A Useless Sense of Justice
I said that and handed it back with a touch of regret. Then I returned to my seat and pulled out a book. Of course it would have been nice if I were the sort of hardworking model student who scraped by and still devoted himself faithfully to class, but what I took out was a practice workbook for the real estate agent certification exam.
"In this country of ours, land has always been money! Just you wait! I'm going to get rich! Once I do, all this hardship ends!"
"Whoa whoa, someone's on fire, Odd-Eye."
"It's heterochromia, I told you!"
I kicked off from my desk and launched a flying kick. But my dear friend Choi Hyuk-jin slipped past it with annoying ease.
"Oh-ho!?"
"Heh heh heh. Three years with a temple dog and it learns to recite the sutras—eight years as Odd-Eye's friend and you learn to dodge his kicks!"
"You've gotten better."
I said it lightly, but the truth was that Choi Hyuk-jin had been the top dog back at D Middle School. His father had practiced iron-body training since the old days, and Hyuk-jin had inherited the habit; among kids his age, almost no one could touch him. Still, he had never once beaten me since we were little, and that was how we'd ended up as this strange pair of bad friends. Even so, the guy was fun.
Just then the door opened and another boy walked in. His hair was lightly dyed—hardly student-like—but he was Cho Seong-chan, a member of the boy-idol group Zen, so the school let the hair slide. If they hadn't, he would have simply quit, and that was that.
On the days he showed up, the front gate crawled with girls, which never failed to irritate me. It got in the way of studying.
I sat back down and opened the book again. The return date for the library copy was coming up, so I had to finish it no matter what. I was skimming the important parts and summarizing as I went… but there was never enough study time. I kept my eyes glued to the page.
"Hmm, Seo Rin."
Seong-chan called my name. We weren't particularly close, so I had no idea why he was talking to me.
"Huh? What?"
"Nothing. Just wondering what you're studying."
He muttered that and drifted over to the seat beside mine. I lifted the book and showed him the cover.
"Once I graduate, I'm going for a real estate agent license."
"Hmm."
Seong-chan gave me a faintly dark look, then went to his own desk, folded his arms on it, and fell asleep.
"Weird guy."
I snorted and glanced at the mirror. The face looking back had crimson irises.
"……"
The final moment of the school day—the closing homeroom—had barely ended before I was on my feet and running. I needed to return the library books and borrow new ones. The district library right next to the school was, without exaggeration, one of the greatest achievements Korean society had ever produced for people as broke as me.
I handed the books to the librarian noona and immediately found the next ones, filling out the loan card on the spot.
"Registration. Principles of taxation. General theory of lease contracts. These three, right?"
The librarian girl returned the card with a look of mild amazement. It was packed so densely with entries that I had already replaced it eight times; the thing was coated in fingerprints and wear.
Ah, every mark was proof of how hard I'd studied. Graduate high school, pass the real estate agent exam, take the police exam and become a cop. Serve as an auxiliary policeman instead of regular military duty, save money, and prepare to open an office. Then I would be the proud real estate agent Seo Rin!
And on top of that, this face I'd been born with! Half-Slavic, half-Korean, and baby-faced to boot! I would use this once-in-a-generation beauty to melt the hearts of real-estate aunties and, somewhere out there, find the right young lady—the kind who would feed me, house me, and clothe me so I could spend the rest of my life in comfort!
Hahahaha! Why is this body's life plan so brilliant?!
I stuffed the newly borrowed books into my bag and stepped out of the library entrance. The weather that had been clear and bright only a little while ago had turned gloomy without warning.
"A late-autumn shower?"
The words were barely out before raindrops began to fall. I still had time before work, so there was no point getting soaked and creating laundry for myself. Come to think of it, detergent was running low lately. I should drop by Hyuk-jin's place one of these days and liberate some of theirs.
That was when it happened.
Vrrrooom!
"Huh? Seo Rin? I told you to come straight after school—what are you doing here?"
"Keh? Boss?"
I jumped at the sight of Mr. Song, the vending-machine operator I worked for in the afternoons. Song Ji-myeong ran the machines in this whole area; he was my employer.
"Perfect timing. These and these need to go into the library machine. Here's the key—get it done quick and come back."
"Yes, yes, got it."
I sighed and took the key and the beverage cans.
"If you're gonna skim a little, do it with a clear conscience, yeah?"
"I don't skim. I'd rather work as a host than scrape for pocket change like that."
I said it and hoisted nearly a hundred and fifty cans in both arms. The load was heavy for bare hands, but I raced upstairs like I had wings, restocked the machine, and swept the coins and bills into my pocket.
I'd just claimed I wouldn't skim… but the sight of money stirs the heart, as they say. I slipped a few thousand-won notes into my pocket and hurried back down.
"Here!"
"Nice work. Right, next stop."
"Eh? Already?"
"Yeah, kid. Collection week."
Boss Song said it and thumped me on the head. I checked my watch in alarm. My daily schedule was packed in twenty-minute blocks; unexpected labor exploitation like this was more than I could absorb. Besides, my little sister's birthday was only a few days away and I still needed to buy her a present—now I had to work?
"I've got somewhere I need to be. Can't I skip today?"
"You want to get fired? People lining up for this job are a dime a dozen. Not that I'm saying I'll fire you for sure. Think it over yourself."
"…Fine."
Hiiing. Adults are all liars. Tormenting an innocent, frail, delicate working boy like me—they were the very incarnation of evil. But a kid who had to eat couldn't ignore the threat of dismissal.
Besides, collection days let me skim a little extra, so the take was sweet. Vending machines in particular moved a lot of cash, which made the skim very, very sweet. Boss Song must have read my mind; he offered me the passenger seat of the van and said,
"Alright, today's skim ends with that one can, got it? I'll handle the money—you just carry the drinks and follow."
"I didn't skim anything."
"It's written all over your face, kid."
Boss Song said it and switched on the wipers. They squeaked back and forth, clearing the rain from the windshield. I sat in the passenger seat and checked my watch again.
"Why do you keep looking at that?"
"No reason. I just need to do a little shopping."
"Yeah? What for?"
He asked while driving. I felt my face heat a little as I answered.
"Something girls would like."
"Oho. Our Seo Rin's got himself a girl?"
Boss Song kept one hand on the wheel and lifted the other, pinky extended. If only. With a schedule this murderous, how was I supposed to have a girlfriend? Besides, I was broke…
If I ever did get one, I'd pick a professional woman with a real career, or the daughter of some rich family who had more money than she knew what to do with.
"No. I have a little sister."
"Ah, the one who got adopted by that rich family?"
"Not a rich family—my uncle's place."
"Come to think of it, you said your uncle's loaded, right? So why are you busting your ass like this? Seo, last time you were working, some thugs showed up and gave you hell."
"……"
Dad ran a street stall at night, so drunks often picked fights and left him in a bad way. The stall business also drew heavy crackdowns and attracted gangsters; it was no trade for a timid man like him.
But there was no choice. In his own way Dad was stubbornly upright… he could never simply ignore a debt and run. Once he was buried under loans, he would spend the rest of his life working them off. That was just how he was.
"…You know. Even if he's my uncle, to me he's a complete stranger."
"Right. Yeah, sorry."
I was a half-breed of Slavic blood. There was no way I had a Korean maternal uncle. In short, my little sister and I were half-siblings. Her mother—the woman who had been legally married to my father—died giving birth to her. And that very same day… I was dumped on my father. Before he married he had gone on a business trip to Russia and, well, made a mistake of some kind.
Looking at the timid man he was now, it was hard to imagine him having that kind of courage… but Dad always tried to take responsibility for what he had done. He openly acknowledged me as his son, and as a result earned the hatred of his father-in-law—my sister's maternal grandfather—and of her uncle.
"……"
Ugh. This was getting depressing. I shook my head to clear the thoughts. And that was when it happened.
Vrrrooooom!
Somewhere, the terrifying roar of a motorcycle engine rolled toward us. I checked the side and rear mirrors, but the sound came from nowhere I could see. Yet it kept getting closer! And my instincts were screaming danger.
"No way—!"
"Huh? What's wrong?"
"Boss! Get down!"
I shouted, grabbed the collar of Boss Song's jacket, and ducked myself. In the next instant a deafening crash crumpled the body of the van and someone tumbled across the hood.
Screeeech—!
"Kyaaaaaaah!"
A piercing scream tore through my ears as the windshield exploded into shards. At the same moment a motorcycle leapt down in front of Boss Song's van.
Krrrunch!
The suspension must have been excellent; the bike bounced once, surged forward, and slammed into the person who had just been thrown— a girl!
"Aaaagh!"
She screamed as she skidded across the ground and smashed into the wall. It all happened in a quiet afternoon alley, without any warning.
"Damn it! What kind of maniac—!"
I grabbed the door handle. The roof had buckled, jamming the door so it wouldn't open normally.
"……"
I confirmed that Boss Song was unconscious, then took a deep breath. I didn't know what was going on, but in a moment like this there was only one thing to do.
Krrraaack!
I ripped the steel door clean off its hinges and stepped out of the vehicle.
The man had dismounted and was walking toward the girl. She had deep golden hair—far too vivid and natural to be dyed—and I was startled all over again. Looking closer, she wasn't Korean.
"Stop right there!"
I saw he was about to attack and charged. I threw a front kick with everything I had. I hadn't trained all that much, but my kicks could tear a fire door or a commercial refrigerator door off its hinges and send it flying seven meters. If a person took one full-force, their life wouldn't be guaranteed—and some nameless sense of dread made me put every ounce of power into the strike!
Thud!
In that instant pain so intense it made my vision swim shot up my leg. The man had stepped into my kick and driven his elbow straight down onto the vulnerable ankle bone!
"Uwaaagh!"
Crack!
A second attack followed immediately! Still gripping my leg, he whipped a low kick with his free foot into the back of my supporting knee! It was a vicious kick aimed at the inside of the joint, and I could neither block nor dodge! Stars exploded in front of my eyes; the pain was so extreme I couldn't even tell objects apart!
Thud-thud!
I heard something collapse. Was that… me? Ugh, I don't think I've ever hurt this badly in my entire life.
"Shit. M-my legs…"
"Where the hell did this guy come from…"
The man's voice reached me. He kicked my already broken leg again.
Spike!
"Uwaaaaaagh!"
Pain so sharp it felt like my eyes would pop out. I rolled across the ground to avoid further attacks. When I finally managed to brace myself against the wall and look back, the girl was somehow on her feet. After a collision like that, she should not have been able to stand!
When a human rises after that kind of impact, the internal injuries are usually so severe that you get what they call… a final flare, right? Some last-ditch surge before the end?
"You… you devil! That person has nothing to do with this!"
The girl pointed at me and shouted. Her Korean sounded fluent.
"As they say, a useless sense of justice only ruins the body."
He muttered it and drew a massive metal bar from his back. I thought it was some kind of tonfa, but to my shock it was a gun. A handgun!
"Well then. Are you ready?"
He raised the enormous pistol and aimed it at the girl. I shoved myself upright in pure panic.