Kill Your X Chapter 74

“I’m telling you this because I trust you completely, Detective Choi. Actually, Detective Kang contacted me a few days before he went missing. At the time, he was vague with me too, so I wondered what was going on, but after looking into it a bit later, I started to get the picture. Right, that’s it. Weren’t you in the narcotics unit before coming to the violent crimes unit? In that case, you’ll be able to find out more for certain.”

If there was one difference, it was that this time he was using the missing Detective Kang as bait.

Perhaps because he’d done it once before, after ending the long call, my father didn’t throw things like before, nor did he spew harsh curses in a fit of rage. He just said one thing with an annoyed face.

“What a persistent bunch.”

The meeting with Detective Choi was set for the following night. The location was a mountain in Gyeonggi Province, the same as with Detective Kang. I looked it up and there was nothing nearby; I wondered what was hidden on that mountain that made him keep setting the meeting place in such a secluded spot.

Until this point, I was half-inclined to follow him secretly and see for myself, and half-inclined to just stay put. It was true that it was bothering me to the point where I couldn’t concentrate on my studies, but if my suspicions turned out to be true, I was conflicted about what I could do then. My head was so full of worries that my appetite completely disappeared.

‘But, what if someone goes missing again this time…’

Screw the college entrance exam, given my sensitive personality, it was obvious that from then on, my daily life would be seriously affected.

So, I made the final decision to check it out for myself. The problem was that I was still too much of a coward to do it alone. I was going to do it, but I wanted someone trustworthy by my side.

As it happened, there was exactly one person around who knew the general situation and would eventually agree if I pleaded earnestly.

When I called and asked, Si Yeonho showed a lukewarm reaction after hearing my plan.

—Are you serious?

“Yeah. So, please help me out. If you really can’t make it tomorrow, then I can’t help it.”

—Who are you going to ask if I say no?

“No one. If I can’t, I’ll just have to go and come back by myself in a taxi.”

I heard a faint sigh over the speaker.

—I thought you were a coward, but your curiosity is beyond imagination, Sunbae.

“I am a coward. I’m extremely weak-willed. But if I just stay still and what I’m worried about happens, then I really don’t think I’ll be able to stay at home. Is it so wrong to want to know things properly before worrying?”

—If you have to risk your life to find that out, then yes, it’s wrong. Do you have multiple lives, Sunbae?

My feelings were hurt by his reaction, treating me like an immature kid. His voice was extremely low, with almost no intonation, and on top of that, his pronunciation was surprisingly clear, which made it worse.

“If you don’t want to, then forget it. I’ll go by myself.”

—Ha….

As a reward for enduring a bit more of his nagging-not-nagging, I finally got a confirmation from Si Yeonho that he would accompany me.

The appointment was on a weekday. I had already told my academy teacher that I would be absent for a day due to a family matter, and I met Si Yeonho as soon as school was over. Since it was normal for me to come home late from studying, I figured there would be no problem as long as I returned home before midnight that day as well.

When I got into the passenger seat of the car, a numb face greeted me. Without even a simple “hello,” Si Yeonho started the car.

Mesmerized by his unrealistically handsome side profile, I belatedly came to my senses and struck up a conversation with him.

“Yeonho. Thank you so, so much. I’ll repay you for this somehow later.”

“Keep your promise.”

Si Yeonho uttered just one sentence and then shut his mouth again. Was it because he was half-dragged into this? I had expected it, but he didn’t seem to be in a very good mood.

After being quiet for a while out of consideration, I got restless and asked a question. I wanted to lighten the suffocating atmosphere and, at the same time, satisfy my personal curiosity.

“Yeonho. By the way, when did you start driving? Who taught you?”

“About two years ago, self-taught.”

“I know it’s shameless of me to interfere when I’m indebted to you right now, but get a proper license as soon as you become an adult. What if you get caught by the police driving like this?”

“I will.”

“Then you can teach me how to drive. I’ll buy you something delicious every time we meet. How about it?”

“……”

His lukewarm response made me lose the will to continue the conversation. It seemed Si Yeonho was the type who didn’t like people talking to him while he was driving.

I dozed off while watching the scenery rushing by outside the window. When I opened my eyes again, the car was parked in a secluded open space, and the sky had turned a deep orange. I checked the current time on my cell phone and then repeatedly patted my chest in relief.

“You should have told me we arrived. Why didn’t you wake me up?”

“Because I didn’t want you to go in there, Sunbae.”

Si Yeonho pointed to the mountain situated far in front of us. His slightly furrowed brows were serious, as if he was seeing through more than what was visible to the eye.

“Why, are there a lot of ghosts there too?”

“Yes.”

Even though I showed my distaste, he didn’t relax his serious expression. Instead, he said something like an old man, “The energy of this place is really bad.”

“Don’t worry. I have some decency, so I won’t ask you to go into the mountains with me. But you should park the car somewhere else. It’s too open here, I think we’ll be too conspicuous.”

“I’ll hide it on my own once you leave, Sunbae. Did you bring a flashlight?”

“Yeah. Here.”

“You do know the exact meeting place, right? If you get lost after entering the mountain, it’ll be hard for even me to help you.”

He had barely said ten words on the way here, but suddenly he became more talkative as I was about to leave. I found that a little cute.

“I think I can find it just fine. My father explained the location in quite detail. And I looked it up, and that mountain isn’t that big.”

Si Yeonho looked at me with distrustful eyes until the end, but eventually, he resigned himself and took off his outer coat, handing it to me.

“Huh? I’m not cold.”

“Even on a day like today, a mountain like that gets cold at night. If you don’t want to freeze to death while waiting, take it without complaining.”

“Thanks. I’ll make sure to contact you in between. You’ll be bored while waiting for me, so go out and get something to eat.”

“I’ll manage.”

I waved a final goodbye and got out of the car. Si Yeonho stayed in that spot until the car became a tiny dot in the distance.

✽✽✽

The time my father was supposed to meet Detective Choi was 10 p.m. Since the sun hadn’t set yet, my plan was to look around the area thoroughly, find the meeting spot my father had mentioned, and hide nearby.

When I first entered the mountain, I was flustered because it was so poorly managed, but I soon adapted and searched hard for the meeting place. Was the forest always this noisy? The sound of countless leaves rustling in the wind and the chirping of unknown insects felt unfamiliar. I couldn’t remember the last time I had come this deep into a mountain, having always been in the city.

“Ah, that must be it over there.”

Finding the meeting place wasn’t that difficult. Exactly halfway up the mountain, in a rather random location, stood a small cabin.

My father had described this place as the organization’s hideout. I went closer and saw a padlock on the only entrance. I wasn’t here to check what was inside, so I put my curiosity aside and looked for a place nearby to hide my body.

Before long, I found a pretty good spot. There was a dense growth of large bushes, so I thought I wouldn’t be easily spotted in the dark if I stayed behind them. I just needed to confirm whether my father actually harmed the person, so I didn’t need to be extremely close.

I stretched my body sufficiently in preparation for having to stay still for a while. After that, it was a battle with waiting.

In the end, it would have been a disaster if I hadn’t borrowed the coat from Si Yeonho. It was fine until the evening, but as night fell, the inside of the mountain rapidly became chilly. I huddled down, wearing the thick leather jacket Seo Seunghan had lent me over my school uniform.

There was one more obstacle besides the cold. I tried to send a text message to Si Yeonho to update him on the situation, but the transmission failed repeatedly. It seemed to be because I was deep in the mountains.

‘Yeonho didn’t just leave because he couldn’t get in touch, did he? That would be a disaster. I really need to stop caring about this after today and just wash my hands of it. Starting tomorrow, I’m going to focus only on studying for my exams. If I keep being this distracted and end up having to retake the year, the atmosphere at home will get bad.’

I waited until 10 p.m., thinking all sorts of things by myself. Was stakeout always this hard? Even though I was just sitting still, it was quite physically draining. The fact that they did this for a living made me feel a new sense of respect for the profession of a police officer.

At the same time, I desperately hoped that I was completely mistaken about this situation. I didn’t have a particularly deep bond with my father to begin with, but I hoped that he would remain a respectable guardian until the end, albeit with a somewhat coercive side. The greater my expectations, the more my anxiety amplified while I waited.

At 10 p.m. and a few minutes later, the sound of people approaching finally got closer. I covered my head with the black jacket and held my breath as much as possible. My heart pounded so hard it felt like it would leap out of my skin.