TIN 15

“…Hmm.”

Whether we know each other or not, his face was definitely familiar, but I couldn’t recall who he was.

It seemed smarter to let him clarify things himself. As I mulled it over, the middle-aged man stepped forward.

“Oh my, Director Joo, know him? Not at all.”

The man laughed heartily, waving both hands dismissively. His overly genial expression only deepened the unsettling familiarity creeping over me.

“’Know each other’ is hardly appropriate. He’s just one of those… items I kept an eye on.”

It seems the man disliked the way Joo Do-hwa referred to us as ‘knowing each other.’ Such dismissiveness doesn’t bother me, but the term ‘item’ was a decisive clue.

“I didn’t know the Director also frequented Oceans… But I’m a VIP there, you know.”

Ah. At my brief exclamation, Joo Do-hwa turned to look at me. He must have also realized how the middle-aged man knows me.

“So you were the one who bought that expensive one. Director Joo, you have such good taste.”

‘That expensive one, huh?’

An image of the man’s wrinkled face, sunken cheeks, and raspy voice flashed through my mind.

‘Tsk, he’d be perfect for advertising…’

He was the man who tried to negotiate, saying the price I commanded was not cost-effective. In the end, he never bought me, but he couldn’t give up and kept handing me some mysterious powder. Although I never tried it (and had no intention to), it was clear it was some kind of drvg.

“As expected, you have an eye for quality. I couldn’t get my hands on it, but I knew the Director would be able to.”

He wasn’t wearing glasses back then, if I remember correctly.

After giving up on buying me, he would single out the younger employees and forcibly make them take aphrodisiacs in his room. Those who went in would come out drooling and crawling like drvgged dogs. Whenever a new product was launched, he’d come to ‘test’ it, but at some point, his visits became infrequent, and I had forgotten about him.

“If you’re interested, let’s visit together next time. I can get you some good stuff there as well.”

I wonder if the ‘stuff’ he’s talking about is people or something else. Whatever it is, it’s clear this CEO is fawning over the VIPs, just like how Wang Wei would bring out expensive liquor when he came.

“Well… I’m not sure if I’ll have the chance to visit again.”

Joo Do-hwa responded with an ambiguous answer, smiling pleasantly, neither rejecting nor accepting. Even if he visits again, Joo Do-hwa, who was dubbed a VVIP after the first visit, doesn’t necessarily need to accompany this man. If Joo Do-hwa wishes, the Oceans CEO will gladly provide him with whatever remains.

“Haha, please do remember me when you visit. No, actually… I didn’t know the Director had such a hobby.”

The middle-aged man chuckled awkwardly, subtly changing the subject. Apparently, he doesn’t want to give up on trying to engage him, despite the endless cold treatment. I wondered what kind of ‘hobby’ he was referring to this time, but for some reason, his gaze was directed at me.

“You didn’t act this way with the ones you’ve brought before. This one seems a bit haughty, doesn’t he?”

He let out a derisive snort, the malicious smile crinkling his eyes. As if my current state is a joke.

“If he doesn’t listen, you’ll have to teach him his place.”

“…”

Ah… it wasn’t Joo Do-hwa’s doing.

It seems the middle-aged man thinks my disheveled appearance is the result of Joo Do-hwa punishing me for being unruly and expensive. It’s a reasonable assumption on his part, but Joo Do-hwa didn’t correct him.

“That’s right. He needs to learn his place.”

Joo Do-hwa pulled up the corners of his lips, smirking arrogantly. Even an expression that could be seen as unpleasant looked charming due to his refined features.

“Maybe I should teach him a lesson.”

“Yes, yes, of course. You should do that.”

Seemingly delighted to have elicited Joo Do-hwa’s agreement, the middle-aged man’s face lit up with excitement. Chuckling, he brought over the younger man who had been standing like a ghost next to him.

“Speaking of which, I’d like to introduce my son to you today.”

So he’s his son. The middle-aged man finally got to the main point, firmly gripping his son’s shoulder. The more he squeezed the young man’s shoulder, the paler his youthful face became.

“My son is an Omega… As Director Joo knows, Betas and Omegas have different flavors.”

Undoubtedly, this was not something one would say about their own son. If he were adopted, perhaps. But if he’s naturally an Omega, he’s likely his biological child.

“I was a bit late, but I actually intended to introduce this child to you next.”

Next? As I was about to question this statement, the middle-aged man glared at me as if I were a thorn in his eye. When Joo Do-hwa didn’t respond, he cleared his throat with an ‘ahem’ as if trying to get attention.

“Well, I wasn’t going to mention this, but…”

His tone suggested he was about to reveal some secret weapon. He lowered his voice to a subtle tone, addressing Joo Do-hwa, who still looked bored.

“That child you were looking for, Director Joo, I think it might be my son.”

“…”

That’s when Joo Dohwa finally reacted. He slowly turned his gaze to stare directly at the middle-aged man. His reddish lips had curled up crookedly at some point.

“You see, he was briefly missing when he was young.”

“Ah…”

Joo Dohwa lowered his eyes as if saddened by this fact. The soft sound that escaped could have been either a sigh or an exclamation. Despite not being an extreme emotional expression, it was strangely chilling.

“You know how this world works, Director Joo. Everyone’s quick to attack at the slightest weakness. That’s why only our family has known about the disappearance until now.”

It was obvious he had struggled to come up with a plausible excuse. Since he couldn’t fabricate the fact of the disappearance, it seemed he was going with the concept of having hidden it until now. Not that it changed the fact that he was lying.

“But when I thought about it carefully, wouldn’t you know, it matches exactly with the time you mentioned!”

His voice, full of excitement, made the brazen claim. Someone who didn’t know better might have been moved by such a remarkable coincidence. Not content with just that, the middle-aged man grabbed his son and spoke in a half-threatening manner.

“You tell him yourself. Your father’s right, isn’t he?”

Joo Do-hwa’s gaze fell on the son. His light-colored eyes, almost transparent, fixed on the son without wavering.

“You said you think you saw Director Joo back then, right?”

“Ugh… Y-Yes!”

The son, still pale with fear, nodded quickly. Whether he was afraid of lying or afraid of his father, he couldn’t lift his gaze even as he answered. I guess he was probably dragged here reluctantly, unable to resist his father’s pressure.

“When I was young… I saw Director Joo.”

The words spewed out by his son, as if crawling into me, filled me with an inexplicable sense of foreboding. Just like when I tried to mention Joo Do-hwa’s past, my back shuddered. Joo Do-hwa was smiling calmly, but only I felt the chill on the back of my neck.

“And… as soon as I came in, I felt a familiar feeling…”

“Henry.”

Joo Do-hwa called my seat in a casual tone. It was a small voice that only Henry and I could hear, so my son continued to mumble something unintelligible. He said he felt like he had been here before, that he had lived in this house for about half a year, and that it was probably the landlord. It was clearly all false information that he had memorized.

“…Thanks to the director saving my life back then…”

What a touching story. While I was thinking about it, Henry approached Joo Do-hwa. Inadvertently glancing at the movement, I saw Joo Do-hwa reaching out to Henry.

“I’ve always lived with a grateful heart. So I wanted to come and tell you…”

“…”

At that moment, I couldn’t grasp the situation. Joo Do-hwa took the object stuck in Henry’s waistband and loaded it half-heartedly, still with an indifferent expression, and pointed it at someone.

“What…”

A sharp sound hit my ears. Along with a sound like a watermelon bursting, the son’s voice was abruptly cut off.

In the silence where not even the sound of breathing could be heard, only Joo Do-hwa spoke.

“Ah.”

The emotionless voice settled on the table. Joo Do-hwa spun the gun around with his index finger on the trigger. Next to the frozen son, the middle-aged man who had embraced his shoulder fell back.

“It’s finally quiet now.”