Apollo’s Heart - Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Tae-jun recalled seeing Hye-seong at one of his meetings with Myeong-je Jin. The boy was the literary sort having studied Russian literature at university and was obsessed with Tolstoy. The author’s emphasis on mercy, pacifism, and self-control probably had made a deep impression on him so much so that he resented and shunned his father’s work at one point. Not that he had managed to escape the path that his father had taken. You can’t run from your bloodline… it’s like trying to get rid of your own shadow.

Tae-jun saw his own reflection on the glass cupboard in the hallway. Perhaps this applied to him as well… being unable to avoid his father’s fate of letting a woman drive him insane.

He wiped the smirk off his face and walked into the living room, where a pale, skinny man was sitting with an anxious look on his face.

This despondent man was nothing like the insolent youth he had once met, who lived in a utopian world looking at everyone with eyes of disdain. That conceited youth who’d cocooned himself in the world of black and white seemed to be now seeking shelter in the grey areas. Indeed, the last four years had been truly cruel to him.

At the sight of Tae-jun, the man bounded up from his seat.

“Tae-jun Seo! It was you who dragged me here?!” His voice was crisp, eyes clear.

Even so, in the sea of emotions wavering in the man’s orbs, Tae-jun spotted ‘relief’.

Relief? How funny!

“So I’m guessing that there are others who are trying to find you.”

Those words poked where it hurt. Hye-seong flinched, but he didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of reading his mind correctly, thus began bluffing.

“That’s none of your business! Why are you looking for me?”

Instead of replying, Tae-jun leisurely walked to the sofa across Hye-seong, and sat down like he was in his living room watching TV. Right on cue, Jin-wook ordered his men to leave the room and closed the door.

Hye-seong glanced at Jin-wook, who was standing at the door, and then Tae-jun, who was seated in front of him. Chastising himself for his loss of composure earlier, he awkwardly sat back down.

Tae-jun unhurriedly sized him up from head to toe. He was much thinner than Tae-jun remembered, somehow radiating a precarious aura unlike before.

He has changed a bit.

Hye-seong Jin had always had a rather frail look about him. Sure enough, looks can be deceptive, given the magnitude of what he had done– daring to sell a stand-in to Tae-jun.

Hye-seong began with an uneasy face, gone was the arrogance from a moment ago.

“Mr. Seo, I can’t think of a reason for us to meet like this.”

“Are you sure?” Tae-jun scoffed, bringing a cigarette to his lips.

He’d instructed Jin-wook to simply bring Hye-seong here without an explanation. No matter the situation, this method always worked wonders. For starters, since the said person would not be aware of the whole scenario, he wouldn’t have the time to think of a way out. Second, he would feel pressured due to the silence and in a bid to wrest himself free start blurting out, and in so doing reveal the truth albeit unknowingly.

However, it turned out Hye-seong was a tough cookie. He didn’t want to give away anything, so feigned ignorance.

“My sister is dead, and Jinseong Construction went bankrupt. And you took away all that was left of the company. So what more do you want from me?” His words were wreathed with accusation, loathing, and despair.

“Hye-yeon died, there was no reason for me to be lenient with Jinseong Construction, right?” A nonchalant Tae-jun exhaled a long trail of smoke, looking at the other with hawk-like eyes.

Still unable to get a clue as to why he was brought in, Hye-seong furrowed his eyebrows.

“Who was that girl?”

An abrupt question that intermingled with the gray smoke sprang like an arrow to pierce the other’s heart.

And yet…

“What girl?” Hye-seong still pretended to be confused as if the smoke had slowed down his brain.

“The girl that you and your father sold to me. I know she wasn’t your sister.” Tae-jun was getting impatient, his blood was surging.

“What… what the hell do you mean?” Hye-seong asked, his face turning blue.

Crash!

Tae-jun violently kicked the table before him, all along looking at the other squarely. Hye-seong recoiled in surprise, the air had abruptly turned deadlier.

“The fact that I’m sitting here with you means that I know everything. You’d better not try to trick me again. If I had my way, I would skin you alive.” He bellowed.

“…”

“Let’s try this again. Who’s Yuri Han?”

Although his heart was in turmoil, his face betrayed nothing. In all fairness, Hye-seong was not entirely pretending. He wasn’t faking his confusion. Truth was, he was unable to fathom why Tae-jun was asking this when he apparently knew everything already. Now was not the time to mull over it. Even so, it was difficult not to answer.

Without a choice… 

“… the chauffeur’s daughter. My sister’s friend.”

“And?”

“And what? I just told you.”

“What did you give her in return for standing in for your sister?”

Hye-seong pursed his lips, apparently unwilling to answer.

Tae-jun’s patience was wearing thin. He slowly stubbed the cigarette into the ashtray.

“I’m asking you again. What did you give her in return?” His tone, colder than before.

“Why would you…”

“Do you need some help remembering?” Tae-jun cut him off and signaled Jin-wook.

Jin-wook cooly put his hand into his jacket pocket. What appeared next was a shiny handgun.

How could someone carry something like that here in South Korea? This isn’t the US or Russia!

Right then Hye-seong remembered that Seoin Holdings was primarily a weapons manufacturer. They were the foremost to create the first-ever privately sponsored shooting team, and each year donated a considerable amount of money to the Shooting Sport Federation.

And the man sitting in front of him was a noted marksman who’d won a gold medal in the Asian Games. Simply put, he was the man who had the easiest access to guns in the country!

“Money!” Hye-seong shouted desperately. “Dammit, it was money!!!”

Ever since he was a child, Hye-seong had been exposed to a lot of things. He was confident that he had seen a wide range of people, especially those classified as unsavory. But the aura that was emanating from this man was much more dangerous than he had ever felt from anyone else. It was as if Tae-jun’s entire body was about to produce a cold blade and cut right through his heart.

“Money?”

This was definitely not the answer Tae-jun was looking for. He took out another cigarette and rhythmically tapped the filter against the table. Then, he slowly brought it to his lips and lit it.

Behind the rising smoke, Tae-jun’s outline started to become blurry. As Hye-seong closed one eye in a grimace, a hand emerged through the smoke and seized him by the collar.

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