Chapter 81
Chapter 81
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 81
Chapter Title: Park Man-seok's Life
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Park Man-seok had lived a life without much difficulty.
It had been a smooth existence.
From a young age, he was one of the kids at school who knew how to throw a decent punch. After graduating high school, he joined an organization.
The group he threw in with was the Twin Axe Gang.
Did he have a knack for this world?
He was showered with affection from his seniors.
Park Man-seok gradually built his position within the Twin Axe Gang.
One day, amid days blending violence and brotherhood.
A senior he was close with approached him.
“Want to do a job?”
“A job?”
“Yeah. You can’t stay a grunt forever.”
A chance to rise.
Those words must have dazzled him.
Park Man-seok accepted the proposal.
Not long after, the Twin Axe Gang changed its name.
From Twin Axe Gang to Axe Gang.
There were plenty of sacrifices in the process. But none of that concerned him.
Once the job was done and his senior became the Axe Gang boss, he offered Park Man-seok the number two spot.
“Sorry.”
He turned it down.
It wasn’t some line about washing his hands clean and living right.
He’d simply learned something amid the internal war that turned Twin Axe into Axe.
No matter how well you swung your fists, society didn’t run on them. That’s what he realized.
Park Man-seok left Axe Gang and started a company.
A construction firm.
At first, it was just scraping by day-to-day with his buddies.
But maybe it was the know-how from his gangster days.
Growing the company came easy.
Guys who wouldn’t listen? He’d call up his Axe Gang pals for a little intimidation.
He’d build sleek new structures on the spots left behind by those tearful departures.
Solve a few jobs like that, and requests started pouring in from all over.
How many outfits in this business could erect a solid building on a site crawling with problem tenants?
His construction company was carving out its niche, one project at a time.
Then one day.
“Wipe ’em out.”
“Yes, boss.”
Park Man-seok took on a commission.
Nothing much different from the usual: clear out the tenants, put up a building.
Decent payout, so he took it.
Called in Axe Gang right away to start the eviction.
But the neighborhood proved tricky.
Folks usually bolted at the sight of gangsters.
These people fought to the bitter end, even as the beatings rained down.
He’d never failed before, though. Just a matter of time.
That’s when someone came to see him.
A woman living in the area he was clearing.
She had a daughter and begged him to call it off.
Dragging the kid along, groveling—what a pathetic spectacle.
He nearly burst out laughing.
“Can’t you just stop now?”
“Nope. Either clear out or tough it out. Your call.”
Park Man-seok shot her down cold and told Axe Gang to pick up the pace.
They got even rougher with the residents.
In the end, they secured the land.
His wife watched the whole thing and bolted, saying she couldn’t live with a heartless beast anymore.
Didn’t matter.
His daughter was still by his side.
He’d raised her with all the care in the world for years...
“Why’s the kid stirring up trouble lately?”
She’d gotten sued recently for bullying someone at school.
A little roughhousing was one thing, but a lawsuit could scar her future. Delicate territory.
Couldn’t exactly drag the other kids off for a beating since they were students too.
Had to handle it just right—scold appropriately and get the charges dropped.
Timing was everything with student victims. He was watching the situation carefully.
The stress was piling up, so he’d come here to blow off some steam...
“Fuck, why’s everything going wrong today? Can’t even get a woman to play along.”
Park Man-seok scowled at Inspector Oh Seo-hyun across from him.
He’d shelled out for top-shelf liquor.
She’d barely sipped through one glass.
Plan was to get her hammered and carry her out. Wasn’t working.
“Drink up. Last one.”
“Too fast. I’m a lightweight.”
Her soft smile and headshake made his blood boil.
She nursed her drinks so slow he’d spiked the second one.
Usually waited till she was tipsy to mess around, but the stress had worn his patience thin.
He forced a smile and lifted his glass.
“You come all this way and leave without a proper drink? This stuff’s expensive.”
“Hmm... I already feel kinda buzzed.”
Even with his nudge, Oh Seo-hyun just refused again.
Park Man-seok’s hand trembled on his glass.
She looked stone-cold sober, bitching about being drunk. Infuriating.
“Ha, if you’re not gonna drink, why show up? What a weirdo.”
“Weirdo? A friend said you were this fun, generous type, so I figured it’d be a good time.”
“Come on, what do you think got you in the door? Drink together, obviously?”
“Didn’t expect the hard sell on booze.”
Oh Seo-hyun stood up, playing innocent.
Park Man-seok couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Sit.”
“Huh?”
“Sit down!”
He grabbed her wrist and forced her back into the seat.
“What the hell?”
“Fucking bitch doesn’t listen worth shit. Hey, you think I’m a joke? Just finish this one glass.”
He jabbed his chin at the drink in front of her.
She’d down it out of fear now.
Sure enough.
She picked up the glass.
Park Man-seok started to smirk.
BAM!
The door to their room flew open with a thunderous crash.
Standing there was...
“...”
One guy.
Caught off guard, Park Man-seok stared at the door in confusion.
Club security slumped behind the intruder.
The Pigeon who’d shown Park Man-seok in was among them.
“...Hey. Who the fuck are you?”
Bewildered, Park Man-seok eased to his feet.
The guy just stared silently.
Some random psycho barging in and ignoring him? Blood pressure spiked.
“Keep playing the silent treatment. I’m already pissed. Let’s see how long that mouth stays shut...!”
Face twisted, Park Man-seok slipped off his watch and lunged.
THWACK.
His fist smashed into the guy’s face.
Clean hit. But the man barely budged.
He locked eyes with Park Man-seok and spoke in a low voice.
“You swung first...”
“...You little shit.”
Eyes gleaming with madness.
One look, and Park Man-seok instinctively knew—the guy had taken the punch on purpose.
“Now... it’s self-defense.”
The man’s voice chilled the air.
Park Man-seok laughed in disbelief, lips curling.
“Total fucking lunatic.”
Looks like this punk was tonight’s punching bag.
* * *
Lee Jae-hyun tasted blood from his split lip and cracked a faint smile.
He’d baited the guy into throwing first.
Pretty confident he wouldn’t drop from one punch anyway...
And the situation wasn’t quite right to go full cop mode yet.
Couldn’t lose sight of the goal.
Lee Jae-hyun and Oh Seo-hyun were moving on the school bullying case involving Song A-ram and her friend Choi Su-jin.
Sure, with PMC and the Daehan Bank Tan-yeong Intersection branch manager tangled in, it was bigger than just bullying.
But the core was the case. And the evidence.
It started to stop the bullying on Song A-ram and Choi Su-jin. Along the way, evil karma turned up on PMC CEO Park Man-seok and the bank branch manager. Natural to resolve that too.
As cops, they couldn’t ignore it once they knew. Plus, the threats hinged on family pull.
Toppling that was prime revenge—and directly helped fix the bullying.
Until evidence nailed Park Man-seok, no flashing the badge.
No rash moves that handed him any opening.
‘Punch packs more heat than expected.’
Still, nothing he couldn’t handle.
Lee Jae-hyun took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Hoping Oh Seo-hyun had gleaned something, he planned to subdue the guy and pull back.
“Came to pick up my friend. That big a deal?”
“Ah, she’ll have just one more drink with me and I’ll send her back tomorrow morning. Relax.”
“One drink, and it’s morning return? Beats me.”
“Ha, what a pain-in-the-ass prick.”
“Tell me about it.”
Lee Jae-hyun glanced at Oh Seo-hyun, then pressed on.
“Wanna chill at home, but assholes like you won’t let me.”
“Little shit trying to look tough in front of his crush. You sure about this?”
Park Man-seok tapped his lips with his fingers.
Lee Jae-hyun’s split, bleeding spot.
“Bleeding pretty bad, huh? Lip not busted?”
“Thanks for the concern. I’ll hit the clinic later—get that settlement cash ready.”
“Took one hit, yapped about self-defense, now too scared to swing back. Why so chatty?”
Park Man-seok stepped up again, coiling for a punch.
Lee Jae-hyun let the taunt slide and zeroed in on the slip.
That “one drink” wasn’t casual bar talk.
Emphasized “just one.”
Return tomorrow morning?
If not tossed out carelessly...
‘Spiked?’
GHB.
Liquid Ecstasy.
A dash in booze, and you’re out cold.
No memory of the blackout.
Notorious as a date-rape drug.
True or not, unproven.
But if it was...
‘You’re done for, asshole.’
Park Man-seok had no escape.