Wang Lun, who was watching the CCTV screen, bit the cigarette with his front teeth. The man who broke into Ja-kyung’s old house started from the yard and looked inside the house, then disappeared in the same way he had broken in the first time. The CCTV installed there was so small that it was difficult to find with the naked eye. Even so, to think that a respected man like a prosecutor would break into someone else’s house in broad daylight was quite surprising.
Ja-kyung looked out the window in silence. Darkness had settled in all directions, and only the occasional headlights of passing cars on the distant road could be seen. When Kang Il-hyun returned from work, he usually drove along the small road that led to this place. It seemed that he would be late coming home today.
Lost in thought, Ja-kyung turned around and called Wang Lun.
“Hyung, shall we go out?”
“Where to?”
“Do you remember what Grandma said before she passed away?”
Unable to understand, Wang Lun frowned. Huh?
“She said if a guest comes, never send them away empty-handed.”
As Wang Lun’s eyes narrowed, a smile gradually spread across his face, and Ja-kyung quickly added,
“I want to give him a gift. Something very nice.”
“Are you sure? If CEO Kang finds out, there will be trouble.”
“Who cares? I’m thinking of playing around with him a little bit. What do you think, Han hyung?”
Han nodded in agreement. Sounds like fun. The gazes of the three people kept switching back and forth. Soon, Ja-kyung took out his phone and contacted Kang Il-hyun. During the call, he asked when Il-hyun would come home today and if he could go out and have fun with his brothers.
When Wang Lun saw Ja-kyung having to ask for permission like a child, he teased him and imitated his mouth movements, while Wang Han slapped the back of his head and told him not to do that. Wang Han then reprimanded that it was all because of him. If Wang Lun didn’t lie and took them to Hong Kong, this wouldn’t have happened.
While the two were playfully squabbling, Ja-kyung finished the call and laughed leisurely.
“Let’s go.”
***
Il-hyun put down the disconnected phone on the table. Kang Yoo-jung, who sat in front of him, looked at his face with curiosity while holding a coffee cup. She was bewildered when he suddenly suggested having a cup of coffee near the hospital.
“Who? Ja-kyung ssi?”
Instead of answering, Il-hyun looked at Kang Yoo-jung’s gown. The stained gown was evidence that she had just saved someone’s life a while ago. Even during their conversation, she occasionally checked the time.
“Just go if you are busy.”
“Didn’t you come here because you had something to say?”
“Just came to see your face.”
“Is something wrong?”
“If I say I came because I missed my older sister, will you believe me?”
Surprised, Yoo-jung’s eyes widened, then soon showed a skeptical expression.
“What did I do wrong to you?”
Il-hyun chuckled. After receiving the test results, he couldn’t get a grasp on his work. Prosecutor Jang lost his younger brother, and Ja-kyung resembled his brother’s face a lot. He considered it a mere coincidence until he found out they were brothers, but strangely, Kang Yoo-jung came to mind at that moment.
“I have a question.”
“Say it.”
She lifted the coffee cup and brought it to her mouth. Il-hyun leaned back on the sofa and stared at Kang Yoo-jung. The girl who used to carry and hug him instead of his mother when he was little has now become much smaller than him.
“Why did you do that?”
Kang Yoo-jung took her mouth off the coffee cup and looked upward.
“What?”
“That day. Why did you save me?”
The hand that had set the glass down stopped. There was no change in her expression as she looked at Il-hyun.
“You want to criticize me?”
“No. I’m just curious. You could have saved Father instead.”
Kang Yoo-jung answered as if she had no hesitation.
“Because I wanted to.”
“So why.”
“Because you are more important than our father.”
“…”
“Even if the same situation happens again, my choice won’t change. I have no regrets.”
Her face was resolute, and despite her sincerity, Kang Il-hyun’s heart sank into darkness.
“Is being a younger brother really like that?”
Il-hyun asked with a curious expression. Meanwhile, Kang Yoo-jung thought that Kang Il-hyun was strange. At that time, there was a broadcast looking for Kang Yoo-jung. She took out the pager she had kept in her pocket and checked it, then stood up. I have to go. See you later. Il-hyun grabbed her arm as she waved goodbye.
When she stopped walking and looked back, Il-hyun smiled lightly.
“Thank you.”
His eyes were filled with sincerity. Yoo-jung was taken aback, opened her mouth, stammered a bit, and then looked at Park Tae-soo. Is he okay? Did Lee Ja-kyung run away again? Park Tae-soo couldn’t answer her. Yoo-jung let out a short sigh, then removed Il-hyun’s hand and patted the back of his hand as if to comfort him.
Then she said goodbye and hurriedly ran to the emergency room. While watching her back, Kang Il-hyun quietly called Park Tae-soo.
“Tae-soo.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park Tae-soo, who was about two steps away, came closer. He lowered his body and listened closely. In that moment, all emotions disappeared from Il-hyun’s gaze.
“Let’s kill Prosecutor Jang.”
***
“Is this the right place?”
Looking at the house through the car window, Wang Lun asked Ja-kyung. After stealing the wallet, Ja-kyung had written down the address, and now they arrived at a detached house not far from Ja-kyung’s old house. The old house looked weathered with paint peeling here and there, and even the tree in the yard was withered to the point where it was hard to recognize its original form.
“It looks like a place where a ghost would appear.”
“If that prosecutor dies tonight, he might become a real ghost.”
Wang Lun laughed out loud at Ja-kyung’s joke. The two got out of the car with black hoods and masks covering their faces. They thought there would be CCTV, but there was none. While the two were moving near the house, Wang Han pulled the car and disappeared down the alley. Once they crossed the fence, they heard the sound of an old branch breaking. Step by step, they proceeded toward the house, but they didn’t sense any presence.
Carefully, they climbed the stairs and checked the front door. Wang Lun inserted a pointed piece of metal into the keyhole and turned it quickly. The security measures of a prosecutor were no match for him. He turned on the flashlight and entered inside. Ja-kyung instructed Wang Lun to go to the right, while he moved to the other side.
While looking for a suitable place to plant the camera, Wang Han’s voice was heard through the in-ear.
[Did you get in?]
“Yeah. I’m in the middle of the operation…”
Ja-kyung’s words trailed off as he shone the lantern on the wall. There were family photos hanging there- a young couple with two children. One of the children seemed to be around ten years old, and the other was a toddler just learning to walk. After glancing at them, he passed through the kitchen and entered the bedroom.
From what he observed, this person didn’t seem to be the type to take money or engage in illegal activities. The room was cluttered with books, documents, and various items, all covered in dust. It looked tidy, but it needed some cleaning.
After attaching cameras and wiretaps to various places with gloved hands, he contacted Wang Han to test whether the signal was picked up. During this process, one of the wiretapping fell into a narrow gap between drawers. Ja-kyung tried to reach for it with his hand but couldn’t get a good grip due to the tight space.
When the drawer was pulled forward, the pile of papers on top of it slipped and scattered on the floor. As he tried to pick them up, he was too late to catch one of the papers that flew away, revealing some writing on it. Fuck. He quickly retrieved the scattered papers.
[Wei. What’s the matter?]
“Nothing. I’ll be out soon.”
Ja-kyung’s hand, which was picking up the paper, stopped. The flashlight shone on the exact spot where he saw some words written.
Missing child. Seeking information about Jang Kyung-joon.
Name: Jang Kyung-joon
Age at the time of disappearance: 3 years old
Current age: 4 years old
Short and thin with black hair, speaks slower than his peers.
He was wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt.
The location, date, and minor characteristics of the lost child were written.
Ja-kyung unknowingly turned to the next page. Even on the faded paper, the traces of time were evident. The feeling was similar to when he first saw this house – a place where time seemed to have stood still. And the belongings… The flyer mentioned that the missing child’s current age was five, but the picture still showed the child at the age of three. As he flipped through, he noticed the ages increasing: six, seven, eight… They had been searching for the child diligently, and each year, the number kept growing.
“Wei?”
Wang Lun suddenly appeared and put his hand on Ja-kyung’s shoulder. The startled Ja-kyung turned around and dropped the flashlight to the floor. He picked it up in a hurry, but Wang Lun looked at him worriedly. Are you okay?
Ja-kyung let out a laugh.
“Yeah. I dropped the paper.”
“Don’t be careless. I’ll finish the installation for you.”
Wang Lun sat down beside him to help pick up the paper, and Ja-kyung found the wiretap that had rolled over and was about to stand up to install it. Huh? Wang Lun made a surprised sound. Ja-kyung who planted the wiretap behind the frame hesitated and looked down.
He was looking at the paper Ja-kyung had been looking through earlier. But this time, there was another face next to the picture of the three-year-old child – a current image of the person at the age of 23. The face looked familiar. Wang Lun looked up at Ja-kyung with an expression of disbelief.
“Wei… This one looks like you…?”
Jakyung looked puzzled but laughed it off. “Again with that talk?”
Wang Lun slowly stood up and took the montage alongside Ja-kyung’s face. Look, you look very similar. Ja-kyung alternately checked the person in the montage and his own face through the mirror on the wall.
They did resemble each other. The missing child. Even if it was a composite sketch, the resemblance was convincing. Ja-kyung felt strangely uneasy and placed the paper back in its original position. Just then, Wang Han’s voice came through the earpiece.
[You both come out quickly.]
Wang Lun made a fuss.
“Hyung, I found something interesting. Someone who looks just like Wei here,”
[Don’t talk nonsense, come out quickly.]
Wang Han’s voice sounded urgent. It seemed like Prosecutor Jang had appeared. The two inside the house exchanged glances.
But unfortunately, their expectations were off the mark.
“Another visitor has come beside us.”
Wang Lun, who was watching the CCTV screen, bit the cigarette with his front teeth. The man who broke into Ja-kyung’s old house started from the yard and looked inside the house, then disappeared in the same way he had broken in the first time. The CCTV installed there was so small that it was difficult to find with the naked eye. Even so, to think that a respected man like a prosecutor would break into someone else’s house in broad daylight was quite surprising.
Ja-kyung looked out the window in silence. Darkness had settled in all directions, and only the occasional headlights of passing cars on the distant road could be seen. When Kang Il-hyun returned from work, he usually drove along the small road that led to this place. It seemed that he would be late coming home today.
Lost in thought, Ja-kyung turned around and called Wang Lun.
“Hyung, shall we go out?”
“Where to?”
“Do you remember what Grandma said before she passed away?”
Unable to understand, Wang Lun frowned. Huh?
“She said if a guest comes, never send them away empty-handed.”
As Wang Lun’s eyes narrowed, a smile gradually spread across his face, and Ja-kyung quickly added,
“I want to give him a gift. Something very nice.”
“Are you sure? If CEO Kang finds out, there will be trouble.”
“Who cares? I’m thinking of playing around with him a little bit. What do you think, Han hyung?”
Han nodded in agreement. Sounds like fun. The gazes of the three people kept switching back and forth. Soon, Ja-kyung took out his phone and contacted Kang Il-hyun. During the call, he asked when Il-hyun would come home today and if he could go out and have fun with his brothers.
When Wang Lun saw Ja-kyung having to ask for permission like a child, he teased him and imitated his mouth movements, while Wang Han slapped the back of his head and told him not to do that. Wang Han then reprimanded that it was all because of him. If Wang Lun didn’t lie and took them to Hong Kong, this wouldn’t have happened.
While the two were playfully squabbling, Ja-kyung finished the call and laughed leisurely.
“Let’s go.”
***
Il-hyun put down the disconnected phone on the table. Kang Yoo-jung, who sat in front of him, looked at his face with curiosity while holding a coffee cup. She was bewildered when he suddenly suggested having a cup of coffee near the hospital.
“Who? Ja-kyung ssi?”
Instead of answering, Il-hyun looked at Kang Yoo-jung’s gown. The stained gown was evidence that she had just saved someone’s life a while ago. Even during their conversation, she occasionally checked the time.
“Just go if you are busy.”
“Didn’t you come here because you had something to say?”
“Just came to see your face.”
“Is something wrong?”
“If I say I came because I missed my older sister, will you believe me?”
Surprised, Yoo-jung’s eyes widened, then soon showed a skeptical expression.
“What did I do wrong to you?”
Il-hyun chuckled. After receiving the test results, he couldn’t get a grasp on his work. Prosecutor Jang lost his younger brother, and Ja-kyung resembled his brother’s face a lot. He considered it a mere coincidence until he found out they were brothers, but strangely, Kang Yoo-jung came to mind at that moment.
“I have a question.”
“Say it.”
She lifted the coffee cup and brought it to her mouth. Il-hyun leaned back on the sofa and stared at Kang Yoo-jung. The girl who used to carry and hug him instead of his mother when he was little has now become much smaller than him.
“Why did you do that?”
Kang Yoo-jung took her mouth off the coffee cup and looked upward.
“What?”
“That day. Why did you save me?”
The hand that had set the glass down stopped. There was no change in her expression as she looked at Il-hyun.
“You want to criticize me?”
“No. I’m just curious. You could have saved Father instead.”
Kang Yoo-jung answered as if she had no hesitation.
“Because I wanted to.”
“So why.”
“Because you are more important than our father.”
“…”
“Even if the same situation happens again, my choice won’t change. I have no regrets.”
Her face was resolute, and despite her sincerity, Kang Il-hyun’s heart sank into darkness.
“Is being a younger brother really like that?”
Il-hyun asked with a curious expression. Meanwhile, Kang Yoo-jung thought that Kang Il-hyun was strange. At that time, there was a broadcast looking for Kang Yoo-jung. She took out the pager she had kept in her pocket and checked it, then stood up. I have to go. See you later. Il-hyun grabbed her arm as she waved goodbye.
When she stopped walking and looked back, Il-hyun smiled lightly.
“Thank you.”
His eyes were filled with sincerity. Yoo-jung was taken aback, opened her mouth, stammered a bit, and then looked at Park Tae-soo. Is he okay? Did Lee Ja-kyung run away again? Park Tae-soo couldn’t answer her. Yoo-jung let out a short sigh, then removed Il-hyun’s hand and patted the back of his hand as if to comfort him.
Then she said goodbye and hurriedly ran to the emergency room. While watching her back, Kang Il-hyun quietly called Park Tae-soo.
“Tae-soo.”
“Yes, sir.”
Park Tae-soo, who was about two steps away, came closer. He lowered his body and listened closely. In that moment, all emotions disappeared from Il-hyun’s gaze.
“Let’s kill Prosecutor Jang.”
***
“Is this the right place?”
Looking at the house through the car window, Wang Lun asked Ja-kyung. After stealing the wallet, Ja-kyung had written down the address, and now they arrived at a detached house not far from Ja-kyung’s old house. The old house looked weathered with paint peeling here and there, and even the tree in the yard was withered to the point where it was hard to recognize its original form.
“It looks like a place where a ghost would appear.”
“If that prosecutor dies tonight, he might become a real ghost.”
Wang Lun laughed out loud at Ja-kyung’s joke. The two got out of the car with black hoods and masks covering their faces. They thought there would be CCTV, but there was none. While the two were moving near the house, Wang Han pulled the car and disappeared down the alley. Once they crossed the fence, they heard the sound of an old branch breaking. Step by step, they proceeded toward the house, but they didn’t sense any presence.
Carefully, they climbed the stairs and checked the front door. Wang Lun inserted a pointed piece of metal into the keyhole and turned it quickly. The security measures of a prosecutor were no match for him. He turned on the flashlight and entered inside. Ja-kyung instructed Wang Lun to go to the right, while he moved to the other side.
While looking for a suitable place to plant the camera, Wang Han’s voice was heard through the in-ear.
[Did you get in?]
“Yeah. I’m in the middle of the operation…”
Ja-kyung’s words trailed off as he shone the lantern on the wall. There were family photos hanging there- a young couple with two children. One of the children seemed to be around ten years old, and the other was a toddler just learning to walk. After glancing at them, he passed through the kitchen and entered the bedroom.
From what he observed, this person didn’t seem to be the type to take money or engage in illegal activities. The room was cluttered with books, documents, and various items, all covered in dust. It looked tidy, but it needed some cleaning.
After attaching cameras and wiretaps to various places with gloved hands, he contacted Wang Han to test whether the signal was picked up. During this process, one of the wiretapping fell into a narrow gap between drawers. Ja-kyung tried to reach for it with his hand but couldn’t get a good grip due to the tight space.
When the drawer was pulled forward, the pile of papers on top of it slipped and scattered on the floor. As he tried to pick them up, he was too late to catch one of the papers that flew away, revealing some writing on it. Fuck. He quickly retrieved the scattered papers.
[Wei. What’s the matter?]
“Nothing. I’ll be out soon.”
Ja-kyung’s hand, which was picking up the paper, stopped. The flashlight shone on the exact spot where he saw some words written.
Missing child. Seeking information about Jang Kyung-joon.
Name: Jang Kyung-joon
Age at the time of disappearance: 3 years old
Current age: 4 years old
Short and thin with black hair, speaks slower than his peers.
He was wearing jeans and a blue T-shirt.
The location, date, and minor characteristics of the lost child were written.
Ja-kyung unknowingly turned to the next page. Even on the faded paper, the traces of time were evident. The feeling was similar to when he first saw this house – a place where time seemed to have stood still. And the belongings… The flyer mentioned that the missing child’s current age was five, but the picture still showed the child at the age of three. As he flipped through, he noticed the ages increasing: six, seven, eight… They had been searching for the child diligently, and each year, the number kept growing.
“Wei?”
Wang Lun suddenly appeared and put his hand on Ja-kyung’s shoulder. The startled Ja-kyung turned around and dropped the flashlight to the floor. He picked it up in a hurry, but Wang Lun looked at him worriedly. Are you okay?
Ja-kyung let out a laugh.
“Yeah. I dropped the paper.”
“Don’t be careless. I’ll finish the installation for you.”
Wang Lun sat down beside him to help pick up the paper, and Ja-kyung found the wiretap that had rolled over and was about to stand up to install it. Huh? Wang Lun made a surprised sound. Ja-kyung who planted the wiretap behind the frame hesitated and looked down.
He was looking at the paper Ja-kyung had been looking through earlier. But this time, there was another face next to the picture of the three-year-old child – a current image of the person at the age of 23. The face looked familiar. Wang Lun looked up at Ja-kyung with an expression of disbelief.
“Wei… This one looks like you…?”
Jakyung looked puzzled but laughed it off. “Again with that talk?”
Wang Lun slowly stood up and took the montage alongside Ja-kyung’s face. Look, you look very similar. Ja-kyung alternately checked the person in the montage and his own face through the mirror on the wall.
They did resemble each other. The missing child. Even if it was a composite sketch, the resemblance was convincing. Ja-kyung felt strangely uneasy and placed the paper back in its original position. Just then, Wang Han’s voice came through the earpiece.
[You both come out quickly.]
Wang Lun made a fuss.
“Hyung, I found something interesting. Someone who looks just like Wei here,”
[Don’t talk nonsense, come out quickly.]
Wang Han’s voice sounded urgent. It seemed like Prosecutor Jang had appeared. The two inside the house exchanged glances.
But unfortunately, their expectations were off the mark.
“Another visitor has come beside us.”
