World – Chapter 5.1

Author: nicotine

I sat in Hanse’s office like a sack of barley on loan.

The investigator and the administrative officer kept glancing back and forth between Hanse and me with curious eyes, but Hanse pretended not to notice and just focused on his work.

While reading the report the investigator had handed him, he would occasionally lift his head towards me before burying his gaze in the documents again. His eyes seemed worried, checking if I was still there, if I hadn’t run off somewhere.

I sat there blankly, waiting for him to finish his work, lost in one thought after another.

It was then. The door flew open with a thump without a knock, and someone strode in, coming to a stop in front of Hanse’s desk. The man was tall, seemingly on par with Hanse in height, and as he entered so brazenly, the atmosphere in the office instantly grew tense.

My eyes widened in surprise.

The man roughly threw something onto Hanse’s desk. Hanse, who had been burying his head in his papers, looked up and stared at him with a defiant gaze.

“What do you think you’re doing? Who taught you the nasty habit of meddling in other people’s cases?”

A low voice asked, each word distinct. Although it wasn’t a questioning tone, anyone could hear it was picking a fight.

“Ah, that. It overlapped a bit with a case of mine. I dug into it and found quite a lot of shady stuff.”

Hanse retorted glibly, as if he had been waiting for his appearance.

“Prosecutor Hyun, you’re here. Would you like some coffee?”

Hanse’s investigator, the one who had pointed a finger at me the day they arrested the gangsters, sidled up to the man called Prosecutor Hyun and asked, but he refused with a wave of his hand. The investigator’s pupils trembled in confusion as he retreated to his spot.

Hanse and the man called Prosecutor Hyun were frowning at each other with all their might. A fierce animosity, so intense it felt like it went beyond dislike to some kind of revulsion, was palpable even to me, who knew nothing.

They weren’t physically fighting; they weren’t doing anything at all, just staring at each other, but everyone in the office, including me, held their breath and watched them.

“What are you trying to do, trying to connect this to a case that was dismissed in the first trial for insufficient evidence. If you have no skill and no ability, you should just…”

The man’s voice trailed off sarcastically. Hanse’s brow hardened, turning frighteningly cold.

“Just what?”

“Just drop dead. Or just… can’t you just disappear from my sight?”

The man was serious. In response to his fellow prosecutor telling him to sincerely drop dead or sincerely disappear, Hanse finally rose slowly from his seat.

As the two of them, both tall and not small in build, stood facing each other in confrontation, the administrative officer let out a strangled gasp, huuup. I, too, watched them, completely tense.

“The supervising prosecutor and the deputy chief all know you’re pulling strings in that case.”

“So what. Why are you trying to lecture me when the higher-ups aren’t saying anything.”

“How can I just let it go when I know you’re twisting things to your liking, letting some go and throwing others in jail?”

“…Haa.”

At Hanse’s words, the fellow prosecutor hysterically ran his hand through his hair. I could see the bones of his fingers, which had turned white from the strong force in his knuckles.

“Do you think I’m dedicating my time to this case just to catch these small fry?”

“Using the law when necessary?”

“You want me to follow the book, lock up a few small fry, and let the ones who really need to be thrown in jail go free?”

“What do you think the law is for? The law exists so you follow it.”

“Don’t you think that if we let this big shot go free by following the law, there will be more victims? Is your head… empty inside? Is there nothing in there? A brain, you don’t have one of those?”

The fellow prosecutor asked, tapping his own temple as if he were genuinely curious. Hanse’s eyes turned cold as ice.

The man continued.

“While you’re busy with fairness and duty, these bastards are playing you from above your head.”

“That’s something we’ll have to wait and see.”

“I was an idiot for thinking I could talk sense into you. I’ll be watching to see how long you can act so upright.”

“Let me correct you, it’s not being upright, it’s being honest and just.”

“…Right.”

The fellow prosecutor nodded his head slowly, his face displaying all sorts of contempt, and turned around.

Hanse said, “Ah,” and stopped him in his tracks.

“By the way, Prosecutor Hyun, I heard you’re dating some chaebol chairman’s daughter? The rumor’s all over the prosecutor’s office. Everyone’s tripping over themselves to get on your good side. Congratulations.”

“If you’re jealous, just say so.”

When he retorted sarcastically, Hanse glanced at me, sitting there quietly.

Why is he looking at me?

I blinked at him in bewilderment.

His gaze returned to his colleague.

“Yeah, must be nice. Dating a chaebol’s daughter and all.”

“You’re so fresh and nice, though, why? Living like an idiot without seeing anyone, it’s so fresh and nice.”

“I don’t live like you. As someone else’s lapdog.”

“……”

The corners of the fellow prosecutor’s faintly smiling lips twitched and hardened. I swallowed. It wasn’t just me; the administrative officers also swallowed dryly, and our Adam’s apples bobbed almost in unison with a gulp.

“You must be so insecure, you have to cling to something like that to get by. It’s a tough world to live in.”

“Just do your job properly. If you lose this appeal too, it won’t end with just humiliation.”

“I’ll handle it myself. You can stop caring and just focus on becoming a chaebol’s son-in-law and diligently wiping the chairman’s ass.”

“Haa…, right, you keep living your clean, nice, and fresh, idiotic life. It’s your choice to miss something important and regret it later.”

The fellow prosecutor stormed out of the office, disgusted, as if he didn’t want to exchange another word. His hand slammed the door shut with a bang, the intention clear.

Hanse sat back down in his seat, grumbling.

“That piece of trash, phew, who’s going to save him, who.”

“Prosecutor, please! Stop getting on Prosecutor Hyun’s nerves!”

The administrative officer with the particularly loud voice clutched his startled chest and yelled at Hanse.

“Just you wait. That bastard has more than a few shady spots. I’m going to deal with him one day.”

“Phew, I heard Prosecutor Hyun is going to the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in the next personnel shuffle. How are you going to deal with the most successful prosecutor among your peers? And that’s not all. He has a chaebol girlfriend, you know. A chaebol girlfriend.”

“Just you wait. He’s shady. Very shady.”

As Hanse muttered ominously, the investigator recoiled, begging him not to.

I, who had been completely tense thinking they were really going to fight, was finally able to let out a sigh of relief.

As they all went back to their own work and things quieted down, I sat there blankly and thought of Heo Seok.

Heo Seok’s reaction was so different from what I had expected.

I thought he would be happy to see me. I thought he would be the first to step up and help me find out where Sungjoon and Taewan were.

A sense of hopelessness washed over me. The strong animosity and clear revulsion Heo Seok, whom I had expected to welcome me, had shown me, the image of myself trembling before him like a snake’s prey…

My thoughts became a tangled mess.

Find out…

That’s what Hyungjo had asked of me.

Hyungjo, I don’t know. What I should do… I don’t know, I just don’t know.

My mind was in a state of utter confusion.

“What’s your relationship with the prosecutor?”

The administrative officer who had tried to stop Hanse during his argument with the other prosecutor a moment ago came over and asked. It seemed Hanse had stepped out while I was lost in thought.

He held out a paper cup to me. It was brewed coffee. I hated Americano because it was bitter and tasteless.

“We know each other a little.”

“Was it you the prosecutor ran out for after getting a call earlier?”

“I’m not sure.”

“I know, right. Why did the prosecutor rush out like that earlier? He was standing there holding his phone so fiercely, and then he suddenly let out a huge yell.”

It was a middle-aged man called Section Chief Kim. He placed a document on Hanse’s desk and looked at me.

His gaze somehow seemed to be reprimanding me, so I turned my head away. When I avoided Section Chief Kim’s gaze, my eyes met the investigator’s this time.

“My name is Lee Jaeho. And you are?”

“…Hyunwoo, Jung Hyunwoo.”

“The prosecutor said last time you were a younger brother he knows.”

“I am a younger brother he knows.”

Hanse’s coworkers, seemingly bored, gathered around me. I felt like a monkey in a zoo. Awkwardly, I forced the bitter coffee I couldn’t even drink down my throat. It was incredibly bitter.

“Ptui.”

As I scrunched up my face, Lee Jaeho burst out laughing. He rummaged through his desk drawer and held out a box of chocolates.

What is this, do I look like I’d eat something like this?

I didn’t take it and just stared up at him.

“What are you doing? Take it.”

“……”

“Have a snack while you wait. You’re going to be waiting for a while.”

“……Thank you.”

I bowed my head with a nod and took the box of chocolates he offered. I unwrapped one and popped it into my mouth.

“Are you a student?”

“Yes.”

“I always wanted a cute younger brother like you. But my father went and got himself tied up, you know? Said something about his back breaking with just two kids.”

“Hey, you punk, what are you doing?”

Hanse appeared, swatting the back of Lee Jaeho’s head with a file folder as he chuckled looking at me.

Having received a hard smack, Lee Jaeho flared up and retorted.

“Ah, prosecutor, why do you keep hitting my head?! Are you going to take responsibility if my brain gets damaged?!”

“Shut up. I hit you because you’re slacking off instead of working.”

Hanse feigned raising his hand to hit Lee Jaeho again, then glanced at the box on my lap. Recognizing it was chocolate, he said nothing and flopped down into the chair behind his desk as if exhausted.

Haa.

He let out a long sigh, as if to release his weary body, then suddenly straightened up, his energy sharp.

“Alright, let’s wrap up the Guro-dong gang case and file the indictment. Are all the documents ready? Let’s nail them for sure this time.”

“Who could possibly escape once you’ve set your sights on them, prosecutor?”

“I heard that gangster punk hired Lawyer Kim, the one who overturned the case that went all the way to the High Court last time.”

“It’d be a relief if it were only Lawyer Kim. I heard he’s prepared a whole lineup of senior judge-level lawyers to handle the presiding judge. The initial retainer alone was over five hundred million won.”

“What, the Cheongdam-dong nightclub murder case?”

“Yes. It’s not the rule of law anymore, it’s the rule of money. You can’t do anything without money. Look at those rich guys. Because they have money, they can kill people and still get released for insufficient evidence. No money, guilty; money, not guilty.”

“If I had gotten my hands on him, that bastard would’ve gotten a life sentence at the very least. I’m going to catch that bastard again soon.”

At Hanse’s words, they chuckled lowly and retorted as if to say, “Of course you will.”

I continued to eat the chocolates. Inside the whiskey-shaped chocolates, there was a mushy, foreign substance. It was sweet, yet tingly.

I stared blankly at them as they moved about chaotically. My eyes grew heavy, and sleepiness washed over me. A goofy laugh escaped me.

Hanse gathered all the documents, handed them to Section Chief Kim, and picked up his suit jacket.

“I have a guest, so I’ll be leaving first. Everyone’s worked hard. For the next few days, you can leave on time.”

“Only for a few days?”

“It can’t be helped if we’re to achieve a just society in the Republic of Korea. Leaving on time is a sin. Understood?”

Hanse gave me a look that said, “Let’s go,” and I tried to stand up but collapsed back down with a thump. He approached me in surprise. I looked up at him, grinning foolishly.

“Hey! Lee Jaeho, what did you feed him?”

“Whiskey chocolates. Why, is he drunk?”

“He’s out of it. You’re really something else, honestly.”

He helped me up, supporting me. I licked the chocolate that had melted stickily onto my hand.

Lick lick.

Hanse clicked his tongue and led me out. Once we were in the car, he even kindly fastened my seatbelt for me. I smiled and licked the chocolate clean from my hand.

“You’ll stay with me for the time being.”

“Heehee…”

“……”

“Heeheehee…”

Was it because I was drunk?

The expression on Hanse’s face as he looked at me seemed to twist painfully.

As soon as we arrived at Hanse’s house, he tossed me onto the bed. I rolled around on the bed, laughing.

It feels good. It was the first time I’d been tipsy in a long while. The gentle buzz that relaxed my tension enveloped my body.

Hanse said he was going to wash up and went into the bathroom. I rolled off the bed, opened the fridge, and took out a can of beer. I plopped down in front of it and drank it in small sips.

Gulp gulp.

I finished two cans like that by the time Hanse came out of the shower. I felt even more like I could fly, but strangely, I kept thinking of Hyungjo. I missed him uncontrollably, laughing one moment and then sobbing the next, huljjeok-huljjeok.

“What the, you even rummaged through the fridge to chug alcohol.”

“I miss Hyungjo. I miss him…”

“……”

“Hanse, I miss Hyungjo. You saw Hyungjo all the time until you were sick of him, right?”

“Of course I was sick of him.”

“Do you hate me?”

“…At first, I thought about killing you. Now, I just think there was nothing you could have done. Get up.”

Hanse forcibly grabbed the arm of my slumping body and pulled me up, seating me on the bed. The tears flowed endlessly, huljjeok-huljjeok.

Today was the first time I realized how pathetic I was when drunk.

“I miss him. I miss Hyungjo…”

“That’s enough. I told you there’s a limit to how much I can put up with.”

“Hyungjo…”

You bastard.

If you were going to die like that, you should have taken this heart with you. You should have…

You should have made it so it didn’t hurt like this.

Longing was an illness. A terrible illness where the more you suffered, the more your insides festered and rotted away.

Hanse held me up as I kept trying to slump to the side. His expression twisted with pity.

“You dislike me, you hate me, right?”

I asked him. Hanse let out a sigh.

“If I disliked you and hated you, I wouldn’t have brought you here.”

“…They say like father, like son. You’re just like Hyungjo.”

Even in my drunken state, I stared up at his face as if to bore a hole through it.

“My mother often said that I’m exactly like my father when he was young.”

“…But you’re not Hyungjo.”

“……”

“You’re not Hyungjo.”

I shook off his hands that were gripping my shoulders tightly and fell onto the bed as if collapsing. Hanse gently patted my back as I lay there exhausted and said in a low voice.

“That’s right, I’m not my father. I’m Kim Hanse.”

There was a hint of some kind of excitement in Hanse’s voice.

“Don’t state the obvious.”

“…Rest. Go to sleep.”

“Bastard… Hyungjo, you bastard… bastard.”

I fell asleep while cursing Hyungjo.

I met Hyungjo in my dream. I ran around on top of feather-like clouds, as if in heaven. My body was light, and every time I leaped into the air, I floated up, boong.

Hyungjo was there among the clouds. I ran wildly to him, wrapped my arms around his neck, and kissed his lips. I laid him down on the soft clouds, got on top of him, and our lips met. While caressing Hyungjo, I rested my face on his chest and fell asleep within the dream.

I shouldn’t fall asleep… The more I struggled to wake up, the more my body collapsed.

In my dream, Hyungjo had Hanse’s face.

∞ ∞ ∞

Two cans of beer and five whiskey chocolates.

That’s all it took for my head to feel like it was splitting open. My stomach felt queasy, so as soon as I got up, I ran to the bathroom, stuck my head in the toilet, and heaved. After throwing up everything inside me, I felt much better.

I came out of the bathroom with a haggard face. Hanse, who was standing with his back to the kitchen, turned to look at me and asked.

“Are you okay? You really emptied yourself out.”

“My head hurts.”

I sat on the sofa and clutched my forehead. I looked up at Hanse, who was holding out medicine and water to me.

“……”

“What are you staring at. Take the medicine.”

“……”

I’m sorry.

I didn’t know for what, but I felt so sorry to him.

I put the medicine he gave me into my mouth and took the glass of water. I swallowed the pill and water down in one gulp, kkul-kkeok.

Perhaps it was the placebo effect, but it felt like my headache was gone as soon as I took the medicine.

Feeling sorry, I called out to him quietly.