Kim Tae-oh.
Kim Tae-oh.
I pulled the blanket over myself next to Da-yeon, who was asleep.
Feigning exaggerated shivers, I was calming down under HSW's care.
"Da-yeon! Si-yoon!"
Lee Jin-seok came rushing in with the bodyguards, and Da-yeon, jolted awake by Lee Jin-seok's voice, grasped the situation and started crying.
I zoned out and sipped the drink they handed me. When I spotted Dad arriving soon after, I tried to burst into tears, but...
As always, though, my trump card wouldn't cooperate.
I don't think I'll ever be able to pull off crying on cue.
Instead, I flinched with an expression that made me look deeply traumatized, and Dad came running over in tears.
"Si-yoon! Si-yoon! Are you okay!? Daddy's here... I'm sorry... okay?"
Dad hugged me and started sobbing.
Genuine guilt toward him surged up, but there was nothing I could do about it right now.
A long while later.
Lee Jin-seok approached Dad with a grim look, as if he'd just seen something he wasn't supposed to see.
"...Ji-ho... haa... I'm sorry, but I think you need to see this..."
When Dad nodded and started to move, I grabbed his sleeve as pitifully as I could manage.
"Dad... let's go home..."
"Ah... okay..."
Lee Jin-seok must have seen that space—the one Park Ji-hoon and I saw.
A painting clearly showing someone's face, complete with all kinds of tattooing tools and even surgical facilities.
If this tender-hearted dad of mine saw that... it was absolutely out of the question.
In the car on the way home.
I pulled the blanket over myself and texted Park Ji-hoon.
- If Dad sees that space, he'll pass out. Stop it.
- Obviously. I'll talk to him.
- I'm counting on you. Seriously, absolutely not.
After sending the text, I poked just my face out from the blanket covering me.
"Si-yoon, are you okay...?"
"Yeah..."
"Want to go to the hospital with Dad?"
"No, I'm okay..."
"You weren't... hurt or anything, were you?"
"No... They didn't lay a finger on me or Da-yeon, and they treated us well, whatever it was they wanted. And... Tae-oh and Ji-hoon came to rescue us."
Dad couldn't focus on driving, his eyes complicated as he kept glancing at me.
I smiled at him and said,
"Eyes on the road, Daddy~ You'll cause an accident. Let's hurry home."
Only after seeing my smile did Dad seem to relax a little.
But even so, his mind was clearly still racing, and he nodded with a forced smile.
"Okay."
Before we turned the ship around and reentered Korean waters...
I'd already dumped many of the bodies into the sea with Park Ji-hoon, including Oh Tae-hyeon.
To show that Park Ji-hoon and I had handled them, we had to dispose of the bodies, leaving only some.
Showing every corpse would have made it impossible to explain that we'd handled all of them, so we threw all but the number that the two of us could plausibly have taken on into the sea.
Even so, it was an overwhelmingly large number...
Above all else, there was absolutely no way we could explain to HSW that we'd dealt with Oh Tae-hyeon—Taebaek's Tiger.
Because even if Park Ji-hoon and I fought him again in perfect condition, I was one hundred percent certain...
that we would lose.
Kim Si-yoon changed into a hanbok, came out, and sat primly beside Da-yeon, leaning against her.
After I'd roughly cleared the bodies around us with Tae-oh and stretched, blood spurted from a split wound.
"Been a while... this feeling."
"Yeah... haa... How long has Boss known?"
"Since kindergarten."
"How?"
"I was trying to sleep, and someone kicked me fucking hard in the stomach."
"Haha... That was Boss."
"Oh, and now that you know—I know you're used to calling her Boss, but break that habit as soon as you can."
Kim Tae-oh... I'd been suspicious at first, but his speech, his actions, even his fighting style were different, so I'd written him off as someone else.
After all, even his own Boss, Kim Si-yoon, hadn't known Tae-oh's true identity.
Park Gi nodded, apparently recalling the way I'd treated Boss at school and in everyday life.
"Guess I'll have to..."
"That doesn't mean you can immediately go, 'Si-yoon!' and pull that shit. Now that I know you're Park Gi, you'll get hit just like I do."
"Ahaha, even back then you were the only one who got hit. I barely remember Boss ever hitting me."
"You son of a bitch."
"Anyway... is something going on with Boss's body?"
"Why?"
"Her movements... were even more incredible than in the past... If she had those movements and Boss's old strength..."
"Terrifying, right?"
"Terrifying indeed."
"I could probably dodge bullets too."
Kim Tae-oh considered my words seriously, then stared at me.
"That's impossible."
"This bastard, still dead serious over shit I said as a joke."
I looked at Kim Tae-oh and chuckled.
"Oh, right. Bet you're not gonna like going to school anymore."
"Why?"
"'Cause you confessed to Boss, you dumbass~"
"...Huh?"
"You goddamn criminal bastard~"
"Stop it."
"Our combined years lived are fifty-three, and hahaha, this fucker gets charmed by a fifteen-year-old and confesses? This is dead to rights."
Suddenly, Kim Tae-oh's face started turning red.
I sneered at the sight of him.
"You know Boss's memory got ridiculously good after she reincarnated, right? With that personality and memory, you think she'll leave you alone? One hundred percent, every time the two of you are alone, she'll mess with you."
Kim Tae-oh couldn't hide his mortified expression, as if conceding my point.
"Ha..."
"Hahk, that's why you don't go confessing~"
"Enough."
"I don't wanna? Don't waaanna~~~"
"Shrimp."
"...What did you say?"
"You started it."
"Wanna throw down without knives, for old times' sake?"
"Fighting with knives, for old times' sake, isn't bad either."
"The fuck? You underhanded bastard, I've never even held a knife!"
"Look at your body. You're more underhanded. You're not even considering the weight class difference?"
As I looked at Kim Tae-oh, I suddenly felt a chill.
"...Then do you think... maybe... Da-yeon is also one of our old subordinates..."
"Don't say crazy shit."
"Okay."
Before I knew it, a helicopter marked HSW was flying overhead.
Sitting on the cargo ship, looking around, Park Ji-hoon read the text he'd gotten from Kim Si-yoon and quickly relayed it.
"Hey, Tae-oh. We'll have to say you did the knife work."
Kim Tae-oh grasped the situation immediately.
He was authorized to kill under certain circumstances, for the protection of the Hanseong children.
A moment later, my father, HSW Deputy Director Kim Dong-hoon, approached and looked at me.
"Tae-oh. Look at your father."
"Yes."
"Were you... the one who did this?"
My father had known about my knife skills, which I'd kept hidden.
But he hadn't known it was to this extent.
"Yes, it was my first real combat, but... it felt... like an extension of my own body."
Kim Dong-hoon nodded slowly.
"I heard from your friend Park Ji-hoon. He said he'd suggested it might be better to bury this matter..."
"Yes. Directly provoking Taebaek, rather than just S Company, is extremely dangerous. If they come out into the open..."
"That's correct."
Why has Taebaek, a shadow organization, never been exposed to the world...
A little thought gives the answer.
Because since the old days, people everywhere in the world who tried to tear Taebaek apart were no longer among the living.
That held true regardless of country, position, or identity.
You could touch other affiliated organizations, but not someone marked with the M-mark who hadn't surfaced in the light.
Especially the green M-mark, signifying an executive—not touching that... had become an unwritten global rule.
"Crazy bastards... daring to lay hands on Miss Si-yoon..."
Park Ji-hoon and I had already thrown all traces of Oh Tae-hyeon into the sea, but...
If Taebaek or S Company learned the facts and began a proper investigation, it would only be a matter of time.
So burying it as fast as possible was the right call to ensure the evidence was truly concealed.
"Miss Si-yoon didn't... go inside that room, correct?"
"Correct."
"Haa... Understood... You really did a great job. Son, I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, Father."
"I should... go check on Ji-hoon."
"Yes."
"Get some rest."
"Yes, Father."
My father lightly stroked my head, then headed toward where Park Ji-hoon was.
We returned to the harbor we'd departed from, got into the ambulance HSW had standing by, and received treatment.
From a distance, I saw Kim Tae-oh's father, who had been talking with Kim Tae-oh, approach me.
"...Ji-hoon's friend."
"Ah... yes."
Suddenly, Kim Tae-oh's father bowed his head.
"Truly... truly, thank you."
"Oh... no, really. All I did was go to protect Si-yoon."
Kim Dong-hoon lowered his head even more deeply.
"No, you are Tae-oh's friend, which makes me all the more grateful."
"Oh, oh! Please don't. I can't even look Tae-oh in the eye over this."
"Gratitude and compensation, clearly rendered—that is my motto. By the way... do you have any interest in working for HSW?"
"No, my dream is to be a professional fighter."
"I see... Today's incident will never be made public. Still, I promise you definite compensation... And if trouble arises from protecting Si-yoon, tell Tae-oh."
"Excuse me?"
"If it's to protect them... no matter what happens, contact me."
"Ah, understood."
Deputy Director Kim Dong-hoon was saying that even if I ended up killing someone while protecting Da-yeon or Si-yoon, he'd cover it up.
Well... seeing as the police, who should have arrived long ago, never even appeared at the scene...
Park Ji-hoon, relieved it was finally over, lay down on the prepared bed and fell asleep immediately.
Inside a VIP room at some hospital.
Kim Tae-oh recalled the past.
I died trying to protect Boss.
My memories of reincarnation started trickling in slowly from the age of three.
I gradually came to understand... that I had been Taebaek's Tiger, and that Boss Kang Han-seong, whom we'd revered like the heavens, had taken us in and raised us.
Park Ji-hoon said it was the same for him.
When I became aware of my past, I understood.
HSW... What kind of fate is this?
In the past, when I'd been ordered by Taebaek—although I truly hated it—to kill Hanseong's next successor, a young man had thrown himself in my path and ended up with a long scar across his face.
Fortunately, after seeing what had happened, Boss had left Hanseong alone.
And I, who had carried that guilt...
As if by fate, I was reborn as the grandson of the man who ruled HSW, Hanseong's security organization.
Yes, this is fate.
I, who had tormented Hanseong, must now protect it.
And... a fate to destroy S Company, which I had once followed...
When I first met that little kid named Si-yoon, I thought she was a pretty little thing, like a jewel.
But I saw the look in that kid's eyes...
And alarm bells rang instinctively in my head.
I shouldn't let her stay close to Da-yeon...
So I started investigating more and more.
From her every little action, to what she was thinking, to what habits she had...
While I was lost in thought, the kid named Si-yoon called me over and shoved me against a wall.
A stream of filthy curses came out of that pretty little face.
And seeing this little kid asking if I liked her, I was dumbfounded.
"No, that's impossible."
But then, she suddenly started spewing even harsher curses.
Saying I looked like a bug, that I was disgusting, to stop staring at her...
She was definitely no ordinary kid.
Could it be... was it possible... she had been reincarnated like me...
I didn't think I was the only person in the world to have been reincarnated.
But since I had absolutely no way of knowing who this kid had been in the past, I judged her to be extremely dangerous if she stayed by Da-yeon's side.
I began continuously observing Si-yoon's actions with wary eyes.
Perhaps feeling my gaze on her, Si-yoon's expression grew even stonier.
She seemed to be jumping to the bizarre conclusion that I had a crush on her.
So I tried to explain things clearly.
But she covered her ears, and eventually, she seemed utterly convinced I was in love with her.
What kind of ridiculous princess complex was this...
Seeing her act her age made me a little less suspicious that she might be reincarnated like me.
Not long after, I came face-to-face with the kid named Si-yoon again.
And Park Ji-hoon, who had come with Kim Si-yoon.
The two of them bickered endlessly, likely having been friends since they were little.
More than anything, the kid named Park Ji-hoon seemed to have an enormous competitive streak.
The moment he saw me, he started provoking me.
Plenty of boy brats had tried picking fights with me over my looks, ever since I was even younger.
But the kid named Park Ji-hoon—how should I put it—just looking at him put me in a bad mood for no reason.
Something about his looks... and above all, his personality seemed to stand out in exactly the wrong way.
I went along with it briefly, thinking I'd teach him a lesson...
But soon, the thought... I'm losing? crossed my mind.
Losing... to a little brat...
I was more embarrassed by it than I'd imagined, and after that, I threw myself into even more intense training.
When I entered middle school, I saw Si-yoon again.
I'd already thought she was quite a pretty little kid... but...
In middle school, Si-yoon's appearance became almost radiant.
Honestly, with looks like that and a personality with a unique charm, I found myself drawn to her.
But, I mean, she was fourteen...
Once I started having these thoughts, I began wrestling with something else in my head.
...Right now, I'm also fourteen...?
Sure, I might be older mentally, but honestly, I didn't think my mental age was higher than Kim Si-yoon's, and I wasn't particularly good at anything besides physical work.
Except when she smiled, Si-yoon gave off a really haughty, sharp vibe.
Maybe it was because of her looks, but that prickly, rude attitude that seemed to broadcast she'd been raised precious came across as even more charming.
Still, to preserve some shred of conscience, I decided not to approach her directly.
Instead, I resolved to use my looks to seduce her.
With the mindset of pretending to lose so she'd confess to me...
Even I thought it was idiotic, but it was just my own private thought.
If someone else had also been reincarnated, and if they knew the old me, I'd bite my tongue and die.
But as far as anyone could see, I was fourteen now...
I showed her more of my serious side, always pretending to be deep in thought, and more of my courteous side.
Maybe because of that, from some point on, Si-yoon started taking care of me more than she did Park Ji-hoon, whom she'd been with for so long.
At fifteen, Si-yoon's looks started becoming terrifyingly beautiful.
Above all, the way she looked when she cut her hair short... completely captivated me.
Honestly... I didn't want to lose Si-yoon, who was impossible to read and never gave any clue what she was thinking.
As time passed, I couldn't focus on work, and my eyes kept drifting toward Si-yoon.
So I decided I might as well date her. Since she'd been taking extra care of me, I took that as a sign and confessed.
The result was disastrous...
The feeling of confessing to a tiny, young fifteen-year-old girl and getting rejected... it was a hard emotion to describe.
And on top of that, her remarks that humiliated me... I just wanted to bite my tongue and die right there.
But even though Si-yoon said those things outwardly, I could tell that inside, she was kind, like someone familiar to me.
Feeling sorry for having said such harsh things, she came to comfort me when I naturally started keeping my distance.
I figured her prickliness was a defense mechanism she'd developed after losing her mother at birth.
How... could such a young child have such a deep heart... That thought drew me in even more.
During the school trip, Park Ji-hoon brought alcohol.
You had to give that crazy bastard credit for his initiative.
But still, alcohol, haa...
On the other hand, memories of Boss and my comrades, which I still couldn't forget, surfaced naturally and made me look forward to it.
But this body couldn't hold its liquor.
With the intoxication rising easily, I unconsciously treated women the way I had in the past.
But the look on Si-yoon's face when I eventually came to my senses... that familiar expression... that familiar killing intent.....
Why hadn't I known? Why hadn't I asked? Even then, she'd looked exactly like Boss when he was drunk...
Probably, my judgment had been clouded by the heavy intoxication at the time, and since I hadn't recognized her despite all the long years we'd spent together, I'd categorized her as a completely different person.
So, since I still hadn't even considered that she might be Boss back then, that side of Si-yoon had honestly thrilled me even more.
But...
That Si-yoon... the Si-yoon who made me feel that excitement...
She really was Boss Han-seong... fuck... this is so wrong...