Chapter 98 - Broken Hopes

Jiwon followed the thin man into the dark alleyway. There was a series of stairs, leading down towards some small housing units. Soowon kept on looking back, to make sure he was not being followed. Jiwon ducked out of sight to avoid being detected. 

Soowon walked towards one of the housing units. Jiwon silently followed him, climbing over the wall only to land at the backyard of the house. He peered in through the window to spy on Soowon.

"Yeah, I met them," he was saying on the phone. "You were right. They aren't too happy with you, Ziko."

Jiwon clenched his fist upon hearing the name.

"But they aren't opposing you either," Soowon continued. "Madam Hong did not give any indication that she did not want you as the successor. But the Chairman is apparently mulling over. Now that the race for succession has begun."

He turned around. Jiwon quickly ducked from view. 

"Now that the Kwon family is no longer a threat," Soowon continued. "The Cartel has been gaining a lot of their old businesses. After Jung Taewon's death, the old man became weak anyway. And his grandson doesn't want the business."

There was a silence as Soowon listened to whatever Ziko was saying from the other end. Jiwon could hear what the grey haired man was saying but he saw Soowon's expression changing.

"Are you serious?" he exclaimed. "The kid still has followers? He sure is a wily one. I always wondered why you let him go all those years ago. Anyways, I'm off to bed. I feel really tired."

Soowon hung up the phone and made his way towards his tiny room. As soon as Jiwon heard the door close, he waited for ten minutes before slipping into the house through the window. 

He scanned the house. It was more of a shack but he wanted to check the place for any possible clues. Silently prodding through the living room, he opened the cabinets, hoping to find anything related to the Cartel.

But there was nothing there. No papers, no clues. Nothing at all. He suspected the bedroom may hold some clues, but it was too dangerous to go in there. He was about to head back when a voice came from right behind him.

"Look what we have here," came the high pitched voice which sent shivers down Jiwon's back. He turned around to see Soowon pointing a gun to his head.

"Who are you?" Soowon demanded, gearing the trigger.

Reflexively, Jiwon used both his hands to hit the gun off Soowon's hand, incapacitating his hand with his blows.

"Argh!" Soowon groaned in pain as he felt his wrist crack. Jiwon threw a kick to his groin, throwing him off guard. Soowon got off the ground to hit him back but Jiwon was too fast. Elbowing the man in his stomach, Jiwon lifted him up and threw him to the ground.

Soowon was thrown with a thud, his back breaking. He was not a very skilled fighter and had thought the gun would scare the person invading his home. But the man was too strong. 

Jiwon held Soowon's hands behind him, pinning him down.

"Where is Ziko?" he demanded.

"Z-Ziko?" Soowon asked dumbfounded. "Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare," Jiwon replied as he hit the man in the head. "Where is Ziko?"

"You'll never find him!" Soowon spat. "You've messed with the wrong person…"

Suddenly the door burst open. Jiwon momentarily glanced up to see Hyun Jung broke in. He was so surprised that he almost lost his grip on the man.

Taking advantage of Jiwon's momentary distraction, Soowon managed to push him off. Caught by surprise, Jiwon fell back as the man scurried up and escaped through the window.

"Get him!" Jiwon ordered, hurrying behind the man. Hyun Jung followed suit and they chased Soowon through the alley. Soowon ran towards the main road, pushing people off as he sprinted.

Jiwon and Hyun Jung ran behind him, trying to nab the man at any cost. But Soowon was way ahead of them. He crossed the busy road and held up a taxi.

"Incheon!" he ordered the taxi driver as he got on, escaping with his life. Jiwon and Hyun Jung ran behind the taxi for a while but it sped off into the distance.

"SHIT!" Jiwon cursed, crying in frustration. He was so close to catching Ziko that day. "Hyun we have to-"

SMACK! Hyun Jung punched him with all his might. Jiwon staggered backwards in surprise.

"What was that for?" Jiwon demanded.

"You idiot!" Hyun Jung scolded him. "You ruined everything! So you even know what you've done? Your obsession with Ziko cost us our plan to nab him!"

Jiwon breathed heavily, coming back to his senses.

"It was a good thing that I put a GPS tracker in your pocket," Hyun Jung went on. "Otherwise you'd have gone on a rampage against Ziko tonight! Do you even think straight?"

Jiwon stood there, unable to speak. Hyun Jung was right. His obsession cost him the only chance to track down Ziko. 

"What if he finds out about the fact that you're still looking for him?" Hyun Jung questioned him. "What will you do then?"

"I'm still wearing my disguise," Jiwon reminded him. "They won't recognize me that easily. Soowon didn't recognize me at all." 

But Hyun Jung was not so sure. Jiwon risked everything tonight only to end up with nothing.

"Call your wife," he said shortly. "She was looking for you."

"Mirae?" Jiwon frowned before widening his eyes in shock. "Hyun! What's the time?"

"It's nearly 10 PM," the latter informed him. "You should-hey!"

Jiwon was not listening, he darted off. Checking his watch, he began to panic. The last bus had just left so Jiwon stopped a taxi.

"Hyewha-dong," he instructed the driver. Praying that his wife won't be mad, Jiwon was prepared to face Mirae's wrath.

Half an hour later, the taxi pulled up in front of his apartment. Paying the driver, Jiwon got off the car and headed towards his apartment. Upon turning the knob, he realized it was locked. Using his keys to open the door, he saw that all the lights were turned off. 

"Mirae?" he called but there was no answer. He checked their bedroom, the bathroom and every corner of the house but Mirae was not there. Jiwon took out his phone only to see 20 missed calls from her.

He dialed her number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Where are you?" he demanded, with a hint of panic in his voice.

There was silence on the other end.

"The park," she answered in a monotone. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Jiwon said, startled. Even though he stood her up on their date, she still asked if he was alright.

"I'm coming to get you," he told her. "Don't go anywhere."

"Okay," she said. Her voice sounded hollow. Jiwon dashed out of the house and headed towards the park.

He reached the park and began looking for Mirae. "Mirae?" he shouted as he looked around. Running a hand through his head, cursing his stupidity, Jiwon searched for his wife. How did I forget that I was supposed to meet her? He lamented. 

Hyun Jung was right. His obsession clouded his mind. Amidst his preoccupation to catch Ziko, he forgot that Mirae should be his bigger priority.

He looked everywhere till he reached the pond. A thin girl in an off white dress was sitting on the edge.

"Mirae?" he cautiously approached her. She did not reply but kept on looking ahead.

"Mirae, are you alright?" he asked as he reached her. She looked up.

"Let's go home," she stated. She was not angry nor did she have any reaction. She simply got up and started to leave.

"Mirae wait-" he grabbed her hand only to find it feeling extremely hot. Shocked, her touched her forehead which was blazing hot.

"Mirae," he said in surprise. "You're sick! Why didn't you leave when I didn't arrive? It's cold out here!"

Mirae did not answer but was swaying slightly. Her pupils were a little disjointed. Jiwon put his arm around her shoulders, supporting her. He took off his coat and put it on her. 

She must have been waiting here for hours, he realized as he helped her exit the park. He hailed a taxi as Mirae was too weak to walk home. Once reaching their apartment building, he carried her bridal style up the stairs to their unit.

Carefully laying her on the bed, he took off her dress and changed her into comfortable pajamas and t-shirt. 

Mirae did not talk to him and the disappointment she was exuding was even worse than her anger.

"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I got caught up in some work and I know it's not an excuse but-"

"Jiwon," she finally said, looking at him. "I know you're lying. I also know you're hiding something from me. I won't ask you about it. But can I make a request?"

"What is it?" he asked. 

"If you can't keep your words," she said. "Then don't make any promises. Hide as many secrets as you want. But don't raise my hopes only to end up snatching it away. It hurts."

With that she turned her back on him, pretending to sleep. Her voice was devoid of any anger or sadness. Just full of disappointment. It made him feel even guiltier.

Staring at her still back, Jiwon felt his heart becoming heavier. Can we ever live a normal life? He wondered.

….

"So that's what happened," Soowon said as he put the ice pack on his forehead. He was at Ziko's hideout, narrating what happened. "I'm sure he was a waiter who took our orders in the hotel."

Ziko pondered over his words. "Bring me the CCTV footage of the restaurant," he ordered his men. An hour later, they were viewing the scene of the hotel. A bearded waiter was about to enter the private room where Soowon's meeting took place.

"Zoom in," Ziko ordered his underling. Upon zooming closer, Ziko frowned before realization struck him.

"You know him?" Soowon asked, looking at the screen. Unbeknownst to him, Ziko took out a gun.

"Yes," he said, pointing the gun at Soowon. The latter turned to see the gun pointed at him.

"What the-"

BANG!

Soowon lay motionless on the floor, blood gushing out of his head. Ziko did not even flinch at his comrade's dead body. He was a liability who was being chased by the enemy. Ziko could not risk getting caught.

"So we meet again," Ziko stated casually as he ushered his men to clean up the mess. "Kwon Jiwon."