Structural Damage

Chapter 18 - Heart to Heart

Warning : 🍋🍋🍋🍋🍋

Cheol Gang was sitting in a small apartment he rented in Seoul. It wasn't fancy, in fact, it was barely furnished. He just had the necessities: a couch, a kitchen table, a drafting table, a few bar stools, and a bed. The kitchen table was pushed against the large picture window, providing the perfect perch for the telescope and camera equipment that was used to spy on the 80th-floor penthouse across the river.

He kept the equipment set up at all times. He wanted to be ready at a moment's notice to have eyes on Se Ri when she was home. But after his initial visit with Special Agent Kim, knowing he was being watched, he felt it was a good idea to be a little more discreet. It would not be in his best interest for that agent to drop by for a visit and see what he was up to. No, that was not an additional investigation that he wanted to invite upon himself.

This apartment did not seem cosy or homey. Instead, it was stark and cold. Since the divorce, the idea of a warm and cosy home was foreign to Cheol Gang. He had allowed bitterness, jealousy, anger, and hatred to keep him warm for too long now. His place in Busan held his personal belongings, the pieces of his past, but it wasn't home either. The only place that had pictures, his office in Busan, and that was so he could show off his wife. In the office, it was to give him status. He was married to Yoon Se Ri. He never told anyone he was divorced, he still wore his wedding ring, for him. It was an illusion.

It didn't bother him as much that the camera and telescope were put away, Se Ri had not been home in the past few weeks. The security guard in her building had been keeping him updated that her assistant had been coming and going, but no sign of Se Ri. Cheol Gang figured that it meant Se Ri was sleeping in the office, she was probably working too hard. He hated that he couldn't have eyes on her there. Sure enough, he watched the groundbreaking for her new building on TV and saw her collapse. She would be rushed to the hospital, and there would be no way he could get in to see her. He did the only thing he knew to do. He sent flowers. A large bouquet of pink and white peonies. There was no need to send a card, these were the flowers he always sent her, it was his thing.

He was lost in his thoughts of Se Ri when there was a loud knock at the door. He jumped, realizing it was either Kim Yang Eun's boys coming to give him a job, or it was the NIS. Either way, he didn't want to answer the door. Two more loud knocks, he realized they weren't going away, Cheol Gang finally relented and opened the door.

"Was wondering how long it was gonna take for you to open the door," Special Agent Kim said as he pushed past Cheol Gang and entered his apartment. He stopped in the middle of the spacious living room, placing his hands on his hips and surveyed the surroundings, "All the money you have going in and out of your bank account and you live like a homeless man, unbelievable."

Cheol Gang just stared at him, trying to reconcile the words he just spoke. "Excuse me? What are you doing here, Agent Kim? And by the way, I don't think I invited you to come in," he was a bit indignant.

"Let's get something straight, Cheol Gang-ssi. I'm the NIS, and you're a low life under investigation for criminal activity, I don't need a damn invitation to come in," He turned around, never moving his hands from his hips, his eyes practically lasering through Cheol Gang.

"Fine, what do you want?"

Agent Kim walked over to the kitchen table, pulling out one of the chairs and taking a seat. He looked out the window, taking in the view of the river and of the city below, "One hell of a view you have here, tell me, exactly how do you afford this place as well as your place in Busan?"

"I'm an architect. I make good money. Besides, as you said, I live like a homeless person. I'm not into material things. I don't spend a lot of money on stuff."