Chapter 12

“The Information Security Office seems to be in an uproar. Is it something difficult to resolve?”

“No. It’s almost completely under control now.”

“I see.”

After that short reply, Myeonguk gazed silently at the garden sunk in darkness. He had probably received a report and knew the full circumstances already.

He had originally been a man of few words and a grave disposition, but he had become this dark and heavy after Hyejun’s accident.

That shadow had fallen not only over Myeonguk, but over every member of the family who shared the secret of that terrible wound.

“Go on inside. You must be tired.”

“Yes. Father, you should get some sleep too.”

Only after watching for quite some time as Myeonguk slowly walked toward the main house did Ijun finally open the front door to the detached building.

The employees had already gone home, so a deep stillness flowed through the house.

Loosening his tie, he stepped inside. The living room was perfectly arranged without a single flaw. He had always hated disorder to begin with, but lately, because Ijun had been so on edge, even the employees had been tense, trying to avoid giving him anything to criticize.

Taking a bottle of water from the refrigerator, Ijun sat on the living room sofa without even changing out of his clothes. A phone call would come soon enough.

The reports related to Song Jiho were always coming after work, late at night.

A little while later. As expected, his phone vibrated.

This time, there had better be progress. Because of Jiho, who stubbornly kept his mouth shut, Ijun’s patience was wearing thin.

Even so, the reason he did not resort to rough or coercive measures was perfectly clear. He did not want this matter to become known outside. He could not do anything now that might later be used against him.

Because it was connected not merely to owner risk caused by a shocking rumor, but to the safety of his younger brother Hyejun.

“Go ahead.”

—Yes, Executive Director. We still did not get a decisive confession today either.

“……”

The tension in the security team leader’s voice over the receiver was obvious. And no wonder. As time dragged on without results, the anger underlying Ijun’s voice had been showing itself more and more clearly.

He did not know the fundamental reason Ijun was so obsessed with recovering the copy, but he did know one thing for certain: it was an extremely important mission.

“Is it really that difficult? Difficult enough that we have to wait like this indefinitely?”

—I’m sorry. I also thought we’d see results soon, but this kid is more persistent than I expected….

“And what exactly was that expectation of results based on?”

—Well, you see.

A solid chunk of confidence dropped out of the security team leader’s voice.

—This kid has more guts than he looks. Even in situations where most people would have cracked, his expression doesn’t change at all. But judging by my instincts, there is one situation he does react to.

“What is it?”

—He stiffens up whenever his sister is mentioned. He tries to hide it, but that’s how it looked to me. So I thought maybe we could use that Song Seoyun and threaten him a little with her….

Ijun fell silent in thought. When he had first met Song Jiho, he had thought the same thing himself.

That was why he had deliberately gone to meet Seoyun again separately.

If there really was a copy.

And if Song Jiho leaked that data for whatever purpose.

Given how things had unfolded so far, Song Jiho seemed extremely unlikely to cooperate in handing over the copy. Then did that mean Song Seoyun had to be used as a way to stop it? How?

“All right. Keep a close watch on Song Jiho. Do not let him out of your sight for even a second.”

—Yes, Executive Director.

Perhaps relieved that the report had ended safely without incurring Ijun’s anger, the security team leader hurriedly hung up.

Ijun remained seated, lost in thought. The water bottle in his hand remained untouched.

Ijun thought of Seoyun. Her clear face, her red lips, the gentle-looking shape of her eyes. And the shyness, confusion, humiliation, and weariness that had soaked into those large eyes as though day turned into night. All the things that had been surfacing from time to time and unsettling his composure.

***

Seoyun adjusted the bag hanging over her shoulder. She was dressed simply in jeans and a thin knit top, but she still straightened her clothes in case she happened to run into someone she knew.

It was her first time back at the university since graduation. Several years had passed, but the school gate and buildings were still the same.

After walking a long way into the spacious campus, she arrived in front of Engineering Building 9.

She worried that perhaps coming all the way to the university like this was too much. But she could not simply remain as she was.

It had already been nearly ten days since Jiho had abruptly left home in the middle of the night, and she still had not seen him again. She had not even been able to speak to him on the phone. When Seoyun called, he did not answer, and no calls came from him either.

The several messages she had sent received only brief replies in return.

Jiho, why are you so hard to reach? Do you not even have time to stop by home for a moment?

Jiho, please call me just once. You’re doing well, aren’t you?

Noona, I’m sorry. The research is so busy that I can’t find any spare time. I’m doing fine, so don’t worry. I’ll stop by home sometime soon.

It was a relief that at least he was replying to her messages, but her worry kept growing by the day.

What kind of grand project in the world was so important that he did not even have time for a single phone call? If he really was that busy, then she felt she had no choice but to come in person and at least see his face.

Perhaps because classes had just ended, there were quite a few students going in and out of Engineering Building 9. True to an engineering school, most of them were male students.

“Um, excuse me, may I ask you something?”

Just then, Seoyun stopped one of the students passing nearby.

“Yes?”

“By any chance…. are you in Computer Science?”

“……”

“Um, I’m not a strange person, and…. do you know Song Jiho? He’s a second-year student. I came to see him because I can’t reach him on the phone. Ah, I’m Jiho’s older sister.”

“Ah…. You’re Song Jiho’s older sister?”

The male student, who had been looking at Seoyun with a strange expression, nodded only then. But what he said next was beyond Seoyun’s expectations.

“But I haven’t seen Jiho at school lately. He hasn’t been coming for quite a while.”

“What?”

Seoyun froze, her lips slightly parted. No matter how important a project with professors might be, how could they keep a student from even attending class?

Her shock lasted only a moment before anger rose in its place.

No matter how gifted Jiho was, was this not the professor taking advantage of a student?

She was about to ask where the professor’s lab was when the student standing before her waved his hand toward somewhere else.

“Hey! Jaehyeon, Jaeyun!”

“Huh? What is it?”

“Song Jiho’s older sister is here.”

At the answer coming from over there, it felt as though Seoyun’s ears suddenly opened wide. She had heard of Jaeyun and Jaehyeon before. They were said to be Jiho’s closest friends.

“Oh, hello.”

“Hello. I’m Kim Jaeyun, and this is Lee Jaehyeon.”

The two male students, exchanging glances and approaching awkwardly, bowed to Seoyun. They were dressed in jeans and checkered shirts, and they truly did look like students Jiho’s age.

“Excuse me, where is Jiho right now?”

In her urgency, Seoyun asked at once without even having the composure to greet them properly.

“Jiho? Uh…. You don’t know where Jiho is right now?”

“He told me he was working on an important project with the professors and staying there, and since then I haven’t been able to reach him well.”

“Ah….”

When the student named Jaeyun looked at Jaehyeon awkwardly, Jaehyeon gave him a subtle signal with his eyes.

“Well…. It’s an extremely confidential project, so I think the security around it is very strict.”

“That’s right. So we haven’t really been able to contact him either, but please don’t worry. Jiho must be doing fine.”

“… Why would they have a second-year student like Jiho participate in such an important project? And he’s a student, but it looks like he can’t even attend classes.”

At the worried look on Seoyun’s face, Jaeyun swallowed hard.

“Well, as you probably know too, Noona, when it comes to hacking, Jiho could be called number one in the country. No, forget the country. People say he’s a genius even on a global level.”

“Jiho?”

Jiho had said something similar before, but Seoyun had assumed it was exaggerated. She had simply thought he was especially talented at hacking.

“Yes. So even the professors are getting a lot of help from Jiho. As for classes…. they’ll probably count this project participation toward his credits. To be honest, second-year classes are child’s play for Jiho anyway.”