Things That Deserve To Die - Chapter 4

Expensive ceramics and paintings from art galleries were displayed alongside the antique furniture. Vases of valuable flowers were strategically placed throughout the house, and employees were busy transporting food on serving carts.

A middle-aged man in a well-dressed suit stood between them and directed the crowd. He was the head butler who took care of all the household affairs. While he was directing the staff to set the stained, someone approached from behind. The butler raised his glasses to look back at the person. The man who just arrived was Kang Il-hyun, the second son of this house.

“You’ve arrived, Director Kang.”

“It’s been a while.”

“The chairman said he’d be there in 30 minutes with his wife.”

“Yes. I’ll wait.”

The butler smiled and then bowed his head. Then he went back to doing his job. Il-hyun was lost in thought for a moment, watching his back and meticulously giving instructions to the staff with a small movement.

He was wondering how old he was when he first saw the butler. It has been so long that he couldn’t even remember. Since his mother was still alive, it had to have been more than 20 years ago. Even then, he hadn’t revealed his feelings to anyone. Even when his mother slapped him on the cheek, he always smiled, as he did now.

Drag, the sound of a chair being pulled brought Il-hyun out of old memories. Kang Yoo-jung, who had just arrived, sat down beside him. She was dressed simply in jeans and a comfortable T-shirt, and she appeared tired at first glance. Unlike the three brothers who worked at the company, she had a separate profession as a doctor. She said she was satisfied with her work even though she lived on a tiring day as a surgeon.

“I thought you wouldn’t come.”

“I came to see you. It’s been a while since we saw each other.”

“My cute little brother. Come here, I’ll give you a hug.” She stretched out her hand, Il-hyun frowned, and pushed her upper body back. Seeing that face, which had not changed at all, was distorted, Yoo-jung laughed and liked it.

“Are you having fun?”

“Look in the mirror. I’m having fun. You’ll understand how I feel when you see your distorted face.”

“Weird hobby.”

“Don’t be so cold-hearted. Did you forget that you and I are on the same team?”

Il-hyun snorted. Team… Kang Yoo-jung was the only one of the siblings who shared the same mother as Il-hyun. However, she also had no good memories of their mother. Their mother was addicted to alcohol and drugs, and she never showed affection to her children until the moment she hung her head from the second-floor railing. It wasn’t necessarily her fault. She couldn’t have loved them as a child because it was an unwanted marriage from the start.

“You two came early.”

Kang Tae-han and his wife Park Seon-joo, who arrived late, joined the meal.  Park Seon-joo’s makeup became thicker and her clothes became more glamorous, in contrast to yesterday when she gave away free meals. Park Seon-joo greeted Yoo-jung very warmly. Even though they were sisters-in-law,  they got along quite well. They shared common interests and, despite their outward appearance, had warm personalities.

“The chairman and his wife are on their way out.”

As soon as the butler finished speaking, the four people sitting on the chairs rose from their seats at the same time. Chairman Kang was walking down the long circular staircase with a cane, and Kim Seon-young, his third wife which was also Kang Seok-joo’s mother was holding his arm and supporting him.

Despite her uncomfortably smooth gait, she worked tirelessly to care for her husband. And behind them was Kang Seok-joo, who had Il-hyun stamped on his temple last night. Chairman Kang sat at the head of the table, with Kim Seon-young and Kang Seok-joo sitting next to him.

“Everyone sit down.”

Kim Seon-young sat down and turned to face Kang Il-hyun as soon as the words were spoken. Her gaze did not waver even as she waited for the main course to be served. Putting down the glass of water that Il-hyun was drinking, he asked Kim Seon-young directly.

“Mother. Do you have anything to say to me?”

The tone was friendly, but the mood in the room had changed. Il-hyun knew better than anyone that she couldn’t just ignore her beloved son’s injury.

“Shouldn’t you apologize first before I ask?” It’s because you poked a hole in a healthy child’s face.”

Il-hyun’s gaze shifted away from Seon-yeong and toward Seok-joo, who sat next to her. His temples were covered with gauze. When their eyes met, Seok-joo lowered his head like prey in front of a beast. Seon-yeong’s squinted sharply, and the voice that scolded her son grew stronger.

“Raise your head. Are you a fool? You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“You can think about it. Kang Seok-Joo, answer me. Did I do anything to you that deserves an apology?”

“…”

“Answer me. If you want, I can do it here.”

Seok-joo moved his anxious gaze back and forth. When he got drunk, he felt elated, but sitting here with a sane mind was like hell. All his brothers’ eyes pierced him like thorns.

“Oh, no. It’s all right, Hyung. Because it’s my fault… There’s no need for you to apologize…”

Il-hyun looked at Seon-yeong with a sad smile on his face.

“See? It isn’t my fault.”

“How could you,”

“Stop it. What are you doing during a meal?”

All of them shut their mouths at Chairman Kang’s remarks. Kim Seon-young had a sad expression on her face as she looked at her husband. She was aware that he had a particular preference for Kang Il-hyun. Of course, he has good abilities and looks exactly like him, so it must be true, but she was irritated when he tolerated such excessive behavior at times. She bit her lower lip gently and clenched her fist under the table.

When the main dish came out and the meal started, the somewhat stiff atmosphere gradually eased. Most of the stories were about work, and in the meantime, Tae-han’s twin story and Yoo-jung’s hospital story came and went.

“When did you say the son of Zhang would come?”

Tae-han, who was drinking wine, was the first to respond. Tomorrow.

“Where does he want to stay?”

Il-hyun, who was slicing the meat, slightly lifted the tip of the knife and said, “I’m thinking of taking care of it.”

“Take good care of him. He is the son of Zhang, so he is like a brother to you.”

Il-hyun smiled briefly when he heard the word “brother.” He had fucking a lot of brothers.

“I will, Father.”

At that moment, Seok-joo, who was sitting in front of Il-hyun, entered his vision. He was having fun watching him wince every time their eyes met, and a good idea suddenly came to him.

“It’s probably better for Seok-joo to look after him than for me. They must have something in common because they are the same age.”

Seok-joo’s knife, which was cutting steak stopped. He had no idea why he had abruptly pointed him out. He raised his head and looked at Il-hyun, who was holding a wine glass and smiling. Seok-joo got goosebumps and quickly averted his gaze. He had no idea what Il-hyun was up to, but he sharpened his knife in his heart, vowing to kill this human with his own hands someday.

***

“I have always been interested in Korean art. That’s why I asked grandfather for help.”

Wang Han clicked his tongue when he saw Ja-kyung talking like a robot. No, today’s robots would outperform that. He had to pretend to be someone else in order to stay at Kang Il-hyun’s house, but the disguise was supposed to be a weak young master.

Wang Han scanned Ja-kyung from head to toe. His skin was close to the color of copper tanned by Thailand’s hot sun, and his eyes were so intense that they penetrated through glass despite the fact that he was wearing glasses. Furthermore, there was a snake crawling on his shoulder with its mouth wide open, who would see him as a weak young master.

“Ja-kyung. Don’t go out until you leave the country. That way your skin will come back like before.”

“Skin?”

“You definitely had pale skin when you were younger. No, it wasn’t like this when you were in Shanghai last year. Staying at home for two weeks would be better than now.”

Ja-kyung pursed his lips to the point where his lower chin was wrinkled and thought deeply. To gain access to the target’s home, he had to pose as a Hong Kong man named Zhang Yi An. He was the godson of the Hong Kong organization, the Black Society, and after his father died when he was young, he was a flower in a greenhouse nurtured by his Korean mother and grandfather.

He was a weed in comparison. A weed that could withstand being trampled on and crushed. It was similiar thing, but the class was different.

“Who do you think  actually commissioned it?”

Ja-kyung suddenly became curious. Wang Han speculated that the client was a member of the shipping group. A person who has the power to use Dmitry as an intermediary to commission Ja-kyung to kill. A person who could replace the grandson of a big man. Someone who wouldn’t get caught easily.

“It must be a family.”

This was a common occurrence in this field. Killing each other between family and friends. The same could be said for the lover. It was nothing more than shoving bullets into the lover’s heart and head who had been mixing bodies up until last night. As a result, Ja-kyung did not easily trust people and avoided meeting them.

“He’ll realize that choosing me was a good decision. It’s me we are talking about.”

Wang Han shook his head as he looked at Ja-kyung’s confident face.

“With your acting skills, you’ll get caught soon.”

“Is it really that weird?”

Wang Han looked intently at Ja-kyung’s face. His eyes were large and clear, with thin double eyelids. The shape of his eyes changed depending on the viewer. His eye corners were redder than other people’s, so when he looked down, he appeared pitiful, and when he lifted it up, it went up to the corner of the eyes and was slightly sexy. The women admired it, though.

“Well… Relax your eyes a little. Like when you wake up in the early morning.”

When he said that, Ja-kyung opened his eyes wide and then closed them, relaxing his eye muscles. Was it okay now? He looked relaxed, but this time it looks too relaxed. Wang Han shook his head, looking at the brown pupil that had disappeared through his eyelids.

“Stop it.”

“Then how about this?”

He was now playing with his eyes in the middle, so Wang Han complained that if he was going to use that handsome face in that way, he should give it to him.

“Even if it’s your face, never reveal your naked body. If he notices the small scars on your body, he will be suspicious.”

When he heard this, Ja-kyung gave an absurd smile and leaned back in his chair.

“Don’t worry.  There’s no reason for me to take off my clothes. I’m not going to seduce Kang Il-hyun.”