AR Ch 3 part 1

PR by neji

Once they exited the city, the slightly widened streets turned into a narrow road on the outskirts of town. The dense trees stretched out as far as the eye could see, but they were unable to block the prickly summer sunlight. Chief Hong glanced at Jiwon as she clenched her hands on the steering wheel and clicked his tongue.

“Why are you sweating so much?”

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Jiwon looked like she was lost in thought before finally opening her mouth.

“We’ve been in this car that has a broken air conditioner for two hours in this weather. How can I not sweat under these conditions?”

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Jiwon’s piercing words were the same as ever, but it seemed that she was feeling tense. When he saw how she was picking at the donkatsu he had bought her for lunch, he was sure of it. Chief Hong skillfully changed the subject. To the person who was making her head muddled.

“The air is quite nice, right? As expected, a person needs money. How nice would it be to build a golf resort here and come out from time to time for a vacation?”

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“It’s not too late now. You can just become a gangster, sunbae-nim.”

“If I were to think about my kid, I wouldn’t dare do such a thing. I can’t say my occupation is a gangster on the school’s parent information sheet. What about at the wedding? Who would give away their daughter to a man whose father is friends with bulky, scary men all dressed in black suits?”

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Chief Hong saw Jiwon’s hands clench on the steering wheel from the corner of his eye. He wasn’t completely sure why Jiwon decided to join this project. The only thing he knew for certain was that if Shin Seokju was not connected to this, she would not have come here.

Back when he was a new recruit at the police force, Jiwon’s father was a senior detective in the violent crimes unit. When it came to catching criminals, he went all in. However, he didn’t care for the inner politics, so he was still leading a humble life. His hand was warm, and he never hesitated to help someone. Although they didn’t look alike at all, if Jiwon was his daughter, the same blood would be running in her veins as well.

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“About Shin Seokju… Judging from how well he studied even though he came from that kind of background, he’s not your average guy. But when that guy said he would become a policeman, your father was quite proud.”

Chief Hong turned on his e-cigarette. No matter what he was fated to be in the past, it didn’t matter anymore. Shin Seokju was now in the mob. Jiwon needed to know this for certain.

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“But in the end, seeing as how he ended up becoming a gangster, I guess you can’t fool DNA… Aigoo!”

Jiwon suddenly slammed on the brakes, and Chief Hong’s body lurched forward.

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“What’s wrong?!”

“A deer just passed by.”

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Chief Hong looked in front of him in shock, but there was no trace of any animal on the forest road. Jiwon started driving again as if nothing happened. Chief Hong coughed awkwardly and cleared his throat.

“That bastard isn’t the same Seokju you knew in the past. Keep that in mind, Jiwon.”

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Jiwon kept her eyes on the road as her lips twisted.

“I’m not so sure about that.”

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She murmured as if speaking to herself.

“I’m not sure if I ever really knew him.”

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Even when they heard the GPS system announce that they were almost at their destination, Chief Hong kept his mouth shut. There was a sign forbidding any trespassers from entering, but the car swiftly entered inside the resort.

* * *

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Three months had passed since Seokju had come to live at their home. They hadn’t received a single call from Seokju’s father who had left his son in their care. It seemed that Jiwon’s mother had long given up asking her father about Youngkyun-ahjussi.

“Seokju’s late today.”

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Her father had returned home for the first time in a long while. Her mother stopped washing the strawberries and suddenly grew worried for Seokju. According to the clock, it was getting close to eleven o’clock, but Seokju hadn’t yet returned home.

“He did say he was going to the library, but I wonder if he ate…”

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Always worried about whether someone ate or not, her mother dried her hands and took out her cellphone.

“Why isn’t he answering? He’s not reading my messages either.”

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Jiwon looked at her mother and frowned.

“So why are you worried about him? If he knows that someone is worried about him, he’ll just snort and sneer, you know? ‘There’s no need to worry.’ He’d say something like that.”

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Jiwon’s father popped five strawberries into his mouth at once and chewed. Then he flicked Jiwon’s head. Jiwon rubbed her forehead and glared at him. Before he swallowed the strawberries, her father spoke up.

“Daughter, don’t speak so cruelly like that. It doesn’t suit you.”

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“What do you mean ‘cruel’? As someone who’s living off of someone else, he’s the cruel one…”

Jiwon grumbled, and her father hummed as his eyes gleamed.

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“Princess, whom I love the most in this entire world.”

He was at it again. Whenever Jiwon’s father was about to lecture her, he started speaking like this. When she heard his words, Jiwon sighed. Whenever he was acting like this, she couldn’t defy him.

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“Yes, Imperial Father?”

Her father gestured to the living room wall with his bearded chin. There was a framed photo of Jiwon in the arms of her father as they rode a merry-go-round at the amusement park, their faces beaming with wide smiles. It was the day she was finally guided out of the hands of her nervous mother and gained a dad.

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“In my eyes, my daughter still looks like that. She’s only grown taller, but she’s still the little kid who wore princess dresses and gave her daddy kisses.”

“Ah, what are you talking about? Why are you talking about the past?”

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Jiwon swept her short hair back and grumbled. She hated it the most when her father attacked her like this, but her heart still lurched and she was at a loss for words. Her father grabbed her hand with his rough one and pulled her close.

“Jiwon, let’s not cast away someone who’s on the edge of a cliff. We don’t have money, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have mercy, right?”

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Another one of her father’s sayings came out. According to her father, living a good life was a lot harder than living an evil one. And that’s why it was a lot cooler.

The reason why she looked up to him was because he lived life practicing what he preached. However, she couldn’t help but feel upset from time to time.

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“Shouldn’t it depend on the situation? Why do we have to do that for a kid who doesn’t even show his thanks?”

“That’s because he’s still clumsy.”

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“I’m going to wash up first. After making kimbaps all day, I feel a bit under the weather.”

Jiwon’s mother passed by them and left them alone as she made her way to the bathroom. She always did this whenever the father-daughter pair began to have a deep conversation.

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“Okay, honey. I’ll give you a massage later.”

As Jiwon’s father smiled at the back of her mother’s head, Jiwon began to grumble.

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“What do you mean ‘clumsy’? Shin Seokju only acts like he’s better than us. You’ve seen it, so you know it, too, Dad.”

Her father handed her the biggest strawberry and spoke in a low, calm voice.

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“Seokju has never received love from his parents, so he doesn’t know how to be nice to other people. He only knows how to throw people away. Because his home life wasn’t… very good.”

“Why not? Did your friend commit DV?”

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Jiwon stopped eating her strawberry and frowned.

“DV?”

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“Domestic violence. I’m talking about beating the kid with a golf club for not studying. Something like that. Is that why his personality is so twisted?”

Jiwon’s father scratched his temple and smiled awkwardly.

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“I’ll tell you when the time is right. You don’t know much about this yet, Princess, but there is something we adults can see that you can’t. Seokju isn’t a bad kid. I swear it.”

“……”

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“And because Mom knows this, we’ve been able to keep him here thus far.”

“But I still don’t like him. I can’t help it.”

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“But he has a handsome face. You still don’t like him?”

Her father puckered his thick lips and pretended to gossip. Whenever he made such a cute expression despite his large frame, Jiwon couldn’t stay angry.

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“Do humans live off of looks alone? Then you wouldn’t have ever been able to marry Mom at all.”

Pfft, Jiwon raised her voice awkwardly to hide her laughter. Her father pinched her cheek and laughed.

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“If you’re done eating, go out and buy some cup ramen. Daddy is very hungry right now.”

They ate dinner not that long ago, but it wasn’t surprising that he was already getting hungry. Jiwon gestured to the cupboard with her chin and replied.

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“We have ramen here. Should I make some for you?”

“No, I want to eat the triangle kimbap. I haven’t had it in a while.”

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“But you said you always eat food from the convenience store whenever you’re on a stake-out.”

“Just buy something and take a walk before coming home.”

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Jiwon caught on that something was feeling a little off. She pulled back and frowned. Her father had no shame and continued to whisper to his daughter.

“It’s been a while since I’ve last had some cozy time with your mother. I can’t come home often because of work, right? And lately, that kid Seokju has been staying in the living room and never sleeps… Ah… Now that I think about it, could it be that he read my mind and deliberately stayed out late tonight?”

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“Stop it.”

When her father’s mumbling took a strange turn, Jiwon shuddered and glared at him.

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“That’s disgusting. Seriously.”

Her father chuckled. Jiwon turned her back on him and grabbed her wallet. Even though her mother had threatened to divorce him hundreds of times, they would probably stay together until they died. This was because they led a fulfilled married life.

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If her mother hadn’t met her father, how difficult would her life have been? It was true that her mother suffered from all the trouble her father brought home. However, Jiwon knew very well that her mother deeply loved her father.

Jiwon’s biological father abandoned Jiwon’s mother when he found out she was pregnant, so Jiwon felt that she could understand her mother’s heart even more. If one took out loyalty and love from her father, he’d just be a shell. Her father would forever stay by her mother’s side.

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“I’ll be back soon.”

In order to help her parents maintain a happy married life, Jiwon decided to walk to the park for the first time in a while. Even though it was nighttime, it wasn’t that cold.

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“Time sure goes by fast.”

Her father had brought Seokju home at the break of the new year, and it was now already April. More than a hundred days had passed. According to her father, Seokju hadn’t received love, so his personality had grown twisted. That’s what he said…

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“How childish. A lack of affection?”

Jiwon murmured as she stomped on the empty can she had been kicking. Jiwon had once sat next to her mom and listened to her have a conversation with Youngkyun-ahjussi on the phone after he had lent them some money. From the way he sounded on the phone, he had a generous laugh and thick country accent. He didn’t sound like a violent man… But just as expected, one couldn’t tell a book by its cover.

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“Ah, I don’t know. I’ll just stop thinking about it.”

Worrying about a jerk she didn’t even like was ridiculous. If Seokju knew she was feeling this way, he’d sneer at her and tell her to mind her own business. Jiwon picked up the flattened can and began looking for a trash can.

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“Look at how this bastard is glaring at me. He might kill me at this rate, don’t you think?”

When she heard the unexpected words, Jiwon stopped in her tracks. She looked at the black rattan bench and narrowed her eyes. There was rarely anyone in this park, but she could see three or four figures wearing school uniforms.

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They were smoking cigarettes and surrounding someone. She suddenly had a hunch. She was sure some innocent bystander had been caught by a group of bullies. Jiwon pulled out her cellphone with a trembling hand.

“Hello? I would like to report an act of school violence. I’m currently at the park next to the redevelopment area. Yes, please come quick.”

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Jiwon hid herself behind the line of trees and lowered her voice. She wasn’t so stupid as to think she could take on several guys who were much larger than her. Her days of barging at strangers who were tormenting others were things of the past. The last time she’d done so, an enraged kid had grabbed her hair.

When Jiwon’s mother saw how her daughter would charge into trouble like an apostle of righteousness, she trembled in fear. However, Jiwon knew when to intervene and when not to. If it was a violence she could not handle, she would remember the events of the past, and her body would begin to tremble and grow damp with sweat.

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“Huu…”

Calm down, Park Jiwon. After she ended the call, she clenched her trembling hands and whispered to herself. Then she put her phone on video mode. She needed to record evidence to show the police when they got here.

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“Huh, what did this bastard say just now?”

“I said I enjoyed the show. Now get lost. Don’t make me angry.”

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Jiwon held her phone up and frowned. The voice sounded familiar. No way…

“Leading such a trashy life… Don’t you feel a sense of shame?”

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“…What?”

“If you don’t even know what ‘sense of shame’ means, then just go and commit suicide.”

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Jiwon closed her eyes. There was no way she didn’t recognize the main star who was currently saying words that scratched at one’s nerves. Just because they were bullies didn’t mean they could avoid the sharp knives of Seokju’s mouth from piercing their souls.

“Ah, you know what ‘suicide’ means, right?”

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The problem was that Seokju didn’t know how to stop at times like this.

“You fucking bastard, I’ll rip your mouth off…!”

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Smack! In the end, there was the sound of skin meeting skin. Jiwon bit her lips and drew in a deep breath.

“What are you doing?! Mess him up, fuck!”

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The bullies charged in and began to attack Seokju. Once the police were discharged, they’d get here in five minutes at the earliest. Even if they were late, it wouldn’t take more than ten minutes. Jiwon hoped Seokju would be able to endure it until then. As she continued to hide herself behind the line of trees, she began to approach them.

The violence was clearly captured by her phone. If one guy was knocked out, another one would charge in. And then another one. But… something was strange about this picture.

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“Uugh…! Ugh!!”

Jiwon’s eyes widened. All the guys who were flinging their fists stumbled to the ground. She thought Seokju would be the one who would get a merciless beating from the bullies for running his mouth, but that was not the case. As someone who had learned to box, Jiwon could clearly see that his fists held a lot of fighting intuition.

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And Seokju wasn’t only good at using his fists. He continued to stomp down on the face of the kid who had fallen to the ground. It was so violent that blood began to splatter on his white shoes. Rather than the fact that the infamous kid from the baseball team was being hit so easily, Jiwon was even more shocked that the one doing all the hitting was Shin Seokju.

Jiwon suddenly had a thought. It wasn’t that Seokju had learned to exercise his body. He had learned how to beat someone up so that they couldn’t get up afterwards.

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“My glasses are completely ruined because of you, fuck.”

Seokju’s black eyes gleamed in the dark as he spit on his opponent. Jiwon realized that his glasses had disappeared. His face without glasses… looked very familiar. Her heart began to thump against her chest. It felt strange.

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“You bastard… Do you plan on killing someone?!!”

One of the bullies began to charge at him again. After taking a fierce blow to his side, Seokju grabbed the bully’s hair and slammed it back against a wooden pillar. It was such a strong blow that the bully groaned.

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“Uugh…!”

“Wh-What is with that bastard?”

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The words that Jiwon wanted to say left the mouth of one of the bullies. The bully grabbed a brick lying on the road. When he met Seokju’s eyes, he shouted out.

“Hit me. If you think you can…”

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Seokju spit out in a low voice. The brick went flying, but there was no force behind it. Seokju picked up the brick that didn’t hit him. Now that the red brick was in his hand, it didn’t look heavy at all.

As Seokju slowly approached the bully, Jiwon whispered, ‘No’ without realizing it. Then she thrust her trembling fist into her pocket and searched for something. Ever since she received it from her father when she was young, she always kept it with her like a talisman. She never imagined she’d be using it at a time like this.

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Fweeet!

The shrill sound of a whistle rang out in the night sky. Everyone froze. Thankfully, at that moment, the siren lights of a police car began to illuminate the surroundings.

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“Run!!”

The bullies began to run, and the brick in Seokju’s hand fell to the ground with a thud. Seokju frowned when he saw the police car and began to exit the park. Just then, Jiwon burst out and grabbed his wrist before running in the opposite direction.

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“…What the—?”

“This way is faster.”

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Jiwon knew nothing good would come from running towards the police right now. Especially because the video she had captured on her phone clearly showed Seokju carrying out the violence.

“Hurry up and just follow me!!”