Chapter 78: A Secret Worth Betraying

Bzzz.

Before Team Leader Yang could speak again, Go Ha-jin’s phone vibrated. At the moment, news about Chae Jae-yi took priority, leaving him in no state to answer other calls. If the name on the screen had been anyone other than Chae Woo-seok, he would have ignored it.

Somehow, he had a feeling the call concerned exactly what Team Leader Yang was about to report. He pressed the answer button and quietly raised the phone to his ear.

“They found Chae Jae-yi. She’s almost back at the house now, so come over and we’ll talk.”

Just as he thought. There were few details, but with both men saying the same thing, it seemed certain that Chae Jae-yi’s whereabouts in the United States had finally been discovered.

“Tell me properly. Where is Jae-yi, and what happened to her?”

“W-Well… I don’t know the exact details yet… But it does seem they located her in the United States, Chairman.”

Go Ha-jin stopped listening and rose from his seat. Someone had apparently managed to gather information in a hurry, but none of it was particularly useful. Perhaps they were simply withholding details because he was present.

He forced himself to appear calm until he had left the main building. Yet with every step he took, his heart pounded harder.

In the meantime, he and Chae Woo-seok had prepared as thoroughly as they could. No amount of preparation could ever be enough, but they had already taken every measure available to them. Even in Go Ha-jin’s eyes, there was little left to do except leave the rest to fate.

Ever since hearing that Chae Jae-yi had gone to America, he had expected something like this would happen eventually. Even so, facing the reality of it was another matter entirely.

Not long after Go Ha-jin returned home, Chae Woo-seok arrived as well. Although he had surely parked right outside, his breathing was unusually rough, as though he had run the short distance.

Servants were moving throughout the house, making the living room unsuitable for a private conversation. Without exchanging many words, they went straight to the master bedroom before getting to the point.

“So they caught your sister…? Team Leader Yang was reporting it to Father.”

“Yeah. Looks like he tracked her down quickly. I have a feeling he rushed because he suspected she might be connected to the serial killer.”

“I see… That’s certainly possible, but honestly, I don’t think Noona has anything to do with those murders.”

“Right. With the brains Chae Jae-yi has? No way she’d pull off a string of killings. That sort of thing takes planning. Knowing her temper, she couldn’t even manage a copycat crime.”

“Exactly. The bracelet fragment does make her seem suspicious, though…”

“For now, we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

To both of them, Chae Jae-yi being the serial killer would merely be the second-worst outcome. The true worst case was that she had come dangerously close to uncovering Go Ha-jin’s secret.

“But I still don’t understand why she went to America after seeing the fake information.”

Together, Go Ha-jin and Chae Woo-seok had meticulously revised the false identity they had created. Then they had subtly ensured that the information reached one of Chae Jae-yi’s contacts.

He still found it hard to believe she had remained suspicious despite how convincing it looked.

“She’s always been stubborn in the worst possible way. If she doesn’t get the answer she wants, she’ll keep pushing until she does. Maybe she just charged in without thinking this time too.”

“Still, since they found her so quickly… maybe that’s actually a good thing? It’s only been a few days. She might not have had time to discover anything.”

“Maybe. But I have a bad feeling about it. She might’ve let herself get caught on purpose.”

Chae Woo-seok spoke with unusual seriousness. Go Ha-jin realized he had merely been hoping for the best.

“Then we’d better prepare for the worst. We can’t just sit around and wait for whatever happens.”

Woo-seok let out a deep breath before taking a seat at the table. Go Ha-jin joined him, and together they began mapping out everything that might happen and how they would respond.

It felt different from the days when Go Ha-jin had always been forced to solve every crisis alone. There had been only a handful of moments in his life this serious. If he had to compare, perhaps only the day Chae Woo-seok learned his true identity came close.

And yet, because there were two of them now, or perhaps because Chae Woo-seok had become his accomplice in deception, Go Ha-jin couldn’t shake the feeling that somehow they would survive this as well.

“If things really go south… we’ll just have to make Chae Jae-yi look like the culprit.”

“…You mean make her out to be the Omega serial killer? Have you lost your mind? Even so, that’s too much…”

“I don’t mean actually frame her. I mean plant enough suspicion that nobody can fully trust anything she says. I don’t particularly like Chae Jae-yi, but I’m not heartless enough to throw her in prison.”

“I see… Even so… let’s think that one over. I really don’t like the idea.”

“I figured you wouldn’t. Besides, if we actually tried something like that and Father found out, we’d be finished.”

To Chae Woo-seok, Go Ha-jin’s reaction was rather unexpected. Given his usual personality, he would have assumed Ha-jin would eagerly embrace sacrificing someone else if it meant escaping danger.

Instead, his expression darkened with genuine reluctance, even though they were only discussing casting suspicion rather than falsely accusing her of murder.

“Let’s wait and see how things develop. We can decide later, so think it over slowly.”

Ever since their trip to the beach, Chae Woo-seok had become more determined than ever. Whatever it took, he wanted to protect Go Ha-jin’s secret.

****

“What are you doing?”

“Preparing for the ballet company’s performance. The budget is unbelievable…”

“You’re too hardworking. Hand over the tablet.”

Chae Woo-seok smoothly plucked the tablet out of Go Ha-jin’s hands just as he was becoming absorbed in it.

“What are you doing? Give it back. I’m not finished yet…!”

“Why are you working yourself this hard? It’s not like anyone’s going to pay you extra for it.”

From Woo-seok’s perspective, something about Go Ha-jin had seemed off over the past couple of days.  He busied himself making plans for how to deal with Chae Jae-yi while simultaneously throwing himself into the art center’s affairs with remarkable enthusiasm.

Viewed one way, it looked positive, he seemed highly motivated.

But it didn’t feel healthy. Whenever Woo-seok saw him, he was fixated on something. It was almost obsessive, as though he kept searching for more work to bury himself in. As though he were running away from something. As though he desperately wanted to avoid facing it.

“Have you eaten today?”

“…”

“Should I call Team Leader Yang and ask him?”

“…No. Not yet.”

Woo-seok let out a long sigh. At this hour, who could possibly think skipping meals just to work was normal?

“I’ve just been busy, that’s all!”

Go Ha-jin hurried to defend himself the moment he heard the sigh. The dangerous glint in Woo-seok’s eyes made it seem as though he might smash the tablet to pieces. He had no idea why Woo-seok was so worked up.

“Come with me.”

Before Ha-jin could react, Woo-seok casually tossed the tablet behind his back. It crashed against the marble floor and shattered instantly.

Oddly enough, Go Ha-jin didn’t get angry. Normally he would have exploded with, ‘Do you have any idea how expensive that was, you lunatic?’ Instead, all he could think was, ‘Ah… it’s broken.’

More than that, his attention was drawn to Woo-seok’s grip around his wrist. Holding him firmly, Woo-seok dragged him along as though hauling him somewhere by the collar. The image wasn’t literally accurate, but it certainly felt that forceful.

Almost as though he intended to drag him off and dispose of him.

“Sit.”

The destination, however, was nothing like Ha-jin had feared. It was the dining table. Granted, with the kitchen only a doorway away and filled with every imaginable sharp utensil, one could argue it was still a perfectly suitable place to “dispose” of someone.

“…You haven’t eaten either?”

“No. I’m starving, so sit down and eat with me.”

The food waiting on the table had already gone cold, and Ha-jin had no idea how long it had been sitting there.

“I’ll heat it back up.”

“No need. Just sit down and eat. Who told you to bother with that?”

The instant he rose from his chair, Woo-seok’s stern voice stopped him in his tracks, forcing him to sit back down. Then Woo-seok moved his own meal to the seat beside Ha-jin and sat there instead. With only the two of them in the room, they ended up eating shoulder to shoulder.

“Come on, eat. You need food before you can work. Who’s going to reward you for starving yourself? If you collapse, you’re the only one who suffers.”

Ah. Had Chae Woo-seok always nagged this much? Go Ha-jin felt as though his ears might start bleeding. In the end, he decided it was easier just to eat.

It was true that he had little appetite. Even swallowing each bite, he could barely taste anything. Chewing itself felt tedious and uncomfortable. As a result, he ate more and more slowly.

“Ha-jin.”

The moment he instinctively turned his head toward the voice…

“…Mmph?”

A hand suddenly grabbed both of Go Ha-jin’s cheeks and squeezed. His compressed lips puckered into something resembling a duck’s bill, causing the strange muffled response to slip out. The pressure was so firm that his jaw was forced open.

Standing before him with an inexplicable grin, Chae Woo-seok looked almost devilish.

“Open wider.”

A spoon piled high with rice was promptly pushed into his waiting mouth.

For one absurd instant, a single thought crossed Go Ha-jin’s mind.

‘Ah… this bastard’s going to kill someone with a spoon.’

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