Lee Young-jin still kept his lips sealed. Seo Seung-hyun’s eyes narrowed, contrasting with the tilt of his smiling lips. His face drew closer to Lee Young-jin.
“How many times did you do something like last time? How many times? Who asked you to do it?”
“Something like last time…?”
“Taking things under the guise of a request, digging up information, hacking into servers to manipulate data, cracking codes, and all that.”
His voice was soft and gentle, as if scolding an ignorant child or a fool unaware of their wrongdoing. Lee Young-jin felt as though he had been caught in some terrible misdeed, his cheeks flushing red down to his neck and chest.
He hung his head in shame and shook it.
“I don’t, don’t know…”
“You know nothing?”
Seo Seung-hyun laughed.
His pale eyes under the long eyelashes glared at Lee Young-jin.
“What about that bastard teacher then?”
Lee Young-jin’s eyes widened.
He inadvertently jerked his head up to stare at Seo Seung-hyun. Their eyes met. The alpha was still smiling.
Lee Young-jin braced himself for something, perhaps something close to death. At the same time, he remembered the first time he faced Seo Seung-hyun alone in Shanghai, the questions he had asked. All the training on interrogation flashed through his mind.
“I, I don’t know anything…”
“Of course, you wouldn’t. And naturally, you should.”
Seo Seung-hyun cut him off sharply.
Lee Young-jin’s eyes widened. His wet eyelashes trembling with anxiety fluttered ceaselessly above his large, dark pupils. Seo Seung-hyun looked straight into those eyes and said, “Enough.” That sharp word left Lee Young-jin merely fluttering his lips, unable to comprehend the situation. His black pupils seemed ready to overflow as they quivered. Seo Seung-hyun’s thumb gently swept across those trembling lower lashes.
“I can still handle it for now. First, we need to take care of your traces of returning to the country. There’s no need to worry about your stops from Toronto to Bogotá, but we need to hurry to clean up the few you used in Korea to avoid being tracked. I don’t know how you handled the identity you used in Shanghai, but it’s already too late. We need to cut off the tail as soon as possible.”
Lee Young-jin, listening to what almost sounded like mumbling to himself, asked blankly.
“Why, why…?”
“Why?”
Seo Seung-hyun narrowed one eye as he replied.
“You’ve crossed the line where you can handle things on your own. Park Eun-young has been caught, Ji Jung-hoon is missing, and that Choi Yoon-seok or whatever his name is has fled. Can that teacher or whatever he is stop the prosecution for you?”
“But… why would you…”
“Even if we gather top lawyers from everywhere to form a defense team, if the prosecution picks apart everything you did, it won’t just end with no indictment. No indictment? Fuck, you won’t even get a suspended sentence. No matter what, you’re looking at at least three to four years in prison.”
Seo Seung-hyun continued, unfazed by Lee Young-jin’s questions.
“So absolutely. You must not get caught. If you do, it’s over.”
Lee Young-jin was about to repeat the same question, but before he could, Seo Seung-hyun’s smartphone vibrated in his coat pocket. Seo Seung-hyun raised a hand to Lee Young-jin’s lips to silence him, then took out his phone. Jang Young-hee’s name was clearly displayed on the screen.
Seo Seung-hyun answered the call.
“What’s going on?”
[CEO.]
Jang Young-hee’s calm voice responded from across the electromagnetic frequencies.
[We found him. He’s in Chongqing.]
A smile appeared on Seo Seung-hyun’s lips.
He looked down with a satisfied expression at Lee Young-jin, who was sitting beside him, rolling his anxious eyes.
What Lee Young-jin didn’t know about Seo Seung-hyun was that he had no desire to intimidate him or keep him as a prisoner, and unlike a child, Seo Seung-hyun clearly knew what he wanted and how to act to achieve it.
Seo Seung-hyun stood up from his seat and stepped into the corridor.
His heavy yet agile body paused in the narrow aisle of the train compartment, glancing down at Lee Young-jin.
“Let’s talk the rest in Seoul?”
He whispered with a smile.
“And meet that old colleague you’ve been longing for.”
Seo Seung-hyun carefully observed Lee Young-jin’s reaction at that moment.
He noted the dilation of his pupils, his eyelids curling up, his eyelashes fluttering, his plump lower lip quivering, his cheeks flushing, and his nose twitching. Then, the glossy sheen returned to those large, black eyes swollen with emotion.
He snapped his fingers at Lee Young-jin.
“Come here.”
His voice was confident, as if there was no doubt Lee Young-jin would comply. Lee Young-jin stood up as if mesmerized. His heart fluttered so much that his body wobbled, but he did not stop. Stepping out from the narrow seat, he moved towards Seo Seung-hyun standing a step away.
A satisfied smile, like that of a predator having captured its prey, appeared on the alpha’s face.
He reached out and firmly grabbed Lee Young-jin.
Like a startled animal, Lee Young-jin’s trembling body was pulled into an embrace, and Seo Seung-hyun spread his coat to wrap around his back and shoulders.
The train decelerated with a jerk.
[We will soon be arriving at Yeonsan Station. Please, be, pre, pared…]
The announcement echoed, fracturing into segments as it passed through the eardrums.
Seo Seung-hyun, holding Lee Young-jin almost as if carrying him, strode briskly down the narrow aisle. The door to the compartment opened with a whoosh, and the wheels rumbled loudly against the tracks. Lee Young-jin caught the rich scent nestled between Seo Seung-hyun’s coat and scarf, leaving him feeling as if he was still trapped in a dream, his limbs weakening and his feet dragging.
[…will soon be a-r-r-i-v-i-iiing…]
The screeching of iron brakes against the rail filled his ears.
Leave a Reply