GBH 47

Under the orange glow of streetlights, an ambulance, with neither its siren nor emergency lights on, was parked in front of Song Yi-heon’s house. Black oil dripping from the exhaust pipe of the quiet ambulance stained the asphalt. The ambulance doors were wide open, as was Song Yi-heon’s house. The front gate of the house had been forcibly torn open.

Kim Deuk-pal sensed something was wrong and threw down his shopping bag to run. If Song Min-seo needed to go to the hospital, the woman from Seosan would have contacted Song Yi-heon immediately. The suspicious ambulance that came to pick up a sick person without turning on its sirens raised alarm. Moreover, with the license plate covered, this was clearly someone’s plot.

“Hey, what are you doing!”

The sound of an engine starting came from the quiet ambulance. The ambulance vibrated heavily, ready to depart at any moment.

“…!”

As the engine started, Kim Deuk-pal became more urgent. Inside the open car door, there was only a dark figure sitting in the driver’s seat. Neither Song Min-seo nor anyone else was there. With the intuition that their accomplices had invaded the house, Kim Deuk-pal rushed inside the gate.

Although he could make out the dark figure in the driver’s seat, he was more concerned about those who had broken into the house.

There were only women in the house, and he didn’t know what harm the intruders who had forced their way in might do. Kim Deuk-pal was worried sick about the women who had become like family to him after living under the same roof.

In the middle of the dark garden, only the brightly lit detached house shone like a lone lighthouse. Through the large windows, the bright living room was in disarray. The table was overturned, and the couch where Song Min-seo had been sleeping was empty, with only a blanket askew. Just then, the culprits who had ransacked the living room came out through the front door.

There were three of them. The man leading the group had an unconscious Song Min-seo slung over his shoulder. The woman from Seosan who followed them out tried to stop the men but was pushed away and fell on her backside. Holding her waist, she couldn’t get up from the impact. Fury flashed in Deuk-pal’s eyes as he shouted.

“Hey!”

The men, dressed in dark clothes and camouflaged like shadows, noticed Yi-heon approaching and stopped.

“Who the hell are you?! What the hell are you doing?! Who sent you?!”

Song Yi-heon charged forward, kicking off the grass. However, the three men who had deliberately broken in were well aware of the existence of the woman’s son, Song Yi-heon. They weren’t threatened by a mere high school student, so they calmly divided their roles.

“Get the woman in the car first.”

The man carrying Song Min-seo nodded. He didn’t bother to detour around the garden to avoid Song Yi-heon. As the man with Song Min-seo approached with wide strides, Song Yi-heon lunged to grab his collar, but before he could reach his target, the other two men blocked him. They tried to restrain Song Yi-heon simultaneously from both sides, but…

“Ugh-!”

The man on the right collapsed, clutching his stomach. He hadn’t been able to see the quick fist coming due to the darkness. The man on the left, seeing what Song Yi-heon had done, was too shocked to believe it at first, then found Song Yi-heon suddenly in front of him and stumbled backward.

In Song Yi-heon’s side profile, illuminated by the light from the house, the man ironically recalled a Korean Jindo dog he had seen in the countryside during this critical moment. The yellow, piercing eyes of the Jindo dog, said to catch ghosts, overlapped with the eyes right in front of him, reviving the chilling sensation in his groin that had almost made him wet himself.

“What, ack-!”

Song Yi-heon’s fist also sank deep into the stomach of the man who was retreating in fear. Tripping the man’s legs as he doubled over, Song Yi-heon then kicked him in the stomach. The man curled up, retching as the sharp toe of the soccer shoe dug into his navel.

“You little-!”

The man who had been hit in the stomacth first regained his senses and grabbed Song Yi-heon’s shoulder. However, as soon as he turned his shoulder, Song Yi-heon’s fist struck the man’s nose squarely.

“Ugh!”

The man staggered back from the impact, clutching his nose. Blood streamed down beneath the hand covering his nose. Song Yi-heon, breathing heavily, looked for Song Min-seo. The man carrying her was running, almost at the edge of the garden. If she was put in the car, it would be over. Song Yi-heon gritted his teeth and was about to run after the man when…

“Huk…!”

The man who had been kicked in the stomach crawled over and grabbed Song Yi-heon’s ankle. Song Yi-heon, who was about to run, lost his balance and fell. A sharp pain spread from his wrist as it hit the ground. Before he could recover, the man kicked him in the shoulder, causing him to roll sideways.

As he gasped for air from the impact of being stepped on his back and was kicked to the side again, Song Yi-heon saw the crescent moon in the night sky. Torn grass stuck to the sweat-drenched skin of his forehead. The strong smell of earth filled his nose.

“You brat, still wet behind the ears—!”

The man whose nose had been punched climbed on top of Yi-heon. His nose was flattened, and his lower face was smeared with blood. When he opened his mouth, bloodied teeth showed. The man raised his fist.

Song Yi-heon didn’t try to dodge the fist falling towards his face and shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Song Min-seo-! Wake up! Run away! Song Min-seo!”

“You, you bastard!”

The man planted his fist into Song Yi-heon’s cheek. Even as his head turned from the impact, Song Yi-heon didn’t stop shouting at the top of his lungs.

“I said wake up-!”

Although it was said to be an alley where not even an ant would pass, each house in the neighborhood had excellent security. Trained guard dogs in the yards quickly responded. When one started barking, like a plague spreading, dogs in the vicinity began barking one after another. As the dogs caused a commotion, faint signs of people coming out to see what was happening could be sensed.

“Shut up!”

Lowering his voice, the man tried to silence SOng Yi-heon by covering his mouth. Song Yi-heon, pinned beneath him, glared at the man with murderous intent. Enraged, the man raised his hand to slap him again.

Song Yi-heon opened his eyes wide, determined not to avoid the descending palm. The thick palm sliced through the air sharply. The sharp wind, similar to the stinging pain that would soon spread across his cheek, touched his skin first. He braced himself for the pain with eyes wide open.

“Keurk-!”

A dark shadow pounced on the man straddling Song Yi-heon. It was Choi Se-kyung, who tackled the man, rolling with him across the grass. After rolling several times, vying for dominance, Se-kyung ended up on top of the man. Breathing heavily as if he might pass out, Se-kyung pressed down on the man’s neck to prevent him from resisting. Then, tilting his chest diagonally, he swung his raised fist with force from his shoulder.  Unlike the man’s feeble blows, Se-kyung’s punch was solid, like a rock.

“Kuk…!”

The man’s head turned from the impact of the fist, and he spat blood, convulsing slightly.

Confirming that Choi Se-kyung wasn’t being overwhelmed, Song Yi-heon looked for Song Min-seo. Near the gate, the man who had been carrying Song Min-seo was now on the ground, convulsing. Right beside him lay Song Min-seo. Just as Song Yi-heon was getting up, panting, to run to Song Min-seo…

“Get up! Grab the woman!”

The man who had been kicked in the stomach by Song Yi-heon earlier and had been lying down shouted as he got up. Perhaps trying to achieve their goal of kidnapping Song Min-seo while everyone else was down, the man ran past Song Yi-heon. Song Yi-heon also got up, clawing at the grass, trying to chase after the man.

In the distance, flashing sirens sounded. Red and blue lights alternately flashed.

“Damn it…!”

The man who was about to pick up Song Min-seo from the ground cursed under his breath. Instead of Song Min-seo, he grabbed his fallen comrade and climbed into the ambulance.

“Ugh!”

A short cry from Choi Se-kyung was heard. The man pinned under Choi Se-kyung also struggled with all his might and shook Se-kyung off. As the last man boarded the ambulance, passing by Song Min-seo, the vehicle that had been idling immediately started off, fleeing at a speed that shouldn’t be reached in such a narrow alley.

“Are you alright?!”

The sirens that had been wailing in the distance finally stopped as they reached the front of Song Yi-heon’s house. Seeing the police through his sweat-blurred vision attending to the fallen Song Min-seo, Kim Deuk-pal lay sprawled out.

The police had been dispatched due to Choi Se-kyung’s report.

* * *

After the police left, Choi Se-kyung carried Song Min-seo into the house, replacing Kim Deuk-pal who had sprained his wrist. The woman from Seosan, who had been sitting and crying at the entrance until then, clutched her startled heart and opened the door, guiding them to the bedroom. Still not calmed down, she recounted the events she had experienced with the disoriented Song Min-seo.

“Oh, dear heavens, what a disaster… those men said they had permission to admit Madam to a mental hospital, said they had approval from her guardians. When I wouldn’t open the door, they broke in an

“I’ve called the attending physician, so they’ll be here soon. You should get checked too, ma’am.”

Se-kyung laid Song Min-seo on the bed while urging the woman from Seosan. Song Min-seo’s complexion was so pale it was worrying, as if the men might have used some strange drug. Whether from the shock to her body from being tossed around while unconscious, she remained limp in Se-kyung’s arms the entire time she was being moved.

With the woman from Seosan agreeing to watch over Song Min-seo until the attending physician arrived, Choi Se-kyung and Kim Deuk-pal sat in the living room to catch their breath.

The interior was even more of a sight than what they had seen in the garden. Shoe prints marked the men’s path through the house, and decorative items they had thrown and broken to intimidate the women lay shattered beneath the walls. Choi Se-kyung started by righting the overturned table.

“Hey, sit down.”

Kim Deuk-pal, who had brought a first aid kit, sat on the sofa Se-kyung had straightened and patted the seat next to him. Se-kyung too had a swollen cheek and split lip from the fistfight with the man trying to kidnap Song Min-seo. Although it was much better compared to the injury Kim Deuk-pal had inflicted before, an injury was still an injury, so Kim Deuk-pal sat Se-kyung down and opened the first aid kit.

As he silently applied medicine, sobs could be heard from the open bedroom door. Se-kyung, who had been quietly watching Kim Deuk-pal apply medicine to his split lip, asked:

“Are you sure it’s okay not to report this to the police?”

“I know who did this.”

Although the police had arrived, Kim Deuk-pal had sent them away without filing a report. The broken gate, an unconscious woman, two men who seemed to have been in a fight, an ambulance without license plates – it was clearly a serious incident, and the police urged them to file a report, but Kim Deuk-pal was adamant. He insisted that it was a family matter and would be resolved within the family.

In the end, the police left without hearing the details, but Choi Se-kyung, having prevented Song Min-seo from being kidnapped, felt it was only natural to be told who the suspected culprit was.

“Lee Mi-kyung. She’s the one who takes care of the house.”

“Why her?”

Although Choi Se-kyung roughly knew about Song Yi-heon’s family situation, Lee Migyeong was a name he was hearing for the first time. Lee Migyeong was a figure with so little influence on the chairman or Song Yi-heon that she wasn’t even mentioned in background checks. Her role was limited to monitoring Song Min-seo and Song Yi-heon to keep them out of public knowledge and helping with their daily lives, but she kept overstepping her bounds, trying to trample on Song Yi-heon’s life.

“I rubbed her the wrong way.”

So the only person who would do something like this was Lee Migyeong. The chairman had no reason to suddenly confine Min-seo to a mental institution. Yi-heon had likely infuriated her, and this was her retaliation. Lee Mi-kyung had resorted to the worst possible move to torment Yi-heon.

After applying all the medicine, Kim Deuk-pal got up from his seat. While Lee Migyeong was someone to be dealt with later, he wanted to offer something to drink to the helpful Choi Se-kyung.

“Anyway, thanks for today. It could have been a disaster without you. What would you like to drink?”

“No, it’s fine. More importantly, what about your sprained wrist-“

Before Se-kyung could stop him, Kim Deuk-pal had already stood up. Whether he was thirsty himself, soon a faint sound of gulping could be heard from the kitchen area. Se-kyung had no choice but to lean back on the sofa. In fact, as the tension released, Se-kyung, who had properly fought for the first time, was just as drained.

Leaning on the soft sofa, Choi Se-kyung pressed both eyes with his palms to ward off fatigue. Since Dr. Lee, the family doctor, was said to be on his way, Se-kyung planned to stay until the examination was over, regardless of what Kim Deuk-pal said.

Still, due to curfew, he had to be home by 10 o’clock unless he was at night study or the library. As Se-kyung removed the hands covering his eyes to check the time, he suddenly noticed a long strand of hair stuck to his forearm. It was long, wavy brown hair. Guessing whose hair it might be, he looked at his chest and found another strand of the same hair stuck there.

It was Song Min-seo’s hair. It must have fallen when he carried her in from the garden.

Gathering the strands in his hand, Se-kyung felt a strange tremor run through him. Holding onto the strands of hair, his thoughts started to spin in ways that didn’t quite make sense.

Choi Se-kyung had believed that the original Song Yi-heon and the fake Song Yi-heon were different people. The fake Song Yi-heon had also admitted to being a different person. They had agreed to wait for the original Song Yi-heon together in the spring, and he thought the matter had been settled.

Having now obtained hair from the fake Song Yi-heon, Song Yi-heon’s biological father, and now his biological mother, an absurd impulse shook him again. 

Even if he tested the DNA of all three, the fake Song Yi-heon would not be a biological child.

Se-kyung knew this well. However, not everything followed logic.

The temptation to test the DNA of the three people connected to Song Yi-heon was irrational, but it tugged at him all the same.