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... and the earth shattered
“If the first movie you appeared in is boring, that’d be a shame.”
Jay lounged on his comfortable sofa, leaning on the headrest, legs spread wide. His tie was loosened and his shirt sleeves rolled up. A slightly amused grin played on his handsome lips, creating small dimples on both cheeks. His grey eyes rimmed with thick eyelashes twinkled with mirth, crinkling into half moons. His posture was relaxed.
He started watching the assembly cut of Director Jeong's movie a while ago. The movie flowed steadily and as it was almost nearing its end, Yoohan’s final scene started to unfold.
Jay checked his phone for the nth time and shifted on the couch, his clothing rustling softly.
“What’s taking him so long? I was certain he would come running, all excited…”
He focused on the screen again, watching Yoohan opening the metal rooftop door.
“Creak, thud.”
“Tap, tap, tap.”
Yoohan’s light steps echoed on the empty rooftop, his dress shoes clicking as he approached the metal railing ahead of him at a slow, steady pace. He checked the buttons on his dress jacket and tugged lightly at the cuffs. Having casually straightened his clothes, he reached the railing, placed both hands on top and without hesitation, hoisted himself up. ***
There was something peaceful and calming in Yoohan’s demeanour, yet the effect it had on Jay was exactly the opposite. His eyebrows twitched slightly and his posture stiffened. As Yoohan climbed over the railing and set his feet on the narrow foothold behind it, an ominous feeling crept into Jay’s mind.
The second Yoohan pushed off the foothold and stepped into the emptiness, he closed his eyes and a gentle, happy smile spread across his face. His serious expression turned all soft and relaxed. He was happy and relieved and Jay had no doubt what he had just witnessed. This man had just embraced Death as his old friend and everybody could sense it. The paralyzing thrill of being sucked into the welcoming arms of nothingness and infinite emptiness. ***
Goosebumps erupted all over Jay’s body and the hairs on his neck stood up. He grabbed his phone and dialled Yoohan.
“The number you are trying to call is busy. Please try again later…”
“Fuck!”
Jay kept calling him again and again, but the line was constantly busy.
Throwing caution to the wind, he contacted Hyun Wujin.
“Hello!”
Without a preamble, Jay angrily spat his orders.
“I have an emergency. I need you to provide the latest call logs for this number. Immediately. You have three minutes. I am sending the number in the text right now.”
While on call, his phone squeezed between his ear and his shoulder, Jay grabbed his car keys and left his apartment. After unceremoniously hanging up on the man, he quickly typed Yoohan’s cell number into the text and sent it to him.
He stepped into the corridor and pushed the button, to bring the elevator to his floor. It arrived with a faint ding and he swiftly stepped into it, pressing the button close and number -2 for the underground garage. Just as he exited the elevator and unlocked his white Maserati, his phone vibrated. He received an email with an attached call log for Yoohan’s cell number.
Jay briskly opened the document and once he spotted the last log, his pace quickened. He got into the car, threw the phone on the passenger seat and swiftly started the engine. Swerving out of the parking spot, he stepped on the gas pedal and with tyres screeching deafeningly, he left the garage. A small cloud of white-grey fumes dissipated slowly, leaving a weak smell of exhaust behind.
His face was blank, an emotionless mask. But the dangerous glint in his eyes and the white knuckles of his hands, firmly gripping the steering wheel, betrayed the false calm.
His phone connected with the car automatically via Bluetooth. While speeding through the streets, Jay’s voice redialed Yoohan’s number. He was still busy talking, apparently with one of Chairman Kim’s lackeys. According to the log, it had already been twenty minutes.
As he overtook other cars, changing lanes, infuriated drivers honked at him angrily and gesticulated wildly. Jay floored it and sped up the hill, heading towards Chairman Kim’s Villa on the outskirts of Seoul. He learned about this secret hideout of that bastard a few weeks ago and this is where he was headed, trees and houses mere blurs behind the tinted windows of his car.
His thoughts were racing, matching the speed of his Maserati. What did Yoohan get himself into again? Why did he not listen and stay put? What fucking noble act of self-sacrifice did he try to pull?
With every passing minute, the bad feeling intensified. Despite everything, his breathing remained calm and even, his logic cold and focused. Jay quickly scanned the directions shown on the map on the LCD panel and voice-dialled Yoohan again. This time, the call went straight into the voicemail. The phone was turned off.
He could not grasp properly what it was, he could not deal with that sudden flurry of unknown emotions slowly unfurling in his abdomen. He felt that the second he would put a tag on them, he would almost become human.
Jay kept dialling Yoohan's number repeatedly. Just before he had reached his destination, the call finally went through. He could hear the tone of the ringing, but no one picked up. In the end, the call went into the voicemail again.
He reached the entryway to the villa and stepped on the brakes, leaving a cloud of dust behind the vehicle. Further from the street, in the semi-darkness and shadows cast by the villa, he noticed two bodies lying in the dirt. The faint streetlights illuminated their immobile silhouettes.
He flung the door open and rushed to the smaller of the bodies. A young man dressed in a shirt, ripped jeans and worn sneakers lay motionless on the ground, curled in a ball, with a large pool of dark blood forming under him. One of his hands was outstretched, a phone at his bloodied fingertips. The indicator of missed calls and notifications blinked faintly through the dust covering the cracked screen.
It was a mild, pleasant evening, a soft breeze playing lazily with rustling leaves on the surrounding trees. The air smelled of late summer with a hint of fragrant, crisp fall. The crickets chirped merrily, and here and there, a soft cry of a sleeping bird could be heard. The atmosphere was very serene as if nothing bad had happened. Jay perceived none of this.
For him, the world fell silent. Notwithstanding, the lack of motion and sound rang loudly in his ears, muting all his senses. Nothing mattered anymore. He just had to confirm there was still a beating heart in that sad, crumpled pile of human flesh. Nothing else mattered at this moment. The gravel crunched under his shiny dress shoes, tiny particles of dust tarnishing the sheen.
The young man remained quiet and unmoving.
An almost imperceptible sign of panic, or maybe mere impatience, marked the urgency of Jay’s movements.
Jay bent down and kneeled next to Yoohan, shifting his body carefully. He could see the dark blood oozing sluggishly out of a stab wound in his abdomen, the knife still stuck in. Jay’s eyebrows furrowed and a hint of fury flickered through the impenetrable mask of the icy-cold expression on his face.
He checked for a pulse. His throat constricted while unknown emotions mixed together with relief welled inside him and tugged at his heart when he felt it, albeit weak and irregular. He scooped Yoohan up in his arms and quickly carried him over to his car, laying him gently on the back seat.
“Slam!”
He shut the door with force and the echo rebounded, disturbing the evening calm. With blind determination, he heaved up the second much larger body of Mad Dog, who grunted and stirred, yet remained unconscious. Jay threw him into the car trunk, shoving his limbs in without care and was back in the driver’s seat at the speed of lightning. He revved the engine and left the yard, leaving thick clouds of dust behind, heading for the nearest E.R..
The boiling anger was dampened somewhat by worry about Yoohan’s condition. His lifeless form on the back seat reminded him of stupid things like mortality and finitude. Yoohan’s head lolled and his body shifted back and forth slightly as Jay sped on the road, cutting the corners sharply. The small pool of dark blood spread slowly from Yoohan’s body and a thin trickle dripped from the seat on the plush carpet floor mat.
None of this turmoil showed on his emotionless face. Any other person would have been stupefied by the crippling emotions and their terrifying intensity. Not Jay. Just his eyes revealed the murderous intent and the darkness behind it. His body was taut and inclined forward, forcing the road with his mind to run faster and to get him to his destination on time.
As the personnel took over Yoohan’s body from him, they collectively recoiled from his dark, frosty and intense gaze and shuddered at the cold voice commanding them:
“SAVE HIM!”
Notes: paragraphs marked by *** contain excerpts from the official English novel translation published by Publang, chapter 82. They are used with the personal consent of Coryun-nim. Thank you! If you can, please read the official translation on Publang.com. It is brilliant and worth it! ❤🐰❤