Don't Worry
"H-hyungnim!"
"Hyungnim got taken down!"
While the rest of them were still processing what had just happened, the sounds of brutal impact cracked through the air in rapid succession.
Thud! Crack! Wham—!!!
In an instant, the floor was littered with men thrashing in agony — faces as ruined as the big guy's, bodies crumpled and broken. It had all happened in the blink of an eye.
"What... on earth... Oh my god!"
The ajumma toppled backward onto the floor, staring in shock. Seong-min stepped forward, picked up the envelope that had fallen, then rifled through the big guy's pockets and recovered the two million won he'd paid earlier. He took the woman's hand — her dazed eyes widening at the sudden turn of events — and led her out of there.
How much time had passed since then? The car had been running the night highway for a long while. She sat silent in the passenger seat. No music played. Seong-min simply drove.
She turned from the window to look at him.
"Where... are we going?"
Her voice was flat, without rise or fall.
"You'll see when we get there."
She studied his profile for a moment, then faced forward again. The car kept running the lit highway. They stopped at a rest area along the way. While she went to the restroom, Seong-min stood guard outside. When she came out, he took her wrist, walked her back to the car, and settled her into the passenger seat once more. Then they were on the highway again.
"Why... did you save me?"
She couldn't understand it. Who was this man? Why had he pulled her out of that place?
"Because that wasn't where a young woman like you belongs."
"......"
Her face, turned straight ahead, was dark.
After a long drive, they arrived in Seoul. Seong-min turned into a residential alley in Gangseo-gu and parked in a villa complex lot.
"Get out."
He killed the engine and stepped out. She followed from the passenger seat, wearing only jeans and a cotton tee.
"Follow me."
She fell in behind him as he walked to the villa's front entrance. He punched in the code, opened the door, and led her up the stairs to the third floor. At the unit marked 305, he entered the door lock code again.
"Come in."
Seong-min opened the front door and stepped inside; she followed. A sink, a bed, a wall-mounted air conditioner, a small refrigerator off to one side.
"It's a one-room. You'll stay here for a while."
A studio with a bed included. An older villa unit in a one-room complex, but the wallpaper was recent and the place was clean and comfortable.
"Wait here a minute."
When she looked at him, Seong-min smiled.
"I'm going to the convenience store nearby."
He put on his shoes and left. Alone, she sat there blankly.
Outside on the ground floor, Seong-min didn't head straight for the store. He stopped off to the side, pulled a pack of cigarettes, lit one, and drew deep.
"Huuu..."
His chest felt tight. He'd thought she was doing well. Unlike him, her father had been a company president, and she'd even studied abroad in America — he'd figured she would have met a good man by now, living a decent life. Reality had been nothing like that.
"Goddamn it..."
The curse slipped out on its own.
Back inside, she sat still on the bed and turned toward the front door at the sound of the lock code. The door opened and Seong-min came in carrying bags.
"Did you wait long?"
Even with that good-natured smile, she only looked at him with a blank face.
"I got some drinks and bottled water, cup ramen, and convenience store gimbap."
He filled the electric kettle, plugged it in, tore open the cup ramen packaging, and added the seasoning packets.
"Just a little longer."
When the water boiled and the power cut off, he poured the hot water into the cups. Once both were filled, he pressed the lids down, set wooden chopsticks on top, and placed them on the floor. He unwrapped the gimbap, set out the drinks and paper cups he'd bought.
"Sit here."
She climbed down from the bed and sat on the floor.
"Why... on earth would you do that?"
Her voice was still flat.
"Do what?"
"You'll... be in danger."
"Doesn't matter. If it comes to that, they'll be the ones who regret it."
"......"
She looked at him without expression, then spoke again.
"Who... are you, to bring me here? Do you... know me?"
"I do. Very well, actually."
Her face was ice-cold. A frigid expression, eyes that gave nothing away. Even under that gaze, Seong-min only smiled his easy smile.
"Ramen's ready."
He peeled back the lids — perfectly cooked noodles, a rich smell rising.
"Here."
He split a pair of chopsticks and held them out.
"Come on. Starving yourself isn't good."
She carefully took the chopsticks he offered. Seong-min split his own and lifted his cup.
"Slurp...!"
He pulled in a mouthful of noodles.
"It's good~! Try some."
She still just sat there, not eating.
"Set the worrying aside for now and eat first. Otherwise I'll be disappointed."
Whether it was hunger or the word disappointed, she finally lifted the chopsticks and began picking at the ramen. Seong-min gave her a smiling glance.
"The gimbap's good too."
To her surprise, she finished every noodle and left only the broth. He'd expected her to leave half — it was a relief she'd eaten it all. She only managed a few pieces of gimbap, but she ate them.
"It's late, so rest for today. Tomorrow we'll go buy the things you need."
He cleared the empty cups and gimbap wrappers, put the water and drinks in the small fridge.
"I'm heading out. Don't worry — just rest."
Seong-min left her there and walked out of the villa.
Alone again, she didn't get on the bed. She curled up against the wall instead. Everything had happened so suddenly. A complete stranger had saved her. But what did that change? In a miserable reality like this — was there even an exit? Why had that man saved her at all? Everything was chaos.
The next day, he came again.
"You slept crouched against the wall like that?"
She nodded as Seong-min stepped inside.
"You should've slept comfortably on the bed..."
He pulled something from a bag.
"I bought some simple bread and milk."
Right in front of her, he opened a cream bread package and a strawberry milk carton.
"Here."
She only stared at the bread and milk set before her.
"Eat. Going on an empty stomach isn't good."
Seong-min opened his own white milk and cream bread.
"Not bad~!"
He ate with clear enjoyment right in front of her. After one bite, he set his down, tore open another package, and held it out.
"Here."
She carefully accepted the bread. In the meantime he opened the strawberry milk for her too.
"Come on."
At his prompting, she finally took a taste. Sweet cream, soft bread. Only after confirming she was eating did Seong-min pick up his own bread again.
"Today we'll stop by a big mart and get cookware and daily necessities."
"I've been thinking."
"About what?"
"About why... you'd save me and do all this."
"And?"
She looked at him, then shook her head.
"I don't know. I've thought about it, but I can't understand why you'd save me and try to take care of me..."
"You don't have to know. Don't worry about that right now."
"What's... your name?"
"Later. I'll tell you later."
He wouldn't even give his name. A man full of secrets.
After they finished the bread and milk, he stood. He cleaned up roughly, then took her downstairs. He settled her into the passenger seat of the parked BMW 520d.
"All right — off we go~!"
Seong-min said it cheerfully and pulled out of the villa complex.
Even on a weekday, the big mart was crowded. He parked, grabbed a cart, and went in.
"First, pots..."
Pots, a rice cooker, a frying pan, plate sets, spoons, chopsticks — all into the cart. Rice bowls and soup bowls too. Before long the cart was half full.
"Next..."
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, conditioner, foam cleanser and other face-washing supplies. Detergent and fabric softener as well. The one-room already came with a bed, air conditioner, refrigerator, and drum washing machine, so no washer needed.
"Okay — now the grocery section."
They rode the moving walkway down and bought instant coffee mix, a ten-kilo bag of rice, and various side dishes. The side dishes could be transferred into containers once they got back to the room.
"Haha... cart's completely full."
Her face stayed blank; Seong-min didn't mind. After checkout, they loaded everything into boxes, wheeled the cart to the parking lot, and packed the trunk.
"Done. We can head back now."
They left the mart, returned to the villa complex, and parked.
"Just take this one..."
He handed her the lightest box. Fortunately she didn't refuse — she took it in her arms.
"Alright."
He closed the trunk, set the boxes down briefly at the front entrance, punched in the code, and they climbed the stairs together. On the third floor he entered the door code and set the boxes inside.
"I'll grab the rice and the rest."
Seong-min went back down. One more box and a ten-kilo bag of rice — nothing for him. He stacked the rice on the box and lifted. It barely registered as weight. Gombang work was far heavier and harder than this, and with a Martial Power stat over three hundred, the load was trivial. He climbed back to the third floor and carried it into unit 305.
"Now we just need to put everything away."
He closed the front door, took off his shoes, and started unpacking box by box.
"Looks neat."
It took a while, but everything was organized.
"Do you know how to wash and set rice?"
"...I do."
Her flat voice. Seong-min nodded.
"I'll wash and set it in the cooker for you today."
He rinsed a proper amount of rice, set the water level, plugged in the cooker, and started white rice. He pulled out side-dish containers and transferred the kimchi and various banchan from the mart.
"Now it actually looks like a home..."
The fridge was stocked, rice was cooking, toiletries were set out in the bathroom, detergent lined up beside the drum washer on the small balcony.
"For lunch, let's order jjajangmyeon. It's tradition when you move, right?"
He called a Chinese restaurant and ordered two bowls of jjajangmyeon and a tangsuyuk set.
"You don't have clothes or underwear to change into, so we'll go buy some this evening."
"What... are you even thinking, doing all this?"
She couldn't understand it. Why was this man treating her this way? She'd never seen his face before. He was taller than expected, and handsome — a face she should have remembered if she'd ever met him. But there was nothing in her mind. And yet he knew her.
"Haha... I won't do you any harm. You don't need to wonder about it. For now, just focus on resting and getting stable..."
He smiled. This man always smiled when he looked at her. Why did he always smile like that? What was so good? What was there to be happy about? Was he always like this?
That was how it began.
They ate jjajangmyeon for lunch. In the afternoon they went to a clothing store and bought a winter coat, tops, pants. He paid for everything. He knew she had no money.
"Want some tteokbokki?"
Outside the clothing store, before getting in the car, he pointed at a chain tteokbokki shop nearby.
"My treat."
He took her wrist and led her over. They got medium-spicy tteokbokki with extra cheese and a fish cake set.
"Pretty good, right?"
She didn't answer — just nodded. It wasn't bad.
After that, he came to the house every day for a full week. She still couldn't make sense of any of it. The whole situation was chaos. When he left and she was alone, she sat leaning against the bed wall. That was her daily routine. The room filled with things because of him — household goods accumulating — but her heart stayed empty. Living like this, what was left? She couldn't feel any hope. If she just died like this, she doubted she'd feel a thing.
He'll come tomorrow too...
That man would definitely come again tomorrow. Why was he being so good to her? It was all so confusing.
The next day, the front door buzzer rang and she opened her eyes. She turned her head — the buzzer kept going. Was it not him? He knew the door lock code. Then who?
"Food delivery~!"
A delivery driver's voice. Had he ordered food for her? So she wouldn't go hungry. After a moment the outside went quiet and she got up from the bed. She had no appetite, but she'd at least bring it inside. He'd gone to the trouble.
She walked to the front door, turned the handle, and opened it.
"Hello."
And she saw them — the men standing there. In an instant one of them shoved past her shoulder and forced his way in.
"Thought you could just run off and we wouldn't find you..."
Of course. They hadn't given up on her.
"You wrecked our guys and set up house real nice, huh..."
"Get out — we can talk outside—"
Crack.
A hard slap snapped her head sideways and she went down.
"Get out? Get out of what, you bitch! You ran from us — you need a proper lesson to knock some sense into you..."
He looked down at her crumpled on the floor after the slap.
"Boys."
"Yes, hyungnim."
"You lot wait outside. I've got business with this bitch."
The men bowed and turned. In the meantime the man wet his lips with his tongue and roughly yanked at his necktie.
"For running — I'm gonna wreck you properly on that bed... you bitch."
His underlings were just opening the front door to leave when—
Wham—!
"Guh!"
The man who'd been first through the door took a brutal hit and tangled with the one behind him, both going down hard.
"What the—?!"
The man who'd been about to throw her on the bed, necktie half-undone, whipped his head around.
Then the sounds came one after another.
Crack! Wham! Smash!!!
"Guh!"
"Keh—!"
In seconds his flustered underlings were being beaten senseless by someone they couldn't even identify, sent flying.
"Y-you son of a—!"
The man's pupils shook. Suddenly it was just the two of them, facing each other. Seong-min glanced at the woman collapsed on the floor looking his way. One cheek was swollen. That alone told him she'd been slapped.
"So it was you... You're the one who snuck this bitch away..."
Shing.
The man drew a knife.
"Think you're tough just 'cause you can fight a little... You need to learn what happens when you mess around, you bastard...!"
He lunged with the blade, thrusting straight for Seong-min's stomach.
"W-watch out!"
She cried out — but something astonishing happened.
"?!"
Seong-min didn't even dodge. He simply caught the thrusting hand.
Crack.
"Aaaargh!!!"
A scream tore out.
"M-my hand... my haaand!!!!"
He hadn't just grabbed the weapon hand — he'd crushed the bones with raw force. Seong-min stepped in on the man writhing with his wrist seized and—
Wham—!
—drove a fist into his gut.
"Guhhh!!!"
The man's eyes bulged as if they'd pop out. He clutched his stomach and collapsed. He retched blood mixed with bile several times, tears and snot streaming, thrashing in agony. But Seong-min wasn't finished. He grabbed the man by the collar and, with shocking strength, lifted him one-handed.
Crack.
Then he slapped him. The man's head snapped sideways.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
He hammered the man's face without mercy. The cheeks swelled, then the skin split and blood ran. The man trembled violently from the pain.
Crack. Crack. Crack. Crack.
Still Seong-min kept slamming him. Even the underlings who'd gone down in a single hit watched with faces drained of color at the relentless slapping.
"Grrrk..."
A wet, rattling sound. The man's eyes rolled back as his body shook.
If this went on any longer, past unconsciousness — he'd soil himself.
"......"
But Seong-min—
Crack. Slap! Craaack.
—kept throwing open-handed blows.
What finally stopped the endless motion was her voice from behind him, arms wrapping around his waist.
"Th-that's enough!... Please... stop now... please......!"
"......"