Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Narrative for the Villain (5)
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From Moon Seok-il's explanation, Jin-hyuk could guess the identity of the land speculators.
With enough wealth to command people like that, it wasn't hard to infer that Hong Gi-jun was behind them.
The problem was these guys.
Who the hell had sent them?
Before he could even think about it, Moon Seok-il continued his explanation.
"We know exactly where you live, so even if we back off, they'll just send someone else."
Jin-hyuk shook his head as he listened to Moon Seok-il.
His mind cooled, dragging out all the suspicious information he'd set aside before.
'They've probably already sent others.'
It made sense to assume those people had vanished without a trace at the hands of the land speculators. Their survival was unknown, but given Hong Gi-jun's temperament, he probably hadn't harmed anyone.
His head cleared, and the reasons for how he'd lived in his previous life came into focus. Like drafting a project plan, he diagrammed the sequence of events and their progression over time in his mind.
And he pinpointed someone suspicious from that day when he was nine.
'It wasn't the mudflat accident.'
Jin-hyuk's face twisted fiercely.
The black silhouette distorting its features viciously reflected in Moon Seok-il's eyes. Startled, Moon Seok-il quickly added,
"They might have tried before us too. No evidence, but since the request came to us..."
Jin-hyuk wasn't listening.
He was already thinking that anyway.
Jin-hyuk once again realized the world he stood in.
An era of greed and savagery.
Even in the 21st century, greed wore masks of freedom and justice while spewing fire, so it wasn't unique to this era.
But the weight of being directly involved made even the commonplace noise of the times shake his legs.
'Is that why they told me to protect the family?'
Grandma and Grandpa Cheon Gil-ryong.
He could also guess why Dad and Hong Gi-jun were in such frequent, secretive contact. Some of the resentment he'd felt toward Dad eased. Dad had kept quiet to avoid worrying the family.
The shadow he'd mistaken for a spy and the land speculators were surely people sent by Uncle Hong Gi-jun. To protect Dad.
He'd almost gone after the wrong uncles.
Jin-hyuk extended his arm toward Moon Seok-il. As he helped the man to his feet, he asked with a hint of hope,
"Any more information worth sharing?"
"Ah, that... just a moment..."
Moon Seok-il rummaged in his jacket pocket and handed over a neatly folded piece of paper.
How much better would it have been if he'd done this from the start? Looking at Moon Seok-il's swollen face, Jin-hyuk felt bad. It was because compassion was deeply rooted in his nature.
Jin-hyuk's eyes widened as he unfolded the paper Moon Seok-il had given him.
'You moved to this address when I was nine?'
According to the handwritten investigation report and map, Son Gwang-yeon's previous address was a seaside village about 20km southwest. Even by car, following the winding roads, it would take at least 40 minutes.
No one lived there now, of course, but Jin-hyuk recognized the address.
'Mom's old house.'
Without transportation back then, his parents must have walked the whole day to get there.
His parents had registered their move to the current address when Jin-hyuk turned nine. Before that, they'd probably registered at her parents' place with their marriage.
'That's why mail came to Mi-kyeong's house when I was little.'
The recipient was listed as Choi Jang-hwan. Dad had brushed it off as a temporary registration before building the house. In those days of using anonymous accounts, faking an address was more an error than intentional illegality. No one would care since he wasn't a high public official candidate.
Jin-hyuk finally nodded as if accepting it.
'I should thank this guy.'
Thwack! Thwack!
Moon Seok-il smacked his temple repeatedly with his uninjured palm. It was relief at passing the perilous moment. He'd noticed the faint murderous intent from Jin-hyuk subsiding.
His eyes gradually refocused. His mind cleared, and the silhouettes surrounding the kid vanished.
"What about info on my dad? Anything about what kind of person he is?"
"Eh? Dad?"
This time, Moon Seok-il's eyes widened.
A son born when he was twenty? So the kid was twenty too?
Under Jin-hyuk's blank stare, Moon Seok-il swallowed without asking back.
"The client wouldn't share that, and we didn't investigate separately, but there were no peculiarities in his identity..."
Looking calmly now, he didn't seem like an adult. Moon Seok-il trailed off and tilted his head.
"But anyway."
Jin-hyuk let out a light breath like a sigh.
"I still haven't decided what to do with you guys."
"Hold me responsible, please show mercy to these friends..."
One side of his face caved in like a clown's, eyes swollen, Moon Seok-il pitifully bowed his head.
'Damn.'
Jin-hyuk smacked his lips bitterly.
Beyond wanting to recruit them, why did these guys he'd labeled villains look so pitiable? He felt a sliver of sympathy for the man stepping up to take the blame alone.
He checked the fallen men. Felt their pulses, flipped their eyelids to check pupils, even confirmed no boar-like incontinence.
'They won't die if left like this.'
They weren't the dying type anyway. The rebound at impact, like hitting solid rock, proved their toughness. He'd aimed to just knock them out while figuring out how to use them.
Huuu... He let out a long sigh.
Seeing Moon Seok-il who'd turned to save his comrades and the sprawled men, Jin-hyuk pitied them.
'Slower than boars and less tough too...'
They'd started wrong and ended up here, but they hadn't harmed his parents yet. Protecting family mattered, but maybe these guys had extenuating circumstances too.
'Family first, but...'
Their ragged breathing tugged at him.
He'd thought narratives for villains were unnecessary.
Assigning one to habitual evildoers could become an excuse, leading some to sympathize with murderers. Then what about the victims? So Jin-hyuk had no interest in villains' backstories.
He'd curse judges at news of drunkenness reductions or mental incapacity pleas.
'If I can control the situation, maybe I can redeem a villain.'
Jin-hyuk paced, chin in hand. How to bind them? How to recruit as Hong Gi-jun taught?
After pondering while watching Moon Seok-il's eyes, Jin-hyuk nodded.
He fetched paper and pen from the men's car and tossed them in front of Moon Seok-il.
Moon Seok-il looked up confused, and Jin-hyuk said coldly,
"Write down your ransom."
They still lacked fear. Cold-blooded worked better than hot-tempered for instilling terror, per Hong Gi-jun's theory. Jin-hyuk followed it diligently.
He added his own improvisation.
Might as well hear their stories.
Show them a path to live. But he had to avoid getting soft.
Jin-hyuk decided to become the villain himself and hear their narratives.
"Personal info, family details, addresses, contacts. Write it all. No need for excuses."
As Moon Seok-il shakily gripped the pen, Jin-hyuk woke the unconscious ones. Pressing philtrum with thumb and temple with index, their eyelids twitched.
"Oppa, what time is it in Korea?"
"Probably evening. Nineteen-hour difference, so think backwards—about five hours."
Son Gwang-yeon explained while counting on fingers like Son Yu-jin.
A hot dog place across the road from Waikiki Beach, supposedly famous in Hawaii. Son Gwang-yeon's first Hawaii trip too, but he came late because Han Yu-young wanted to enjoy everything.
Travel lifts the spirits, so even Son Gwang-yeon, who avoided booze without Hong Gi-jun, was immersed in the crisp fresh beer's throat hit.
"Worried about Yu-jin? Our son's there, it'll be fine. Mi-kyeong's and Eun-jung's families are looking after her too."
"My heart just feels uneasy for some reason."
"Not guilty about leaving just us?"
"That too."
"We never even honeymooned, too busy for flights till now. Shake off worries and enjoy."
"Yeah. With Jin-hyuk there, it'll be okay."
Han Yu-young finally smiled faintly.
Was it a mother's heart, or first time leaving kids? She didn't want to discomfort her husband with anxiety, so she focused on the trip.
'Worrying here won't help anyway.'
Hong Gi-jun and Yu Se-ra joined after showering at the hotel, so Han Yu-young tucked her worries away.
Hong Gi-jun in a white Hawaiian shirt with orange and green flowers and white shorts sat beside Son Gwang-yeon. Yu Se-ra in a similar dress sat across from him.
"Hey, Gwang-yeon, you started without me?"
"What are you guys? Sit over there. We're on a date. We ate dinner together, gotta stick around this late too?"
Yu Se-ra narrowed her eyes laughing at Son Gwang-yeon's teasing.
"Tch, third kid incoming for Oppa Gwang-yeon?"
"Geez, no, Unnie."
"Gwang-yeon Oppa's the real deal. Fathered two kids with shy Yu-young."
"Ah, seriously."
Han Yu-young covered her cheeks with both hands.
Hahaha!
Yu Se-ra teased Han Yu-young, whose face reddened without alcohol, and the men laughed.
"You're awful."
Maybe annoyed by their shared laughter, Han Yu-young glared at her husband, snatched his beer, and chugged. Cool draft, yet hot and thrilling down her throat. The refreshment shattered her worry and tension.
Jin-hyuk let the remaining tension drift away on the wind.
He loaded the men into the car and sat in the driver's seat.
"You guys get why I did this, right?"
Mess around and your families won't be safe. His eyes said it.
His real thoughts differed.
'Ah, can't do it. How do robbers harm unrelated people?'
He understood his past self, who'd never gone bad despite hardship.
Moon Seok-il and Kim In-rang nodded reluctantly from the cramped back, Jang Seong-tae stared blankly out the window from shotgun, Kang Heon-chang breathed shallowly with pale face, eyes closed.
Moon Seok-il, fingers broken and face swollen, lifted Kang Heon-chang's dress shirt. Black shadows of death bruised his right abdomen and chest.
"Th-this guy's in danger..."
"He won't die from that."
Jin-hyuk glared via rearview from the driver's seat. He held back words. No point pushing when he'd already decided to let them off— it'd just be venting.
"We won't come back. Ever."
Maybe because his comrades woke, Moon Seok-il dropped the groveling honorifics. He still clasped hands pleading.
Jang Seong-tae and Kim In-rang, jaws locked, couldn't speak. Just wanted out of the monster's grip fast.
"You don't know who sent you?"
"Really. We just take the money."
"Hmm... that's weird."
Jin-hyuk narrowed his eyes, tapping the door.
Tap-tap... The sound grew louder, rhythm faster.
He didn't doubt their truth. But they hadn't given the answer he wanted.
Volunteering beats forcing for compliance. Means binding their actions. Knowing that, Jin-hyuk took volunteers over assignments for team tasks.
Tap-tap...
"Hmm. Don't know? Military service ends..."
He knew they were all reserves, just mumbling idly.
Jin-hyuk's murmur continued.
"If it doesn't work, make it work..."
A slogan chanted daily in service.