A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 93

“These are indeed Hyun Wookyung’s belongings.”

Taejoon leaned his head against the seat.

He felt weightless, as if he were floating, yet dizzy at the same time. Even though his eyes were open, it took a moment for him to register where he was.

Through the car window, he saw the Han River Bridge and the faint reflection of Assistant Manager Yoon’s silhouette in the driver’s seat. Only then did he realize that he was inside a moving vehicle.

“Vice President.”

But as soon as he returned to reality, the conversation he had just had with Director Kim resurfaced, wrenching away the mental clarity he had only barely regained.

“As you know, after the attempted murder of Kang Jaewook, I kept Hyun Wookyung’s bag in my possession. But I never imagined something like this would be inside.”

“Shit…”

Taejoon yanked at his tightly fastened tie.

Even after undoing a few shirt buttons, the suffocating sensation in his chest didn’t ease. The exhaustion that had been held at bay suddenly crashed down on him, sending a burning heat up to the crown of his head. Everything was a complete disaster.

“Hah…”

Noticing Taejoon’s distress, Yoon glanced at him through the rearview mirror and said something, but the words didn’t register.

Inside his head, an unfamiliar voice kept speaking.

At times, it sounded like Director Kim. Other times, it was Hyun Wookyung. Then, it morphed into Choi Taejoon’s own voice.

It sounded like laughter. It sounded like sobbing.

“Vice President. We’ve arrived.”

At some point, they had reached the apartment parking garage.

Taejoon staggered as he walked across the basement lot.

“A cop infiltrating our ranks, or an informant—one or the other, but definitely one of them. Or, as you said, it could be an entirely separate matter. The police aren’t our only enemies. But what are the odds that Hyun Wookyung just happened to have a phone that connects him to a senior police officer?”

Shut up.

“As you suggested, it could just be a misunderstanding that arose during illegal debt collection by loan sharks. That could explain why he was pretending to be a cop. But the fact remains—he deceived us. I looked into everything—the registered owner of the burner phone, the actual user, the call logs.”

Hyun Wookyung…

“And this isn’t the only piece of evidence. Hyun Wookyung is—”

When Taejoon had demanded proof, Director Kim had merely narrowed his eyes in pity and replied,

“Then why don’t you confirm it yourself, Vice President? Ask Hyun Wookyung directly. If he denies it even after being confronted with all the evidence, and you choose to believe him, then I will drop this matter. And I will formally apologize.”

An apology?

And what the hell would Taejoon do with that?

By the time he realized it, the elevator doors were opening. Leaning against the wall, he straightened himself and stepped out, walking slowly down the familiar curved hallway.

At the end stood a door.

Beyond that door was Hyun Wookyung.

“……”

He hesitated, struggling to organize his thoughts.

He had never felt this conflicted in his entire life.

The question of whether Wookyung was truly a cop was secondary. What terrified him was facing the truth—what came after.

Taejoon absently ran his fingers over the phone he had received from Director Kim.

Should he just bury the issue?

Hyun Wookyung had insisted multiple times that he wasn’t a cop.

“……”

But if he was—if he had been lying all along—then what?

That would mean he had been deceiving Taejoon from the moment they met.

The lies, the desperate pleas to be killed—it could all have been a performance.

Maybe Taejoon had known deep down but had refused to acknowledge it, unwilling to let go.

Taking a deep breath, he pressed the door’s passcode.

And what if Wookyung truly wasn’t a cop?

Wouldn’t that mean Taejoon had doubted him unjustly? That he, too, had failed to trust Wookyung?

He could only hope that, once he saw Wookyung’s face, all of this would become something they could laugh about.

“Hyun Wookyung…”

There was no light coming from inside.

Instead, an ominous sense of unease seeped through the narrow gap of the slightly open door.

Taejoon stood frozen, unable to step inside.

Maybe Wookyung had fallen asleep early. Or was in the bathroom.

Carefully, Taejoon stepped inside.

As the door clicked shut behind him, the motion-sensor light flicked on with a sharp snap.

“……”

In the entryway, two unfamiliar pairs of shoes lay neatly beside Wookyung’s.

Then, faint voices from inside the house drifted into his ears.

Though the words weren’t clear, he was certain—there were other people inside.

A man, in tattered clothes, sat casually on the living room sofa.

Even at Taejoon’s sudden appearance, the man merely blinked at him, showing no sign of alarm.

Taejoon’s gaze instinctively shifted toward the kitchen.

“It’s not that I can’t do it. I won’t. I don’t want someone else to die in my place, and I don’t want to send an innocent person to prison.”

“Oh, so you’re the only righteous one? The only rational one? If you’re a cop, then act like one.”

Unable to hold back his fury, Team Leader Baek spat out his words, grabbing Wookyung by the collar and lifting him off the ground.

“Ugh… I—I’m trying to act ‘like a cop’—that’s exactly why I’m doing this. You, on the other hand, should start acting like one too.”

Baek hoisted Wookyung up until his toes barely touched the floor.

“And like I told you—I quit. I’m resigning. How many times do I have to say it? Let go of me!”

“Shut up and do as you’re told!”

“Ugh! Wait—hold on. I think… I just heard something.”

“Don’t pull that crap with me.”

“I-I’m serious. Ah, over there… Choi, Taejoon, Vice President….”

“What?”

Following my gaze, Team Leader Baek slowly turned his head.

At first, neither of us immediately recognized the man standing before us.

Choi Taejoon.

How long had he been standing there?

The moment our eyes met, his expression twisted grotesquely.

As the realization sank in that this wasn’t a dream, Team Leader Baek tightened his grip around my collar—like it was his lifeline.

“V-Vice President…?”

Just moments ago, I had longed to see him. But not like this.

The relief of seeing him was quickly overshadowed by the crushing weight of doom.

Taejoon moved forward with the slow, calculated grace of a predator closing in on its prey.

“You’re not letting go?”

A sharp curse sliced through the air, but it was unclear whether it came from Taejoon, Baek, or both.

Then came a dull, cracking sound.

Before I could react, Team Leader Baek and I were both thrown to the kitchen floor.

“Ugh.”

Since I was still in Baek’s grip, I absorbed some of the impact alongside him. My right shoulder throbbed in pain.

Without hesitation, Taejoon grabbed me by the arm and yanked me away, separating me from Baek.

“Go stand over there.”

“I—I can explain. He came here because—”

Taejoon shook his head, uninterested in hearing more. His gaze was locked onto Team Leader Baek, his eyes brimming with lethal intent.

“I-I’ll leave! I’ll go! That’s what you want, right…?”

Hyun Wookyung’s father had already disappeared, slipping away the moment things got dangerous.

But Team Leader Baek, frantic to escape, wasn’t as lucky.

Taejoon caught him in an instant, gripping Baek’s outstretched leg and twisting it mid-air.

With a short, choked scream, Baek crashed onto the marble floor.

Before he could fully recover, Taejoon grabbed him by the collar and hauled him upright.

“W-Whatever you’re thinking, this is just a big misunderstanding—”

“You show up at someone else’s home and start causing a scene?”

“L-Look, Choi Taejoon. I’ll apologize, alright? But I didn’t come here on my own, I—Wookyung was—ugh!”

The moment my name left Baek’s mouth, Taejoon’s fist shot forward.

Baek instinctively ducked his head, and the punch, instead of hitting his jaw, struck his temple. The impact knocked him unconscious.

Taejoon probably wanted to beat him to a pulp.

Hell, I wanted to beat him to a pulp.

The bastard had taken me, Taejoon, my father, and Park Hayun hostage. If not for Baek’s position as a police officer, Taejoon would have finished him off without hesitation.

“He’s unconscious. Vice President, please—please stop.”

Baek had spent years rolling through the trenches, but against a man like Taejoon, he was no better than a kindergarten kid.

I crouched and slapped his face—hard.

“Wake up.”

“Ugh…”

“I said, wake up!”

“I’m awake! Shit! Stop hitting me!”

Even as I forced Baek to regain consciousness, my mind was elsewhere.

How much had Taejoon heard?

Baek and I had said “police” multiple times.

As soon as Baek gathered himself, he crawled away, dragging his bruised body toward the exit.

Taejoon didn’t bother chasing him.

He simply stood there, taking deep, ragged breaths, watching Baek disappear.

The kitchen, the living room, and the hallway leading to the entrance—it all looked like a storm had ripped through it.

“I, uh…”

I had to say something.

Maybe I could just apologize and pretend like nothing happened.

“I messed up. I know I should never have let him in, but he used my father to get inside, and—”

Taejoon said nothing.

Instead, he slowly surveyed the wreckage.

The sofa where my father had been sitting.

The apple that Baek had bitten into.

The overturned table.

And finally—me.

His expression was layered with fury.

After a long exhale, Taejoon reached for my face.

Startled, I flinched and hunched my shoulders.

But he simply brushed my disheveled hair behind my ear.

His voice, though tightly restrained, was raw with emotion.

“There’s something I need to ask you.”

He hesitated, lips slightly parted, struggling to form the words.

“……”

Then, as if making up his mind, he pulled something from his pocket.

At first, I didn’t recognize it.

A phone?

Why a phone, all of a sudden?

The question barely had time to register before it transformed into sheer terror.

My body turned cold.

“Aah…”

It was my phone.

The one I had lost.

The one I had used to contact Team Leader Baek.

Why was it in his hands?

My breath hitched as Taejoon watched me, his expression darkening further.

Should I say I didn’t know? Should I confess?

I had been thinking of ways to explain the situation with Baek, but the phone—

The phone caught me completely off guard.

I was so shocked that I couldn’t even speak.

And in my silence, Taejoon seemed to have already found his answer.

His voice, hollow and pained, barely more than a whisper, cut through the suffocating air.

“…You were a cop?”

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