Chapter 4: The Shattered Night

“Explain. How did this happen?”

Yunhwan, whose back of the head had slammed into the wall, groaned in pain as he forced the words out.

“I’m sorry. It was an accident, Mr. Min Seonghye tried to—”

“Right, I heard he ended up like that trying to save you, Kwon Yunhwan. I know, I get that. What I’m curious about is why the h*ll he was climbing a mountain in the middle of the night.”

Manager Park pushed Yunhwan back aggressively once more.

Gripped by the collar so tightly he could barely breathe, Yunhwan let out a series of choked gasps.

“He… he escaped because he said he had to go to Seoul.”

“Exactly! Is this the first time? You caused this whole mess because you couldn’t catch him once? Our boys I stationed next to you must be total jokes, then?”

Manager Park, who had assigned several of his men to Seonghye’s side early on, glared with bulging eyes, spitting as he spoke.

Naturally, he couldn’t leave Seonghye alone in a remote countryside where he had no connections.

Unless he went down himself to watch Seonghye 24 hours a day, attaching his own men was the best option.

Ever since Seonghye was entrusted to Yunhwan, the employees dispatched to Sanghui-ri had faithfully reported their movements.

That was partly why he had felt at ease.

Deep wrinkles formed on the forehead of Manager Park, the architect of this entire plan.

To think things would get this tangled despite the constant surveillance. And in the worst possible way.

Was it a mistake to seek this man out just by trusting Chief Choi’s word?

Jeongsik grit his teeth hard, staring at the man covered from head to toe in dust and dirt.

He had thought there was no better candidate because of his brilliant track record.

“The others also scattered to find Mr. Min Seonghye, but I just happened to be the one he ran into on the mountain.”

“So he saved you and ended up in that state? Is that it?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

Yunhwan apologized repeatedly, casting his gaze downward.

Every time he blinked, it wasn’t Manager Park holding his collar that filled his vision, but Min Seonghye lying on the bed.

Regardless of the reason, Seonghye had been injured trying to save him.

Yunhwan’s pupils shook with self-reproach at that unchangeable fact.

Beyond his wavering eyes, the situation immediately following the accident replayed in his mind.

After rolling down the mountain until his body was a mess of dirt—rolling and tangling together in a chaotic struggle for life—Yunhwan finally managed to regain consciousness.

The first thing he did upon opening his eyes was check the condition of Seonghye, who was still holding him tightly.

‘Se—Seonghye? Hey, Seonghye. Wake up. Open your eyes, come on.’

The moment he looked into Seonghye’s struggling eyes, he had a bad feeling.

Data accumulated throughout his life sensed a danger signal.

When those fading pupils could no longer hold Yunhwan’s image and closed, Yunhwan realized that the fluid flowing from the back of Seonghye’s head was blood.

Without hesitation, he hoisted Seonghye onto his back and ran down the mountain.

Thanks to that, they reached the hospital quickly, but Seonghye had yet to regain consciousness.

“It… it was my mistake. I was in a rush because Seonghye was determined today, even carrying an axe….”

Yunhwan trailed off, biting his lip hard.

Anything he said felt like an excuse.

As his eyes, stained with guilt, wandered toward the floor instead of looking ahead, Manager Park let out a hollow laugh.

Eventually, he leaned toward Yunhwan and whispered eerily in a low voice only the two of them could hear.

“Kwon Yunhwan, you know why I entrusted Seonghye to you.”

“…….”

“Even if Seonghye doesn’t know, you remember him. But if you blow the job like this, what are we supposed to do? If you’re going to be like this, you shouldn’t have taken the money, huh?”

Yunhwan’s gaze turned toward Seonghye lying on the bed.

As Manager Park said, Seonghye didn’t seem to remember, but three years ago, Yunhwan had saved Seonghye in Hong Kong.

Though it was a worn, diluted memory, the fact that he had saved Seonghye remained vividly etched in Yunhwan’s brain.

But this time, the roles were reversed.

Because Seonghye had saved him, Yunhwan—who had suddenly caused Seonghye to get hurt—still had no idea how to process this situation.

Should he have refused the job from the start?

If it weren’t for his grandmother’s hospital bills, he definitely wouldn’t have even looked at this offer.

Yunhwan barely managed to part his lips and forced out the words.

“…I’m sorry.”

The frustration and helplessness he had tried so hard to shake off over the past few years began to envelop him again.

What began to coil like a snake around his feet was the guilt he hadn’t been able to escape for a long time.

Forcing his gaze away from Seonghye, Yunhwan shut his eyes tight.

“Are you okay?”

“…I’m sorry, Hyung.”

“Sorry for what? What do you have to be sorry for?”

Yunhwan took the canned coffee offered to him and bowed his head deeply again.

It had been two hours since he was practically kicked out of the room by Manager Park.

Unable to watch Yunhwan lingering in front of the room like a dog left in the rain, Manager Hong stepped in.

“Hey, did you commit a crime? A crime? Lift your head. That crazy b*stard is just taking his anger out on you.”

“Hyung. Is Mr. Min Seonghye… still unconscious?”

At that, Manager Hong let out a sound like a deflating balloon and scoffed.

“Leave it, leave it. He’ll wake up when he’s ready to live. You, wipe the blood off your hands.”

A cold wet wipe was placed on the back of his hand, which was covered in dark red bloodstains.

Manager Hong grumbled with a dissatisfied face toward Yunhwan, who didn’t have a single spot that wasn’t battered from head to toe.

“Hey. Honestly, is it your fault he’s in that state? Why go to a mountain at a time when everyone else is sleeping? What, did he say he was going to catch a wild boar?”

His brow furrowed with suspicion as he spoke.

“Hyung, is that what’s important right now? Someone is hurt.”

“Worry about yourself. Yourself. Do you even know what you look like right now? Should I grab anyone and ask? The person who needs to be hospitalized isn’t him, it’s you.”

Manager Hong suddenly rummaged through his jacket and pulled out some nerve stabilizers he had bought from the pharmacy downstairs.

He had bought them for Yunhwan, thinking he must be out of his mind to look that way.

“Hey, it was an accident. Why are you blaming yourself so much? Strictly speaking, it’s not like you did something wrong. Why are you apologizing so much to Manager Park?”

The end of his calm voice touched Yunhwan’s hand, which was still shaking.

Yunhwan let out a deep sigh.

“…When he said he wanted to go to Seoul, maybe I should have just let him go.”

“Don’t even start. Do you think Manager Park would have stayed quiet? I didn’t stop you from taking this job because you said you needed the money, but I’m seriously regretting it right now.”

At those dangerous words, Manager Hong’s brow furrowed again.

Having encountered Yunhwan in Sanghui-ri after following Manager Park down, he had been internally horrified and had been regretting not stopping Yunhwan ever since.

Manager Hong first met Yunhwan six years ago.

It was when Yunhwan joined as a rookie in the team where he was the team leader.

Yunhwan, who had a background different from others, was clumsy in every step he took, but the way he overcame it and grew was quite charming.

Manager Hong, who had Yunhwan on his team, had been very fond of him.

But now, those past traits were nowhere to be found.

He looked as if he would evaporate the moment the sunset hit him, his presence so faint it was like the dawn before morning.

Others say time chips away at life, but in Manager Hong’s eyes, it was clear that the remnants of an unshakeable past were eating away at Yunhwan.

That was why he was a junior he cared about more.

Wetting his dry mouth with coffee, Manager Hong grumbled.

“I’ll talk to Manager Park for you—”

“…….”

While Manager Hong was focused on reassuring Yunhwan, the man himself was staring at a point at the end of the hallway.

A sign of a commotion had been detected in the room where Seonghye was.

“Where are you looking while I’m talking?”

“…Just a moment. Hyung.”

Leaving the grumbling voice behind, Yunhwan stood up.

As soon as he stood fully, a louder sound echoed through the hallway as if waiting.

It was a human scream.

Recognizing the situation, Yunhwan didn’t hesitate and ran toward the end of the hallway.

The worry that had been gnawing at his nerves until a moment ago was now fueled and burning uncontrollably.

In the blink of an eye, he reached the front of the room and slammed the door open.

“Argh, aaargh!”

A scream that mercilessly hammered his eardrums erupted once more, and something flew and crashed right next to the open door.

The object that shattered into pieces was a cell phone.

Yunhwan’s eyes widened in shock.

“Hey, f*ck, are you crazy? Have you lost it? Did your brain get twisted from rolling down the mountain? Huh!”

Right in front of him, Manager Park’s veins were bulging in his neck.

The first thing he saw upon opening the door was a ruined interior and a fuming Manager Park.

Under the dizzying glow of the incandescent lights, one side of the back of Manager Park’s head was swollen.

Junseong, standing next to Manager Park, was restless, reaching toward his bald head but unable to follow through, turning his head away instead.

And on the opposite side.

“…….”

There was no one on the opposite side, but Yunhwan knew.

They weren’t gone; they were hiding.

Staring at a particularly protruding part of the curtain, he cautiously took a step.

At Yunhwan’s appearance from behind, Manager Park spat out a curse.

“F*ck. What is it now?”

Manager Park’s gaze turned cold again, just as before.

“…I’ll try talking to him.”

However, Yunhwan passed Manager Park with a strangely determined tone and succeeded in walking slowly to the front of the curtain.