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Il-hyun closed his mouth tightly as he stared at the disconnected phone call. It was a face he hadn’t seen in a year. In the first place, he expected him to be happy, but the woman next to him was completely unexpected. He moved his tongue around in his mouth, looking at the photos on the phone one by one.
A man named Wang Lun seemed to be quite friendly with Lee Ja-kyung. The majority of the photos were of weapons, but there were also a few of Lee Ja-kyung. His skin was sunburned within a year, and he smiled brightly, unlike when he was with him. It was a face he hadn’t seen.
Il-hyun, who was flipping through the photos, stopped for a moment. The smiling woman next to Lee Ja-kyung is the same woman he saw earlier in the video. Il-hyun approached Wang Lun, who was groaning with his phone in his hand and grabbed his hair to get him to look up.
“Who is this woman?”
The wounded Wang Lun took a deep breath, looked at the picture of Sasha’s face, and then back at Kang Il-hyun.
“What is her relationship with Lee Ja-kyung?”
When Wang Lun did not answer, Il-hyun shook his severed finger in front of his eyes.
“If you don’t want all your fingers cut off, you’d better tell me.”
Wang Lun glared at him and gnashed his teeth.
“There’s nothing going on.”
Hmm. Il-hyun narrowed his eyes. He then flipped through the photos again, and while there are photos of them together, they don’t appear to be particularly close. But what were they doing together naked? Now that he thought about it, it seem the woman was wearing something. He was strangely angered. After staring at Lee Ja-kyung, he looked down at the kneeling man in the photo.
“Then what is his relationship with you?”
Instead of answering, Wang Lun just kept his mouth shut and glared at him.
“Boss?”
To put it mildly, his fighting skills were not as good as Lee Ja-kyung’s. He admitted to having good strength, but he was terrible with a knife.
“Brother.”
Il-hyun snorted.
“You sound like a brother.”
Wang Lun immediately accepted.
“Don’t laugh. We are real brothers.”
There was no resemblance to Lee Ja-kyung no matter where he looked up or down. Il-hyun’s brow furrowed. He suddenly remembered Lee Ja-kyung mentioning him. He didn’t tell him everything, but a man named Wang took him to China and raised him as his adopted son. There are people who are closer than blood brothers. Come to think of it, did he say that this guy’s name was Wang Lun?
While thinking deeply, Wang Lun gasped and glared at Il-hyun roughly.
“End your revenge with me. Don’t touch my brother.”
The look on his face is real. Il-hyun clicked his tongue and called Park Tae-soo. Then he threw the severed finger to him.
“Take him to the hospital and stick it up.”
“What?”
Tae-soo’s eyes widened slightly. It bewildered him because he had never been asked to reattach someone’s fingers, even if they were severed. Il-hyun lowered himself and sat down in front of Wang Lun while ordering his subordinates to pack an envelope to put his finger in. He then pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from Wang Lun’s forehead. Wang Lun threw himself back, startled, and Il-hyun smiled kindly.
“I wish you had told me that you are his brother.”
Wang Lun glared at Kang Il-hyun. Wang Lun pushed out Il-hyun’s hands as he tried to wipe away the blood around his mouth. It gave him goosebumps even more than when Il-hyun bit his finger off. What is this crazy bastard doing? Wang Lun couldn’t tell if it was because he liked laughing or because he was planning to kill him.
He had seen all kinds of things so far, but this was the first time seeing a human being like this. He could see why Lee Ja-kyung was cursing and shuddering because of this crazy bastard. Wang Lun was soon lifted and loaded into the car by Il-hyun men.
After the car with Wang Lun had left, Il-hyun returned his attention to Lee Ja-kyung on the phone. It was the first time he had seen his smiling face with visible teeth. Ja-kyung always forced a smile or laughed at him whenever he saw him.
In the early days when he was lying in a hospital bed, he gnashed his teeth, saying that if Ja-kyung was caught, he would tear him to death. However, the desire to kill gradually changed into something else. It was his mistaken belief that he would be easy to catch. Ja-kyung rarely left any traces while running away, and as time passed, Il-hyun became nervous. He wondered whether he would miss him forever.
But seeing him sticking with a woman today makes Il-hyun want to kill him again. How could he really explain this? He sighed softly, grabbed the phone, and walked towards the car. That’s right, he’ll know when he sees that handsome face in person. To tear him apart or not.
***
“He only told you to come to Japan?”
Ja-kyung nodded in response to Wang Han’s question. He could see why Wang Lun, who was supposed to be in Japan, had gone to Korea. His lover stayed here for a while before returning to Korea, so he must have gone to see her. He couldn’t bear telling Wang Han the truth, so he lied and said he invited him to visit Japan for a while.
“Excluding me?”
“The Japanese guys said they wanted to see me in person.”
Wang Lun went to Japan to meet a yakuza tycoon, and Ja-kyung lied that they had asked to see him. Wang Han was sad that he hadn’t called him, but Ja-kyung quickly added his words.
“Wouldn’t that mean you could spend some intimate time with Rita while I’m gone?”
Wang Han touched his chin and was still worried about it, he then dialed Wang Lun’s number. Ja-kyung tried to stop him, but he said he needed to make the call. The phone, thankfully, did not connect. He exhaled a sigh of relief and began packing his belongings.
“What about the plane ticket?”
“Fortunately, there was still some left.”
“I’ll take you to the airport.”
“No. I can take a taxi.”
Ja-kyung smiled while hiding his complicated feelings. The hand packing the luggage became increasingly hurried. When he saw Kang Il-hyun’s demon-like face on the screen, he had no choice but to go as fast as he could. Before he swallows Wang Lun entirely. It was obvious that the insane man would remain that way.
“I wish I could come with you.”
Wang Han was disappointed to the end. He stated that he wanted to eat sushi and see Tokyo at night. But, to be honest, he will prevent him from leaving. Something was promised when the first three started working.
If one person was caught and caused the other two to be in danger, let’s call it quits. If something similar happened, Wang Han would be the first to step away. Besides, it was entirely his fault that this happened. So he had to take responsibility.
He’d rather have his head blown off than his legs on that particular day. He packed his belongings with belated regret. He must find Kang Il-hyun before causing harm to Wang Lun.
***
After arriving by plane for 6 and a half hours, the weather in Korea was sticky and humid compared to Kuala Lumpur. The airport was crowded because it was the weekend. Ja-kyung took a taxi to the car center that Wang Lun had been operating while in Korea.
He stopped the taxi in front of it and looked around, but he didn’t notice anything. He got out of the taxi after paying the fare and approached the building. The owner had left the car center empty for a long time, and traces of neglect were visible here and there.
When he returned to enter the lock’s code, he found himself in a dark room. He returns inside and opens the box after turning on the light, but the gun he looked for is nowhere to be found. Wang Lun appeared to have organized everything before leaving this place.
He managed to find only a shotgun and a knife after searching everywhere. He loaded the bullet, picked it up, and returned. A storage shed with shutters and locks stood next to the building. Ja-kyung shot the lock, shattering it, then raised the shutter and went inside.
Inside the warehouse, he found a motorcycle similar to the one he’d seen before. He took the key from a nearby box and activated the GPS tracker. He had a tracking device installed in each cell phone just in case, but he had no idea it would be used in this way.
When activated, a red dot appears alongside the satellite map and Wang Lun’s location. He wasn’t sure if he’d be with Kang Il-hyun or not, but he just hoped he’d be alive when he arrived. The red dot was now moving somewhere.
Kang Il-hyun told him to come to his house, but there could be a trap waiting for him there. If he had a numerical advantage, he should strike first. Ja-kyung donned his helmet. One or two drops of rain fell from the dark sky as he pulled his motorcycle out of the warehouse.
Damn it. Even the weather isn’t helping. He climbed on it, started the engine, and began moving quickly in the direction indicated by the tracker. The motorcycle speeded up and down through the rain, moving between cars.
Ja-kyung had been riding for about 40 minutes when he noticed Wang Lun’s location was getting closer. It was heading towards Kang Il-hyun’s old house. Sure enough, he noticed a familiar car ahead of him. He couldn’t see anything inside the heavily tinted car, but it was unmistakably Kang Il- hyun’s. He slowed down and followed him, but when he entered a deserted place, he went ahead and blocked him.
Screech. When the car came to a halt, Ja-kyung got off the motorcycle and took off his helmet. Then he unlocked the safety catch on the shotgun he was carrying on his back and aimed it at the car. Raindrops landed on his head, wet his brows, and ran down his cheeks and chin.
The black car only moved its wipers and did not budge.