Gi-joo's Kidnapping Incident 4

Ring ring.

The room was a mess, just as the weasel had said. The problem was that Gi-joo was nowhere to be seen, and it was packed with burly thugs.

Is this hell?

After letting Gi-joo slip right past my eyes, the heat pounding in my chest—which had only been rising—cooled in an instant. I felt a crushing despair.

Splat.

"This bitch..."

Hidden partially by the headboard, I couldn't see her clearly at first, but a young woman was on her knees, clutching the hem of the trash heap's pants while tapping her belly lightly. But even that seemed to piss him off; he'd slapped her cheeks multiple times until they were red, and blood trickled from her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lips. He grinned like he liked the sight.

I'd practiced controlling my strength so I wouldn't use too much in my excitement. There was always that underlying fear: If I go beyond what the world can comprehend, they might drag me off to a lab.

But...

I consciously relaxed the tension in my fist, folding my hand carefully, stitch by stitch. It was a deliberate effort to let the overwhelming rage course through my body without locking up. The control exercises I'd done paid off; as I clenched my fist tight, I burst into the room with a smoothness unlike before.

Ignoring the bewildered thugs reacting to my sudden intrusion, I vaulted over the bed straight toward the young woman.

"Urk... you little shit."

The guy rolling at my feet swung to grab me, but I smashed a soccer kick into the thug's gut and leaped toward the woman like a bullet. The thug beside her shoved her forward as a shield. I wanted to ignore him and charge, but as the pregnant young woman stumbled toward me, I caught her to keep her from falling and tried to seat her on the bed.

Seeing the bed, she freaked out wildly, pinching and clawing at me, thrashing to escape. When she showed no sign of calming, I let her go.

Passing by her dazed, lifeless eyes, I planted myself in front of the thug.

"Told ya she's crazy. Heh. Even freaks out at the guy who came to help."

Already numb to their unrepentant attitudes, I didn't bother talking. I targeted the thug's mouth. Sensing my movements weren't what he expected—despite my school uniform making me look like just a kid—he got cautious, then whipped out a pocketknife from somewhere, swinging it threateningly.

But I ignored the blade slicing my hand and charged. From the moment the motel door opened, a flame had ignited deep in my chest—I didn't know from where.

I grabbed the swinging pocketknife with my hand and drove my fist straight into the thug's face like a nail into wood. His nose crumpled, blood exploding from his face, but it did nothing to quench my rage. The fire inside just grew, devouring fuel and swelling larger.

"Whoa, whoa, calm down. Beat on the guy who's already pulp, and you'll just rack up more compensation claims."

Too worked up, I only then noticed the weasel pulling me back from behind.

"Is this woman the kidnapping victim?"

"Nah, Gi-joo. Elementary school girl."

"What?"

The weasel looked around the room in bewilderment, then composed himself and started searching the closet and under the bed. No matter how you sliced it, the knocked-out thugs were one punch away from crossing the River Styx, so I couldn't ask questions and began hunting for Gi-joo.

Regaining a bit of calm from the weasel's demeanor, I grabbed the thug by the nape—whose face I was pounding into mush—and hurled him to the floor. I glanced at the young woman sitting limply like a doll, emotionless, then opened the bathroom door.

The moment I saw Gi-joo on the bathtub floor, hands and feet bound, mouth and eyes taped, sobbing quietly... the thought of untying her didn't even cross my mind. My legs gave out, and I collapsed.

Stepping over me, the weasel saw her too and grabbed the pocketknife to cut her free. His familiarity with the blade raised suspicions, but a sudden noise drew my attention to the door.

Ring ring.

"Fuck!"

Another thug emerged, swinging what looked like a convenience store bag, then bolted out fast.

Urk.

Tension released then surged back, forcing a groan from me, but I couldn't just watch the perp escape.

If I let him go, I'll be scared of retaliation for sure.

Urging myself on, I sprinted out of the motel. A green A×× car revved to flee. I yanked a motel ad sign from the ground and jammed it between the wheel and hub as it tried to peel out.

Screech screech...

The straining engine, stalled wheel, and grinding metal echoed loudly through the quiet evening, announcing something was up. The thug in the car refused to give up, flooring the accelerator.

Not letting him off, I yanked open the passenger door—but it wouldn't budge. I smashed a nearby brick through the window.

Crash!

As I forced the door open to drag him out, the jammed sign finally snapped, and the car shot forward. With the door pried open, I had a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠split-second choice: dive in or watch it escape safely.

I've come this far. Quitting now would be bullshit.

With that irrational logic, I crammed myself into the passenger seat, wrenching the steering wheel hard ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from the thug's grip. Caught off guard by the sudden swerve, he flailed as the car slammed into a wall. His head smacked the wheel and seat, knocking him out.

I was worse off—not buckled in, not even seated properly. I bounced out of the passenger side, tumbling across the ground several times.

Urk.

A groan escaped involuntarily, and I thought I heard police sirens in the distance. Aren't they too late?

Resentment flickered, then memory faded.

The faint smell of disinfectant... A hospital?

Trying to move by tensing my upper body only brought more pained groans from inside. Voices leaking through the curtain around my bed were familiar.

"Hey... I think I've seen every movie in class now."

"This real? Shoulda filmed it..."

"Kid, don't try copying your big bro or you'll end up dead. Even if you stare all sparkly-eyed..."

"Hyung."

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Ugh..."

"Don't move. You jumped out of a moving car."

"Jumped? More like bounced like a rubber ball."

"How's... Gi-joo?"

"Gi-joo's safe."

"She was with Sergeant Heo when you flew out of the car. We came straight here."

"That sergeant dude took real good care of you. Said to tell you Gi-joo's fine too, figured you'd worry when you woke up."

"...?"

"He was dropping us off when a tip came in. Swerved and chased 'em down. Uh... you might not remember?"

"Kid's bragging his bro's Superman, so we caught it. Watch close. Kid might jump off a wall next."

"Urk..."

"Hey, don't laugh. Breathe carefully. Doc said your ribs might be cracked."

"Gonna need at least a month to recover."

"Figures."

"Said we'd do an X-ray later. Too many people right now."

"Too many people?"

"Your fault—ER's packed. Emergency guests?"

As Jong-hyuk and Kyung-soo took Joo-shin out of the room, a sudden silence fell, like the earlier commotion was a lie. Lying there on the hospital bed, staring blankly at nothing in this absurd situation...

The door opened, accompanied by small and large footsteps.

"Are you okay?"

The small steps were full of energy and steadiness, but the larger ones staggered weakly.

"Thank you. Thank you... hic... thank you for saving Gi-joo."

A sobbing voice hit as my head throbbed. Though not fully used to it yet, that dizzying mental haze washed over me again. I thought, Did the spell activate?

Gripping my hazy mind to catch as much as possible, I felt that strange sensation again: a blurry old photo overlaying distant, shouting voices.

"Thank you. Thank you... hic... thank you."

"Pl... please stand."

Panicking at her clutching my bed and sobbing, I wanted to help her up, but even speaking hurt my ribs—I couldn't move an inch.