The Dogang Faction underlings stared blankly at the sight of the old man—no, Oh Cheon—shaking his hips and displaying dazzling footwork. His movements were as fluid as a professional dancer’s.
“Hurry up and catch him!”
When Jeongcheol shouted, spitting as he yelled, his subordinates finally snapped out of it and rushed forward. Oh Cheon began playing tag with them, provoking them to the fullest. He jumped lightly as if heading toward the entrance, then in an instant twisted Jeongcheol’s arm and slashed across his throat.
“Urgh!”
Jeongcheol collapsed, hands bracing against the floor. With everyone’s attention focused on him, Oh Cheon raised his hand to show what he’d used. What had slashed Jeongcheol’s throat was a board marker.
“Haha, you’re still such a drama queen! Hyung.”
“Ryu Oh Cheon, you son of a bitch!”
At Oh Cheon’s playful laugh, Jeongcheol’s expression twisted hideously. As the enraged Jeongcheol charged at him, Oh Cheon flung himself into the pitch-black corridor.
“Idiot.”
Oh Cheon grabbed and ripped off the old man disguise covering his face in one swift motion. Beads of sweat glistened on his exposed forehead. Along with his mischievous eyes, a beauty mark embedded like a star beneath them was revealed.
The moment he thought he’d shaken them off, he saw the silhouettes of about ten people blocking his path ahead. He calmed his bursting lungs and surveyed his surroundings. In hand-to-hand combat, he’d have a fighting chance. But.
Click-clack—
“I won’t fall for the same trick twice.”
Oh Cheon laughed incredulously at the dozen or so gun barrels revealed under the flashlight. Soon, a man wearing a fedora stepped to the front. He was the Dogang Faction’s Vice-boss. He lifted Oh Cheon’s chin with his gun barrel.
“Hmm. Not a bad-looking face. Don’t tell me—are you that male concubine Kwon Siwon keeps as his plaything?”
At this absurd bullshit, Oh Cheon’s expression rapidly soured.
“Fuck, what kind of bullshit is that.”
As Oh Cheon’s fingers twitched, a blade slid down between them. He immediately slashed upward across the belly of the Dogang Faction lackey who had been stealthily approaching from behind.
“Kwaaaaah! My eyes!”
The spurting blood splattered heavily into the Vice-boss’s eyes. Oh Cheon began running, using the fedora-wearing bastard pressing both hands to his eyes as a shield. His destination was where the modified weapon he’d received as the old man’s share was located. As he roughly wiped the blood from the blade onto the Vice-boss’s clothes while crossing over a walkway.
“Let go, let me go!”
When the Vice-boss threatened him by swinging his gun around, Oh Cheon twisted his arm and broke the bone. Taking advantage of the gap as strength drained from the shattered arm, Oh Cheon kicked the Vice-boss away, and he instantly plummeted below the railing. A brief scream that scraped against eardrums followed.
“Move and I’ll shoot?”
At Oh Cheon’s words, the Dogang Faction executives holding pistols could only swallow dry saliva—not a single one dared to act rashly. They had no choice. How much had they desperately grasped and clutched to sit in those positions? Oh Cheon gradually widened the distance, then turned the corner to hide himself and shouldered the modified weapon. It was a heavy stainless steel compression sprayer.
“Time to disinfect, you greedy bastards.”
As he gripped the swollen nozzle, dozens of steel pellets were expelled by steam pressure. The small bullets that penetrated the clothes of a few nearby guys embedded themselves in their skin, making them feel the agony of flesh being gouged out while still alive.
The guy whose finger bones were being ground as he tried to pull out the bullet, the guy screaming unable to endure the pain of his flesh being crushed, the guy convulsing while spurting blood from his entire body—aside from them, anyone with even a single steel pellet embedded in them immediately let out screams. The surroundings quickly became pandemonium.
Newly impressed by the modified weapon’s power, Oh Cheon checked on the most heavily hit guy. Though he’d become a bloody mess and was twitching, he still had breath left in him. At the disappointing sight, Oh Cheon’s eyebrows twitched.
“What, you’re still not dead?”
The lethality is really nothing special. What kind of junk did the Cartel make?
As he looked at the modified sprayer with completely unreliable eyes, organization members carrying various modified weapons rushed in all at once. They’d clearly come running after hearing the unusual gunfire sounds.
“Damn it!”
Oh Cheon hurriedly grabbed and threw the sprayer on his back and quickly ran back the way he’d come.
“Kugh!”
Just as he thought a sharp metal object had cut through the air, his right forearm felt as hot as if burned by fire. When he pressed down on his arm, blood gushed out.
“Catch that Kwonmyeonghoe bastard!”
Oh Cheon desperately ran while blinking his eyes as wide as possible to adjust to the darkness. Fortunately, he was confident in running at least. Oh Cheon quickly scanned his surroundings. His dilated pupils caught sight of a stone pillar covered in moss. It was definitely something he’d seen when first entering this hideout.
If I can just get past that pillar…!
Beyond it stretched a narrow passage barely wide enough for one adult man to pass through, leading all the way to the lower road of Sindang.
Just then, a chilling sound came from behind him. It was a terrible noise that scraped against his eardrums. Right before entering the narrow passage, Oh Cheon flung his body behind the pillar to avoid the flying blade.
“Kugh! Ugh!”
Oh Cheon quickly backpedaled before his body could be cut in two by the blade. After leaning his back against the wall, he instinctively tried to pull out the knife hidden under his shoe, then lowered his pant leg, thinking what use is a knife that’s nothing but a primitive tool compared to modified weapons?
Stay calm. I need to stay calm.
He caught his breath while wiping his forehead, where sweat was flowing like rain, with his dirt-covered hand. There was a tunnel leading to Sindang about twenty steps away. If he could just get inside, he’d somehow manage.
His chest felt stuffy from shortness of breath. Oh Cheon pressed his body tightly against the wall and stood up. He tried to heighten his senses to detect any presence when suddenly the cell phone in his pocket rang.
Who the hell is it at this critical moment when my life is on the line!
With an annoyed face, he pulled out the phone playing a cheerful girl group song.
“Ugh! I’m busy right now, so later…”
—What happened? I told you to contact me when you left.
“Daerim hyung?”
Oh Cheon’s head perked up. Seeing that the call was going through, it seemed escape was truly just around the corner.
Swish—!
Taking advantage of his scattered concentration, the blade flew at him once more.
“Aaah!”
—Don’t tell me you forgot again?
Oh Cheon, who barely dodged the arrow, quickly got up. Through the receiver came a voice interrogating him, completely unaware of the situation on this end.
Screeeech—
As he pulled the blade wrapped around the pillar, it dug into the stone column before disappearing into the darkness. Oh Cheon turned pale and shouted.
“I haven’t left yet, so I couldn’t call!”
“There he is! It’s the Kwonmyeonghoe bastard!”
“Fuck! Seriously!”
Oh Cheon hung up the call, got up from his spot, and threw his body toward the tunnel leading to Sindang. He couldn’t get caught here, if only for the sake of his handsome lover who would be waiting for him outside.
***
“Did he cause another accident… Hello, hello?”
Daerim pulled the phone that had been unilaterally disconnected away from his ear. He couldn’t even yell properly since he was near the Boss.
“This guy, really…!”
Daerim glared at the phone screen with a displeased face. He pressed the call button again, but after a long connection tone, it transferred to voicemail service. Daerim stuffed the phone in his pocket, feeling like his insides were burning up.
When he turned around, the scene in the room was so quiet it made the earlier commotion seem meaningless. At the center of it sat Siwon, looking relaxed, and Daerim had to swallow a sigh.
It was unfamiliar seeing him adjust the desk lamp to its dimmest setting so as not to disturb Teacher’s sleep, pulling the documents right up to his face to read them. The person in question wouldn’t even know if someone carried him away because of the anesthesia. He could just sit at the desk and read comfortably. Why is he purposely suffering by keeping watch at the bedside? He felt like pounding his chest at the sight.
Now that we know the Dogang Faction and Cartel’s movements are unusual, does the Boss realize he wouldn’t have enough time even with three bodies? Should I tell him there’s no need to personally take charge of nursing a mere employee?
“Geez…”
Daerim scratched his head alone, troubled, but with Siwon’s next action, all the thoughts he’d had until now completely disappeared.
When did he mercilessly push him until all his wounds burst open? And now the affection was dripping from his touch as he carefully arranged the blanket so it wouldn’t press on the shoulder wrapped tightly with compression bandages. The Boss, who had been examining Seongyeom’s complexion for quite a while, even showed a faint smile as if satisfied, then picked up the documents again.
“Ugh… Boss.”
“Hm?”
At Daerim’s call, Siwon pushed down the glasses he was wearing with his fingertips. The warmth he’d shown while looking at Seongyeom was nowhere to be found, and cold eyes turned toward Daerim. Daerim swept his parched mouth with his tongue.
Even in the dimly lit darkness, Siwon, who didn’t miss the subtle change in his subordinate, stroked his chin and asked.
“Something to say?”
“Ah… well…”
Daerim averted his gaze while being sparing with words. The persistence dwelling in the Boss’s eyes was a type he’d experienced once before. I didn’t know he’d react like that even to a man. He just hoped that heat would cool quickly and thought pretending not to know was the best option for now. It was a change he could never welcome.
“It’s Oh Cheon. There seems to be a problem.”
“Why. Does he want to throw another event?”
Siwon flipped through a few pages of the documents in his hand, then put them down completely on the table. The brilliant track record of incidents Oh Cheon had caused flashed quickly before his eyes. Sometimes when left alone, he’d cause accidents in strange places.
He’s been quiet lately though.
Siwon took off his glasses and massaged the bridge of his nose. Watching this, Daerim slowly continued.
“I don’t know if he caused an accident but… he seems to still be at the Dogang Faction hideout.”
Siwon’s head turned toward the clock on the wall. It was already past 3 AM. By now, it should be more than enough time for him to have returned. The wide-open eyes said everything without needing words. Daerim squeezed out his increasingly smaller voice to continue.
“The call just got cut off, and when I try again… I can’t reach him.”
Siwon’s hand that had been pressing his eye area paused. An ominous silence lingered between the two for a moment. Siwon stood up and practically threw his glasses down onto the table.
“Have the car ready.”
“What? What are you planning to do?”
“I have to go get him.”
“Right now?”
“Or should I wait until sunrise to go retrieve a corpse?”
“I’ll prepare it right away.”
Sensing Siwon’s anger, Daerim left the room in a hurry with a troubled face. After quickly changing clothes, Siwon checked on the sleeping Seongyeom’s face one last time before leaving the bedroom.
Fortunately, he didn’t seem to be having nightmares or anything. He raised his hand while listening to the regular breathing that continued for a long time. The hand that had been sweeping away the fallen bangs moved down and firmly pressed Seongyeom’s lower lip. His face was as peaceful as if dead. Looking at that sight, Siwon forcibly gathered his reluctant steps and left the room.
