The Uncrowned King of the Peninsula

Chapter 11 The Mouse Returns to its Burrow
"Call Choi Jong-Bum." Bae Yong-jun looked at Choi Sulli and pointed at her phone. "Just tell him that you've raised some extra money and want to give it to him. He'll definitely come back to prepare it."

"Okay." Cui Xueli hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Du~du~du~
The phone rang for a long time before it was picked up.

"Ah, who?" A somewhat unclear male voice sounded, surrounded by noisy shouts and music.

"Choi Jong-Bum, it's me, Choi Sulli, where are you?" Choi Sulli took a deep breath before asking.

"Sulli? Hahaha, Shirley? Do you know how to beg me? Hahaha..."

On the other end of the phone was Choi Jong-Bum's shrill laughter.

Choi Sulli clutched her phone tightly, her knuckles turning white.

The laughter died down after a long time. Choi Jong-Bum's voice was erratic and fierce. "Why are you looking for me so late at night?"

"Are you drinking?" Choi Sulli asked.

"Of course, drinking to drown my sorrows, hahaha," he laughed wildly again, "Ah, Choi Sulli, I was tortured a lot by you, unnie."

"I was beaten by her, have you forgotten?"

"Compensate!"

"You're talking nonsense! It's obviously you..." Choi Jong-Bum's nonsense that confused right and wrong made Choi Sulli so angry that she trembled all over.

"What!" Choi Jong-Bum yelled. A rustling sound came from the other end of the line, as if a blanket or plate were being swept to the floor. "How dare you talk to me like that?!"

"What leverage do you have over Ernie? Have you forgotten?"

"what?!"

Choi Sulli couldn't utter a word and bit her lips tightly.

"Honest now? Hahahahaha," Choi Jong-Bum snorted smugly, his tone filled with resentment and pleasure, "Don't you look down on me?"

"Didn't you advise your good sister to be careful with me?"

"Speaking bad words about me? Do you think I don't know?"

"Choi Sulli! It's all your fault that you are in this situation! You forced me to do this! Hahahaha..." Choi Jong-Bum laughed again as if he was crazy, and his shrill laughter echoed in the car.

Pei Yongjun listened coldly, notebook in hand.

Hot tears slid down Choi Sulli's bright eyes, flowed onto her tightly bitten pale lower lip, and were swallowed by her. She stubbornly did not let out a single cry.

"Choi Jong-Bum, I didn't come here to tell you this," her eyes sparkled with tears, "Do you still want to hear it?"

"Tell me what's going on."

"I've raised some more money, do you still want it?"

"Yes, of course, give it to me right now!" Choi Jong-Bum's voice was impatient.

Choi Sulli blinked away her tears and looked at Bae Yongjun, who had already written a sentence in the notebook.

[We have to wait until the bank opens tomorrow morning]

"Not now. We have to wait until the bank opens tomorrow morning." Choi Sulli tried to calm down.

"Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, at the same place as last time. If you dare to pay even a penny less, you can just wait for your good sister to be ruined tomorrow!" Choi Jong-Bum said viciously.

"I don't want to drink anymore, I..."

The voice on the phone became quieter and quieter, and the call was disconnected.

Choi Sulli's hand holding the phone slowly dropped it, and she sat there in a daze, looking out the window.

"Thank you for your hard work." Pei Yongjun handed her the tissue.

"Thank you." She took the tissue, her voice a little weak.

"Wait, he will come back."

Choi Sulli nodded.

Silence returned to the car. Choi Sulli turned her head and leaned against the window, speechless.

Bae Yong-jun placed the camera on the dashboard, pointed the lens directly at Choi Jong-bum's door, and started recording.

Then he pushed the door and got out of the car, took out a large handbag from the trunk, walked to the empty house next to him, blocked his view and started to change his clothes.

After a moment, he came out from behind the tree and glanced at the nearby window.

He was 1.83 meters tall, with beautiful muscle lines. Outside his tight white vest, he had a body covered in tiger-like tattoos, with fangs, bloody mouth, and wide-open eyes, which were coiled around his strong and powerful arms.

There was a long scar on his cheek, which looked eerie and terrifying under the cold moonlight.

Then he looked through the rest of the bag.

A digital camera, a stainless steel hammer, nylon rope, two flashlights, several bottles of purified water, and a spare black hooded windbreaker.

After finishing the search, he stood up and took a look. The house across the street was still dark, so he walked behind a tree and stretched his body while staring at the opposite side.

Not long after, he finished the call, walked back to the car, opened the door, and got in.

"Yes..." Pei Yongjun turned his head and was about to speak, but found that Cui Xueli had fallen asleep.

She curled up in the seat, her slender and petite body looking particularly frail. Moonlight streamed through the car window, spilling onto her snow-white cheeks, illuminating the traces of dried tears that left her face like a wounded animal.

With a low buzzing sound, the screen of the mobile phone that slipped from her hand onto the cushion lit up. It was an unfamiliar number, and it was a text message from a stalker fan.

[Choi Sulli, stop contacting our Hara-unnie! If you dare to do this again, I'll make you pay!]

Pei Yongjun's eyes moved slightly, and Cui Xueli's trembling mumbling in her sleep rang in his ears.

"I'm sorry, I was wrong, I'm really sorry..."

He looked at Choi Sulli's closed eyes for a long time before turning his head and staring at the dark door across the street.

------

"Shirley."

"Shirley?"

Calling my name again.

Don't call me, don't look for me...

The flash lights that blinded the people, the reporters who surrounded them, and the mobile phones that kept ringing.

Choi Sulli was drowsy in the darkness, feeling like she didn't know where she was.

"Shirley?" The voice became louder, and someone pushed her shoulder.

She suddenly opened her eyes and found herself in a car.

Are you asleep?

She was stunned for a moment before she reacted and looked at Pei Yongjun beside her, "Sorry, Editor Pei, I, I just fell asleep, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, it's good to take a rest, but I have to call you." Pei Yongjun nodded, "He's back."

"Mo?" Cui Xueli looked at the house diagonally opposite. The lights were on inside, and shadowy figures were reflected on the windows.

"Do you think this is him?" Pei Yongjun clicked the camera twice to call up the previous video.

A taxi drove up and a man in a flowered shirt got out. He stood there for a few seconds before stumbling to the door, opening it and walking in.

Pei Yongjun pressed a button, moved the picture forward to the frame where the floral shirt was facing the camera, and then zoomed in, and zoomed in again.

His middle-parted black hair was gelled, and his handsome face looked greasy and powdered due to the alcohol.

"Yes, it's him!" Choi Sulli recognized the person in the camera picture at a glance, and all sleepiness disappeared instantly.

It was Choi Jong-Bum who finally revealed his whereabouts.

(End of this chapter)