“Ugh, aaaagh!”
Director Hwang turned pale and trembled at the sharp blade hanging before his eyes. Even so, he held his ground with his weight, as if he couldn’t let go of the boat.
Fuck! At this rate we’ll sink before we even get going!
“What are you doing, you idiot! Grab it!”
Woonghee stretched out his body and grabbed Director Hwang by the scruff of his neck. When he yelled at him, Director Hwang gripped the machete. As the added weight shifted, Woonghee’s body lurched forward significantly.
“Ungh…!”
The weight difference between him and Director Hwang was considerable, so both arms holding him trembled.
[Crazy, you’re really trying to take that bastard with us too?]
He heard Tula’s shocked voice from the side. Did Woonghee want to take him along? If it were up to him, he would have stabbed his heart like this and struck down on the back of his neck.
But he couldn’t do that. It would be fine if he went down in one blow, but what if they got into a muddy fight and that gorilla caught him? That would be his downfall. He could only see a future of failure.
“Tula! Don’t just watch, hurry and help!”
At Woonghee’s barking, Tula joined in too. He rushed over in a panic and added his arms, which helped. The two mustered every ounce of strength they had and hauled Director Hwang’s heavy body halfway out of the water. His body, soaked with seawater, was incredibly heavy. The boat rocked as it cut through the waves, and water droplets that shot up wetted their faces.
“Heave…!”
The 0.1-ton body finally settled onto the boat. As if they’d hauled up a whale, the lifeboat shook faintly with a thud.
“Hu-hurry and row, you sons of bitches! That bastard’s following us!”
Woonghee and Tula, exhausted from pulling him up, gasped for breath. Then Director Hwang, his face deathly pale, shook Tula, who was closest to him.
“Fuck, hurry and row!”
The face of the subordinate rushing frantically beyond the boat really did start to come into view. Gorilla’s body moved like a massive lump of muscle. Each time his arms swept through the water, the waves burst as if being torn apart. His murderous appearance was like that of a fighting dog.
Even in the midst of all this, his gaze was directed only at him. Not once did it reach Director Hwang or Tula. As if to announce that his target had been only one from the very beginning.
‘Managing Director Gi told me not to take my eyes off you. He instructed me to break your ankles if necessary, so if you don’t want a broken leg, you’d better use that head of yours wisely.’
Right, just as Managing Director Gi had said, what he wanted was only him. It wasn’t just words.
“Stop right there, you fucking bastards!”
“Uh, uhhh… Ugh! He’s coming, he’s coming! Forward!”
Tula and Director Hwang frantically churned the seawater with their arms from both sides of the boat. His vision narrowed as if it would burst, and his heart beat like crazy. The moment the subordinate’s thick forearm stretched out toward the boat, Woonghee raised the back end of the machete without hesitation. Then he struck down mercilessly. The sensation of the metal blade striking the skull transmitted to his fingertips.
“Die, die…!”
He swung the weapon with desperate intensity. Whether that desperate attack worked or not, Gorilla fell backward. A spray of water rose on the pitch-black sea surface, and cold water grazed Woonghee’s legs as it passed.
“Managing Director Gi, that son of a, son of a bitch….”
Woonghee muttered quietly and staggered. His heart beat like crazy with the fear that he might have killed someone.
A moment later, a few air bubbles rose up bubbling from the direction where Gorilla had fallen. His body rippled once on the water’s surface and then sank below. An eerie silence descended over the undulating water surface.
How long had it been like that? Director Hwang, who had been quietly watching the series of events, suddenly started laughing like a madman.
“Ha… haha, ahaha! Son of a bitch, serves you right! You gave me orders like you were treating me like an errand boy! Yeah, good riddance!”
He laughed so hard his belly shook. Then Tula grabbed Woonghee’s shoulder.
[Woong, let’s go now. This feels ominous.]
“You son of a bitch, what are you babbling about! You said to leave me behind, didn’t you?”
“Is now the time to fight? Get a grip! Tula, you too stop with the useless talk and move the boat!”
At Woonghee’s shout, the two snapped to their senses and frantically churned the seawater with their arms. The tube moved forward little by little.
Finally, they were free. The boat carrying them was advancing forward freely without any obstacles. Only then did Woonghee feel relieved and sprawled out on the boat like seaweed. He kept gasping for breath.
“Huff….”
It was a night when even the moon had hidden itself. The sky was dyed pitch black and thick, and nothing was reflected on the water’s surface. The wind didn’t blow either, and only the faint sound of gentle waves brushed past his ears.
At that moment, when the boat swaying slightly beneath his feet provided a strange sense of both tranquility and tension simultaneously, his vision brightened like broad daylight. It was light. The light was so intense it blinded Woonghee’s eyes.
Is this… a lighthouse?
The light illuminating the three people soon began to flash. Blink, blink. The light flashing irregularly felt like some kind of signal being sent to people who had lost their way in the darkness.
“What the hell is that…!”
Director Hwang shouted in confusion. Tula also made a fuss. It was understandable. The lighthouse’s movements were extremely suspicious.
Who would be there to turn on that lighthouse’s light now? In this sinister atmosphere, at such a late hour, the only person who would deliberately pour light over the sea… no matter how much he thought about it, it could only be Managing Director Gi.
Whether the other two had reached the same conclusion, they started panicking with pale faces.
“Is that son of a bitch Managing Director Gi threatening us or something?”
Director Hwang’s voice was trembling.
Woonghee drew in a hollow breath. The lighthouse was very far away. At this distance, naturally Managing Director Gi’s face couldn’t be visible, yet strangely, his complexion seemed to be etched in his vision down to every single eyebrow hair.
He fell into the illusion that the man was watching them within the disorderly blinking light.
Woonghee hastily turned his back from the illusory him. But even when he turned his head, the light remained, and the man’s shadow grew thicker. There was no way to avoid the lighthouse’s light in the middle of the sea. The surroundings were all glittering like a giant mirror.
It was as if the night sky was winking at him. As if sending a warning not to forget that it was watching him no matter where he went.
“…Don’t look at it. We just don’t have to look that way.”
Whatever it said over there, if they didn’t look, that was the end of it. In any case, there would be no way to stop them. So they just had to ignore it.
Managing Director Gi, I have no interest in your feelings. We were just a terrible ill-fated relationship.
Woonghee hunched his body and changed direction. But the light followed endlessly. The light was scattered all over the sea, so there was no way not to know. He still couldn’t shake off the feeling of being in the palm of his hand.
Even without looking, he could tell. What he was saying.
Come. Back.
Each time the dazzling light blinked from afar, Woonghee’s heart beat faster and faster. His hand was already gripping the machete and swaying on the waves, but his eyes were fixed on only that one light.
Before long, the man changed his message.
I’m. Coming. After. You.
Rather than being a message to Woonghee, it was closer to expressing his own will. Thump, thump. His heart jumped anxiously. His chest caved in as if these waves would devour him.
No, it’s needless worry. This anxiety is just an illusion.
Coming after me? What method could that man possibly use?
It’s fine. It’ll be nothing. Don’t be afraid. Woonghee comforted himself like that. While suppressing his gasping breath.
