It’s My Brother, Deok-cheol
"You motherfucking piece of shit!"
Thwack! Thwack-thwack!
Park Deok-cheol, mounted on top of the fallen man, rained down punches with reckless abandon. "Argh! Ack! Gack!" The man, who had instinctively curled his arms around his head, let out screams and groans as his face continued to take the brunt of the assault.
"Oh, for fuck's sake...!"
The staff member who had guided Park Deok-cheol realized things had gone horribly wrong and sprinted over like a gust of wind to pull him off. "Stop! Please, calm down!"
"Get off me! I’m gonna kill this bastard!"
Thwack! Thwack-thwack-thwack!
But it wasn't easy to restrain Park Deok-cheol, who was not only tall and well-built but already worked into a state of pure, unadulterated rage. Just then, a young girl, who had been startled and bewildered by the sudden outburst, finally grasped the situation and rushed forward.
"O-oppa...? Ducky oppa!? Park Deok-cheooool!"
As she shouted his name, Park Deok-cheol’s fists stopped as if by magic. He heaved his shoulders, gasping for air, and slowly turned his head.
"Oppa, Ducky oppa. Stop it. But why are you here? *Sob!* Why are you really here? *Sob... Hiiing...*"
"Che... Cherry. Yu-jeong-ah..."
Only then did Park Deok-cheol regain his senses. Flustered, he stood up and grabbed her small shoulders.
"Haa..."
The staff member, having finally managed to pry Park Deok-cheol away, sighed, stood up, and looked down. "Ah, I’m seriously fucked."
Seeing the man curled up on the floor, writhing like a bug, the staff member sighed and keyed his radio. "Team leader. I think you need to come here. No, it’s not that. *Sigh*, anyway, something happened. It’s just that..."
"What on earth is all this, seriously..."
"......"
After hearing that Park Deok-cheol had caused trouble, Jun-ho didn't say a word as he hurried to the scene with Kang Baek-ho. Jun-ho’s insides were boiling. 'This bastard, seriously. I told him not to cause any trouble.'
If he had just stayed quiet and not caused a scene, he might have been able to bring that 'Cherry' girl—his crush—to the shelter. Even after adding the siblings Park Deok-cheol and Park Seon-hui, and Jo Yu-na, our shelter was still short on manpower. The shelter's greenhouse was mostly automated, so one or two people were enough, but the vinyl greenhouse the three idols had built near the container housing was semi-automated, requiring at least three or four people to constantly monitor and manage it. Furthermore, no matter how automated the shelter's facilities were, the AI only identified issues through sensors and cameras; actual maintenance required human labor. That work was primarily handled by Park Seon-hui, Jo Yu-na, and Kim Ha-yun. However, while Kim Ha-yun worked hard, she was still young, and above all, she was dedicated to teaching and caring for her younger brother, Kim Jun-seo, and Choi Jeong-woo’s daughter, Choi Ji-woo. And Jo Yu-na was incredibly busy just helping Choi Ha-neul in the kitchen, in between making and mending clothes and tending to the greenhouse. There was no need to mention Park Seon-hui, who had become the shelter's official 'Dolsoe' (hard worker) because her older brother, Park Deok-cheol, had 'changed jobs' (from idol to fighter). Baek Su-ho, Kim Ha-yun, and Jo Yu-na took turns assisting her, but since she performed above average in almost every task, she had to move without rest from the moment she woke up until she went to sleep.
Given this reality, Jun-ho deeply felt the need for more labor in the shelter. He had thought about bringing in candidates that the shelter members already knew and trusted. However, due to security concerns, the residents of Gahyeon-ri had to be excluded, which made Cherry—whom even Park Seon-hui and Jo Yu-na praised to the high heavens—and the members of her girl group, Blossom, the top candidates. That was, of course, assuming the parties involved were willing.
"I didn't think that guy was like that, I guess he has a bit of a temper?"
"...I'm not sure either."
But contrary to his answer, Jun-ho thought it was a bit strange. It hadn't been a very long time, but in the half-year he had known him, Park Deok-cheol wasn't the type to act emotionally, even if he was a bit dense. If he were, he wouldn't have been brought on this Gwangju expedition in the first place. Naturally, Park Deok-cheol had never once disappointed him while coming this far. Yet, he caused trouble the moment he arrived at the resort?
"If it's Deok-cheol's fault, I will take responsibility, Hyung-nim."
"Huh? Hey, why go that far? And besides."
Kang Baek-ho, who glanced at the staff following them, leaned in close to Jun-ho and spoke in a low voice. "In my opinion, there's a 90 percent chance it's the fault of the guys who got beaten by that friend. So, Juno-Juno, let me ask you a favor."
"Yes?"
"First of all, that guy named LD..."
While walking to the place where the celebrities were staying, Jun-ho heard the story from Kang Baek-ho.
"...How about it? Can you do it for me?"
"It doesn't matter to me. But are you really going to be okay with this?"
"It's fine. If anything, it's perfect because it's you, Jun-ho. After all, I'm the representative here, right? And I'll continue to be the representative."
"...I understand what you mean."
As expected of Kang Baek-ho. Jun-ho realized anew why he was able to become the leader of such a large survivor group, leading thousands of people.
Jun-ho arrived at the scene of the incident with Kang Baek-ho. Several people were gathered in front of the door, murmuring.
"What happened?"
"They say someone beat up LD-sunbaenim and Kelvin-sunbaenim."
"Really? Why?"
"I don't know."
"But isn't this the room where the Blossom and Mimi's Garden kids stay? Why here... Ah, Representative Kang."
"Re, Representative, you're here."
The people loitering in front of the door retreated in a swarm when they saw Kang Baek-ho. All of them, young men and women in their 20s and 30s, still had the air of celebrities, even in a world where they couldn't even dress properly.
"Did everyone eat well?"
"Yes. How about you, Representative?"
"Not yet. I don't have time to eat, none at all. Now, now, everyone move aside just a little."
As they, mostly singers, moved aside, Kang Baek-ho opened the door and went in, and Jun-ho followed behind him. However, the door to the room didn't close again. Since the Cops staff just stood in front of the door, the celebrities gathered there could clearly see and hear the situation inside.
"You fucking junior. Even if the world is like this, do you have no sense of hierarchy? Huh? You just beat someone up like that? Aren't you just a thug?"
"...I'm sorry."
"Is 'sorry' enough? You little shit. Where does a nobody, a failed idol, get off throwing punches at a senior who is like the sky? You bastard... Ah! Re, Representative, you're here."
LD, who had been tapping the cheek of the bowing Park Deok-cheol, quickly pulled his hand away the moment he saw Kang Baek-ho.
"Yes. I'm here. But Mr. LD, what is this situation?"
When Kang Baek-ho asked, LD spoke with a look of resentment and injustice. "Ah, Representative, you see. This ill-mannered, failed idol bastard suddenly rushed at Kelvin and made him look like this..."
"No. That's not it."
"...?"
"I asked Mr. LD. What is this situation? Why are you here?"
"Yes?"
"I never gave permission. Did you perhaps get permission from our Yeong-mi?"
"Ah, no, you see, Representative."
"Did you get it? Or not? Just tell me that."
"..."
As LD slowly avoided his gaze, Kang Baek-ho looked at Park Deok-cheol, Cherry Ahn Yu-jeong who was clinging to his side, and the other girl group members, and said, "Someone explain what happened today from beginning to end. No personal feelings, just the facts."
"Ah..."
The girls, who looked to be in their late teens to early 20s, exchanged glances, and one member who still had tear tracks on her face stepped forward.
"We finished our afternoon work and came in to wash up. We were resting. But suddenly, LD-sunbaenim..."
She, Lee Chae-rin of Blossom, started speaking while looking thoroughly intimidated. As the visual member of Blossom, she had a baby face that still made her look like a high schooler, but her figure was anything but, making her the most popular member.
"...Even though I said I didn't want to, *sob*, Kelvin-sunbaenim kept trying to force me to go to his room. *Sob*, so Yu-jeong tried to stop him. Then Kelvin-sunbaenim tried to hit Yu-jeong. That's when Ducky-oppa came in and helped us."
"Hey! Helped you? Fucking hell, is that helping? Is beating someone to death just helping? This nobody, failed idol bastard earlier..."
An excited LD tried to poke Park Deok-cheol’s face with his finger.
Clack.
"...!?"
But LD’s finger was caught by someone’s hand that had suddenly appeared.
"Wh, what, who are you?"
A startled LD jerked his head around. Then he glared up. His face was ordinary, but a man at least twice as big as himself, who looked like a bean sprout, was looking down at him with indifferent eyes while holding his finger.
"Me?"
Jun-ho, who was holding LD’s finger with his thumb and forefinger, turned his head toward Park Deok-cheol. Park Deok-cheol, who had been standing there, thoroughly intimidated with a dark, gloomy face, flinched at Jun-ho’s indifferent gaze and then lowered his head. His eyes were swollen, and there were traces of dried blood on the corner of his lips. It was clearly a sign that he had been hit by someone, and since it was obvious who that someone was, Jun-ho turned his gaze back to LD and applied pressure to his thumb and forefinger.
"I'm Deok-cheol's brother."
"...!"
Park Deok-cheol jerked his head up, and LD’s mouth fell open. The trapped finger was being bent little by little.
"Ah! Aaaaah...! Let, let go of this! Ugh! Aaaaah!"
He tried to use his other hand to pull it away, but it was no use.
Snap!
The moment he felt an unpleasant sound and vibration through his body, LD screamed. But Jun-ho, who had broken LD’s finger, didn't care and grabbed him by the collar.
"Ugh... Gack!"
"Hey, are you a moron?"
"Ugh...?"
"You're living here comfortably, eating, sleeping, and shitting thanks to Baek-ho Hyung-nim. Does the world still look like the world you used to know?"
"...!"
Not only LD, who was grabbed by the collar, but the girl group members in the room, and the celebrities watching from outside the door, all flinched.
"Do you know what my younger brother, Park Deok-cheol, did today? He fought against gangsters who were targeting this resort where a bastard like you is living comfortably. He killed about three or four of them. But what? 'Senior and junior in the music industry'?"
There were often guys like this before the regression. Guys who didn't know or refused to acknowledge that the world they knew had collapsed, that it had completely changed. Foolish morons who couldn't tell shit from soybean paste and tried to live like they were in the past. And the hallmark of such guys was that they all made life difficult for others.
"Ugh..."
Despite the pain of his broken finger, LD trembled at Jun-ho’s cynicism. His face was extremely ordinary, but the smile that felt devoid of emotion because of that very ordinariness was even more terrifying, and LD couldn't help but lose strength in his legs and wet himself.
"What about 'senior in the music industry'? Why don't you crawl out of here and tell the zombies waiting to eat you that you're a senior singer, a celebrity, so they should spare you? You moron."
"Gack!"
Jun-ho, holding him by the collar and standing him straight, continued in a voice dripping with murderous intent.
"Whether a moron like you acts like a parasite here or tries to prey on helpless girls, it has nothing to do with me. But, you see. Hitting my brother has everything to do with me. You get it?"
Splat!
Jun-ho raised his palm and blew LD’s face away. The guy who got hit in the face couldn't even scream; he just trembled and then went limp.
"..."
Jun-ho, who shook off his hand embedded with blood and tooth fragments, threw LD aside like trash and turned his body.