OMLM | Chapter 12

Yebon froze, his mind coming to a complete halt.

Kang Yebon stared at Lee Seunggu with wide eyes, but his pupils were unfocused and dull.

“Huh? Wait, you guys know Woochan hyung?”

“Uh… yeah. I just know him vaguely, but Yebon here? They’re pretty close. They used to live in the same apartment complex, I think? Yeah, that sounds right.”

Lee Seunggu kept sneaking glances at Yebon while he spoke, but Yebon remained utterly frozen.

Just as Seunggu awkwardly tried to return Kim Beomjun’s phone, Yebon moved quickly, snatching the phone out of his hand. Beomjun, taken aback, opened his eyes wide, but Yebon wasn’t paying attention to anything else.

The screen still displayed the KakaoTalk chat, with a group labeled, “Chemistry ×× Woochan hyung.”

Without hesitation, Yebon tapped on the profile picture. The image that filled the screen made his blood run cold.

“…Are you kidding me?”

It was a photo of Jung Woochan smiling brightly, cheek-to-cheek with a pretty, short-haired woman.

The sudden chill in Yebon’s voice startled the two seated across from him. They gawked at him, wide-eyed.

The hand holding Beomjun’s phone visibly trembled.

“Yebon…” As Seunggu cautiously reached out to Yebon, he abruptly stood up.

His face, already pale, had turned ghostly white. His expression was stiff and icy.

“Here, your phone.”

Yebon handed the phone back awkwardly to Beomjun, then reached for his wallet, pulling out two 10,000-won bills tucked behind his phone case and placing them on the table.

“I… something came up. I have to go. Use this to pay for my share.”

The words poured out twice as fast as usual, leaving no room for interruption. Without waiting for a reply, Yebon turned and walked swiftly out of the restaurant.

Seunggu and Beomjun could only stare after him in stunned silence.

“…Did I say something wrong?” Beomjun finally asked.

After a brief pause, Seunggu replied, “…I don’t know. But that’s the first time I’ve ever seen Yebon that pissed.”

—

The dilapidated warehouse had walls so cracked they looked ready to collapse at any moment. Dust floated in the streaks of light that filtered through the gaps.

Thud. A dull sound echoed, followed by a faint, whimpering groan.

“Hey. You should speak clearly.”

Cha Hyuk, cigarette clenched between his teeth, lightly patted the cheek of the man tied to the chair.

The man’s face was a mess. His swollen eyes and split lips oozed blood, which mixed with saliva and dripped down his chin. Despite his battered state, his eyes still burned fiercely.

“…I… told you… I don’t… know, you… bastard…”

Cha Hyuk’s black eyes gazed at him dispassionately. Neither a smile nor a frown crossed his face, making him seem eerily inhuman.

As he leaned in closer, the scar running through his left eyebrow twitched.

“Well, look at that. Even your teeth are ugly.”

Cha Hyuk grinned widely, dimples forming in his cheeks, and reached for the rusted tools on the metal table beside him. Picking up a pair of pliers, he grabbed the man’s jaw with a brutal grip.

The man’s mouth opened helplessly, and as the pliers neared his teeth, his bound body thrashed violently.

Incoherent shrieks filled the air, but Cha Hyuk merely tilted his head with a cold smile.

“Let me give you a makeover. Something real pretty.”

The rusted pliers were just about to touch the man’s teeth when a loud, jarring ringtone broke the tense silence.

Everyone except Cha Hyuk flinched at the noise, turning toward its source.

Cha Hyuk straightened, letting the pliers dangle in his hand, and tossed his cigarette onto the ground. He wiped his blood-streaked hand on the man’s shirt before picking up the flip phone vibrating on the table.

An unfamiliar number flashed on the screen.

The number seemed vaguely familiar, but nothing concrete came to mind. Probably not important.

With a nod to the suited men standing nearby, Cha Hyuk sighed deeply and answered the call.

“Hello?”

Running a hand through his messy hair, Cha Hyuk slowly walked toward a corner of the warehouse.

At first, only the faint sound of cars could be heard from the other end.

Another prank call? Cha Hyuk frowned.

He’d handed out his number so liberally that crank calls like this were bound to happen occasionally.

“Listen, unless you have a death wish, don’t call this number as a joke.”

Holding the phone between his shoulder and ear, Cha Hyuk reached into his pocket for another cigarette.

Just as he was about to hang up, a trembling voice came through.

“…Ahjusshi.”

The cigarette fell from Cha Hyuk’s mouth and hit the ground.

His eyes widened slightly as he grasped the phone with his hand.

“…Kang Yebon?”

“…Yes.”

The soft, quivering voice sent a jolt through him. Cha Hyuk frowned deeply, trying to stay calm as he asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

The sound of passing cars filled the silence again. Then, the voice on the other end spoke, low but resolute.

“…You told me… if there was someone I wanted gone, I should call you.”

The voice broke, trembling with barely contained emotion.

“…I have someone. Someone I want dead.”

The sheer conviction in Yebon’s voice struck a chilling contrast to the sniffles and tremors that accompanied it.

Cha Hyuk turned his head, glancing back at the man slumped in the chair. His subordinates were splashing cold water on him to wake him up.

Bringing the phone closer, Cha Hyuk spoke in a calm, deliberate voice.

“Where are you?”

—

Yebon stood motionless in a narrow alleyway between buildings, sniffling as he stared at the ground.

His head would drop toward the asphalt, only to snap back up as he glared at the towering building across the street.

It was the company where Jung Woochan worked.

He couldn’t remember how he’d ended up here. The last stretch of his journey was a blank.

The image of Woochan smiling brightly next to that woman kept flashing before his eyes, burning itself into his memory.

So, Woochan’s getting married. Fine. What does that have to do with me now? But still… still…

“From what I heard, they’ve been dating for a year? That’s all? And now they’re getting married?”

One year. Maybe Beomjun had his facts wrong, but still—Yebon and Woochan had broken up barely a month and a half ago.

It didn’t add up. The timing was far too close.

And thinking back to when Woochan had started pulling away, the overlap was too perfect to ignore.

His fingertips trembled uncontrollably.

‘I should’ve known something was off.’

The sudden, unexplained appearances. The way he’d acted after their breakup.

And his aunt, who’d tried to say something serious about Woochan but hadn’t finished.

“…This bastard…”

Yebon clenched his teeth, letting out a string of curses as he kicked the wall in frustration.

Pain shot up his foot, sharp and immediate, but it only made his tears flow harder.

He glared back at the building, breath coming in harsh, uneven bursts.

Across the street, a sleek black car pulled up and came to a stop.

The driver stepped out—a man dressed entirely in black.

Yebon wiped his tears on his sleeve and dialed the number again.

“Where are you?” Cha Hyuk’s voice was calm but firm.

“Look across the street.” Cha Hyuk turned his head and locked eyes with Yebon, who was peeking out from between the buildings.

“Stay right there.” Cha Hyuk ended the call and crossed the street without hesitation.

Yebon’s legs felt weak as he took in the sight of him—hair disheveled, eyes shadowed, chest rising and falling as if he’d been running.

Meeting his dark, piercing gaze, Yebon found himself unable to speak. Instead, his lips trembled as he took a step forward and buried his face against Cha Hyuk’s chest.

Cha Hyuk froze for a moment, his body stiff and unsure. After a long pause, he hesitantly lifted his hand and placed it gently on Yebon’s head.

“Let’s go to the car.” Yebon didn’t reply, only nodding weakly as Cha Hyuk guided him toward the vehicle.

Inside, the tension lingered as Cha Hyuk fastened Yebon’s seatbelt, then started the engine.

Yebon finally spoke, voice trembling.

“Where… where are we going? This is the place!”

Cha Hyuk’s lips curled into a dark smile as he drove away.

“To kill someone…”

There are too many eyes near the company.

The car halted at a red light, and as Cha Cha Hyuk turned his head, his eyes were tinged with a sinister darkness. It was then that Yebon fully realized who he had called upon, who was now right in front of him.