GBH 1

 Kim Deuk-pal. Age 47. His dream is to enter university.

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On a rainy winter day, in a traditional Korean house with a pond-adorned garden, a student was burning with academic passion as he prepared for the college entrance exam. Though he was a late-blooming student, much older than his peers, his enthusiasm was no less than that of young blood. He pressed his pencil hard as he solved math problems.

With each math problem solved, the long dragon tattoo on his forearm seemed to writhe. Despite the cold winter, he wore a short-sleeved T-shirt, revealing muscles that flexed with every movement, bringing the dragon to life. The private tutor from Daechi-dong broke out in a cold sweat, trying not to make eye contact with the dragon glaring from the bicep.

After finishing the last problem on the pages marked with red pen slashes, the tutor organized the workbook.

“…That’s all for today’s lesson. Good work.”

“Yes, thank you for your hard work too, teacher.”

The late-blooming student, Kim Deuk-pal, politely thanked the tutor as he closed the workbook. It was a special workbook for the college entrance exam, Mathematics 1. The pages covered so far were blackened with use, showing how diligently he had been studying.

The room was spacious, and as the tutor gathered his bag to leave, Kim Deuk-pal followed him and casually voiced a concern.

“I’m worried because my math scores aren’t improving.”

Unlike Korean language and Korean history, subjects Kim Deuk-pal was confident in as a proud Korean, math was a weak subject for him, along with English, dragging down his average score. Kim Deuk-pal had merely expressed his concern about grades from a student’s perspective, but the tutor turned pale and stammered.

“W-well, th-that’s how math is. It’s a subject where fundamentals are important, even current students find it hard to improve their scores. Considering you took the high school equivalency exam, you’re doing really well. Ah…! I don’t mean to belittle the equivalency exam…!”

Leaving the tutor frantically explaining himself, afraid of retaliation for seeming to look down on his equivalency exam background, Kim Deuk-pal threw open the paper-covered door. On either side of the door, a line of burly men in black suits bowed deeply at a ninety-degree angle. They were the cause of the tutor’s excessive nervousness.

“You’ve come out! Boss!”

As the burly men chorused loudly, Kim Deuk-pal stepped aside to let the tutor pass.

“The teacher is leaving. See him off.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Kim Deuk-pal gestured with his chin for the tutor to go, and the tutor clutched his bag like a lifeline. Though tempted by the hefty tutoring fee rivaling those in Daechi-dong, it was cruel for a lifelong ordinary citizen like the tutor to remain calm in a den of gangsters with bodies covered in knife scars and tattoos.

The gangsters under Kim Deuk-pal, so-called “younger brothers,” escorted (or from the tutor’s perspective, dragged) the tutor away. Instead of returning to his room, Kim Deuk-pal walked towards the open porch overlooking the garden.

With his hands in his pockets, Kim Deuk-pal’s back view as he looked down at the garden seemed lonely.

The garden, defeated by the cold of December, was bleak. The wisteria with only bare branches and the garden stones darkened by rain created a gloomy atmosphere. However, the garden truly shone not on rainy days like today, but on snowy days.

When white snow piled up on the bare branches, it was a breathtaking sight, rivaling the plum blossoms in spring. Like the heavy snowfall that had suddenly arrived about a month ago in November, the day before Kim Deuk-pal took the college entrance exam.

Despite his subordinates’ cheering that the white snow on the exam day was a sign of good luck, Kim Deuk-pal failed the exam. An average of 7th grade. The lucky seven was not a permissible superstition on the exam score report. His subordinate, who graded the test, joked about getting a cramp from drawing circles as if snow would fall, but the answers on the back of the exam ticket were marked with red crosses. The chilling silence from that moment was something Kim Deuk-pal would never forget.

Meanwhile, hearing about Kim Deuk-pal’s exam results, the boss of the organization laughed uncontrollably. No one else could laugh, but the boss, who had taken in Kim Deuk-pal since his lowest days, clutched his stomach and rolled over with laughter. The subordinates waiting outside feared Kim Deuk-pal might attack the boss’s stomach, but fortunately, the boss got up clutching his intact belly.

“Enough is enough. Give up. Just prepare to take over after me.”

Not only the boss thought this way. All the organization members, although silent, could not understand why Kim Deuk-pal was preparing for college entrance instead of taking over the organization. Having dedicated his life to the organization, what need was there for college?

Kim Deuk-pal’s hands, hardened with calluses resembling turtle shells from countless fights, did not match a pen. His heroic tales of conquering regions with his fists and rising to become the boss’s right-hand man faded when met with books and education.

However, the hero’s story Kim Deuk-pal desired was not one of brawls.

He let out a deep sigh. The breath turned white in the cold December air. As he took out a cigarette from his tracksuit pants, a subordinate waiting behind him quickly came forward and offered a lit lighter.

“Dong-soo.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Do you think it’s impossible too?”

“No, sir! You can do it!”

Kim Dong-soo, Kim Deuk-pal’s direct subordinate, was adept at social interaction. He never belittled Kim Deuk-pal’s efforts, juggling both organizational work during the day and studying for the college entrance exam at night. But Dong-soo had a plausible excuse.

“But, sir, considering your age, wouldn’t you worry about the younger students trying to take advantage? You know how the youngest members behave. They’re so cheeky these days. And honestly…”

Kim Dong-soo hesitated, gauging Kim Deuk-pal’s reaction. Approaching fifty, what Kim Deuk-pal should aim for was not an uncertain college diploma but the boss’s seat in the organization. The future prosperity of the organization lay in the dark alleys, not on a college campus.

“Who else could succeed the organization but you, sir…”

Kim Dong-soo wanted Kim Deuk-pal to become the boss. Kim Deuk-pal was like a stabilizing ring for the precarious three-legged organization. His unremarkable personality made him inconspicuous, but in gang fights, his presence determined victory. His stoic nature united his subordinates.

Perhaps feeling his subordinate’s sentiment, or maybe because of the disheartening exam result despite his hard work, Kim Deuk-pal smiled bitterly.

“Get the car ready.”

“Yes, sir!”

It was a command avoiding further conversation, but Kim Dong-soo dutifully complied. Another subordinate waiting in the corridor offered Kim Deuk-pal his tracksuit jacket with both hands. As he put on the jacket and entered the garage, the smell of dust and oil mixed with the damp air hit him. A subordinate waiting by the black sedan opened the driver’s door.

“Have a good time, sir!”

The burly man stepped back and bowed as Kim Deuk-pal got in. The garage door lifted in response to his booming voice.

The headlights of the smoothly moving sedan illuminated the falling rain.

Contrary to the forecast of snow, a heavy downpour fell on the streets in December.

As the traffic light at the intersection turned red, the cars stopped at the white line on the road. The black sedan Kim Deuk-pal was in halted right before the crosswalk, watching a group of students crossing.

Wearing identical black long padding, they looked like a bunch of gimbap and kept laughing about something, eventually running out from under the umbrellas. The rest followed, and Kim Deuk-pal couldn’t take his eyes off them.

Born as the second son in a notoriously poor family in Mokpo, Kim Deuk-pal never had such freedom. After fleeing to Seoul to escape a family that prevented him from even attending elementary school to support his older brother, he had never stepped into a school gate.

In Seoul, he worked in a factory during the day and drank soju at night. His fierce appearance often led to fights, and his exceptional fighting skills caught the eye of gangsters, leading him to join the organization, ending his teenage years.

Given the nature of illegal activities and the night work, school was an unattainable dream. Kim Deuk-pal brushed aside his regrets and focused on the organization’s work.

He thought he had left those regrets behind, but now, twenty years later, they resurfaced.

Though he could easily take over the organization and live comfortably, the longing to experience school held him back. It was no ordinary regret. He couldn’t attend a provincial college due to his organizational duties, and though he didn’t need a prestigious degree, he didn’t want to attend an online university. Even though it was laughable, Kim Deuk-pal secretly wished to attend a college in Seoul like any ordinary twenty-year-old. It was an absurd, unrealistic desire.

With a bitter smile, Kim Deuk-pal started the car again as the signal changed. The tires rolled through the rainwater pooled on the asphalt.

His destination was a regular café on the outskirts of Seoul. Made of logs, the owner played live acoustic

Baaang-!

The truck driver honked his horn due to the sudden appearance of the black sedan cutting in front.

Kim Deuk-pal’s plan was to stop the truck, not cause an accident, so he kept turning the wheel without stopping. His gaze was sharp as he drove. The black sedan narrowly avoided the truck and skidded towards the sidewalk.

The plan seemed to be succeeding. However, even Kim Deuk-pal couldn’t control the pouring rain and wet road.

The driver hit the brakes, but the large truck slid on the wet surface, and Kim Deuk-pal’s black sedan also couldn’t stop, spinning in a semicircle.

Kim Deuk-pal slammed on the brakes to slow down. But the out-of-control black sedan slipped on the rainwater and rushed towards the large truck.

The truck driver’s and Kim Deuk-pal’s eyes met. The shocked driver froze, unable to respond. Both vehicles lost traction and continued on the road. The two headlights blazed intensely, and the heavy rain shattered into white spray.

They’re going to crash. Kim Deuk-pal didn’t avoid the blinding light. In the urgency that choked his throat, he turned the wheel seeking a way to survive. Just as the gear preventing the wheel from turning further began to crack, Kim Deuk-pal’s eyes widened.

Light brown eyes. The boy who had fallen from the pedestrian bridge.

The boy rolled off the large truck and fell onto the hood of the black sedan.

The moment the boy sank into the dazzling light seemed to pass slowly. His hand stretched towards the sky as if trying to grab something, his white feet suspended helplessly in the air. His rain-soaked hair clumped together, fluttering slowly. The boy’s profile, bathed in intense light, was blurred with smeared lines. His eyes, which had been looking at the sky, slowly rolled. The brown eyes, wet at the corners, fixed on Kim Deuk-pal.

Kim Deuk-pal couldn’t look away from the eyes of the boy he had tried to save without even knowing his name. Forgetting what he was doing, he stared at the brown eyes.

The windshield wiper cleared the window. The moment the black bar cut off their gaze, time resumed its normal pace as if shackles had been released. The boy fell in an instant.

Boom-!

A massive impact shook the black sedan. Kim Deuk-pal was tossed back and forth by the shock. He hit the windshield as he lurched forward, then was pulled back by the seatbelt, blood flowing from his head. Desperately clinging to his fading vision, he searched frantically for the boy.

The boy had fallen into the middle of the crumpled hood, crushed like a piece of paper. The half-broken headlight illuminated the boy’s fingertips. His limp fingers didn’t move.

Did he survive?

He hoped he did. That young one…

Kim Deuk-pal, barely maintaining his flickering consciousness, finally lost it. His body slumped forward, hanging from the seatbelt, and red blood flowed out of the driver’s seat, mixing with the rainwater.

At the accident scene battered by heavy rain, only the car’s warning sound blared fiercely.