Winter Season Chapter 76

Since his hands were full with bags, Yihyeon quickly shifted the luggage to one hand and pulled out his phone. Seeing the name displayed on the screen, he felt his heart not just sink, but drop all the way to the floor.

[General Manager Gu Jinhyeok]

It was shocking that he had completely forgotten about Gu Jinhyeok’s existence just because peaceful, ordinary days had continued. The last time he had seen him was in the lounge, after confirming he had fallen asleep from drinking the spiked wine.

Since he hadn’t gone back to work after that day, the man must have known clearly that Yihyeon was the culprit; shouldn’t Yihyeon have thought it strange that there had been no contact until now? Yet, he couldn’t believe he hadn’t even given it a thought because of everything happening with Gu Seunghyeok.

No, or perhaps he had been feeling complacent. He might have thought that since Gu Jinhyeok lost nothing due to the failure of Gu Seunghyeok’s plan, they could just move on as if nothing had happened.

Even with just a little thought, that made no sense.

Yihyeon couldn’t bring himself to answer the phone; he just stared at it as his pace gradually quickened. He felt as if Gu Jinhyeok were watching him from somewhere. His fast walk turned into an almost-run. The phone didn’t stop, ringing continuously.

As the entrance to the villa appeared in the distance, a sense of relief finally began to set in. Yihyeon’s chest heaved breathlessly as he hurriedly climbed the stairs. Clutching the vibrating phone, Yihyeon turned the corner at the final step and froze when he discovered a figure sitting in front of his door.

It was Gu Jinhyeok. He was sitting on the old stairs, dressed impeccably as always. In one hand, he held a wine bottle that looked exactly like the one they had shared in the lounge that day.

Seeing Yihyeon reflexively hesitate, Jinhyeok pushed off his thighs and stood up.

“It would have been better for you to just answer the phone, Mr. Yihyeon.”

“…What brings you here?”

“I came by to see if we could have a drink together.”

“……”

“Have you been well? My contact is a bit late because I had a backlog of work to handle.”

Jinhyeok stepped a foot closer and personally pressed the “decline call” icon on Yihyeon’s phone screen. The scent of his perfume suddenly drawing close made Yihyeon’s skin crawl and a chill run down his spine. When Yihyeon unknowingly took a step back, Jinhyeok let out a smirk and spoke.

“It’s not like I’m going to eat you, Mr. Yihyeon, so relax.”

“……”

“Ah, I suppose that might be difficult given what you’ve done?”

Jinhyeok tilted his head as if amused and gestured with his chin toward Yihyeon’s front door.

“Haha, I’m joking. Will you open the door? The weather is quite cold.”

The thought of letting Gu Jinhyeok into the house made Yihyeon’s mouth go dry with fear of what might happen, but as the man said, this wasn’t a conversation to be having on the villa stairs. With slightly trembling hands, he clenched his fists, then punched in the passcode to open the door.

“…Please come in.”

As Yihyeon entered the house and stepped aside, Jinhyeok set foot in the narrow entryway. Then, without even taking off his dress shoes, he stepped up into the room. While he circled the room as if inspecting the cramped interior, Yihyeon’s heart thundered and his hands shook.

Whether he noticed this or not, Jinhyeok sat on the desk with a relaxed posture. He lifted the wine bottle he was holding to examine it and spoke in a leisurely tone.

“Do you have a wine opener and glasses?”

He surely didn’t actually come here just to drink, so what was he thinking by asking for an opener and glasses? Yihyeon brought a cheap wine opener and two mugs from the kitchen and set them down next to Jinhyeok.

Seeing the mugs with a famous cafe logo on them, Jinhyeok gave a faint smile, uncorked the wine, and poured it into a mug. He pushed the cup toward Yihyeon.

“Drink. I didn’t put anything in it this time.”

Yihyeon took the mug and gripped it tight with both hands. Observing Yihyeon, Jinhyeok curled the corners of his mouth and tilted his cup to take a sip.

“You did something quite interesting to the alcohol, didn’t you, Mr. Yihyeon?”

“…I think the stimulant was a bit too much. While I was washing up, sleep suddenly hit me, and when I hurried out, you were already asleep. I left because I didn’t want to disturb your rest.”

As he spat out the excuse he had prepared in advance, Jinhyeok burst into a chuckle. Then, after taking another sip of wine, he spoke.

“Mr. Yihyeon. Did you think I wouldn’t have tested the drugs remaining in the glass before coming here?”

“……”

“If you were going to do that, you should have taken the wine glass or thrown it to break it so it would be gone.”

Yihyeon’s face turned pale with a sense of failure. However, Jinhyeok seemed to find Yihyeon’s state merely amusing. He continued while looking at the red liquid in the mug.

“Well, it doesn’t matter. It’s not like I let you in without knowing you had other intentions. This incident was quite fresh for me, too.”

“……”

“But the fact that the item went missing… that’s a bit big.”

“……”

“That was an item that shouldn’t have been handed over to Gu Seunghyeok so easily.”

Yihyeon nibbled on the inside of his cheek.

Gu Seunghyeok had said the warehouse was empty, but Jinhyeok seemed to believe the item had fallen into Seunghyeok’s hands. He wondered if this was a scheme to test him, but the man’s suppressed expression didn’t look like acting.

“I thought you were at most planning to leak information, but I didn’t know you were planning something like that. Your poker face is truly excellent, Mr. Yihyeon.”

Jinhyeok let out a smirk, set the glass down on the desk, and began to pace the room. Yihyeon’s anxious gaze followed him. Jinhyeok, who had been observing the narrow studio apartment from here and there, stopped in front of the refrigerator. He discovered a photo frame lying face down on top of it and picked it up.

“……”

Inside the frame was a family photo taken when Yihyeon was in middle school. It was his mistake not to throw it away, keeping the single remaining photo face down just in case he ever needed it. Jinhyeok, looking down at the photo with his head tilted to one side, spoke.

“I see you take after your father, Mr. Yihyeon. He looks much better when he was healthy.”

At the sentence from Jinhyeok’s mouth, Yihyeon’s eyes, which had been fixed on the floor, shook. His tone suggested he knew about his father’s current condition. Seeing Yihyeon’s agitation, Jinhyeok curled his lips as if amused.

“I looked into it out of curiosity, and it turns out your father was a rather famous pastor.”

Before he knew it, Yihyeon had raised his head, his gaze fixed on Jinhyeok. Despite the sharp, piercing stare, Jinhyeok’s face remained relaxed.

“I can’t believe a man like that embezzled hundreds of millions of won in church offerings. Someone rumored to be so respected and faithful.”

“……”

“Still, seeing how it ended well with a suspended sentence, I suppose he had someone to rely on?”

Jinhyeok, smiling brightly as he tapped the family photo with his finger, leaned crookedly against the wall.

“Ah. This person must be the older sister who is getting married soon.”

Yihyeon’s Adam’s apple moved significantly. He had assumed a background check had been completed, but he hadn’t expected it to extend to his family. Though he had lived all this time thinking of them as non-existent, he felt paralyzed when the man directly brought them into the conversation.

He felt a chill spread down his spine. The intuition that he had messed with the wrong person flashed through his mind like an arrow.

As Yihyeon clenched his fists and bit his lower lip, Jinhyeok sneered mockingly and set the family photo down. Then, bringing the wine-filled mug to his lips, he spoke to Yihyeon.

“Mr. Yihyeon, have you ever thought it was strange how a fire suddenly broke out in your house?”

“……”

He recalled the fire that had broken out on the first floor of the villa a few weeks ago.

“Oh, you know those LPG gas tanks set out in the front. One of those supposedly exploded, but Youngmin’s mother says she might have seen some strange men loitering around…. I don’t know. The police have to come and investigate to know the details.”

He also remembered the words of the lady next door saying the flames seemed to have started from a gas tank standing outside.

Because of the fire that spread suddenly that day, Yihyeon had to stay at Gu Jinhyeok’s and Gu Seunghyeok’s houses in turn.

“…Did you do that, General Manager?”

He didn’t want to believe that other people living in the villa had been harmed because of him. Perhaps until now, he had overlooked the fact that Gu Seunghyeok and Gu Jinhyeok were more dangerous people than he thought. Yihyeon stared at Jinhyeok with his lips slightly parted.