Too Dangerous a Revenge

Full-body contusions. A broken nose. Broken ribs. An orbital fracture so severe he had nearly gone blind.

Still, the surgery had gone well. All that remained was to recover properly.

"Noona… I'm fine…"

"Fine? How is any of this fine?! Why didn't you say anything…! Why…!!!"

"I'm really… fine… so just stop… Take the settlement money… and end it…"

"End it? End what?! Noona is never going to let the kids who did this to you walk free! Noona will make sure—"

"Don't… don't do it, Noona…"

With a hand that barely had the strength to move, Han Ichan took Han Iseul's hand and shook his head, pleading.

The sight of him left her speechless. All she could do was break down and sob. I slipped out of the intensive care unit and answered my phone.

"Yes. I'll wait for you at the café in front of the hospital."

Honestly. Hiring a private investigation firm, of all things.

I had no obligation to go this far for them. But the memory of being tormented by that pig back when I was a kid kept surfacing, and I simply couldn't let this go.

"Um…"

"Ah—yes, ma'am. Did you manage to get some sleep?"

"Thanks to you… thank you so much… But is our Iseul doing all right in Seoul…?"

Of course she was worried about her son—but a mother couldn't help fretting over her daughter either.

"Yes, she's doing well."

"She's… not going to school, is she…?"

"About that…"

"Excuse me. Are you Han Ichan's mother?"

A man cut into the conversation without warning.

A rough, intimidating face. A massive build.

Had they sent someone to threaten her because she refused to settle?

"And you are…?"

"Kim Dogyun, Busan Metropolitan Police Agency."

What? He was a cop?

I knew the jurisdiction was Haeundae Police Station. Why was someone from the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency showing up here?

"I know this is difficult, but you need to settle, ma'am."

"Settle?! I will never agree to that!"

"Ah… this is being treated as mutual assault. If you don't settle, your son becomes a perpetrator in the assault case as well."

"A—a perpetrator…?! My child just came out of surgery and you're calling him a perpetrator?! And my son told us! He said he never hit anyone! That it was a one-sided beating!!"

"And yet the other students are currently hospitalized, aren't they?"

"The other students…? You mean the attackers! Why are you calling them the victims?!"

"Hoo…"

The cop let out a long sigh, scratched his head, then fixed her with a distinctly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠menacing look.

"Ma'am. Don't make this bigger than it needs to be. The kid gets hurt. The kid."

"A—are you… threatening me right now…? A police officer?"

"It's not a threat. I'm saying it could go that way. I'm offering you advice."

"Ha…! Keep your advice! I have no intention of settling, so please leave!"

"Ah… this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠woman really won't listen…!"

"What did you just say?!"

"There's no CCTV, no witnesses—nothing but the students' statements and medical reports. You think this won't be ruled mutual assault? If they say they got hit, they got hit! Your son becomes the perpetrator of an assault! Aggravated assault, at that! Because he attacked them with a weapon!"

"Ah…"

I steadied Han Iseul's mother as she staggered, then stepped forward.

"How much did they pay you to pull this stunt? And you call yourself a cop."

"What?! That's defamation—I could charge you with—!"

"You're the one committing the insult. Against a victim's parent."

"……"

"Enough. Leave. I've recorded all of this—want me to send it to the press?"

"R—recording?! Delete it right now!"

"No, thanks. If you want it deleted, go get a warrant."

"You son of a—!!"

"Leave. Before I call a reporter."

"……"

The cop glared at me with murder in his eyes, muttered a curse under his breath, and turned away.

Ugh… When cops go around making threats like that, no wonder people call them pigs.

"Ma'am, are you all right?"

"Maybe… maybe I should just settle…?"

"What are you saying?! Absolutely do not settle! Your son did nothing wrong!"

"But… even the police are saying that…"

"Ma'am, it's okay. Hold firm and hang on. This will be over soon."

"Pardon…?"

That was as far as I could go.

As far as the words I could offer her.

More importantly—I needed to check the facts first.

Just how rotten these bastards really were.

All I had given them were the names of the attackers and the school, information I'd gotten from Han Iseul's mother.

And in a single day, they'd dug up this much detail?

"Absolute scumbags, every last one of them. These are photos and videos the little bastards posted on social media, and this is information on the kids and their families. I underlined the important parts in red, so it should be easy to read."

"Thank you."

I took the USB drive and the document envelope he handed over.

Then I passed him an envelope containing three million won.

Separate from the retainer—a kind of success bonus.

"We'll contact you the moment we turn up the rest of the information, sir."

"Please. As soon as possible."

Carrying the materials I'd received directly from the agency's director, I headed for a five-star hotel in Songdo.

On the way, I bought a laptop so I could check the USB.

Having money really was nice.

You could do whatever you wanted.

"A suite, huh… Worth the price, at least. Now let's see if this is worth the price too."

I started with the files on the USB.

"Hah… These are complete pieces of shit."

A few photos were all it took to make the curses rise.

The most tame among them showed Han Ichan in his school uniform, food dumped all over his head and body in what looked like the school cafeteria.

"Hoo…"

I forced down the rage boiling up inside me and kept flipping through the photos.

A shot of him in nothing but his underwear in the classroom, his face and body covered in scribbled graffiti.

A shot of his face a wreck, holding up a written pledge that he would never report them.

The videos were worse.

Him on his knees in front of the girls, begging them to spare him, while the girls kicked him and told him to get lost.

The boys swarming in to beat him senseless.

Threatening him—still in nothing but his underwear—to climb onto the rooftop railing.

He'd been beaten half to death—but he was still a man.

You could tell from the way he charged them to protect his sister.

But these bastards were pure demons.

They forced his mouth open and spat into it. Stubbed out cigarettes on him. Even made him curse out a teacher during class and filmed the whole thing while cackling.

How the hell had things like this been allowed to keep attending school?

I slid the documents out of the envelope and started reading.

"One of them has a cop for a dad? Wow… impressive. Oh, look at this? An actual judge and a city councilman? Hah… wait a second. Kim Dogyun? That pig cop was the victim's father?? Insane…!"

No wonder they'd been so confident.

From the cop who went around threatening the victim to cover up his own son's crimes, to a city councilman, a judge, a prosecutor, some company president—every family member and relative had power or money in their grip.

Of course the kids ran wild without a shred of fear.

My phone buzzed.

Geon hyung.

I'd been about to call him anyway.

"No, it's fine, hyung. I was actually about to call you—I figured asking you for this wasn't the right move either."

"No. Just forget it. It's nothing major."

If I asked the wrong person for help, Geon hyung could end up taking damage too.

The kids' backers were no joke.

They might even find out that Geon hyung had looked into those people's contact information.

Which meant this had to be handled clean—no loose ends.

Without either Geon hyung or me ever surfacing.

But I wasn't the protagonist of some drama. Was doing it this way really going to be fine?

The bastards who'd tormented Han Ichan were faking their injuries.

And they were thugs with nothing in the world to fear.

Kids like that sitting quietly in a hospital?

Not a chance in hell.

"Drink in moderation, you psycho. If the nurse bitches about smelling booze again, the old men are gonna hear about it!"

"If you're scared, go jerk off somewhere~"

"Augh, this crazy bastard…!!"

"Ah… fuck, drinking always makes me so damn horny. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Hey, should we take down that nurse bitch?"

"What…?"

"What, you think that nurse is any different? We fuck her raw and tell her we'll spread the video—what's she gonna do about it?"

"……"

"Oh, this bastard's interested~ Should we make a move tonight?"

"You psycho! Shut up and let me think for a second…!"

He was actually considering that garbage?

How the hell were bastards like this even born?

"Hey, even if we get caught, your dad just shuts down the investigation and it's over, right? It won't even get referred to the prosecution~"

"If I get caught again, my dad's gonna beat me to death…!!"

"Aww~ Your dad would love getting a little financial ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠therapy from my dad, though?"

"Fuck…! Fine—where are we doing it?!"

"Where else? In the hospital room."

"In the hospital room??"

"I've got a private room~ Soundproofing's insane."

"So it's just us? What about the others? The more people covering for us, the safer it is!"

"We take turns. Feed 'em and pass 'em around."

"Ah… fuck…! She is a nurse, so I'm so goddamn horny…!! Ah, whatever! Then I go first?"

"Yeah, right. You film the video. I'll let you have a turn after."

"If you finish inside, you're dead…!!"

"Ahh~ Finishing inside is the best part, though. Can't even creampie freely because of this friend of mine. Fine, deal~"

I couldn't listen to any more of it.

I wanted to go downstairs right then and beat them senseless.

But I had to hold back.

That was why I'd hired those people.

"Aigoo~ Look at these little bastards drinking out on the street. This world really is going to hell~"

"The fuck is this cripple?"

"Hey, get lost. Unless you want to die."

"Don't go rolling those eyes so high~ You might end up killing somebody~"

"This son of a bitch…!!"

Of the two pieces of trash, the big one with the pig cop for a father strode toward the man who'd picked the fight.

His hand shot out!!

He seized the man by the collar and hauled the smaller body clean off the ground.

Was I about to waste my money for nothing?

"You gonna hit me?"

"You think I won't, you homeless piece of shit?! You Chinese Joseonjok bastard, you're really asking to die…"

"What's your name, boy?"

"What?!"

"I asked you what your name is~"

"Hah… Kim Hyeongsu, you son of a bitch!!!!"

"Kim Hyeongsu…"

He swung a fist.

It missed.

A guy who couldn't even land a punch on someone he was holding by the collar—why was he so full of himself—

Thud!!

He went down.

The one who'd grabbed the collar and thrown the punch.

And he started trembling violently.

"Ah…! Aaaah…!"

"Don't make such a fuss~ One little thing popping open won't kill you~"

Popping open?

What? Had he driven a knee into… there??

"Aaaugh…!! Uuuuugh….!!!!"

"So our Hyeongsu's problem is his fists, is it? Right-handed? Left-handed?"

"Ah..!! Aaaah..!!!"

"When an adult asks you a question, you answer~ Or that neck of yours gets wrung~"

"R-right… right hand…"

"Bite down hard. Or you'll bite your tongue off."

"KRAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!"

CRACK!!!!!

He snapped the arm.

Having finished with one of them, the man walked—bottle still in hand—toward the other kid, who was sitting crumpled on the ground.

"S-spare me… please spare me…."

His hand shot out!!

He seized a fistful of hair from the kid who was scrambling backward, begging for his life.

Then he shoved his face in close and asked,

"And what's your name?"

"……"

"Your name!!!"

"P-Park Jinyong!!"

"Park Jinyong. You a right-footed boy? Left-footed?"

"Wh…?"

"Speak!"

"L-left foot…"

"Then live the rest of your life on just the left one."

"I said left foot! Left foot!!!!"

"Lying to an adult isn't very nice~"

"N-no… KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!"

He grabbed the ankle, drove his knee down, and snapped the leg.

And what the hell was he doing now?

"Drink up, nice and quick~"

He started forcing booze down the kids' throats.

Then he herded them out of the alley like he was driving game, threatening them every step of the way.

And the moment the kids burst out of the alley…

BOOOOOOM!!!!!!

They collided with a speeding car and vanished from my field of view.

I… might have hired someone a little too dangerous for this job…?