The Paper Shield
"Get out of the car."
Byeongji smirked, curling his finger in a mocking beckon.
"By what authority are you doing this? I'm calling the police first."
As Kim Donghoon reached for his smartphone on the dashboard mount in a final act of resistance—
"No need for that."
Byeongji snatched it away in a flash.
"Things are in absolute chaos nationwide right now. The police have temporarily deputized us and groups like the Veterans Association."
He offered a casual explanation.
"If you've got nothing to hide, we'll let you go. So just cooperate quietly."
The man who had first tapped on the window chimed in.
His nametag read Kim Changshik.
"So, do you have any proof of this deputization? An official document or something? The news hasn't said a word about this."
Kim Donghoon pressed him again.
"An official document? You know damn well the country is in too much of an emergency for normal administration to function, don't you?"
"Then what is your legal basis for doing this?"
"Because we were deputized. Simple as that."
"Look, I don't care if the administration is paralyzed or whatever. Bring me an official document, or don't talk to me."
"And I'm telling you, there is no such document."
The conversation was going in circles.
"We'll just do a quick check, and if there's no issue, we'll send you right on your way. So please, both of you, step out of the vehicle. Okay? There's looting and murder happening all over the place, so we have no choice but to do this..."
Kim Changshik added with a genial smile.
It was the classic good cop, bad cop routine.
"So you're admitting you have absolutely no legal basis?"
"Well, technically, yes. But given the circumstances, shouldn't we all just try to cooperate and make this easy?"
"Then I'm not cooperating. Give me back my phone."
"We can't return it until the inspection is complete."
"Ha..."
Kim Donghoon let out a deep sigh.
"Fine, return it later then. I'm leaving. And just so you know, I'll be billing you for the broken window."
He spun the steering wheel in irritation.
The cracked window rolled back up, separating Kim Donghoon from the members of the National Male Vanguard.
"Wait... what?"
"Block him! Block him!"
"If you block me, I'll run you over!"
"I told you, let's just make this easy!"
As Kim Donghoon's car began to roll forward, the scene descended into chaos.
"Get out of the way!"
"Excuse me, sir! If you keep this up, we will open fire!"
Kim Changshik drew a pistol from the holster at his hip and aimed it.
"What kind of fucking toy gun is..."
Kim Donghoon scoffed in disbelief.
No matter how ruined the country was, there was no way a common mob of rioters could have acquired real firearms and be parading them around so boldly.
He assumed it was a mere replica—
BANG!
A gunshot shattered the air.
The sound of shattering glass, the whip of tearing air, and a dull thud as something impacted.
A small hole appeared in the thick windshield, spiderwebbing instantly as the bullet tore through and embedded itself in the back seat.
What Kim Donghoon had forgotten was that since the revolution, stray firearms—specifically unregistered weapons from North Korea—had been secretly flooding the civilian black market.
"Fuck! He shot! That crazy bastard actually shot at us!!"
"Donghoon! What do we do?! What do we do?!"
"I don't fucking know!!"
Once again, Kim Hayan began her useless, panicked cries of "What do we do?!"
Then—
CRASH!
The half-cracked side window was violently smashed in.
Tempered glass rained into the cabin like crushed rock candy.
"Kyaaaah!"
Kim Hayan clutched her head and let out a piercing shriek.
"Stop the fucking car!!"
Byeongji thrust his hand through the broken window and grabbed the steering wheel.
"Okay! Okay! We'll get out, just calm down!!"
Kim Donghoon managed to squeeze out a reply through his sheer panic.
A moment later, Kim Donghoon stepped out of the car, trembling violently.
Byeongji and his men forced both Kim Donghoon and Kim Hayan to their knees.
"Hey, sir. What was that you were saying about an official document earlier?"
"Please, just calm down. Okay? I... I reacted a bit too aggressively..."
Kneeling on the asphalt, Kim Donghoon answered as submissively as possible.
"I'll show you your official document."
Byeongji, panting heavily, snarled:
"This! Is! Your! Official! Document! You fucking piece of shit...!!"
He began to brutally beat Kim Donghoon.
"Ugh! Aaagh!"
With every strike of the collapsible baton, Kim Donghoon shrieked and writhed in agony.
"Kyaah! Donghoon! Why are you doing this?! Stop! Why are you doing this?!"
Kim Hayan, who had been keeping her head down and mouth shut, let out a flurry of high-pitched, frantic screams.
"What's your problem, lady? You want to see the official document too?"
Byeongji glared at Kim Hayan with bloodshot eyes, his gaze piercing through her.
"La... lady? N-No..."
At the word "lady," a flash of venomous spite crossed Kim Hayan's face for a split second, but she quickly cast her eyes down submissively under Byeongji's murderous glare.
"Watch your mouth if you don't want a taste of this official document too..."
Byeongji spat heavily on the back of Kim Donghoon's head as he lay curled up, clutching his skull.
"Check both of their IDs! Tell the higher-ups... sigh... that they resisted too violently."
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
The men nodded.
"Geez, boss, take it easy. You're gonna turn another one into a cripple like you did this morning."
Kim Changshik spoke to Byeongji with a smirk.
At the word "cripple," both Kim Donghoon and Kim Hayan flinched, their shoulders tensing as they knelt.
A moment later.
"Let's see... this one... your name is..."
"Kim Donghoon."
"I can see that. Nothing special here. What were you so paranoid about?"
Contrary to his fears, it seemed Kim Donghoon's name was not yet on the hit list.
Kim Donghoon let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Here's your phone."
Kim Changshik tossed the smartphone onto the ground in front of Kim Donghoon with a dull clack.
The screen cracked slightly as it hit the asphalt, but Kim Donghoon didn't dare utter a single word of complaint.
And then.
"Now, lady, lift your head."
Next was Kim Hayan.
"..."
Under normal circumstances, Kim Hayan would never have hidden her venomous rage at being called "lady," but right now, she was too paralyzed with fear to even think of raising her head.
"I said, lift your head!"
Kim Changshik barked, completely indifferent to her terror.
"Fuck it, pull her up!"
"Yes, sir."
At Kim Changshik's command, two men grabbed Kim Hayan and dragged her to her feet.
"Look here... Look at the fucking screen!"
Kim Changshik shoved Kim Hayan's smartphone right in front of her face.
He was trying to trigger the facial recognition to unlock her digital ID.
But Kim Hayan—
"Hieeeck!"
desperately averted her eyes.
"Fucking bitch, you really don't listen..."
"Mmph... mmph!"
Kim Changshik brutally grabbed Kim Hayan's jaw, forcing her face toward the phone.
"Keep squirming and I'll shatter your jaw right here."
"Hic!"
At Kim Changshik's threat, Kim Hayan let out a hiccuping sob, tears welling in her eyes.
Of course, unless Kim Changshik possessed superhuman strength, he couldn't actually crush her jaw with his bare hand.
However, the rough, calloused grip of his palm was more than enough to completely shatter whatever remained of Kim Hayan's sanity.
Soon, with a crisp *ping!*, the digital ID unlocked.
"Should've just done that from the start. Let's see... Name... Kim Hayan... Kim Hayan... Where have I heard this name before?"
Kim Changshik stroked his chin, pondering.
"Hey, Seongil! Bring the list over here!"
He called out.
Soon, a man whose nametag read Shin Seongil approached, carrying a manila folder.
"This one?"
"Yeah, this... I swear I've seen this name somewhere..."
Kim Changshik flipped through the papers in the folder, comparing the details with Kim Hayan's digital ID line by line.
"It's her, right? This is the bitch, isn't it?"
Kim Changshik showed the ID and the file to Shin Seongil.
"That's her. Same name, same date of birth, even the address matches..."
"W-What do you mean? What matches?"
"It means you're a traitor."
Kim Changshik snickered, then roared:
"Kim Hayan! You are under arrest as an offender of anti-state and anti-national crimes!"
"Take this bitch to the detention center!"
Kim Changshik gestured to the other men.
"What is this?! What are you doing to me?!"
The men grabbed Kim Hayan's arms with brutal force and began dragging her toward the highway authority building on one side of the tollgate.
"Wait a minute! What do you think you're doing?!"
Kim Donghoon began to protest vehemently.
"You don't know? That bitch is an anti-state, anti-national criminal."
Kim Donghoon blinked, unable to comprehend.
"Ah, I guess you don't watch the news. That bitch was a feminist."
Byeongji explained in a mockingly polite tone.
"Wait, hold on. Doesn't that mean this guy is also guilty of harboring an anti-national criminal?"
Kim Changshik raised an eyebrow and asked Byeongji.
"True. If he knew, he's an undeniable accomplice. Should we take him in too..."
Just as Byeongji gestured to call the men over—
"She was a fucking piece of shit all along!"
Having run the calculations in his head in a split second, Kim Donghoon instantly pulled his metaphorical ejection lever.
A Young Forty male feminist would never risk his life for a mere sleeve.
A moment later.
"Hic... hic..."
Kim Hayan sobbed, hiccuping as she was dragged away by the men.
The "detention center" turned out to be, shockingly, the parking lot behind the highway authority building.
Lined up across the asphalt were large dog cages, the kind used in stray animal shelters. Inside them—
"Save me... Please save me..."
"Just kill me already..."
"Please let me go home... sob... Please, I want to go home..."
"My husband is waiting for me... Please, mister... please..."
Naked female bodies of all shapes and sizes were crammed inside.
When a few of them clung to the iron bars, begging—
"You traitorous bitches, what the fuck are you whining about?!"
A man who appeared to be a guard brutally struck their fingers with a collapsible baton.
"Kyaaaah!"
They let out piercing screams.
The women curled inward, cradling their broken, dangling fingers, trying desperately to cover their nakedness.
"Hieeeck..."
True to her name, Kim Hayan's face turned completely, deathly pale.