Yang Ho-beom’s eyes were burning with rage. Soo-hyun felt excitement bubbling up from his stomach. Yes, you b＊stard. That’s exactly the face I wanted to see. Before he could enjoy the pleasure any longer, Yang Ho-beom approached threateningly.

Soo-hyun quickly grabbed the ice bucket filled with water and splashed it in Ho-beom’s face. With a splash sound, water dripped from Yang Ho-beom’s head, and the red-hot tip of his cigarette turned black. With the wet cigarette still in his mouth, Yang Ho-beom’s glare at Soo-hyun was on the verge of losing all reason.

You f*cking. Ho-beom threw away the cigarette, lunged at Soo-hyun, grabbed his neck and pushed him against the wall. With a thud and a strong impact on his back, a large hand squeezed his windpipe. It felt like his neck would break if he applied more pressure.

Instead of struggling and telling him to let go, Soo-hyun smirked like a deranged person with bl＊＊d on his lips. The hand tightened. Soo-hyun’s face turned bright red. As Yang Ho-beom’s face began to blur into two and consciousness started to fade, Kim Woo-young ran over and grabbed Yang Ho-beom’s arm and shoulder.

“Ho-beom, man! Stop it!”

Who would have thought this junkie could be so helpful? But Yang Ho-beom didn’t budge and continued strangling Soo-hyun, like he really meant to kill him. His eyelids trembled. When Soo-hyun stopped resisting, Yang Ho-beom released his grip just before he completely lost consciousness.

Cough, cough, Soo-hyun collapsed to the floor, hacking violently.

“Get up.”

Soo-hyun looked up at Ho-beom, breathing heavily.

“Go to the old man and take back what you said. Then I’ll let you live.”

Soo-hyun kept his mouth shut and staggered to his feet. Kim Woo-young standing beside him gave him a look. It seemed to mean that he didn’t know what was going on, but Soo-hyun should do as told for now. Soo-hyun pulled down his crumpled shirt to straighten it and smiled weakly. That expression clearly infuriated Yang Ho-beom, as his eyes flashed with murderous intent again.

“You’re smiling?”

“Mr. Yang. That kind of request should be made politely. If you start by strangling me, why would I feel like complying, you little sh*t?”

Kim Woo-young’s eyes widened in surprise at the words “little sh*t.”

Yang Ho-beom smiled coldly.

“Little sh*t?”

“Yes. Little sh*t. You have a stupidly big d*ck, but you’re terrible at s*x. You only know how to thrust. You’re truly the worst among all the guys I’ve slept with.”

As Soo-hyun mocked him calmly without getting excited, Kim Woo-young’s mouth fell open. He was so shocked that he stammered, pointing alternately at Yang Ho-beom and Baek Soo-hyun, despite usually being unfazed by most things.

“W-what? You two, you two?!”

Ho-beom glared at Soo-hyun and coldly snapped. Shut up, hyung. Then he approached Soo-hyun threateningly. Soo-hyun stepped back and warned with his finger.

“Hit me one more time. I’ll tell your grandfather.”

Yang Ho-beom laughed with a contemptuous face.

“After calling me ‘little sh*t,’ now Baek Soo-hyun is being mature by tattling to the old man?”

“If you keep this up, you won’t gain anything. You and I are in the same boat now.”

“Whether we’re in a boat or I destroy it is for me to decide. How dare you be so impudent.”

“Don’t come closer. I said don’t come closer.”

Soo-hyun swung the trash bag beside him and ran toward the bedroom. As Yang Ho-beom cursed and tried to chase him, Kim Woo-young desperately tried to stop him. Don’t. Ho-beom. You’ll kill someone.

“You, come here!”

Yang Ho-beom shouted uncharacteristically, and Soo-hyun, also enraged, yelled back.

“You’re speaking informally to me all the time! You disrespectful b＊stard! I’ve eaten more bowls of rice than you have!”

“Alright. I’ll speak formally to you. Please come here. Mr. Baek Soo-hyun!”

“Get lost, idiot!”

Just then, an unfamiliar voice interrupted their fight. Boss? The owner of the dignified voice was Director Yoon. He had apparently called several times already and was now nearby. Although Ho-beom’s cheek was trembling with anger, he stopped saying anything to Soo-hyun when Director Yoon appeared and just glared at him.

“Should I cancel your lunch appointment?”

At Director Yoon’s words, Ho-beom answered while looking at Soo-hyun. No. I should go. Despite his words, he continued to glare at Soo-hyun. Soo-hyun didn’t back down and shot laser beams back from his eyes. In the midst of this tense standoff, Yang Ho-beom clenched his molars, turned around, and left.

Shortly after, a bang! sounded.

Only then did Soo-hyun’s legs give way, and he staggered toward the bed.

Ah, that was so f*cking scary. I just risked my life fighting. Well done, Baek Soo-hyun.

Clutching his pounding heart, he was stripping the sheets when someone walked up behind him. With clapping sounds.

“You’ve got guts, Baek Soo-hyun.”

Soo-hyun glanced at Kim Woo-young. He still looked surprised.

“But, did you two really,”

He made a hand gesture indicating s*x, then asked, “Did you?”

“No.”

“Come on, Ho-beom’s expression said otherwise. I haven’t seen him that pissed off in almost 5 years.”

Soo-hyun wondered who had angered him 5 years ago. And if they were still alive. Meanwhile, Kim Woo-young asked with genuine curiosity:

“But is he really that bad?”

Soo-hyun smiled bitterly. He just thrust to satisfy his own desire, so there wasn’t much to say about whether he was good or bad.

“That’s strange. Women say differently. They say he’s really good.”

Kim Woo-young’s words slightly offended Soo-hyun. That b＊stard. I knew it. He’s great with women. Feeling that continuing this conversation would only make him feel more pathetic, he changed the subject.

“What happened to your face?”

When Kim Woo-young didn’t understand, Soo-hyun pointed to his lips, and he smiled.

“This?”

“Yes.”

“Ho-beom hit me.”

Soo-hyun stopped what he was doing and opened his eyes wide.

“He found out I gave you drugs.”

Soo-hyun felt a pang of guilt and made an apologetic face. No matter how unpleasant the guy was, still. Beating up his own cousin. At this rate, he might beat up his grandfather for taking away his land. That would make him a complete b＊stard.

“Since when did Yang Ho-beom become a cow?”

Sorry, he mumbled an apology and turned away, but Kim Woo-young followed him closely and whispered secretively.

“If you had said you were hunting a tiger instead, I would have given you something stronger.”

Soo-hyun stopped walking and turned around, and Kim Woo-young winked at him. Suddenly, Soo-hyun became curious. Was he really on Yang Ho-beom’s side? Chairman Yang seemed to show quite a bit of discrimination between his biological grandson and his daughter’s son. On the surface, Kim Woo-young didn’t seem particularly dissatisfied with this. Soo-hyun thought the same was true for Kim Woo-jin.

But what had Kim Woo-jin said when Chairman Yang asked if he would accept the land?

[If you offer it, I have no intention of refusing.]

It was unexpected.

For the boy who trembled in fear looking at his cousin to say such a thing.

And he had said something else when he accompanied Soo-hyun to the parking lot.

[I properly helped you this time, didn’t I?]

At first, Soo-hyun felt guilty for involving Kim Woo-jin, but now he was curious about the boy’s true intentions. Was it really to help me? Or did he have other motives?

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I was just thinking what an inscrutable pair of brothers you are.”

Kim Woo-young asked what that meant, but Soo-hyun didn’t answer. After persistently following him around, Kim Woo-young contacted someone, changed his clothes, and disappeared. Soo-hyun cleaned like crazy all morning. The advantage of cleaning was that there was no time to think about other things. After diligently completing about half the work, he sat on the sofa and enjoyed a sweet rest.

His neck, which had been strangled earlier, still hurt. While touching his neck and cursing Yang Ho-beom, he lay down on the sofa for a moment. Though he was reduced to cleaning up someone else’s used condoms, this was still much better. At least there were people to talk to, so he wasn’t lonely.

***

“According to Yang Ho-beom’s close associate, he was brought in because of his father, Baek Gwang-mu. He’s working there now.”

“What about the debt?”

“Apparently, he doesn’t have a separate debt to Yang Ho-beom.”

Seo Min-jun rubbed his freshly shaved chin. Baek Soo-hyun had said he owed Yang Ho-beom 2 billion won. But according to their investigation, that wasn’t true. Why would he lie? He carefully recalled their conversation from that day. He remembered Soo-hyun’s somewhat angry expression.

“What about Baek Gwang-mu’s whereabouts?”

“Unknown.”

Baek Soo-hyun’s father, Baek Gwang-mu, had defrauded Chairman Yang and boldly stolen his possessions. The item he stole was a palm-sized Buddha statue that had been taken out during the Japanese colonial period and was later found and privately collected by Chairman Yang. It was said to be priceless.

Seo Min-jun remembered Baek Soo-hyun’s father. During his school days, he had encountered him lingering nearby on his way home. At first, he thought he was a customer coming to eat baekseok, but after overhearing a conversation with his mother, he learned that he was Baek Soo-hyun’s father.

He didn’t know how the man had found his way there. He only remembered that he was shabbily dressed and anxiously looking around. He gave his mother an envelope of money and left, and never once came to see his young son after that. That’s why his mother couldn’t bring herself to tell Baek Soo-hyun about his father.

Turning a page in the document, he saw Baek Soo-hyun’s photo.

A child he once cared for. Someone whose appearance would catch anyone’s eye. Customers who came to the store all complimented his looks. Saying he was so pretty that he would break many girls’ hearts when he grew up.

But Baek Soo-hyun didn’t like girls. He liked me, a man. No, to be precise, I was the one who started it. When he was young, I thought of him only as a cute younger brother, but as he grew, those feelings turned into l＊st.

I would touch his earlobe while pretending to stroke his hair, hug him while playing around, and sleep with him under the pretext of tutoring, where I violated him countless times in my imagination. Disgusted with myself, I deliberately dated women, but that wasn’t easy either.

Then one day, I returned home after having drinks with high school friends in Seoul, and there was no one in the house. I belatedly remembered that my parents and sister had said they would stay at my uncle’s house. Min-jun headed to Baek Soo-hyun’s room. When he opened the door and went inside, Baek Soo-hyun was already asleep, with his shirt pulled up revealing his stomach because of the heat.

In that moment, I lost all reason. I shouldn’t have done it…

At first, Baek Soo-hyun cried in pain and pushed me away. I told him I was doing it because I liked him. Because I liked him so much. Won’t you accept me? Then, despite his tears, he embraced me. His white arms and legs, the intoxicatingly fresh scent of his skin.

Suddenly, my throat feels dry.

Not wanting to recall any more, Min-jun firmly closed the document.

“Find out more. And place someone to watch him without arousing suspicion.”

Yes, sir. The man bowed and left the officetel. Seo Min-jun stood up and looked out the window. The Blue House was right in front of him. This officetel was arranged by his father-in-law. He had said it would be better to stay here since things would get busy. He understood what that meant without being told.

Min-jun lit a cigarette. This was an incredibly important moment. While others called him a prosecutor of justice and such, the truth was that he had a strong desire to climb higher. He wanted to succeed spectacularly and hold more power than anyone else.

That’s why Baek Soo-hyun’s appearance wasn’t entirely welcome. Though he felt guilty, he resolved to somehow remove him if he became an obstacle in his path.