Seoul Set Up

Chapter 5

A few days later, Cheonjoon and Barrister Min-Soo went to the morgue to retrieve Choi Taewoon and Julia Choi's body as they began to prepare for the burial. Chun-Hei had stood solidly by Cheonjoon during this period and he was eternally grateful for it. Cheonjoon was a bit surprised that Chun-Hei had stood by him as much as he did; he wondered if he had deserved all Chun-Hei had been doing. He concluded that he must truly deserve it. Chun-Hei was a tough young lad who gave nothing away at all. Cheonjoon knew him to be fierce and ruthless. If he felt you deserved something, he'd give it to you. And if he felt he deserved something, he'd stop at nothing to get it. That was the kind of person that he was.

Chun-Hei felt the least he could do for his friend was to be with him during his most trying period. He owed him that much. Cheonjoon had stood by him during his most difficult times and he took it upon himself to tutor him in the courses that he found difficult. Now it was his time to be there for him. He hoped he would not be found wanting.

Cheonjoon on the other had grown fond of him. He always looked forward to his company and for the past few days, they had been doing through his father's private study together in a bid to find anything that could point to the killer of his parents. Both of them were in the study, going through some files as usual when Grace rushed in to alert him that one of their security guards was battling for his life.

"Cheonjoon, come quickly." She said as she opened the door and popped her head in.

"What happened? Is everything alright?" he asked as he dropped the book he was going through on the study table and headed for the door.

"I'm afraid not. Kwang-su is in some kind of trouble. Please be quick."

"Some kind of trouble? Come with me Chun-Hei"

"Okay," Chun-Hei dropped the document he was holding and followed him out through the door. "What's the matter with him?"

"I have no idea. I was asked to fetch Cheonjoon," Grace replied. "However I think we have to get him to the hospital soon."

Kwang-su was Choi Taewoon chief security officer for four years and was considered one of Taiwan's most trusted ally. He was in charge of providing security for the family, starting from the children to Taewoon and Julia, and the workers in the mansion. Kwang-su was known to always discharge his duty with aplomb. He was a complete no nonsense man whose number priority in the house had always remained safeguarding the lives and properties of his boss and his children. The police had questioned him as well on the fateful day that Julia and Taewoon were killed. He told them that he had been on his duty post that night and there was no footage of any unknown person or stranger gaining access to the house. Cheonjoon himself had watched all the footage from that night, but he was still convinced that something was missing. What was missing could easily have been found if there was a CCTV camera installed in Taewoon Something he was determined to find out.

Cheonjoon found the maid servants gathered in the hallway, surrounding someone whom he already knew was Kwang-su, his father's chief security officer. 'Give way!' he ordered as he made his way into their midst. Everyone obeyed immediately. There in the hallway was Kwang-su, lying almost unconscious and battling for his life. 'What happened to him?' he asked. The question was directed to no one in particular, but yet, he expected an answer.

"I have no idea," Eunseo, the eldest maid spoke. "I found him lying here some moments ago. He was clutching his throat and groaning in pain."

"Get the chauffeur; take him to the hospital right away."

Kwang-su gasped and Cheonjoon knelt beside him. Blood was dripping out of his mouth. He was gasping and struggling to say something.

"What happened to you?' Cheonjoon asked. He was about to lift his head up when Grace stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't touch him Cheonjoon!" Cheonjoon froze and turned to face her, wondering why she asked him not to touch him. "We have no idea what happened to him so we should take precaution. What if whatever is happening to him is contagious?"

Cheonjoon turned to look at Chun-Hei who was standing behind him. Chun-Hei nodded to indicate that he supported what Grace said.

"I think he's trying to say something," Cheonjoon said as he watched Kwang-su continue to gasp. He managed to lift his right hand and pointed a finger at Cheonjoon, then as quickly as the hand went up, it came down again. "What happened?"

"I think we lost him?" Eunseo replied.

"What do you mean lost him? Where's the chauffeur I sent for years ago?"

"I'm here young master," a man answered from behind.

"Really? Are you waiting for him to die before you take him to the hospital?"

"I...wasss...wait..ing for your go...ahead sir," he stammered.

"Get some gloves or whatever and take him to the hospital right away."

The chauffeur and some of the other servants carried him into a car and took him to the hospital. Cheonjoon asked that two other servants followed the Chauffeur.

"What do you think happened to him?" Cheonjoon asked Eunseo after Kwang-su had been taken to the hospital.

Eunseo was apparently confused. "To be honest young master," she began. "I'm a bit confused as I have never seen anything quite like this. But if I could take a wild guess, he was probably poisoned."

Cheonjoon was more confused than he was earlier. "Poisoned? Why would anyone poison Kwang-su? Do you think this is unconnected to the death of my parents? It's barely a month since their death."

"I can't say for certain young master. But if truly Kwang-su was poisoned then we need to be careful. Who knows who is out to get us?"

"If I discover that Kwang-su was poisoned, I would go to any length to ensure justice for him." His phone rang and he slid the answer key to the right. "Hello."

"Young master," a terse male voice replied from the other end of the phone.

"How is he?"Cheonjoon asked, eager to know what was happening.

"We lost him. The doctor pronounced him dead on arrival."

"I want an autopsy. I want an autopsy conducted on his body as soon as possible," he said and hung up and then turned to face Eunseo. "Call his family and inform them of what happened. Now is the time to be more vigilant than ever. Someone came in unnoticed and murdered my parents in cold blood and left without an iota of trace. Now the head of security has probably been poisoned to death yet we have no idea who poisoned him. If my parents and now the head of security can be killed so easily, then tell me who is safe in this house?"

Eunseo was quiet, seemingly considering what the young lad had said. "I thought your parents committed suicide."

Apparently not. Whoever killed them only used suicide as a smokescreen to cover up his tracks. The police probably know this but they have been compromised.

"Hmmm. That's a new angle."

"I am going to find who killed my parents and when I do, I'll cut his or her head and feed it to the vultures. Whoever this killer is means business and he would probably stop at nothing until we're all wiped out."

"But there has been nothing to suggest that a stranger gained unlawful access into the man..."

"Exactly my point," Cheonjoon interrupted. "The person who carried out the killings is not an outsider. We have been compromised from the inside. The killer lives among us."

Eunseo sighed in deep thoughts. He trusted Cheonjoon's guts too much to doubt him. He didn't want to believe him, but he knew that the young master had had it all figured out. He was right. The killer lives among them. And who knows who his or her next target is? The thoughts sent cold chillers of fear down her entire body.