Projection Novel (Completed) - Chapter 8

…Actually, taking in an extra mouth to feed wasn’t that difficult. He also needed someone to do housework. His house was too big to manage alone, so Cheon Sejoo struggled just to clean the living room, bedroom, and kitchen. He usually got side dishes from Moon Seonhyuk or ordered food, but he was thoroughly sick of both now.

No, that’s not it. Cheon Sejoo shook his head and sighed, having thought that far. He would rather hire someone than take that kid into his house; it was illogical. Feeling frustrated, he undid another button and turned his head towards where the wind was blowing.

In late September, a cold wind blew through Ehwa-gak, nestled in the mountains. Despite the scorching sunlight, Cheon Sejoo, facing a chilling wind that raised goosebumps on his neck, repeated the same words in his mind.

It’s not my business.

Nevertheless, the image of Kim Hyunkyung, bowing to him despite her shame, wouldn’t leave his sight. Cheon Sejoo blamed his weak will, constantly rubbing one side of his forehead with the hand holding the cigarette.

After swearing to become Shin Gyoyeon’s dog, Cheon Sejoo had to abandon himself. The Cheon Sejoo who was soft-hearted towards children, the Cheon Sejoo who was weak towards women, the Cheon Sejoo who easily opened his heart to compassion, the Cheon Sejoo who struggled to save lives—all of them had to be killed by his own hands. But even after killing and killing, over time, his remaining true nature would sprout like weeds.

To hide his inherent self that couldn’t be erased no matter how much he tried, Cheon Sejoo wore many masks, yet there were faces that still broke through all of them. Every time this happened, he deeply felt the truth that people don’t change easily.

However, there were many reservations about bringing Kwon Sejin into his home just because he couldn’t ignore that one bit of compassion. Whether as a housemaid or a cleaner, taking Sejin into his house meant Cheon Sejoo himself would be partly responsible for him. To be responsible for another when he could barely take care of himself? It was an absurd thought.

“Haa…”

Damn it. I should have never helped him in the first place…

Cheon Sejoo, mumbling a low curse in frustration, suddenly heard the crunch of gravel and turned his head. Kwon Sejin, whose eyes were red like a rabbit’s again, was approaching the car with a fierce gaze. Cheon Sejoo turned his head to check in front of the staff dormitory. Kim Hyunkyung was nowhere to be seen, as if she had gone inside.

“……”

Kwon Sejin, who was now very close, got into the passenger seat without saying anything to Cheon Sejoo. And in that fleeting moment, as Cheon Sejoo opened the driver’s door, Sejin raised his hand and wiped his tear-filled eyes with his sleeve.

The black hoodie, below Sejin’s eyes, was slightly wet. Cheon Sejoo frowned when he noticed it as he started the engine. Both mother and son, as a pair, made him uncomfortable.

“Where to?”

But Cheon Sejoo tried to ignore that discomfort. When he asked in a seemingly nonchalant voice, Sejin replied curtly, as if he hadn’t expected anything.

“Drop me off near your company.”

His tone, as if he expected nothing from him, strangely irritated Cheon Sejoo. Kwon Sejin was the one who had made Kim Hyunkyung and Cheon Sejoo deliberate, but he himself seemed unconcerned. Cheon Sejoo sighed and silently pressed the accelerator. As they drove through Gyeonggi Province, entered Seoul, and crossed the Han River towards Gangnam, the two did not exchange a single word.

After a long while, the chilling silence passed, and the car stopped in front of Shin SaCapital. Sejin merely held the doorknob as if asking him to open the door. To Kwon Sejin, who was about to get out of the car without further comment, Cheon Sejoo finally spoke first.

“Hey. Don’t you have anything to say to me?”

At that, Sejin, who was holding the doorknob and looking out the window, turned his head. His face was clearly displeased. He bit his lip and glared at Cheon Sejoo with a sulky expression, then turned away again and mumbled,

“…Thanks for helping.”

That’s not it… Suddenly, frustration surged. He felt as if there was something else he needed to hear. Cheon Sejoo stared at Kwon Sejin. His small lips were mumbling, and it seemed like he had more to say. But Sejin ultimately gave up opening his mouth. As if that was all, he just nodded and opened the passenger door.

“Is that really all you have to say?”

Cheon Sejoo finally grabbed him. Asking that question, it felt as though he was pathetically begging for a chance to help him. He couldn’t tell who exactly needed help anymore.

However, Sejin merely crumpled his face at Cheon Sejoo’s question. As if asking what more greetings he expected, he glared at him with annoyed eyes and got out of the car.

That was the end of it. Sejin didn’t look back and disappeared down the alley. It was a cold attitude, making Kim Hyunkyung’s plea meaningless.

So, Cheon Sejoo thought Kwon Sejin had some kind of plan. He wondered if there was a way he could manage well enough not to worry Kim Hyunkyung. But he found out it wasn’t the case in less than a week.

***

Clang, a wrench dropped into the large sink, making a loud noise as it tumbled. Cheon Sejoo turned on the faucet, lathered his hands with soap, and thoroughly washed away the dried bloodstains. Finally, his calloused white hands appeared, and when he turned off the water, Seonhyuk, who was standing next to him, held out a towel.

“Are you leaving right away?”

“I have to.”

The second deliveryman dragged into the enforcement team surrendered after almost five days. The man who said nothing even after all his fingernails and toenails were pulled out and parts of his skin were scorched, confessed in less than half a day when his family was mentioned. The deliveryman said the stolen drugs were hidden inside the very club where the goods went missing, and now Cheon Sejoo had to go find them.

Glancing at the figure sprawled out, covered in blood, Cheon Sejoo clicked his tongue and left the workshop. As he stepped out of the stuffy space without ventilation, he could finally breathe. He stood in the hallway, leisurely smoking a cigarette that Moon Seonhyuk had lit for him.

Some sweat-soaked hair clung to his forehead. Seonhyuk’s gaze swept over his reddened earlobes and cheeks, flushed from the heat. Cheon Sejoo pretended not to notice and ran a hand through his hair. He wondered when it had grown so long, his hair reaching his hand.

“What should we do with the deliveryman?”

“Dispose of him.”

“Will you do it yourself?”

At Seonhyuk’s question, Cheon Sejoo tightened his lips and let out a grunt. The deliveryman’s condition wasn’t good. He wasn’t immediately dying, but if left untreated, there was a high probability he would develop sepsis within a day or two. So, it would be better to deal with him quickly, but Cheon Sejoo didn’t know how long it would take to resolve things at the club. And there would be more to do once they found the drugs.

After a brief moment of thought, Cheon Sejoo shook his head. “Contact Dalma,” he said. Seonhyuk replied briefly and took out his phone.

The method for dealing with those dragged into the workshop was set. Dying here was considered a relatively good outcome, as one could disappear from the world without pain. However, those who barely clung to life like this had bad ends. Most were disemboweled alive for organ trafficking, and sometimes they were handed over to Dalma, a broker who supplied drugs to clubs.

No one knew what happened to those taken by Dalma. Rumors circulated that he conducted something akin to human experiments, but the truth was uncertain. In any case, since it meant less trouble for himself, Cheon Sejoo often called Dalma. Moreover, this deliveryman had almost caused significant damage to Dalma by diverting drugs, so it seemed even more fitting to send him that way.

Trrr, hearing the faint ringing tone, Seonhyuk said.

“Dalma called earlier, actually. He said he really wants this guy handed over.”

“Oh? He must be pissed too. Good. Tell him to pick him up once we find the stuff.”

While Seonhyuk was on the phone with Dalma, Cheon Sejoo went up the stairs to the second-floor office. Inside, the enforcement team members, each working on their assigned tasks, acknowledged Sejoo with their eyes. He approached the one sitting near the entrance.

“Where’s Jinyoung?”

Seo Jinyoung, the fourth member of the enforcement team, was currently out on assignment. He was the one who took the photo of the deliveryman’s nephew, which made the deliveryman talk. At his question, Haewoong, who was typing on his keyboard, blinked and said.

“He’s still observing the target. Should I call him in?”

“Yeah,” Cheon Sejoo replied curtly and took a beer from the refrigerator in a corner of the office. He opened the can and chugged it without even breathing, causing Haewoong, who was calling Seo Jinyoung, to shake his head in disgust.

“Team Leader, don’t you ever get tired of alcohol? You drink it like water.”

“That’s the Team Leader’s lifeblood.”

At Yoon Cheoljoo’s comment from across the room, typing on his keyboard, Haewoong snickered and burst into laughter. Cheon Sejoo frowned and threw the empty can at the guy who had called it “lifeblood.” Thud, Yoon Cheoljoo, hit on the head by the can, let out a wail, making Haewoong’s laughter grow even louder. Cheon Sejoo rubbed his throbbing temple and swore at them.

“Fuck, if you know it’s lifeblood, then buy some. Don’t just sneak sips.”

Even though he stocked beer by the case, if he left for a moment, four or five cans would be empty. He knew it was the doing of Haewoong and the others, but he turned a blind eye, and now they were all talk (입만 살았다 – literally “only their mouths live,” meaning they’re all talk and no action). At Cheon Sejoo’s remark, the two shut their mouths as if on cue. Seeing them pretend to focus on their work again made him let out a hollow laugh.

It was then that a call came from Kim Donggil of Shin SaCapital. Since Kim Donggil always burdened him with bothersome tasks, Cheon Sejoo glared at his phone with a displeased expression before answering the call.

“What.”

• Hyung-nim, did you sleep well last night?

He didn’t know what else he was going to say, trying to sweet-talk him. Cheon Sejoo stood askew and turned up the phone’s volume. He pulled an apple that Haewoong had bought from the refrigerator, took a bite, and replied with a muffled voice.

“Why did you call?”

Despite his chilly tone, Kim Donggil wasn’t deterred.

• I called because I wanted to hear Hyung-nim’s truly handsome voice. No, actually, it’s nothing else. There’s a homeless punk on the first floor below us, and I was hoping you could get rid of him…

Is this bastard crazy? Now he wants him to even get rid of a homeless person. Cheon Sejoo, dumbfounded by Kim Donggil’s words, hung up without replying. Another call came immediately, but he declined and even blocked the number.

Shin Gyoyeon had told him to enforce discipline at Shin SaCapital, not to clean up their messes. But apart from the day he dealt with two instigators of a gang fight at Shin SaCapital, Cheon Sejoo’s work there was mostly odd jobs. He had indulged them, and now they were trying to make him do absurd things. Cheon Sejoo thought he should talk to Shin Gyoyeon soon and pull out of that place, and he stood up.

He went into the room off to the side of the office and changed his clothes. Dressed in a spare suit, he came out of the room to find Seonhyuk, phone in hand, calling him from outside the door. It seemed the call was over.

“I’m going to the club to get stuff. Who’s coming with me?”

He picked up the apple he had left on the table again. He took a big bite and chewed, asking with mumbled pronunciation. Haewoong, somehow understanding, raised his hand enthusiastically.

“Me!”

“Get out.”

“What? Where are you going?”

Yoon Cheoljoo, realizing late that Cheon Sejoo was looking for someone to accompany him, stood up and his eyes gleamed like a hyena, but it was already too late. Cheon Sejoo pushed Haewoong’s back, waved his hand dismissively, and left the office.

Unlike the idiots gathered at Shin SaCapital, the members of Cheon Sejoo’s enforcement team were all quick-witted and intelligent. Yoon Cheoljoo graduated from a prestigious university and worked as a hacker, and the youngest, Haewoong, was a prodigy who graduated from the police academy.

The sole reason Goo Haewoong, the only son of the Goo family for three generations, couldn’t become a proper police officer from the academy and was doing this was one thing: his anger management issues and a slightly deviated moral compass from societal norms.

“Team Leader, to the back, to the back, to the back seat!”

He would often clash (푸닥거리 – originally refers to a shamanic ritual to drive out evil spirits, but colloquially used for noisy quarrels or fights) with Seo Jinyoung, his teammate, and sometimes even talk back to Cheon Sejoo, but in Cheon Sejoo’s eyes, Haewoong was simply a cute youngest member. Haewoong smiled innocently and pushed Cheon Sejoo into the back seat. Of course, this wasn’t out of respect as an elder brother, but because he knew Cheon Sejoo drove like shit (좆같이 – a vulgar term meaning “terribly”). The enforcement team members tried their best not to let him take the wheel.

Seonhyuk drove the car. In a black sedan used for work, the three headed to Cheongdam-dong, where the club was located. While Cheon Sejoo, who had stayed up all night, lay in the back seat catching a nap, Moon Seonhyuk lectured Haewoong. Most of his nagging was aimed at admonishing Haewoong, who had anger management issues.

Haewoong calmly replied, “Yes, yes,” seemingly unconcerned. He just asked if he could get something to eat, which suggested he had tagged along because he was hungry at the mention of going to a club. Big Haewoong was always hungry, after all. Cheon Sejoo drifted between wakefulness and sleep, listening to their faint voices.

• Seonhyuk hyung-nim.

Just then, Moon Seonhyuk received a call. Since Cheon Sejoo wasn’t answering, Kim Donggil had changed his target to Seonhyuk. When he connected the call via Bluetooth, Kim Donggil’s tiresome voice filled the car. Thanks to that, Cheon Sejoo, who had woken up from his nap, stirred his eyes.

“What is it?”

• Are you perhaps with Team Leader Cheon?

“Why?”

Seonhyuk, glancing at Cheon Sejoo who was lying down in the rearview mirror, replied briefly. Then, Kim Donggil sighed deeply and, unlike before, began to explain in a sympathetic tone.

• Well, you know that kid. The little brat who was whining about wanting to see his mom last week. He showed up again and is sleeping in the hallway, and there’s nothing we can do. When I told him to scram, he started screaming that he’d call the police if anyone touched him, and I can’t exactly hit him…

Ha. Cheon Sejoo, who had been lying down with his arm over his forehead, let out a hollow laugh and opened his eyes. No, he left so confidently, and now he has no solution and is sleeping on the streets? He was so flabbergasted that his sleep completely vanished. As he sat up, Seonhyuk glanced back and asked,

“So, you want us to get rid of him?”

• Yes. Hyung-nim said he’d kill me if I caused trouble again, didn’t he? I’m telling you because if the cops come, our guys will be the only ones getting yelled at again.

There was a reason he couldn’t directly kick out the homeless person and called him instead. Indeed. Kwon Sejin seemed to have the kind of temper that would raise hell and gather everyone in the neighborhood if anyone so much as laid a finger on him.

“Then just call the police first and tell them there’s an unaccompanied minor wandering around.”

• Ah…

As if answering a foolish question with wisdom, Kim Donggil exclaimed as if he had realized something at Seonhyuk’s silent reply. Then he said, “No,” and asked again.

• But wouldn’t it be a big problem if the guy caught by the police says we kidnapped his mom?

“If they come, tell them to show evidence. They can’t search the office without a warrant, so what can they do?”

• No, still.

“If it bothers you, just leave him alone then.”

• But then he…

Kim Donggil seemed quite bothered by Kwon Sejin. Unable to listen to his prolonged rambling, Cheon Sejoo finally spoke.

“Hey, just leave him.”

• Hyung-nim? What do you mean leave him alone? He glares at me every time I walk by in the hallway…

“I said leave him alone, you bastard.”

His irritation surged. If that little kid was so annoying, what was the big deal about calling the police or not? It was simply pathetic that a huge guy was acting like that. At Cheon Sejoo’s menacing voice, Kim Donggil grunted, then finally said, “Understood,” and hung up. A chilling silence soon settled in the car.

Both Seonhyuk and Haewoong noticed Cheon Sejoo’s bad mood and didn’t speak to him. Cheon Sejoo didn’t know why he was so annoyed, but he didn’t want to force himself to act fine either, so he remained silent.