GBH 65

And then the call ended. Left alone with the suspicious men after the call was abruptly cut off, Hong Jae-min clung to his phone, but the disconnected phone had already returned to the home screen.

“Hey, hey, Song Yi-heon, Song Yi-heon…!”

He had been told to buy time, but not knowing where Song Yi-heon was coming from, he had no idea how long he needed to stall. There was no need to guess, really. It was reckless to try to buy time against a group of adult men that seemed to number more than a dozen.

“What am I supposed to do…!”

He tried calling again, but it just kept ringing without being answered. As Hong Jae-min’s voice grew louder in desperation, the men’s wariness turned towards the back of the truck, where he was hiding.

“…!”

Hong Jae-min flattened himself on the bike. However, the men detected his hidden presence and closed in. The hypersensitive hostility typical of those committing illegal acts was palpable even from a distance. Shadows cast by the streetlights moved along the side of the truck’s cargo bed, approaching.

As the shadows slid closer without making a sound, not even footsteps or breathing, Jae-min also held his breath. Even while not breathing, the mounting tension made his eyes bulge, increasing the pressure inside them.

The shadow holding a tool was right in front of him. His heartbeat pounded in his ears, but he had no particular plan. Hong Jae-min recklessly started the bike.

The deep exhaust note from the started bike spread like the roar of a suppressed beast.

“Catch him!”

The fierce engine sound overwhelmed the men swinging their tools. The bike, suddenly accelerating, sprang out like a coiled spring and split the crowd. As the men scattered to avoid it, not expecting a motorcycle to appear, some grabbed onto Hong Jae-min and clung on. Hong Jae-min increased his speed, trying to shake off the man clutching his waist and being dragged along with the bike.

“Throw that bastard off the bike!”

The engine sound clawed through the air. The pungent smell of gasoline stung their noses as the wheels spun fiercely. The man whose legs were being dragged on the asphalt couldn’t withstand the speed and let go of Jae-min’s waist.

Jae-min, who had sped past the gate of Song Yi-heon’s house, made a sharp turn and came to a sudden stop. Leaving skid marks on the asphalt, Hong Jae-min faced the group head-on, shining his headlight at them. As the intense white light engulfed them, the men stumbled back, shielding their eyes with their arms. Hong Jae-min once again increased the bike’s speed towards them.

“Get out! I said get out!”

Screaming at the top of his lungs, Hong Jae-min split the crowd with his bike. But being surprised only works once; these men weren’t the type to be scared off by a puppy on a bike thrashing about. They gripped their tools and backed away. An ominous silence, heavy with killing intent, settled over the scene.

Heat rose from the engine of the bike, which had been repeatedly accelerating and braking hard in a short time. The wheels, bent at extreme angles from maneuvering through the narrow alley, wobbled. It was the moment when Hong Jae-min glanced at the dashboard to keep the unbalanced bike from falling over.

A man wearing a black mask seized that moment to swing a baseball bat.

Clang! The aluminum baseball bat made a crisp hitting sound as it struck the back of Hong Jae-min’s head. The impact rattled his skull, and Hong Jae-min fell to the side. The bike, losing its rider and falling, skidded across the ground in a circular motion like a boomerang.

Far away, the wheels of the bike, which had crashed into a wall, spun uselessly in the air. Hong Jae-min, who had rolled on the ground, staggered to his feet, leaning against the wall, his skull ringing from the impact.

“Catch him!”

The men chased after him, and Jae-min stumbled as he ran. The direction Hong Jae-min had fallen from the bike was towards the gate where the men had been disabling the security devices. Jae-min grabbed a monkey wrench from the tool box the men had laid out.

Then, firmly gripping the cold monkey wrench in his hand, he smashed down on the doorbell. He bashed it until the plastic cover broke and wires popped out, and suddenly, as if mocking all the commotion in the alley until now, a fierce siren burst out, nearly rupturing eardrums. A warning light attached to the gate flashed red.

“We removed all the security devices…!”

The men scattered in confusion. Soon, the Porter truck’s engine started, and Jae-min’s knees gave out. The flashing siren above his head blurred as he slowly collapsed to the side.

Should’ve worn a helmet.

With that thought, Hong Jae-min lost consciousness.

* * *

In his fragmented consciousness, Hong Jae-min saw Song Yi-heon. Sometimes it was the past Song Yi-heon with his face hidden behind his bangs, sometimes it was the recent Song Yi-heon with his hair cut short. In one moment he was being beaten at the incinerator, in another he was beating up Hong Jae-min’s group.

The scene changed. It was Song Yi-heon’s house, which he had visited once before. It was that living room where Song Min-seo had her seizure. The living room, reconstructed based on hazy memories, was darker and mustier than in reality. The sofa and decorations that had been pushed around during Song Min-seo’s convulsions were strewn about messily, and Song Yi-heon was crouched in the corner by the living room’s picture window, hugging his knees and trembling.

Is he like that because his crazy mother went on a rampage? Wondering this as he approached, Jae-min quickly erased Song Min-seo from his mind as he recalled the woman he had seen in the school parking lot.

It must be that woman’s doing.

It must have been the woman from the parking lot who tried to kill Song Yi-heon. Hong Jae-min snorted in anger and stomped his feet. He had to get Song Yi-heon out of this house. He tried to take Song Yi-heon and run away from that woman, but the closer Hong Jae-min got, the more Song Yi-heon struggled to back away, pushing against the floor with his feet.

His extreme fear was about to turn his trembling into convulsions. Just how cruelly did that woman torment him to make him like this? Hong Jae-min approached, shuddering at Lee Mi-kyung’s cruelty. However, as Song Yi-heon recognized who was coming closer, his trembling became abnormally violent.

Sensing this change, Hong Jae-min stopped. He slowly raised his head. The picture window, covered in darkness, was reflecting the interior like a mirror. The figure reflected in it was Hong Jae-min himself.

It wasn’t Lee Mi-kyung who had reduced Song Yi-heon to this state, but Hong Jae-min.

“…!”

Hong Jae-min opened his eyes wide. A white ceiling stretched out above him. His eyes stung from the piercing light. Though he had been lying down, he was breathless as if he had run with all his might. Pooled tears flowed down the corners of his eyes.

“Are you awake?” 

Song Yi-heon, who had been sitting loosely on a makeshift chair in the hospital room fiddling with his phone, called out to him. It was Song Yi-heon with short hair, not crying like in the dream. While waiting for Hong Jae-min to come to his senses, he stretched his stiff body from sitting in the same position and explained:

“Your head was split open and you got three stitches. I’ve taken care of the hospitalization procedures, so rest up before you leave. I’ve already paid, so go to the administration office to get a medical certificate if you need it. I’ve left your motorcycle at the repair shop, so pick it up later.”

“…”

When Hong Jae-min just stared at him with wet eyes, Song Yi-heon blankly returned the gaze before adding, thinking this might be what he wanted:

“You did well.”

“…”

As Hong Jae-min parted his dry white lips, a woman in a suit entered the private hospital room. Song Yi-heon, who had been sitting loosely with his school uniform shirt wrinkled over his slim stomach, suddenly stood up, brushed off his uniform, and politely extended his hand to the woman.

“Thank you for coming at such a late hour on such short notice.”

“It’s no trouble.”

Finding it strange that a high school student was offering a handshake and being so formal, the woman shook his hand with equal politeness, though wondering if he was some kind of eccentric. His soft palm belied the worldly manners he affected. Song Yi-heon introduced the woman to Hong Jae-min.

“They said they needed a guardian’s consent to stitch up your head. Since a minor wouldn’t do, I called her in urgently. Thank her.”

Although it was actually Choi Se-kyung who had contacted his mother to summon the personal secretary, and Hong Jae-min had gotten his head cracked while guarding Song Yi-heon’s house, Song Yi-heon took the credit. Thinking the unusual high school student’s swagger was for the benefit of the secretary called out in the middle of the night, she smiled and relayed the information she had just received:

“I’ve been notified that they’ve caught the culprits, so you don’t need to worry. They’re at the police station now, and Se-kyung said he’d stay with your mother until Yi-heon arrives.”

“Yes, I’ve been in touch with Choi Se-kyung.”

Her business with Song Yi-heon concluded, the secretary turned her gaze to Jae-min and gave him a wink.

“There might be aftereffects, so take it easy, and if you need any additional help, please contact me.”

She then took out a business card from her wallet and handed it to Jae-min. The S Department Store logo caught his eye first. S Department Store Secretarial Team 2. Hong Jae-min couldn’t fathom why someone from a famous department store had come as his surgery guardian. His eyes, still cloudy from the anesthesia, hazily turned towards the woman.

“Choi Se-kyung… this family…?”

Hong Jae-min’s voice cracked as he moistened his dry white lips with his tongue. As awkwardness crept into the secretary’s eye-smile, Song Yi-heon, noticing this, preemptively reassured her:

“I’ll make sure he keeps quiet about it.”

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

“Take care on your way back.”

Song Yi-heon politely saw the secretary out to the door before returning. Hong Jae-min clenched his fist, crumpling the business card. He had now learned concrete details about Choi Se-kyung’s family, which he had only vaguely known to be impressive, but there was something else he needed to address first. Jae-min asked about the circumstances that led to his head being split open.

“Those men in front of your house… what was that about?”

“Men sent by Lee Mi-kyung. This kind of thing has happened before. They tried to kidnap my mother. I guess she’s panicking because my mother found out about her prescribing the wrong medication.”

Song Yi-heon opened a bottle of water, took a drink first, then held it to Jae-min’s lips. As he tilted the bottle to let the water flow, Hong Jae-min drank thirstily. After moistening his throat, his voice, which had sounded like metal scraping, became easier to listen to.

“…I met a woman at school. Short, with heavy makeup.”

“That woman is Lee Mi-kyung.”

“What’s her deal? Why is she doing such crazy things? Why to you…?”

Trying to kill you. Hong Jae-min was at a loss for words at Lee Mi-kyung’s viciousness, but Song Yi-heon remained calm.

“Legal guardian. My mother is listed as mentally incompetent.”

Was I as horrible to you as Lee Mi-kyung? Hong Jae-min desperately sought differences between himself and Lee Mi-kyung. They had both tormented Song Yi-heon, but I’m different from that woman. I didn’t torment Song Yi-heon intending to kill him. I’m not a villain like her. The reason I tormented Song Yi-heon was-

“…I like you.”

Song Yi-heon’s thin eyebrows twitched at the confession dropped like a b0mb. He didn’t panic or fumble. His face wrinkled as if he had drunk something foul, but he didn’t openly show disgust. Jae-min felt relieved, but it didn’t last long.

“Be thankful you only got your head cracked today. If not, it would have been cracked by my hand.”