It was because the man before her eyes had a very similar appearance and description to the gangster bastards she’d heard had harassed Ian.
“You son of a bitch! Where do you think this is, coming again?”
When Okjeong raised her voice pointing at him, the man furrowed his brow hard. At the momentum that seemed like he’d kill someone with just his gaze, Okjeong flinched, then took out a metal chopstick stuck in the utensil holder.
She thrust the end threateningly toward the man, but her hand was trembling so much she only showed a ridiculous sight.
“Aigoo, grandma. You’ve got good energy. That’s dangerous, I’m telling you. Put it down quickly.”
“Put what down! Won’t you get lost? Should I call the police?”
The man lowered both eyebrows in an inverted V shape and tried to dissuade her, but Okjeong, half terrified and half enraged, swung the chopstick back and forth.
“Grandma, I know him.”
Ian grabbed Okjeong’s arm. For a moment, she thought one of those men from earlier had come again, but looking carefully, he was the person who had supported Ganghyuk along with Jaehyun on the day Ganghyuk was extremely drunk. His name was Gwang Sucheol.
She remembered the resoundingly loud voice. Sucheol widened his eyes at Ian as if asking why he intervened so late, then seeing the kid’s forehead covered in cold sweat, quickly relaxed the strength in his eyes. Though it didn’t make even 1 gram of his menacing atmosphere disappear.
“How do you know a person like this, Ian?”
At Ian’s words, Okjeong lowered the chopstick she’d been holding up. However, strength was still fully loaded in the hand gripping the chopstick. No matter how she looked at it, Sucheol’s appearance was too menacing.
“He’s Executive Director Tae’s subordinate.”
Ian whispered in a small voice into Okjeong’s ear. Only then did Okjeong release the strength in her hand. When she put the chopstick down on the table, it made a clanging sound.
“Only now you’re telling me, really.”
Sucheol had sharp ears. He laughed as if dumbfounded, then jerked his chin at Ian.
“What the hell do you need help with? Don’t tell me you were joking?”
Ian’s eyes widened. Because he understood why Sucheol had suddenly appeared.
「Executive Director, please help me…」
A little while ago, Ian had sent Ganghyuk a message asking for help without any particular explanation. He’d thought Ganghyuk would respond either by text or phone call. But instead of his cell phone ringing, Sucheol had come to find the shop.
“Were you perhaps staying near the shop this whole time?”
If not, there was no way to explain how he’d appeared this quickly. Sucheol shrugged his shoulders. His face was full of annoyance.
“Yeah. Hyung-nim told me to rest somewhere around here.”
Ian’s eyes sparkled with expectation. He wondered if Ganghyuk had perhaps stationed someone nearby because he was worried about him while going on a business trip.
“To protect me?”
Sucheol watched with a somewhat reluctant face as color gradually returned to Ian’s pale complexion. Usually, wouldn’t people be upset if you said you’d stationed someone nearby to monitor them?
They say kids these days hate interference like crazy. His younger sister was the same way.
Even if he sent just a few more texts or calls than usual out of worry, she’d act prickly like an angry hedgehog. So he’d appropriately deflected by saying he was taking a rest in his own way, but the kid had specifically picked out and asked back about the part he hadn’t even mentioned.
‘Watch to see if anything happens.’
Though the words “watch over” and “protect” were different, thinking of hyung-nim’s voice on the call just now, the latter meaning was correct.
‘Seems like something happened to the kid. Go resolve it and report back.’
He’d received the contact right after returning from the bathroom because his stomach hurt, so he’d been startled and quickly said he understood before heading straight to the shop. Inside the shop, aside from there being no customers, there was nothing particularly strange.
However, seeing the sharp reaction of the elderly grandmother and the kid’s deathly pale complexion, it seemed something had indeed happened while he was away.
‘Ah, this feels like I’m fucked somehow.’
He’d spent quite a long time in the bathroom due to severe constipation. Because there was no clean bathroom nearby, it had taken over thirty minutes to go to and from a commercial building a bit further away.
He’d thought surely nothing would happen in the meantime, but it had. Seeing how the grandmother had been particularly hostile toward him, he figured some punk who looked like him had come and gone. Which meant that if this story reached Ganghyuk’s ears truthfully, he’d be in big trouble.
“Ahem. Well, that’s right. So… you should speak well of me to hyung-nim.”
“How?”
The face tilting its head looked so innocent that he felt a bit guilty, but first he needed to survive. Coaxing a kid like Ian was a piece of cake.
“Say it was nothing serious. And make sure to tell him that this Gwang Sucheol resolved everything.”
At Sucheol’s words, Ian only blinked. If it had been nothing serious, he wouldn’t have gathered courage to contact Ganghyuk, and Sucheol hadn’t resolved anything.
He didn’t want to lie, and he couldn’t understand why he should. As if it showed on his face, Sucheol frowned fiercely.
“What’s with that face? Ah, then just tell me. What happened?”
“…I’ll tell the Executive Director.”
“Hey, you little shit, your stubbornness is killer.”
When Ian didn’t move as he wanted, Sucheol glared, but Ian resisted by trembling but firmly pressing his lips together.
“Why are you threatening the kid! Ian-ah, is this bastard really Executive Director Tae’s subordinate? His behavior is just like a street thug.”
Unable to watch anymore, Okjeong stepped forward again. Once again striking the table with the chopsticks in her hand, she looked at Sucheol with displeasure. Unlike Ian, she’d noticed that Sucheol really had no intention of harming the two of them. That was why her voice got louder.
“Wow, ma’am. What do you take me for? We just met. I’ll have you know I’m doing quite well.”
“Why is someone doing well browbeating a kid? Making him lie! It seems like that person left you here to protect Ian, so where were you when the incident happened?”
“I went to take a shit.”
When Sucheol spoke with a sullen face, Okjeong, momentarily at a loss for words, only trembled her lips. Since he said he’d been away due to a biological need, she couldn’t think of what to say in response.
“Ah, my stomach’s going to hurt again.”
At the rumbling sound from his belly, Sucheol irritably ran his hands through his hair. It seemed there was definitely a problem with the gimbap he’d eaten that morning. Otherwise, why would his stomach hurt again so soon after returning from the bathroom?
Just then, Sucheol’s cell phone rang loudly. A famous girl group’s new song echoed noisily throughout the shop. Checking the screen, Sucheol gulped down dry saliva.
At the same time, his sphincter wasn’t properly controlled. His heart raced at the thought that he might accidentally shit his pants. In just a moment, his shirt was soaked with the cold sweat that had flowed down.
“You answer it first!”
As if throwing a bomb, Sucheol shoved the cell phone into Ian’s hand. Then he ran out of the shop. Running while pressing his butt firmly with his hand, he looked so pitiful that it was clear he urgently needed a bathroom.
Ian hesitated a bit at the saved name that came up as ‘Hyung-nim,’ then pressed the call connect button. Then he carefully brought it to his ear.
“Hello…? Executive Director?”
But there was no word from the other side. If it weren’t for the faintly audible breathing sounds, he would have thought it had been disconnected. Ian also held his breath and waited for a voice to come through.
Because the silence was telling him. That the person who’d really made the call was indeed Ganghyuk. His heart gradually began to beat faster.
-Why is the kid answering? Where did Sucheol go?
After a long while, a low voice seeped into his eardrum. Hearing the familiar voice, emotions surged up.
He’d told Okjeong he was fine, but he wanted to act spoiled with Ganghyuk. As he held back the tears trying to flow out, the corners of his eyes throbbed. Ian, who took a small breath, forced himself to create a calm voice.
“…He went to the bathroom.”
Still, he couldn’t hide the faint trembling. It was such a small ripple that it would be hard to notice unless you were sitting right in front of him.
-What happened? Who made you cry?
But Ganghyuk immediately noticed that Ian’s breathing was strange. Even though it was a monotonous voice without highs and lows, Ian felt the dam of emotions he’d been suppressing burst open.
