Kill Your X Chapter 89

The beginning was sweet, but it didn’t stay that way past the middle. A dizzying intimacy that paralyzed the mind continued all night long. It was a night where it would have been a huge problem if I hadn’t sent Hyun Jin away from the house.

✽✽✽

After spending a long time stuck together as if we were one body, I was left alone at home for the first time in a while. This was because Seo Seunghan needed to get an official passport in order to leave for our trip abroad as planned.

As I was resting, waiting for him to return from getting his new ID, the doorbell suddenly rang. It was the first time I’d heard the bell since the day I met Manager Jerome, and my curiosity was piqued. If it were Seo Seunghan, there would be no need for him to ring the bell.

“Who…”

Tension shot through my languid body. Unlike before, there were now too many people who could hold a grudge against me. I didn’t even dare to check the intercom screen and immediately hid myself under the sofa.

The doorbell kept ringing. Was it best to just pretend no one was home? As I was debating, a man shouted from outside the door, loud enough for the whole neighborhood to hear.

“Young Master, it’s me! Open the door!”

“CEO Kang?”

The identity of the visitor was unexpected. His actions towards Seo Seunghan had been close to those of an ally, but after he disappeared midway, I had no idea where he was or what he was doing. Could I trust him now?

First, I went to the front door. Now that he knew I was inside, there was no point in hiding. He might seem sloppy at a glance, but the man was a gangster.

I didn’t open the door right away, but stood close and raised my voice.

“CEO! Did you have a separate appointment with Seunghan? Seunghan isn’t home right now.”

“Hey, do I look like the type to make appointments with that guy? So cringey. Stop talking nonsense and open the door. I’m not going to harm you, Young Master. If I was going to, I would have done it a long time ago!”

After hesitating, I opened the door, but CEO Kang had turned his back and was walking away in the opposite direction. I was bewildered as to what he was doing, so I stepped out, only to see him returning with a briefcase in each hand. CEO Kang repeated this mysterious luggage transport dozens of times.

“CEO. What is all this?”

“This? A present for Seunghan. By the way, where did our puppy go?”

“He just stepped out to get his passport issued. But why are there so many presents?”

“If you see I have a lot of luggage, you should help out a bit. Don’t act like a real Young Master. There’s still a lot left over there.”

CEO Kang pointed to the yard that also served as a parking lot. I craned my neck to look and saw a large vehicle, the kind used to move large home appliances.

‘Surely there aren’t bombs or something in here.’

Looking at the bags packed tightly at my feet, I was suddenly seized by anxiety. The problem was that after experiencing such an unrealistic incident, the scale of my imagination had grown exponentially.

It felt a bit wrong to just stand there while an elder was working hard, so I followed CEO Kang and helped carry the luggage. The bags were heavier than they looked, I wondered what was inside.

And so, all the presents CEO Kang had brought were moved into the house. The dozens of black bags piled up in the living room created a bizarre atmosphere on their own. Piled up like that, it looked as if a small mountain had been moved and placed there.

“CEO. So what is all this?”

“Whew. Hear it from Seunghan later. It’s not polite to open the present before the recipient.”

CEO Kang wiped the sweat from his forehead and sprawled out on the sofa. His actions were as natural as if it were his own home.

“By the way, why a passport? That kid Seunghan should already have one.”

“An official passport, not a forged ID.”

“That kid, after one trip to the detention center, he’s become a model citizen. What, are you two holding hands and going on a trip or something?”

I kept my distance from him and perched on the edge of the sofa.

“We’re just planning on taking a long trip abroad on this occasion. Seunghan said he’s never been to another country before.”

“Hey, I’m jealous. Since you’re going anyway, can’t I tag along? I won’t eat much and I’ll be quiet.”

“Are you kidding?”

When I sternly retorted as a reflex, CEO Kang guffawed.

“It’s a joke, Young Master. I have some sense too, you know. Anyway, I’m thirsty, get me a cup of water. Don’t you have anything to munch on in the house?”

After that, CEO Kang made other trivial requests, like asking me to lower the air conditioner’s temperature. I thought about just ignoring him, but since he was an elder and Seo Seunghan’s guest after all, I complied with his requests. All the while, I earnestly wished for Seo Seunghan to return home quickly.

“By the way, where have you been all this time to only show up now?”

Resentment unknowingly crept into my words.

“I was busy trying to find my own way to live.”

“So you decided to stay with the Kumto gang?”

It wasn’t meant to be sarcastic; I was asking because I really didn’t know. I had heard the news that Kumto gang boss Shi Seunghwan and his close directors were arrested one after another, but I hadn’t looked up the news since, so I was curious about how things were proceeding.

“No? Why would I stay in an organization that has gloriously gone to ruins? Of course I have to leave. Thanks to our Young Master, an organization with history has been completely devastated. Not to mention KNT Entertainment. You know what happened to that Ma Yubin kid, right?”

The nuance of his words sounded as if I had made him unemployed, which was unsettling.

“So what are you going to do now?”

“It’s about time I go back to where I was originally. I’ve left my house empty for too long.”

There were many things I was curious about, but I didn’t ask. Unless he had suddenly fallen from the sky, CEO Kang must have a family too. Perhaps he had married a long time ago and had grown-up children. After going through such a big ordeal, it was only natural that he would want to return to the embrace of his family.

As I was enduring the awkward silence, Seo Seunghan happened to come home. He looked at the pile of bags in the middle of the living room and then at us, in turn. He, too, seemed a little surprised.

“Hey, puppy. You been well? You don’t even report your situation to me anymore now that you have a lover.”

“When did you get here?”

“Just got here, you brat. Your lover didn’t help me move the luggage at all, so I almost threw out my back doing it all by myself. The Young Master is more of a brat than he looks. You’re destined to live with him holding you firmly by the reins.”

“CEO. Why are you lying after making me work so hard all this time.”

When I grumbled from the side, CEO Kang pretended to be overly sad.

“Look at this. He’s talking back to me now that his lover is here. I really can’t live like this, it’s so sad.”

With a grunt, CEO Kang stood up. Then he patted Seo Seunghan on the shoulder and called him outside.

“Tell our Young Master to stay well. I’m just going to talk to this kid for a bit and then disappear.”

CEO Kang took Seo Seunghan out to the yard. He put enough distance between them so that I couldn’t possibly overhear their conversation, then suddenly slapped him hard on the head.

I was so surprised I was about to run out, but then I stopped. Seo Seunghan didn’t seem to be in much pain, and to top it off, CEO Kang was laughing heartily. It was a scene of strangely cheerful conversation, despite the violence involved.

More than half of Seo Seunghan’s body was hidden by the large vehicle CEO Kang had driven. I was extremely curious about what they were talking about, but there was no point in eavesdropping anymore, so I went back inside for the time being.

A few minutes later, Seo Seunghan came home alone. I looked out the window and saw the large vehicle leaving the yard in real time. I hurried over to him and stroked the top of his head. Fortunately, there was no bump. His head was still perfectly shaped.

“Why did you just stand there and take that earlier? Do you know how surprised I was? Of all places, why did that person have to hit your head.”

“He said there was a giant cicada on my head.”

In his deadpan, textbook-reading tone, there was an absurd amount of trust towards CEO Kang. It was as if to say they had known each other for a much longer time, incomparably so to me. A childish jealousy that I couldn’t possibly reveal welled up.

“So, what did you two talk about?”

His gaze lingered in the air for a moment. There was no way he had forgotten the conversation in those few minutes, but Seo Seunghan couldn’t answer readily.

“Um.”

“Why? Did something serious happen again?”

“No. The CEO said that you are a really good runner, Sunbae.”

I tilted my head at the out-of-the-blue comment, but then I quickly understood what he meant. He was referring to the time I had a chase with CEO Kang near the detention center after visiting Seo Seunghan.

“Wow, he doesn’t look the type. CEO Kang holds a grudge for an insanely long time too. He must have kept the fact that I caught him in his heart all this time.”

“He’s always been a bit competitive.”

I thought they had talked about something important, but it seemed they just had a trivial chat as a final farewell.

Seo Seunghan walked past me and approached the bags in the living room.

“Right. What did he say those are? The CEO brought them earlier, saying they were a present for you.”

“He said it’s severance pay.”

“Severance pay?”

Looking at the black leather bags, a memory of the past suddenly came to mind. The 2 billion won in cash that had been left with my luggage in one of his bases. There had been so many urgent matters that I had completely forgotten about its existence.

Back when I lied to push Seo Seunghan away, he had brought bags that looked just like these, saying he would pay off my debt for me. Were there five bags then, or was it six?

But the number of bags piled in front of me now was incomparable to that. For a moment, a chill ran down my spine. If, if my assumption was correct…

“No way. How much is all this?”

“20 billion won.”

Seo Seunghan said as he opened one of the bags. He himself was calm, but I was the one jumping out of my skin. The bag was full of bundles of crisp 50,000 won bills.

“It’s not counterfeit, it’s real money?”

At my question, Seo Seunghan took out a bill and held it up to the light. It was a practiced move, befitting someone who had lived as a loan shark for quite a long time.

“It’s real money, alright.”

“Severance pay is just ridiculous. Why would he suddenly dump such a large amount of money on you? There’s no way a sum this large wouldn’t be a problem.”

“He said it’s fine because it’s been cleanly laundered. By the way, Sunbae, didn’t you want 20 billion won in cash?”