The living room was so quiet you could hear even the sound of breathing. Woojin was sitting on the sofa, checking his phone. He was so calm it was hard to believe he was the kind of person who’d come into someone else’s house without permission and even point a gun at them. I sank down by the entrance and looked at him before speaking.
“Until when is that deadline?”
Woojin lifted his head.
“What deadline.”
“You know, the one where you might change your mind and kill me?”
“How would I know.”
Woojin dropped his gaze back to his phone as if it were nothing.
“Probably whenever the chairman feels like it.”
So there was no set deadline. I could die from one phone call right now.
Truthfully, this wasn’t that shocking. Dad was someone who did dangerous work. He’d never told me the details, but I’d known since I was little that he had a lot of enemies. When I was in elementary school, I was even kidnapped once. Blindfolded and locked in some strange warehouse, I was rescued a day later, and ever since then, the people Dad assigned to me had followed me to and from school.
I looked down at the scattered things on the floor and got to my feet. My legs were still shaking, but if I held onto the wall, I could walk.
“I should go check Dad’s room.”
Woojin’s gaze followed me.
“You’d be better off not going.”
Without answering, I headed for Dad’s room. The moment I opened the door, a metallic smell rushed out at me.
“Ugh……”
I raised my arm and pinched my nose shut. It was nothing like the living room. Every drawer had been opened, and the floor was a mess of documents and broken objects. In between them, I saw dark, dried blood.
So he really came this far.
I walked over to the desk beside Dad’s chair. The safe bolted to the wall had had its door ripped off completely. Even though it was a metal safe, it looked as if cloth had been torn. So that’s how they were going to do it. Even if I didn’t tell them the password.
Picking my way through the chaotic floor, I crouched in front of the safe. Inside, only a single file folder remained. It wasn’t all that important a document. I reached my hand deeper into the safe. I passed the folder and pressed against the inner wall. The heavy wall shoved backward, then opened to both sides. In the small space newly revealed, not even a handspan wide, was a 2G phone. A very old handset that could only send texts and make calls.
So he missed this too. The moment I picked up the phone, old memories came flooding back. Dad’s study. I’d come here a lot when I was little.
-
Dad was sitting in a plush chair, and I was perched on his lap, swinging my legs because they couldn’t reach the floor. Humming while hugging a teddy bear, I pointed at the silver safe and asked,
“Is it okay to leave the safe like this? You’re putting precious things in it.”
“It is precious.”
“If I were a thief, I think I’d steal it.”
Dad laughed heartily and patted my head.
“The biggest defense is to make them let their guard down.”
“Let their guard down?”
“Right. If you press here on the back like this……”
Dad set me down from his lap, then knelt with one knee inside the safe. He expertly entered the password to open the safe door and pressed hard on the inner wall. The blocked wall slid backward, then opened to both sides. I stood beside him and watched, as if it were a trick from a spy movie.
“A space appears.”
“Wow!”
I said I’d put my teddy bear, necklace, and bracelets in there, lining up each of my treasures one by one. Then I’ll feel safe! I’ll put all of this in! My clear, bright little voice rang out.
Dad grinned, then sat back down in the chair and tapped his leg twice. It meant for me to come up. I ran straight over and sat on his lap.
“Then I want to put you in here too, Yeoju. My treasure.”
He looked down at me with a gentle smile and stroked my hair with his big hand. Dad’s arms, his touch, and even his heart were all warm. They had been warm.
-
My nose stung. I wiped at my blurring eyes with the back of my hand. What am I getting all sentimental for? This isn’t the time for that. I need to stay calm. Dad. I’ll protect everything you tried to protect.
I wiped away my tears, stood up, and gripped the phone tightly in one hand. Looking down at the silver handset, I slid it open. The screen was still black. Even after pressing the power button, it wouldn’t turn on. Of course. I didn’t even know how long it had been in there, and the port didn’t even match the chargers used these days.
I’ll use this to bargain.
Clutching the phone tightly, I left Dad’s study. A cool breeze brushed my cheek. The window beside the study door was open.
…Huh? Was it open before too?
The moment I turned my head, I felt someone’s presence. Before I could even look back, my mouth and nose were covered. A thick arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me backward. No way…! I can’t die like this before I’ve even tried bargaining. My mouth was covered, so I couldn’t even scream. Tears threatened to spill from how wrong this felt. Shit, shit…!
Just as I swallowed the curse in my head, the body of the man pinning me down jolted hard. The arm that had been holding me tightly went slack. With his eyes rolling back, the man collapsed to the floor. It looked like he’d been shot in the head.
As the man let go of me, he lurched once. While I was trembling and trying to lift my head, another gunshot rang out. This time it came from behind me.
“Shit, who is it!”
The voice came from the window behind me too. A rough male voice. There was someone else.
I turned my stiff, trembling neck and looked back. Through the open window, a man was trying to climb in. Without a shred of fear, I strode toward the window.
Anyway, these bastards probably didn’t even know where the key was. Since they needed me, they couldn’t just kill me recklessly. That thought made my actions bold. Before the man could get through, I reached out to close the window. He pulled his gaze away from the hallway and shifted his eyes to me. The moment our eyes met, crash! The window shattered. I reflexively raised my arm to cover my face. Glass sprayed everywhere, and the man gripping the window frame fell straight backward.
My heart was pounding like crazy. The thudding of tension and fear filled my ears. Footsteps were coming closer from behind.
Crack.
At the sound of glass being stepped on, I lifted my head. Before I knew it, Woojin was standing beside me. The end of the gun in his hand had a silencer attached. I touched my throat with one hand and looked up at Woojin. My whole body was shaking.
Still, I held out the hand with the phone in it toward Woojin.
“…This was in Dad’s safe. In a space only Dad and I know about.”
“…….”
“It should have a password. It also needs charging.”
“…….”
“Tell the boss there’s a phone with a password on it.”
Woojin looked down at me with an endlessly cold gaze.
“And promise me you’ll protect me instead of killing me.”
That was the condition of the bargain I was offering.
