A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive - Chapter 97

Park Ha Hyun smiled casually.

“I already ran into the Vice President earlier. We saw each other while working out and then again in the sauna.”

“The sauna?”

I turned to Choi Taejoon.

So, they had met completely naked then…?

The moment our eyes met, Taejoon looked utterly repulsed.

“I wasn’t naked.”

Such a blatant lie.

“H-how do you even go to a sauna without taking your clothes off? Do people wear outfits in the sauna these days?”

“Oh, right! Honestly, I don’t even remember if we were wearing clothes or not. Things were just… a bit hectic.”

The way Ha Hyun subtly reddened as he spoke made my head go foggy.

The pork cutlet sauce I had just eaten suddenly felt thick and sticky in my mouth.

“…Why was it hectic?”

“Well…”

Ha Hyun trailed off with a knowing smile.

Before I could overthink it, Taejoon cut in.

“Because it was hot. Too hot.”

Ha Hyun immediately nodded in agreement.

“…Yeah, that’s right. It was just too hot.”

“Ah…”

Of course, nothing could’ve happened in a public sauna.

But the way Ha Hyun looked made me remember a scene from the original novel—Alcohol Swab.

Taejoon and Ha Hyun were the novel’s main pairing.

And there was an explicit scene in a sauna between them.

Now, seeing them together in real life, they did look oddly compatible.

Even though I knew there was no way Taejoon had done anything, my mood started sinking fast.

Everything was spiraling too quickly.

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I forced myself to ask,

“Anyway, what brings you here?”

“I came to return something to the Vice President.”

Ha Hyun pulled something from his pocket and placed it on the table.

A pair of wireless earbuds.

“You left these in the locker room earlier. They’re yours, right?”

Then, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, he sat down right beside Taejoon.

“I tried chasing after you the moment you left, but you’d already disappeared.”

Taejoon looked like he was about to snap back with something harsh, but before he could, Ha Hyun turned his attention to me.

“You remember that house in Jeju I gave to your younger siblings?”

“Ah? Oh… yeah.”

“I’m officially transferring the ownership to Han Kyung. My accountant said it’d be simpler for tax purposes.”

Han Kyung was the eldest of my younger siblings.

“Oh… You really don’t have to do that. I feel bad—”

“Why would you feel bad? We’ve known each other forever. Anyway, I can’t do it immediately, but once the tax stuff is sorted, it’ll be finalized.”

The mention of that house brought back something Ha Hyun had once told me.

You don’t have to be grateful. Just repay me with your life.

“House? What house?”

Taejoon, who had been silently listening until now, finally spoke.

“Oh, the house… Ha Hyun helped my siblings move. There were some shady people showing up at their old place, so he found them a safer apartment nearby.”

Taejoon listened to my explanation, his expression unreadable.

It was as if he were thinking, I could have easily done that too.

At the same time, there was a hint of disapproval, as if asking why I had accepted Ha Hyun’s help at all.

This was ridiculous.

Everything was getting more complicated by the second.

“Compared to everything the Vice President does for you, this is nothing. I’m just glad I could help in some way.”

Ha Hyun’s words sounded strangely insincere today.

He was too smooth, too polished—like he was reading from a script.

No wonder he had chosen acting as his undercover role.

He was good at it.

I had no idea what had gotten into him, but I tried to take it positively.

At least he wasn’t openly butting heads with Taejoon like before.

Back then, I had always been caught in the middle.

“I’m done eating, Vice President. Should we get going?”

Reaching for a napkin to wipe my mouth, I barely moved before Taejoon grabbed one first.

With a quick swipe, he wiped the sauce off my lips.

“Why do you always make a mess when you eat? You’re not a kid.”

“T-thanks. But, uh, I can do it myself.”

I glanced past Taejoon and met Ha Hyun’s gaze.

His lips stretched into a slow, deliberate smile, but his eyes were cold.

Then, almost too smoothly, he said,

“Vice President, why don’t you have breakfast with me? I hate eating alone.”

There was no way Taejoon would agree.

He didn’t even look at Ha Hyun, already gathering his things to leave.

“What about you, Senior?”

Of course.

Ha Hyun’s real target had never been Taejoon.

It was me.

“You just thanked me for helping your siblings, right? Then at least stay until I finish eating.”

His words made me hesitate.

It was true—he had done a lot for my siblings.

I glanced at Taejoon, as if seeking permission.

A house was no small thing.

Predictably, Taejoon looked pissed.

Still, he stood up, getting ready to leave.

Just as I was about to follow him, he muttered,

“Five minutes.”

“Huh?”

I froze mid-motion.

Taejoon checked his watch, then his phone, before speaking again—this time, with a hint of impatience.

“Come down in five minutes.”

Before I could say anything, Taejoon abruptly left.

Why was he acting so out of character?

He always hated seeing me alone with Park Ha Hyun, even for a moment.

The moment he was gone, Ha Hyun casually slid something across the table.

“Senior, take this. It’s the room number for my guest house and my extension line.”

A neatly printed business card rested on the table.

It was from the guest house service, where potential buyers or long-term visitors could stay.

It seemed like Ha Hyun was planning to stay there for a while.

I picked up the card slowly.

“Make sure Taejoon sees that somewhere obvious. Better yet, find a reason for him to visit my room at least once. That’d be even better.”

Before I could respond, the table quickly filled with the food Ha Hyun had ordered.

“And stop frowning.”

“…….”

“You’re making me feel like I did something wrong.”

“What’s your game? Why are you acting like this so early in the morning?”

Ha Hyun drowned his pancakes in syrup as he replied.

“Team Leader Baek came by, didn’t he?”

A bolt of shock shot through my mind.

“H-how do you know that?”

Ha Hyun pressed his fork into a piece of butter, letting out a small sigh.

“Ah, I was supposed to spread the butter first. I forgot.”

At the same time, Baek’s voice echoed in my head:

“I’m throwing Park Ha Hyun to the wolves, so don’t go sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

I must have looked shaken because Ha Hyun smirked.

“That old bastard even dragged your father over, didn’t he? He’s always been a slimy one. What did he say?”

So he only knew that Baek had been there, but not what we had talked about.

Or maybe he was testing me.

I hesitated before carefully piecing together my response using only what he already knew.

“He just… talked about some things related to my father and then left.”

I had practically saved Ha Hyun’s life, so I didn’t feel guilty about withholding information.

I just wasn’t sure how much I should say.

“Well, whatever. In the end—”

One thing was clear.

I still couldn’t tell if Ha Hyun was a friend or a foe.

“Senior, how about you die in my place?”

He popped a small piece of pancake into his mouth, watching me intently.

The way his lips moved, small and deliberate, didn’t match the absurdity of his words.

Shit.

He knew everything.

Seeing that I didn’t react, he leaned in slightly and spoke again—this time, making it impossible to misunderstand.

“I’m taking Choi Taejoon back. He was mine in the first place.”

“…….”

The morning light filtered through the lounge, making the dust motes in the air shimmer.

The clinking of cutlery and the soft footsteps on the carpeted floor blurred together into background noise.

Everything felt oddly muffled, like I was underwater.

Ha Hyun’s voice rang in my ears like an eerie hum.

I struggled to keep my expression neutral as I finally spoke.

“…Taejoon is a person, not an object. You don’t get to call him yours or mine.”

“He was mine to begin with.”

What kind of nonsense was this?

“…Baek really did come looking for me. And yeah, like you said, he tried using you as bait to save my life. But I turned him down.”

“Why?”

“Because…”

My words caught in my throat.

There was no way I could explain the thoughts running through my head about Alcohol Swab and how all of this was connected.

I needed a simpler excuse.

“…I felt guilty.”

A flicker of uncertainty crossed Ha Hyun’s eyes.

But it disappeared just as quickly as it came.

Instead, he let out a short laugh and shook his head.

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