I Became the Lousy Side Top - Chap 89
They traveled quite a ways in the car before pulling up in front of a rundown warehouse on the outskirts of Seoul. When they entered, Hyunjin saw a man tied to a chair. There was no one else around.
Like a man on a mission, Hyunjin strode forward until he was standing directly in front of him. Then he called out.
“Father.”
The man, Junghyun, raised his head. His cheeks were hollow, and his eyes were bloodshot and bulging forward. He looked like a complete mess. He blinked a few times before appearing to focus on Hyunjin.
“H-Hyunjin!”
After a few seconds, Junghyun recognized his son, calling his name urgently.
“Help me!”
Despite his desperate plea, Hyunjin was unmoved. He didn’t have even a trace of pity left for him.
“Why did you do it?”
Hyunjin asked him, his voice deadly cold.
“Wha–?”
Junghyun had been looking around the warehouse frantically, and it took him a few seconds to understand what Hyunjin was asking. He cringed in the chair and whimpered out.
“M-Money, I needed money.”
That was what it had all been about, money. Junghyun’s lines of credit had been cut off, but not even that had been enough to bring him back to his senses. Instead, he’d borrowed money from various shady sources. They’d threatened to sell off his organs if he didn’t pay them back, so he’d tried to desperately raise the money somehow. However, he found that his reputation had caught up with him, and no legitimate companies were willing to lend him money.
It was then that a savior appeared.
“He offered to lend me some money. He told me I could do whatever I wanted with it!”
So Junghyun had returned to gambling. Even though his debts were already massive, he’d been so lost in his addiction that he hadn’t cared. He’d quickly lost all the money he’d been given. Around then, that man had contacted him a second time.
“He said that he’d give me money again.”
Hyunjin’s face distorted into a cruel sneer.
“You knew what kind of dirty money it was, and you still took it.”
“Money is money. What did I care?”
Junghyun let out a broken laugh.
“But this time there were strings attached.”
This time, the man had asked him to kill someone. Junghyun had been shocked. His first thought was, did that mean he would have to go to jail? But the man had told him that he’d take care of everything.
They’d also plied him with drugs, saying that it would help. It hadn’t taken long for the weak-willed Junghyun to become addicted. As his life had spiraled further into chaos, he’d found the idea of killing someone easy to face.
“So you stabbed the person I loved.”
“L-Loved?”
Junghyun looked up at his son. The expression on his face… Misery didn’t even come close to describing it. Junghyun cringed back without realizing it as Mujin stepped forward.
“Do you remember what that man looked like?”
Junghyun shook his head.
“But I remember his voice.”
The corner of Mujin’s mouth quirked up. He immediately took out his phone and played a recording.
“Was it this man?”
Junghyun nodded.
“T-That’s him.”
Hyunjin recognized the voice as well. He’d heard it on the other end of the line once when he’d called Jaewoo’s cell phone.
“Yoon Jiheon.”
Jaewoo had said that he was his friend.
‘Why him?’
It had definitely felt like he’d had a crush on Jaewoo, but now his father was claiming he ordered Jaewoo’s death. Hyunjin’s mind was spinning. Mujin took him to the side and spoke with him.
“Yoon Jiheon had been acting strange, so I did my own digging. After Jaewoo–”
Mujin paused for a moment before finally continuing.
“…After Jaewoo died, Yoon Jiheon disappeared as well. I looked everywhere, but there was no trace. It was like he’d vanished into thin air.”
There seemed to be something going on that they didn’t know about. Hyunjin’s chest tightened in frustration, but he forced himself to take a deep breath. He glanced over at Junghyun, who was smiling awkwardly at him, then turned to Mujin.
“What do you plan to do now?”
“What do you think?”
Mujin pointed at Junghyeon with his chin.
“I’m going to dispose of this garbage.”
“I’ll do it.”
“Can you?”
At Mujin’s words, Hyunjin’s expression darkened. He knew what Mujin wanted. This whole time, he’d wanted Hyunjin to throw away his morals and become as twisted as him. With that in mind, the smart move would be to step away, if he wanted to keep his normal life. But he couldn’t.
The seething hatred inside of his heart was searching for an outlet, and now his father, the one that had murdered Jaewoo, was right in front of him.
If living a decent life was impossible, he might as well leap into the abyss. With that thought in mind, Hyunjin reached out his hands towards his father.
Mujin smiled slightly as he watched. The man who had held out all this time was now completely corrupted, all because of one person.
‘Ah, but isn’t it the same for me as well?’
After Jaewoo’s death, Mujin’s nightmares had been incessant. His already short sleep time had become almost completely nonexistent, and he was also having trouble eating. Because his body was a mess, he was rarely in a good mood, and found himself snapping at people and becoming more physical as his patience became shorter.
Jaewoo’s absence was ruining the two of them. Even though they were broken in similar ways, they were both at a loss as to how to fix it.
Today was just another terrible day.
Jaewoo looked at the book with the green cover and let out a deep sigh. He’d tried everything he could think of to get back inside, even burying his head between the pages, but it had been no use.
“Should I try chanting a spell?”
Having finally thought of something new to try, Jaewoo tried blurting out various magical-sounding words. A blush made its way across his cheeks at the ridiculousness of it, but he still tried as hard as he could. In the end, nothing happened.
“Ugh.”
He didn’t know how to transmigrate into the book. Eunjoon seemed to know, but he refused to tell him. After all, he was the person who’d gone so far as to murder Jaewoo just to get him out.
After struggling for a while, Jaewoo realized that it was already lunch time. He knew he had to eat, but he had no appetite. Before, he’d religiously eaten three meals a day, but now he didn’t want to spare the time. All he wanted was to figure out a way back to Hyunjin’s side. Suddenly, he thought of something new: Eunah.
Eunah had been there when he transmigrated the first time. Did she know something? Jaewoo picked up his phone and searched for Eunah’s contact. Even though she detested Jaewoo, they still had each other’s phone number because of Eunjoon.
After a long, long time, Eunah finally picked up the call.
─ What?
Even that single word was filled with irritation.
“I have something to ask you.”
─ What is it?
“Were you the one that sent me into the book?”
There was silence for a moment before a small chuckle came over the line.
─ Have you finally gone crazy, Jaewoo? What do you mean, ‘sent you into the book’?”
Jaewoo wished he was crazy. At least then he wouldn’t care so much. But Jaewoo had all his senses about him.
“Tell me the truth, Eunah. When I think about what happened that day, you have to know something.”
─ I don’t know what you’re talking about. If you’re so delusional, you should be in a psych ward!
With that, Eunah hung up the phone. Jaewoo had gotten his hopes up, and to have things end so abruptly… For a moment, he was at a loss. But he refused to give up. Jaewoo called Eunah back, again, and again, and again. Finally, it seemed as though Eunah had blocked his number.
He was blocked, huh? Fine, he’d call from a different number. Jaewoo restarted his war of attrition. Then, once it became clear that Eunah was no longer answering calls from unknown numbers, he went to find her in person.
He hovered around Eunah each and every day without fail. Eventually, an exhausted Eunah was forced to give in.
“Jaewoo, have you really gone mad? Why are you doing this to me?”
“Don’t you know the answer?”
Eunah gritted her teeth.
“Fine. Fine, what do you want?”
“I want to get back into the book.”
“No way. How much effort did Eunjoon expend in bringing you out? If he finds out I helped you, he’ll be furious.”
“Eunah, please help me.”
Jaewoo knelt down right then and there. If it meant he could return, a simple thing like begging didn’t bother him.
“Please send me back.”
Eunah stamped her foot as if she was annoyed.
“You need to get Eunjoon’s permission first. I don’t want him to hate me for this!”
“There’s no way he’ll agree.”
“Have you tried talking to him?”
Not a chance. Since he’d returned, Jaewoo hadn’t spoken with Eunjoon even once.
“Talk to him first, then come find me.”
“What if he says no.”
“Giving up already? Eunjoon always did whatever you asked.”
That was true in the past, but this was different. Jaewoo had finally realized the sort of person Eunjoon was, and he knew that he wouldn’t bend on this. Still, what Eunah said wasn’t wrong.
“Alright. I’ll do as you ask.”
Eunah let out a small snort.
For the first time in a long time, Jaewoo went to find Eunjoon. He greeted Jaewoo with his normal gentle smile.
“It’s been a while. I missed you.”
He reached out for a hug, like he often had before, but this time Jaewoo pushed his hand away.
“Eunjoon.”
“What is it, Jaewoo?”
“I want to go back.”
Eunjoon tilted his head to the side, that same gentle smile on his face.
“Back to where?”
“You know what I’m talking about.”
“Jaewoo, this is the real world. That other world is just part of a story someone made up. Your entire life is here – your work, your friends, your house.”
Eunjoon wasn’t wrong, but Jaewoo had already given his heart to Hyunjin.
“Do you really intend to leave everything behind you and go?”
“I want to go back.”
Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes. He could barely choke out an answer, he was trying so hard to hold them inside.
“I don’t agree. You’re better off staying here.”
“No!”
“Why do you hate it here so much?”
“Because Hyunjin isn’t here.”
“Jaewoo, he’s just a character in a book.”
“Even so.”
Eunjoon kept his voice calm, trying to persuade him.
“This is just a pointless dream, that’s all.”
“Even if it’s just a dream, I still want it.”
“Hmm.”
Eunjoon rubbed his chin, his expression seeming troubled, before opening his mouth again.
“But I still can’t agree, Jaewoo.”
Eunjoon moved closer before lowering his eyes and speaking in a quiet voice.
“I like you. No, I love you.”
“I don’t feel the same.”
Jaewoo answered coldly.
“I know, I know. Still, Jaewoo, I love you. So I refuse to send you into the arms of someone else.”
There was no room for negotiation.