By Zephyria 
Just then, a voice called out from the third floor where Gyu-oh and Son Pro had been. The person seemed quite surprised to see the blood flowing from his forehead.
“Team leader! Are you alright?”
Instead of speaking, Gyu-oh drew a circle with his finger. After spitting out saliva that tasted of blood, he picked up a piece of twine lying on the ground. It was covered in mud, but it was quite long. With it, he tightly bound Son Pro’s wrists. Then, he left a long length of string and wrapped the end around his own ankle. This should allow him to search the vicinity.
After stomping his foot, he pushed through the brush where dry grass grew high. Mud-caked sneakers, beverage cans, and workbooks were scattered everywhere. Finding a phone smaller than a palm among them was no easy task.
“Where is it?”
Rustle, rustle. Every time he moved his feet or reached out, he heard the sound of dry grass crumbling. It was then. He saw something like a phone through the gaps in the grass. He wasn’t entirely sure because the blood flowing from his forehead was wetting his eyelid, forcing him to squint one eye.
“Ugh……”
Wiping the blood with the back of his hand, Gyu-oh knelt and reached into the grass. Now, Gyu-oh’s figure would be completely hidden among the withered grass.
Sifting through the grass, he picked up a white object. It was indeed a phone, but a different model from the one Son Pro had been holding.
“Aw, damn it.”
The moment he irritably threw the terminal away, a sharp voice flew in from behind. It was a voice that shouldn’t have been heard here.
“Won Gyu-oh, behind you!”
Startled, Gyu-oh quickly stood up and stepped back. It was a reflexive action. Simultaneously, Son Pro, whose hands were tied, had been holding a large stone and wavered. The stone he had held high was immediately slammed into the ground.
Thump! It was a fairly loud sound. If he had been hit by that, his skull would have probably been crushed. He would have died right here before being beaten to death by Hyung Min-ho.
“……Crazy bastard.”
He gave a hard kick to the shoulder of Son Pro, who couldn’t maintain his balance. Then, he turned his gaze toward the voice that had warned him of the danger.
Standing there was Cha Min-ho, wearing only a patient gown with a thin zip-up jacket thrown over it. His face was pale, clutching his side. Every time he gasped for labored breath, a white mist spread from his mouth.
“How did you get here……”
Did he come alone? Gyu-oh, pretending to be flustered, quickly scanned the area. A familiar car was parked near where he had left his motorcycle, and Mu-gyeong was just stepping out of it.
“Hyung, wait in the car. It’s cold.”
“Won Gyu-oh, come here first.”
Leaning his body while holding his side, Min-ho kept calling him. Upon noticing the blood flowing from his forehead, his face crumpled instantly.
“Just stay in the car.”
“…….”
Even if it was large, the abandoned building had the atmosphere of a warehouse, so it wouldn’t be good for Min-ho to stay long. Moreover, he didn’t want him to encounter Son Pro, who was crawling through the grass.
Soon, the guys from upstairs would come down, and Mu-gyeong would arrive here. It wasn’t a situation where he necessarily had to clean everything up himself, but he wanted to catch Son Pro with his own hands. No matter what.
Anyway, Son Pro was like a rat in a trap. Cleaning up after him wouldn’t be that difficult. Gyu-oh cut the string wrapped around his ankle and walked, pulling it by hand.
“Running away is a habit, isn’t it?”
“Augh……”
“You’re dead.”
Acting like a baby when he wasn’t even bleeding. After checking on Min-ho visible beyond the tall grass, he bent his waist. Then, he climbed on top of Son Pro, who was crawling on the ground.
Thwack, thwack! After that, he swung his fists indiscriminately. The man’s face, which had been covered only in dust, began to be stained with blood. The hands of the person hitting were also becoming hot and wet, but Gyu-oh did not stop.
“S-stop it!”
“Stop what! This obscene head! I should just crush it! You crazy bastard! How! Could you! Link! Hyung and that old man!”
Dull noises were mixed between the words. Ugh, mmpf. The groans gradually faded. He grabbed the collar of the limp man and threw another punch. Should he break all the teeth so he can’t talk nonsense? Should he crush the nasal bone so he can’t breathe? He had to make him suffer as much as possible while keeping him conscious. The strength in his tightly clenched fists showed no sign of waning.
“Stop it!”
He must have been so excited and breathing so heavily that he didn’t hear the rustling of the grass. Suddenly, Min-ho’s voice sounded in his ear, and then his wrist was grabbed. His entire body froze as if under a spell.
As Gyu-oh slightly turned his head, his vision was filled with a sweating Min-ho. In weather so cold that breath misted with every exhale, cold sweat had formed on his forehead.
“Did you run here?”
Wiping his drenched eyes with his palm, Gyu-oh stood up unsteadily. He stood with one foot pressing firmly onto the thigh of Son Pro, who had collapsed, nearly unconscious.
“I can’t run yet. What is this?”
Min-ho, catching his breath with heaving shoulders, urgently took off his zip-up. He immediately rolled it up and pressed it firmly against Gyu-oh’s forehead to stop the bleeding. Because of the slight height difference, Gyu-oh leaned his waist down a bit.
“I told you to wear a helmet.”
“I didn’t get hurt because of the motorcycle.”
While talking back persistently, his eyes scanned the ground, and his foot kept stomping on Son Pro’s thigh.
“I know, you crazy bastard. You should keep it on. Do you know how fucking shocked I was seeing you fall?”
He must have been truly shocked, as he barked with a faster-than-usual pace, even mixing in curses. Even though it was a scolding lecture, strangely, his heart raced. He had wanted to appear cool in front of Hyung without a single scratch. He had wanted to ask what those words earlier meant while setting the mood.
“It’s not like this is the first or second time I’ve done this.”
“What are you doing leaving the stairs behind. That bastard couldn’t have run far anyway!”
With so many people around. Even though he was being scolded for taking impulsive action alone, he didn’t feel bad at all.
“You must have been really worried. Hyung’s hand is shaking.”
“…….”
Min-ho, who had been nagging without pause, shut his mouth tight. Instead, only the white breath blurred Gyu-oh’s vision.
As Gyu-oh waited quietly for the ensuing scolding with his gaze lowered, his eyes widened. It was because he saw a familiar phone at Min-ho’s feet. It was clearly the same model Son Pro had been holding, and it was very clean.
“Ah!”
Gyu-oh quickly bent his waist and picked it up. When he opened the screen, it lit up, meaning there was still battery left.
“Found it, fuck.”
He let out a long sigh of relief while kneeling. A warm sensation spread again near his forehead where Min-ho had been stopping the bleeding. Feeling the blood flow, he tried to cover his forehead again, and Min-ho hurriedly lowered himself to sit.
“Ah, ugh.”
Perhaps because of the injury, a moan came as a bonus. Before he could ask if he was okay, Min-ho’s question came first.
“What is that?”
With one hand covering the back of his head and the other stopping the bleeding on his forehead. It had been stinging and tingling until a moment ago. Perhaps thanks to Min-ho’s touch, it didn’t seem to hurt at all.
“There’s something.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say there might be fabricated information linking Hyung and the Executive Director, so he just gripped the device tightly.
“Hey. Should I move this thing you caught to the junkyard?”
Just then, a low voice came from behind. It was Mu-gyeong, standing crookedly and poking the head of the sprawled man. He shrugged, specifically phrasing it as “the thing you caught.” It felt as if he was acknowledging that the reckless act hadn’t been in vain.
“For now, separate collection, please.”
He replied with a smirk. At the same time, the sound of rushing footsteps echoed. The thugs who had been scattered throughout the abandoned building were gathering in one place, bringing along the lackeys Son Pro kept around.
By now, it should have been safe to say the matter was tidily wrapped up. However, he wasn’t entirely at peace, not knowing what kind of data that bastard might have held regarding Min-ho and the Executive Director. He wanted to check immediately, but with Min-ho clinging tightly to his side, he couldn’t even look through it as he pleased.
“He needs to go to the hospital. Now.”
Min-ho relayed the situation to Mu-gyeong, who was tapping the cheek of the sprawled-out Son Pro to check for consciousness. Normally, Gyu-oh wasn’t the type to whine over injuries of this magnitude, and handling the aftermath was part of his role, but he didn’t want to escape the worried touch covering his forehead.
“Go. I didn’t turn off the engine.”
Since Min-ho was a man of precision, Gyu-oh thought he’d be kicked out and told to ride the motorcycle away in style. Unexpectedly, a gentle permission was granted.
‘Let’s go.’
Meeting his eyes, Min-ho’s lips moved silently. It felt as if Gyu-oh’s own face was reflected in those brown eyes filled with worry. The pale breath scattering from between those red, chapped lips touched him softly, as if stroking his wounds.
It was truly winter now. A season too cold to endure alone.
“……Yeah, let’s go.”
Gyu-oh was certain. After today, he would earn the right to endure the winter by Min-ho’s side. He handed the motorcycle keys to Mu-gyeong and started to walk away, but then turned back. Min-ho’s puzzled gaze followed, but Gyu-oh simply lifted one leg high.
“What—”
Before the question of what he was doing could even finish, he slammed his foot down. Crack! The sound of bone twisting echoed beneath Son Pro’s knee. Even while unconscious, that greasy face crumpled in pain. With this, he wouldn’t be able to escape even if he crawled.
“What a temper.”
Mu-gyeong muttered loud enough for everyone to hear and waved a gloved hand, telling him to get lost.
“Just go, you human.”
Min-ho sighed and patted his back. He seemed to have held back as much strength as possible, but it still stung quite a bit. Min-ho Hyung’s hand must have hurt too. As soon as that thought occurred, Gyu-oh shifted uncomfortably and tightly gripped the hand resting on his waist. Even then, seeing Min-ho stretch his arm long to keep his hand pressing on Gyu-oh’s forehead without letting go made his heart flutter.