Chapter 124: Into the Blackbird

“Shouldn’t you at least tell me why you’re acting like this?”

— Hyung, it’s just that…

Hyunwoo frowned, tapping his fingers irritably against the steering wheel.

Seunghyuk was the same as before regression—never saying the important parts.

As if speaking would kill him.

Hyunwoo felt suffocated.

— It’s not confirmed yet.
That’s why.
So let me go instead—

“There’s no need.”

— Hyung.

“I don’t need you doing things for me.
And I don’t need you interfering.”

— ……

“Did you already forget what I said before?
We’re over.”

The words burst out sharply, but they were absolutely true.

Hyunwoo didn’t want to keep trying to understand someone he couldn’t understand.

He didn’t want to get disappointed again.

He stepped on the accelerator as the light turned green.

— Hyung, then… just give me the address.
Please.

“Ha…”

His speech—part old, part new—sounded even stranger.

Clearly, he wasn’t thinking straight.

Hyunwoo sighed and replied coldly.

“I’m driving.
I’ll call you later.”

— Hyung…!

Hyunwoo hung up mercilessly.

Seunghyuk kept calling relentlessly afterward,
but Hyunwoo was used to this kind of thing.

He turned off notifications and continued driving.

Screech.

He parked at the address Dokyung sent.

But something felt off.

‘This is… a really busy district.’

That wasn’t necessarily strange—
but Hyunjin hated crowded places.

He didn’t drink well either.

There was no reason he would be here.

Well, maybe he wanted to try something new.

Hyunwoo handed off his keys to the valet naturally.

Thump, thump.

Loud music pulsed from all directions.

Hyunwoo looked uncomfortable as he scanned the area.

A huge building in the middle of the nightlife district.
Valet staff.
A long line of people going underground.

“Are you Joo Hyunwoo?”

“…Yes.”

“This way, please.”

The employee approached confidently—like he had been waiting.

Hyunwoo’s expression soured.

Why would Hyunjin come here?

But Dokyung had no reason to lie.
And the voice on the phone earlier had definitely been Hyunjin’s.

“…….”

Hyunwoo glanced at his still-flashing phone screen.

Seunghyuk’s name appeared again and again.

Even with notifications off, he kept calling.

He remembered Seunghyuk saying he suspected Hwang Dokyung.

Maybe the words he couldn’t finish… were about this.

After a moment of thought,
Hyunwoo didn’t answer the call—
he opened the message window instead and typed something.

“Director Joo?”

“Ah—coming.”

Startled, Hyunwoo turned off the screen and slipped the phone into his pocket.

Soon, the buzzing finally stopped.

“I’m here to pick up my brother…”

“Yes, this way.”

“…….”

The employee led him underground.

Bright neon lights reflected off glossy walls—almost uncomfortably flashy.

Hyunwoo followed him quietly.

‘…It’s a club.’

He had a bad feeling, and stepping inside confirmed it.

The place was a club—
and one that had just opened for the evening, judging by the sparse crowd.

Hyunwoo had only come to a place like this once in this body—
when he was manipulated by Cha Kwon-oh and got drunk.

Aside from that, he never came willingly.

The original Joo Hyunwoo, however, used to frequent high-end clubs from his college days.

Before Hyunwoo took over this body,
countless sleazy messages from his trashy old friends used to pop up.

It had taken a lot of effort and excuses to cut them all off.

“This way.”

They passed large guards and approached the innermost private room.

Was Hyunjin really in there?

Hyunwoo clenched his fist.

A room guarded inside a club—
that meant VIP access.
And this was the innermost room—reserved for top VIPs.

Hyunjin wasn’t the type to come somewhere like this.
His college club friends didn’t even know he was from a chaebol family.

None of this made sense.

Hyunwoo swallowed hard.

“Please, go in.”

“…….”

It was too late to turn back—
guards blocked the way behind him.

Hyunwoo slowly reached for the door.

Click.

The inside was noticeably quieter than outside.

Hyunwoo scanned the spacious room—

“…Hyunjin!”

The first thing he saw was Hyunjin, unconscious on the sofa.

Hyunwoo rushed forward—

But—

Thunk.

“Urgh…!”

The guards grabbed him from behind.

He gritted his teeth, glaring at them.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“…….”

They silently stared forward.

Hyunwoo followed their gaze.

“Welcome, Hyunwoo-ssi.”

“…Hwang Dokyung.”

Dokyung sat comfortably in the center of the room,
as if it were his home.

Hyunwoo looked at the alcohol bottles and glasses in front of him.

“You brought Hyunjin here?”

Only two people were in the room:
Dokyung and Hyunjin.

The guards had entered with Hyunwoo,
so no one else had been here before he arrived.

Hyunwoo’s eyes sharpened.

“Yes.
I asked him to have a drink before heading home.”

“At a club of all places?”

“What’s wrong with a club?”

“…….”

Dokyung tilted his head innocently.

“Pleasure is one of the most instinctive human senses.
Seeking it isn’t a sin.”

“Ha…”

‘Pleasure’ meaning alcohol, dancing, s*x—
that was the problem.

Hyunwoo frowned.

Then the club’s name flashed through his memory.
He hadn’t recognized it at first—
but now it clicked.

Blackbird.

The notorious club from before regression—
the one exposed for drug parties involving celebrities and politicians.

This was that Blackbird.

Hyunwoo bit his lip.

“Hwang Dokyung, what’s your connection to this place?”

“Haha.
Curious?”

“…….”

Dokyung looked perfectly relaxed—
as if Hyunwoo’s tension amused him.

He smirked.

“Well, how should I put it…
I’m the owner, but not really the owner.”

“…Since when?”

“You did quite a bit of digging on me, didn’t you?”

“……!”

He knew.
He knew Hyunwoo had investigated him.

Hyunwoo stiffened.

That meant Dokyung had been running this place since long before.
Long before Hyunwoo possessed this body.

Probably even before that.

‘Damn original novel!’

The supposed “sweet sub-lead” was in fact the operator of an underground drug club?

This wasn’t a plot twist—
it was absurd.

“You didn’t find much, did you?
Otherwise you wouldn’t have let me get this close.”

“…So you approached me and Hyunjin on purpose?”

“At first, yes.
But I became… interested in you.”

“…….”

He said it casually, still smiling.

That deceptively harmless smile had fooled Hyunwoo for so long—
in the past life, he had even tried to match him with Hyunjin.

What a joke.

Hyunwoo clenched both fists.

Trying to “help” Hyunjin had only thrown him into the gutter.

Everything he did eventually became a curse.

He couldn’t trust the original story anymore.
Hell—
was he even in the story he thought he was in?

Doubt began to creep in.

“And speaking of which…
Lee Seunghyuk was quite bothersome.”

“…Seunghyuk?”

“Yes.
He kept tracking me.
He never found this club, though.”

“…….”

Hearing Seunghyuk’s name made Hyunwoo flinch.

So that was why Seunghyuk called earlier?

Then why didn’t he say so?

Hyunwoo ground his teeth.

“Anyway, I’m glad you came.
I’ve always wanted to invite you here someday.”

“Ugh—”

Dokyung gestured,
and the guards dragged Hyunwoo forward.

They forced him down into a seat across from Dokyung.

Then one guard reached into his pocket—

and took out Hyunwoo’s phone.

Hyunwoo’s breath hitched
as his phone was handed over to Dokyung.

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