BB 93

“Enough. I’m leaving now.”

—Ssshp, that’s a bit problematic. Articles are starting to go up.

“Articles?”

Irritation surged. By “articles,” he clearly meant tying him to Woo-won. Fuck, he had been anxious to avoid staining the company’s name no matter what. What the hell was this old man rambling about?

—Just suffer for a few days. The place isn’t too bad to stay in. Once things are wrapped up cleanly, I’ll definitely compensate you, really.

“Has this crazy old man gone senile?”

Beep, beep. The call was abruptly cut off at his curse. The employee who had been holding the phone also quickly stepped back and tucked the device into his inner pocket.

“If you stay quiet, we will send you back safely.”

“What kind of fucked-up development is this? I should be bowing in gratitude, and instead, he stabs me in the back?”

If he had known this would happen, he would have just let the Executive Director get fucked, regardless of how much Son Pro threw a fit. Instead of being grateful for getting rid of Son Pro, he’s using them to cast them off? As they say, the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. How could both father and son be so excellently fucked up?

“…There’s a restroom over there, and we’ll bring you meals twice a day.”

The two men hurriedly turned their bodies, blocking the entrance from view. Even then, the outside remained quiet. Seeing the ‘For Rent’ banners fluttering in the surrounding shops, it seemed the place would remain desolate throughout his confinement.

“Stop bullshitting and move.”

“Let’s not make the atmosphere unnecessarily hostile.”

The men spoke menacingly and then approached, rolling up their shirt sleeves. They likely intended to overwhelm him with numbers and use force to seize the phone. They probably expected him to be frightened at this point… but although it had been a long time since he’d thrown a punch, he wasn’t exactly an ordinary office worker.

Min-ho stepped back slightly and unwrapped the watch from his wrist. He then gripped the strap tightly, wrapping it around the area between the back of his hand and his knuckles.

“You must have watched a lot of movies, Director.”

The dark-skinned guy sneered and lunged forward quickly. His movements seemed fast, but he appeared to be the type who let his emotions lead. Min-ho, touching his side which had almost fully healed, clenched his fist. After leaning his center of gravity as if changing direction, he immediately bent his knee and drove it up into the guy’s lower abdomen.

“Ugh!”

A suppressed moan erupted.

Crazy, I almost blew out my knee. After striking the solid torso, he immediately drove his elbow up, aiming for the broad back. After slamming down with his elbow, he turned his body to avoid the hand trying to wrap around his thigh.

“Stop groping me, you freak.”

The man had only grabbed him to maintain balance, but Min-ho gave him a look of contempt as if he were a molester.

“Director, you must have exercised? Still, let’s not waste your strength. The result is—”

As the guy acted relaxed, tilting his head from side to side, Min-ho threw the watch straight at his face. Luckily, it landed squarely on his forehead with a loud noise.

“Gah, fuck!”

The man’s face contorted as he covered his eye, which had been hit by the watch strap. Min-ho immediately lunged forward and drove his fist onto the back of the man’s hand. Thwack! A sound like skin tearing echoed, and the man bent his waist, crying out in pain.

“Ah, I thought my wrist was going to snap.”

The person hitting felt the pain just as much. Perhaps because he spent his life pounding a keyboard and gripping a mouse, his wrist occasionally hurt, and now his knuckles were tingling from the punch.

Shaking his hand in the air, Min-ho kicked the dark-skinned guy in the nape of the neck as he struggled to stand up, as if venting his anger.

“Ack, ugh!”

The guy rolled away, coughing violently. Listening to the sound of him gasping for air, his nape turning red, Min-ho clenched his tingling fist.

For someone who hasn’t used his body in a very long time, this seems usable enough, right? Rotating his shoulders, he strode toward the man sprawled on the floor. He locked eyes with the man, whose eye was red from the direct hit of the watch.

“You fucked-up piece of shit, you keep climbing just because I was lenient?”

It seemed he was done with the polite speech. The man screamed at the top of his lungs and lunged. He rammed his body in like a wild boar while simultaneously stomping hard on Min-ho’s foot.

“Ah, ugh.”

Because of that, his step was hindered, and he had no choice but to tumble to the floor. Since he had to endure the weight of the boar-like man while falling, his backside felt numb.

“Crazy!”

Intending to subdue the agitated man, he rolled on the floor and pushed himself up with his knees. It was then.

Rattle!

Someone was violently shaking the glass door. Whether it had been locked or not, the door shook loudly, and the bell attached to the top jingled noisily.

“Wha, what is it.”

The man, with a clear mark from the watch, rolled his eyes in confusion. Min-ho, gently rubbing his aching side, didn’t miss the opening and quickly threw himself forward.

“Aaaah!”

With a loud noise, the two of them tumbled together in a heap. In the struggle, the phone in the man’s jacket pocket rolled away.

“Fuck, no!”

The men seemed quite panicked. The one who had been coughing as if spitting blood crawled across the floor to retrieve the phone, so Min-ho quickly reached out his arm.

“No! Hey, grab it quickly!”

The man who had lunged from behind blocked Min-ho. Even when shaken off by force, he clung again, wrapping around his shoulder or nape.

“Let go, you lunatic.”

Boom! Crash!

A massive roar followed, loud enough to echo through the chaotic interior. Soon, a tremendous shattering sound spread, and one of the glass panels collapsed in a heap. Sharp shards scattered at the feet of the panicked man.

“Fuck. These sons of bitches are making me lose my temper again.”

As Min-ho shook off the man pressing down on him with his whole body, a familiar voice pierced his ears. The owner of the highly agitated voice was undoubtedly Won Gyu-oh. He was even dressed in black priest robes, as if he had come straight from the cathedral, holding a motorcycle helmet that didn’t suit the attire. The long hem of the priest robes fluttered in the winter wind.

“…You, how did you get here?”

Min-ho, who had been gripping both wrists of the clinging man, spoke in a stunned voice. Not much time had passed for him to have come looking just because contact was lost… Gyu-oh stepped boldly onto the floor where glass shards lay scattered. Crunch, crunch. The sound of fragments being stepped on by sneakers was chilling.

“It’s the Director’s business; I should have crawled back from the dead to be here.”

“Wha, what is that now?”

Gyu-oh strode toward the guy who had finally snatched the phone. The man beneath Min-ho, also panicked, struggled more violently. His swinging arm hit Min-ho’s barely healed side, making his vision flash.

“Ugh.”

Suppressing a scream, he slammed his elbow into the man’s nape. The man let out a short shriek and went limp.

“Huh, ugh! Ah!”

Simultaneously, a dull thud followed from the other side. The guy, who had desperately clung to the phone, had now lost it and was curled up in a corner, while Gyu-oh was relentlessly delivering powerful kicks. The hem of the priest robes fluttered violently. It was behavior that didn’t suit the outfit, but that was typical of Won Gyu-oh.

“Ah, that was intense.”

Since the other side was handling things well, there was nothing to worry about. Gripping his side, Min-ho picked up the phone rolling on the floor. Without time to check what was inside, he pressed the call button. The signal didn’t even last for two rings. Immediately, a fierce voice scratched his ear.

—What now!

“You son of a bitch. How do you hang up on someone like that? Do you think just getting old makes you something?”

—…

The Executive Director seemed taken aback by the sudden barrage of curses and gasped. But Min-ho’s anger had not yet subsided. Running his hand through his hair with a trembling hand, he poured out the rest of his curses.

“You piece of shit, you’re not going to answer? How are the son and father both equally fucked up? I’m going to tear everything down—”

Before he could finish, the call was cut off again. Looking down at the screen where the numbers no longer climbed, Min-ho gnashed his teeth.

“This bastard, really…”

The moment he was about to call back, a hand reached out from behind and snatched the phone away.

“I came here stepping on it because I was worried it might be dangerous, but you were already beating them to a pulp. So fucking cool.”

Gyu-oh, holding the phone in one hand, gave a thumbs-up. As he tilted his head, the guy who had been beaten by Gyu-oh until now was also lying limp on the floor.

“…I can still handle it on my own.”

“Yeah, exactly. Seriously, think about joining as the youngest.”

Gyu-oh leaned in and brushed off the dust on Min-ho’s pants. He was the one wearing pitch-black clothes, yet he only cared about Min-ho’s attire.

“You’ve been saying that since last time. In terms of seniority, you’re below me.”

The kid, having finished brushing the pants, pushed the shoulder of the man sprawled at his feet. After rolling him over, he fumbled through the jacket and pants pockets.

“As I thought. Hyung likes it when it’s done from abo—”

Min-ho abruptly reached out and clamped his hand over Gyu-oh’s mouth. Applying pressure to pull him closer, Gyu-oh obediently leaned the back of his head against Min-ho’s thigh. He then looked up at him with a remarkably innocent gaze.

“There’s nothing to gain from broadcasting my tastes, is there? There are only men here.”

At those words, spoken while staring down at him, Gyu-oh’s eyes instantly narrowed. With that scowl, his gaze became incredibly fierce.

“Should I just carve out all those bastards’ ears?”

Though his pronunciation was muffled by the hand covering his mouth, the words sounded quite menacing. Of course, they posed no threat to Min-ho. After a moment of silent eye contact, something hot and squishy touched the palm of the hand blocking Gyu-oh’s mouth.

“Hey.”

Feeling the sensation of a wet tongue slowly licking his fingerprint, Min-ho hurriedly pulled his hand away. The palm where the saliva had touched felt flushed.