Midday Guest Chapter 51

“Let’s go home and talk about this slowly.”

Park Junseo grabbed Yiwon’s arm and shoulder. His mouth hung open involuntarily at the hand strength that felt powerful enough to twist his bones apart. An untimely scuffle broke out in the middle of the street.

“Let go of this.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m not going to your house, sunbae. Why would I go to your house?”

“…You’re not going?”

He had held his ground quite well, but he hadn’t imagined that it would escalate to actual violence. Buffeted by Park Junseo’s punches and kicks, Yiwon lost his balance and collapsed toward the driver’s side.

“Why won’t you go? I’m talking to you like this, so why!”

Park Junseo grabbed Yiwon by the ankle and shoved him into the car. He used his foot to stomp on the crumpled Yiwon, forcing him deeper into the seat. He clenched his fists and threatened him haphazardly.

“Get in. I said get in!”

At an hour when shops hadn’t even opened yet, in the early dawn, kicks rained down. As Yiwon fumbled and reached out to get out through the passenger seat, the sound of the door locking rang out with a click.

A bone-chilling voice echoed from behind his back.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“…Sunbae.”

“Yeah.”

“If you let me out now, I’ll act like this never happened. So—.”

“Do you think those kinds of words will work right now?”

Park Junseo smiled and curled his hand into a fist. The moment Yiwon saw him approaching closer, his vision went pitch black like total darkness.

☼

Jung Yiwon had not been seen for three days.

Cha Seokjoo’s nerves were on edge, feeling as though he’d been stabbed in the back by a blade he’d given to a kid he’d grown quite fond of. Even relationships based on interests bound by money and power eventually reached the end of their lifespan over time, so how much more so for the human heart?

He believed it would be faster and more accurate to check for himself, and so he acted.

However, right now, Cha Seokjoo was in the middle of regretting his inability to suppress a momentary impulse. He felt there had been no need to apply the same standards to a kid so young—one who had never even set foot in this side of the world.

The rational thoughts that arrived in the wake of his subsiding impulse brought about a sense of self-loathing.

On the day he visited Haeundang again to resolve the issue, Cha Seokjoo ended up staying awake alone through the night.

On the first day, he thought, I guess he can even run away from home, on the second day, he thought the runaway act was lasting longer than expected, and by the third day, he began to have doubts. It was strange for a guy who had nothing to his name, yet stood his ground even against Kim Sunwoo, to avoid a problem in this manner.

Something had definitely happened.

Cha Seokjoo took out his cell phone. Every time his long fingers tapped the screen, the location changed. The supermarket, the laundromat, the local food market, the alleys, the main road, the sea cliffs, and Haeundang.

He never imagined he would use the CCTVs installed throughout the village—originally meant to prepare for friction with hostile forces—in this way. It was good that he didn’t have to run around everywhere on foot, but Jung Yiwon still didn’t show his face anywhere in Yonggung-ri.

Cha Seokjoo continued to observe Haeundang. The walls covered in fleabane that had grown up to waist-height embracing the summer, the wooden porch and eaves shining with orderly colors—it was a scene submerged in a quiet atmosphere, having lost its master.

“Haeyoung.”

“Yes, Director.”

“I need you to do something bothersome.”

“It’s fine. Please speak freely.”

“Pick only the most trustworthy guys and find out where Jung Yiwon is right now.”

Ma Haeyoung hesitated for a moment. This was the first time Cha Seokjoo had ordered him to privately investigate an outsider unrelated to business.

“Are you referring to the owner of Haeundang?”

“Yeah. Why, is there a problem?”

“Ah, no. I’ll look into it immediately.”

If he says ‘dig,’ I have to dig.

There was only one guy who came to Ma Haeyoung’s mind right now. Oh Taesik.

“The little boss disappeared? Oh man, then we gotta find him.”

And so, Ma Haeyoung ended up reviewing three days’ worth of CCTV footage with Oh Taesik.

They ate and slept in the office. Trash from takeout food piled up like a mountain outside the entrance, and they stared at the screen so intensely that the whites of their eyes turned bloodshot.

Despite that, there was no progress. It got to the point where it seemed more convincing to think that Jung Yiwon had simply vanished from the village suddenly.

Just as Cha Seokjoo’s patience was reaching its limit, Ma Haeyoung captured something.

“Director.”

“Did you find him?”

“It’s not direct evidence.”

“Tell me anyway.”

Ma Haeyoung turned the screen toward Cha Seokjoo. On the screen, several video files were lined up.

“This is the Haeundang owner leaving Haeundang around 5:00 AM three days ago. He was captured going down the alley connected to Haeundang, walking along the coastal path, and then heading straight toward the downtown area.”

“…Downtown?”

“Yes.”

There were many camera blind spots in the downtown area. The reason was that they hadn’t even attempted it since they needed the consent of the shops to install CCTVs.

“Around 6:00 AM, his appearance entering the downtown street was captured by the camera installed near our office entrance, but…”

“But what.”

“There is one unique vehicle that passed through the downtown area during that time frame. It stayed for about 20 minutes, and then immediately exited to the outside of the village. It overlaps with the time of the Haeundang owner’s disappearance.”

“What kind of guy is it?”

Ma Haeyoung brought up the last screen in a large view. The person leaning his elbow out of the open driver’s seat window looked familiar, as if he’d seen him somewhere. Even Cha Seokjoo, who was indifferent to others and didn’t remember faces well, recognized the person instantly this time.

The protagonist in the video was that very guy who had been hovering around Jung Yiwon.

“Name: Park Junseo, occupation is officially unemployed. After graduating high school, he worked at a factory located in a small provincial city, but there is a record of him being recommended for resignation due to repeated sexual harassment issues directed at the same sex.”

“…A factory?”

One of Cha Seokjoo’s eyebrows shot up as he leaned against the sofa and was about to pull out a cigarette to light.

“Not an international student?”

“…There is no such record.”

“Continue.”

“Yes, Director. And there is a peculiar detail…”

Ma Haeyoung paused for a moment before continuing.

“He has a debt relationship with Sunwoo Finance. It’s been revealed that the total amount of the mortgage loan on the inherited mill reaches about 95% of the market price. It seems he struggled due to overdue interest until recently… but at some point, it was cleared up. It’s estimated that he might be offsetting the private loan interest by helping with Sunwoo Finance’s work.”

“Right, guys who have nothing and only their bodies to offer sometimes pay back money like that…”

A shredded placard and a single photograph were placed on the table.

“This is a photo taken on the morning Park Junseo passed through the downtown area.”

In the place where the Cheongun Construction placard had been taken down, a new placard was hanging. It was the placard for Candidate Number 2, Taesan Construction.

“This may be out of line, but there might have been some kind of deal made involving the Haeundang owner.”

It was an extremely softened expression, but Cha Seokjoo understood it without difficulty. The final destination for children born pretty in poor households, regardless of gender, tended to be obvious. It tended to be even more limited if interests aligned.

Cha Seokjoo closed his eyes. Pressing his hands over his eyes, he let out a deep sigh.

“Where is it?”

“…Where do you mean?”

“Where else? This guy’s base camp.”

☼

A rugged hill not far from Yonggung-ri. There was someone who had newly set up camp in an abandoned flower farm complex.

Even though a sign for a flower farm was attached, it was in name only. In reality, it was a place where large vinyl greenhouses were gathered, and even those were nothing but corroded old structures when viewed up close.

A dented nickel-silver pot was placed on a portable gas burner. The ramen boiled appetizingly with a bubble-bubble sound, and two eggs were added on top. Placing the pot on a tray, he also set two pairs of chopsticks facing each other.

Park Junseo, having finished cooking, moved his steps while humming. In his hands was the dinner he had prepared with sincerity.

Screeeak, the door leading to the inside of the vinyl greenhouse made a chilling sound.

“Yiwon, let’s eat dinner.”

“……”

“Yiwon, are you sleeping?”

Yiwon gritted his teeth while turning his back to Park Junseo. From the perspective of someone who had just woken up after being unconscious, it was a sound that could make one blow their top. He wanted to scream, asking if he was truly insane, but a gag was fastened in his mouth.

It was a maddening situation. Because he said let’s go home, Yiwon had naively thought they would move within Yonggung-ri at most. He had been complacent, thinking that within Yonggung-ri, he could run into villagers or see Cha Seokjoo’s employees.

However, upon waking up, Yiwon found himself in a completely unknown place. It was a place with sparsely torn vinyl greenhouses and nothing but streetlights outside. Not a single person could be seen, and even the sound of a dog barking—usually common in the countryside—couldn’t be heard once.

“…Yiwon.”

Yiwon, who had been abandoned on a mat spread over the dirt floor, rolled his body to look at Park Junseo.

“You’re, you’re awake. Did you sleep well?”

It felt as if two people were living inside Park Junseo’s body. The person who had been screaming and punching until a moment ago was nowhere to be found; now, a man acting all flustered was treating Yiwon.

“Don’t look at me like that. I had no choice because you were acting out too much.”

Park Junseo pushed the tray toward Yiwon. It was the same ramen he used to enjoy boiling and eating with Cha Seokjoo, but today, just the smell of it made him feel like vomiting.

“Do you want to eat together? If you’re going to eat, I’ll untie you.”