Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 2

Kim Donggil, the protagonist who had called him thirty times since morning, pretended not to hear Cheon Sejoo’s curse, turned his head away, and quickly moved. Seeing him disappear into the building, Cheon Sejoo got down from the windowsill and left the accounting office.

“Team Leader, shall we go to eat?”

As he came out, Seonhyuk, who had just stubbed out the cigarette he was smoking, rushed over and asked. “No,” Cheon Sejoo pushed Moon Seonhyuk aside with his arm and headed for the water dispenser. After getting and drinking a glass of cold water, he saw Donggil entering the office right on cue.

His closely shaven head, and plump face that couldn’t honestly be called handsome, gleamed. As his eyes met Cheon Sejoo’s, Kim Donggil smiled brightly with an oddly endearing expression.

“When did you arrive?”

He must have already heard that he’d arrived, but his feigned ignorance was irritating.

“Stop your nonsense and come over here.”

“I’m a bit busy…”

“If I come over there, you’ll get beaten.”

As soon as Cheon Sejoo said that and took a step, Donggil darted over. Pushing Moon Seonhyuk aside with his backside, Kim Donggil stood respectfully with his hands clasped in front of Cheon Sejoo. Cheon Sejoo glared at his wheedling face, which was blabbering to hit him gently if he was going to hit him, and gestured with his chin towards the accounting office.

“When the maknae finishes his work, take him out for some meat.”

He must have been crestfallen after being hit and reprimanded by both him and Seonhyuk. If Yeongjun also left the office, there would be no one left here with a significant intelligence level. Only ape-like humans remained. So he had to take care of them while they were there.

However, at the mention of taking care of the maknae, Kim Donggil pursed his lips and mumbled as if he had heard something unbelievable, “I don’t have any money.” Cheon Sejoo got annoyed at that absurd remark.

“Did this bastard eat all his money? You got paid yesterday.”

“I dumped it all into coins. It’s all the rage these days, isn’t it?”

“Ha…”

He told him not to gamble, and now it’s this coin nonsense. Cheon Sejoo clutched his head with both hands as a headache washed over him and sighed. If he had to hit someone while working, Kim Donggil was the one he wanted to hit the most here, but unfortunately, there was no excuse. Being stupid wasn’t a reason to get beaten.

Shaking his head reluctantly, Cheon Sejoo signaled to Seonhyuk, and the quick-witted Moon Seonhyuk found the jacket he had put down and brought it to him. He took out his wallet from the inner pocket of the jacket and put a few 50,000 won bills into Kim Donggil’s hand.

“If you eat it all by yourself, you’re dead.”

“Yes, thank you!”

Seeing him respond with a grin, he didn’t feel very confident. Cheon Sejoo swallowed his irritation and asked him,

“How many kids are upstairs?”

“None. We’re done with the busy stuff, so this is all of us.”

There was no need to worry about the guys guarding the entrance, so adding Donggil, Yeongjun, and the burly men, there were only about five or six in total. But knowing how much they ate, Cheon Sejoo took out a couple more checks from his wallet and added them to his hand. To keep the maknae from starving, he needed to fill the bellies of the higher-ups generously. Donggil’s mouth gaped wide open as he held the money.

“Oh, how fortunate we are that our Team Leader Cheon came. Before, we were busy starving every day…”

“Stop your nonsense. I’m leaving.”

It was when Cheon Sejoo, who didn’t want to stay in this filthy place for another minute, put on his jacket and turned to leave. Kim Donggil asked in a subtle voice,

“Ah, Director Han is coming at 1 o’clock later. Aren’t you going to see him before you leave?”

“…”

At the mention of Director Han, Cheon Sejoo’s face crumpled in annoyance. He immediately turned around, looked at Donggil, and raised his hand. With his finger circling beside his temple, Cheon Sejoo said,

“Are you crazy?”

“How could I be? It just means you’ve come after a long time, so stay a bit longer before you go.”

He acted clueless, but Cheon Sejoo knew well that Kim Donggil was quicker-witted than anyone and skilled at handling situations.

Director Han, Han Jonghyun, was, like Cheon Sejoo, one of the people under Shin Gyoyeon, the organization’s successor, and a vulgar man who was terribly fond of women.

The reason he stopped by Shin Sa Capital was just one. It was to take advantage of young girls who had recklessly borrowed money and were driven to the brink of collection, under the pretext of paying off their debts.

Kim Donggil’s words meant for Cheon Sejoo to deal with Director Han. But Cheon Sejoo had no intention of doing so. It had nothing to do with whether the irritating Kim Donggil was flustered or not, and it was also because the person named Director Han was utterly annoying. Cheon Sejoo generally did not want to run into him.

“I’m good, you go suck up to Director Han all you want.”

Cheon Sejoo uttered words that Han Jonghyun would detest and turned to leave. But just as he stood before the entrance, a face came to mind. Remembering the girl he saw downstairs, he frowned.

She was so remarkably pretty that even a brief glance had left an impression. She didn’t look like an adult, but he vaguely recalled hearing that Han Jonghyun even touched minors.

Damn it. Cheon Sejoo closed and opened his eyes slowly, rolling his tongue in his mouth. It’s not my business. He repeated it to himself, but his feet wouldn’t move. Feeling disillusioned with himself, he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up, and finally perched on the desk near the entrance, asking,

“The kid downstairs, what’s up with her?”

“The kid? Oh…”

He had expected an answer like, “Who? There wasn’t anyone,” but Kim Donggil frowned, as if he understood, and nodded his head. She’s still there. At Cheon Sejoo’s glance, Donggil explained.

“What else? Her dad borrowed money and ran off, so her mom, who guaranteed the loan, got dragged in. And she’s been like that for days, saying she wants to be taken to her mom.”

She wasn’t waiting for parents who had been dragged in due to collection. She was waiting for her parents to return, who had already been taken to the business to pay off a debt.

That young child, alone, here…

His mouth felt bitter. Why isn’t she calmly waiting at home? What does she think she’s going to do by stubbornly staying here? Cheon Sejoo inwardly clicked his tongue and asked again,

“How many days has it been?”

“About three days…? Three days, that’s 4 days, right?”

“Three days, you ignorant bastard.”

Kim Donggil chuckled at Cheon Sejoo’s rebuke. Soon, an exaggerated sigh escaped Donggil.

“Ugh, that kid has quite the temper. Even when we tell her to go home, she just screams that she wants to be taken to her mom, and seriously, it’s no joke. She’s not moving an inch, and if I even tried to shoo her away, I thought she’d call the cops, so I just left her alone.”

“She probably doesn’t have a home now, does she? So even if she wants to go home, she can’t.”

Someone interrupted Kim Donggil’s grumbling voice. Turning his head, he saw it was one of the burly men, who was diligently wiping the sofa, looking around nervously. He looked at the man, wondering what he meant by “no home,” and the man explained with exaggerated gestures.

“No, the day before yesterday, I went to their house to collect money, and there were other guys there besides us, you know? The Haechan bastards. Those motherfuckers went before us, and they were trying to take the security deposit and the lady, but I, just like that, punched him down and brought her out, didn’t I? When they lost the lady, they tried to take the kid, so I told them, if you touch a child, you’re dead, and then I flipped them off, telling them to take their security deposit and scream.”

“Kim Maenggi, for once you’ve earned your keep.”

Donggil grinned and gave a thumbs-up, hearing the man’s boastful words. Cheon Sejoo silently cursed. It seemed the child’s only guardian had been dragged to a brothel. She probably wouldn’t be able to leave there until she paid off all her debt.

The conclusion was that the child had no home to return to. Cheon Sejoo, now with a headache, pulled a cigarette from his jacket and lit it. He inhaled deeply from the one Moon Seonhyuk lit for him and asked in a casual tone,

“Where did the child’s mother go?”

“Ah, she was lucky, though. She went to Ehwa-gak. There was an empty spot in the kitchen there.”

If she had borrowed heavily from other loan sharks, the child’s mother, or even the child, would have been sold to a brothel without a doubt. But Shin Sa Capital, at least, didn’t deal in human trafficking. If there was one good thing the man who borrowed the money had done, that was it. Moreover, the child’s mother was lucky. Although she couldn’t communicate with the outside world, he heard that Ehwa-gak was a place where if you worked hard, you could pay off all your debt and even receive severance pay upon leaving.

But that only applied to adults who could earn money, and there was no place for a useless child there. Since Haechan had taken the security deposit, the house must already be empty. All the valuable items must have been sold off as well. House, money, parents – the child had no means left to protect herself.

Having realized all that, Cheon Sejoo regretted his recent choice. Ah, damn it. I wish I hadn’t listened.

He smoked heavily, recalling the eyes he had briefly seen earlier. They were filled with hostility. He felt that no ordinary excuse would make the child get up from that spot. What could he say to get the child out of here before Han Jonghyun arrived? Pondering, Sejoo asked,

“The kid, did you feed her?”

“I don’t know. On the second day or something, Yeongjun gave her some bread to eat, but she ignored him, and after that, we didn’t even look at her. Hmm, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve seen her leave her spot either…”

So, that small child had been starving for four days. A sigh escaped him involuntarily. Despite being no better than them, Cheon Sejoo looked back at Kim Donggil with an exasperated expression.

“You bastards, do you have no sympathy?”

“What’s that? I know muk-eun-ji (aged kimchi), but not that.”

“This bastard, really…”

If he said anything more, his blood pressure would surely rise, and he’d have to go to the hospital. Sejoo, with an irritated face, tossed the cigarette butt near Donggil’s shoe and stood up. “Are you leaving? Can’t you stay a little longer?” Ignoring Kim Donggil, who was trying to stop him, and Moon Seonhyuk, who was greeting him, he walked out of the office.

He pressed the call button, and the elevator, which was on the 10th floor, descended at a sluggish pace fitting its age. Cheon Sejoo fell into thought as he watched the numbers slowly drop.

The child looked about fifteen, at a glance. Even Han Jonghyun wouldn’t touch such a small child. He was a lecher, not a rapist. Getting involved here would only lead to unnecessary worry and trouble.

Yes, so let’s just go home. Cheon Sejoo concluded that and got into the elevator. He pressed the button and tried to divert his thoughts elsewhere. But when the elevator reached the first floor and the doors opened, all his thoughts vanished at the sight of the black lump still crouched in the hallway.

Cheon Sejoo, as if possessed, stepped into the hallway. Standing before the child, he whispered in a low voice,

“…Get up.”

The child, curled up tightly to protect herself from the merciless world, looked small enough for him to lift with one hand. Cheon Sejoo had seen a child in such a state before. He also knew what choice that child, ignored by the world just as this child had been abandoned here for four days, ultimately made.

At that time, if someone had reached out to that child, would the outcome have been different? Because of that question, the answer to which he didn’t know… Cheon Sejoo couldn’t just walk past the child.

“Get up.”

“…”

At the repeated words, the child lifted her head. Their eyes met. Cheon Sejoo read intense wariness towards him in her clear, transparent eyes. Belatedly, he remembered his own appearance. Messy hair, an unbuttoned shirt, a hickey on his neck—he was clearly not in a trustworthy state.

Tsk, he clicked his tongue and squatted down in front of the child. He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to create a neat impression, and examined the child.

Despite being hidden by her hoodie and hair, the child’s face was astonishingly beautiful. Her long eyes seemed delicately drawn with a fine brush, and her drooping eyelashes, cold, hardened cheeks, and parched lips gave her pale face a death-like pallor. She exuded a fragile aura, as if she would break if touched. She would undoubtedly become a great beauty when she grew up.

Having confirmed that face up close, he felt glad he had spoken to her. It was because he felt a certainty, or rather, a conviction, that a lecher like Han Jonghyun would never just pass by such a beautiful child. Cheon Sejoo, wanting to avoid him before he arrived, urged the child without a moment to spare.

“Get up. You said you want to see your mom, didn’t you? Let’s go.”

As he spoke softly, he gave the child a warm eye-smile. Never once had Cheon Sejoo been ignored when speaking to a woman this way. Perhaps children were no exception, as the child, who had been consistently silent, finally opened her mouth.

“…Will you take me?”

But it was an abrupt, informal speech. Moreover, perhaps from hunger, her husky voice had a strangely gender-neutral quality. Is she really a girl? Cheon Sejoo wondered, looking at the child. But a boy couldn’t be that pretty. She definitely looked like a girl.

Cheon Sejoo nodded at the child’s question. However, despite the affirmative answer, the child didn’t immediately get up. Instead, with a rustle of clothes, the hands clasping her knees tightened. The child curled up further and scrutinized Cheon Sejoo with sharp eyes.

“Who are you?”

Right, I knew it wouldn’t be that easy. Sejoo sighed inwardly and put on the most harmless smile he could manage. Calming children wasn’t difficult, as he had done it often in the orphanage. He answered in a gentle voice,

“I’m just an uncle who works here.”

But his words, meant to humble himself, were met with a sharp retort.

“That’s a lie, isn’t it?”

“What is?”

Sejoo understood Kim Donggil’s words about the child having an extraordinary temper. She had no hesitation in speaking informally to adults. Even in front of an adult much larger than herself, the child showed no intimidation whatsoever.

“You’re lying about taking me to my mom, aren’t you?”

The child met his gaze and asked, as he tilted his head as if he knew nothing. She attempted to see through Sejoo, as if to discern his lies. But Cheon Sejoo was not so naive as to have his true feelings exposed by such a young child. He chuckled at her words, delivered with bristling thorns, and replied,

“What would I gain by lying to you?”

“…If you do anything bad to me, I won’t let you off.”

It was the kind of expression that suggested she’d hit him if he so much as laid a hand on her. Do I look that bad? …Well, actually. Cheon Sejoo realized that in the child’s eyes, he probably looked like a thug, and he gave a self-deprecating smile. He then rummaged in his jacket’s inner pocket and pulled out his wallet. From it, he took out his ID and unhesitatingly handed it to the child.

“If I lay even a fingertip on you, take this and go to the police station to report me. Tell them whatever you want, say ‘This bastard touched me.’ Say I locked you up, starved you, and beat you.”

“…You forged it, didn’t you?”

He had given it to her to ease her wariness, but the increased suspicion in return made Cheon Sejoo let out a hollow laugh. He hadn’t expected her to suspect even that. As he stared at her, dumbfounded by her audaciousness, the child turned his resident registration card this way and that, blew on it, and even rubbed it with her hand, only then stuffing it into her hoodie pocket. It seemed she had accepted that it was real.

Yet, perhaps not having fully let down her guard, she cautiously got up from her spot, maintaining a distance from Cheon Sejoo. It was just like the stray cats that used to appear in the orphanage backyard when he was young. A cat that only approached him with its tail held high after three months of sharing snacks.

But now, he didn’t have the luxury of waiting three months. Cheon Sejoo checked the watch on his right wrist and belatedly stood up. When he was squatting, he thought she was very small, but standing up, the child was taller than he expected. Cheon Sejoo, finding it surprising, said,

“Are you going to see your mom or not? Uncle’s busy.”

“I’m going. But don’t call me ‘uncle.’ I never had an uncle like you.”

“…”

The little one wasn’t easy. Cheon Sejoo looked down at the child, who would probably refer to an older waitress at a sundae-gukbap restaurant as “employee” instead of “auntie,” and laughed in bewilderment. Then, realizing that the burly men of Shin Sa Capital referred to debtors’ children as “uncles,” he sighed inwardly. The child must have seen those “uncle” bastards take her mother away right before her eyes. It was understandable that she disliked the term “uncle.”

So what should he say? He calmly caressed his cheek, gauging the child’s age, then asked,

“Then, oppa?”

“…”

But the reaction was even worse than for “uncle.” Her small face flushed, and she bit her lips as if suppressing curses, glaring at him. How picky… He chuckled with a resigned expression and nodded.

“Alright, mister’s busy. Let’s go quickly.”

Only then did the child’s furrowed brows relax slightly. Cheon Sejoo gestured towards the exit with his chin and turned around.