Chapter 11

Dressed in a sharply tailored suit, Ijun looked as flawless as ever.

He rose after wrapping up the design meeting for the next smartphone project currently underway with a smile so perfectly composed it might have been painted there. No one could have guessed at the discomfort churning beneath his calm surface; as far as work was concerned, there was not a single problem.

“Is the next schedule lunch with the head of the DS Division?”

“Yes, Executive Director. It’s reserved at ‘Haerangjeong.’”

“All right.”

When he asked as he entered the office, Assistant Manager Ahn Jimin sprang to her feet and answered at once.

He went straight in, sat down at the desk in his office, and let out a long breath.

The days were no different from his usual work schedule, yet his fatigue had risen sharply. Because there was something that had occupied his mind the entire time, it took even more energy than usual to focus on his work.

There were thirty or forty minutes left before the lunch appointment, so he had intended to clear his head and rest for a moment.

But that plan was quickly ruined. The expression on Chief Hyeon’s face as he entered the office carrying a tablet was far from good.

“What is it?”

“Executive Director. The Information Security Office examined the recovered external hard drive in detail.”

“And?”

“They think the data was copied.”

Still leaning back in his office chair, Ijun pressed his fingers hard against the space between his brows. It felt as though a headache was surging in.

“What about Song Jiho?”

“He keeps insisting to the very end that he knows nothing.”

“Ha…. That bastard’s got nerve. What are you doing? It’s not like you’re playing house with some child. Is it really that hard to make him talk?”

“We’ve tried several methods, but we’ll pressure him more. And I think you should watch this video.”

Chief Hyeon held out the tablet in front of Ijun. On the screen was CCTV footage with rather poor image quality. Still, it was clear enough to identify people.

It seemed to be footage from the day Ijun had declared his broken engagement to Harin and then met Seoyun.

It was a camera covering the entire lobby of the TJ Hotel. There were blind spots, but the entrance to the café Ijun had gone to was clearly visible.

Amid the sparse flow of people passing here and there, Ijun could be seen coming out of the café. At the time, he must have been furious because of Harin.

As Ijun crossed the lobby, Seoyun appeared. Ijun narrowed his brows and focused on the footage.

After leaving the café, Seoyun looked around briefly, then soon began walking in the same direction Ijun had gone. She headed straight toward the elevator hall and disappeared from the screen shortly afterward.

Which meant Seoyun had been in that café that day as well. She had not happened to spot Ijun at the hotel bar by chance; she had followed him from the café.

Why?

He was certain that it was not a lie that Seoyun had moved the drunken Ijun to the room out of concern, and that it had nothing to do with what Jiho had done.

But then why had she deliberately followed him? They had been the sort of people who could have simply passed each other by without a second thought.

His thoughts about Seoyun, which had seemed settled, became tangled once more.

No, in truth, nothing had been settled at all. Even after deciding that Seoyun had nothing to do with Jiho, thoughts of her had surfaced from time to time. Like a thorn lodged somewhere in his throat.

A little later, the lobby footage showed Seoyun walking while supporting his drunken self. The sight of himself staggering along, leaning on that small body, was ugly. And Song Seoyun, stubbornly holding him up even though every step seemed difficult for her. He could not bear to watch any longer.

“That’s enough.”

With an irritable motion, Ijun handed the tablet back to Chief Hyeon.

On top of the existence of the copied data, Seoyun’s incomprehensible behavior made it feel as if another stone had been placed on his chest. Fatigue jabbed at his head.

“Will you be accompanying me?”

“Yes, Executive Director. I think we can leave now.”

“Let’s go.”

As he rose from his seat, Ijun fastened the buttons of his jacket. He composed the face that had been stiffly set. It was time to resume carrying out his responsibilities.

***

“Ha, d*mn, this bastard really is tenacious.”

The head of the security team stepped outside the front door of Ijun’s villa and took a cigarette from his inside pocket. A security team employee standing guard nearby lit it for him with a lighter.

A few hits and he might come to his senses and start spilling everything.

But Chief Hyeon had said violence absolutely must not be used.

After exhaling a long drag of smoke, the team leader smacked his lips bitterly.

“He looks like the kind who’d piss himself if we scared him just a little, but I guess not yet.”

“Exactly. He’s got a pretty face and looks all frail and weak, but his stubbornness is like iron cable. He just keeps repeating ‘I don’t know’ and ‘I never did that’ like a broken recorder. I’m the one who’s going to end up with a neurosis.”

At first, they had thought it would be easy. Even without using force, they had assumed they could knock him down with words alone as much as they pleased.

That bastard Song Jiho looked too weak and soft to seem like someone who could have pulled off something so major, and at first he had even looked quite frightened.

But flinching at a few words had only lasted in the beginning. Now, whether that bastard was gradually getting used to the situation, the further things went, the less his expression changed.

“I heard the Executive Director’s pressure is no joke. Should we prepare some tools or something?”

“Hm? No, it’s fine. I think a little more will do. Hoo…. I guess I should go back in again. Ah, right, order stir-fried pork for lunch. That place we had last time was good.”

“Yes, understood.”

After flicking the ash from the cigarette that had burned down to the b*tt, the security team leader drew in a long breath and went back into the house.

“Song Jiho. Have you remembered anything yet?”

The head of the security team asked cheerfully as he sat down.

Jiho, who had been sitting with his head deeply lowered across the dining table, lifted only his eyes and looked up.

“I’ve told you over and over that there was no such thing. There is no copy.”

“If you keep being this uncooperative, then we’ll have no choice but to send people out and search everything top to bottom.”

“……”

“You know Executive Director Cha, don’t you. If he sets his mind to it, he can send people out like a swarm of ants and turn your school and that rooftop room upside down. Would you like a bunch of dark-looking men rummaging through the drawer where your sister keeps her panties and bras?”

“… I’d rather you didn’t, but even if you do, you won’t find anything. You’ll just be wasting your time.”

Hah, would you look at that.

The security team leader smiled inwardly.

Jiho’s claims had not changed from beginning to end, but every time his sister was mentioned, the leader had seen him flinch, ever so slightly, more than once. Even the eyes pretending at blank composure wavered.

“If you keep this up, the people around you will have a hard time. Your school friends, your family. Ah…. Well, family means just your sister, doesn’t it?”

“……”

“Then I guess we’ll have no choice but to bring in your sister, Ms. Song Seoyun. She’s your only family, so she must know something, right?”

“My sister knows nothing. I’ve told you over and over that she doesn’t even know what I did. There’s no point in bringing her here. You’d just be increasing the number of people who know about this.”

Jiho, who had remained calm the whole time, raised his voice. His tone was edged with irritation.

The security team leader smiled brightly.

“Oh dear, how scary. All right, then it’d be nice if our Song Jiho would just come clean honestly, wouldn’t it? Right? If you just hand over the copy, this will all end safely. We won’t even hold you legally responsible.”

Jiho glared at the security team leader with eyes full of distrust. Of course, it was a lie. Even if they recovered the copy as well, there was no way this matter would end safely for Song Jiho.

He had seemed bold from the very start for doing something so reckless, and sure enough, he was brazen to the end.

“… I don’t know. I told you, I never copied it.”

Letting out a sigh, the security team leader tugged down his tie.

***

It was late at night when Ijun returned home. His parents would both already be asleep by this hour, so without stopping by the main house, he passed through the garden and headed for the detached building where he stayed.

Near the end of the row of Italian cypresses, he saw the figure of someone standing tall there.

“Father, you’re not asleep yet?”

“I stepped out for a bit of air and was just about to go back in.”

The man wearing a cardigan over his loungewear was his father, Vice Chairman Cha Myeonguk.