Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 54

From the day they first met until now, Cheon Sejoo had devoted himself to Sejin. He had enabled Sejin to dream of a future and had offered choices to Sejin, who had simply been busy walking a predetermined path.

After Kim Hyunkyung fell ill, he did everything he could. He paid off the debt so she could go to the hospital immediately, and he mobilized his connections to help her get tested at Korea University Hospital right away. The hospital bills and treatment costs all came from his pocket, but Cheon Sejoo never said a word to Sejin. He didn’t demand gratitude or ask him to acknowledge his efforts.

Sejin somehow felt he understood the intention behind all those actions. “Don’t live in regret,” Cheon Sejoo’s words at the funeral quietly echoed in Sejin’s mind.

Cheon Sejoo wanted Sejin to have no regrets in any sense. He wanted Sejin not to waste his life, so he taught him and presented him with a future. He also didn’t want Sejin to regret not being able to do anything for his mother, so he supported her treatment and paid her hospital bills. He gave Sejin choices, and at times, he completely removed them.

He recalled the high-quality burial shroud and wooden coffin he had seen at the encoffinment ceremony. Thinking about it now, it was strange, but at the time, he had no time to care. It should have been him who chose such things, but Sejin hadn’t chosen anything. Everything had been prepared by Cheon Sejoo before Sejin even had a chance to deliberate. Because he wanted Sejin not to agonize over choosing between something cheaper and something expensive for his mother, and not to regret his choice… he had prepared everything first.

He had only ever received from Cheon Sejoo.

And yet, Sejin, not knowing this, had gotten angry at him for not telling him when his mother collapsed. He had resented him, asking how he could say such things. He had despaired, asking why he wouldn’t come back, wondering if he too had abandoned him.

That couldn’t be.

Cheon Sejoo wouldn’t leave him…

He felt like such a fool, so utterly pathetic that he couldn’t bear it. Sejin silently wept, biting his lip.

From last summer to winter, Sejin’s eyes were never dry. But the difficult days that might have passed with him cursing the world and everything in it, he endured thanks to Cheon Sejoo. If not for him, he would have been much more exhausted, much more embittered. In that state, he wouldn’t even have been able to properly nurse his mother, so her passing away without much worry about him was also thanks to Cheon Sejoo. Sejin wanted to repay that debt of gratitude.

But how? Unlike Cheon Sejoo, Sejin was just a child who couldn’t help him or lighten his burdens. He wasn’t as dependable as Cheon Sejoo, and he didn’t even know what worries Cheon Sejoo had.

Will the day come when I can lessen your pain? You are so strong…

Sejin felt like he was going crazy from wanting to see Cheon Sejoo immediately, but he didn’t know where he was or what he was doing. Was there anyone else in the world as foolish as him? Sejin walked weakly.

In Cheon Sejoo’s bedroom, there was a T-shirt he had taken off and left behind, which Sejin somehow didn’t want to wash. Now, such things were the only traces of Cheon Sejoo left to Sejin. Sejin took off the coat he had borrowed and covered himself with it, then buried his nose in Cheon Sejoo’s T-shirt. Amusingly, Sejin’s own scent faintly clung to Cheon Sejoo’s clothes too, and that offered him a small comfort.

I want to be someone meaningful to you. Just as you have become a part of me, I want to become a part of you… A poignant confession lingered in the unoccupied room.

Cheon Sejoo returned home not long after that. The moment Sejin discovered Cheon Sejoo, who had appeared silently, he couldn’t control his surging emotions. He got up and hugged him. As he clung to his neck, inhaling his longed-for scent, tears welled up in his eyes.

“Why… are you only coming back now…?”

Sejin felt grateful, resentful, and fond of Cheon Sejoo. He spoke with a mix of resentment, whispering,

“You’re all I have left now…”

Don’t leave me alone. Don’t go anywhere. I don’t want to leave your side. Before the words Sejin swallowed could scatter, Cheon Sejoo pushed him away and stepped back.

His coldly hardened face moved away. Sejin stared blankly at the back of the man who finally turned his back on him and fled.

It was the day he first faced Cheon Sejoo’s fear.

**

Cheon Sejoo got into his car and headed to the workshop, as if fleeing from Sejin. It was a place that gave him a headache just thinking about it, but there was nowhere else to go. The reason was that he didn’t want to disturb Seonhyuk, Haewoong, and Jinyoung, who lived on the 7th floor, the home of the disposal team members, as they were likely resting after several sleepless nights.

He parked his car below the workshop and immediately went up to the 4th floor, where the bedroom was located. It was practically a small house. Designed for the team members’ rest, it consisted of a kitchen, a living room, a bathroom, and a small room with two beds. It was a bit stuffy without any windows, but the ventilator on the 4th floor was running, making the air relatively fresh. Cheon Sejoo washed up in the bathroom and lay straight down on the bed.

As he sank into the soft mattress, the thoughts that had occupied his mind slowly crept out. He sighed, feeling a torment that covered his whole body like a blanket, and stared at the ceiling.

Kwon Sejin was a child of incredible tenacity, to the extent that he would squat in the building’s corridor for days without proper meals, just to meet his mother, who had been dragged to Hwa-gak. Even though his plans were shoddy, he had the drive to brave even homelessness for them.

When Sejin reunited with Kim Hyunkyung through Cheon Sejoo, Sejin’s eyes were nothing but blind devotion. As if she was the only one in the world he could reach out to, Sejin clung to Kim Hyunkyung, embracing her. That was why. He hadn’t thought Sejin would like him.

If he had known that all the actions Sejin had shown so far stemmed from such feelings, he wouldn’t have done it. He wouldn’t have kissed Sejin’s forehead, wouldn’t have hugged him, wouldn’t have comforted him. He wouldn’t have let him love a person like himself.

His stomach felt like it was burning with rising self-loathing. Affection was heavy. Love was overwhelming.

Cheon Sejoo had lived his life disappointing everyone who had loved him. Cheon Hyein was like that, Sister Maria was like that, and Ha Yeoreum and Professor Kim Cheonggeun were also like that. Cheon Sejoo ultimately failed to become the person they wanted him to be. He wouldn’t be able to become the person Sejin wanted either.

To love was to understand. The fear that made him run away was precisely that.

If Sejin loved him, there would come a moment when he would want to understand him. But Cheon Sejoo was doing things he couldn’t openly tell anyone about. So, if Sejin were to find out, wanting to understand Cheon Sejoo, becoming curious about his hidden sides, and then finally coming to know what kind of person he truly was…

No. A resolute refusal echoed in his mind.

He didn’t think Sejin would be able to understand his life. Cheon Sejoo was afraid of Sejin looking at him with eyes full of disgust once he knew about him. He was scared of him turning his back. It was horrifying to imagine him ignoring him. He didn’t want to lose Kwon Sejin like that. He didn’t want to experience loss.

Cheon Sejoo just wanted to remain a good person to Sejin. The person who stayed by Sejin’s side while Kim Hyunkyung was dying and after she died. He wanted to remain the one who showed him the way, not a deceiver who fed and clothed him with dirty money.

The root of all his fears was one thing: The fact that Cheon Sejoo cherished Kwon Sejin too much. Therefore, Cheon Sejoo couldn’t accept his feelings, nor could he tell him anything that would lead to understanding. He fled because he didn’t want to lose Sejin, no matter when. Unable to overcome the wave of fear that immediately swept over him…

“…” Then, suddenly, Cheon Sejoo got off the bed and recalled Sejin’s face, striding toward him without hesitation. Wet eyes, red lips, ragged breaths. The warmth of his embrace also came to mind. Though he had fled immediately, Cheon Sejoo remembered how, unknowingly, he had tried to embrace Sejin back in that moment.

Bitter bile surged within him. Feeling a stinging pain somewhere in his stomach, he bit his lip.

Kwon Sejin was a lovely child. When they first met, he had pushed him away and refused him with thorns, but now, Sejin, who bent his large body to embrace him first, was someone Cheon Sejoo couldn’t help but cherish and love.

However, Cheon Sejoo and Kwon Sejin stood on different grounds. Cheon Sejoo thought of the dark basement deep beneath his feet. That was where he belonged. He would return to Sejin, using ‘home’ as an excuse for rest, but ultimately, this was where he truly had to be.

He believed it was enough for him to be someone Sejin could lean on. He didn’t deserve to be loved. Kwon Sejin’s pure heart should have been given to someone living a more ordinary and peaceful life. Not to Cheon Sejoo, for whom only ruin and death remained, but to someone with a future…

Cheon Sejoo massaged his aching head and stretched out his body. Soon, he plunged into a deep sleep, as if seeking refuge.

The call from Shin Gyoyeon came the very next morning. He was sweating in the training room, trying to keep his mind from wandering, when the sudden ringing of his phone made him stop running and pick it up. He took a ragged breath upon seeing his unwelcome superior’s name and answered the call.

“Yes, CEO.” 

“Cheon Sejoo.” The familiar voice was deep and low. Cheon Sejoo strained his ears, his nerves on edge. The man, who had called his name without further ado, soon instructed him. “Come to Chuncheon immediately.”

There was a building in Chuncheon that DG had been using for a long time. It was a hospital built in the 1960s and shut down during the IMF crisis, primarily used for identifying and executing traitors within the organization. Older executives referred to it as the “execution ground,” and Cheon Sejoo had been there a couple of times with Seok Yunhyung.

“I’ll be right there.” The call ended as soon as he replied. Of all places, Chuncheon. It felt as if the thoughts of Sejin, which had dominated his mind for the past day, were completely forgotten.

There was no detailed explanation, but he had a rough idea of what would happen in Chuncheon. It was probably a purge of Kang Junmyeon’s faction. His captured associates, or perhaps those identified as collaborators based on information collected by Baek Seonghwan, were likely to be executed.

It could be the start of the succession process, which was scheduled for February, or it could simply be that the location of the work done in the workshop had been moved there. In any case, the important thing was that if Cheon Sejoo went to Chuncheon now, he would definitely get blood on his hands.

He left the training room and went upstairs. After showering, he meticulously changed his clothes, then went down to the office to retrieve the sashimi knife from his cabinet. As he unrolled the leather sheath and re-checked the blade for any damage, a deep sense of disillusionment welled up within him.

Would the day ever come when the blood on these hands would dry? Was his choice to accept Shin Gyoyeon’s offer that day truly the right one? The question, which he had pondered hundreds, thousands of times, tormented him again. Cheon Sejoo tried to erase his thoughts and gathered his belongings, leaving the workshop. Personal thoughts were unnecessary when following Shin Gyoyeon’s orders.

Since it was a weekday, the road wasn’t very congested. As he drove past the Chuncheon Expressway, Cheon Sejoo saw several black luxury sedans speeding past him. Black cars were common in South Korea, but he had a hunch. He suspected Shin Gyoyeon was about to hold an execution ceremony in front of the executives. He swallowed his tension and silently drove on.

Finally, in front of the abandoned building, dozens of luxury sedans were parked. The burly men who had brought their bosses gathered here and there, smoking cigarettes, and when a well-known executive appeared, they loudly bowed in greeting. Someone constantly moved in and out of the woods near the parking lot. They were on guard, just in case anyone was secretly hiding.

When Cheon Sejoo parked his car aside and got out, everyone’s attention was drawn to him, as he appeared alone, unlike the other executives. Those who knew he was under Shin Gyoyeon respectfully bowed to him, recognizing him as the future power broker of DG, and even those who didn’t know his face offered greetings, swept up in the surrounding atmosphere. Cheon Sejoo entered without a word.

The inside of the building was complex. According to what Seok Yunhyung had told him, it used to be a psychiatric ward, designed to be deliberately complex to make escape difficult for high-risk patients who might harm others due to severe symptoms. It was an idea that would only have occurred in ancient times when security systems were not diverse.

When one becomes a DG executive, they first learn how to navigate this building. Cheon Sejoo also visited this place just before he completed his training with Seok Yunhyung and went under Shin Gyoyeon. Seok Yunhyung took Cheon Sejoo around, teaching him the complex paths of the building, and Cheon Sejoo had never forgotten those paths. He couldn’t forget them, as he had run them dozens of times to escape Seok Yunhyung, who was chasing him with a knife, after arriving at the center of the building.

Upon arriving at the auditorium in the center of the building, he saw dozens of executives gathered inside. Sitting uncomfortably on old metal chairs, they all exuded a fierce aura. Even though DG had become a corporatized entity in the open, the essence of its members had not changed. Therefore, those who had worked for Dae-gam-pa since its early days, and those who joined after it became DG, were all extraordinary individuals.

Cheon Sejoo ignored the attention on him and surveyed the room. He saw many familiar faces: Shin Jiho, Shin Jihan, and Shin Jiho on, Chairman Shin Gyeongju’s sons; Seok Yunhyung, who had taught Cheon Sejoo; and Baek Seonghwan and Han Jonghyun, who were also under Shin Gyoyeon.

Baek Seonghwan, whose eyes met Cheon Sejoo’s, nodded lightly in greeting. Regardless of their relationship, it was clear that Baek Seonghwan had been under Shin Gyoyeon longer than him, so Cheon Sejoo slightly bowed in response to his greeting. Baek Seonghwan smiled contentedly and turned his head.

The auditorium was noisy. There were no windows, and the space wasn’t very large, as it was built for patients to walk around. It was natural for dozens of people to be talking in a place where even one person’s voice echoed a couple of times.

“Nobody searched either…” 

“Seeing that Director Seok is here, the Chairman must be…”

Their hushed words buzzed confusingly in his ears. Those who knew each other gathered and speculated on why Shin Gyoyeon had summoned them here. The general shareholders’ meeting of DG Construction was scheduled for late February, and it was predicted that Shin Gyoyeon would become the largest shareholder then, so they were questioning this unusually early call in January.

Cheon Sejoo was also unaware of the situation, as Shin Gyoyeon had not shared any information. He only predicted an execution ceremony. However, he showed no outward signs and approached Seok Yunhyung to greet him.

“You’ve arrived.” 

“Oh, you’re here.”

Seok Yunhyung, whose face was flushed as if he had been abroad, had no one sitting near him. The only person who dared to speak to him was Cheon Sejoo, who had learned how to wield a knife directly from him. Seok Yunhyung grinned at Cheon Sejoo as if he had been waiting, then raised his hand, as big as a pot lid, and fumbled at his chest. Soon, he pulled out something wrapped in green plastic from inside his suit jacket.

“Eat this. I bought it on my way back from golfing. Is CEO Shin making you work without feeding you? Your handsome face has shrunk by half.”

It was dried mango heavily coated with sugar. Cheon Sejoo smiled silently and took it. As he sat down next to him, clutching it tightly, Seok Yunhyung chuckled and whispered.

“They say Junmyeon got destroyed by CEO Shin, is that right? The Chairman is so enraged because that bastard sold the organization to those Chinese bastards, he’s practically dying. He kept ranting and raving that he’d chew him up, and it was hell trying to quiet him down so our sister-in-law wouldn’t be shocked.”

“Yes, the CEO handled it personally.”

“Wow. Junmyeon used to adore Gyoyeon when he was a baby, he probably doesn’t remember that. He used to carry Gyoyeon around all the time, saying he’d adopt him as his son, and then Gyoyeon called Junmyeon ‘Dad,’ and Chairman Shin beat Junmyeon half to death. He got beaten to a pulp, asking if he was trying to make Yeonyi call him ‘Dad’ because he coveted our sister-in-law. You didn’t know, did you? And for him to end up like this by Gyoyeon’s hand, ha! Damn, if you want to be treated with respect when you’re old, you have to choose your side as well as I did.”

Seok Yunhyung was almost seventy, and he often brought up old stories like this. Cheon Sejoo could only laugh it off when he heard stories of Shin Gyoyeon’s childhood, as he couldn’t imagine it at all.

Moreover, the sight of a young Shin Gyoyeon calling a young Kang Junmyeon “Dad” was a scene he didn’t want to recall. He had just seen Shin Gyoyeon personally kill Kang Junmyeon a few days prior.

Cheon Sejoo tried to erase the images from his mind and held his ground. As he listened to Seok Yunhyung’s old stories, there came a moment when the audience suddenly fell silent. He saw the executives sitting in their chairs begin to rise.

He turned his head and saw Shin Gyoyeon entering the auditorium. His impeccable three-piece suit and perfectly styled hair indicated his discomfort. Unlike usual, his eyes held no trace of a smile. Cheon Sejoo gestured to Seok Yunhyung that he was leaving and approached Shin Gyoyeon.

Baek Seonghwan, who had also risen, stood on the opposite side of Cheon Sejoo. Shin Gyoyeon, accompanied by his close aides, settled into the neat chair at the very front of the auditorium. Cheon Sejoo stood behind him and looked for Han Jonghyun. Whether he hadn’t been informed, or if it was intentional, Han Jonghyun was still standing among the executives.

Han Jonghyun, impeccably dressed with a tie, had a strangely pale face. His lips were visibly dry even from a distance, and his cheeks were gaunt. Cheon Sejoo repeatedly gestured for him to come forward, but when he seemed not to understand, he sighed and looked away.

“…” Shin Gyoyeon leaned back leisurely in his chair. When he pulled out a cigarette and lit it, Chae Beomjun bowed and lit it for him. He gestured with the cigarette between his fingers, and the standing executives all sat down. Silence descended upon the room.

Not many people knew that part of his brain function was paralyzed due to an accident he suffered as a child. Shin Gyoyeon had a brain similar to those with antisocial personality disorder, commonly known as psychopaths. However, thanks to diligently studying human psychology and society under his mother, Soo-seonhwa, a remarkable personality, most people couldn’t tell that he had any problems. If someone did realize that Shin Gyoyeon was not in his right mind, it was probably because Shin Gyoyeon himself chose to reveal it.

Therefore, most executives thought of Shin Gyoyeon as a mentally sound man in his thirties, yet not a single faint breath could be heard in the auditorium. Regardless of his personality and status, Shin Gyoyeon possessed an overwhelming charisma that dominated the room. Especially when he revealed his cold, triple-whites eyes without a hint of a smile, few dared to meet his gaze.

“Has everyone… heard the news about President Kang?” It was almost 10 minutes after he sat down that he let out a languid voice. It wasn’t a question demanding an answer. However, the executives who realized the meaning of his words hardened their expressions and stared at Shin Gyoyeon.

Rumors that Kang Junmyeon’s faction had completely collapsed had swept through DG in the past few days. However, Kang Junmyeon had been with the organization for over 40 years and held a very high position as the president of DG Construction, so few believed the rumors outright. Many had spied on Kang Junmyeon’s hostess bars and mansions to confirm the facts, but had obtained no information other than that access was impossible, when Shin Gyoyeon himself brought up the name.

“Chief Chae.” While everyone was silent, Shin Gyoyeon turned to Chae Beomjun with a fresh smile. Chae Beomjun nodded and stepped forward. Standing in front of Shin Gyoyeon, he turned the handle of a large silver case placed on the floor towards the executives, then calmly unlocked it. Click, click, the buckles came up, and the case lid opened.