#131

On the way to Kwon Il-taek’s house, the remaining residents who had heard the news joined them. Naturally, the Eagle Five Brothers followed, each holding farming tools in their hands. Pickaxes, sickles, hoes, and even shovels. All were armed and ready.

Especially the Eagle Five Brothers, whose faces were a mess from Tae-heun’s beating, were seething with murderous intent, as if they were generals heading to the battlefield. At this rate, someone was bound to see blood. The police needed to arrive before that happened. At least Detective Oh needed to figure out the Kwon Il-taek family’s movements and let them know they were still in Korea.

If they had already fled overseas, there was nothing they could do. In that case, bloodshed would be unavoidable. The Village Chief and the Youth Leader. Someone might be beaten to death. Or maybe both of them.

Lee Seon-jae, you’ve lost your edge.

Tae-heun smiled bitterly.

When he worked at Il-gwang, he always kept the debtors’ escape in mind. So, he took their passports and IDs in advance, and held their families hostage or threatened them. Even then, he kept a close watch on anyone who showed signs of running away.

But this was the countryside. Above all, Kwon Il-taek was the landlord of this village, passed down through generations, and a so-called elder who was called “Chairman.” So, he unknowingly became complacent. He overlooked the fact that even the most authoritative, successful, smart, and even law-abiding person would show their true colors when they were in debt. He fell in love and saw the world through rose-colored glasses.

Son of a bitch. The old man’s got a lot of energy.

He scoffed.

Kwon Il-taek’s house still looked huge and imposing. Since people had been living there until just two days ago, traces of their presence remained everywhere. Except for the empty parking lot, it looked like they had just gone out for a short trip.

The spacious parking lot, which always had one or two cars parked in it, was empty. Even the Damas van was gone, he didn’t know when they took it.

The front door was open. According to the Village Chief, the door was only closed, not locked. They were openly announcing that they had no intention of ever returning.

More than twenty people swarmed inside. The interior still felt like people were living there. It felt like Kwon Il-taek or Jo Young-ae might open the door to the master bedroom at any moment and greet them with a cheerful, “What brings you here?”

The expensive leather sofa and dining table, as well as the furniture that must have cost a fortune, were all still there. But every cabinet and drawer was emptied so cleanly that there wasn’t a speck of dust. The refrigerator was the same. Even while running away, they took everything, including the kimchi and the bottles of sweet rice drink that must have been in the freezer. On the wall where the family photo had been hanging, only the rectangular frame mark remained.

They had fled so thoroughly that it could be called the textbook example of escaping.

“See? Am I right? If the house is in this state, what else could it be but running away!”

The Village Chief shouted in a spirited voice.

He shouldn’t have said that.

The gazes of the people, who had been distracted by looking around the house, instantly turned to the Village Chief. Their eyes were ominous. To those people, the Village Chief was also on Kwon Il-taek’s side. The Village Chief bringing his son and making such a fuss was just an act to protect Kwon Il-taek. That’s what they seemed to be thinking.

The eldest of the Eagle Five Brothers grabbed the Youth Leader and forcibly pushed him next to the Village Chief.

“Hey, hey. Why are you all doing this? Don’t you know me? I’m Choi Chun-sam. The Village Chief of this village!”

Village Chief Choi Chun-sam, who still didn’t understand the situation, shouted loudly. The Eagle Five Brothers took the lead and began to surround them. Then the rest of the people formed a circle around them.

“Ah, shit. Why are you all doing this? What did we do wrong!”

The Youth Leader, who was quick to read the situation, realized that things were not in their favor and changed his attitude.

“We also signed a lease agreement this time. The Chairman asked us not to tell anyone, so we kept our mouths shut. It’s true. We even have the contract.”

His voice trembled as he explained. But no one believed Choi Gi-cheol’s words. There was no way their hearts would be appeased by him saying that now. After what his father had done.

“This bastard is really something. Where are you getting these lies?”

“Who doesn’t know that you guys are on Kwon Chairman’s side!”

“Choi Chun-sam, you son of a bitch. Isn’t killing Yong enough? Are you trying to wipe us all out too? Huh?”

“Let’s die together!”

It was a touch-and-go situation.

That’s why he didn’t bring the man with him. It was obvious that the man would be harmed if he got involved. In cases of group assault, it was not easy to identify the perpetrators. Nevertheless, the police had to catch the ringleader, so they coaxed the perpetrators. They played them against each other. They pressured them to choose someone to take the blame. Then, the youngest or weakest one would always get caught. the man was exactly that weak and young one. No one in the village would stand up for Man.

He looked back at the Pastor, who was supposed to stop those people. But instead of stopping them, he was on the side of the Eagle Five Brothers, glaring at the Village Chief and the Youth Leader as if he wanted to kill them.

Son of a bitch. This is really something.

Tae-heun, who was standing next to the Pastor, scratched his eyebrow.

There was nothing Tae-heun could do here. He could only stop the fight for a very short time. If he didn’t want to end up like the Village Chief and his son, it was better to quietly step back. After all, Tae-heun was an outsider. What did it matter to him whether Kwon Il-taek had scammed them with investment fraud?

The only reason he was here was because of Man. He wanted to confirm with his own eyes that those bastards had run away. That way, he felt like he had a reason to track them down for Man’s sake. Of course, even if he did, the man would never get his investment money back.

Even if he caught Kwon Il-taek and handed him over to the police, the maximum sentence would be only four years, and even that would be suspended if he hired a lawyer from a large law firm with connections. Money buys innocence, poverty is a crime. It was an unchanging truth, whether it was the 80s or the new millennium.

Tae-heun quietly left Kwon Il-taek’s house and called the town police station directly. Fortunately, it seemed that the police had been dispatched right when the Pastor called.

“Please come quickly. Someone might die.”

He deliberately shouted urgently.

Even though he had no affection for those two people, they shouldn’t become the target of their anger instead of Kwon Il-taek. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The people who needed to be repaid double were different.

Tae-heun immediately returned to the church. The women who remained in the church looked at Tae-heun with desperate eyes. They were waiting for him to say that it was all a lie, that Kwon Il-taek had only gone on a short trip and that they should not worry. He thought he would be immune to it since he had seen it countless times since he was a child, but he wasn’t.

The moment Tae-heun opened his mouth, their expectations would turn to despair.

Son of a bitch. He scratched his eyebrow.

He was about to open his mouth, but strangely, his throat felt choked. Tae-heun looked for Man. the man was sitting in the same spot as before, looking at Tae-heun with the child. He said with kind eyes that he had worked hard.

“They really took off. They took everything.”

After clearing his throat, he deliberately raised his voice so that everyone could hear.

A sigh flowed through the church, where even the slightest hope had disappeared. He heard crying again.

Tae-heun hurriedly took the man and the child out of the church. Ms. Hyun-sook, who had been inside the church the whole time, followed them.

“Is it true? Did they really run away?”

“Yes.”

“What about Dae-ho? What does he say? He’s not answering my calls.”

She must have heard Tae-heun talking to Detective Oh earlier.

“I don’t know. I’ve told them about it, so I’m sure they’ll do something. Unless they’re on the same side.”

“What should I do? Oh, what should I do?”

Ms. Hyun-sook staggered. the man quickly grabbed her.

“Noona, are you okay?”

“Oh, Ki-beom. What should we do? We’re all going to die.”

Ms. Hyun-sook, who had turned pale, grabbed the man and cried. the child, who had been holding back well, finally burst into tears when Ms. Hyun-sook cried. They both cried so sadly.

Man, who had been maintaining his composure, didn’t know what to do when the child cried. Tae-heun was the same. He had made people cry, but he had never comforted them. On the day he abandoned the name Lee Seon-jae, he cried his heart out, including all the tears he couldn’t cry for the rest of his life, and he had cried all the time after meeting Man, but he didn’t remember ever comforting anyone. Even when the man was caught having an affair with Kwon Yong-joon, Tae-heun couldn’t comfort Man. Instead, he only apologized. Because it was something he had to apologize for.

But now, he couldn’t comfort them with words of reassurance. It wasn’t something he should apologize for either. As Ms. Hyun-sook said, people were really going to die. Tae-heun had seen countless people die because of money. Every time, the real culprit was never there, and only the innocent victims were left behind. It was no different here.

man comforted the child in a gentle voice.

“Ji-hye, don’t cry. Father is here.”

man didn’t say empty words like “It’s okay, everything will be alright.” He just called the child’s name and let her know that Father, that he, was with her.

There was nothing more reassuring for a child than having their parents by their side. the child soon stopped crying. She immediately hugged the man tightly and said, “I’m sorry.” What do you have to be sorry for? the man hugged and patted the child tightly.

No one could comfort Ms. Hyun-sook. Her Husband had disappeared somewhere in the meantime. He didn’t even know him, but he felt a surge of anger.

One of the members of the women’s association, who had followed Ms. Hyun-sook out of the church, hugged Ms. Hyun-sook and cried. She wailed about what they should do.

“Oh, Ji-hye’s Father. We’re all going to die.”

She said that again. the child, who had stopped crying, became anxious again.

“Ki-beom, let’s go to the car for now.”

Tae-heun suddenly picked up the child and walked to the car. Then the man reluctantly followed. He kept looking back at the church, but he had no choice but to follow since Tae-heun was carrying the child.

“Please open the door.”

He pointed to his pants. the man hesitated, then reached into his pocket and took out the car key. When the man opened the back door, Tae-heun put the child in the back seat and groaned, “Oh, our princess is so heavy.”

“Maybe it’s because Mister doesn’t have any strength.”

the child, who had been teary-eyed, pursed her lips and glared at Tae-heun as if nothing had happened.

“How about Ki-beom? Am I only heavy for you?”

He deliberately dragged the man into it. He winked at Man, and the man smiled briefly.

“What’s heavy about our Ji-hye? Tae-heun, you need to build up your strength.”

man awkwardly scolded Tae-heun. the child crossed her arms as if to say, “See?”

He thought the atmosphere was getting better, but the sound of several people crying at the same time could be heard all the way to the parking lot.

“Let’s go, Ki-beom. There’s nothing we can do by staying here. Let’s go somewhere.”

“But everyone’s still there.”

man looked at the church with a face full of regret.

“Are you going to make the child cry again?”

“…….”

“That’s why I’m saying let’s go.”

He urged Man. Because he brought up the child, the man got in the car without complaint.

Chapter 132