The Man Who Came Back Alone
Yoo Kang-soo was lost in memories, his voice thick with emotion as he shook his head again and again.
"Damn... But when I actually stepped to the front and charged in, seeing those twenty-something kids bleeding out on the floor and dying... I think my eyes went completely crossed.
This bastard... I thought I'd catch him today and kill him on the spot... I swung at him wildly.
It was an intense gunfight, but in the end, I didn't kill him... I just shot his arms and legs to capture him alive. The hostages... none of them got hurt... I saved them all.
General Yi Sun-sin said it, didn't he? 'Live if you can, die if you must.' That saying... it fits perfectly. When I charged in with the resolve to die, there was nothing I couldn't do."
After catching that guy, when I turned around... there was really no one there. Everyone... was too scared to come in... I went in alone and caught that bastard. My eyes were completely flipped... I didn't think about backup or anything.
"That day... after work... That night, seeing my daughter and my wife... Hah... really... at that time... I thought to myself that I had gone crazy... The bullet from that bastard... grazed right next to my helmet... I still feel that sensation vividly..."
Ah... really... I should live a good life... Hyung... Today... this afternoon drink... is really good... Thinking about the old days... my nose is stinging... ugh...
Manager Lee gave a slightly guilty expression and opened his mouth again.
"Wait a minute, Brother Kang... I feel like I'm committing a sin against you right now... At this point... you probably have some idea... Don't you?"
"Hah... but I like you more than anyone, Hyung... Enduring longer than me... That's really... means you worked hard. You didn't work hard, Hyung... I understand your position completely. Even if I were in your position, I wouldn't have been able to do it."
Yoo Kang-soo nodded his head while speaking. Right now... he had finally realized why Manager Lee was apologizing to him.
"Damn it... the remaining debt is 4 billion... Including interest, principal and interest... 200 a month... I have to pay it for another 28 years... I'm already 62 years old... If I pay all that, I'll be 90... hahaha... Before that, I'll die first... My wife... when she started her business... I should have stopped her... I took out an apartment loan to start the business... And it went bankrupt... I took on all that debt... In the end, it went bankrupt... and because of that, we fought every day and separated. Well... we didn't separate because I hated her to death... My wife became a Buddhist nun... I couldn't separate... We separated for both of us... But still, we live in the same house... Legally, we're just strangers... but we still live in the same house."
"Ugh... I can't retire even if I die... The moment I retire... I become a debtor... hahaha..."
"Hyung... cheer up... Where's a person without debt... I still have an apartment loan left..."
"Brother Kang... I... Park Jeon-mu... asked me to subtly probe the atmosphere towards you today... You noticed, right?"
"Of course... You're recording right now... Hahaha... you flipped the phone over..."
Manager Lee laughed loudly at Kang-soo's words.
"Our Park Jeon-mu... is three years younger than me... fifty-nine... graduated from a good university... pulls in an eight-figure salary... drives an imported car... How could he not be worried when he gets such pressure from you? If it were just some cheap thugs or low-class gangsters pressuring me, I wouldn't care. But when real professionals do it... You really are the type who does what you say. That guy would know it too if he did even a little background check on you... So lately he's been worrying a lot. He's not worried that I'll push up into the president's office... but that you'll dig into his past and really use the dirt on him... That's why he called me and asked me to check on your movements a bit... We've known each other well... similar age... So today I did this little show for you, Brother Kang... Sorry... I've eaten too much of my age and can't pay my age dues..."
"Hah... don't say that, Hyung... I have something too... I'm not trying to change the subject... but the old incident you mentioned earlier... That was actually me who got involved and had the gunfight... Not many people know about it... If Hyung is bringing that up, you must have investigated me a lot... It's not in my regular record, but... But I'm not talking about that right now... While talking about it, I suddenly remembered around fifteen years ago... When I was about to die, my wife acted like she really wanted me to die... There was no woman in the world as kind and submissive as her... Ugh... really... Lately things have been bad with my wife... it bothers me... but thinking about that time... I miss my wife so much... I really do... I think I must have gone crazy..."
Yoo Kang-soo was lost in self-pity, thinking about his wife... Meanwhile, Manager Lee was pouring water into his own bowl.
Manager Lee was subtly handing his own story to Yoo Kang-soo.
"Brother Kang... This is me pinning you down a bit... Don't worry about Park Jeon-mu... I'll tell him not to worry, that you won't do anything bad. I'll edit the recording from today's drinking party, play it for Park Jeon-mu, and tell him to shut up. Is that okay?"
"Of course... Hyung... I trust you... If one day you hit me from behind... If it's because of money and I had no choice... I'll understand... so please warn me in advance... Then I'll never resent you..."
"Hah... this guy... I'm raising a child too... Why would I hit you from behind..."
"Hyung... People are unpredictable... Hyung has been investigating for a long time... People... really... bad guys... born evil is rare, maybe one in a hundred... The rest are all problems with money or environment... Did Hyung not feel that? I felt it a lot when I was investigating in the past... The motto of my life now is 'three characters of patience'. If I have that, I wouldn't have committed murder. The military murder cases I investigated back then... If I think about it quietly now... If I had just thought of those three characters of patience, none of those incidents would have happened. That's life, I guess..."
In the end, they drank soju four bottles and beer three bottles between them at the afternoon drink. Yoo Kang-soo, who was quite drunk, immediately hailed a taxi. And it was Yoo Kang-soo who called his wife Ji Hye-in right after.
"Hello... honey..."
His wife Ji Hye-in answered the phone immediately.
"Where are you?"
"Where else... the office..."
"Can you come out for a bit?"
"Where?"
"I'm taking a taxi... near your office... Can I see you for just an hour?"
"What's... the matter... Again... is it that someone hit you..."
His wife Ji Hye-in's voice was slightly frozen as she said that.
"No... this guy... When I arrive, I'll send a KakaoTalk... Come out in front of the office for just a moment..."
Yoo Kang-soo took a taxi to in front of his wife Ji Hye-in's office.
That night... that is... after his wife Ji Hye-in came home wearing her revealing outfit... It had been several days since that day when she said it wasn't because of Ko Dong-seok's request but because she liked it, which was an unbelievable excuse. After that day... she had become a bit distant... and conversations had decreased a lot. In fact, yesterday... Before going to bed, she didn't say a word and immediately went to sleep. But after drinking the afternoon drink... Thinking about his wife from 15 years ago... Yoo Kang-soo became so desperately homesick for his wife that he thought he had gone crazy. But it wasn't just missing her; the sexual desire surged, and with the alcohol, the thought of relieving the sexual desire became even stronger.
The taxi arrived in front of the association office where his wife worked... And before getting out of the taxi, Kang-soo sent a KakaoTalk, so it seemed that his wife Ji Hye-in had come out in front of the building in advance. Yoo Kang-soo approached his wife Ji Hye-in with his face slightly flushed.
"You smell of alcohol... Did you drink that afternoon drink?"
"Yeah... I had a little as a chaser..."
Yoo Kang-soo was looking at his wife Ji Hye-in's outfit.
"You... did you come to work in that this morning?"
"Yeah..."
A white shirt with a thin cardigan... the top was just a very ordinary outfit for going to work. But... the bottom was the problem. She was wearing a very short miniskirt that came up to the middle of her thighs... so her knees were exposed.