Side Story: The Thumb's Big Brother
“Let’s see… you insulted the Thumb, so I’ll have to tear your mouth open.”
CRUNCH—!
“Ah, I tore the head open instead of the mouth…”
There wasn’t a shred of guilt in the child’s tone, as if he’d merely made a minor slip of the hand.
Corpses littered the surroundings, blood pooling into rivers. He had executed not only the one who insulted the Thumb, but every single person nearby as well.
“Big Brother. This place is finished.”
“Is it? Then I’ll cross it off the list…”
The child pulled out his ledger and struck one of the names written inside. Unlike the brutal scene moments earlier, the ledger was covered in all sorts of stickers—though of course, they weren’t to the child’s own taste.
“By the way, Big Brother. Didn’t you hate putting stickers on the ledger?”
“Hm? I did, didn’t I?”
“Then what are all those stickers?”
“Ah~ these?”
At his younger brother’s question, the child looked down at the stickers on the ledger and smiled.
“I didn’t put these on. Someone else did.”
“Someone else?”
“Yeah. The person I cherish most in the whole world…”
“Hayeon-ah—!”
The child broke off mid-sentence and turned toward the voice. When he saw the woman waving as she walked over from the far side, his face lit up brightly.
“Dokja!”
He sprinted toward her like a puppy reunited with its owner, and she caught him effortlessly.
“Pfft, I told you it’s dangerous to run at me like that~”
“But… I can’t help it when I’m happy…”
Seeing the child visibly droop like a scolded puppy, the woman finally burst out laughing.
“Heh… Did you miss me that much?”
“Of course!”
“…So the rumors that Big Brother was dating were actually true…”
The younger brother watching from behind went pale with shock at the open display of affection, but the child couldn’t have cared less.
“Sniff… Dokja. Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Hm? Ah… I did get a little banged up just now…”
“Which bastard did it?”
The moment he realized she was injured, the child’s entire demeanor turned ice-cold. In the Thumb, even harming a fellow member invited retribution—but harming his lover was an entirely different matter.
“B-Big Brother.”
“What. I’m busy right now, so later…”
“I-I know who wounded Big Sis…”
“Which bastard.”
At the child’s murderous question, the younger brother’s face went ashen. The tattoos on the child’s body were already glowing violet.
“Th-the Fixers from a workshop in District 9…”
“Huh. Some nobodies dare lay a hand on the Thumb?”
The chains around the child clanked, announcing the coming execution. The fact that Fixers from some nameless workshop had touched his lover had clearly enraged him beyond measure.
“None of you follow me. Those bastards—I’ll handle them myself.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Terrified by the child’s murderous aura, the younger brothers didn’t dare offer to come along. One careless word and their heads would split open just like the corpses from moments ago.
The tattoos etched into the child’s legs flared violet, then burst with a sharp crack as his body launched into the air. They were already in District 10, so there was no need for a Warp Train.
After several bounding leaps—
BOOM—!
“Wh-what the hell?!”
“Why is the Thumb here…!”
“Those who touch the Thumb’s family repay it with death.”
The face that had been smiling at his lover only moments earlier had already transformed into the face of the Big Brother of the Thumb, ready to exact vengeance.
The chains hanging from every part of his body clanked as they coiled around his arms, and the tattoos covering him began to shine brilliantly, heralding the start of the execution.
“Damn it…! It’s the Big Brother! Everyone, ru—”
CRUNCH—!
The Fixer’s words never finished. The child’s chains wrapped around his head in an instant and crushed it flat.
“What the hell is this… We never even touched the Thumb!”
“As long as the bastard who hurt Dokja is a Fixer operating in District 9… smashing every workshop in District 9 should eventually solve the problem.”
“And you lot who failed to stop the one who hurt Dokja share the blame, so you’re all subject to summary execution.”
“What kind of bullshit is—!”
CRACK—!
“Insulting speech against the Thumb is repaid by tearing the mouth open.”
The Fixer who tried to argue had his head split open starting from the mouth, until it tore completely in two.
“R-run!”
“Fuck! How the hell did the Big Brother end up here?!”
“The Thumb never forgets.”
And so the child kept leaping from place to place. He had no intention of stopping until every Fixer who had injured his lover was dead.
Later, this incident would greatly expand the Thumb’s influence in District 9—but that was a story for another time, and of little importance right now.
Static— crackle—
Mm… it seems time is almost up.
Once this story ends, it’ll be difficult for us to meet for a while.
Though who knows? If the child on that side ever meets me, maybe I’ll get to see you again too.
Well then—let’s meet again next time.