Chapter 3
Episode 3. Midsummer (1)
==========
While I was busy finishing up the excessive workload that had piled up recently, the model for Yuna's commercial changed.
It was a fact that only he didn't know.
Ahn Yuna particularly liked this cosmetic commercial. The moment that thought crossed his mind, Taeseo's hand was holding his phone, rendering his intention not to contact Ahn Yuna pointless.
On the first day the commercial aired, Taeseo sat her on his lap and made her repeat the lines from the CF.
‘I won't let go, like in the commercial. Try it.’
‘Why are you making me do that?’
‘Just try it.’
The memory of teasing Ahn Yuna playfully was vivid.
-The customer's phone is turned off…
He tried calling again several times, but the same message came from the other end of the line.
-The customer's phone is turned off…
Finally, Taeseo hung up and retraced Yuna's menstrual cycle.
They had always contacted each other on the day Yuna's period ended to make plans to meet. Checking the texts they exchanged last month, he realized Yuna's period wouldn't end for another two days.
In the meantime, another commercial played on TV. Like the cosmetic commercial, the model for another advertisement featuring Yuna had also been replaced.
Seeing commercials that seemed to have specifically excluded Yuna, he let out a hollow laugh.
“What is this supposed to mean?”
Taeseo called his secretary instead of Yuna. Unlike Yuna, the secretary answered his call in mere seconds.
-Yes, Managing Director. This is Woo Hyunwoo.
Taeseo instructed the secretary to locate Ahn Yuna.
At the time, Taeseo thought Ahn Yuna might be digging a hole somewhere by herself, but it didn't take him even a week to realize that wasn't the case.
Time passed. The heatwave advisory in the peak of summer turned into a heatwave warning.
-The number you have dialed is no longer in service. Please check the number and try again…
Meanwhile, Ahn Yuna's number became inactive. The occasional commercials featuring Yuna also disappeared from TV.
Woo Hyunwoo, the manager, said that Ahn Yuna had settled her affairs and disappeared after her contract with her management agency ended.
On the day of the second hottest period of summer, when news of the ginseng chicken soup restaurants being packed was broadcast.
“Let’s go to Seongwoo-eup.”
Taeseo got into the car heading for Yuna's hometown.
Under the scorching sun, heat haze rose from the asphalt, and the acacias planted along the highway drooped, their leaves wilting in the summer heat.
Gazing at the rapidly passing summer scenery, Taeseo drifted into old memories.
The memory of meeting Ahn Yuna for the first time, four years ago.
\ \ *
Every Friday, a clandestine gathering was held in a skyscraper overlooking Seoul's night view.
It was a gathering whose host and origin were unknown, with some saying it began in the 5th Republic era and others claiming it started after the real-name financial system was implemented.
What began as a social event for businessmen had degenerated, and at some point, it became a secret gathering for third-generation chaebol members who had made a name for themselves.
On one side, men were scheming to get with the women invited as guests. On another, a gambling den where people used their brains in ways they normally wouldn't. On yet another, men were guzzling alcohol like mad, filling the room with a chaotic buzz.
Amidst the acrid smoke, Kwon Taeseo wore a bored expression.
With the real estate boom, the assets he inherited at the age of three or four had grown unimaginably large, making him weary of gambling over petty cash for pride, and bored of mingling with women who looked at him with wide eyes.
He had already had enough to drink, seeing the men in front of him as two or three people, so he didn't feel like drinking more.
He lay on a long sofa, large enough for at least five people, exhaling smoke from his cigarette.
His eyes were half-closed, his body languidly relaxed, appearing utterly bored, and the thoughts filling his mind were not much different.
Life is boring.
Despite finding life boring, he made sure to show up at this ridiculous gathering because watching the men play like lunatics was the only way he could feel that the world was still moving forward.
Taeseo flicked the ash from his cigarette onto the marble floor without bothering to sit up. The ember at the tip of his finger flew off.
“This damn bastard is at it again.”
As he flicked the ember from the tip of his cigarette onto the floor, someone with a blurry face sitting opposite him approached, cursed, and rubbed the ash Taeseo had flicked with his foot.
“You’ll start a fire, you damn bastard.”
A woman with her arm linked through his looked down at Taeseo.
“That oppa is Kwon Taeseo, right? From Namkyung?”
“Mind your own business. Even a rabid dog is more normal than that guy.”
“I’ll just look. He’s handsome. His face makes most actors look like squids.”
Even though they were talking about him, Taeseo indifferently dropped the cigarette butt into his drink.
“Look at that. He’s putting out his cigarette there for someone to drink. His face is fine, but his mind… Oh, right. Because of that face, Seo Jia from S Financial also cried her eyes out.”
“Ah, the Cheongdam-dong princess?”
“Yeah. The Cheongdam-dong princess.”
“But, honey, aren't I better looking than her?”
“Stop it. If you covet what you can’t have, you’ll get hurt.”
The man in front of him touched the woman somewhere, and she let out a high-pitched shriek before they both headed off somewhere. What they were about to do was obvious.
Obvious, predictable types. Taeseo let out a snort and closed his eyes.
Why did I come to this boring place again? Such regrets might arise, but his pride wouldn't allow him to leave, becoming a laughingstock with his staggering body.
Had it only been a minute since he closed his eyes, hoping to shake off the alcohol? A sound like something breaking made Taeseo open his eyes.
As his eyes opened, his light-colored pupils were revealed. His gaze landed on the entrance to the residence.
A group of men in black clothes poured in through the secret entrance, hidden by a door disguised to look like part of the building's design.
The burly men were talking about arrests and cooperation, but the drunkards didn't seem to hear. Instead, the half-intoxicated men excitedly chattered.
“Wow! Police!”
“Happy Halloween!”
The men, singing an early Halloween tune, climbed onto tables and danced like lunatics.
Brown whiskey flowed down the bodies of their partners, and with men burying their noses in their cleavage and greedily slurping alcohol, the center of the residence turned into a chaotic mess.
As the DJ's fingers sped up the music's beat and strobe lights joined in, the residence became even more boisterous.
The police shouted more, but to the men who had lost their minds, it was just a simple event.
“It’s chaotic.”
Taeseo closed his eyes again. Whether the men who had invaded were police or not was none of Taeseo's business.
Whether they were police or police grandfathers, no one would be able to lay a finger on him.
Not just him, but most of the people present were children from families who possessed the ability to cleverly evade legal judgment.
Of course, there were a few riff-raffs, but that was also none of Taeseo's business.
A moment later, the sounds of stumbling feet, screams, and something breaking mixed and flowed into his ears as he kept his eyes closed.
“What’s your rank, you bastard? Where are you from? Don’t you know who I am? I’m the grand-nephew of the chairman of Samjeong Group, you damn bastard!”
“What the hell, you guys are crazy?”
Words like arrest and Miranda rights were exchanged. This time, it seemed the law's judgment was stern, as a few of the riff-raff were being taken away.
Thus, the Friday gathering came to an end. Taeseo, who had fallen asleep amidst the commotion, opened his eyes about two hours later.
Inside the residence, several people were entangled in a drunken stupor, the smell of alcohol, cigarettes, and an unidentifiable unpleasant odor mixed together.
He got up from the sofa, looked around, roughly shook his head, and headed towards the residence entrance.
Outside the thick door, indistinguishable from the wall, the summer sun was already brightly illuminating the empty corridor, even though it was early morning.
“My head’s gonna split.”
He crossed the corridor and got into the elevator.
[Managing Director, please answer your phone.]
[Managing Director, you shouldn’t come out right now.]
His phone in his pocket was lighting up, but Taeseo didn't notice. He just wanted to rest because his head hurt.
The elevator doors opened with a chime indicating he had reached the lobby. He stepped out of the elevator with bleary eyes.
“He’s out!”
To his surprise, Taeseo was greeted by a barrage of camera flashes so intense they stung his eyes.
“Shoot! Take pictures!”
Taeseo instinctively spread his hand to cover his face.
“First, find out whose family this person who just came out belongs to!”
The light of the flashes glinted white between his fingers.
He swore he had never committed any illegal act like those arrested at dawn, nor did he even know why they were being arrested.
If he had a sin, it was drinking a whole bottle of Glenfiddich, and being drunk and rowdy was the only crime; in modern society, drinking itself is not a crime.
“He seems to be Namkyung's second son!”
“This is Kwon Taeseo of Namkyung Group.”
Nevertheless, the reporters continued to flash their cameras as if they had caught an exclusive scoop.
Through the gaps in his fingers, the light seeped in, and amidst the indiscriminate downpour of light, Taeseo spat out a curse.
“This is bullshit, really.”
At that moment, his secretary, pushing through the reporters, threw his suit jacket over Taeseo's face.
