A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 114

Between moments of silence, Minsu hesitated, as if he was struggling with something difficult to say.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”

“It’s not that… But, tell me something. Kim was really killed, right?”

“…What?”

“I just mean… I thought he’d never leave Choi Taejoon’s side. It doesn’t feel real that he’s gone.”

His intuition was sharper than I expected. Yeah, he’s alive. But instead of answering, I took a long sip of my café latte, trying to suppress the dryness in my throat.

Minsu shuddered and clutched his arms tightly, scanning the café like he was afraid someone would come for him next.

“Look, there’s something I never told you before… because I was scared of Kim. I didn’t even tell my uncle the details.”

“What is it?”

“You remember that guy—the one with the knife? The one Kim took care of?”

“You mean the Jeju incident?”

“Yeah… But I swear, I heard something that day with my own ears.”

Minsu leaned in and motioned for me to come closer. His voice dropped to a whisper.

“The guy had taken so many hits to the head that I don’t know if he was just delirious, but…”

He paused, gathering his thoughts before continuing.

“The person who ordered the hit… was from ‘Taeseong.’”

I tilted my head.

“‘From Taeseong’? That could mean Kang Jae Wook, Choi Taejoon, you, me—it could be anyone.”

“Are you talking about Kang Jae Wook?”

Since I wasn’t particularly shocked, Minsu sighed in frustration, thumping his chest.

“No, that’s not what I mean. The guy said ‘our side’—as in, Executive Director Choi’s side.”

I frowned.

“How do you know that’s what he meant?”

“Because he was barely clinging to life, muttering, ‘How could you do this to one of your own?’”

That meant the person who ordered the hit was one of Taejoon’s close associates.

And the target of that attack hadn’t been Taejoon—it had been me.

Which meant… someone from our side had tried to kill me.

Only one person came to mind.

“…Kim?”

Minsu pressed his lips together and gave a slow nod.

“Who else could it be? He’s the only one who saw you as an eyesore.”

But why?

What had I done that was so unforgivable that he had to send a professional assassin after me?

And in the end, Taejoon had been the one who was critically injured in my place.

“I kept asking him over and over to make sure I wasn’t mishearing things, and he kept saying the same thing. But then the guard shift changed…”

Minsu ground his straw between his teeth, flicking his gaze toward Captain Jo, who was sitting at a distance.

“Remember? It was me, you, and Kim going after Kang Jae Wook that day. And even then, it was obvious Kim was trying to get you killed. He literally threw you into a death trap.”

Kim had always been by Taejoon’s side. It was very likely that he had known in advance that I’d be stopping by my family home in Jeju.

Looking at the situation piece by piece, all the signs pointed to him.

“At first, I didn’t think much of it. Executive Director Choi has plenty of enemies within Taeseong—Kang Jae Wook or any number of others. But you? Why would anyone go after you?”

I shot him a glare.

“…‘A nobody like you’ is what you were about to say, wasn’t it?”

Minsu coughed awkwardly.

“Anyway! Now that Kim is dead, I finally had the guts to come tell you.”

Kim might have had his reasons, but something about this felt off.

If he had truly intended to kill me, he wouldn’t have done it while I was with Taejoon. That would’ve been too sloppy.

The Kim I knew would have done it more cleanly, more flawlessly.

And when I thought back to our conversation in Taejoon’s hospital room, Kim had clearly believed that Kang Jae Wook had ordered Taejoon’s assassination.

He hadn’t even realized I was a target.

“…Is that all you came to tell me?”

“I also had to go to the hospital, so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone. Besides… You’re my only real friend from work.”

As soon as he said it, Minsu looked embarrassed. He scrubbed his face roughly with his large hands before crunching on the remaining ice in his cup.

Watching him, I felt a tightness in my chest.

“…Listen, Minsu.”

I hesitated, lowering my voice.

I didn’t know if I should be saying this. I might sound crazy, but I wanted to protect him as best as I could.

“Stay away from anything related to Taeseong. Don’t even come looking for me. If you’re not careful, you could die.”

“I’m done with Taeseong. I don’t even want to hear the ‘Tae-’ sound in a name. But why the hell would I die?”

“Just keep that in mind. Anyone who gets involved with Taeseong dies. No exceptions. That’s all you need to remember.”

“Damn… Why are you saying creepy stuff like that?”

No matter how many times I emphasized my warning, Minsu’s expression remained skeptical, as if he wasn’t entirely convinced. Still, after a moment’s hesitation, he reluctantly muttered an “Alright,” before glancing toward Captain Jo, who was watching us from a distance.

“Hey, Woo Kyung… but seriously, why is he here?”

“Oh, well… it just happened that way.”

“That’s weird. Captain Jo….”

Minsu trailed off with a puzzled expression, tilting his head as if something wasn’t adding up.

“He wasn’t close with Executive Director Choi.”

“What are you talking about? Of course, they weren’t exactly friends—”

“No, no. What I mean is, as far as I know, he was close with Executive Director Kang, not Choi.”

Jo was close to Kang Jae Wook?

“…What?”

Something stirred in my memory.

At the beginning of the novel, Hyun Woo Kyung had been forcibly set up to spend the night with Kang Jae Wook. And the person who had arranged that meeting? Captain Jo. He was the one who had guided Woo Kyung to the hotel room where everything had happened.

Of course, at the time, it had been Team Leader Baek pulling the strings, ensuring that the connection was made. But for a lower-ranking member like Jo to have been directly involved with Kang Jae Wook? That wasn’t something just anyone could pull off.

I cast a glance toward Captain Jo, who was still watching me.

He shrugged slightly, as if to say, What are you looking at me like that for?

Maybe that had been true in the past. But if his ties to Kang Jae Wook had remained intact, Taejoon wouldn’t have kept him around. That much was clear.

Even so, the unease didn’t quite settle.

I would have to check with Taejoon.

I didn’t even need to reach out first—when I arrived home, Taejoon was already there, waiting for me.

“Oh? What are you doing here at this hour?”

“Got off work.”

I glanced between the wall clock and Taejoon, narrowing my eyes.

He was lounging on the sofa, a book in hand, barely acknowledging my presence.

“…It’s two-thirty in the morning.”

“Sometimes I get off early.”

That’s early? That’s insanely early.

“Where were you?”

“Oh, I met Minsu. You remember him, right? He used to work with me.”

At the mention of Minsu, the tension in Taejoon’s shoulders eased slightly.

“Executive Director… I need to talk to you about something.”

I recounted everything Minsu had told me—his suspicions about Kim, Captain Jo’s possible past ties to Kang Jae Wook, and the implications of it all.

Taejoon listened without interrupting, his face unreadable.

“So, you’re saying it was Han Young Soon, that bastard, who threw you into Kang Jae Wook’s room?”

That had been early in the novel, something I hadn’t even directly experienced myself. I had almost forgotten about it entirely.

“I can’t say for sure. But at the time, I was under Jo’s command, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he had a hand in it.”

I trailed off.

The Gaenari Crew had always been at the very bottom of the hierarchy. It was far more likely that Jo had simply followed orders. After all, Team Leader Baek had orchestrated the entire situation to get Hyun Woo Kyung into Kang Jae Wook’s hands. Han Young Soon might have just been obeying orders.

Taejoon immediately pulled out his phone and made a call.

“Remove Han Young Soon from all assignments for now. Do a deeper background check and report back. Find someone else for Hyun Woo Kyung’s security detail.”

From the other end of the call, I could hear Team Leader Seo’s voice responding.

As I listened to Taejoon issue orders, I found myself lost in thought.

Minsu’s claim that Kim had tried to have me killed…

“It doesn’t make sense,” I muttered. “I don’t think Kim ordered my death. It’s too sloppy. If Kim had wanted me dead, he wouldn’t have sent someone who could mistake me for you. And more importantly, he would never have put you in danger.”

Taejoon leaned back, nodding slightly.

“Whoever did it, we’ll find out soon. You don’t need to worry about it.”

I could tell—he was thinking the same thing I was.

Kim wouldn’t have jeopardized Taejoon’s safety. And if he had truly wanted to kill me, he would have ensured it was done right.

Most importantly, Kim hadn’t known that the real target had been me. If he were the mastermind, there was no way he would have been unaware of that fact.

“…Anyway, what are you really doing here at this hour?”

Taejoon’s gaze flicked toward the coffee table.

“…Oh?”

There was a framed photo sitting there—one I had never seen before.

A picture of the two of us.

I squinted.

A while back, I had mentioned offhandedly that I’d like to have one of our photos printed. I had barely even meant it.

Had he remembered?

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