on him. He’s still Song Jeonggun’s bloodline. He’s a man we need to keep using, so we should at least treat his family with minimal human decency.”

“Yes, Hyungnim.”

“And Junghoon, you make sure things don’t go sour with the Russians. It’s okay to open up a little of the route we’ve monopolized until now. It’s a waste, but to do big business, you have to know how to give.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

Si Seunghwan patted his right-hand man on the back and went back to his seat. Unattractively, the sound of my sobbing kept seeping through my clenched teeth. A directionless anger spread through my body like pain.

“Your father simply made the wisest choice in this situation. So don’t resent him too much either.”