Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: I Won't Live Like Before Anymore
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Kanghyeok's door originally had three locks. But the guy who stole his laptop broke them all, leaving him unable to lock it. That was no longer a problem.
Because the entire door had been replaced.
Is this why Leila had dragged her feet getting back home?
“Hoo.”
Kanghyeok let out a deep sigh and touched the doorknob.
The cream-colored door, devoid of any pattern, was one Kanghyeok had often seen at the company.
[Please register your fingerprint.]
When the prompt sounded, Kanghyeok placed his thumb on the white circle that appeared on the doorknob.
Beep!
The white circle turned green, indicating the fingerprint was registered, and the sound of the lock disengaging came from inside.
Kanghyeok looked around the inside of his home from the doorway.
Then, a faint smile touched his lips.
“Damn them.”
The inside of the house was cleaner than ever.
Even cleaner than when Kanghyeok first signed the lease.
The deep-seated smell of cigarettes in the wallpaper was gone, and the chair fragments and dust that had littered the floor had been cleaned up without a trace.
Kanghyeok slowly stepped inside. Being a step further inside, he noticed something new.
A safe and a new chair.
The chair was placed in front of the desk, and the safe sat neatly beside it.
It was a small safe, just big enough for a laptop.
Kanghyeok stood before the safe, his expression showing he didn't mind.
Just as he had with the door, he registered his fingerprint on the safe and placed the laptop he'd been carrying under his arm inside.
Clank!
As if promising to protect the laptop even if the world turned upside down, the safe locked with a satisfying click.
Alright, then.
Let's see you protect it.
Until the day I take it out again.
Kanghyeok stared at the safe for a moment before looking away and starting to take off his suit in front of the bed.
First, he hung his trousers on a hanger, followed by his dress shirt, and then his tie.
Finally, he draped the jacket over the hanger.
Kanghyeok watched the suit hanging there for a moment.
It had been a long time since he'd worn a suit.
A myriad of emotions rose and fell within him, none of them bad. That was why Kanghyeok didn't put the suit away in the closet.
Thak.
The suit was hung on a nail hammered into the wall.
A place where he could see it at any time, where it was always within reach.
Leila, who had returned directly to the company, was writing a report in her private office.
She chronicled the events of the previous night in chronological order, meticulously detailing the equipment used and her observations of Kanghyeok's skills.
Tatatatak.
Tapping away at her laptop keyboard, Leila carefully studied the screen.
This report would be submitted to her superiors.
It could not contain personal feelings, nor could it have the slightest error or falsehood.
Omitting facts was also forbidden.
Therefore, Leila did her best to write down what she had seen as objectively as possible, reviewing it several times in the process.
Then, near the end, her fingers paused on the keyboard.
‘Noteworthy observations...’
Skills that hadn't rusted despite a year passing.
No, if anything, his skills seemed even better than before.
The look in Kanghyeok's eyes, which wasn't desperate in his search for the laptop.
There was an emotional component, but it seemed more like anger at having something stolen. It occurred to her that perhaps the laptop hadn't been that important to him from the start.
But what was most unusual was Kanghyeok's unhindered movement, even after taking the full impact of a grenade.
Leila pursed her lips and stared at the screen.
Then she added two more lines.
Tatatatak.
[There seems to be something more to him. Therefore, close observation is recommended.]
Kanghyeok, a former agent, could not be considered an ordinary person. But even setting that aside, there was definitely something about him that was not ordinary.
Something that required observation and confirmation.
Rumors always travel fast.
Especially in Kanghyeok's neighborhood.
The police announced it was a dispute over interests between gangs and closed the investigation, but a rumor spread among those who didn't trust the police and the gangs themselves.
The rumor was that the one who attacked Yohan's gang, which was wiped out overnight, was an Asian man in a suit.
“Bullshit, does that even make any sense?”
Many people reacted this way, but there were too many witnesses.
Of course, their accounts had to be taken with a grain of salt, as they were from club-goers high on drugs.
But what if it was true?
What if the Asian man in a suit from the rumors actually existed?
There's only one Asian man in this neighborhood.
Kanghyeok.
Talk circulated that it might have actually been Kanghyeok who wiped out Yohan's gang, but the vast majority didn't believe it.
“Kanghyeok, of all people?”
“Only a fool would believe a rumor like that.”
Some of the people who reacted this way seemed somewhat desperate.
This was because it was not only hard to believe that Kanghyeok had crushed a gang, but they also couldn't afford for it to be true.
Everyone in this neighborhood had treated Kanghyeok like a fool who couldn't even get angry.
If he could destroy a gang, what was stopping him from destroying ordinary people?
The probability of the suited Asian man from the rumors being Kanghyeok was low, but since there were no other Asian men around, a strong sense of unease remained.
In a worn-out apartment in a neighborhood where everyone was anxiously whispering, Kanghyeok opened his eyes.
‘The laptop.’
The first thing Kanghyeok did was check for the laptop.
But the laptop was nowhere to be seen, and just as he threw off the covers to get up, he remembered the safe.
Thankfully, the safe was right where it should be.
There was no sign of it being opened.
Kanghyeok sighed and rubbed his face.
In any case, he was awake.
Sitting on the bed, Kanghyeok let out a heavy sigh and got up.
Time for work.
After a quick wash of his face, he put on his usual clothes. They were his work clothes, so of course, it wasn't the suit.
It felt like he had completely returned to his daily life.
But one thing had changed dramatically.
The look in Kanghyeok's eyes as he gazed into the mirror.
It was no longer the lethargic gaze that seemed to be suppressing anger, like before.
‘I don't know if I'll move yet, but...’
The eyes of a man with a purpose.
And the eyes of a man who had faced the nature he had ignored for the past year.
‘I won't live like I used to anymore.’
Slam!
With his hands in his pockets, Kanghyeok left the apartment and walked to the supermarket where he worked.
Tinkle.
The wind chime on the door swayed, welcoming him. The middle-aged woman sitting at the counter jumped up in surprise.
“K-Kanghyeok!”
“I'm sorry I couldn't come to work yesterday.”
“No, no! But was everything okay? You didn't get hurt or anything, did you?”
Kanghyeok shook his head and let out a soft laugh.
“Why would I get hurt?”
Despite that, the owner limped out from behind the counter to check if Kanghyeok was injured.
The look on Kanghyeok's face as he followed Leila had been far from good, to say the least. Besides, this was a neighborhood where bad things happened all the time.
To the point where someone disappearing was no big deal.
“That's a relief. I was so worried. You left with those strange people and then didn't show up for work...”
The owner didn't know Kanghyeok well.
She had heard rumors, but the owner, who considered herself the person who knew him best in the neighborhood, thought they were absurd and had simply prayed for his safety.
“You don't need to worry so much.”
“How can I not worry? You're so frail as it is.”
Kanghyeok simply answered with a smile and rolled up his sleeves.
“I'll start working right away.”
It was right after that.
The owner, who had been looking at Kanghyeok with worried eyes, smiled, the corners of her mouth pulling up.
“What is it?”
“The light in your eyes is better.”
“My eyes?”
“Before, you looked so anxious it made me anxious too. But now, you look much better.”
To her earnest words, so full of sincerity, Kanghyeok could only respond with a smile.
“I'll get started with work.”
“Don't overdo it! You can take today off.”
“I couldn't do that.”
Even though he had only missed one day, the supermarket was noticeably messy.
“Weren't the empty boxes picked up yesterday?”
“Ah, if you just leave them by the door, they'll be picked up tomorrow morning.”
the owner said, flustered, as Kanghyeok moved as if doing what was obvious and asked another question.
“What should I do about the order?”
The owner replied, her face showing she couldn't stop him.
“I think we just need to order canned goods this time, right?”
“That's what I think, too.”
After stocking the shelves with liquor, Kanghyeok grabbed a mop.
Fundamentally, working at a supermarket wasn't profitable.
The work wasn't hard, but the pay was terrible, barely enough to make ends meet.
Still, Kanghyeok liked this place and this moment.
Swish, swish.
Although he was just mopping the floor, it felt like he was wiping away the intense sensations and fatigue of the previous night. More than anything, he was grateful for the drink the owner offered him and her asking, “Tired?”
He could buy a whole case of cheap drinks like this by selling just one coin.
But money couldn't buy relationships.
How could money buy someone who genuinely worried about you?
Kanghyeok drank the beverage with a grateful heart.
“You can go home for today.”
“Just after I finish cleaning up.”
The owner watched Kanghyeok clean the floor with a mixture of pity and gratitude. Just as Kanghyeok was feeling satisfied with the gleaming floor, which now smelled of fresh water...
Tinkle!
The wind chime rang unpleasantly as two men entered.
They gave off a foul stench; they were the same men he had seen before.
“Phh-heh, that bitch, I tell you...”
The one in the red hat and the one in the denim vest.
They were the ones who had gotten their asses handed to them by Leila.
The man in the red hat, who was snickering while wearing a cast, turned pale the moment he saw Kanghyeok and urgently tapped the arm of the man next to him.
“Ah, what?”
“L-l-l-let's go.”
“What? Why?”
The man in the red hat couldn't even look at Kanghyeok as he mumbled, keeping his voice as low as possible.
“I said let's go, you idiot. If you don't want to die.”
Not many people believed the rumor that Kanghyeok had wiped out Yohan's gang. But the man in the red hat was one who did.
At the very least, he believed Leila, the woman who had broken his fingers, was involved, and therefore Kanghyeok, to whom Leila showed such respect, must also be deeply connected to the incident.
However, the one in the denim vest, already quite drunk,
“Why? Don't tell me it's because of that bastard?”
was not one to believe the rumors.
“Aish! You idiot, you're cowering like a little kid just 'cause of one broken finger.”
“Damn it, that's not it.”
“Pathetic bastard. Go die.”
The man in the denim vest met Kanghyeok's gaze and spat a thick wad of phlegm onto the freshly mopped floor.
The look in Kanghyeok's eyes as his face hardened did feel different from before.
But attributing it to the alcohol soaking his brain, he acted as he usually did, without hesitation.
Crash.
He knocked items from a display shelf onto the floor, humming a tune as he spat on the ground.
It felt liberating.
Because there was no other place where he could act like this except for a supermarket with a disabled owner and an Asian man.
“Oh, this, ugh.”
As the man in the red hat stood there, not knowing what to do, Kanghyeok walked toward the other man.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
The owner called out, but Kanghyeok kept his eyes fixed only on the man and spoke.
“I'll take care of it.”
As if to prove a point, the man in the denim vest twisted open an unpaid-for bottle of liquor. The man in the red hat kept glancing toward the entrance, and Kanghyeok stood before the messy floor.
“What, you bastard.”
The man in the denim vest expected Kanghyeok to lower his gaze and crouch down at his feet as usual.
“Clean it up.”
But Kanghyeok didn't give him the reaction he wanted.
He pointed to the mess the man had made, then held out the mop, his calm gaze ordering him to wipe up the phlegm.
“This son of a bitch.”
For a moment, the man flinched.
This wasn't the usual Kanghyeok.
He quickly scanned the parking lot, and after confirming that the luxury sedan and Leila—the woman who had broken his friend's finger—were gone, he raised a rough, wide hand.
“You fucking yellow dog, have you lost your mind? Die today! Fuck.”
It was at that moment that the man in the red hat, who had been watching all this, frowned and muttered that they were in deep trouble.
Kanghyeok took a step back and snatched the man's hand as it flew toward his face.
“Th-this bastard. Let go!”
The man in the denim vest grabbed a large wine bottle from a nearby shelf, and Kanghyeok moved his hand to grip the man's fingers.
Crack.
“Gyaaaah!”
“Aww, shit!”
The man in the red hat, who knew that pain all too well, writhed, his whole body curling up.