Chapter 180

***

The feelings towards Hwang Yeong-mo’s remaining family might be something to sort out this time, but Daejeong is a different case.

He’s still a direct threat, after all.

Even now, a fierce battle is raging in the shadows.

Hong Ki-jun is hiding in the shadows, sniping, but Daejeong, the dinosaur, is holding up surprisingly well. The shield of political power is sturdy, and the covering fire from the scholarship student is quite fierce.

This month alone, it’s the third time a celebrity’s private life has been exposed. Jin Hyuk couldn’t possibly not know what these sudden revelations mean. And so, the media, hand in hand with the scholarship student, has been acting as Daejeong’s reliable support, providing cover and muddying the waters.

“If it weren’t for Uncle Ki-jun…”

Saein, now a massive group, would have been torn apart by a pack of hyenas instead of attacking Daejeong.

In the light, with major construction projects and cutting-edge technology development and introduction, and in the shadows, cleaning up the filthy streams, Saein has won the world’s support, allowing Hong Ki-jun to walk with such confidence.

“It’s a skill I don’t have.”

Political sense.

Hong Ki-jun knows all too well how to make the world his ally.

Jin Hyuk, who lacked social skills, was just someone who worked hard.

Someone who couldn’t even foster small friendships was limited to strategizing only in work. Even if he proceeded flexibly or aggressively at times, achieving something big required climbing countless cliffs and avoiding pitfalls.

“Maybe I should learn that too.”

The plans I’ve made for the future will proceed as they are, but wouldn’t it be good to also learn some political sense?

The time to be active as an athlete is short, and life is long. Who knows what I’ll end up doing in the future?

*

Except for Jo Il-hun’s house, it’s an unusually quiet night.

The wandering has been prolonged due to endless thoughts.

“By the way, do I have to go to the funeral home tomorrow?”

There were times when I was called a cold-blooded person without blood or tears, but seeing me worry like this, maybe I’m not.

What if I’m not ruthless?

If I had rushed to settle past grudges over things that hadn’t even happened, like some lunatics with a pathological obsession akin to confirmation bias, I would have become a lawless person and wouldn’t have achieved the happiness I have now.

Of course, if something similar happens again, I have the power and the will to retaliate.

But one thing.

In the past, even when I heard the news of Hwang Yeong-mo’s murder, or what happened to his remaining family, I was indifferent. But now, I feel a little concerned.

Because of the way my mom thinks of Kim Eung-nyeo.

Ugh-.

Groaning, I paced outside the gate.

“Should I go or not?”

Right after returning, I hoped never to see those people again, but now I’m curious about how they live and what they look like. Even without the testimonies of my mom and Moon Seok-il, I’m curious about how different they are from the past.

It’s strange to see Hwang Ga-young at school.

Wearing glasses she didn’t use to wear, dressed neatly, laughing shyly with friends like a proper girl. She seemed a bit shadowed, but there was no sign of her former sharpness.

It was clearly different from what I knew before.

Since I’ve decided to wrap up my ill feelings, it might be good to settle the grudges with the remaining thief family too. In some way.

“If mom says to go together, I’ll go.”

I could see for myself how Kim Eung-nyeo treats my mom.

“Will there be yukgaejang?”

Out of nowhere, but funeral home yukgaejang is delicious.

Even though I’ve already had two feast tables with Yoo Jin, thinking about the blood-like yukgaejang makes my stomach churn.

Couldn’t Hwang Yeong-mo’s evil deeds from his past life be paid for with yukgaejang?

It was an absurd train of thought, but Jin Hyuk was serious.

“Yukgaejang must be my soul food.”

For such a trivial and mundane reason, Jin Hyuk never missed attending the funerals of his colleagues’ families in his past life. Eating yukgaejang made his whole body warm, and the world seemed beautiful.

People often said that Jin Hyuk seemed cold and aloof on the outside but was warm inside. Since he didn’t know how to comfort grieving acquaintances, his reserved demeanor earned him a reputation for avoiding unnecessary gossip.

“Those fools.”

It’s not like that. I just went to eat yukgaejang.

Of course, I paid a generous condolence fee. I ate a lot, after all.

I probably had the nickname “Yukgaejang Lupin.”

The trivial stream of consciousness that started with Hwang Yeong-mo swelled into the grand sea of yukgaejang. Truly impressive pig power.

“Jin Hyuk? What are you doing here alone? Are you feeling autumn blues?”

“Huh? No, just…”

Jin Hyuk mumbled as he accepted the bottled drink from Choi Mi-kyung, hastily wiping away the drool that had unknowingly dripped.

Clink-.

The young girl, having seen it somewhere, lightly clinked her bottle against Jin Hyuk’s and took a sip.

“Ah-, good. Hey, do something about Yoo Jin. I’m about to burst.”

“Isn’t our Yoo Jin cute?”

Even though the response was completely illogical, Choi Mi-kyung nodded.

“She’s cute. That little thing keeps eating without stopping, and when I told her to slow down, she almost peed herself. She glared at me.”

“As long as she’s cute.”

Still, as a close friend, Jin Hyuk made a deliberately ridiculous face and joked.

Smack-.

“Ouch-, damn.”

Choi Mi-kyung, who had just hit Jin Hyuk’s shoulder, frowned.

It was the natural reaction of someone who had hit a rock.

“Tell your sister to stop before she bursts?”

“It’s fine.”

Ah, what are you talking about? No matter how much she eats, she won’t burst. Jin Hyuk muttered as he took a sip of the drink.

Sweet barley-flavored soda. To Jin Hyuk’s sensitive palate, there was a faint taste of an ashtray, but it was tolerable.

“Eun-jung asked if you have a girlfriend.”

“Kim Eun-jung?”

What the…

We’ve been in the same class for six years. If she wanted to know, she could just ask. Why go through Choi Mi-kyung, the teenager? Is that airhead up to something lately?

“Hey, but isn’t Eun-jung sexy? For a country girl, she’s so fair-. Is it because she eats beef?”

Pfft-.

Jin Hyuk spat out his barley drink into the air and glared at Choi Mi-kyung, the teenager.

‘This little thing has no filter.’

Choi Mi-kyung has been mature and precocious since she was young. This kind of bluntness was something you’d see after she became a married woman. The reason our relationship became distant was also because of the different schools we attended and the lives we led, and it’s hard to see each other often once you start working.

It must have been around this time, after puberty.

That Choi Mi-kyung’s sense started to go.

For a moment, Jin Hyuk was flustered by the sudden and absurd remark, but then he snorted as he examined his friend’s expression.

Choi Mi-kyung’s eyes were laughing like a mischievous kid.

‘Ah, was she testing me?’

Or was it just a joke?

Is she just talking comfortably because we’re close friends?

Kim Eun-jung does have a cute side, like a fluffy chick.

As Mi-kyung said, she’s a carnivorous human who grew up eating meat, so her speech and personality are a bit aggressive. And she’s not that smart, but she pretends to be, which can be pitiful at times… Ah, but if she’s interested in me, maybe we could grab a burger in town-.

Just as Jin Hyuk was letting his imagination run wild.

“Anyway, I told her you have someone. That you’ve got someone waiting for you in Seoul.”

Choi Mi-kyung’s eyes, which had curved like a crescent moon, narrowed. As if warning him not to get any ideas.

“I see…”

But why does my stomach hurt?

If that’s the case, why bring it up at all?

“Let’s go inside. It’s been a while since we hung out with friends, let’s drink all night-.”

“Wait.”

Choi Mi-kyung, who hadn’t been the one to call him, widened her rabbit-like eyes.

Because of Jin Hyuk’s suddenly serious expression, as if the cheerful atmosphere had never existed.

Wooooo-. Ooooh-.

When Jin Hyuk hears that sound, he feels a cold current running through his veins, from his cheeks to his chest.

Jin Hyuk handed the drink bottle to Choi Mi-kyung.

“Take care of Yoo Jin for me.”

“Huh?”

Thud-.

“Hey! Where are you going?”

Ignoring Choi Mi-kyung’s shout, Jin Hyuk ran like crazy through the night streets.

Whoosh-.

The swarm of mosquitoes, lured by the streetlights, slapped his face, and the wind messed with his ears, but he didn’t care.

‘Jang Gun-i!’

Wooooo-.

That wolf-like howling is definitely Jang Gun-i’s cry.

Jang Gun-i only howled like that once.

Jin Hyuk could never forget that heart-wrenching, sorrowful cry.

‘What’s wrong!’

Jang Gun-i, who had never worn a leash in his life, roamed freely around the neighborhood day and night.

Not only did he steal honey from beekeepers and eat bees, getting stung, but he also invaded Kim Eun-jung’s barn to steal cow feed, getting kicked by a cow. When his appetite for chitin kicked in, he dug up crab holes in the tidal flats or pestered crayfish in the stream, getting pinched by their claws.

Even after all that, he never came home whining or acting spoiled. Even when he got bitten by a snake, he just shrugged it off, saying it’s something that happens to dogs.

But once, late at night, he fell into a ginger pit in the middle of Choi Mi-kyung’s field.

Probably drawn by the vegetable oil, he dug up a peanut field after harvest, cracking peanuts to eat, and ended up in a fight with a mole.

That was four years ago. Stuck in a five-meter-deep vertical shaft with no way out, he sent out a distress call. While pressing down on the mole with his front paws.

Jin Hyuk, who had been deep in sleep, woke up to that sound and rescued Jang Gun-i.

So the sound he’s making now. It’s Jang Gun-i crying out for help in danger.

Only Jin Hyuk can understand it.

Even if there are many other dogs, the fact that he’s howling like this alone indicates a serious situation.

Jin Hyuk clenched his fists, ignoring the discomfort in his overstuffed stomach.

‘I’m coming!’

Whoosh-.

Surprisingly, the tingling sensation in his chest disappeared as he ran.

Even though he should be uncomfortable from overeating, his solid abs didn’t allow his stomach to act up, and his lungs fueled his sprint like a locomotive.

Contracting his abs to the limit made lifting his legs not feel burdensome at all.

Bang-!

The feeling of running in the relay race finals at thirteen years old transcended time and found Jin Hyuk today. With limbs that had become much faster and stronger since then.

Huff-!

Focusing his energy on his lower abdomen, a distinctly different sensation awakened his body.

A hot energy crossing the fleeting moment that couldn’t be defined by time.

The energy surging from his lower abdomen felt like it would burst through the top of his head and reach the sky.

The energy also extended through his legs to the soles of his feet.

A strange sensation of a mysterious path opening under his feet and a spring bubbling up.

His heated body was as hot as a pillar of fire.

Bang-!

Once again, a strange sound rose from the ground.

As if there was no sound or sensation of his feet touching the ground.

Wooooo-.

Chasing Jang Gun-i’s cry.

Whoosh-.

He just ran like the wind.

***

Gong Seok-du and Ma Gun-cheon.

Wow, there are some really unique names. Not that it matters right now.

Gong Seok-du and Ma Gun-cheon are bosom buddies who share two common traits: being Korean and male. If we add one more, their equally unmatched stupidity is also similar.

Born at different times and places, and of different ages, but they might die on the same day.

Grrr-. Krrr-. Clack clack clack-.

A Shepherd, a Doberman, and even a Retriever, which I thought was a gentle breed.

Chased by three large dogs, they were cornered against a dead-end wall.

They had stolen a dog and locked it in a chicken coop, heading for their next target when these guys showed up to greet them. In their frantic escape, they ended up at their next destination, Choi Jang-hwan’s house.

“Go! Just go!”

“Lower your voice, idiot.”

Though he scolded his friend, Ma Gun-cheon was equally desperate.

The moonlight reflected off their gleaming eyes and drooling teeth, and the growls rising from deep in their throats would freeze even dog breeders and soup restaurant owners. It was a relief they were just maintaining a perimeter and not attacking.

Like a trained and commanded army, the three fierce dogs surrounded the two thieves, growling. Like wolves hunting in a pack, they sidestepped, gradually changing positions.

“Hey, damn-. Let’s just grab the six and run-.”

“We left them behind because it felt bad, you idiot-.”

Ma Gun-cheon scolded Gong Seok-du’s whining.

Whatever, once you start stealing, you have to fill the box or sweep everything clean. It’s a waste to leave anything behind.

Ma Gun-cheon elbowed Gong Seok-du.

“Hey, hey. Where’s our motorcycle?”

Wooooo-.

“Over there?”

The wolf howl sounded too far away.

But where did these guys even come from?

“Must be the rich family’s dogs.”

“Wow, what a discovery-. Is that important right now, idiot?”

As Ma Gun-cheon scolded again, Gong Seok-du’s eyes lit up meaningfully.

“If one of us runs to that house, maybe they’ll chase?”

“And then?”

“Look at this house. We can hide, and this house is good too.”

Gong Seok-du pointed with his chin at the house they were backed against.

Maybe because it’s a friendly neighborhood, there were no security bars on the first floor.

Ma Gun-cheon immediately understood the intention.

Since it’s come to this, one of us can distract them while the other grabs something valuable and runs. If it doesn’t work out, we can just break in and wait for the dogs to leave. After all, we came knowing everyone was at the feast. If you don’t know what’s happening in this village today, you’re an idiot.

“Who’s running?”

“Ugh-, I guess I’ll run since I’m in better shape. Go!”

With a vigorous shout, Gong Seok-du leaped towards Jin Hyuk’s house.

Grrr- Croak!

“Damn it, bastard!”

He was caught immediately.

“Damn it, Gong Seok-du, you blockhead idiot!”