CH182 | VOC

Yong Gi-un decided delaying his death was impossible. He could feign illness for a few days, but those men in suits would likely just kidnap a doctor and medical equipment and set up a private clinic on the island.

Resigned to his fate, he poured all his energy into his final masterpiece.

“Not a single error! It has to be perfect! You!”

“Yes, sir!”

“Rebar is the skeleton of a building! Use more than the blueprints specify, if necessary! Fill every space! I don’t care about the cost!”

He supervised every aspect of the construction, driven by the desire to create a lasting legacy, like Emperor Qin Shi Huang building his mausoleum.

“If I hear any complaints about shoddy workmanship, I’ll haunt you from hell! Understood?!”

He used the word “hell” literally, thinking about his impending death, but the workers just saw it as a figure of speech.

“Yes, sir!”

“Come on! Move! We have a mountain of work to do!”

Jin-sam watched the bustling construction site with a satisfied smile.
“Director Yong is very motivated.”

Black Tiger bowed his head. “He’s probably less anxious now that we’re treating him well. I would have been terrified in his situation.”

“Hehe, his anxiety is fueling his motivation. Keep treating him well. Spare no expense for his needs. He might become our in-house architect. We need to befriend him.”

“Yes, sir.”

Yong Gi-un became as enthusiastic about enjoying life as he was about working.

“Ah, to taste this fruit in this season!” Two beautiful women, one with brown hair and the other with black hair, were feeding him sliced fruit in his five-star hotel suite.

“Is it delicious, sir?”

“Delicious indeed!”

“It’s time for your supplements.” The brown-haired woman stood up gracefully, sprinkled gold flakes on his supplements, and held them out to him. “Say ah~”

“Ah~”

“Here’s some water.”

He swallowed the supplements and chuckled. “Now this is the life!”

He felt like an emperor, surrounded by luxury, beautiful women, and gourmet food. “What’s for breakfast tomorrow?”

The black-haired woman checked the menu. “Premium Japanese wagyu steak, sir.”

He licked his lips in anticipation.
“Sounds delicious. A glass of wine with that would be heavenly. But for now…” He looked at the women with a sly smile. “I have other appetites to satisfy.”

With the highly motivated workers eager to repay their benefactor, Yong Gi-un’s dedication to his masterpiece, and the arrival of 300 more heihaizi two months later, the construction progressed rapidly.

Six months passed.

“Finally… it’s complete,” he said, his face filled with emotion. It was a state-of-the-art underground facility, equipped with every imaginable amenity, a testament to Park Sol’s vision.

And it had been completed in just eight months, a near miracle. He touched the thick concrete wall. “Five meters of reinforced concrete, with an additional layer of lead shielding for radiation protection… even a nuclear attack wouldn’t penetrate these walls.”

He walked over to the water purification and hydroponic farming facility. “A constant supply of clean water and enough food for 100 people.”

He then walked over to the communications room. “State-of-the-art communication equipment with a range of 3,000 kilometers.”

Pride swelled within him as he admired his creation. “Four-person rooms with automatic doors, private rooms for the executives, a medical bay, food storage, supply storage, solar panels… everything we need for a self-sufficient life. A peaceful village on the surface, and a massive secret base underground.”

He clenched his fist. “This is every man’s dream. And I built it!”

It was a secret base, so no one would know, but he felt a sense of accomplishment, like a father leaving behind a legacy. His eyes teared up, overwhelmed with emotion, as Black Tiger approached him. “Is it completely finished?”

“Yes, it is,” he replied. And so is my life.

“Excellent work, Director Yong. As expected of a renowned architect. He’ll be very pleased.”

“Now that it’s over, can I ask you one last question? Who is ‘he’?”

Black Tiger’s face hardened. “That’s classified information. The contract stipulates that you’re not allowed to ask.”

He had completely forgotten about the contract. “Ah, right, the contract…” What did a piece of paper matter when he was about to die anyway? He felt a slight pang of disappointment but quickly dismissed it. He had only asked out of curiosity. “Just curious… sorry.”

“It’s okay.”

He smiled sadly. “I’ve seen everything, and I’m satisfied. Thank you for your kindness, Black Tiger.”

“The pleasure was all mine.”

“I’ll be waiting in my room. Give me three hours.”

Back in his suite, he said, “I’m ho… oh, right, I already sent them away.” He had sent the two women away before the completion of the project. He hadn’t wanted them to share his fate, so he had sent them away while he was still useful to his captors.

Although he had been paying them for their services, he had grown fond of them during the past six months. They had been his companions, his confidantes, and he couldn’t condemn them to death because of his own greed.

He took out a bottle of Louis XIII and started drinking straight from the bottle. “Glug, glug…”

It was an expensive cognac, worth millions of won, but he didn’t care.

“This is the life.” He had never been allowed to drink to his heart’s content because of his agreement with Black Tiger, but tonight, he would drink himself to death.

“Anything else to take care of? I’ve confirmed the women are safe.” He had been allowed to talk to them on the phone, confirming their safe return to the mainland. He had felt a glimmer of hope then, but he knew his situation was different. He was the only one who knew the secrets of the base.

“It’ll all be over when I fall asleep drunk, right?” He smiled faintly. “Yong Gi-un lived here.”

“Ugh… my head…”

He woke up on the floor, his body aching. “Am I… in heaven? But why do I have a hangover…?”

He looked up and his eyes widened. “I’m… in my room?” The empty bottle of Louis XIII was lying on the floor. He checked the time. “What? It’s been over seven hours?”

He couldn’t understand why he was still alive, and then a terrifying thought struck him.

“Are they going to… torture me? No!” He didn’t want to die in pain. He scrambled to his feet, grabbed another bottle of alcohol, and started drinking. “I have to get drunk again! I want to die peacefully in my sleep!”

He woke up again and muttered, “Am I dead?” Then, realizing he was still in his suite, he shouted, “Why are you doing this to me?!”

The empty bottles had been removed, which meant someone had been in his room while he was unconscious. It was terrifying. “Are you waiting for me to wake up? You cruel bastards! I’ll show you!”

He continued this cycle of drinking and passing out for a week, waking up and drinking again. “Even when I was an alcoholic, I didn’t drink this much!” he shouted after waking up for the fifteenth time. “You bastards! I worked hard! I built your base! Can’t you at least let me die peacefully?!”

The anger at not being killed, combined with the lingering effects of alcohol, gave him courage. “I’ll show you!”

He grabbed a bottle of Louis XIII, stumbled out of his room, took a swig, and shouted,

“Black Tiger, you son of a bitch!” He took another swig, stumbled, and then collapsed on the floor. “You bastard! Are you even human?!”

The workers, who had been waiting to return to the mainland after the completion of the project, came out of their rooms, hearing the commotion.

“Isn’t that Director Yong? What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s calling for Black Tiger. Why is he cursing? I’ll go and get him.”

One of the workers went to find Black Tiger, and Yong Gi-un continued his drunken rant. “You bastards, even a condemned prisoner gets a last meal! This is inhumane!”

Black Tiger arrived, his face a mask of disbelief. “Director Yong, what’s going on?”

Yong Gi-un, seeing him, struggled to his feet. “Oh, you’re here?” He staggered towards him, grabbed him by the collar, and said, “Black Tiger, this isn’t right.”

“Wh-what’s wrong…?”

“It’s my last request, to die peacefully in my sleep. Can’t you even grant me that?”

Tears started streaming down his face. “Can’t you… let me die peacefully? Is that so hard?”

“What?”

“Just kill me! You’re going to do it anyway! Why are you waiting? Is there something you want from me? Then I’ll tell you!” He took another swig of alcohol. “Please, just kill me while I’m drunk!”

Black Tiger looked at him, dumbfounded. “Kill you?”

“Yes!”

“Me?”

“Yes, you!”

“Why would I kill you?”

“Because… you’re going to kill me… what?” He stopped. “Why wouldn’t you kill me?”

“I’m asking, why would I kill you? Do you want to die?”

He stumbled backward. “Of course not! I want to live!”

“Then why are you asking me to kill you?”

“…I’m not dying?”

“No.”

“But you were going to kill me for… for security reasons.”

Black Tiger said, his face a mask of disbelief, “You thought we were going to kill you? Is that why you’ve been acting like this? Is that why you made all those ridiculous requests?”

He mumbled, his voice small, “I thought I was going to die, so I wanted to enjoy myself…”

“Then why did you work so hard?”

“I thought it would be my last masterpiece…”

Black Tiger stared at him for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Hahahahahaha, so you were convinced you were going to die?”

The workers, who had been listening, also started laughing.

“This is hilarious!”

“So you thought you were going to die, Director Yong?”

He mumbled, embarrassed, “Well, I thought I was going to die… so I wanted to die peacefully in my sleep, so I asked for three hours…”

Black Tiger wiped away his tears. “I thought you wanted three hours to prepare to leave, so I had a boat ready. But when I checked on you, you were passed out drunk, so I just left you alone.”

“So that’s why…”

“Yes, and you kept drinking and passing out, so I assumed you were just relieving stress. So I let you be.”

“I’m… really not dying?”

Black Tiger nodded. “Of course not. Why would we kill you?”

“Really? You’re not going to kill me?”

“No. This is actually convenient. We were wondering how to send you back, since we couldn’t keep the ship waiting. Come with us.”

“Here’s your payment, 20 million yuan. As promised.”

Yong Gi-un’s jaw dropped at the sight of the stacks of cash. “You’re… really giving me this?”

“Yes, as we promised. It’s heavy, so we’ll have our men carry it for you. Now, let’s go to the ship.”

“Can’t we… slow down a bit? I’m still hungover…”

“The ship has been waiting for a week because of you, Director Yong. We don’t have time. Hurry.”

He retraced his steps, back to the ship, back to the small, windowless room, back to the blindfold, back to the rubber boat, back to the long car ride.

And finally, back to his house. He pinched himself, still unable to believe it was real. As the heihaizi who had carried the money into his house turned to leave, he said,

“Is it… really over? You’re not going to… kill me later, are you?”

The heihaizi looked at him as if he was crazy. “What are you talking about?”

“N-nothing. Just kidding.”

The heihaizi bowed his head, a strange look on his face. “Then we’ll be going. Get some rest.”

He watched them drive away, and then, with a dazed expression, he muttered,

“It’s really over? What have I done?” He remembered his despair, his resignation to his fate.

“I’m… alive? Really?”