A Contracted Gangster Who Has to Die to Survive

I knew this would happen.

I had been feeling off for a while, shivering and achy—it turned out I had caught a nasty cold.

“Are you feeling any better, sir?”

Through my fever-blurred vision, I saw the housekeeper’s concerned face.

I mumbled something about feeling “a little better” and pulled the blanket back over my head.

“I made some porridge for you. Let me know if you need anything. Maybe you should see a doctor…”

Even the softest noises felt like they were rattling inside my head. The chills that had started in the car must have been the early signs of this fever.

“I’ll be fine. I just need some rest,” I said, waving a hand weakly before slumping back down.

Since then, I had barely eaten, my stomach churning constantly. I drifted in and out of sleep, unable to touch the food the housekeeper had so kindly prepared.

It must have been because I was sick and vulnerable, but for the first time since I’d ended up in this body, I dreamt about my family.

When I woke again, it was late at night.

Lying in the dark, I struggled to sit up. My body was drenched in sweat, and my head felt heavy, like it was stuffed with damp cotton.

At this rate, I thought, if I stayed sick and neglected for a few more days, maybe I could finally die as I’d wanted.

I needed water.

My parched tongue scraped against the roof of my mouth as I climbed out of bed. Wanting water was a good sign—at least I wasn’t as bad as before.

But just as I took a few steps, the phone on the table started to ring.

It was the first time the phone had gone off since I’d gotten it. The only people who had this number were Taejoon, Secretary Kim, and others in the organization.

I picked up the phone without checking the caller ID and answered.

“…Hello?”

My voice was hoarse, like I’d swallowed a ball of dust. As I cleared my throat with a cough, the other person on the line stayed silent.

“Yes, hello? Please speak,” I said, still raspy.

Even after I spoke, there was silence. Did they call the wrong number? Or maybe my ruined voice had startled them?

I glanced at the screen to check the caller ID.

“Oh.”

Restricted number.

The fog in my mind cleared instantly.

There were only a few people who would call from a restricted number.

The police.

Rubbing my dry lips with my fingers, I raised the phone to my ear just as a rough voice came through.

“Why have you been unreachable?”

I froze, my eyes widening as I glanced around the room.

No one’s here, right?

As expected, it was Team Leader Baek from the special police unit. He was the one who had confirmed my presence at on the day I first ended up in this body.

If anyone in Taejoon’s house overheard me talking to the police, the consequences would be unthinkable.

That bastard Baek. Even in , his character had been notorious for having zero consideration for Hyun Woo Kyung. And apparently, his personality hadn’t changed.

Sure, to them, Hyun Woo Kyung was just a pawn to use. But poor Woo Kyung trusted them implicitly.

Unlike him, I wasn’t about to fall for their tricks.

“Are you listening to me?” Baek’s voice snapped through the line.

I wasn’t actually Hyun Woo Kyung, so I had no reason to follow Baek’s orders. I had no intention of getting entangled with the police until the day I could die peacefully.

“You’ve got the wrong number.”

Baek immediately lost his temper.

“What? Hey!”

“I’m hanging up now.”

Before he could yell more, I pulled the phone away. His voice still rang out loudly from the receiver, shouting my name. I pressed my fingers against the speaker, trying to muffle the noise.

Why did he have to be so loud?

“Lieutenant Hyun Woo Kyung!”

Up until now, I had completely ignored anything related to the police. I didn’t feel like a cop, nor did I have the energy to pretend to be one.

Staring at the phone, I sighed and reluctantly brought it back to my ear.

“Listen, mister—”

“Mister?” Baek sputtered in disbelief.

“Is this some kind of scam? A new type of voice phishing? It’s pretty creative, I’ll give you that,” I said, feigning ignorance.

“This isn’t funny. You’re not even in a situation where you can pretend you don’t know. We’ve already confirmed Taejoon is in Mapo. Stop with the act, and prepare to write a report on your disappearance over the past few weeks.”

“Who’s Taejoon?”

The silence on the other end was palpable, and I could almost feel him pausing in disbelief.

“You hit your head in that accident, didn’t you? But maybe you didn’t just get injured—you’ve lost your mind. Snap out of it, Hyun Woo Kyung.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m hanging up now.”

As soon as I finished speaking, I ended the call.

I’d thought not sharing my new number would keep them from contacting me, but it seemed they could track it down whenever they wanted.

I trudged to the kitchen, filled a glass with water, and gulped it down. Finally, the burning thirst eased, and my mind felt a bit clearer.

But the phone kept ringing incessantly.

How annoying. Maybe I should just turn it off.

As I held down the power button, a new message popped up, as if someone was watching me.

Restricted number.

If you turn off your phone, I’ll show up at your front door right now.

I almost dropped the phone in shock.

“Damn it.”

The thought of someone showing up at the front door—Team Leader Baek, no less—was terrifying, even if it was just a bluff.

Reluctantly, I moved my finger away from the power button and answered the call.

“Yes,” I said.

“What the hell are you doing?” Baek’s voice snapped through the line.

Team Leader Baek was someone I needed to tread very carefully around. He was not on my side—none of them were.

If they somehow exposed that I was connected to the police, my peaceful and elegant plan to die would be completely ruined. I hated being sick, despised the idea of being tortured, and loathed the thought of being exposed even more than dying itself.

“I told you, you’ve got the wrong number,” I replied curtly.

“Cut the crap, it’s you, Hyun Woo Kyung!”

I had never been able to watch thrillers or horror movies—I couldn’t stand the suspense of waiting for a character to get caught. And now I was living that nightmare myself.

If I couldn’t sever ties with the police entirely, maybe I could survive by playing dumb, avoiding them, and pretending I didn’t know anything.

“Yeah, sure, it’s me. But do you know how many Hyun Woo Kyung’s there are in Korea?”

“Do I sound like I’m joking to you?”

I took a deep breath and rubbed my feverish, clammy forehead, trying to figure out my next move. Should I hang up again? What would happen if I did?

On the other end of the line, I could hear Baek breathing steadily and tapping his fingers on a desk.

“Your father’s gotten himself into trouble again.”

“What?”

“Fifteen counts of fraud, illegal gambling, and loan shark debts. He’s running around bragging about being the father of a cop, stirring up trouble everywhere.”

The mention of “father” left me completely bewildered.

“My father? I have a father?”

A father? That was news to me. Baek laughed in disbelief at my reaction.

“Your acting’s improved.”

“I don’t have a father,” I said firmly.

The original story didn’t delve into Hyun Woo Kyung’s family background, but apparently, he had people to protect after all.

“You think disowning him makes him disappear? Blood ties don’t just vanish. Gangsters are out hunting for your dad right now. Should we just let them have him?”

I couldn’t tell who the real gangster was anymore—Baek was doing a pretty convincing job. From this conversation alone, he sounded more like a mob boss than the actual gangsters.

“You already lost your mom. Shouldn’t you at least protect your dad? That’s what you said, didn’t you? Unless you want to turn your siblings into orphans too.”

What the hell? Now I suddenly had siblings I’d never heard of? My nonexistent family was multiplying exponentially.

“Are you listening to me? Hey, Hyun Woo Kyung,” Baek snapped, mistaking my silence for submission.

“Come on, Woo Kyung. You won’t get another opportunity like this in your lifetime. Don’t screw it up. Let’s start small—gather whatever information you can access. This could be your chance.”

Even though these people were strangers to me—family only in name—my chest tightened painfully. I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sympathy for the real Hyun Woo Kyung, who must have heard this kind of talk over and over again.

Now it made sense why he’d thrown himself into such dangerous situations.

I took a deep breath, steadied my grip on the phone, and spoke clearly.

“I told you, you’ve got the wrong number. Wow, you sure do talk a lot, mister.”

“Mister?” Baek sputtered in disbelief.

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity? As if. I wasn’t a real cop, and I had no intention of living like Hyun Woo Kyung. And I certainly wasn’t going to play into this game while sitting in Taejoon’s house, a place that might very well be bugged or monitored.

“I’m about to go to bed, so I won’t be answering any more calls. You should stop calling too and have a sweet dream.”

“Sweet… dream? Are you out of your mind?”

Baek didn’t yell this time. Instead, he let out a low, amused laugh. He wasn’t someone to be underestimated. In the original story, he clung to Taejoon and Park Ha Hyun like a leech, constantly hindering them right until the end.

“Our dear Lieutenant Hyun. You’ve been spending so much time with lowlifes, you’re starting to act like one.”

He seemed determined to emphasize my supposed rank, rubbing it in for effect. Just as he started to say something else, I felt it.

A warm, firm hand wrapped around mine, the one holding the phone.

“Ah!”

Startled, I yelped and dropped the phone.

No way. Taejoon?

I blinked in disbelief, but it was him. Taejoon stood right in front of me.

When had he gotten here? How much had he overheard?

I was doomed. Not just doomed—completely, utterly finished.

Taejoon calmly picked up the phone from the floor, using only two fingers as if it were something dirty.

Baek’s voice was still coming through the receiver. Baek had said Taejoon was in Mapo. So how the hell was he here?

I tried to compose myself, but it was useless. My tongue felt frozen, and my mouth refused to close.

“You think your outpost runs smoothly because of luck? Who do you think makes that possible?” Baek’s voice droned on.

Taejoon exhaled quietly, switched the phone to speaker mode, and placed it on the table. It seemed like he intended to listen to what Baek had to say.

“Or what? Have you decided you like Taejoon’s side better? Is that why you’ve switched allegiances?”

Taejoon’s eyes glinted coldly, and the temperature in the room seemed to drop.

Between Baek’s accusations and Taejoon’s icy gaze, I felt my blood run dry.

Please, please shut up, Baek.