Unscented Trajectory - Chapter 45 - 45

It felt like heat was rising up his clenched fist. It was the hand that Joohyuk had kissed and clasped before leaving for work.

“… This is the last.”

-…

He knew what was to be said in the silence. Even if he thinks about it, he will be pathetic.

“What we need to know about Lee Joohyuk is… That will be the last.”

* * *

“Aaaah-!”

He screamed and struck a blow with his feet. The little chair rolled on the floor with its armrests dropped. Next to it was a table that had already been broken in half. Even looking at it, he couldn’t help but breathe.

‘Lee Joohyuk, you bastard!’

Lee Sihoon, who returned home after a few days in the hospital due to a fractured elbow, was exuding a bloody energy that his attendants could not even speak to him. Meanwhile, as soon as he entered the room, they heard screaming and the sound of furniture breaking.

He took a breath and looked down at his cast arm. The face of Joohyuk, who had broken his arm, seemed to come to mind. His head, which had been cooling down, turned hot again.

Knock Knock-

Just before he lost his temper, someone knocked on the door as if it had been intended.

“Who is it?”

He screamed angrily, and a calm voice came from outside the door.

“Can I come in?”

His heavy breathing calmed down a bit. When he realized that the person outside the door was his mother, his reason seemed to come back a little.

As soon as he spoke the word of permission, the door opened. A neat woman in a bright dress walked in calmly even after seeing the messy room.

“Didn’t I tell you to always be careful because people have eyes and ears?”

Ahn Seohee, who sat on a chair that had fallen on the floor, put a nice smile on her beautiful face.

“I heard about it. That you broke your arm.”

Is that what she came here to say with a smile?

Sihoon sighed and sat down.

“What did your father say?”

“It was broken well. So why are you touching the penthouse?”

Sihoon’s face was distorted. Ahn Seohee smiled a little as she covered her mouth with her hand thinking of something good.

“Haejun said we shouldn’t make a big deal out of it, but wouldn’t they have to pay the price for making you look like that?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I only have one thing to do.”

Ahn Seohee’s eyebrows curled up. When Sihoon looked into her eyes, the ossuary in Paju automatically came to mind.

* * *

Late at night, five men in black robes came to the empty crypt with a gloomy atmosphere. As if they were professionally trained, there was no sound in their footsteps.

The men who first raided the security room and subdued the security guards turned off the CCTV and alarm devices inside, and then used the electronic devices they had prepared to break through the security and go inside. Lighting the interior full of darkness with a small flashlight, they took unstoppable steps as if they already knew the exact location of their target.

The men, who arrived in front of the VIP private memorial in the innermost part of the ossuary, glanced at the few memorials. Their gazes fell sequentially on several plaques with shallow lights on.

Among them, they glanced at the nameplate with the name ‘Park Hyein’ and connected the machine to the fingerprint recognition device of the memorial hall with the blank name plate hanging right next to it. As one of the men operated the machine quickly, there was a small mechanical sound and the sound of a latch being released.

Without delay, the men opened the door and entered, raising their flashlights to illuminate the front. The cupboards were filled with all sorts of things that were obviously meant for children.

The men flashing their flashlights soon noticed something strange.

There were a lot of things for remembrance, but the most important thing was that there was no ossuary.

When the men were visibly confused, suddenly footsteps were heard from all directions. The security guards in black suits, who filled the wide open door in no time, drew their guns and aimed at the men.

“Put your hands over your head right now!”

One of the bodyguards, who seemed to be the leader, shouted like a roar. The unfamiliar intruders who were aiming for the ossuary raised their hands one by one as they saw that more than twice their own number of people were aiming their guns at each other. Disappointment was etched on their faces.

* * *

– As expected. I caught all the people my mother sent, what should I do?

“I’ll leave it to you to take care of it. And tomorrow morning, we will proceed as planned.”

-Okay.

When he tried to hang up the phone, he stopped and spoke up.

“Lee Haejun, don’t you regret it?”

– I was wondering what you’ll say.

Lee Haejun, who was on the other side, let out a choking sound of laughter.

– I definitely stopped her once. Even if I don’t have much affection, my mother is my mother.

There was a bit of bitterness in Lee Haejun’s voice.

– It was my mother who chose. You are responsible for your choices.

In a low voice, the words ‘me too’ followed. He can be cold-hearted, but he didn’t want to walk the same way as them just because they were blood rlated. Because he knew he was going to self-destruct soon.

After hanging up the phone, Joohyuk looked down at the cell phone in his hand and remembered Ahn Seohee’s abominable face and the ossuary.

How can she act so predictably? In return for breaking Lee Sihoon’s arm, she would have tried to move the urn to a place that only she knew. If he didn’t know where it was, he wouldn’t only get restless, but he’ll have to be submissive.

Soon Ahn Seohee, realizing the situation, will run rampantly to find his father. She’ll say there were some suspicious people who have stepped into their ossuary.

The men sent to secure the remains and the bodyguards on this side, who had been ambushed in the VIP room in advance, were accused of being thieves and broke their promise.

‘You have to say it right away. It was you who broke the promise.’

It’s past the time to sit back and suffer.

If everything goes according to plan, Ahn Seohee will be secured tomorrow. It was something he had been preparing for quite a while, but he didn’t move hastily on purpose. His father’s intentions were not clear at the time to start sifting through her, and there was too little decisive data to even shake off Lee Sihoon.

But now it was different.

A competent investigator successfully uncovered the golf course case where there was no evidence left. He didn’t know how they found out, but at the time, they were sending him various circumstantial and physical evidence that they were trying to kill him. Even a decisive testimony.

Even though that was not enough, they said that they have secured the final evidence that Sihoon was the main culprit in the golf course incident.

Just like Ahn Seohee, he told his father that it was time to clean up.

And then it was Lee Sihoon’s turn.

Joohyuk, who was about to leave the study, suddenly looked at the laptop on the table. He lowered his eyes as he recalled the report that was in the tightly closed laptop.

‘Kwon Yihyeon…’

What happens to Kwon Yihyeon when his contract was over? He didn’t know if he was his father’s person or if he was Ahn Seohee and Lee Sihoon’s, but it was clear that he would disappear from his side when the matter was resolved.

The remaining contract period was less than one month.

He thought he needed to prepare a new contract. So that there was no hole for him to escape from.

Joohyuk, who turned and left the study room, headed to Yihyeon’s new room. As soon as he opened the door, even though it was full of furniture, he felt a sense of emptiness for some reason. But strangely, as soon as he saw Yihyeon standing in front of the closet, the surrounding air changed.

He was a person who had never worn comfortable clothes at home. Even though he was told to get a good rest, he was still wearing a white shirt and black trousers. It seems like it was a habit, but the way he dressed made him look more ascetic.

Could it be that the reason he couldn’t be comfortable was because he was always nervous?

When he found out that Yihyeon was someone who was ordered by someone else, he kept paying attention to every single detail of his appearance and actions so far.

Yihyeon, who was standing in front of the closet, felt Joohyuk’s presence and looked back at him. It was surprising that he was leaning against the door and staring at him as if appreciating it, but he did not express it.

“Executive Director, these clothes…”

“Why? Don’t you like it?”

He tilted his head and came closer, wrapping one arm around his shoulder and pulling him closer. Yet, his gaze was still on the wide-open wardrobe.

The empty closet, which had not been hung up until yesterday, was full of various clothes. From expensive suits of various designs to casual clothes that college students could wear, or clothes that could be worn comfortably, there was no shortage of clothes.

With an arm still wrapped around his shoulders, he pulled out a piece of clothing with his other hand. He tried putting the semi-suit with a shirt and a jacket on Yihyeon’s body with the hanger, then picking up a knit tee and putting it on. Even a shirt with a gentle pattern, and he smiled satisfactorily.

“It all suits you well. From now on, instead of wearing only tight clothes, you should wear something like this.”

Joohyuk put the clothes back in the closet and held up Yihyeon’s left hand. A watch that he didn’t even know he was wearing before was wrapped around his thin wrist, a wrist so thin it could be held in one hand.

“You haven’t changed your watch?”

He frowned and took off the watch. It looked like a pretty expensive watch, but it didn’t have a brand name, so he didn’t know how much it was worth. It had been worn for a long time, so there was a lot of wear and the gloss was almost gone, but the watch itself was working well.

When he turned back and looked at the part that touched his wrist, something like a letter was engraved on the silver plate. Its engravings were so small that it was hard to tell exactly, but at first glance it looked like a number. As he was looking at it carefully, he could feel the shoulder that was being held by him startled.

“Isn’t this too old? Replace it with the one I gave you.”

Saying that, he glanced at Yihyeon, and his calm eyes were shaking when he touched the watch. Joohyuk’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“Is it something important?”

“… no.”

The shaking eyes quickly subsided. Joohyuk looked at his face and shoved the watch he was holding into his pants pocket. A black watch case engraved with the brand logo in gold was seen on a neat desk.

He approached the desk, opened the case and picked up his watch. It was an expensive luxury watch with a brilliant luster that could not be compared with the one Yihyeon wore. Joohyuk took it and put it on Yihyeon’s left wrist by hand.

It felt like handcuffs made of solid iron for some reason, despite the weight, it didn’t put a burden on his wrist.

Joohyuk smiled as he turned Yihyeon’s wrist, which was covered with the watch, back and forth.

“It suits you.”

‘You look good, Hyun-ah.’

He clenched his teeth without Joohyuk realizing. Over Joohyuk’s face, the face of his partner from the past, who had given him a watch, overlapped.

Effortlessly cooling his head, he took his gaze away from Joohyuk’s face.

Since a few days ago, Joohyuk had definitely become strange. He used to be weird before that, but the way he spoke and the tone of his voice changed right after he pretended to be affectionate and had sex.

It was like he was having sex with a tender doll, and it felt as if he was not seeing him even though he was looking at him. Before that, he at least looked at him. No matter how painful, harassing, or hard it was, even if they didn’t even make eye contact, he could feel that he was looking at him as he was.

But the sex that day was the worst for Yihyeon. It was such a tender and soft sex unlike any he had felt before while he was with Joohyuk, but it felt as if he was looking at someone else through him, while he insisted that he look at him.

He’d rather have been mistaken, but he still couldn’t completely erase that feeling. The more he treated him as tenderly as he did during sex that day, the more he felt like his body was throbbing and his stomach was squeezed.

‘Just be patient.’

Anyway, once Ahn Seohee and Lee Sihoon were secured, there was no need to be here anymore. By that time, the contract will end, and ‘Kwon Yihyeon’ will disappear. Even the covenant that was tight as if it was holding their neck.

“By the way, the contract is about to expire, isn’t it?”

He shrugged his shoulders. He was smiling, but for some reason, Joohyuk’s eyes filled with a sharp light, and Yihyeon was contained.

“Contract extension, what do you think?”

Yihyeon was speechless.

Contract extension. It was something he hadn’t thought of.

However, the answer that Yihyeon could give to this question was only one. Joohyuk just asked this for the first time today, and if he had asked right after the contract, he would have given the same answer.

“I’m sorry.”

As soon as he apologized, Joohyuk’s eyebrows twitched.

“I think I will quit when this contract ends.”

“Why?”

“Because of personal matters.”

As soon as he gave the answer he had prepared, Joohyuk folded his arms and looked at his face. His sharp eyes stared intently at every part of his face as if he were trying to read his thoughts.

“Are you sure it’s personal matters?”

“Yes.”

To be honest, it wasn’t even a lie. Because it was right for Yihyeon to quit because of his ‘personal matter’.

Joohyuk reached out and wiped Yihyeon’s cheek. The touch of his fingertips on the cheek was colder than he expected, and he flinched.

“The salary will be several times higher than it is now, and the additional allowance will continue to be added regardless of sex. From now on, there will be no need for security guards, so it won’t be dangerous, and I’ll have a separate secretary, so you don’t have to work with a headache.”

The more he listened, the more his doubts grew. He had no intention of signing a contract, but he opened his mouth out of pure curiosity.

“Then what should I do?”

Joohyuk smiled softly.

“Did I tell you? It’s Kwon Yihyeon’s job to be by my side.”

Yihyeon looked at Joohyuk as he touched his cheek. He blatantly fixed his eyes on him, and there was not even an inch of movement in his eyes.

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Go ahead.”

Yihyeon looked at Joohyuk as if he wanted to say something, and calmly spoke out.

“What are you seeing through me?”

Joohyuk’s hand stood still. The smile on his lips gradually disappeared. The black eyes that had sunk deeply looked like they would swallow Yihyeon’s eyes.

“Does Kwon Yihyeon really need to know?”

“If the reason you give is justified, I might reconsider the contract too.”

He turned his head and moved his cheeks from Joohyuk’s hand and said without backing down.

He didn’t know about anything else, but that one thing really caught his heart. Why did he want him to be by his side unconditionally, all of a sudden, without any use? The reason was probably because he was projecting something and looking at him as he had guessed.

Joohyuk looked at Yihyeon silently and then smiled.

“Allright. But…”

Joohyuk, who came so close they could feel each other’s breath, looked fiercely at Yihyeon’s eyes. His eyes look as cold as before.

“You will hear me answer after you sign a new contract.”

Hearing Joohyuk’s words, Yihyeon lowered his eyes and bit the insides of his mouth. Those words made him more confident. The reason he suddenly started acting strangely towards him was because he knew he could project anything he wanted onto him, and he felt the need. That was why he was thinking of extending his contract with the high salary as an excuse.

If it was a contract with him, he’ll never do it again. Whatever it may be.

* * *

“What the hell is this… !”

Ahn Seohee, who became contemplative, looked at the men around her and looked at him in a panic, then looked at Chairman Lee Jeongho beyond them. He only stared at Ahn Seohee quietly, and didn’t even think about sanctioning the men around her.

One of the men stepped forward and held out a piece of white paper to Ahn Seohee. Ahn Seohee’s face became even more blue as she looked at the contents of the introduction.

“Ms. Ahn Seohee, I will arrest you on charges of slush fund raising, tax evasion, and money laundering of corrupt entrepreneurs.”

Ahn Seohee looked at Lee Jeongho with a bewildered face, but again, he did not move. Across the room, calmly keeping a distance, he was just watching.

Ahn Seohee, who was running the corporate foundation handed over to Lee Jeongho, was working with several corporate executives in advance to create her own power. They were going to be Sihoon’s strength in the succession issue of the Shinwoo group in the future, and they would become a reliable business partner.

But this morning, suddenly, out of a commotion, the executives were arrested one after another. While hearing the news, the police also came to Ahn Seohee.

Ahn Seohee herself has taken slush funds by manipulating the tax part of the corporate foundation, but the bigger problem here was that it had become a kind of money laundering route for future collaboration with corporate executives. As there was clear evidence of money laundering using various donations and tax reductions and deductions as a non-profit corporation, Ahn Seohee, the CEO of the corporate foundation, could not pass safely.

Ahn Seohee, who went through this, burned in anger, while she usually pretended to be nice and caring.

“It’s a false accusation! I’ve never done anything like that… !”

“Take her out quickly.”

In the midst of shouting, Lee Jeongho intervened as if he did not want to hear it. He frowned and gestured to the men. As if telling them to get her out.