The Thirty-Second Job — Crossroads ⑤
They say there is no grave without an excuse. Even a vicious criminal would be no exception. On his way here, Yeoni had assumed there would be some kind of story — and he had meant to weigh whatever it was with as much neutrality as he could muster.
That had been arrogance.
A story far beyond anything he had imagined was waiting for him, the kind that could drive a listener out of their mind. Every word that left Hyoseong's mouth knocked the air from his lungs.
"So you're saying… everyone your father killed was…"
"Exactly as you heard. They were those fine gentlemen who'd been hounding our family all along."
At first, Hyoseong said, they had been nothing more than debt collectors. But they must have been impatient men, because even as the family paid the debt back steadily, they kept screaming for it faster, hounding them without rest. Seeking help from the law had been useless. The collectors came day after day, and Hyoseong's family withered under the pressure.
"At first we figured we had it coming. We'd borrowed their money, after all. But those bastards started going further than that. They started tormenting the family beyond anything the debt warranted."
Hyoseong's face twisted savagely. Even now, the memory made his teeth grind. Hyoyeon felt the same; for a while, both of them sat swallowing their rage.
The harassment had gone on and on. They had tried moving, but the collectors followed them with infuriating persistence. Ironically, that only made it harder to pay the debt, and the worse things got, the more vicious and relentless the collectors became. Eventually they even started going after Hyoseong and Hyoyeon themselves.
"And that's how it happened, then."
"That's right. It was a fairly major case — there was a lot of coverage. I take it you didn't know."
"I don't really watch the news. This is the first I've heard of it."
And so, in the end, disaster struck.
The siblings' father had been a man of fire. In the best light, he was forthright and unhesitating; in the worst, once his temper caught there was no end to it. And this involved his children — need anything more be said? He protected them in the most violent way possible, and paid the price that came with it.
"After he did it, he became a complete wreck. He barely said a word from the trial all the way to the day they sent him to prison. Whether he wouldn't speak or couldn't, I don't know."
"…"
"He passed not long after. There wasn't any particular incident inside — he just couldn't survive the shock, I suppose. After that, it's been just me and my sister living here. I think you understand now why I was lamenting earlier."
The brutal recounting came to an end. Hyoseong tipped back a cup of scorched-rice tea, trying to wrestle his heart back into place, while Yeoni, at a loss for words, propped his chin in his hand and sank into thought.
Yeoni let out a long breath.
The story had certainly exceeded anything he had imagined. But having an excuse did not erase a crime. He had no authority to judge that in the first place. The choice given to Yeoni was something else entirely: whether to deliver the letter, or throw it away.
This feels like I'm doing something wrong. Even though it isn't.
He didn't harbor any particular ill will. The problem was only his own heart. Unease and pity sat on opposite sides of a scale, perfectly matched in weight, the balance taut and unmoving.
To make a decision, he needed some other push.
"You said you came to deliver something. What is it?"
It was right in the middle of his indecision. Hyoseong, who had composed himself first, lifted his eyes to Yeoni. Meeting that gaze, Yeoni flinched. Hyoseong's expression was nothing like it had been at the start.
Ah.
That was the deciding blow.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I got so caught up in the story I forgot."
"It's all right. I went on longer than I meant to myself. I was going to hear you out quickly and send you on your way, but I ended up pouring out my whole life story."
The taut scale finally tipped to one side.
"I'll give it to you and go. Staying any longer would just be a bother."
Yeoni's hand went to the inner pocket of his coat.
And he drew out an envelope.
"Here it is."
"What's taking him so damn long?"
"He's probably agonizing over it. And you call yourself a senior? Can't even wait? That fighting spirit you showed earlier is looking rather hollow."
"Shut up. I'm not looking for praise or insults from the likes of you."
"Words are in the ear of the one who hears them. The one who bristles so easily is the strange one."
"Oh, look at you. Is being that impressive why you spent seventy years wandering around?"
While they waited for Yeoni, Yuhwa and Gangnim bickered back and forth. Their weapons of choice had passed from steel to words, and insults flew like a barrage of bombs. Yuhwa's juniors could only watch, squirming.
Should we just leave them to it?
She told us to stay put. Let's follow orders for now.
On one side, a verbal brawl scraping the bottom of human decency; on the other, juniors fidgeting at the peak of timid anxiety. And so they spent a savage stretch of time waiting for a single person. Even the sun hanging in the Middle Sky had begun to dip its head toward the horizon.
"Sub-Team Leader, someone's coming. It looks like Yeoni."
The one watching the road called out. Yeoni had finally finished the job. Yuhwa's group, and Gangnim as well, hauled their heavy backsides up off the ground. Several pairs of eyes locked onto a single figure. It was still too early to judge from his approach alone.
Whether he had delivered it or not — that was what mattered.
"Don't get excited yet. We won't know who won until we see."
Gangnim needled that point with a sneer. The reaction, of course, was not kind. Yuhwa shot him a glare sharp as an axe-blade. This damn traitor had no sense of timing!
"Oh, for crying out loud. Who said anyone didn't know? Why are you dumping cold water on everything?"
"I'm reminding you so you don't forget. The world of contests is a ruthless one."
"I didn't forget. Hmph!"
Yuhwa snorted and dismissed him. In inverse proportion to that display, her insides were trembling like an aspen in the wind. She was curious — and worried — about what choice Yeoni had made. She didn't want to lose their youngest like this. She muttered, too quietly for anyone to hear.
"Just look the other way this once. Seriously. You've got to give him a chance to apologize."
Amid the tangle of tension and hope, Yeoni walked slowly toward them. Everyone imagined what choice he had made, and depending on that imagination their hearts swung between heaven and hell. If they had been living humans, the pounding of their hearts would have been deafening.
"I'm back."
At last Yeoni arrived before the Grim Reapers. He didn't say what he had done. He simply looked at Yuhwa and Gangnim in silence — not because he couldn't speak, but because the answer needed no words.
"Whew! Thank goodness."
"So in the end you make the foolish choice."
Yuhwa exhaled in relief; Gangnim bit his lip in disappointment.
No aura lingered on Yeoni at all.
Which meant… he had delivered the letter.
"You're not thinking of going back on this, are you? You lay a hand on Yeoni and I won't sit still."
Yuhwa and the Grim Reapers stepped in to block Gangnim as he swallowed his rage. This was exactly why they had come. Drawn weapons caught the sunlight and glittered. Gangnim glared at Yeoni with a thoroughly twisted expression. Those burning eyes asked the question:
Why?
"You look incredibly curious, but honestly, there wasn't much of a reason."
Yeoni spoke evenly. It wasn't an answer given out of laziness. Truly, the reason wasn't even important — it was triviality itself. But there was no one here who would take that at face value. Gangnim growled low and pressed him.
"Do not play games. I am being serious."
"I'm not playing around. Yuhwa noona, you can stop making your eyes sparkle like that too. Are you that curious?"
"Yes."
The two Grim Reapers answered in unison. On the matter of curiosity, at least, they seemed to share the same heart. The other Grim Reapers were no different. Yeoni replied with a slightly weary look.
"It really isn't much of a reason. I decided after seeing the recipient's face."
"His face?"
Everyone who heard the answer was puzzled. Seeing the recipient was enough to resolve the unease about a criminal client? Yeoni paid no mind to the skeptical reactions. It wasn't a joke or a lie — it was an ordinary, earnest answer.
"Yeah. He was quietly hoping for it — for any trace of his father at all."
What Yeoni had seen in Hyoseong was pure expectation.
A father who had done as he pleased and left as he pleased. Hyoseong had resented that father to the point of madness. But could feelings toward family ever end in just one thing? Even as he resented and turned away, a desire remained on the other side — a desire to have even a remnant.
"Simyeong hyung said something. Even if you dislike criminal clients, think once about the person who'll receive the letter. He was right. After seeing a face like that, I didn't have it in me to withhold the letter."
Yeoni couldn't ignore that kind of longing.
"That's enough, isn't it? Do you need more of a reason than that to deliver a letter?"
He said it with a shrug. A faint, bitter smile lingered at the corner of his mouth, as if the two siblings were still on his mind. He felt sorry for having even considered throwing the letter away.
"I did not only speak of the criminal, did I? Hearing one thing and missing two, I see."
Gangnim spoke with a vein standing out on his forehead. He clearly had no intention of conceding. Yeoni didn't so much as twitch an eyebrow, as if to ask what the problem was. He knew the remaining issue well enough. He had already prepared an answer for it.
"I didn't forget, so don't get so worked up. You said the order of the Underworld would be thrown into chaos, right?"
"That's right!"
"I never said I'd just let that slide. I asked Simyeong hyung to look into it, and depending on the answer, I'll take it up with Ksitigarbha or the Ten Kings. That just has nothing to do with this particular delivery."
Hearing that, Gangnim looked at him as if he were a raving madman. This letter itself already violated the order — and he was talking about what? The urge to slap him across the face right then and there surged up. Yeoni was frightened, but he didn't yield. He hadn't come to this without thinking it through.
"This is something that's been going on for seventy years. There's no way Ksitigarbha and the Ten Kings don't know about the problem, and if it were truly an issue they would have stepped in. And I haven't heard anything like that yet. Doesn't that mean that at the very least, this delivery doesn't matter?"
"Are you trying to play word games with me? This is a problem that could explode at any moment, and you think of it so lightly — what do you expect me to do with that? Today I ought to settle this with you once and for—"
Rage climbed all the way to the top of his head. If he kept this up, something in the back of his neck was going to snap. Gangnim could hold back no longer and reached to draw his blade. Yuhwa stepped directly in his path. Contempt kindled in her ruby-like eyes.
"The kid made the decision, so why are you throwing a fit? The reason isn't even bizarre. You're going to crush a legitimate thought with brute force? You kept singing that senior song… senior this, senior that — forget 'senior.' As a Grim Reaper you're a washout."
"Silence! We are discussing strict order, and you dare try to gloss over it?"
"Who said anyone was glossing over it? The kid said it too. He has no intention of looking the other way. You're the only one beating the drum and banging the gong all by yourself. If you're going to sanction him like this, then we'll meet you with force too."
At Yuhwa's signal, the Grim Reapers drew the swords they had sheathed. Yuhwa kindled blue flames in both hands. They were ready to charge at a single step. For Gangnim, the situation was enough to drive him insane. He ground his teeth until his jawbone twisted.
"You— you stupid fools!"
The numbers were far too unfavorable. He had more than enough confidence he wouldn't be caught — but confidence he could win was another matter. Breaking through all of them and seizing Yeoni as well was too much. And even if he were caught, Yeoni didn't look like he would submit.
He was out of cards.
"Mortal brat."
He caught his breath and called to Yeoni. Yeoni answered with a sullen face. He was still unhappy about not being called by name.
"I keep asking you to call me by my name."
"Be quiet. You — are you confident you will not regret this?"
"I didn't think you were the type to make threats."
"This is not a threat. I am asking what you will do if, because of your decision, the order of the Underworld is thrown into disarray. When that time comes — when crisis is staring you in the face — will you still not regret the words you speak now?"
Black flames surged in both of his eyes. Even if he said it wasn't a threat, the glare alone made it a perfectly serviceable one. Yeoni nearly buckled under it. He barely overcame it, and answered as composedly as he could.
"My mind won't change. At least not now."
"…I see. So that's how it is."
That was the finishing blow. Gangnim gave up on persuading him any further. The child before his eyes was no mere prey. The belated realization made his insides burn. At last he accepted the result. The back he turned looked weak and unsteady.
He walked a few steps farther, and a farewell slipped from his lips.
It was a greeting both savage
and overflowing with consideration.