Winter Season Chapter 69

He was never a man who radiated a gentle atmosphere, but perhaps because of a hangover, his aura was more menacing than usual today. The man carefully stepped on the accelerator to avoid getting on Seunghyeok’s nerves for no reason.

“I saw that kid when I was doing the rounds back then, you know?”

After racing down the road in silence for quite a while, the man in the passenger seat suddenly spoke up, as if the silence settled in the car was boring. Fortunately, it was a remark whispered cautiously while checking Seunghyeok’s mood. The driver glanced at the rearview mirror once more and answered quietly.

“Who?”

“You know, that pretty boy who used to drift in and out of the office all the time.”

At the man’s words, the driver recalled a small-framed, aloof-looking man he had seen a few times at the Gawon-dong office.

“Where?”

“You know there’s a gay bar over by Yeongchang-dong. I saw him standing out front in an apron, smoking a cigarette. It looked like he worked there.”

The man had visited the Gawon-dong office a few times out of mere curiosity after hearing a rumor that Yihyeon was gay. It was his first time actually seeing a homo, so he had watched him inquisitively, but Yihyeon had stared back sharply with his slanted eyes.

Thinking back, it also felt like a wary gaze. The man belatedly felt unpleasant at the thought that he might have been misunderstood by a gay bastard.

“Homo bastards really are different. How could he even think of working in a place like that?”

“Hey, a gay bastard should work in a gay bar; otherwise, would guys like us go there and risk getting our backsides taken?”

The driver nodded, thinking that made sense. It was only right to keep those homo bastards who stick to other men gathered among themselves. If he hadn’t heard the talk, he would have assumed Yihyeon was a normal person.

“He looks decent enough, too. But at night, he’ll be getting plowed by some man and moaning away, right? Man, I think the bastards who shove their dicks into another man’s backdoor are something else, too.”

The man felt strange for no reason as he imagined Yihyeon groaning while pinned under another man. So, he glanced at Seunghyeok and lowered his voice even more.

“Hey, hey, we’re almost there. Stop talking so hyung-nim doesn’t wake up.”

Thanks to the man widening his eyes and pursing his lips, the inside of the car became quiet again.

After exiting the highway and passing through a sparsely populated national road, the car stopped at a container terminal in a certain port where large containers were stacked like blocks. Several black sedans were already visible, having arrived beforehand. The driver brought the car to a smooth halt, turned around, and spoke carefully.

“Hyung-nim, we have arrived.”

Seunghyeok opened his eyes without even a hint of waking up at that small phrase. Immediately, the back seat door opened, and Taeshik bowed his head. Seunghyeok frowned, pressing firmly on his temples, and stepped his legs out of the car.

“Everything is prepared.”

Even as he walked toward the direction Taeshik led, Seunghyeok kept a scowl on his face. Taeshik, watching his mood, spoke cautiously.

“Did you drink a lot yesterday?”

“From now on, if that bastard Han Seong-ho calls, handle it yourself. Fuck, where did he even get that kind of garbage drug.”

Being in the car all that time and then hitting the cold wind seemed to settle his stomach a bit. It was a bone-chilling sea breeze. Gonna freeze to death, Seunghyeok muttered as he walked toward where Taeshik pointed.

With both hands shoved in his pockets, he stepped into a container, and the bruisers standing in a line on one side quickly bowed their heads. Opposite them, a middle-aged man was tied to a folding chair, his face turned into a bloody mess.

Even though Seunghyeok had given word that there was no need to be unnecessarily rough, seeing him in that state suggested the resistance had been quite fierce. Seunghyeok frowned at the middle-aged man’s ankles, where blood was leaking from red rope burns.

“Mmph, mmmph…”

“Take off the tape.”

One of the bruisers standing nearby rushed over and peeled off the blue duct tape from the man’s mouth. A painful scream echoed within the container.

“It’s a cold day, so let’s cooperate and finish this quickly so we can go inside.”

Seunghyeok, sitting cross-legged in a steel chair placed opposite the man, took one hand out of his pocket and reached to the side. At that, Taeshik handed a file folder to Seunghyeok.

“Let’s see here… our former Managing Director Im. You worked in the financial management office of Taeseong Construction for seventeen years. You went under the Chairman and handled all sorts of clean-up for seven years. During that time, you must have been frantically busy managing slush funds and paper companies. When did you find the time to learn how to play cards?”

“D-Director Gu…”

“So, did you have some fun at the casino?”

Seunghyeok, who had lazily recited the contents of the documents, closed the file and handed it back to Taeshik. As he shoved his hand back into his pocket and looked at the man crookedly, Managing Director Im forced his barely opening eyes wide and spoke while trembling.

“I-It was just out of curiosity; I only went a few times. I-It has nothing to do with the company…”

“Well, it seems the Chairman’s thoughts are a bit different.”

Clicking his tongue, Seunghyeok picked up a handgun and a silencer lying on the side table next to his chair. Then, with his head tilted at an angle, he began to slowly attach the silencer.

“Your son and the Madam moved to the U.S. not long ago; enough for their study-abroad funds will be sent so they won’t feel neglected.”

Holding the handgun with the silencer attached in one hand, Seunghyeok stood up with a small grunt. He then walked leisurely toward the tied man. As Seunghyeok got closer, Managing Director Im’s eyes shook violently.

“D-Director Gu…!”

As he loaded the gun and pressed the tip of the silencer between the man’s brows, Managing Director Im began to shake so much that his teeth chattered. Seunghyeok looked down at him with an indifferent expression.

“Do you have any last words?”

“P-Please save me, please, please…!”

“This is why I say it’s no fun—everyone says such cliché things. Tsk.”

Seunghyeok grimaced and tilted his head. As his index finger resting on the trigger moved slowly, Managing Director Im squeezed his eyes shut. Then, a moment later, just as the tense atmosphere in the container reached its peak and was about to burst, a short onomatopoeia was tossed out of Seunghyeok’s mouth like a joke.

“Bang.”

Managing Director Im, who had been trembling while imagining the pain to follow, opened his eyes narrowly at the situation where nothing had happened, let alone a gunshot.

What entered Managing Director Im’s sight was Seunghyeok, who was sweeping his lips with his tongue while examining the handgun from left to right. Before he could even exhale a sigh of relief, Seunghyeok’s lips parted.

“That much was the Chairman’s message…”

“…”

Returning to his chair, Seunghyeok scratched his head with the tip of the silencer and said casually.

“From now on, I’m thinking of having a little chat with you myself.”

Seunghyeok, who arched his eyebrows while peering into the barrel, continued.

“Our Managing Director Im, you must have handled quite a lot while cleaning up after Chairman Gu. Nominee accounts, slush funds, paper companies, bribery, embezzlement, illicit solicitation…”

“…”

“And etcetera, etcetera.”

Seunghyeok, who dragged out the tail end of “etcetera,” clicked his tongue sharply.

“The list that organizes all of those cleanly. You have it, don’t you?”

At Seunghyeok’s words, Managing Director Im’s eyes flickered. He barely managed to shake his trembling head from side to side.

“I-I don’t know anything about that. I only did what the Chairman ordered.”

“…”

Because Seunghyeok did not respond to Managing Director Im’s answer, a heavy silence settled over the container. Seunghyeok let out a small sigh, closed his eyes, and pressed his temples.

“Managing Director Im. I’m sorry for you, but I’m in a very bad mood right now.”

Thwip!

As soon as Seunghyeok finished speaking, a suppressed gunshot sliced through the air. Managing Director Im, his pupils dilating greatly, leaned forward at the shoulder where he was hit and let out a scream a beat late.

“Argh, aaargh!”

“Oh, my mistake. That wasn’t a blank.”

“Augh, ack, aargh…!”

“I might make another mistake, so keep your body tense and stick tight to the chair.”

Thwip, thwip, thwip, thwip.

Every time a dull gunshot occurred in the darkness, a red light from the barrel illuminated one side of Seunghyeok’s face before vanishing. On the container wall behind Managing Director Im, several white holes had appeared. It was visible to the naked eye that streaks of light were flowing inside through the holes.