HYDP C4

Chapter 4

 

 “Everyone’s cleared out now. Go on in.”

“Thanks, as always.”

“No problem.”

Kang Seon gave a polite bow to Sanhong, then brought over everything he might need. Cradling the items carefully in his arms, he stepped to the locker with care.

After undressing and getting ready, the first place he headed was the hot bath. With water averaging above 43 degrees Celsius, it wasn’t for just anyone, but he praised it as unrivaled. He slid into the familiar heat and let the fatigue melt away. Just in case, he hadn’t taken off the watch from his wrist.

Having such a large space all to himself put him in a strangely good mood, and a faint smile touched his lips. It felt like the muscles knotted by the heat cycle were loosening. Without realizing it, he must have had muscle soreness—an ache flowed over his whole body.

He wanted to just soak and go limp like this. If there were a heaven, would it be a place like this—he was entertaining the rather old-man thought when—

Bzzz— bzzz—

Suddenly the watch on his wrist vibrated. Wiping at the corners of his eyes in reflex, he looked quickly at the screen; an emergency alert message was up.

The calls came in and cut off, repeating several times.

He swiftly got out of the hot bath and grabbed his phone to assess the situation first. On the missed call list, Huigang’s name was displayed. An inexplicable foreboding ran down his spine. Still, telling himself it wouldn’t be something bad, he carefully called Huigang back.

The ringing went on quite a while. He steadied himself, forcing down his pounding heart.

[Hello? Hey. Yeon Sanhong!]

“What’s going on?”

At Huigang’s urgent voice, he swayed as if losing his center for a moment. Then, layered over the call, came an incongruous sound—the children crying. They were sobbing so heartbreakingly. The wail that seemed to tear at the chest raked straight across his ear.

He wanted to scream, to demand what on earth was happening. But he had to be calm. Yelling here wouldn’t help. Soon, however, his expression had to harden. Huigang’s voice had gone stiff.

[After you retired from the Assassin Supervision Bureau—did you get rid of the tracker or not.]

“…What?”

At the out-of-nowhere question, he was taken aback. What is he even saying right now?

[The tracker you used back then. I asked if you ever cleared it out.]

“…Of course I tossed it. Why wouldn’t I—”

But in that moment, he remembered a thing he had completely forgotten.

Ever since his memory problems started, he had tried to never skip his medication. But there were times he’d even forget the fact that he needed to take it.

It was probably around then.

By rights, the tracker used by the bureau should have been fully disposed of. But now, the memory came back clearly that he’d only reset it and then, absentmindedly, forgotten it.

At the fatal mistake, he clutched his head and sank to the floor on the spot. It was obviously, entirely, his fault.

“But how did you know I hadn’t gotten rid of it? Why are the kids crying?”

[…Because they’re the ones who found it. When it turned on, it made a racket. They must’ve been really startled—they started crying and won’t stop even though I keep saying it’s okay. Come quickly and soothe them, will you.]

“Ah…. Yeah. I’m really sorry….”

[Hey. Why’s your voice shrinking like that again. It happens. Just get over here carefully so you don’t pick up a tail.]

“Okay….”

His voice had already lost all life. The fact that his mistake had frightened the children gripped his chest. The guilt rose right up to his throat. Gritting his teeth, he got up and wiped a hand over his face. Then, to steady himself, he popped the medication he always carried into his mouth and chewed.

“Oh? Hyung. You’re already heading out?”

“Yeah. Kang Seon, something urgent came up, so I’ll go first. Sorry.”

“Okay! Get home safe!”

Reading the urgency from his face in an instant, Kang Seon didn’t try to hold him back and let him go.

He left the bathhouse at a fast clip. Because he started running immediately, he sprinted for a while without even catching his breath properly.

He arrived at a paid parking lot. Thankfully it was unmanned, so there was no one around and no one who would recognize his face. Getting into the car he’d parked inside in advance, he carefully checked the surroundings.

Fortunately, there was no sign anyone had been tailing him so far.

Starting the engine cautiously, he pulled out slowly. On the drive home, his mind was filled only with the children. Worry that this incident might put him in danger took a back seat. What came first were the crying twins.

Even while driving, he kept checking to see if anyone was following, and he deviated from his usual route by turning off onto an unfamiliar direction once. In no time he had slipped out of Horangyong-dong and into another district. Open views and buildings greeted him.

At the sight he hadn’t seen in a while, his heart settled in a curious calm. He used to pass these streets like a daily meal, but not having come much lately, it felt new. Letting out a heavy breath born of tension, he passed familiar streets and buildings and entered the parking lot of a high-end officetel.

Once out of the car, he hurried into the elevator. Sweat beaded in his palms from the tension. Catching sight of himself in the mirror on the wall, he practiced a familiar smile. When the elevator reached the floor and the doors slid open, he strode up to the door and tapped the keypad. From inside, someone came running—thump-thump-thump—and as the door cracked open—

“Daddy!”

“Ah, jeez….”

The older child dove into his arms and clung to him.

The child’s face was already smeared with tears and snot. He gently lifted the little face and carefully wiped the tears and snot away. He had cried so sorrowfully that the tiny face was all puffed up.

“Man… a war, a war.”

“…Good job.”

“Come inside first.”

Holding the child, he took off his shoes and stepped into the house. Then, after habitually washing his hands clean, he rinsed the child’s face under running water, right there in his arms. Thankfully, the child was settling down. Still, from shedding too many tears in a short time, hiccups were making the little body jerk.

He sat on the living room sofa with the child. At the same time, the younger one came up beside him too, holding out both arms to be picked up.

“Goodness… you’ve gotten so much heavier….”

“They grow by the day; it’s getting a little tough to hold both at once now.”

Huigang handed him a drink. Seeing him not even think to drink it, just holding the kids with a world-collapsing face, tied Huigang’s insides in knots.

“Hey. Cut out the pathetic act. No one’s hurt. The kids just got startled.”

“…I know.”

Then he asked the two in his arms:

“Daddy’s absolutely not getting mad, but I’ve been looking for this—where did you find it?”

“Uh… that was…”

“Daddy’s not mad. Daddy’s grateful that our Cheong found this for me.”

To keep them from being scared, he had to ask in as bright a tone as possible.

“Mm… I was playing hide-and-seek with Hong….”

“Uh-huh.”

“I hid in the closet, okay? And… there was a box… and I like—thump!—and then it all came tumbling down… and then that came out….”

Nervous, the child spoke slowly but tried to enunciate as clearly as possible, which was unbearably adorable. In the end, he scooped both into his arms and planted a flurry of kisses on their soft cheeks.

“Daddy loves you so much. I was really looking for this—thank you.”

Only then did the tension leave them, and they burst into tinkling laughter each time his kisses landed and lifted. With relief, Huigang even flopped onto the living room floor.

Exhausting himself calming crying children had been the issue. They hadn’t listened when he told them to stop crying; clearly, Daddy was the favorite.

“Daddy will buy something tasty. Go wash your hands nice and clean~”

“Okay!”

“Mmkay!”

After confirming the two headed to the bathroom together, he finally had a chance to examine the tracker in Huigang’s hand.

“Hey. It’s already transmitted, right?”

“Of course.”

He snapped the tracker lightly, then walked to the kitchen. He dropped it into the electric kettle, which had just come to a boil.

“Shouldn’t we move out right now? You’ve got another place lined up, right. Let’s go there immediately.”

“No. We don’t have to.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

“The location isn’t here.”

Saying he didn’t get it and to explain properly, Huigang came right up beside him. Only then did the thirst hit; he downed cold water twice in a row. A quick, stabbing headache flared, but putting out the fire burning in his chest came first.