Holy Idol [EN]: Chapter 876

◈ 876. Shin Jo-woon Side Story (1)

On the thirteenth anniversary of that child’s death, he decided to present his enemy at the memorial service.

* * *

Today was the last day for this uniform. And today was a day to be extra careful. Shin Jo-woon adjusted his school uniform tie and headed for the living room.

“Boo!”

Before he even reached the living room, his mother jumped out from behind the stairs, her voice bright.

Shin Jo-woon already knew she was there, but he pretended to be surprised, stepping back with a laugh.

“You startled me.”

His mother burst into a proud laugh at his reaction, but it was fleeting. Her eyes welled up as she stared at Shin Jo-woon’s school uniform.

“Time really flies. It feels like just yesterday you started school, and now it’s already graduation.”

“Why are you crying?”

Shin Jo-woon took out a handkerchief and handed it to his mother.

“You’ve grown up so much. I’m proud, but also sad.”

“I still live here, though. Are you trying to kick me out already?”

Shin Jo-woon’s joke made his mother laugh.

He watched her take the handkerchief and wipe her eyes, then noticed a small gift box in her other hand.

It seemed to be his graduation gift—a gift he was supposed to receive when he got into the university he aimed for as the student representative.

But before Shin Jo-woon could ask about the gift, his father came out of the master bedroom and asked,

“Where’s Tae-ri?”

Shin Jo-woon swallowed his question and turned to his father, answering,

“She’ll probably come to school, right?”

It was a natural answer for him, but his father looked puzzled and asked again.

“No, it’s graduation day. Aren’t you two going together?”

Shin Jo-woon burst into a hearty laugh.

“Why would you think we’d go to graduation together?”

“Aren’t you two dating now?”

“?”

When Shin Jo-woon made a face as if he’d never heard of such a thing, his father added, as if he were certain, “You’re going to the same university, aren’t you?”

“Tae-ri wouldn’t like hearing that.”

Shin Jo-woon laughed at his father’s misunderstanding, but his mother seemed to share the same thought, as she also asked in surprise.

“Weren’t you two deliberately going to the same university?”

“Of course not. It just happened to overlap while aiming for the best school.”

Shin Jo-woon drew a firm line, and his mother revealed a disappointed expression without hiding it.

“I like Tae-ri.”

“Tae-ri likes you too, Mom.”

“Really?”

“But she doesn’t like me.”

His mother, who had been pleased, shook her head at Shin Jo-woon’s added joke. When Shin Jo-woon pointed at the box and laughed, she realized and finally handed over the gift box she had been holding all along.

“Oh, right, take this. Congratulations on graduating.”

He had been waiting for it anyway. Shin Jo-woon unwrapped the gift on the spot and opened the box.

Inside were three small card keys, neatly placed. It was definitely the keys to the place he had been asking his parents for.

“Thank you.”

Unless there were any other instructions, the location would be where he had asked.

Pleased, Shin Jo-woon smiled brighter than usual.

His father patted him on the shoulder and warned.

“I’m giving it to you because you’re not the type to cause trouble. But if you get caught doing drugs or growing them in there, I’m confiscating it immediately.”

While his father was giving a stern warning, Shin Jo-woon hugged his mother and walked towards the front door.

“You know what time the graduation ceremony is, right? Don’t be late.”

His mother poked his father, who kept trying to nag, in the side and worried as she opened the front door herself.

“I know. But aren’t you leaving too early? Do you think the school gates will be open if you go now?”

“I’m the graduation representative. I have a lot to prepare.”

Shin Jo-woon greeted his parents once more, passed through the garden, and went outside the front gate of the house.

A black car, which he often used for commuting during his school days, was waiting in front of the gate.

The driver, who was standing next to the car, opened the back door as Shin Jo-woon approached, and said with a hint of sadness.

“I guess you’ll be driving yourself when you go to university? This might be the last time.”

However, his last commute with Shin Jo-woon had already ended before this.

Shin Jo-woon shook his head without getting into the car.

“I’ll walk today. It’s the last day. I want to walk.”

“That’s good too. Be careful going.”

As the driver smiled and closed the door, Shin Jo-woon greeted him and slowly started walking down the road he would normally have taken by car.

The driver got into the driver’s seat alone to park the car back in the garage.

However, as soon as he was out of the driver’s sight, Shin Jo-woon turned away from the direction he was heading. The direction he was heading was the opposite of the school.

The road was still dark because the sun hadn’t fully risen, but Shin Jo-woon had already memorized the entire map of this area in his head.

He strode along the edge of the road.

The place he arrived at was an area where new luxury villas were being built, with construction going on everywhere, tearing down and building up buildings.

Naturally, this place was almost deserted in the early morning hours.

Shin Jo-woon stood in front of the crosswalk in that desolate space and looked across the street.

Across the street, a man was bobbing his head alone in the quiet street, wearing earphones.

When the traffic light turned green, Shin Jo-woon stepped aside instead of crossing the street.

And the moment the man crossed the crosswalk and entered the alley, Shin Jo-woon naturally approached him, took out his earphones, and asked.

“Mr. Joo Tae-yeol?”

The man, whose earphones had been snatched, frowned and turned to look at Shin Jo-woon, then frowned even more when he recognized his face.

He looked puzzled as to how Shin Jo-woon, whom he had never met before, knew his name.

“Who are you?”

“Do you happen to know Nakru?”

At Shin Jo-woon’s question, the man’s furrowed brow immediately smoothed out and his eyes widened.

That expression was the answer. Shin Jo-woon struck his head hard with a piece of concrete he was holding.

The man dropped his phone and collapsed.

“Answer me later.”

But just as Shin Jo-woon was about to check on the man,

A voice saying, ‘Hello? Hello?’ was heard from the earphones he had taken from the man’s ear.

The man wasn’t listening to music, but was on a call.

This was unexpected. Shin Jo-woon bent down and looked at the phone screen.

Team Leader.

That’s what was written on the screen along with the phone number.

Shin Jo-woon thought for a moment, then asked, holding the earphones slightly away from his ear.

“Nakru Team Leader?”

A sharp question came back from the other side of the phone.

[Who is this? Where’s Joo Tae-yeol?]

The person on the other end of the line seemed to have noticed something unusual when the person he was talking to suddenly changed to someone else’s voice.

The corners of Shin Jo-woon’s lips went up. So the person on the phone was also from Nakru [an organization or group].

He looked down at the unconscious man and smiled.

“Next time… I’ll make sure to visit you properly and say hello.”

He grabbed the man’s hand and pressed the end call button.

The voice saying, ‘Hello? Hello!’ was cut off in an instant.

Shin Jo-woon memorized the team leader’s phone number and straightened his back.

* * *

Unfortunately, the first guest at the house his parents had gifted him was his enemy.

Shin Jo-woon opened the front door and dragged the unconscious man into the house.

As he entered the living room, he saw a large banner on the wall that read, ‘Congratulations on graduating!’

“…….”

Shin Jo-woon looked back and forth between the banner and the surrounding gaudy balloons, then went to the kitchen and brought a dining table chair.

The unconscious man didn’t wake up until he was forcibly lifted up and tied tightly to the chair.

After finishing the work and looking at the wall clock, he was relieved that it was within the calculated time. He could arrive at school in time for the graduation ceremony even if he walked from now on.

Shin Jo-woon decided to just leave the banner as it was. It was too big.

He had plenty of time now, but it seemed like it would exceed the planned time if he took it off alone.

Shin Jo-woon checked one more time to make sure the man was properly tied up, then left his new home.

* * *

“It’s Jo-woon.”

“Jo-woon! Hi!”

As Shin Jo-woon entered the classroom, the students, who were talking among themselves, turned their heads and greeted him.

Shin Jo-woon greeted each of them as he walked to his seat.

As soon as he pulled out his chair and sat down, Jang Tae-ri stopped talking to another friend and approached him naturally.

“Hey, I heard you went out early in the morning. Why are you arriving now?”

However, Jang Tae-ri’s expression, who had approached with a smile, immediately changed to a frown as soon as she sat in front of Shin Jo-woon’s seat.

Shin Jo-woon deliberately made eye contact and teased her.

“Why are you staring like that? Does it annoy you to see me again?”

However, Jang Tae-ri wasn’t frowning because she was joking.

“You have blood on your cheek. Are you hurt?”

She muttered, pointing to Shin Jo-woon’s left cheek.

Shin Jo-woon muttered, “Ah, I see.” He didn’t know because there was no mirror in his new house. Did it get on him from that guy?

“Yeah. I’m hurt.”

But he calmly lied and leaned his face towards Jang Tae-ri, instead asking back.

“Am I hurt badly?”

“I can’t tell because of the blood. I think I need to wipe off the blood first to see. Can I just wipe it off? Why don’t you go to the infirmary?”

“I don’t think I have time to go all the way there.”

“Don’t you have a handkerchief?”

“I gave it to my mother, because she was crying.”

Jang Tae-ri patted her front pocket.

“But I don’t have a handkerchief.”

Jang Tae-ri looked at the back of the classroom to get some tissue.

However, the tissue dispenser at the back of the classroom was sparsely empty, as if the person in charge hadn’t replenished it before the graduation ceremony.

At that time, a female student sitting in the seat next to Shin Jo-woon across the aisle offered her handkerchief.

“Do you want to use this?”

Jang Tae-ri took the handkerchief and carefully dabbed Shin Jo-woon’s cheek.

“How did you get hurt?”

“Ouch. Be gentle.”

Shin Jo-woon made a fuss instead of answering.

At his feigned pain, the female student who handed over the handkerchief watched anxiously from the side and became tearful.

“Jo-woon seems to be hurt badly. What should I do?”

“No. I don’t think this is his blood.”

However, Jang Tae-ri wasn’t fooled by Shin Jo-woon’s pretense.

As Jang Tae-ri, who had wiped off most of the blood, tried to take a closer look at his bloodied cheek, Shin Jo-woon quickly said, “Thank you,” and snatched the handkerchief.

Then, he smiled brightly at the female student next to him and waved the handkerchief.

“Thank you. I’ll wash the handkerchief and return it to you.”

Returning the handkerchief after washing it meant that he would contact her even after graduation. The female student’s face brightened.

“Really?!”

Jang Tae-ri’s eyes narrowed as she watched the scene. Shin Jo-woon, I think he deliberately avoided talking about the injury just now.

* * *

While moving to the auditorium for the graduation ceremony, Jang Tae-ri couldn’t stand it and grabbed Shin Jo-woon’s arm.

“Hey, Shin Jo-woon. You deliberately changed the subject earlier, didn’t you?”

Shin Jo-woon continued walking with his arm grabbed, pretending not to know and asking back.

“What?”

“Wow. Look at him changing the subject.”

“Who are you talking to? Jang Tae-ri, is there anyone next to me besides you?”

Shin Jo-woon kept pretending not to know. But Jang Tae-ri hadn’t known Shin Jo-woon for just a year or two.

“That blood. Where did it come from?”

When she didn’t fall for it and asked again, Shin Jo-woon, who had been walking well, suddenly stopped.

But Shin Jo-woon’s expression was strange. The smiling and joking look he had been wearing all along was gone, and he had become serious in an instant.

Jang Tae-ri felt even more worried.

“Did you perhaps… get into a fight with someone?”

The fact that he went out early in the morning and returned to school after a few hours, and the fact that there was blood on his face, it didn’t seem right.

But Shin Jo-woon’s answer to that wasn’t a yes or no.

“If… I found the culprit who killed ‘that child,’ then what would you do? Would you take revenge?”