Who I've Been Searching For | Sungjoy

Chapter 23: Villain's Tell-all

"It was you?" Sungjae asked, waves of fresh betrayal washing over him as he tried to make sense of the whole situation.

How could this be? The man who had taken him in, taken care of him, looked after him like they were brothers... how could he be the one who was behind all of this.

"Sungjae, I don't know what you're talking about-" the man on the other side of the line tried to convince Sungjae, his voice shifting back to the same familial voice that he had always spoken to him with, but Sungjae was having none of it.

"Don't lie to me!" he burst out as Joy held his hand tightly. He heard a slight clatter in the distance as he looked up and saw Chorong come in with the woman Joy had called Namjoo and another woman who was already running towards the other pair that Hayoung had come in with.

Judging from the sorrowful expression that Chorong was wearing, Sungjae assumed that she already had an idea of who was on the other line.

"Don't lie to me," Sungjae said as he steadied his voice. He turned away from Chorong's eyes, hiding himself in Joy's open embrace. "I trusted you, hyung.

"You were like a brother to me, Dong Wook," he whispered. "How could you betray me?"

"I never betrayed you," Dong Wook said, his voice growing colder with every spoken word. "From the very beginning, I was using you for my own benefit."

"What did I have?" Sungjae screamed into the phone. "What could I had possible have that would make you do this?"

"The Breakthrough," Dong Wook answered simply.

"I don't even know what that is!" Sungjae yelled, causing Joy to hold him tighter.

"Of course, you don't," Dong Wook replied. "But let's start from the beginning.

"I first met you when you were working as part of the Special Forces Research Department three years ago. You were rather remarkable, albeit a bit young, but nothing you had at the time was worth having yet. It was all stuff that was easily replicable. Still, I befriended you, made time for you, and cultivated our relationship in the hope that one day it would be useful."

"Is that all I was to you?" Sungjae asked bitterly. "Another piggybank?"

"I was one of the contractors that the military had pulled in for its public relationship campaign," Dong Wook explained in a bored tone. "You were merely one of the carrots that the military had dangled in front of us. Your age was off-putting to some of the other investors, but not to me. I saw it as a sign that you had potential to grow.

"And such potential!" Dong Wook cried out, shocking Sungjae as he lost his hold on the phone. He fumbled with it as the phone fell in mid-air, accidentally activating the speakerphone function as it clattered onto the phone.

"Such potential," Dong Wook repeated as though he could taste the profits. "Once I had convinced the army to invest more resources into you, you grew. You flourished! And I was there beside you, lending you a sympathetic ear.

"And one day it paid off. I remember the day that you had stumbled upon it. The Breakthrough."

Sungjae felt Joy stiffen against him, clearly listening to Dong Wook's tale with him. He looked up and saw that her eyes had gone cloudy, as though she was remembering something from the past.

"Sooyoung, do you know what he's talking about?" Sungjae whispered, hoping that Dong Wook wouldn't be able to hear him.

But he did. "Sooyoung? Ah, Ms. Park. Is she listening too?" Dong Wook asked.

"I am," Joy answered in a flat tone.

"Now, now, Ms. Park, there's no need to be like that," Dong Wook chided her as though he was merely talking down to a child. "You're a part of this story too."