Salt Society Chapter 64

Kihyun put the car key in his pants pocket, zipped it shut, and then headed straight for the balcony next to the kitchen. There, he tied his sneaker laces tightly. Then, he opened the window, pushed aside the insect screen, and looked down.

“Hmm…”

When he actually looked down to descend, it seemed quite daunting, so he couldn’t help but feel tense. Since the living room window could be seen directly from the parking lot, he decided to leave the light on even though it was daytime. He didn’t know if the inside was visible from the outside, but they would know Kihyun usually didn’t come out for a while once he entered the house. This was because his behavioral patterns over the past few days had been the same.

When he pulled on the piping within reach, he could see that the joints were made of iron screws and embedded in the wall.

“It is sturdy, but…”

He took a deep breath and stepped onto the window frame. It was a relief that the house was at least on the third floor. If it had been any higher, he wouldn’t have even been able to mimic this. On a rare day when his ankle was in good condition, it wasn’t too much of a strain even when he stepped on the brick wall with his sneakers. Besides, he was using upper body strength anyway, so it was fine.

Gripping the piping, he recalled his experience of scaling dormitory walls back as a cadet under the pretext of getting alcohol, and he lowered himself bit by bit. It was also a relief that he weighed a bit less than back then when he exercised and trained daily. Since he still did that much strength training consistently now, it didn’t seem like it would be a strain.

The problem was being caught by someone in this scene. He was particularly worried that other residents might see Kihyun and be shocked, but fortunately, the trees in the villa’s backyard, which had grown lushly as summer approached, hid Kihyun’s figure. Although, the leaves tickling his back was a bit bothersome.

Like that, Kihyun climbed down the piping just as he was. When there was less than a meter difference from the ground, he simply jumped down. He was worried about whether it would strain his ankle, but when he rotated it once, there wasn’t even a dull pain, so he moved his steps immediately.

The villa had separate underground and outdoor parking lots, and he had received the delivered car in the underground parking lot. The tricky part was that, normally, to go to the underground parking lot, one had to come out through the villa entrance and walk toward the stairs where the underground parking lot was located. This was because Kihyun’s villa building did not have an elevator connected directly to the parking lot.

There was a reason he had left the front door alone and climbed down the piping like a petty thief. Kihyun went around the back of the villa and pulled his cap down low once more. Lowering his body among the small landscaping trees planted in front of the entrance, he ran and ducked into the entrance of another building.

Then, he took the elevator down to the parking lot. He was cautious because the white car might also have companions, but it was worth a shot anyway. He got into the car, which still hadn’t had the plastic removed from the car seats.

Coming out from the basement and leaving the villa just like that, Kihyun drove around the neighborhood once. After catching a signal, he entered the villa again and parked the car in the ground parking lot. It was a spot where the white car could be seen diagonally in front, but it was a blind spot where this side could not be seen from over there through the side mirrors or rearview mirror.

From then on, it was a time of waiting. He couldn’t even turn on the air conditioner because he had to make sure the fellow didn’t notice the engine was on. He had left the windows open a little bit, but the early summer air was muggy.

However, Kihyun was fine. Thinking that he wasn’t the only one suffering like this and that the guy was also in a steamer made it bearable. He felt like he was in a contest of who could hold out longer, so he became stubborn.

How much longer had he been like that? The engine of the white car started, and the car departed immediately. Kihyun kept his body low and then, as soon as that car left the villa parking lot and turned right, he started the engine and set the car in motion. And he turned on the air conditioner right away.

“I thought I was going to swelter to death…”

He was worried about what would happen if he became a dumpling in a steamer, but fortunately, he was okay. Leaving the villa like that, Kihyun put about two cars between the white car and his car and followed slowly.

Since the city was well-planned, the direction the white car was going was easily deduced. It was unexpected that it headed toward the downtown area instead of heading out of the city. It didn’t seem to have noticed the tailing, either. This was because there was no sign of trying to shake him off.

Kihyun followed the car straight away. A moment later, the car stopped in front of a cafe in the city. The person who got out from inside was a man he was seeing for the first time; he wasn’t wearing a suit, the back of his hair was flattened, and perhaps because he had been tailing for a long time, the back of his t-shirt was mercilessly wrinkled. He looked like a private investigator or personnel specializing in tailing.

Kihyun parked his car in front of a soup house, went inside the shop, and asked them to pack up some soup for him. Then, he said he would step out for a moment while the food was coming out. The owner readily told him to do so. After saying thank you, he went out of the shop immediately and headed near the cafe.

Pressing his ball cap down firmly, he sat at a convenience store table visible diagonally in front of the cafe. Then, he watched the cafe’s front window out of the corner of his eye.

“…”

Someone was sitting in front of the man who had gotten out of the white car. He was wearing a suit, and a businesslike feeling flowed from his posture and actions.

“Ha…”

It was a familiar face. It was the person who was the secretary to Cho Gyudeok, Cho Yeonoh’s grandfather. He didn’t remember the name or rank exactly, but since he had seen him since he was young, there was no way he would be mistaken.

Even while chasing the white car, he thought the person who commissioned the tailing couldn’t possibly be Cho Yeonoh. If it were Cho Yeonoh, he would have monitored him openly and wouldn’t have thought about letting someone into the house. Besides, there was no reason to add more tailing when the guy had even moved to the next building.

He wondered what was going on since someone had broken into the house so aggressively for once, and it turned out to be Cho Gyudeok’s doing.

“I’m fucked…”

Things had become difficult. Kihyun stood up, thinking there was no reason to delay further. He returned to the soup house, picked up the soup he had requested to be packed instead of a parking fee, and went back home.

One fortunate point was that they still didn’t know Kihyun had received a new car. Seeing as they hadn’t noticed the tailing, they seemed unaware of the circumstances of the car contract itself. It seemed they hadn’t been following him for very long.

Kihyun stepped hard on the accelerator and returned home. Then, he quickly finished off the soup he had brought home and disposed of all the food waste in the house and the perishable food in the refrigerator. After everything was finished, he packed his bags simply.

He also sent a message to Bumhee.

「I won’t be reachable for a while, so come and take the car. I’ll give you the car wash money later. I used it well.」 04:29 PM

The next message was content notifying him of the house address, the door lock password, and the place where he had left the car keys. Before Bumhee could even read that message, he reset his cell phone.

Kihyun took a quick look around the house. He hadn’t brought in furniture or small supplies for the child yet, but since he had left the prenatal handbook and the prescription with the hospital’s name on it right on the living room table, it was only a matter of time before Cho Gyudeok found out about Kihyun’s pregnancy.

If he had been caught by Cho Yeonoh, he could have made another excuse, but it wasn’t so with Cho Gyudeok. Perhaps, by now, he might have already investigated all of Kihyun’s hospital records.

Furthermore, coincidentally, Cho Yeonoh was in a state of having moved into the building next to his. If Cho Gyudeok learned of the child’s existence, it would naturally provide a scrap of evidence to make him think of Cho Yeonoh as the partner. This was because the fact that both Cho Yeonoh and So Kihyun had left Seoul to be in Ilsan looked like nothing other than escaping from something.

If the cranky old man, who had an obsession with bloodlines, found out the truth, there was no telling when or in what way he might threaten Kihyun and the child. To prevent that from happening, Kihyun had to make a silent gesture to Cho Gyudeok first.

A gesture that he didn’t want to appear before his grandson and that he would raise the child independently of Cho Yeonoh. A person like Cho Gyudeok wouldn’t trust him if he stepped forward and said he had no such intention. If it were the Cho Gyudeok Kihyun knew, he might demand a paternity test even while the child was in the womb.

At a time like this, rather than going to see him in person and persuading him, another action was needed. There was only one way.

Kihyun decided to flee.

The head of a 9-iron smashed into the ventilator monitor for life-sustaining treatment. Sparks flew from the machine where current was flowing.

As an untimely roar echoed through the VIP ward, the sound of medical staff running approached as if a nurse call had come in. Cho Yeonoh glanced toward the hospital room door. Manager Yoo, noticing his presence, let out a sigh and stepped out the door. It was to explain the situation to the people swarming in.