Chapter 38
“Why did you come here?”
Seeing Han Taekyung holding down one guy’s neck while breathing heavily, Seo Igeon realized there were seven of them here now.
“You crazy bastard! I came because you weren’t showing up!! Are these the cockroaches? Seven of them??”
“There were three at first, but when they couldn’t win, seven more came. Three are unconscious now.”
Han Taekyung spat out a “Ptui!” In the darkness, Igeon could tell it wasn’t just saliva but had blood mixed in. This wasn’t a situation where he could ask why Taekyung hadn’t called him. How could Taekyung call for help in this situation? Igeon felt a belated regret—I should have come up earlier!! Why did I wait those 5 minutes!Â
While dodging two men rushing toward him, Igeon threw kicks and punches. Fortunately, he knew where a person’s weak spots were and specialized in hitting those points, so the chance of knocking them out when they got hit was high. But there was a problem. They were holding wooden clubs and shovels. In other words, they had absolutely no intention of going easy on them.
“Do they really have to go this far?”
“Seo Igeon, beat them half to death no matter what. Don’t show any mercy.”
Han Taekyung had worried that Igeon might back down when first confronting them. If he backed down, Igeon would get hurt more. Though he didn’t say it out loud, they really needed to beat these guys with the intent to kill, or they wouldn’t retreat. At this point, he wanted to see the cockroach king who was controlling them. How on earth had he trained them to have such high loyalty?
“This is really too much.”
Fortunately, they seemed truly intent on killing Igeon. Thanks to that, Seo Igeon managed to knock them down one by one after regaining his senses, but real combat was different from practice. The black hoodies were professionally trained fighters. Their movements were completely different from athletes, making them unpredictable. Attacks weren’t as effective as expected, and just dodging took all his effort. Eventually, understanding why Han Taekyung was holding a wooden club, Igeon also picked up one lying on the floor and blocked their attacks. He struck one guy hard in the stomach with the club, then hit his leg, making him stagger forward. As the guy fell forward, Igeon kneed him in the face and kicked him away. That was just one guy knocked out. Cold sweat ran down his face. It was impressive how Han Taekyung had been holding out until now. Meanwhile, Han Taekyung had taken down two more. Now there were four left. Could they do it? Suddenly, all the taekwondo training felt useless. Life really came down to real combat after all.
“Seo Igeon! Behind you!”
At Han Taekyung’s shout, he tried to look behind him. But instead of turning around, he fell forward. One of the guys he’d knocked out in the elevator had regained consciousness and struck Igeon’s head with a wooden club. Despite the tremendous pain, he wanted to pass out, but thinking he’d truly die if he did, Igeon immediately regained consciousness. As the man approached, Igeon quickly dodged and picked up a shovel from the floor, striking the man’s leg. When the man staggered, Igeon didn’t miss the chance and brought the shovel down on his head. He had wondered if he really needed to go this far, but when faced with the threat of death, he realized he didn’t care about holding back or considering others’ circumstances. Meanwhile, Han Taekyung had taken down two more men. How many dangerous situations had he faced to become like this?
“Ah.”
A sticky liquid flowed from his forehead down his cheek. Blood? Damn it. Roughly wiping it with his sleeve, Igeon figured he needed to take down one of the remaining two men. Since he lacked power, he had no choice but to use tools. He swung the shovel, sharpening its edge, struck a man’s waist, then his head. One of the hooded men tilted forward and collapsed. Han Taekyung strangled the last one until he passed out.
Is it over? Hopefully no more would come. Han Taekyung looked at the elevator while catching his breath. Sure enough, seeing the elevator moving, Igeon gripped the shovel tightly. They wouldn’t send twenty people this time, would they?
“Seventh floor,” announced the mechanical voice as the elevator opened.
“Mr. Taekyung!”
Thankfully, instead of black hoodies, men in black suits rushed in calling Han Taekyung’s name.
“You’re late. I told you to come if I didn’t send a signal every 30 minutes.”
“We’re very sorry.”
“Clean this up.”
Han Taekyung walked over to Igeon, casually stepping on the men lying on the floor.
“Is your head okay… wait.”
He was about to say it was fine, but his face was grabbed first. Seeing the blood flowing from Igeon’s forehead, Han Taekyung felt like his heart stopped. He took off his jacket and held it against Igeon’s head.
“Call an ambulance!”
“Hey, I’m fine.”
“How are you fine? You’re bleeding like this.”
“It’s really okay.”
Hmm, actually a bit dizzy. Igeon slumped down to the floor. Han Taekyung called his name anxiously, but his eyes gradually closed. Life really was about practical experience after all.
â—†
Hospital smell.
Slowly opening his eyes to see the ceiling, it was indeed a hospital.
“Ugh…”
Opening his eyes was fine, but his head hurt as if it was splitting. Raising his hand, he found a bandage wrapped around his forehead. Now he understood why he was here. Thanks to the black hood, his head had been cracked. Recalling his last memory, Igeon laughed incredulously. Getting knocked out by a wooden club during a fight—life really was unpredictable.
“You’re awake?”
Han Taekyung opened the hospital room door and entered.
“Yeah. Huh??”
After answering, Igeon was surprised to see Han Taekyung’s face. Though he was in bad shape himself, Han Taekyung looked just as battered. His lip was split and his cheek was slightly swollen. Well, after facing multiple opponents alone, it would be strange if he wasn’t injured.
“They say nothing’s broken or fractured.”
“What about you?”
“Same for me.”
“That’s good.”
If anything had broken or been injured, it would have caused problems for taekwondo, which would obviously disrupt the second-half selection match.
“Haa… I’m sorry. It’s because of me.”
Han Taekyung sat in a chair and lowered his head.
“No. I should be the one apologizing for looking for you so late. I should have gone to find you sooner.”
“Don’t say that. That’s why I keep depending on you.”
“The great Han Taekyung depending on me? I’m honored. Ow!”
“What’s wrong? Does it hurt somewhere?”
He’d just frowned slightly because his head hurt, but Han Taekyung worried as if Igeon was about to die right then.
“Don’t overreact. My head just feels tight.”
“It’s torn. Fortunately, it’s near the crown, so even if there’s a scar, it won’t be visible.”
“That’s fortunate, but what about the hospital bills?”
“You don’t need to worry about that.”
“Okay. By the way, did you catch those cockroaches?”
“We’ve locked them all up. They’re probably being interrogated about who sent them right now.”
“I don’t think they’ll talk.”
“They’ll probably choose to serve their sentence without talking, right? They’ll get life imprisonment, though they don’t know that yet.”
“Life imprisonment??”
“I had to pull some strings.”
Ah… now he understood. It wasn’t actually a case that warranted life imprisonment, but Han Taekyung meant he’d use his family’s influence to push for that. That’s what connections and backing were for. Igeon nodded.
“Oh! Don’t contact Instructor Jin.”
“I haven’t yet, but why?”
“I don’t want to worry him.”
“Ah.”
Taekyung nodded, understanding what he meant.
“When can I be discharged?”
“Anytime is fine, but wouldn’t it be better to stay hospitalized a bit longer?”
“No way. I need to train.”
“Alright. Let’s discharge tomorrow. Tonight, it’s better to stay in the hospital just in case.”
“Okay.”
“Get some sleep. I’ll wake you when it’s time.”
It was partly because his head hurt, but it was also his usual sleeping time. And maybe because Taekyung had just told him to “get some sleep”? He suddenly felt very sleepy. Igeon said okay and closed his eyes. Soon, as Igeon fell asleep with steady breathing, Han Taekyung carefully held his hand.
He had been surprised when Igeon appeared. Of all times, he showed up at the most dangerous moment… if he hadn’t been an athlete, he would have been helplessly beaten. Moreover, when they hit his head with the club, the monster inside Taekyung had almost emerged again. He wanted to kill everyone there. The fact that they only had these minor injuries was truly heaven’s blessing. They could only say they were lucky.
“Mr. Taekyung.”
One of the bodyguards approached Taekyung as he left the hospital room after seeing Igeon was asleep.
“Do you have any news?”
“Yes, those guys weren’t Koreans at all.”
“If not Korean, then?”
“They were Filipino nationals. And upon investigation, about 30 Filipinos along with around 200 people from third countries entered over a period of about ten days. The whereabouts of about 150 of them are unclear.”
“A total of 180 people… Who ordered this?”
They clearly came for money. Whoever it was had spent a fortune. Was there some fund offering money for his genetic material? Otherwise, why keep spending money so dangerously?
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
