It wasn’t him who borrowed the loan shark money. Shouldn’t the person who borrowed it be the one to repay it? Of course, Yeonwoo knew that voicing such thoughts wouldn’t do any good. Nevertheless, he wanted to express his grievance, even if just a little.
“That money has nothing to do with me. Get it from the person who borrowed it.”
It was a vague statement, but he hoped the man would understand the point. In response, the man curled his lips as if he’d heard something incredibly amusing and shook his plump cheeks. As if pretending to hold back but failing, he let out a loud “Ha!” and pounded the table. Then he straightened his back and slapped Lee Jonghoon’s pale shoulder.
“Wow, the father’s a rat, but at least the son is a cat! That’s hilarious!”
After slapping Jonghoon’s shoulder a few more times hard enough to make onlookers wince, the man wiped the smile off his face as if he’d never been laughing and looked down at Yeonwoo.
“But use that joke only once. It’s not funny the second time.”
Then the man gestured to the thugs around him, saying, “Take him.”
Yeonwoo couldn’t resist the sudden grip on his arms pulling him up. Whenever he tried to resist, a palm much larger than his face would come threateningly close. His eyes wavered at the thick hand that threatened to strike him with sounds of “whack” and “crack.”
Yeonwoo desperately looked around. He was hoping someone might help. But until they reached the parking lot connected to the back of the restaurant, the few people they encountered were too terrified and hurried to escape.
Yeonwoo looked at Lee Jonghoon. Being dragged along in a similar state, he repeatedly asked why they were doing this and suggested resolving things through conversation. The man walking ahead responded:
“Right, conversation. That’s why we’re changing locations.”
In the parking lot was a large van with windows tinted so dark you couldn’t see inside.
“Well then, get in.”
The man who opened the van door turned to Yeonwoo and smiled, showing his teeth.
He never thought there could be something worse than his father collapsing.
He had only wished for his father to miraculously recover and to meet Munbeom a few more times. But it didn’t take long to realize that his desires weren’t so modest after all. How likely was his father to recover from Pheromone Hyperactivation Syndrome with its high mortality rate, and meeting Munbeom again would be nothing short of a miracle. It seemed this was what happened when you coveted what you shouldn’t have.
By this point, everything felt like his fault, and Yeonwoo’s head began to ache, making clear thinking impossible. Though he had been pretending to be calm, Yeonwoo was young. Having experienced so many shocking things in such a short time, the impact was tremendous, and just staying conscious under such extreme stress was overwhelming.
But losing consciousness here would be dangerous. While desperately clinging to his senses, they arrived after about an hour’s drive at a motel standing alone by the roadside.
The building appeared to be about seven stories tall, but only a few rooms had lights on. Lee Jonghoon resisted being taken into the poorly maintained building with its neglected parking lot and entrance, but received a couple of blows. With a suddenly bruised eye, Jonghoon was taken along with Yeonwoo into a room marked 403.
Jonghoon was thrown into the corner of the empty room, while Yeonwoo was pushed more gently and leaned his back against the wall. With the back of his head against the hard wall, Yeonwoo blinked rapidly. His stomach churned and heat rushed to his eyes, but he tried his best to hold back tears.
“Ah, done. The hardest part is bringing people in. Isn’t that right?”
Though others had done the physical work, the man acted as if he’d done it himself, shaking his head. He immediately approached Jonghoon. Jonghoon, who had painfully raised himself from the floor, swallowed hard as the man squatted in front of him.
“When dealing with money, we should be like brothers. I’ll call you hyung from now on. That okay?”
“I, I think it would be better if we just called each other ‘sir’…”
Despite being thoroughly intimidated, Jonghoon still flapped his mouth. The man raised the corners of his mouth in amusement and exclaimed, “Wow.”
“My brother, I knew you’d be like this from the first moment I saw you. Someone whose mouth would still float even if they fell in water. But you know what? I hate small fry who can only talk big. It really pisses me off. Even if they pay their debts on time, I just want to beat the crap out of them.”
When the man suddenly raised his fist, Jonghoon immediately lowered his head. As he mumbled barely audibly, asking why they were doing this, the man laughed incredulously.
“How the hell did someone like you borrow money? Well, I guess you had that good-looking omega son to rely on… Come to think of it, this is a really fucked-up situation. How could a father use his own child as collateral for a loan shark? The world’s gone crazy. Maybe that’s why your wife betrayed you.”
“…What?”
Jonghoon, who couldn’t even look directly at the man, urgently raised his head.
“Your wife suddenly contacted me and told me to make sure you repay properly. Said you might do something weird with that omega you had with some woman outside. At first, I imagined something else, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I get that you’re trying hard to sell your son to repay the debt, but honestly, the amount you borrowed from us isn’t small. What amazing family would invest that kind of money to take an omega?”
“So, my wife said that…”
“Listen to me. Your method isn’t bad, but with such a pretty omega son, there are better ways to make money. So if you leave your son here now, we’ll take care of things from there. You go home and try to appease your thoroughly upset wife. You don’t want to be miserable in your old age, right? Want to starve when you’re old?!”
Jonghoon flinched at the man’s outrageous scolding and blinked rapidly. He’d heard many words, but all that remained in his mind was to leave his son here. It was obvious what would happen if he left a dominant omega in a place like this.
The shocked Jonghoon unconsciously raised his head. Yeonwoo, who had been leaning against the wall since entering, shook his head vigorously when their eyes met.
Perhaps it was instinctual.
What choice Jonghoon, that person, would make.
While shaking his head, Yeonwoo unconsciously mumbled.
“…Don’t do this, please don’t.”
It was a childish plea, but Yeonwoo was desperate.
Jonghoon looked at the desperate Yeonwoo with trembling eyes before lowering his head. At that moment, the expression disappeared from Yeonwoo’s face, and the loan shark’s expression brightened.
“As expected of a businessman, quick-thinking. Then let’s move to another location, brother.”
The men standing by the entrance moved as if they’d been waiting. Jonghoon, terrified by the hands touching him but unable to shake them off, looked back and forth between the loan shark and Yeonwoo, his lips trembling with “th-that is.” But that was all. Jonghoon closed his mouth tightly and was dragged out with his head lowered, leaving Yeonwoo alone in the room.
“…”
Pressing closer to the wall, Yeonwoo could hear his own heart beating uncontrollably fast. Not only that, but he could also feel his increasingly rough breathing and the disgusting gazes on him with strange vividness.
What should I do in this situation?
“Come on, why are you trembling so much?”
Yeonwoo looked at the loan shark approaching him.
He stood at a reasonable distance, hands behind his back, looking at Yeonwoo. Even though he tried to smile pleasantly, his naturally menacing appearance didn’t help much.
“Don’t be scared. Uncle is only scary when working, normally I’m kind. The same goes for our Yeonwoo. If you just listen to me well and do a few things, you’ll be comfortable from then on. I don’t know if you’re aware, but that man borrowed my money using our Yeonwoo’s name. That money isn’t a small amount. It’s a huge sum. Our Yeonwoo, do you think you can repay that money?”
There was no way he could repay the 3 billion won. Looking at the man who was saying something impossible from the start, Yeonwoo repeated what he had already said.
“…I didn’t borrow that.”
“That’s right, you didn’t. But that father of yours borrowed it in our Yeonwoo’s name. So that means you borrowed it. Of course, you’ll feel wronged. So I tried to get as much as possible from your father, but oh my, don’t even mention it. That man has no business sense whatsoever. The 3 billion won can’t patch up his failed business. It’s like pouring water into a bottomless pot.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
