A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 73

It felt as if I had been pricked by a wire cold and sharp. I was certain the tip of a blade had grazed me.

With my eyes still tightly shut, I began to stammer out an explanation in a trembling voice.

“I—I’ve told you repeatedly, I did not come here of my own will. Mr. Kim said it was all orchestrated by Executive Director Kang.”

Jae-wook Kang let out a low chuckle, as if he had just heard something absurd. Cautiously, I opened my eyes and looked at him.

Come to think of it, what I had mistaken for a blade was actually his finger. The real knife was firmly gripped in his other hand.

Jae-wook lifted my chin with a single finger, locking eyes with me as he spoke.

“Go on. Tell me more. What exactly did I orchestrate?”

“They said you were injured because the executive director hired a hitman. That I had to take revenge on behalf of the president… But I swear, I never intended to follow through with their orders. I was just biding my time, looking for a way to escape.”

“So, the Choi Taejoon household believes I’m the culprit?”

“Is… is that so? I’m not sure what others think, but that’s what Mr. Kim told me….”

Suddenly, Jae-wook’s face drew uncomfortably close.

“You know,” he whispered, his voice so quiet it blended with his breath, “if I truly wanted Choi Taejoon dead, I could have done it anytime—even right now. But do you know why I haven’t?”

His words sent a chill down my spine.

“I—I don’t know… Why?”

“I’ll tell you, just you, Woo Kyung. Listen carefully.”

The room was filled with people, yet at that moment, it felt as if I was the only one who could hear him. I swallowed hard, my throat dry, as warm breath brushed against my ear.

“Choi Taejoon is handsome.”

His voice slithered over me like a whisper of fire, sending shivers down my spine.

“From head to toe, he’s exactly my type. I’m holding back because I think he’d be even sexier in bed. I want to have my fun before I kill him.”

Jae-wook straightened up again, gazing down at me with an expression so serious it bordered on solemnity.

Then, as if finding my suspicions laughable, he scoffed.

“Now, do you really think I’d have ordered something so ridiculous? If I put a hole in his stomach, I wouldn’t be able to drag him into bed, would I?”

…He had a point. Jae-wook Kang didn’t seem to be the culprit after all.

“You’re right. I believe you, Executive Director.”

“Good, Woo Kyung. You believe me, don’t you?”

At the very least, it was clear that Jae-wook had not been the one who ordered Choi Taejoon’s assassination.

Even in the original story, he had multiple opportunities to kill Choi Taejoon but never did. In the end, it wasn’t one of the many villains in the story who took Choi Taejoon’s life—it was the police.

So then… was it possible that Jae-wook’s real target hadn’t been Choi Taejoon at all, but rather Woo Kyung?

Could it be that I was his true objective all along, and Choi Taejoon had simply gotten caught in the crossfire?

Sensing my thoughts as if by some eerie intuition, Jae-wook merely shrugged.

“What would I gain from killing a small fry like you? You might be useful for rattling Choi Taejoon’s nerves, but honestly, I have no interest in watching him weep over a dead lover.”

“…….”

“And Woo Kyung, we have unfinished business, don’t we? You haven’t forgotten, have you?”

It seemed he still hadn’t let go of his obsession with “that act” he was about to commit before I ran away.

There was likely a reason why he had dragged me into such a luxurious room.

Feed me well, clean me up, and then…

Jae-wook Kang stretched his lips into a long smirk, laughing audibly. At that moment, Chief Kwak’s voice interrupted.

“He’s here, sir.”

“Ha, that bastard sure took his time.”

“What should we do?”

“Hmm…”

Jae-wook rubbed his chin as if in deep thought. Then, suddenly, he grinned.

“Bring me something to tie him up.”

“…Understood.”

B-bring what? What does he plan to do now…?!

I tried to stand abruptly, but his men held me down in my seat.

“Woo Kyung, I asked you a question, so you should answer. I’ve been the only one talking so far. So, is Choi Taejoon your first love?”

Thud— Thud—

A dull sound echoed from the distant hallway. Then, the sharp crash of breaking glass and the tearing of something followed. Shouts, groans, and battle cries came in quick succession.

Is he insane? Asking about my first love at a time like this?

“N-no, he’s not my first love.”

“Ha, poor bastard! But I bet you’re his first love, aren’t you?”

What does that even matter right now?

And what the hell is happening outside?

Under normal circumstances, I would have assumed, like with the abandoned warehouse incident, that Choi Taejoon had come to rescue me. But he was still hospitalized.

As the commotion outside drew closer, the men inside the room braced themselves for a fight. Chief Kwak returned with what looked like a thick, sturdy rope.

Even he seemed anxious, glancing back and forth between the entrance and Jae-wook, unsure of what to do.

“Tie him up.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Why… why are you doing this?! I’m not going to run away!”

Jae-wook watched as they tied me to the chair, then reached for a knife resting on the table.

“Hmm… We can get back to the first love talk later.”

With that, he dragged my chair across the floor toward the window.

“Kwak, open the window.”

“Yes, sir.”

“W-wait—!”

He tilted the back of my chair against the windowsill, positioning it so precariously that the slightest push would send me plummeting outside.

I wasn’t sure exactly what floor we were on, but it was high enough that a fall would be fatal.

“Kiddo, keep your mouth shut while the adults are talking.”

“Mmgh—!”

“It’s about time a familiar face showed up. Five, four, three, two…”

Jae-wook’s eyes gleamed with excitement as he stared at the entrance, like a fan awaiting the grand entrance of their favorite idol at a concert.

“Ta-da—!”

The moment he finished speaking, the door was kicked open, crashing off its hinges.

Jae-wook’s face lit up with uncontained amusement as he welcomed the intruder.

“Our dear Executive Director Choi, you’ve arrived!”

He turned to me and whispered, his voice dripping with mischief.

“Seriously, what a temper. The door wasn’t even locked, but he just had to break it down. Woo Kyung, say hello. Your executive director is here.”

Standing in the ruined doorway was Choi Taejoon.

His shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, revealed his disheveled state, and his jacket hung loosely over his shoulders. His chest rose and fell with rapid, heavy breaths.

“E-executive director…?”

He was supposed to be in the hospital.

Choi Taejoon’s eyes, bloodshot and burning with intensity, locked onto me. He exhaled sharply.

The steel pipe in his hand scraped against the marble floor with a grating noise as he took slow, deliberate steps toward me.

“Terrifying, isn’t he? Woo Kyung, look at his expression.”

Jae-wook grinned, theatrically pulling my chair further over the windowsill. My balance wavered, the chair teetering dangerously.

“One more step, and I’ll send him flying out this window.”

Choi Taejoon froze in place.

“You blamed me for the truck accident last time. And now, you’re saying I sent people all the way to Jeju Island to kill you? Damn, if that’s not true love, what is? This level of obsession… isn’t it the real deal?”

Choi Taejoon’s voice dropped to a deadly whisper.

“Cut the crap and let Woo Kyung go.”

“Our Woo Kyung says it was all Mr. Kim’s doing. But where is that bastard now?”

Choi Taejoon took a cautious step forward.

At the same time, my chair tilted further back, dangling perilously in midair. It was only Jae-wook’s grip that kept me from falling. Whether by accident or intent, if he let go, I would plummet to my death.

“If you come any closer, your lover dies.”

Choi Taejoon remained frozen, his expression unreadable.

“What do you want? Killing Woo Kyung won’t change anything.”

“Won’t it? Oh, you’d be surprised.”

“You’ve kept him alive all this time, which means I’m your real target. Let him go.”

Jae-wook finally chuckled, setting my chair upright.

This bastard was as unpredictable as ever. For now, at least, he seemed to have decided to let me live.

Instead, he brought the knife in his other hand right up to my neck.

“Urgh…”

“…Put that knife down.”

“Can’t do that. This is my insurance policy.”

“Insurance, my ass.”

Choi Taejoon’s forehead was slick with sweat, his pale lips bloodless. He looked like he could collapse at any moment.

“Woo Kyung is no use to you.”

“Nothing to gain? Ha, Taejoon, with that poor grasp of reality, how did you even survive in this brutal underworld?”

Jae-wook clicked his tongue in feigned disappointment. He pressed the blade a little closer to my throat.

“You think I gain nothing? My pride, for one.”

A cold, stinging sensation prickled against my skin, and I instinctively shrank away.

“And in this business, that means everything.”

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