A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 39

Somehow, he felt familiar. There was an eerie sense of déjà vu, as if I had met him before. And every time he smiled or spoke, it was as if someone was holding up a reflector, making him appear even brighter.

“Park Ha-hyun…”

The moment I heard his name, everything clicked into place.

So this is what they call the protagonist’s buff.

In the original storyline, Hyun Woo-kyung was supposed to die before Park Ha-hyun even made an appearance, meaning they never had a chance to cross paths. Their relationship had naturally been omitted.

Who would have thought there was such a backstory behind their missing connection?

They were senior and junior members of the high school badminton club? That had the fresh, youthful drama feel.

His personality was much brighter and more sociable than I had imagined. No wonder. The novel mostly depicted him being abused and tormented by Choi Taejoon, making him seem gloomy and withdrawn.

I cautiously turned my head to check Choi Taejoon’s seat. He still hadn’t returned. Without realizing it, I felt relieved by his absence.

I wasn’t sure why I felt relieved, but at that moment, my heart suddenly pounded hard in my chest.

Wait, was I,  jealous of them?

“That’s ridiculous.”

Yeah, ridiculous. Jealous? Of what? Why was I even thinking like this?

More than anything, I just didn’t want to get caught up in something complicated between the two of them.

Besides, Park Ha-hyun’s appearance meant that my role in the original story was bound to change, for better or worse. I needed to prepare myself.

But as the surroundings quieted down, the symptoms I had suppressed began creeping back.

I squeezed my eyes shut and turned onto my side. The pain and fear washed over me like waves, making me curl into myself. My fists clenched involuntarily.

“Ugh…”

Something was caught in my tightly clenched hand.

It was Park Ha-hyun’s handkerchief. He must have given it to me after wiping away my cold sweat.

How out of it was I that I didn’t even realize I was holding onto it?

“…This.”

I glanced down the corridor where Park Ha-hyun had disappeared. His seat was in the back, probably alongside the company representative.

Should I return it?

I debated for a moment before deciding against it.

In movies and dramas, characters always insist on returning a handkerchief, only to get entangled in something either it works out for them, or misunderstandings arise. Either way, it gets messy.

I wasn’t about to make things unnecessarily complicated. I tucked the handkerchief into the seat’s net pocket.

Then, I lay back down and closed my eyes, gritting my teeth every time the plane trembled. I tried to recall the brightest, healthiest, and happiest moments of my life.

When was I truly happy?

The day I found out I made it into the debut lineup. The day we filmed the music video that was exciting too. Our first broadcast though I had been too nervous to breathe properly.

We even made it onto national TV, but the audience reaction was nonexistent.

They could’ve at least insulted us. How could people be so indifferent?

“……”

I snapped my eyes open.

This wasn’t right. I had started with happy memories and ended with depressing ones. Again! I needed to think of truly joyful moments.

Ah, that day.

Back in high school, when I skipped class to attend a fan signing event and got Do Hyun-tae’s autograph. I had begged my sister to buy me a Do Hyun-tae plushie, and I got him to sign it.

“What’s your name? Ah, Hyun Woo-kyung.”

I could still hear his warm, gentle voice and see his kind eyes.

Do Hyun-tae had plenty of female fans, but he had a large male fanbase too. Still, what had he thought when he saw a male student in a school uniform at a weekday fan event?

I really needed to return to my original world. I had even landed a supporting role in a drama starring Do Hyun-tae, but now that I was gone, that opportunity had probably vanished too.

Once again, my thoughts were turning somber.

Just then, the announcement came on: we would be arriving at the airport in about 20 minutes. The seatbelt sign lit up.

As I fumbled to reach for the seatbelt, a hand extended from the seat beside me, pulling it across and securing it in place.

It seemed like the security team leader was helping me.

“T-Thank you.”

I shifted slightly to adjust my position. Click, the seatbelt fastened snugly.

“I could’ve done it myself, but thanks.”

Without a word, the security team leader placed a hot pack on my stomach, something a flight attendant must have prepared.

…Wait. Was the security team leader always this considerate?

“T-Thank you”

“Medicine. Here.”

“……”

“If you need more water, just say so.”

“…Huh?”

The blunt tone, the flat delivery… and Choi Taejoon?

I slowly lifted my heavy eyelids to confirm.

“Take both pills at once.”

“V-Vice President…? When did you switch seats with the team leader?”

Why was Choi Taejoon sitting next to me?

A mix of surprise and confusion flickered through me.

“Why? Want me to call the team leader back?”

“N-No! That’s not it.”

I had no idea when or why he had taken the security team leader’s place.

But there was no mistaking it.

The person sitting beside me was definitely Choi Taejoon.

I placed the pills in my mouth and swallowed them.

“When did your stomach start hurting?”

“Since boarding the plane….”

“Why?”

“I’m not sure. I ate a sandwich in a hurry, and maybe that was it.”

He adjusted the hot pack that had started slipping off my stomach and watched intently as I swallowed the medicine.

“Does your stomach hurt often?”

“A little.”

I hadn’t even realized it myself, but according to Park Ha-hyun, it apparently did.

“I took the medicine, so I should be fine soon. You don’t need to worry.”

I was about to thank Choi Taejoon for his unexpected concern, but just as I opened my mouth, he leaned back against his seat and clicked his tongue. Then, with a dissatisfied expression, he muttered under his breath.

“You can’t even take care of yourself properly.”

“……”

Before I had a chance to feel hurt by his indifferent tone, the hot pack on my stomach slipped off again, tumbling onto the floor.

“…I’ll pick it up.”

“Stay still.”

Choi Taejoon bent down and retrieved the fallen hot pack.

I gulped down the pill and placed my empty glass back on the tray. My mouth tasted bitter maybe the pill had started dissolving before I could swallow it.

No one chooses to be sick. Being in pain was already frustrating enough, and yet, he had to say something like that?

Feeling a little stung, I responded with a hint of irritation.

“I’ll make sure to take better care of myself.”

Choi Taejoon glanced at me briefly before speaking even more coldly.

“You can’t even take care of your health, and now you can’t even manage your expressions? What’s with your face? You look like a mess.”

At this point, I wasn’t just upset, I was on the verge of tears. I turned my back to him.

“…It’s my first time flying, so I’m just nervous. I’ll be fine once we land. Just pretend you didn’t see anything.”

“You’re making it hard to ignore.”

“…You don’t have to care.”

“I’m not choosing to care. It’s just happening.”

For a moment, I felt ridiculous for having been glad to see him earlier. Assigning deeper meaning to Park Ha-hyun’s arrival also felt foolish in hindsight.

After that, neither of us spoke.

As if unexpected flight anxiety and stomach pain weren’t enough, Choi Taejoon had to add fuel to the fire. It felt suffocating.

Why did he switch seats? Just to mess with me?

The silence was broken when Choi Taejoon spoke again, his voice low and sharp.

“That guy earlier.”

“…Huh?”

I wondered if he had seen Park Ha-hyun, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

“The one at the airport. The bastard who mentioned your father’s debt.”

Ah. He was talking about Baek Team Leader. Choi Taejoon still believed him to be Baek President.

“…Yeah, that was him.”

Could it be that he was treating me harshly because of what Baek Team Leader had said?

Even now, he seemed irritated. Earlier, too.

Did he misunderstand what Baek Team Leader meant when he said, Let’s match lips?

That crazy bastard. Why did he have to say something so misleading?

“…Are you upset because of Baek President? That’s all a misunderstanding.”

“Misunderstanding?”

“You were glaring at me earlier, weren’t you? You looked furious, like you wanted to eat me alive. Wasn’t it because of what you saw? You were probably thinking, Why the hell are they matching lips?”

“When did I ever matching lips?”

Choi Taejoon’s face twisted in sheer disbelief.

Oh. Maybe… I had been wrong.

Judging by his reaction, it really didn’t seem like that was the reason.

So, in the end, I was the only one who looked like an idiot.

“…Forget I said anything. I must have misunderstood, not you.”

“I’ve already heard it.”

“Can’t you just let it slide?”

Choi Taejoon’s voice dropped even lower.

“Matching lips…?”

“Huh?”

“What exactly do you mean by matching lips?”

I knew this was going to happen. I sat up straight and shot him an exasperated look.

“You’re not seriously clueless about this, are you? When he said matching lips, he didn’t mean kissing.”

Ugh. Saying it out loud made it even worse. The thought of being in that kind of situation with Baek Team Leader was disgusting.

Choi Taejoon’s voice hardened even more.

“You and that bastard,  are you working together?”

“…What?”

“If not, then why would the two of you match lips?”

His sharp gaze pierced through me.

Oh no.

Maybe it would’ve been better if he had thought we were talking about kissing.

If I didn’t explain this properly, it would only make things worse.

I had been playing the role of Hyun Woo-kyung, someone being tormented by Baek Team Leader. If I didn’t choose my words carefully, none of this would make sense.

“So, what I mean is… about that guy,  what he said was just…”

Choi Taejoon’s ice-cold stare bore into me, waiting for an answer.

I needed to lie something convincing enough that even he would believe it.

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