Free Web NovelIn my past life, Hyunseong was selected for the national team and competed in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, where he hung a gold medal around his neck.
Judging by how things turned out, it seems he had originally chosen to forgo the Asian Games the following year.
But maybe because of a favor I asked after coming back, this time, he turned down that proposal.
Could the reason Hyunseong ended up in a hit-and-run accident be because of the ripple effects of my actions?
‘I didn’t see this coming.’
The bitter taste in my mouth lingered, thinking I couldn’t stop Hyunseong from taking a hit he didn’t deserve.
“It’s common for gangsters to choose construction when they go legit. But this... it’s hard not to be suspicious. Don’t you think?”
“Yes, I thought the same. Should we dig deeper?”
I shook my head at that.
“Manager Ha said he’d look into it himself. Let’s wait. Are you using the men he brought in?”
“I’ve taken over just a few of them.”
“Are they any good?”
“They were people I already knew. No problems.”
I smiled as I looked at Manager Ma.
* * *
President’s Office, Geukseong Construction.
The sound of something crashing into a wall and shattering echoed alongside a loud yell.
A large-built middle-aged man was throwing objects at a man standing with his head bowed.
“Hey! You crazy bastard. I told you to just keep him from entering the match, and you go and run him over with a car? Why’d you blow it up into a whole damn incident?!”
“I’m sorry, sir.”
“You son of a bitch. Hey! Bae Wonchun! Didn’t I tell you not to call me ‘sir’? Are we still neighborhood thugs or something? Can’t even handle this right? God, why the hell am I trusting trash like you to help me run a business?”
The man called Bae Wonchun could only bow deeper, unable to respond.
The middle-aged man, still seething, asked,
“So, how’s the condition? Still alive?”
“He didn’t die. But his father’s the head of the Major Crimes Division... the cops are out for blood trying to find who did it...”
“Damn it... that’s why you were supposed to keep it clean!”
A wad of papers flew into Bae Wonchun’s face. Jo Hyungu glared at him like he wanted to kill him.
“You didn’t leave any evidence, right? There better not be anything tying this back to us. You already complicated what should’ve been an easy cleanup, so you deal with the aftermath too. Even if you get caught, my name better not come up. Got it?”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about the kids you used?”
“I «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» sent them off to Gangneung.”
“They’re tight-lipped, right?”
“They don’t even know who you are. Even if something goes wrong, it won’t lead back to you.”
Only then did Jo Hyungu's explosive rage start to subside.
“That’s a relief. Damn kid, should’ve just backed off. Why make everything so complicated? Don’t you think so, Wonchun?”
“Yes, sir.”
Jo Hyungu suddenly changed his tone and began to pat Bae Wonchun down.
“You know how long it took me to scrub off the gangster stench, right? Ten years. Thanks to that, we dodged the War on Crime crackdown. Now all of you have respectable jobs too. Right?”
“Yes, sir. It’s thanks to you that we’re no longer treated like punks.”
“Exactly. We’ve got to live straight now. But if anyone steps on our tail, I’ll take care of cutting it off—understood?”
“Yes, sir.”
He opened the safe, took out several bundles of 100,000-won bills, and tossed them to Bae Wonchun.
“Good work. Get out.”
Bae Wonchun accepted the money, bowed deeply, and left.
As the door closed, Jo Hyungu's smile vanished.
“Son of a bitch can’t even handle something like this right. Should I just cement him under?”
Even disguised as a businessman, a thug is still a thug.
* * *
Hyunseong’s condition had improved significantly.
His father had been hounding the precinct, badgering the cops to find the culprit, while his mother never left his side, nursing him carefully.
When I entered the hospital room, Hyunseong’s mother stood up.
“Muhyuk’s here? Have you eaten?”
“Yes, I have. Did you eat?”
“Of course. Our Hyunseong’s living in luxury thanks to you. What is this, a hotel or a hospital room?”
Her smile made me feel lighter.
While chatting with her, I glanced over at Hyunseong.
“Hey, you still alive?”
“...Sorry.”
“For what?”
“I don’t think I can keep our promise.”
Ah... this dumb bear of a bastard’s talking about our promise even in this state...
“Stop spouting nonsense and don’t make your mom worry. Right, ma’am?”
“That fool’s been doing dumb things all his life. Muhyuk, please be understanding. His dad should be here soon. I’ll wait outside, you boys talk.”
She smiled, patted me on the back a few times, and stepped out of the room.
I sat down next to Hyunseong’s bed.
“How’s your body?”
“I’m okay.”
His smiling face only made my blood boil more.
“I heard you got beaten up at school before the car accident? ...Shit. I’m sorry. I didn’t know until Myungsoo told me. I’m your friend, but I didn’t even notice. I dumped the pressure on you just so I could feel comfortable.”
“It’s fine.”
“No, it’s not. You’ve been through hell for years. I know all of it. Fuck... this isn’t right.”
Maybe that hit something in him, because his eyes started to tremble a bit.
The doctor had said it was lucky—though his arm and leg had been broken, surgery had gone well. There wouldn’t be problems with everyday life, but he wouldn’t be able to do intense sports again...
“I’ll find the bastard who ran you over and pay him back double.”
“Let it go. No need to do that for me.”
“Screw that. Just focus on recovering. Once you’re up, quit school and work with me. I’ll make your life shine brighter than any of those judo seniors, coaches, or directors ever could.”
“...This has nothing to do with our promise. It was just a car accident.”
“I know. I just... I’m pissed, that’s all. Let me handle it.”
Knowing how stubborn I was, Hyunseong said no more.
“Don’t worry about anything. Just rest. You’ve never really had a chance to relax, always training. Think of this as a vacation.”
“...Alright.”
That was the end of the conversation.
With Hyunseong, like with Myungsoo, we didn’t need many words to understand each other.
Just then, Hyunseong’s parents came in.
“Muhyuk, you’re still here?”
His father’s face didn’t look good at all.
Seeing him sigh as he looked at his son, I got up from my seat.
“Sir, how about we go smoke one?”
“...Sure. Honey, I’m going to talk with Muhyuk for a bit.”
“Why don’t you quit smoking already!”
We headed down to the first floor and sat on a bench.
As soon as he lit a cigarette, Hyunseong’s father let out a heavy sigh.
“No leads. A few witnesses, but none remember clearly. They say they checked all the nearby repair shops too—nothing came up.”
“Hyunseong’s awake now, so please don’t worry too much.”
“What else can that kid do besides judo? He invested half his life into it. Even if he strayed a bit when he was younger... and now this. They say he can’t ever compete again. How is that right?”
I couldn’t answer his furious words. No matter what I said, it wouldn’t comfort a grieving father or Hyunseong himself.
After taking a long drag, he turned toward me.
“...Sorry. I shouldn’t be lashing out at you.”
“It’s fine. I’m angry too.” ƒгeewebnovёl.com
“Well, at least it’s a relief. They said it won’t affect his daily life, right? That’s something.”
“Yes.”
“I’ll be heading down south next week. His mom’ll stay here. You come and go as often as you can, alright?”
“Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.”
“Isn’t this getting in the way of your studies?”
“Come on, sir. That’s not something you should say. Don’t worry about that.”
“...What’s that kid supposed to do with his life now...”
His heavy sigh echoed through the hospital.
* * *
When I got home, Manager Ha was waiting for me.
It had been a week since I’d asked him.
“I found the culprit. Would you like to see him yourself?”
“Really?”
“Yes. Though... technically, not the ‘culprit’—the ‘criminal’. It was staged to look like a traffic accident, but Park Hyunseong was clearly the intended target.”
‘A bad feeling is never wrong, huh.’
Rage surged through me at the thought that Hyunseong got hurt because of me.
I tried to stay calm, but my voice came out stiff.
“Where is he?”
“...Are you sure you want to handle this directly?”
“Sigh... Manager, if it were any other matter, I wouldn’t. But this is about my friend. He’s one of mine. Don’t make me say it twice. Just hand things over to Chief Ma. I’ll meet him directly.”
“Understood.”
Manager Ha didn’t try to stop me a second time.
A short while later, I headed out with Chief Ma to the place where they were holding the bastards.
It was the same abandoned factory where we dealt with Sledgehammer.
“So, Muhyuk went himself?”
“Yes, sir.”
After Muhyuk left, Manager Ha reported to Chairman Cheon in the study.
“Who was it?”
“Some kids. They said they were following someone’s orders, but we’ll need more investigation to find out who.”
Chairman Cheon frowned.
“So it wasn’t just a hit-and-run. Interesting. He went with Chief Ma?”
“Yes. I handed it over to him. The people on standby all know him, so there shouldn’t be any issues.”
Chairman Cheon nodded, stroking his chin for a moment in thought.
Then, lifting his head, a faint smile tugged at his lips.
“Myeonghun, step back from this now. I want to see how Muhyuk handles it.”
“Understood.”
“What do you think he’ll do?”
“If it’s the young master I know, he won’t handle it sloppily. He’s endlessly cold when he needs to be. But he’s warm to his own.”
“Is that so?”
Chairman Cheon’s lips twitched slightly.
“I spoke up because I thought he shouldn’t handle something like this personally. But he was firm—said it’s about a friend, so he has to go himself. I couldn’t stop him.”
“You did well. We’re only here to help. If we were going to spoon-feed him everything, we might as well grab some random person off the street.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll just observe.”
“Good. Watch how he handles it, then report back. Whether he asks for help or finishes it himself... It’ll be interesting to watch.”
There was a boyish anticipation on the old chairman’s face.
* * *
When we opened the factory door and entered, several men were inside. They exchanged silent greetings with Chief Ma and moved to stand near the entrance.
Inside were three men kneeling on the floor.
Chief Ma brought over a chair for me and set it down.
The kneeling guys flinched and lowered their heads again when our eyes met.
I sat and looked over each of them.
Even giving them the benefit of the doubt, they weren’t much older than me.
“You’re younger than I expected. Who put you up to this?”
Their faces looked like they’d already taken a beating, but the one who looked least bruised opened his mouth.
“I’ll tell you everything. Just please don’t kill us.”
“Just tell me who and why. Don’t make me ask twice. If you drag it out, it’s only going to be painful for everyone.”
“Ba—Bae Wonchun-hyung gave the order.”
“And who’s that?”
“I don’t know exactly. He’s a neighborhood senior who used to give us pocket money. We’ve heard he’s a gangster.”
I turned to look at Chief Ma.
“That matches the name of the Executive Director of Geukseong Construction.”
The setup was obvious—I scoffed.
So he tried to cover his tracks, huh...
“Alright. And?”
“Huh? I—I don’t know anything else. He gave us some money and told us to hit the guy and go hide in Gangneung. That’s it. I swear.”
“How much did you get?”
“...Huh?”
I shifted my gaze to Chief Ma.
One of the men near the door approached, holding a metal pipe.
“I—I’ll tell you! Please, I’ll— AHHHHH!”
He smashed the guy who had hesitated. The kid screamed and writhed on the floor.
“Enough.”
At my word, the man with the pipe calmly stepped back, like nothing had happened.
The guy was gasping now, crawling on the floor in pain.
“I told you not to make me ask twice. No questions, no repeating. Got it?”
“Y-Yes...”
“How much did you get?”
“F-Fifty thousand won each...”
Three of them, so 150 total?
A hollow laugh escaped me.
So they ruined half of Hyunseong’s life for a measly 1.5 million won.
“Chief Ma, how long will it take to bring in Bae Wonchun?”
“Just give me half a day. I’ll have him here by tomorrow.”
I nodded and stood up.
“Rough these bastards up just enough and throw them in a corner. I’ll decide what to do after I’ve met Bae Wonchun. Don’t kill them.”
“Of course.”
I turned and left the factory with Chief Ma. Behind us, the door shut and the sounds of beatings and pleas for mercy slowly faded away.
< This Is About My Friend. > End.
