DE | Chapter 4.4

“We’re the same now…”

Joo Seonghyeok laughed wildly and mockingly at Lee Yeonhong’s words.

Because the gun was fired twice, they had to leave quickly. Joo Seonghyeok, having brought several changes of clothes knowing how things might go, quickly dressed and steered the car onto the road.

“Pretty.”

“Yes.”

“I’ll tell you where we’re headed now.”

“Yes.”

“To Lee Gangpil’s family home.”

“Wasn’t he an orphan?”

“Even orphans can marry and have kids.”

“I don’t think Lee Gangpil would’ve told you that easily.”

“That’s right. Our Hyeontaek ran around like crazy to find out. There’s no guarantee they’re still there.”

“What do we do then?”

“Well, if someone is still there…”

“If?”

Joo Seonghyeok exhaled smoke and smirked. Lee Yeonhong nodded in understanding.

They drove for three hours to a coastal village. Their car, with a shattered windshield, drew attention even in the sparsely populated village. Joo Seonghyeok followed a map sent to his phone and arrived at an old gate that caught his eye. The rusty, moldy house seemed securely locked when he tried the gate.

Joo Seonghyeok kicked the gate a couple of times. Still no response from inside. Resigned, he easily climbed over the wall, Lee Yeonhong following. The small house, with all curtains drawn, did not look like a gangster family’s home.

“Shall we go in?”

“Don’t forget what I said.”

“Yes.”

Joo Seonghyeok kicked down the door. Bang! Bang! After several loud impacts, a panicked scream came from inside. A shadow bolted the door more securely. Joo Seonghyeok scoffed and picked up a brick, smashing the doorknob. The door swung open. Inside, a woman’s voice shouted in Japanese.

“Mommy!”

“Who are you, who are you!”

“Mom, mom!”

As the door opened, tentacles burst from Lee Yeonhong’s mouth, piercing through the tallest woman’s head.

Silently.

A young boy stood frozen, pale, unable to breathe at the sight of blood and brains pouring over him. He looked dumbfounded, covered in blood. Joo Seonghyeok nonchalantly walked in, hands in pockets, and spoke to Lee Yeonhong.

“Any other kids?”

“Nobody else.”

“I wonder if their mom went happily?”

“Hard to say. There’s nothing left but her eyes.”

Joo Seonghyeok crouched in front of the boy, wiping blood off his face with a sleeve, speaking in a calm voice.

“Come with uncle.”

“…Mom? Mom…”

“Fuck, what are you saying?”

“He’s calling for his mom.”

“You speak Japanese?”

“Yes. Learned a bit back in Korea.”

“Fuck, you were a pro-Japanese bastard?”

“Had to survive. Joo Seonghyeok, you’re the idiot.”

“Idiot? Bullshit.”

Joo Seonghyeok slapped Lee Yeonhong’s head and gestured.

“Bring him along.”

“Hello, what’s your name?”

“What, what… Monster! Monster!”

“I’m Eito.”

“Go away, monster!”

“Remember to bring the head too.”

The boy screamed and hit Lee Yeonhong repeatedly, but Lee Yeonhong ignored him and carried the boy outside. Joo Seonghyeok, smoking indifferently, scanned the nearly deserted streets.

“The village was made so small…”

They might have alerted Lee Gangpil by now. They had to leave quickly.

Joo Seonghyeok got into the driver’s seat, and Lee Yeonhong, holding the boy, got into the back. The boy continued to struggle, but no one cared. Lee Yeonhong cheerfully asked,

“Why did you start with the adults?”

“Without their kids, parents don’t move. But think about it the other way around. If parents disappear right before their eyes, kids will want revenge.”

Joo Seonghyeok smoked and replied. The boy kept hitting Lee Yeonhong, who then smiled and handed him his mother’s head.

“Brought your mom.”

The boy turned pale and soon passed out. As the car quieted down, Joo Seonghyeok smiled in satisfaction.

They soon arrived at a port where several containers were gathered, including Oh Hyeontaek and a few members of the Geumho gang. Joo Seonghyeok dragged the unconscious boy and handed him over to them. Lee Yeonhong also handed over the boy’s mother’s head, her face holed and dripping blood, to their grimacing looks.

Joo Seonghyeok casually embraced the approaching Oh Hyeontaek.

“Glad you’re still alive, Boss.”

“Like I’d die here?”

Oh Hyeontaek lightly patted his back, then looked at the boy being dragged away and clicked his tongue. The boy, born a gangster’s son, was wrong from the start.

“How about Lee Gangpil?”

“Still no movement.”

“Really? What about Park Changhwan?”

“There’s one suspicious thing…”

Oh Hyeontaek whispered closely into Joo Seonghyeok’s ear. Joo’s expression turned subtly amused.

“These bastards, planning a celebration already?”

“A new car and hideout are ready. It might be best for you to stay there for a while.”

“Telling me to hole up?”

“But Boss, you know they’re after your life. Now’s the time to defend. Just wait until I get solid evidence.”

Reluctantly, Joo Seonghyeok eventually sighed, roughly patted Oh Hyeontaek’s head, and got into the new car with Lee Yeonhong.

“What did you say?”

“You don’t need to know.”

“Joo Seonghyeok, why so cold to me? Shared everything with me, even your holes.”

“Fuck… You’re really asking for it, aren’t you? Wanna die here?”

“I wish Joo Seonghyeok would masturbate with my eye sockets.”

Joo Seonghyeok silently jabbed Lee Yeonhong’s eye with his finger. Lee Yeonhong shrieked and fell back, covering his eye.

“Crazy fucker.”

“It hurts!”

“Well, I poked to hurt, not to tickle.”

As they bickered, sirens began sounding in the distance. Joo Seonghyeok stiffened, opening the window. Oh Hyeontaek looked tense as he stared into the distance.

“Thought we shook them off?”

The sirens grew louder. At that moment, Joo Seonghyeok clicked his tongue.

“They must’ve hidden a tracker on the kid.”

Joo got out of the car, pulling out his gun. Lee Yeonhong also stepped out next to him. Joo whispered to him.

“Just stay put.”

“How are you going to fight the police?”

“How would I know. …Hey! Move your asses! Want to die?”

Startled, Geumho’s gangsters began to hide inside the containers. Joo looked around the containers, throwing something inside one of them, then boldly stood beside the car, waiting for the sirens to get closer. Lee Yeonhong grabbed his sleeve.

“Not hiding?”

“Why should I?”

“What if you get shot?”

“Then I die, what else?”

Lee Yeonhong frowned and yanked Joo behind a container just as five police cars pulled up nearby, officers emerging with guns and tasers drawn.

Leading officer Song Heemin shouted.

“Hey! Joo Seonghyeok!”

Joo didn’t respond, but Song Heemin spoke as if he were listening.

“If you come out, we’ll spare your men’s lives.”

Joo Seonghyeok squinted his eyes. Lee Yeonhong touched his shoulder, but Joo Seonghyeok pushed his hand away and shouted.

“Why now? Joining hands with Lee Gangpil to push me out?”

“Curious about that?”

“You wouldn’t make a dumb decision at this point.”

“Was it really a dumb decision, Joo Seonghyeok?”

Song Heemin asked, her gun aimed as she slowly approached the sound.

“Needed a performance boost?”

“…”

“Someone with no ambition to climb, helping to kill the chairman, and trying to bury me too—I don’t get it. Why?”

“You wouldn’t understand the reason anyway.”

“Because I wouldn’t understand?”

“Because you can’t!”

Song Heemin shook, her eyes coldly fixated on Joo Seonghyeok’s shadow.

“You liked killing animals since you were a kid. Thought I didn’t know? Started with little bugs, even killed a rabbit at the orphanage.”

“…”

“Remember the rabbit’s name? It was Olivia. I was the one feeding it every morning. You strangled it with a hay string.”

“I didn’t do that.”

“Don’t joke. Another kid saw you at the rabbit hutch that night. Ruthless bastard. You don’t know love.”

“Love?”

“Yes!”

Joo Seonghyeok’s eyes narrowed.

“You mean…”

“Yes! I love Lee Gangpil.”

“Since when?”

“Since forever!”

Song Heemin took a deep breath and aimed her gun at Joo Seonghyeok, who stepped back into a deeper shadow.

“So, I decided to become a cop. That way, I could protect Lee Gangpil.”

“Do you even know what you’re talking about?”

“Do you even know what I’m talking about? Pretending to understand love, you disgusting creep.”

“He’s already got a wife and a son!”

“I know! I know that!”

Song Heemin didn’t even whimper. She just accepted the reality calmly.

“Lee Gangpil is using me, I know that.”

Song Heemin frowned and aimed her gun toward the rustling sound. She slowly disengaged the safety and carefully aimed, as usual.

“Foolish bastard.”

“Shall we see who’s the most foolish fucker here?”

Song Heemin lifted her chin and smiled.

“Come out, you bastard. Let’s face each other.”

Lee Yeonhong grabbed Joo Seonghyeok’s shoulder again, but he shrugged off his hand and slowly walked out. The policemen near Song Heemin did not back down, aiming their guns at the approaching Joo Seonghyeok. Oh Hyeontaek muttered curses under his breath. Song Heemin smiled.

“What do you call this confidence even now? Arrogance? Vanity?”

“If you shoot me, you’ll regret it.”

“Regret? How will you make me regret?”

“Isn’t that kid you need to take back?”

Joo Seonghyeok pointed with his chin at one of the containers. Lee Yeonhong was puzzled; the kid wasn’t in that container but the opposite one. Joo Seonghyeok arrogantly stroked his chin. The gun in his hand wasn’t even aimed at them.

“If you kill me, that container will explode.”

“Lies.”

“Why not test it to see if it’s a lie?”

Song Heemin looked skeptical. Joo Seonghyeok casually put his hands behind his back, spreading three fingers. Oh Hyeontaek stared at it, then started moving with others in the shadows, distancing themselves from that container.

The policemen slowly advanced. The container was very close to Joo Seonghyeok, and they aimed their guns nervously.

Song Heemin stepped forward. A policeman grabbed Joo Seonghyeok from behind, bending his arm and aiming a gun at his temple. Joo Seonghyeok didn’t resist. He breathed deeply.

Right? Left? Joo Seonghyeok’s gaze shifted. At that moment, Lee Yeonhong stepped back.

Pshhhh!

Suddenly, the container filled with smoke. Joo Seonghyeok seized the moment to elbow the policeman in the stomach and twist his arm, making him drop the gun. Dense smoke quickly enveloped them. Song Heemin’s angry voice echoed through the smoke.

“Joo Seonghyeok!”

Joo Seonghyeok aimed his gun into the smoke.

Bang, bang!

Two shots. Then he turned and ran. Oh Hyeontaek, pulling the kid from a container, got into the new car. Another subordinate tossed the mother’s head to the ground.

Lee Yeonhong quickly started the car as soon as he got in. Bullets chased after them but only hit the car, bouncing off.

“They can’t chase us right away!”

Joo Seonghyeok’s car, along with others, started leaving the port. The police sirens belatedly sounded. Joo Seonghyeok turned the steering wheel sharply, driving in the opposite direction. Oh Hyeontaek gasped and buckled his seatbelt.

“Boss!”

“Sure, fuck. Yeah, your Boss is here.”

Joo Seonghyeok chuckled as he rolled down the window and fired his gun backwards.

Bang, bang!

In South Korea, the sudden gunfire startled the people on the streets as they scrambled in confusion. Even a car driving against traffic—cars coming from the opposite direction had to swerve frantically to either side.

Clatter clatter, now the car was half on the sidewalk, speeding mercilessly.

People screamed and dodged out of the way.

Joo Seonghyeok drove with one hand as nonchalantly as ever and pulled out a cigarette with the other. Sitting next to him, Oh Hyeontaek, though screaming, instinctively pulled out a lighter from his pocket and lit the man’s cigarette.

“Boss, Boss! A truck ahead!”

Lee Yeonhong was panicking, clutching a crying child in the backseat, blinking rapidly. Joo Seonghyeok’s lips curled up.

“Alright.”

He sharply turned the wheel. At that moment, the car climbed partially onto the guardrail, scraping past with a grating noise, then zoomed past the truck and back onto the road, speeding like mad. The cars behind quickly became distant. Oh Hyeontaek, with his heart pounding, wiped off the sweat dripping down his face.

“Boss, your driving is really going to kill someone twice over.”

“If you have a problem, why don’t you take the wheel, huh? Fuck, even when I dodge them you bitch. Where to now?”

“I’ll set the navigation.”

“Pretty boy, haven’t bumped your head, have you?”

“Yes, Joo Seonghyeok. Kotaro is fine too.”

“Ko what?”

“Kotaro, that’s this boy’s name.”

“Got close to him, have you?”

Joo Seonghyeok clicked his tongue.

Kids were amazing. Despite having seen Lee Yeonhong kill his own mother, the boy was freely chatting away just because Lee Yeonhong had just protected him from getting hurt.

Watching the two converse in Japanese, Joo Seonghyeok followed the navigation’s directions.