RACA 91

“Lee Eunsol!”

At the same moment Lee Daebak shouted, the driver’s side door opened.

– What’s going on!?

The phone connection with Jaebeom was still live, and his loud voice came through the speaker. But Lee Daebak had no time to answer.

Eunsol had already climbed into the car.

“Don’t you move from there!”

There was no way a person trying to run away would listen. Lee Daebak’s face twisted as he ran toward the car, but the doors were already locked.

“Hey! You, right now, open—open this!”

Lee Daebak threw the phone in his hand onto the ground and yanked the handle.

Clack, clack.

The noisy rattling went on, but the locked door didn’t open.

The engine started. Then Eunsol faced Lee Daebak, who was glaring at him with a devilish face.

“You can come on your own.”

This was the man who had dragged him all the way here to use him. So Eunsol had no reason to care about him.

‘If I open that door, I’ll just get dragged into more trouble.’

Bang! Bang, bang! Bang!

Lee Daebak seemed to realize he was trying to escape, and his movements became more violent. His pounding grew so reckless it looked like he might break the window, and Eunsol frowned.

“You, you bastard! Come out right now! I won’t let you go!”

Ignoring the screaming man who used both hands and feet to try to open the door, Eunsol shifted the gear to reverse and stepped on the accelerator.

“Argh!”

As the car moved, Lee Daebak lost his grip and rolled on the ground. Eunsol forced himself to look away and focused on driving.

The car kept moving backward. It was a forest full of trees, and the narrow, dark path made it easy to crash if he lost focus.

There was only one goal. He had to get back to Jaebeom safely.

“It’s alright. It’s alright. You’re doing fine…”

The trembling in his monologue, as he tried to shake off the fear, was clearly evident. But his face shone with a resolute determination.

***

“What’s going on!? Lee Eunsol! Eunsol!”

Jaebeom called out desperately for his spouse. But there was no reply from the other end. Instead, he heard Lee Daebak’s yelling and the sound of a car moving, which made his anxiety grow.

“We found the location!”

As his face hardened more and more, the news he had been waiting for finally came. Jaebeom turned his head. There stood a man furiously typing on a laptop with a tense face, and beside him was Kwak Sang.

“Where is it?”

Still holding his phone, Jaebeom approached them. On the laptop screen was a large map of Jeju, and one flashing point stood out.

“Here.”

The man in the black cap pointed to a deep forest somewhere along the slopes of Hallasan. It was about an hour away by car from where they were now.

“Sir, please wait a moment.”

Just as Jaebeom turned to leave, Kwak Sang stopped him. His frown deepened at being held back when he was in such a rush, but the next words made him freeze.

“The phone’s location hasn’t changed, but the tracker in the suitcase is moving.”

Before leaving for the honeymoon, Jaebeom had secretly installed GPS trackers not only in Eunsol’s phone but also in his backpack and suitcase, in case something happened.

He had hoped never to need them.

“The car is moving?”

“Yes. It seems that way.”

Jaebeom turned his eyes to the monitor again. As Kwak Sang said, the single point on the screen had now split into two.

One stayed in place, while the other moved farther away. It was clear that the car was in motion.

Jaebeom raised the phone to his ear and carefully listened. Then he began to catch sounds he had missed before.

– Lee, Lee Eunsol ran, ran away! Wh, what are you going to do! What? Wh, why, why is that my, my fault?!

Lee Daebak, unaware the call was still connected, had let him hear everything he was saying to President Shin.

– what, what do you expect me to do! Tha, that’s your, your responsibility!

The two men hurled curses and blamed each other, shouting over the line. Thanks to that, Jaebeom quickly understood the situation.

– Th, that’s for you to handle! H, how am I supposed to deal with that ri, right now!

From their exchange, it seemed that Eunsol had taken the car and escaped. His brave spouse had managed to flee on his own.

Even though the situation was far from safe, Jaebeom’s expression relaxed a little. Normally, he never lost composure over threats or blackmail.

But if it involved Lee Eunsol, it was different.

“Where is President Shin?”

It was time to catch the man who had started all of this. He wanted to go find Eunsol immediately. But if he left now, they might cross paths and miss each other, so he had to wait until Eunsol came to him.

“We’ve located him.”

The man in the black cap who had been typing on the laptop opened another screen. President Shin was hiding not far from the hotel where Jaebeom was staying.

After arguing earlier, he had moved locations to meet Lee Daebak. It made sense since Lee Daebak had no way to follow him, so the one with mobility had to make the move.

For Jaebeom, it was a fortunate turn.

“Bring him in.”

Jaebeom decided it would be cleaner to deal with the matter before Eunsol arrived.

“Yes, sir.”

After becoming the head of a savings bank, he had intended to cut ties completely with illegal dealings. Even the protagonist in the story hadn’t entered that world by choice.

He had been handsome, intelligent, and a dominant Alpha, which had stirred jealousy in the son of a congressman. After a fight with that man, his life had nearly fallen apart, and it was Chairman Jang who had saved him. That was how he had become involved in that world.

Now that he had regained his memories as an actor, his resolve to leave that life behind, especially for his spouse’s sake, had become even greater. If Eunsol hadn’t been caught in trouble this time, he wouldn’t have chosen this method to handle things.

Bzzz. Bzz. Bzzzz.

Just as Kwak Sang was about to leave the room, a vibration came from a phone. Jaebeom’s indifferent gaze turned toward the screen. The number was not saved.

A sudden instinct made him press the call button immediately.

“Yes, this is Pyo Jaebeom speaking.”

– Jaebeom!

“…Eunsol.”

– Yes, it’s me. I’m sorry, you must’ve been worried.

“Are you hurt?”

– I’m fine. Not a single scratch.

Just hearing his bright voice told Jaebeom that his condition wasn’t bad. But he couldn’t relax yet.

Eunsol was pregnant with twins. Even if there were no visible injuries, he had likely been frightened, so Jaebeom couldn’t let his guard down.

“Where are you? I’ll come to you, so stay there and don’t move.”

Earlier, he hadn’t dared to move first for fear that they might miss each other on the road. But now that he had managed to contact him, there was no reason to sit still any longer.

– Ah, I already put the address in the navigation and I’m driving there. I think I’m close, so let’s meet at the hotel!

Jaebeom, who had looked ready to ran out, froze at Eunsol’s determined words.

“…I’m just worried.”

He even forgot that he had just ordered Kwak Sang to bring President Shin in, and only focused on calming his spouse.

– Hmm, okay. Then wait a second. I’ll ask where I am right now…

Jaebeom heard Eunsol talking to someone nearby. It seemed to be the owner of the phone he was using.

– Jaebeom, they say this place is near something called Ahneunahopgol.

“Ahneunahopgol?”

When Jaebeom repeated the name, the man in the black cap quickly typed on the keyboard. The location Eunsol mentioned appeared on the screen.

It matched exactly with the spot where the red blinking mark was.

– Yes. Ah! I can see a sign that says Hanbalg Reservoir nearby.

Eunsol sounded excited as he found another clue, and Jaebeom’s face softened slightly. The GPS was enough for him to locate him without asking. But he wanted to confirm precisely and to let Eunsol know he was coming, so he could feel safe.

“Alright. I’m leaving now, so wait there. I’ll be there in twenty minutes, no, fifteen.”

– Don’t push yourself too hard and come safely. I’ll stay put.

“Alright.”

Jaebeom spoke gently and ended the call.

Right then, as if waiting for that moment, the door opened, and Kwak Sang came in, dragging a man in a crumpled suit. The man’s limp body looked unconscious, but Jaebeom didn’t even glance at him.

“I have to go get Eunsol, so put him somewhere else. I’ll handle it when I’m back.”

“Yes, sir.”

It was time for him to go and bring his Omega back.