“Hey, you son of a bitch!”
Woonghee stretched his hand upward. Crash—he grabbed the bastard by the collar and dragged him down from the tree. Rustle rustle, the leaves shook violently as they fell to the ground. Following that, thud—the ground trembled.
As the bastard’s body was planted head-first into the ground, Woonghee immediately climbed on top of him.
“You fucking bastard. So you were that creepy son of a bitch?”
Woonghee hurled curses as he mercilessly threw punches. Thwack—with the sound, the bastard’s face violently turned to the opposite side.
“…Ugh!”
Through the slightly parted lips, his tongue spilled out. This time, Woonghee grabbed his chin and shook it.
“Clench your teeth, you bastard. Unless you want your tongue cut off.”
He immediately slapped the opposite cheek with his other fist. Blood finally started flowing—bright red blood streamed down from the bastard’s nose.
Woonghee grabbed the collar of the bastard who had passed out after just two hits. As he seized the pink raincoat he’d lost, the sticky texture characteristic of vinyl fabric transmitted through his fingers.
“So it was you who wore my raincoat and fucked me over!”
Rustle rustle—he shook the bastard. Why, why the hell did you do it!
The one who had snuck into his cave all this time to steal the pink raincoat and machete, and even touched people’s food supplies to make Woonghee suspected. That insidious culprit was none other than…
[…Woong.]
It was Tula.
Even with bright red blood streaming from both nostrils, Tula’s gaze was entirely focused on Woonghee.
[A-are you hurt anywhere? I’m so sorry, I…]
The bastard looked up at Woonghee with an expression that said he was going crazy with distress. Not only that, he examined various parts of his body, checking for injuries. Then, discovering skin that was bruised like a mottled peach, he sent a tender gaze as if he couldn’t bear to even touch it.
Fuck, this was absolutely pathetic.
Anyone watching would think he’d run into his first love from a thousand years ago… Really, this son of a bitch!
[Woong, Woong, I’m sorry, I…]
“This is all because of who! Don’t act crazy, you idiot!”
[Are you hurt anywhere else? I, I was so worried I couldn’t not come see you.]
The bastard’s hand fumbling through the air touched his collar. Startled, Woonghee reflexively pulled his neck back, but it was already too late.
The bastard’s large eyes rapidly turned cold.
[That son of a bitch!]
It was obvious who Tula was talking about. Woonghee’s temples flushed red with shame.
[That son of a bitch, you, you…]
“Shut up!”
Woonghee’s jaw trembled violently. If you were going to hide like a rat, you should’ve stayed hidden till the end—why did you crawl out to see that? That filthy sight he didn’t want to show anyone.
[Woong, get away from that man right now. Do you even know what kind of bastard he is?]
Tula, who had bolted upright, grabbed Woonghee’s forearm tightly. Woonghee’s gaze slowly traveled up from his grabbed forearm to the bastard’s face.
“Why the hell did you even board that cruise?”
It was a question that had been circling in his head continuously from the moment he encountered him until now.
Then, Tula—who had never once backed away from him first—suddenly stepped back. He didn’t seem to have any intention of answering.
“How the hell do you know Gi Junhyuk, that man!”
Tula’s white pupils were fixed on the ground, avoiding his eyes. Woonghee felt like the cells in his brain were burning up one by one with rage.
[Woong…]
The bastard called to him. It was a familiar expression. Whenever he was in a difficult situation, the guy would look down at him with his mouth shaped in a circle.
Long eyelashes and lamb-like eyes. Though piercings hung all over his body and jet-black tattoos with engraved ink were located all over his well-tanned skin, his features were nothing but gentle.
It was all just bravado, nothing more than that.
[Do you remember before?]
“What memory? Stop talking nonsense and speak properly!”
[The day you were kidnapped.]
Kidnap. He didn’t immediately understand those words. Kid seemed to mean child, and nap was, fuck… what, napkin?
Woonghee frowned his fair brow at the unfamiliar word. Then Tula grabbed Woonghee’s collar with his fist and pulled him close. As if he was going to steal Woonghee away.
“Ah…”
Kidnap. Could he be talking about abduction?
Woonghee belatedly recalled the past. It was an extremely humid and hot day, just like now.
Jjokko liked shaved ice that tasted like milk. It wasn’t even really shaved ice—in reality, it was just cheap ice ground up with milk poured over it, and that was it.
When given that, she’d smear it all over her small mouth saying it was delicious and empty an entire container in one sitting.
‘No, wait, won’t this give her a stomachache if she eats it wrong?’
Cheap ice with no brand name, nothing.
Thinking it would be fucked if she ate it wrong, Woonghee scraped together what bills he had and bought some ice from a nearby mart.
He picked up a stone and crudely crushed it. Then he tore open the packaging and gently poured milk between the broken ice.
‘Wait just a little. I’ll give it to you soon.’
Jjokko, wearing shabby pink clothes, was drooling as she watched.
‘Come on, let’s go home.’
When he extended his hand, a fern-like hand intertwined between his fingers. They were just about to go home.
‘What the hell, those bastards…’
Woonghee’s eyes turned fierce. It wasn’t anything else—men in jet-black suits were staked out in front of his cheap monthly rental.
Moreover, judging by the way they were talking among themselves, they seemed to be Korean.
‘Hey, fuck, yesterday I won 1.3 million won playing poker at the casino and went to the club and rang the golden bell.’
‘Isn’t that hyung-nim just getting played at the casino? I heard they all get you like that.’
The unfamiliar compatriots seemed to be staked out in front of his house. It was suspicious and strange.
What the… An ominous warning sounded in his head. As he was pondering how to respond, Jjokko suddenly made a baby sound going ‘Twoo.’ It seemed she mistook them for her oppa just from seeing the black clothes.
Woonghee hurriedly covered Jjokko’s small mouth with his palm. Then, holding Jjokko’s hand, he hid her behind his back.
With his elbow, he cleared away the grass growing thick under the barbed wire fence. A hole about the size of a person’s waist was revealed. Woonghee quickly grabbed Jjokko’s small head and pushed it down.
‘Go in here, Jjokko. Shh, it’s okay.’
Unlike Tula, who understood exotic languages by sense, Jjokko was still a baby who hadn’t even mastered her mother tongue. Woonghee made all kinds of hand gestures to somehow convey his intention.
‘This is ice, right? Go eat it and I’ll come right away.’
When he pointed at the ice pack in his hand and made eating gestures, the baby bobbed her small head. Then her small mouth opened and drool started dripping again.
‘Shh, we’re playing hide-and-seek.’
Woonghee took advantage of the child being distracted by food and shoved her small body into the hole. Then he firmly grabbed a brick placed to one side and approached the bastards.
‘What are you guys, you sons of bitches?’
‘What is this pipsqueak saying right now? Son of a bitch?’
At the furious question, the thugs all turned their heads at once. Woonghee flinched and trembled in his calves.
Their number was five in total.
He firmly grabbed a brick placed to one side and approached the bastards. With it, he grabbed two heads and struck them down with the brick, but that was as far as it went. Woonghee’s arms were caught by a bastard who suddenly pounced from behind. The next moment, something like a rice sack was placed over Woonghee’s face.
‘You fucking bastards…! Let this go, let go!’
Woonghee’s black leather walkers fiercely attacked the uninvited guests. He struck down at their chests and wildly pushed at their backs. But even throwing a fit didn’t change anything. Soon, clunk—his body was loaded somewhere. It was a very cramped place that smelled musty.
Thoom. A sound like a coffin lid closing came from above, and soon the space began to rumble hollowly. Woonghee realized by instinct. That he’d been loaded into a car trunk.
He had to escape before the car started.
‘Ugh…!’
Woonghee’s solitary struggle began in the narrow space. After making groaning sounds and trying repeatedly, Woonghee was able to pull out a box cutter from his back pants pocket. He immediately pulled out the blade and swiftly cut the rope. It didn’t cut in one go, but after gnawing at it several times, he succeeded.
Woonghee hurriedly untied the rope from his body and removed the rice sack covering his face.
‘Ha, haa, haa…’
He immediately filled up on the oxygen he’d been lacking. After his breathing settled, he attempted escape using the most classic method. He pushed hard at the low ceiling with his shoe and banged on it with his fist. As expected, it was useless. Nevertheless, Woonghee desperately struck at the door like a fish struggling desperately to escape a human’s grasp.
…How much time had passed doing that? Suddenly the car stopped. Woonghee froze for a moment, then brought his ear to the door. He seemed to hear the murmuring sounds of people’s conversation.
The opportunity is now. Aim for the moment when the bastards open the door to take him out.
Woonghee hurriedly put the rice sack back over his face. Then he roughly wound the rope around his body. He also clasped his hands behind him as if tied and lay on his side. In one hand, the box cutter was also tightly gripped. If anything happened, he was thinking of stabbing the bastards’ eyeballs with it.
After a moment, with a clunk sound, violently bright light poured in beyond his closed eyelids.
‘We’ve brought him, Managing Director-nim.’
And one voice pierced from above his head.
‘…How filthy. Vulgar.’
