Contract Marriage with a Male Friend - Chapter 60

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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#60

The staff members who arrived at the site divided their tasks with practiced efficiency.
An Soo Yi took charge of assessing the on-site situation directly and coordinating the victims’ needs.
Once assigned her district, An Soo Yi made her way to where Bong Sung Tae was waiting before beginning her work in earnest.
“Teacher!”
The moment Bong Sung Tae saw An Soo Yi, he rushed toward her with delight.
“Teacher Bong, I hope you’ve been well?”
“Of course I have! Thanks to you, I’m doing wonderfully. My goodness, congratulations on the job change! Moving to a major corporation—I always knew you’d succeed! Of course, Sun Ham Sang Jo was good too.”
Bong Sung Tae had no idea that An Soo Yi had become family to the Kangho Group.
He only knew she had transferred to a position with Kangho Group’s corporate outreach team.
This place was Bong Sung Tae’s father’s hometown—once a quiet, lifeless countryside village where only the elderly gathered.
But since Bong Sung Tae settled here, the entire neighborhood had transformed beyond recognition into a bright and vibrant place.
It was all the fruit of his efforts, traveling far and wide to care for the elderly with warmth and dedication.
In particular, because he had thoughtfully beautified the funeral service spaces and village entrance—areas typically shunned as undesirable or taboo—they had become known as a beautiful memorial park among nearby residents, with people now visiting intentionally.
“It’s all because of you, teacher. You believed in me back then and supported me without hesitation.”
Whenever Bong Sung Tae spoke of this, his eyes would invariably grow red and moist.
“If I hadn’t met you that day, I’d still be drifting through the bottom like garbage.”
Bong Sung Tae swallowed the emotion welling up in his throat and soon steadied his voice with determination.
“I heard that your job as team leader involves coordinating the residents’ opinions. It would be good to get a feel for the situation first, so would you like to walk around the village with me?”
“That sounds good. Thank you for thinking of that.”
Bong Sung Tae and An Soo Yi slowly walked through the village, surveying the site.
Since it wasn’t a large village, walking around was manageable.
“That elderly person over there lives alone. The fire hit them hardest—they lost their home entirely.”
“I see.”
“The next house has someone who has mobility issues. They’re currently at a temporary shelter.”
“We should prioritize helping them then.”
The two exchanged words about the work at hand.
When they reached a quiet open space with no one around, Bong Sung Tae cautiously broached the subject.
“Teacher, I…”
“Yes, is there something you wanted to tell me?”
“An acquaintance of mine came to see me recently. He’s someone I used to know when we were gambling together, and after seeing how I’m living an honest life now thanks to you, he said he wants to clean up his act and live straight too.”
An Soo Yi was about to say that was wonderful.
“But then he said something rather odd.”
“Something odd?”
“He said there’s a man who cries his heart out whenever he gets drunk, calling out ‘Soo Yi, Soo Yi…'”
An Soo Yi’s footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Her entire body froze as if her heart had stopped beating.
“Is that… is that really true?”
Her voice trembled terribly.
“Yes. When you were helping me settle, teacher, you mentioned something in passing about your father. It stayed with me ever since. So I asked friends from that world to keep an eye out for anyone matching a similar description…”
Back when she was helping Bong Sung Tae stand on his own feet, she had once opened up to him about her father, whom she had parted with after sharing various confidences.

“My father might be in a House too. Ever since the company went bankrupt when I was young, he’s been drifting through gambling dens.”
“Oh my…”
“I just want to know if he’s alive or dead—at the very least, that much. I suppose that’s why I worried about Teacher Bong even more.”

Bong Sung Tae, who had listened carefully to his benefactor’s words, had not forgotten that conversation.
Back when he was in the House, he had such a remarkable talent for intelligence gathering and eavesdropping that he was known as the “Intelligence Operative”—a man who could see through most information.
“I can’t quite remember his name, but I believe it was An. He’s someone who moves around so unpredictably that I couldn’t find out more details.”
“…I see.”
“And from what I’ve heard, there are many people in similar circumstances to him.”
An Soo Yi, sensing Bong Sung Tae’s hesitation, spoke gently to reassure him.
“It’s all right, Bong. Please speak freely if you have something to tell me.”
“Since you put it that way… the thing is, Dok Go Hyung Jun, the former Kangho Faction leader and current Kangho Group chairman, was apparently involved.”
At the mention of this unexpected figure, An Soo Yi’s entire body went rigid.
Yet on the surface, she appeared merely to be listening intently, so Bong Sung Tae continued, watching her carefully.
“That old man intentionally lured people who owned valuable real estate or profitable companies—properties he had already marked—into gambling and vice.”
“…”
“I heard there are countless people whose families were destroyed by this dirty scheme. Among those drifting through the Houses, many fled after forming factions with others who suffered at that old man’s hands and attempted revenge.”
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
An Soo Yi’s heartbeat grew violent, threatening to tear through her skin.
Her mind went pale and blank.
She found herself unable to respond at all.
She seemed to have forgotten even how to blink, how to breathe.
Then, suddenly, the desperate voice of her father—buried deep in the recesses of her memory—echoed through her mind.

“Your dad was foolish enough to fall for it. Yoon and Kim—they were both played by that man’s scheming. I should never have touched it in the first place. I shouldn’t have believed it was just a simple betting game…”

Every time he came home, her father would weep, drunk on alcohol.
He would speak of how everyone around them had scattered to the winds.
He would wonder if he should be grateful that his family had broken apart together, not just his alone in this world.
The image of her father—laughing like a madman before breaking into sobs—came back to her vividly.
“Teacher Bong… is there any way you could look into that matter more thoroughly? Cost doesn’t matter—I’ll cover whatever you need.”
“My goodness, teacher! What are you saying, offering payment like that? You’re asking, and that’s reason enough. If I need to, I’d throw myself into the depths of hell itself to find out.”
An Soo Yi forced a smile, suppressing the turmoil in her chest.
But her heart was already plummeting into a fathomless abyss.
Endlessly, for a very long time.

***

When An Soo Yi returned home, she sat blankly before her vanity for some time.
Without changing clothes or eating, even after dismissing the household staff, she remained still for a long while.
When she finally came to her senses, the sun had already begun to set.
[Looks like I’ll be getting in at dawn again. Go to sleep first, honey. I miss you.]
When did this come?
In the darkness of her room, An Soo Yi stared blankly at the warm message from Bom Jin on her phone screen, and her eyes grew hot with unshed tears.
She wrapped her trembling hands around her face.
“Hah…”
Bong Sung Tae’s words kept circling through her mind.
If it were true.
If her grandfather’s and father’s disappearances really were connected…
‘What am I supposed to do?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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