Back Then, Back Then, Back Then (3)
Inside the restaurant, there were only four people in total: myself, Lee Ga-rang's parents, and the restaurant employee.
Although it was peak weekend hours, for some reason, we were the only customers in the place.
Lee Ga-rang's father smoothly ordered from the menu.
Lee Ga-rang's mother made a big fuss about how long it had been since she last saw me, offering a bright smile. Yet, her eyes were completely hollow, devoid of any light...
I need to get out of here.
I knew how much trouble the two of them had been through, and I figured they had lost their minds in the aftermath. Just as a voice inside my head screamed at me to run...
"Hae-in, this is your first time eating lamb skewers, isn't it?"
Lee Ga-rang's father spoke to me, snapping me out of my thoughts.
Looking around, I realized this place was indeed a lamb skewer restaurant. I had been dragged here by Ga-rang's parents on a whim, making this my very first visit.
Lamb, huh...
"Lamb meat on skewers... Ah, yes, it's my first time."
At my response, Lee Ga-rang's mother cooed at me as if I were adorable.
"This place belongs to a friend of our counselor, Mr. Yangchigi. It's a very famous restaurant."
"...Yangchigi?"
"He's a counselor whose surname is Yang, so his nickname is 'Shepherd.' We've been receiving counseling from him."
Although this counselor nicknamed Yangchigi had come out of nowhere, it made me realize just how deeply scarred Ga-rang's parents must be.
Siblings from the same womb, relying on each other...
The exact details had been kept private for their protection, but everyone whispered that they had no choice but to rely on each other. A biological brother and sister...
While I was sorting through my pity, the lamb meat was skewered and placed over the rotating grill in the blink of an eye.
Lee Ga-rang's father skewered some onions and garlic scapes onto a toothpick, placing it on top of the rotating lamb skewers to cook evenly.
It looked like a tiny sailboat navigating a wave of spinning lamb skewers.
The sight of the toothpick sailboat pushing forward through the rotating meat was so cute that a small chuckle escaped my lips.
"Hae-in, it looks like you're feeling better. Shall we eat and talk?"
"But why are we the only ones here?"
With only the three of us in the restaurant, I felt uneasy, and my appetite vanished. With the Baekyeom Sect on my mind, paranoia was starting to creep in.
Lee Ga-rang's father spoke with easygoing charm.
"Ah, I forgot to mention. Counselor Yangchigi actually booked the entire restaurant today so we could have lunch and plan our next steps. Since we happened to run into you, we brought you along!"
"Booking the whole restaurant for a weekend lunch...?"
As the toothpick sailboat continued to navigate the melting lamb fat, I began to wonder if Ga-rang's parents were really just receiving counseling...
The meat was crisping up nicely. Ga-rang's mother handed me a few well-cooked skewers, but I only held them in my hand. My appetite was completely gone.
As I sat there holding the skewers, Ga-rang's mother checked her phone, let out a sigh, and spoke to Ga-rang's father.
"Oppa, the counselor says something urgent came up... He said we'll have to meet next time."
"The elders must be trying to pull something reckless again..."
The expressions of Lee Ga-rang's parents turned ice-cold. It felt as though even the heat from the sizzling skewers was being snuffed out by the sudden chill.
But... elders?
"What do you mean by that? Are you talking about other people Counselor Yangchigi advises?"
At my question, Ga-rang's parents looked at me with thin smiles.
"Yes, indeed... They are the elders who always make things difficult for Counselor Yangchigi. Just old folks who have managed to survive... who have lived for a long time."
It was a strange response, but I decided to assume this counselor had a busy schedule.
Eating their skewers, Ga-rang's parents brought up Ga-rang.
"Our Ga-rang... even though she was born from a relationship that should never have been... She was born on a day when the drizzle was falling, which is why we named her Ga-rang. You remember, don't you?"
"Ah... of course. When we were kids, the other children teased her, saying her name was weird. She was crying, and you two were the ones who told me that."
Lee Ga-rang's name was unusual. They had named her after the drizzle on the day she was born.
Ga-rang had hated her name because people often found it strange.
Come to think of it, Sang-hui was the same... Her father had named her after someone he owed a debt of gratitude to. Sang-hui had cried even harder, complaining that her name sounded like an old man's... Who on earth names their child like that?
"We know... that you weren't the one who leaked our secret, Oh Hae-in."
My eyes widened in shock as I stared at them.
"Do you... really believe that?"
"Yes. Because we, the Baekyeom Sect, were the ones who exposed it."
Wh-what?
My brain short-circuited at the completely unexpected response.
Ga-rang's parents calmly continued to chew on their lamb skewers, speaking as if it were nothing.
"It is all karma for what your grandfather started, Oh Hae-in. He slaughtered innocent people... so we made you, who did nothing wrong, pay the price."
These bastards...
How dare they speak of my grandfather?
"Hey. You two aren't really Ga-rang's parents, are you? You're not the people who always spoke to me so kindly!"
"As expected... of someone carrying the bloodline of high-ranking prosecutors. You react so aggressively."
"Haah..."
I let out a short sigh and stood up, glaring with murderous intent at the people who were not Ga-rang's parents—but rather, Lee Hyuk and Lee Yul.
The untouched lamb skewers continued to char over the fire, as if eager to turn to ash.
Lee Hyuk smirked.
"It must have felt so unfair all this time, right? What a pity... We have much bigger plans in store, so you're going to have to suffer a lot more, Oh Hae-in!"
"Say that... one more time."
"Why don't you try hitting me instead of talking?"
Thud!
My fist slammed directly into Lee Hyuk's face. He crashed to the floor, taking the lamb skewers down with him.
Lee Yul calmly kept eating her skewers, completely unfazed, while the employee watched with an amused expression. Even with blood dripping from his mouth, Lee Hyuk looked delighted.
Lee Hyuk stood up, brushing himself off, and spoke again.
"We might seem like amateurs right now since we've only just rebuilt... but make no mistake, we plan to utterly destroy you in the end."
"Ha? A piece of trash like you? The police have already been notified, and my father will—"
"We've already taken care of the police. And the prosecution isn't what it used to be. Our Baekyeom Sect has many powerful believers. Aren't you the one who's in deep trouble?"
I lunged forward and drove my fist into Lee Hyuk's stomach. Even as he doubled over, clutching his gut, he kept smirking at me. My rationality screamed at me to calm down, but my rage had already been unleashed.
I pinned him to the floor and rained down merciless blows on his face with both fists.
His despicable face grew redder and redder, looking as though it had been drenched in fish blood.
I knew I shouldn't lose my mind, but I couldn't stop. Not while he kept sneering at me.
Chime.
The moment the door began to open.
"They're here!"
Thud.
Lee Yul and the employee muttered the words in unison before dropping to the floor, pretending to have fainted. The sound echoed in my ears.
Ah...!
Instantly snapping back to reality, I whipped my head toward the entrance.
There they stood.
Pinned beneath me, Lee Hyuk spoke in a weak, sorrowful voice.
"My daughter... Sang-hui, Na-rin... Please forgive Hae-in... This is all our fault."
Lee Ga-rang's house.
Lee Ga-rang looked at the text message sent by her estranged parents.
Although their relationship had grown awkward after the shocking revelation of their incestuous relationship, they were still the parents who had always cherished her. Ga-rang resolved to try and understand them.
Watching Gong Na-rin teasing Cha Sang-hui on the sofa, and Sang-hui, whose hangover was finally fading, muttering threats at Na-rin, Ga-rang smiled brightly and spoke to her friends.
"My mom and dad want to have lunch with all of us. Come on, let's go!"
The two bickering girls could see that Ga-rang was finally patching things up with her family, and their faces lit up with genuine happiness.
Together, they took the subway and headed toward the restaurant where Ga-rang's parents were waiting.
When they arrived, the three girls saw...
Lee Ga-rang's unconscious mother, the restaurant employee, and...
Ga-rang's father, brutally beaten by Oh Hae-in.
"Wh-what is... this...?"
Ga-rang's knees buckled, and she nearly collapsed to the floor. Cha Sang-hui and Gong Na-rin quickly caught her, keeping her from falling, but...
The three girls had just witnessed Oh Hae-in—the boy who loved looking at fish, the boy they believed had always protected them—brutally beating Ga-rang's father.
Pinned on top of Ga-rang's father, Hae-in turned to look at them. His hands were stained red, and his face wore an expression of desperate injustice, as if screaming that he was the victim.
No one could utter a single word. The three girls rushed to help the fallen adults.
Without a word, the boy stepped away from Ga-rang's father, averting his gaze. His eyes were completely hollow, like those of a dead fish.
Ga-rang's mother and the restaurant employee pretended to wake up from their swoon, pleading with the girls to forgive the boy. They claimed it was just a sudden outburst of anger because they had accidentally said something to upset him while trying to offer advice.
Thanks to the adults' "merciful" handling of the situation, the police were not called. But Cha Sang-hui looked at the boy with utter despair, while Ga-rang felt completely hollowed out, as if all her emotions had been drained. Gong Na-rin wanted to step closer to him, but her rationality screamed at her not to.
Without saying a word, Oh Hae-in walked out of the restaurant, his hands still stained with blood.
The untouched lamb skewers had completely burned away.
Reduced to nothing but ash.