Reunion (2)
Reunion (2)
It was the weekend, and I was loafing around the house.
"Si-yoon, want to go out and have fun with Daddy?"
"No."
"...Okay."
I had picked Alpha up and was holding his paw, shaking it up and down.
"Mew."
"Isn't he totally liquid? He's so soft and squishy~"
When Beta came over with her eyes sparkling, asking to be petted too, Alpha, who was in my hands, hissed at her.
"She's your little sister. You should be protecting her."
If I put Alpha down and pet Beta right then, there was a hundred percent chance they'd fight.
At times like this, you leave Beta, who's the more patient one, and pet Alpha first; once Alpha was satisfied to some degree, then you pet Beta for longer.
"Stop messing around, both of you. Go get the churu."
Alpha and Beta moved at my words and came back each carrying a churu in their mouths.
Alpha came sprinting because he knew I handed them out on a first-come-first-served basis.
While I was feeding churu to the cats, someone pressed the doorbell.
"Si-yoon, Da-yeon's here."
"Let her in."
Da-yeon came into our house naturally.
"Pardon the intrusion~"
"Da-yeon's here?"
"Yes~"
Da-yeon looked at me lying down and puffed out her cheeks as if disappointed.
"We said we'd go out together... why are you lying down...!"
"Huh? Come here and feed Beta her churu."
"Okay!"
Da-yeon, who'd been sulking, had already torn open a churu with her teeth and was feeding Beta, her eyes sparkling.
Dad came over to us and spoke to Da-yeon.
"Have you eaten?"
"Yes! Have you had your meal?"
I answered Da-yeon's question for him.
"I ate. Dad's on a diet lately, so he only feeds me."
Da-yeon was feeding Beta churu and looking at Dad.
"I watched 'Running Person' the other day!"
Running Person was a variety show emceed by Yoo Yeon-seok, who held the top two MC spots alongside Kang In-seong.
It was the kind of program where they ripped off name tags and competed by solving quizzes or missions.
It wasn't my style, so I didn't watch it unless Dad was appearing on it, but Da-yeon seemed to be enjoying it.
"Oh yeah? Was it fun?"
"Yes!! It looked super fun! I'm a fan of Ha-su!"
That was news to me, so I looked at Da-yeon.
"Really? Is his face your type, Da-yeon?"
"No, he's ugly."
Da-yeon's firm answer made me realize I'd put my foot in my mouth.
'Sorry, Ha-su...'
Dad had at some point sat down beside Da-yeon and was lifting Beta up as he asked Da-yeon.
"Then why are you a fan of Ha-su, Da-yeon?"
"Because he's really funny and entertaining!"
"Ah~ that's right, he was entertaining."
"Is he the same personality off-camera?"
"Nah, normally he's composed and incredibly kind."
When Da-yeon tried to pet Beta in Dad's arms, Dad placed Beta into Da-yeon's arms.
Da-yeon petted Beta with sparkling eyes.
Beta purred, seeming to enjoy Da-yeon's touch.
"Didn't you say you were going out with Si-yoon?"
"Oh! That's right... Tae-oh is waiting downstairs... Si-yoon, let's go, hurry up~"
I was getting high on the drug of Alpha's toe beans, the highly addictive scent of corn chips, when Da-yeon pulled on my arm and I snapped back to my senses and nodded.
"Nnngh. I'm heading out."
I waved at Dad, and he nodded; Da-yeon also gave Dad a ninety-degree bow.
"We'll be back!"
"Yeah~ have a good time~"
"Yes!"
Inside a massive room, the overweight man Joo Do-hyeon couldn't sit still.
"Hyun-bin, it's really okay, right?"
- "It's already been discussed. Don't be too scared. There's no evidence anyway... and they said one of the Tigers suddenly moved because he was bored."
"R... really?"
- "If they messed with our family... there's a price to pay."
Joo Do-hyeon instead regained a sense of security at his cold brother's voice.
"Those bastards really... we need to kill them all..."
- "I want to kill them all, but... Kim Si-yoon is one thing; we can't kill Lee Da-yeon..."
"Can't we get our hands on her before she gets sold off somewhere? She's seriously tempting..."
- "You lunatic... if we get caught with our tails out doing that, we're the ones who'll end up ruined... get your head on straight."
"Huh?! Sorry..."
- "They said Lee Da-yeon needs to be used for a pretty big deal with Hanseong."
"Insane... what about Kim Si-yoon?"
- "She'll either die, or get sold off somewhere overseas, heh heh... they said they'd send a video of her getting ruined."
"Ohh... I'm looking forward to that...?"
- "Don't worry too much... there are a lot of lunatics, that's all. The Tigers are thorough about their work..."
"Okay! Thanks, bro!"
The weather was sunny for the first time in a while, so I stretched and came out of the entrance.
It wasn't just Kim Tae-oh waiting; Park Ji-hoon was waiting for us too.
The two of them had been talking and waved when they spotted us.
"The two of you got pretty close?"
"Wouldn't it be weirder if we didn't get close, hanging around together this much?"
Da-yeon also smiled and nodded, seeing Tae-oh and Ji-hoon getting along well.
We walked straight to Ji-hoon's gym, enjoying the crisp air.
The reason Ji-hoon had been waiting for us with Tae-oh today was that the two of them were planning to spar.
The result would be Park Ji-hoon winning overwhelmingly, but Kim Tae-oh's skills, as well as Park Ji-hoon's, were improving day by day.
Honestly, I'm convinced that if I fought Ji-hoon barehanded right now, I'd lose more than ninety percent of the time.
What could I do? There's the unavoidable physical gap between men and women, but I also don't exercise even a tenth as much as Park Ji-hoon does.
Of course, I do basic exercises at home that have been a habit since my past, but Ji-hoon is someone who eats and then does nothing but train.
As if Ji-hoon and Tae-oh's sparring were the main event at the gym, the place was packed with people who'd come to watch the match.
Thinking I'd hand out drinks to these people, I hurriedly brought Da-yeon, the head coach, and another coach outside.
The moment I came out of a small nearby mart, having bought drinks, my hands full of beverages...
Honestly, I let my guard down.
Because I'd never been threatened like this in seventeen years.
And, because I naturally assumed the people following me out were the head coach and the other coach...
I had no choice but to let my guard down.
Above all... the bags filling both my hands...
The fact that I'd hung them on my wrists because holding them in my hands was a hassle was a major cause.
Someone reached an arm out from behind, and simultaneously, a cloth came over my mouth... and that moment, a van pulling up beside us...
The moment I breathed in from shock, having seen Da-yeon in the same situation as me, my vision blurred and I lost consciousness.
The little ones, Da-yeon and Si-yoon, had gone out saying they'd take the drinks up first.
When I finished paying and came outside, the schoolgirls were nowhere to be seen.
The gym was right in front, sure, but even if you sprinted, it'd be hard to get up there in such a short time.
The head coach of Seoul Mixed Martial Arts sensed the gravity of the situation and spoke to the coach.
"Hey!!! Get up there fast and tell Kim Tae-oh... tell Kim Tae-oh!!!"
"Yes!!!"
"That son of a bitch..."
The head coach called the police while also trying to make out the license plate of the vehicle he suspected had kidnapped the schoolgirls, but it was too far away to identify properly.
People with a black letter M embedded on their necks.
One of them had a tattoo of a tiger wrapping around the alphabet letter M.
A man in military uniform behind him spoke to the man with the tiger tattoo.
"Boss."
The man called Tae-hyeon, who'd been looking at his cell phone, threw the water bottle beside him at the man who'd spoken.
"You little shit, I'm concentrating. Get lost."
The man who'd been hit without even dodging the thrown bottle continued.
"It's orders from the Mountain Range."
"Ah... how annoying... what is it, then?"
"In Korea, they said to kill Kang Jong-hyeon... and Han Jeong-min the moment their locations are discovered."
"That old man's really being a nuisance..."
Tae-hyeon propped his legs up on the desk and spoke while looking at his phone.
"Korea's fun, at least it's fun. In such a tiny country, all sorts of talents keep popping up, right? The first Tiger was also Korean, and that person was a real monster, wasn't he? Hah..."
"Yes."
The man in military uniform answered a call, then after a moment looked at Tae-hyeon and said.
"They say it was a success."
"Oh~ is that so?"
Tae-hyeon grinned fishily and put down the phone he'd been looking at a moment ago.
On the phone's screen was Si-yoon in her nine-tailed fox form, and beside the phone sat a wire saw with a gold handle...
"Fuck... I'm already getting excited. Hey, none of you touch her. She's mine."
""Yes!!!""
"I'm not selling her. I'll raise her myself... hooo..."
The coach sprinted to the gym, opened the door, and shouted.
"Kim Si-yoon.... Kim Si-yoon's been kidnapped!!!!"
The heated atmosphere chilled rapidly as Park Ji-hoon's expression went grim.
"What did you say?"
"Kim Si-yoon and that Hanseong kid, they've been kidnapped!!!!"
Kim Tae-oh, having seemingly finished assessing the situation, spoke quickly.
"Does anyone here have a motorcycle?!"
One person raised a hand, and Kim Tae-oh immediately got the keys.
Kim Tae-oh quickly put on his clothes and prepared to leave, and Park Ji-hoon, who was already ready, approached.
"Hey, I'm coming with you."
Kim Tae-oh looked at Park Ji-hoon and nodded.
"Follow me."
As he started the motorcycle, Kim Tae-oh turned on his phone and put it on the mount.
"You know how to ride, right? Should I drive?"
"I'll drive."
Park Ji-hoon sent Kim Tae-oh a look of doubt, but he nodded, thinking that this kid who had been professionally taught various situationally appropriate skills would do better than him.
That thought was exactly right, and Kim Tae-oh's riding skill was far from ordinary.
Kim Tae-oh spoke calmly as he sped at a tremendous velocity.
"Do you have your phone?"
"I left it behind...?"
"Haah... then above all else... following them first takes priority."
Kim Tae-oh considered notifying HSW first, but he needed to find the vehicle before the other side noticed and cut off the location tracker installed on Da-yeon's phone.
Inside a dark warehouse, around a hundred and twenty people had gathered.
"We pay our respects to Taebaek."
Of them, eighty people bowed at ninety degrees to the forty wearing military uniforms, and simultaneously, thirty-nine gave a slight bow of the head to one person.
That one person was the man with a tiger image on his neck emphasizing the letter M. It was Oh Tae-hyeon.
"When will my new pet arrive~ I'll have to treasure her like crazy this time~"
"We told them to bring her without a single scratch."
Oh Tae-hyeon's arousal was physically evident as he spoke in a trembling voice.
"Of course. If there's even a blemish on that pure white skin... I'll kill every one of the ones who brought her, starting with them."
""Yes!""
"Wow... I'm excited already... what do I do."
"They say it'll take about two hours."
"Get a boat on standby so we can bolt straight to Russia as soon as she arrives."
"Yes!"
Inside the van, there were six men in total, including the one driving.
And Da-yeon and Si-yoon had their hands tied behind their backs.
"Whoa... Boss, take a look at these two. Damn... they're tempting... let me just..."
The man who appeared to be the superior stopped the man who'd been about to touch Da-yeon's chest.
"If a single fingerprint is left on their bodies, our hands get cut off. Don't touch them."
"Come on, will they really do fingerprint analysis? They're going to end up in other people's hands on the way anyway."
"....."
One of the men staring at Kim Si-yoon spoke.
"Whoa... I seriously can't hold back... can't we just dress her again anyway?"
The moment his hand went to Si-yoon's waist and grabbed her pants along with her underwear, he met Kim Si-yoon's eyes.
The owner of a face that boasted overwhelming beauty...
But, the look in Si-yoon's eyes, which seemed to hold no emotion whatsoever even in this situation...
was far too alien to these men.
"Any regrets?"
"".....""
I closed my eyes and assessed the situation.
There were six people in the vicinity, total.
These bastards apparently had no professionalism or pangs of conscience; they'd tried to touch Da-yeon and me while we were unconscious.
First, I was trying to get a better grasp of the situation in my current state, but I felt the sensation of fingers trying to go inside my pants.
If I were completely stripped like this, it would be more convenient for moving, but if only the jeans and underwear that might catch around my ankles were peeled off, that would actually be more of a problem.
So I just opened my eyes, and locked eyes with the man holding my pants.
"Any regrets?"
I started with kicking the man touching my pants in the face, and then violent movement erupted inside the cramped vehicle; two people were knocked unconscious in quick succession.
"What the hell!!! Fuck!!! Grab her!!!"
But right after, another one was knocked out by my foot catching his chin, and I kicked off the floor and headbutted another one in the face.
The last one, seeing that, pulled out a knife as if it were unavoidable.
I let out a scoff, then lunged at him; after dodging the swinging knife, I pushed his knife-wielding arm with my foot so it caught on the passenger seat, bending backward the wrong way.
Crack!
"AAAAAARGH!!!"
After planting a knee kick straight to his face and putting him to sleep, I spoke as I stepped on the faces of the unconscious people one by one.
"Don't you think you should stop the car?"
"....."
"Not hitting the brakes, huh? You don't care if every one of them dies?"
Crunch, crunch! At the sound, the driver flinched.
But, one of them had woken up from his groggy state in the meantime and immediately pressed a knife to Da-yeon's throat.
"Fuck!!! Are you crazy, trying to die?! Move one more time, you fucking bitch, and I'll slit her throat."
"....."
"What? Go ahead, say we should all just die together. They do it so well in the movies. Go on, do it, you crazy bitch."
I realized I couldn't stop that man because my hands were bound, so I stayed still.
Because if even one thing went wrong, Da-yeon could be in danger.
And then, a punch swung by one of the men who'd gotten up right after caught me square on the chin, and I blacked out.
"Hahh... hahh... crazy bitch... whoa..."
"What do we do about Min-su, man... his face is caved in, isn't it? Isn't he fucking dead...?"
"He's not even breathing... fuck... lunatic of a bitch..."
When the man who'd been holding the knife threw Da-yeon aside and tried to rush at Si-yoon, the man who'd punched Si-yoon hurriedly stopped him.
"Hey!!! Do that and we all die. Hold it in."
"Min-su's dead!!!"
"I said hold it in!!! Fuck!!! That Oh Tae-hyeon bastard is involved, one of the Tigers... hold it in if you don't want to see with your own two eyes your family getting sawed apart."
"....."
"Let's just drug her before she wakes up."
At that moment, the man who'd been driving glanced in the rearview mirror as he answered a call.
"Yes... yes... we're almost there now... Yes...!? Understood."
The man who'd been driving ended the call and spoke, looking back.
"Hey, ransack both their pockets and throw their phones out the door. They said we might be tracked."
"What?!"
The two who were still conscious found the phones and threw them out the vehicle door.
And...
The single motorcycle that had been tailing from behind discovered them.