IMFOBO | CH 1 | More Villainous Than a Villain

More Villainous Than a Villain

 

Just 10 minutes ago, it was a picture-perfect, beautiful scene.

 

Beyond the low stone wall, the tea fields held morning dew and sparkled brilliantly green in the sunlight.

 

The blue roof tiles, which faded with time, harmonized perfectly with the scenery.

 

The usual peacefulness shattered when a group of thugs barged in.

 

Far too easily.

 

Harsh crashing sounds rang out one after another, nearly splitting the ears.

 

The men, not even bothering to take off their shoes, climbed onto the wooden porch and threw everything they could grab.

 

The sound of grandmother’s carefully crafted pottery breaking was deafening.

 

Eun-cho’s hands, usually occupied with preparing herbs or performing acupuncture, were far too delicate.

She was powerless to stop these vicious men’s violence alone.

 

“You beasts that even tigers wouldn’t touch! Stop it!”

 

Her breath rose up to her throat.

Finally, giving up on stopping the men, Eun-cho ran out to the courtyard.

One shoe had fallen off and her hair was disheveled, but even so, the fierce look in her eyes remained unbroken.

 

“Hey.”

 

Euncho glared with sharp eyes at the man chewing on a cigarette filter.

There was no use in dealing with these small fry.

Though he too was probably someone’s subordinate, he was clearly the head of this operation.

 

“Tell me what you want. You’ve caused enough damage by now.”

 

Not wanting to show her fear, Eun-cho clenched her fists tightly.

The man who had been squatting and chewing on his cigarette suddenly stood up at her calm voice.

He smiled mockingly as he slowly closed the distance. His bloodshot eyes seemed to sting.

 

“Oh? Not even crying. Pretty tough, aren’t you?”

 

The man, with a chilling scar near one eye, kicked the washbasin by the tap.

The washbasin flew ungracefully from his brutal kick and rolled at Eun-cho’s feet.

The edge of the washbasin, having lost its original shine from years of use, was now badly dented.

It felt like looking at herself, making her chest ache.

 

From her earliest memories, every corner of the old house where Eun-cho grew up bore grandmother’s touch.

Though old, everything was clean and neat.

Just watching this old house being trampled by strangers felt like her body was being torn apart.

 

It was the first time she felt grateful that grandmother was in the hospital. And that Jeong-seok and Suji were tied up at the clinic and didn’t have to face this trouble.

It was enough that she alone suffered this humiliation.

 

“Look, we don’t want to do such nasty things either. Just pay back the borrowed money, and everything will be clean.”

 

The man carelessly ground out his finished cigarette on the floor.

Euncho stared at the blackened mark, her eyes wide.

 

A year ago, after grandfather passed away, aunt inherited the old house.

The reason given was that her cousin Cho Tae Hee was sick and needed a large sum of money.

It wasn’t long before they discovered that was a blatant lie.

 

Aunt had taken out loans to the limit using this house—passed down for generations—and grandmother’s workshop—where she’d spent her lifetime making pottery as a living national treasure—as collateral.

Only recently did they learn that she’d thrown herself into a debt party with all sorts of cryptocurrency and stocks on top of that.

Now even loan sharks were showing up—it couldn’t get any more rock bottom than this.

 

“The person who borrowed money is someone else. Stop causing trouble and get out.”

“You little… your mouth is quite foul despite your looks, huh?”

 

Just give us the money. Then we’ll leave.

 

The man’s words scraped harshly at her ears.

The debt, which had grown and grown, had long since surpassed the original amount.

They realized this far too late.

They probably used dirty tactics to extract as much interest as possible.

 

Through this gang of thugs, Eun-cho learned there were lawless zones where law and common sense didn’t apply.

They were rude and brutal enough to make her realize just how naively she had been living.

 

“Ugh.”

“If you don’t have money, we could cut open your belly. Might find something useful there, right, Miss Fancy Doctor? Hm?”

 

In the blink of an eye, the man grabbed Eun-cho’s hair.

Her head was yanked back with pain that felt like her scalp would tear off.

His satisfied smile looked like that of a monster.

It was a scene completely at odds with the clear autumn sky.

 

“Let go!”

“Need to teach you some manners, kid.”

“I’m not a kid! I’m old enough!”

 

Eun-cho kicked the man’s shin with all her might.

As if he hadn’t expected this kind of resistance, his stance wavered, creating an opening.

With do-or-die determination, she bit down hard on the man’s hand.

 

“Argh! You vicious bitch!”

 

A strong smell of stale cigarettes washed over her, and her mouth felt fishy and heavy.

The man, grimacing intensely, began shaking his arm violently.

Even as she was being shaken around, Eun-cho hung on like a mad dog.

But when another man grabbed her nape and forcefully pulled her away, her slender body couldn’t hold on.

Eun-cho stumbled, was thrown far, hit the main gate, and collapsed to the ground.

 

The old wooden gate of the house shook heavily, making it feel like even the stone walls were trembling.

The impact was so strong that her shoulder hurt to the point she couldn’t breathe for a moment.

 

“Oh? Seems we have an earlier guest?”

 

That’s when it happened.

A low, dry voice cut through the surroundings.

Even amid the sounds of things breaking and shattering, that carelessly dropped voice was distinctly clear.

 

Eun-cho looked at the unfamiliar man crossing the courtyard.

The man stepped between the thug and Eun-cho as leisurely as if it were his own home.

From his spotless shoes to his crisply pressed suit, the man exuded a somewhat roguish atmosphere.

 

She had to lift her head quite high to see the man’s face.

An abyss. His pitch-black, mineral-like eyes were so deep you couldn’t see inside them.

As if enchanted, she stared at his sharp eyes with their slightly upturned corners, and for a moment her mouth went dry.

 

“…”

 

The man, briefly meeting her gaze, smiled faintly.

As if meeting someone he knew.

It seemed clear he was smiling at her, but his intentions couldn’t be understood.

 

“Shall we clean up this mess?”

 

The man gestured with his chin, his white shirt sleeves carelessly rolled up.

A feeling of being crushed by sheer presence. Just by standing quietly in the same space, his overwhelming aura made even the thugs hesitate.

The air around the man seemed to become densely taut.

 

“Who the hell is this bastard?”

 

The loan shark’s curse toward the unexpected visitor broke the tension.

Though one might expect someone to turn back in fear after seeing such chaos, the man was excessively calm.

Like someone very familiar with such situations.

 

“Hmm, I’m looking for the Bongsuji area.”

 

His cool, long eyes swept back and forth between the rough-looking man and Eun-cho.

His sharp gaze stopped at Eun-cho’s face.

His persistent stare stayed fixed as if glued.

Her neck stiffened with tension under his gaze, which was rude in its directness.

Despite his eyes showing no particular interest or emotion.

 

In the end, Eun-cho was the first to break eye contact.

Her eyes narrowed considerably.

If this suddenly appeared man was looking for her friend Su-ji, who was currently on a love escape, this situation would be equally uncomfortable.

 

“This bastard’s getting cocky for no reason?”

 

The thug thrust his fist quickly.

The man simply caught the flying fist with one hand and twisted the arm behind the thug’s back. Without any impact at all.

 

“Argh!”

“Boss!”

 

At the sudden scream, all the thugs who had been ransacking the house came rushing out at once.

Though the gangsters boldly surrounded the man, they couldn’t move easily since their boss was the one caught.

Even among the burly men, the tall man’s presence wasn’t diminished—rather, he stood out even more.

He was a man who didn’t fit at all in this rural corner.

It was then that his lips, which had been notably out of place with the scenery, opened again.

 

“No respect for hierarchy. No manners either.”

 

At his carelessly dropped words, Eun-cho’s eyes wavered slightly.

A heavy yet soft vetiver scent invaded her nose.

As soon as their eyes met, the stranger gave a smooth smile.

It was a clean face that didn’t match this chaos at all.

Ridiculously, that smile only intensified the explosive tension.

 

“Want help?”

 

The man, still holding the thug’s arm twisted behind his back, asked Eun-cho.

Though he smiled gently, he couldn’t completely erase his inherently intimidating aura and delinquent-like quality.

Though he was qualitatively different from those small-time thugs.

 

For a moment, Eun-cho thought hard.

Clearly, those loan sharks were villains, but why did this man feel like an even more dangerous villain?

Her instincts warned her not to grab his offered hand.

 

“Of course, it’s not free.”

 

Since I don’t have a hobby of volunteering.

 

He smiled smoothly again.

As if suggesting she could back out anytime.

It was a polite yet dangerous smile that didn’t match his crooked tone.