Time had already passed midnight and was going past 3 AM. Teolbo, who glanced at the rearview mirror, felt bitter at the sight of Boss staring out the window with sunken eyes.
Starting with this incident, Kwonmyeonghoe won’t be able to wash their blood-stained hands until they settle their relationship with Dogang Faction and the cartel.
That meant the organization members’ dreams of an ordinary life had once again become distant. So it was bound to be a dispiriting situation in many ways.
“It’s become clear that the cartel had no intention of letting Kwonmyeonghoe go.”
At Teolbo’s words, Siwon also let out the breath he’d been holding as if agreeing. His gaze was still looking at a distant place, but the thoughts churning in his head gradually became clearer.
“Well, it’s not like we didn’t know.”
Vrrr— Vrrr—
Until he flipped over the cell phone he was holding in his hand, Siwon held his breath again at the tension that wrapped around his entire body for a moment. There were two missed call records on the cell phone he hadn’t checked while staying on the boat earlier. Fortunately, it didn’t seem to be urgent contact.
If it had been a really urgent situation, they would have contacted Lee Cheon or Oh Cheon too.
Since it was late, he decided to hear about it after returning and didn’t reply separately. But a call came again in the meantime. Thinking something might have happened, he tensed up and checked the screen, and unexpectedly, the caller was Oh Cheon.
These cruel and ruthless twin brothers have a talent for startling people just with their names.
Siwon let out a deflated breath and pressed the call button.
“What, wasn’t it all finished?”
-There’s some cleanup left. What should we do with the vehicle and items the action captain had?
“Process it as usual. Take the car to the scrap old man and scrap it, and burn all the remaining items. Oh, did you collect the head?”
-Yesss. It’s very nicely swollen with water.
Oh Cheon’s answer was excessively cheerful.
It was a nonchalant tone as if reporting the condition of fish at the market.
-The fishy smell is coming up quite a bit too, but it should be fine to send it as is, right?
Siwon answered briefly.
“Doesn’t matter. Handle it yourself.”
-Yep.
The other end of the phone was noisy, so Siwon pulled his cell phone slightly away from his ear with an annoyed face.
“What? Why is it so loud?”
-We’re looking at the car the Dogang Faction action captain drove over. Boss, this bastard has two kindergarten sons. Oh, divorce papers just came out of the glove box. Tsk tsk… He must have gotten divorced, right? How pathetic, wandering around places like Dogang Faction…
Unlike the taciturn Lee Cheon, Oh Cheon was the type who became chatty when something interesting happened. Siwon sensed the call would be long and hurriedly wrapped up the conversation.
“Alright, keep up the good work. Hanging up.”
-What? Oh, Boss! There’s one more amazing thing…
Siwon, who threw his cell phone aside onto the next seat, pressed hard on his heavily furrowed brow to smooth it out.
My heart is already heavy from having to do gangster work again when I wanted to escape from it as soon as possible, and the bastard I just dealt with had two young sons who wouldn’t hurt even if put in his eyes.
“Get some sleep, Boss. We’ll probably arrive around dawn.”
Siwon eventually closed his eyes as his head throbbed.
“Please.”
“Yes.”
But far from falling asleep, the thoughts that had been floating in his head passed by one after another.
First, the question about Dogang Faction led by Choi Jeongcheol was resolved.
Who would’ve thought they were increasing their size by scraping together hundreds of thugs and punks regardless of domestic or foreign? I don’t know what the skill level of the organization members is, but once a considerable number of people gathered, the central cartel must have reached out to Dogang Faction first from a management standpoint.
Choi Jeongcheol, who joined the cartel, must have been excited and wanted to be recognized for his skills too.
But why would the cartel bother to promise to give weapon distribution rights? If they ordered Dogang Faction to eliminate Kwonmyeonghoe, they could sweep us away in one go just by pushing with their numbers.
“Hmm…”
Siwon frowned with his eyes closed.
It’s already been half a year since the cartel ignored Kwonmyeonghoe’s request for expulsion.
During that time, Kwonmyeonghoe only operated in our own territory. In other words, there were plenty of opportunities to eliminate Kwonmyeonghoe in the meantime.
So why didn’t they touch us?
Could there have been another deal between the cartel and Choi Jeongcheol?
When his head throbbed again, Siwon tossed and turned looking for a comfortable position. When he opened his eyes that he’d forcibly closed, the car with its back to the beach was just merging onto the highway.
“Hmm…”
Siwon swallowed a sigh so Teolbo wouldn’t notice, then deliberately shook off the thoughts that kept leading to one another.
I expected to some degree that the cartel had no intention of letting Kwonmyeonghoe go, but who would’ve thought they were even aiming for my life.
The only time I met with people from the cartel side was once 20 years ago, when Kwonmyeonghoe had a different system than now, for the purpose of building friendship. So there’s not even any point of contact where I could have earned resentment. If it’s not a matter of resentment, did they really create a new rule that to be expelled from the central cartel, you have to offer up the boss’s life?
Moreover, in the midst of all that, there’s a rumor that the kids’ tutor is my lover. How troublesome.
“Hmm…”
Is having an ordinary life an impossible thing?
“Wow. The sun’s rising, Boss.”
The morning sun revealed itself beyond the ridge reflected in the side mirror. Eyes dazzled by the intense sunlight. Siwon, who raised his hand to block the sunlight, could finally stop thinking and rest.
***
“Mmm…”
When he opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was a dark room.
“Where… is this?”
Seongyeom usually slept with a small light on because of his claustrophobia. Startled by the unfamiliar scenery he was seeing for the first time, he backed up to the bed headboard, pressed his back firmly against it, and looked around.
It’s a bedroom that seems to have been neglected for a long time. The ceiling looked twice, no, three times higher than an ordinary room, as if they’d made an extra space into a room.
Instead of wallpaper, dark green plywood was overlaid, making it look like an endlessly continuing space in the dim light. To the right of the bed was a white dresser that didn’t match this room at all, and to the left was a small side table and a door.
Next to the door was a small window, but it was too high and small.
Come to think of it, that kid who set fire to the store was looking at me through a window just that size too…
“Ah, wait…”
When his rambling thoughts reached that far, Seongyeom squeezed his eyes shut. He leaned his back against the bed headboard and took a deep breath.
“I’m here, this is reality. That’s something that passed, and reality is here…!”
-Hey.
-Hey.
“Fuck…”
A familiar voice was heard from the window. He covered both ears and tried his best not to react.
Waaaah!
Suddenly, a sound that could be either a shout or a scream flowed in from outside the window. Startled, he turned around and ended up making eye contact with the face hanging from the window.
That bastard grinned at Seongyeom.
-See… I told you not to break up, didn’t I?
“Get lost…”
-Kekekekek.
“Ah, I said get lost!”
Seongyeom fell into an even more tense state. His breathing gradually became rapid.
As the fear of suffocation climbed up his entire body, the world became increasingly distorted. Before he knew it, the ceiling that had seemed quite high was coming down at a rapid pace.
“Huk?!”
Seongyeom, gripping the blanket, couldn’t believe it even though he was seeing it with his eyes.
If I blink once, won’t the ceiling go back to normal? But… what if it comes even faster and covers me instead?
While he was agonizing, the walls on both sides were also narrowing. Seongyeom held his breath completely. It seemed like if he didn’t blink and held his breath, the moving ceiling and walls would stop.
“Hup, hheup…! Urk…”
It feels like my lungs are going to shrink. I can’t hold out anymore…!
Tears streamed from his bloodshot red eyes. His lungs pecked at his throat, urging him to gulp in oxygen quickly. Seongyeom, who had been twisting the blanket as if to tear it apart, bit down hard on his lower lip to avoid losing consciousness.
I have to get out of here.
Let’s run away…!
I have to escape!
“Hueok……!”
Seongyeom, who rolled off the side of the bed, crawled across the floor on his knees. He repeatedly stretched out his damp hands toward the room door. When his hand slipped off the door handle several times, the presence at the window giggled.
-You can’t escape me. Give up.
Clack—
It opened!
As soon as he opened the door, Seongyeom’s expression brightened at the pouring sunlight. Crawling out of the room while gulping in the breath he’d been holding, Seongyeom suddenly looked back.
-Come back!
For some reason, the shout echoed even more resoundingly. Seongyeom hurriedly shrank his shoulders and backed away while sitting.
“Huk…!”
At that moment, something touched his back. He raised his head as if startled, and another room door came into view. He hurriedly grabbed and opened the door handle, and hid his body in there before the shouting grew louder.
