By Zephyria 
—You’re not going to the construction site dressed like that, are you?
“In my heart, I wanted to wear it. But that would be blasphemy, wouldn’t it?”
He could hear Mu-gyeong snorting over the phone. Gyu-oh chewed his gum in time with that sound.
“But I do look killer in clothes. Even the priest coveted it.”
—As if. He probably wanted to seduce you into repenting.
The coveting part was true. The priest who first helped him put on the priest robes had given him two thumbs up.
Moreover, he had taken selfies in the priest robes and sent them to Min-ho Hyung; he thought Hyung was just reading and ignoring them every time, but seeing as several of his photos were saved on Hyung’s phone… it was certain that he looked killer in the clothes.
However, he didn’t want to bring up the story about Min-ho to Mu-gyeong for no reason. A secret between Won Gyu-oh and Cha Min-ho alone? Well, he wanted to keep it that way.
“I’ve been repenting so damn often lately that he’s probably sick of me. I’ve arrived.”
What was visible in the immediate vicinity was the construction site. It was a busy period for erecting the framework, but it was strangely quiet. Almost like an abandoned construction site.
—They’re persistent, so get rid of them well.
“Okay.”
Gyu-oh had been very busy lately. Since Min-ho was on vacation, his assigned workload had inevitably increased a bit, and he was currently diverting all the tasks that would normally go to Hyung toward himself for the time being.
In the morning, he stopped by the office to handle paperwork, and during the day, he went in and out of the cathedral in priest robes. In the afternoon, he occasionally made rounds at the construction sites, and today was a somewhat urgent site visit.
“Hard labor, hard labor, a happy song—”
To forget his tired body and mind, he hummed whatever words came to mind. Mental awakening was essential before facing hard work.
This was a site for building a complex office-tel, and it was said that people from the shopping center opposite came to the site almost every day to cause a scene, claiming the view was ruined. Apparently, there was one unit, not even that large, that was being blocked. Despite it being a problem-free construction carried out with permits, the complaints from the opposite building never ceased.
Eventually, gangsters began frequenting the construction site, and from then on, the work started to creak. Sensing the hesitation, the frequency of the gangsters’ rampages increased.
He wondered why they were attacking so earnestly, only to find out they were guys working in the building protesting that the lake view was blocked.
The entire shopping center in that building was in on it. It was a collection of a nightclub, lodging facilities, cafes, and massage shops operated by an organized crime group well-known in the neighborhood.
“Kids these days are so soft. Why does a view even matter when you’re working?”
Tsk, Gyu-oh clicked his tongue, pulled down the sun visor, and captured his reflection in the small mirror. He pushed his fingers through his hair, which he had swept back as neatly as possible, and shook it gently. Then, he took out the cross necklace he had been wearing all day and gripped it tightly in both hands.
“I shall go perform some true education for a moment. Please forgive my sins in advance and kindly watch over our Min-ho Hyung to see if he strays onto another path.”
After muttering with his eyes tightly shut, he carefully hung the necklace on the room mirror. As he stepped out of the car, a cold wind dove sharply into his collar. Gyu-oh, who had pulled the mustang zipper up to the top, hunched his shoulders and shivered.
“Ah, fuck. It’s freezing.”
Because it had snowed last night, a crunching sound followed his steps. With white breath spreading through the gaps of his lips every time he breathed, he headed toward the construction site.
“Should I just slam your head into the snowfield?”
Low-class threats already pierced his ears. Near the container, a few workers, the site foreman, and a bunch of lounging gangsters were gathered. Perhaps because it was cold, the group of gangsters, wrapped tightly in long black padding, created a threatening sight as they surrounded the workers.
“Or should I just lock you up here? Want to become a frozen pollack?”
He raised a hand like a toad and displayed a rough attitude. Gyu-oh, who had been chewing gum while moving his jaw calmly, turned his head. On one side, a fire had been lit in a drum to warm up. Pieces of wood and scrap paper were burning fiercely inside.
“Ugh, how old is that repertoire?”
Leaving the ear-splitting, low-class threats behind, he pulled out a piece of square timber stuck in the drum. Ash fell in clusters from the blackened end. He dragged it along as he approached the group of gangsters.
“Fuck, you think we’re afraid of the police? Those guys are all in our hands, huh?”
Next to a large man with his hand on his hip, sacks containing waste were piled up. Gyu-oh stepped toward them. At his sudden appearance, the gangsters’ gazes began to shift one by one.
“What’s that?”
“Hey. Who the fuck are you?”
Without responding to the provocative voices, he put strength into his stride. After pushing off the ground powerfully as if taking a running start, he swung the sack of waste with a full swing. Thwack! A fairly loud sound echoed, and the square timber snapped into two pieces.
“Ah, the impact is great.”
“What the hell is this?”
The guys who had been threatening the workers completely turned their bodies to face Gyu-oh. Receiving everyone’s attention, Gyu-oh pushed the gum forward with the tip of his tongue. A bubble inflated through his pursed lips. Pop! As a fairly large bubble burst, a fresh scent that didn’t suit the grim atmosphere spread.
“What are you staring at? Want me to smack you too?”
Asking that, he spat out the gum he had been chewing. The small lump dropped right at the feet of the man standing in the front. Gyu-oh rubbed his tingling jaw a few times with his palm and stared intently at them, urging them.
“Answer.”
“What, what? You little shit!”
Toward those trying to lunge threateningly, he whipped up the half-broken square timber. As he thrust the sharp, broken end forward, the big guys flinched.
“If I burn your eyes out, you won’t need a view. Right, Foreman?”
“…That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
The site foreman adjusted his hard hat and agreed. As soon as he finished speaking, the gangsters shouted some curses and lunged properly. Gyu-oh spun the square timber in his hand and applied strength.
Seven? It’ll be over in 7 minutes. Without being intimidated by the guys attacking in a cowardly group, he curled the corner of his mouth and smirked.
“What happens if you come back again?”
Gyu-oh paced back and forth in front of the men who were kneeling in a row in a corner of the construction site. He looked relaxed, with his hands shoved in his pockets. The gangsters were big in size, but completely lacking in substance.
“I-I’ll gouge your eyes out!”
A man whose face was swollen and bruised all over squeezed his eyes shut and shouted loudly. His voice cracked at the end, making it look ridiculous, but no one laughed.
“Specifically the left eye.”
Gyu-oh enunciated clearly, pointing to the area below the left eye with his index finger. At that, a few of the kneeling men murmured, “Left eye,” following along.
“I knew someone who didn’t have a left eye. Do you know what happened to him?”
“…….”
Naturally, it was a question to which no one knew the answer. The gangsters all shook their heads in unison. It was funny to see them so shrunken despite their large frames.
Gyu-oh approached the man sitting at the very front and bent his knees. He seemed to be the leader, but he was also the one who had been knocked down most easily. As their eyes met at the same level, the man’s shoulders flinched.
“He went far—far away to the sea.”
Gyu-oh wrapped his arm firmly around the man’s shoulder and raised a finger in the air. In the direction he pointed, the lake they had been so obsessed with would be located.
“Do you guys want to end up like that too?”
“N-no! No, sir, that’s not it.”
“Then what should you do? You should just shut up and live your lives, righttt?”
As Gyu-oh dragged out the end of his sentence, the gangster in his arms nodded frantically. Droplets of blood clinging to the tip of his nose fell, drawing red dots on his thigh and the ground. Because the snow hadn’t melted in the shade, the men were kneeling on the freezing snowfield. Their kneecaps were probably freezing their asses off, but it seemed they needed a bit more mental discipline.
“The view isn’t the problem; you guys just lack will, will.”
“…….”
“If you crawl out and look, it’s a lake view, and if you turn your eyes that way, it’s a city view. You can just turn your eyes or your body depending on your mood, right?”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“The teachers working here are all older than you……”
Gyu-oh trailed off, glancing over the gangster’s face. In truth, he probably wasn’t that different from the site foreman. His face looked roughly ten years older than Gyu-oh’s. Even considering that gangsters usually look aged from unnecessary hardship, he was at least seven years older.
“You look older than me too, mid-thirties?”
“Yes, y-yes.”
“Oh dear.”
How could two people in their mid-thirties be so different? When my Min-ho Hyung wears a tracksuit, he looks almost like he’s in his twenties. Of course, that’s probably only in my eyes.
“I’m thirty. You’re not offended that I’m speaking casually, right?”
“No! I-it’s fine!”
The man straightened his back and shook his head vigorously. His gaze remained fixed on the white snowfield rather than on Gyu-oh.
“Anyway, is it right for a guy who’s eaten enough years to be messing around where adults are working? How rude.”
“N-no, I can’t. Elders, sirs. Yes……”
“Right. In the land of courtesy, you should at least keep that.”
After patting the back covered in a thick padding jacket a couple of times, Gyu-oh pulled the shoulder strongly. He brought his lips close to the man’s ear and whispered softly.
“Now, then, we’ve reached an agreement, right?”
“…….”
Reading the hesitation, Gyu-oh tightened his grip on the shoulder. As the loud sound of the padding crunching echoed, the man gave an awkward nod.
“Your answer is quite lackluster. Let’s just write a blood oath.”
“B-blood oath?”
The man’s eyes wavered. Although there was already plenty of blood flowing down his face, Gyu-oh grabbed the gangster’s toad-like hand. He held up one thick finger adorned with a gold ring and pulled it close, as if to put it in his mouth.
“Yeah. With your blood. Wouldn’t it bleed if I bit it?”
As he said this, he clicked his teeth together. He could feel the man trying to pull his hand away, but Gyu-oh didn’t let go.
“W-we’ve agreed! We have!”
Just before the fingertips touched the threateningly clicking teeth—Screech! The man let out a shrill cry. The shout echoed like a reverberation in the open space.
“My, it’s so nice when communication goes well. The office is over there, right? I’ll escort you.”
Despite their refusals, he insisted on following the gangsters. He even took a tour of various parts of the office, making it clear that he knew exactly where they worked.
There were no proper procedures or ordinary settlements like the other Hyungs talked about. Still, for Won Gyu-oh, today was another mission clear.