Ki Dae Un went to India. Before leaving, he earnestly warned Han Ga Eul to be careful and not to go anywhere near the office.

This was because Oh Myeong Se had been released after a review of his detention. They said there was no concern about destruction of evidence or flight. Thanks to this, Oh Myeong Se was able to stand trial without detention. It also meant he had the opportunity to commit crimes.

When Han Ga Eul said it wasn’t like they were mortal enemies, and that he wouldn’t show up again after causing such a scene, Ki Dae Un gave a long lecture. In short, he said Oh Myeong Se was dangerous and one couldn’t be too careful.

Then Ki Dae Un held out a necklace. It was the first time Han Ga Eul had received a necklace from a man, but she felt no romantic sentiment at all. The necklace itself already looked that way. Clearly for self-defense.

Ki Dae Un watched her put it on and told her to press the button on the necklace when in danger.

He said pressing the red button would make a loud noise to attract people’s attention, while the blue button would send a signal revealing Han Ga Eul’s location.

‘What happens if I press both?’

Han Ga Eul thought the boss would be annoyed if she asked that, but unexpectedly, he kindly explained that pressing both would send a signal and make noise.

Han Ga Eul thought Oh Myeong Se must be quite something. To make the prickly boss so kind.

Ki Dae Un said about fifty times that she must always keep the necklace on her body. Though he didn’t say who would be receiving the tracking device’s signal.

Ki Dae Un also gave Han Ga Eul a stun gun and defensive spray, explaining in detail how to use them.

Tired of listening to instructions on using self-defense items, Han Ga Eul cautiously asked if it wouldn’t be better if she just didn’t leave her room. Ki Dae Un told her to keep those self-defense items with her and still not leave her room.

The time Ki Dae Un was in India was like a long-awaited vacation for Han Ga Eul.

Not having rested for a long time, Han Ga Eul indulged in laziness during that period. She lounged around at home all day, eating delicious food her grandmother made.

Still, she didn’t skip going to Chinese conversation class early in the morning. She felt she should learn a few foreign languages in preparation for working at Pyeongan Group.

It was summer, so it was completely bright after 6 o’clock, and there were quite a few people out, so she thought there was no danger.

Was that why? Han Ga Eul absently passed by a van parked on her way to the subway station.

* * *

At that time, Ki Dae Un received a phone call.

− Boss!

It was the part-time worker at the convenience store across from the office. But his voice sounded strange. He seemed to be sobbing, or his voice was hoarse.

− There’s a fire at the convenience store! Someone set fire to the store and ran away! I think it’s the guys you mentioned!

“Is that so? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Ki Dae Un typed on his laptop keyboard with the hand not holding his phone.

He was sending a signal to the security team waiting for his instructions that Oh Myeong Se had started to move. Now an alert saying ‘Fire at Convenience Store 1’ would appear on their phones.

− The fire department is here putting out the fire now. I inhaled some smoke while trying to put out the fire, but I’m not hurt. The flames were too fierce so I escaped through the back door. Two guys with masks suddenly appeared, poured oil at the entrance, and set it on fire.

“How about other places? Did you contact the other stores?”

Ki Dae Un thought the possibility of Oh Myeong Se attacking convenience stores was low, but he had still told the convenience store staff emergency procedures just in case.

One of them was to warn other convenience stores when an emergency occurred. Then the other part-timers would close the stores and evacuate.

− The other places seem fine. The guys haven’t shown up yet. But we evacuated everyone just in case.

“There was no one else in the building, right?”

− No, it wasn’t time to open the store yet so there was no one, but the fire spread to the cafe. The second floor wall is scorched. The fire didn’t spread to the second floor, but there will probably be damage from the water the fire trucks sprayed.

“I see, you did well. I’m glad you’re not hurt. But go to the hospital right away. You inhaled smoke, so your respiratory system might be damaged. I’ll send someone now, so go with them and get admitted immediately.”

After hanging up, Ki Dae Un called his right-hand man Oh Jong Taek.

− Yes, boss.

“Where is Oh Myeong Se now?”

− He’s at the hotel. He came out of the nightclub at dawn and went into his room, and hasn’t come out since.

“Is that so? Isn’t that strange? The guys just set fire to my convenience store, but you’re saying Oh Myeong Se hasn’t left his hotel room? There were two guys who set the fire. There might have been one more in the driver’s seat, so it could have been three. But Oh Myeong Se wasn’t among them?”

− I’ll check again. We sent the security team to Convenience Store 1, so they should arrive soon.

“Tell them to search the area thoroughly because the guys might still be nearby. They’re reckless enough to set fire to a convenience store with people inside. We need to catch them quickly before they do something else. Cooperate with the police since they’ll have been dispatched to the fire scene.”

Ki Dae Un added instructions to take the part-timer to the hospital, then hung up.

He had expected Oh Myeong Se to seek greater revenge when released, given his personality, but he didn’t think he’d set fire to a convenience store. With an innocent part-timer inside.

Crazy bastard! He’s out of his mind. He was at the nightclub last night, so was he drunk, or on drugs?

Stupid bastard! He must have thought he’d never get caught. That’s why he committed such an excessive crime.

Ki Dae Un clenched his fist. He wanted to throw that fist at Oh Myeong Se, who was probably laughing, believing his alibi was solid.

Meanwhile, his gaze never left the laptop monitor. Two dots were blinking at one point on the monitor. The dots weren’t moving.

“She’ll be late again. Old habits die hard.”

Ki Dae Un smirked and looked away from the monitor. If Jung Se Hyun saw, he would have sneered, asking if he was that happy just looking at dots on a monitor.

The two dots indicated the locations of Han Ga Eul and her bodyguard. The tracking app planted in Han Ga Eul and the bodyguard’s phones was working properly.

As he looked away from the monitor, Ki Dae Un quickly checked it again. The lack of movement from Han Ga Eul and the bodyguard was ominous. Ki Dae Un looked at his watch. It was strange. She was unusually late for class. Did she decide to skip class today?

Ki Dae Un called Han Ga Eul. He waited until the message saying the customer couldn’t answer the phone right now, but Han Ga Eul didn’t answer.

Ki Dae Un called Han Ga Eul’s grandmother.

− Yes, sir. Aren’t you in India? What brings you to call so early in the morning?

“Hello, grandmother. I’m sorry for calling so early. I suddenly need some documents, so I need to talk to Han Ga Eul, but she’s not answering her phone.”

− Ah, yes. Han Ga Eul is in class now so she can’t answer the phone. She went to Chinese language school.

Ki Dae Un’s blood ran cold. His heart started pounding. He hung up and immediately called again. There was no time to think.

“Ki Taek, it seems something has happened to Han Ga Eul. Send someone to Han Ga Eul and the bodyguard’s signal location to check what’s going on. What about Oh Myeong Se? Are you sure Oh Myeong Se is in his hotel room?

− I sent guys to check, so we’ll hear back soon.

“Where are the other two guys now? The other two who attacked my office with Oh Myeong Se!”

− Those two haven’t left their homes since. They haven’t met Oh Myeong Se since getting out of detention.

“Can we trust the team monitoring those two? Is there no way they could have slipped past the surveillance team?”

Ki Dae Un’s words were close to shouts, but he didn’t even realize he was yelling.

If something happened to Han Ga Eul… He didn’t want to think about it.

It was all to completely remove Oh Myeong Se from Han Ga Eul’s life. He had made plans and checked them multiple times.

He poured in manpower and money to avoid creating even the smallest loophole. But now Han Ga Eul’s tracking signal was fixed in one location!

Just then, Ki Dae Un suddenly felt he was missing something. He thought for a moment while holding his phone, then said:

“Ki Taek, tell the security team sent to the convenience store to come back. It’s bait. To lure our security team there. Send just one person to show the convenience store part-timer the video of my office attack and ask if the arsonist is the same guy who attacked the office.”

− Understood.

“And you check right now if any cars left the hotel after Oh Myeong Se entered, and run checks on all those cars. Jung Se Hyun will help you.”

Ki Dae Un hung up after saying his piece. He immediately made another call. This time to Oh Kyu Baek, chairman of Pyeongan Group. Ki Dae Un skipped greetings with Oh Kyu Baek.

“Chairman, it seems Han Ga Eul has been kidnapped. Thanks to you pulling strings to get him released, Oh Myeong Se is really causing trouble. He seems determined to spend the rest of his life in prison.”

− W-What did you say?

“I don’t have time for a long explanation now. If you want to reduce Oh Myeong Se’s sentence even a little, contact Mido Hotel Gangnam Branch and tell them to cooperate with my work unconditionally. If the hotel is even slightly uncooperative, I’ll consider it as you becoming my enemy. Call them right now. Time is of the essence.”

Ki Dae Un hung up without waiting for a reply. He had no time to listen to Oh Kyu Baek’s response. He knew how arrogant his attitude was. But he thought that was nothing compared to the old man who protected a bastard like Oh Myeong Se.

After hanging up, Ki Dae Un immediately went to Oh Myeong Se’s hotel room. Ki Dae Un, who was thought to have gone to India, had actually been staking out at Pyeongan Group’s subsidiary Mido Hotel Gangnam Branch for several days.

Because that was Oh Myeong Se’s base. Everyone who knew, knew that Oh Myeong Se’s routine was to play at the underground nightclub until dawn, then return to his room on the top floor.

On his way to Oh Myeong Se’s room, Ki Dae Un called the hotel lobby and said that Oh Myeong Se, Chairman Oh Kyu Baek’s grandson, had sent a text hinting at suicide and wasn’t responding, so he needed to enter Oh Myeong Se’s room and to bring a keycard.

He believed the staff would cooperate if they had received a call from Chairman Oh.

Security guards, presumably sent by Ki Taek, were standing in front of Oh Myeong Se’s room.

“It seems no one is inside. There’s no response when we knock. We made a commotion outside, but there’s no sign of movement.”

Ki Dae Un waited for the hotel staff, then used the keycard they brought to open Oh Myeong Se’s room door and went inside. As he feared, Oh Myeong Se wasn’t in the room.

Ki Dae Un clenched his fist tightly. His clenched fist trembled.

‘Oh Myeong Se, if you touch even a hair on Han Ga Eul’s head, you’ll die by my hand.’