279 – Corporation, Villain, Gang #1
Lee Jin-A seems to have run away from home during her school days.
She hung out with kids who dyed their hair flamboyantly like hers or rode around on motorcycles.
She was what you would call a delinquent.
As if recalling her delinquent past for a moment, Lee Jin-A closed her eyes.
“There was a protection fee. Our group had to gather 500,000 won each month to pay off the higher-ups. We didn’t even know who we were giving the money to. All I remember is how hard it was just to collect that money.”
Lee Jin-A said that she worked multiple part-time jobs to meet the protection fee.
Of course, her friends claimed that they extorted money from others.
Soon, Yu Ara asked.
“You said that, but didn’t you also take money from others? Didn’t you beat up and bully those who didn’t pay?”
“I didn’t do that! But my sister did. Although she’s a housewife now, she was actually really scary. I didn’t want to become like her.”
Lee Jin-A’s sister, Lee Sun-A, was so frightening that just by saying, “Hey, do you know Sun-A? I’m friends with her!” you could earn the respect of local delinquents.
I also agreed that Sun-A was a scary person.
Back in the day, when I had my cultural gift certificates snatched away from me while I was saving up to buy cash items, I felt terrified!
Since then, I’ve been startled every time I see a woman with dyed hair, wearing a short school uniform skirt or smoking—often going out of my way to avoid crossing paths with them.
“So that Sun-A also had to pay the protection fee to that ‘Big Sister.’ Taking money from children to earn profits? She doesn’t sound normal.”
I began to form a prejudice against the ‘Big Sister,’ an idol for gangs and delinquents.
The queen bee of delinquents, huh?
It was clear that she must be someone who bullies and takes from others.
The reason I lost my cultural gift certificates was probably because of the protection money spread by ‘Big Sister.’
Lee Jin-A said.
“I agree that she’s not a normal person. I haven’t met her in person, but I heard from my sister that she hits people with beer bottles and throws ashtrays.”
Is she a very violent person?
“But don’t talk about these things in front of the gangs in Makcheon City. If you do, they won’t help us with anything.”
As we shared information and chatted like this, we arrived in Makcheon City.
Makcheon City is a special city that grows by devouring nearby towns and areas like a creature that preys on others.
Thanks to reckless expansion, the city continued to grow, but many areas were unmanaged and abandoned, and there were plenty of plots of land that corporations had hastily bought and left idle.
There were also many factory complexes whose ownership was unclear, and no one knew what was made there.
It reminded me of the time when Nymph Illinois created a gang and sold strange items.
“Oh, Jin-A! Long time no see! I wasn’t sure when I got the message!”
Lee Jin-A approached a factory with colorful spray paint covering the walls like wallpaper or paint.
Then, a woman with a two-block haircut wearing sunglasses came up to Lee Jin-A with a cigarette in her mouth, arms wide open.
Of course, Lee Jin-A pushed the woman away, saying, “You smell like smoke.”
The woman had striking purple hair.
I remembered her name.
“Isn’t your name Jeong Bora? I met you once before, and it’s been a while.”
I had met Jeong Bora when I made contact with Illinois’s gang—working on various matters together and owed her a favor.
That felt like it was ages ago.
“My name is not Jeong Bora; it’s J.G. By the way, Haildo. It’s quite refreshing to see someone so famous here in this shabby alley.”
Right.
I had heard that gangs trendily name themselves like ‘J.G.’
If I named myself like a gang, would I become ‘1.DO’?
No.
Simply changing it like that is too ordinary, so I thought it might be nice to name it ‘D1O.’
A gangster name for a man at the top should have something special about it.
While pondering such thoughts, Jeong Bora spoke to Jin-A.
“So why did you come looking for me today? There’s also the famous Seo Ye-rim here and the civil servant Yu Ara. This doesn’t seem like a regular issue.”
“Bora, you’ve lived as a gang member in Makcheon City for a long time, so you must know something about that person, right? ‘Big Sister.’ We’re trying to meet her now.”
“What?”
The cool-looking Jeong Bora frowned heavily.
Then she crossed her arms and sighed.
“Hearing that after so long… It looks like you’re in for a rough time. I know about her. But I’ll be taking a hefty fee later. Go this way.”
She swiftly pulled out a notebook from her pocket and scribbled something, then tore the page and tucked it between Jin-A’s chest.
“As a side note, it would be best not to cause any trouble. I’ve heard rumors that ‘Big Sister’ has been in a bad mood lately. Strange people have been causing chaos in Makcheon City.”
Don’t cause any trouble, huh?
That’s a tall order in this combination.
It felt like my vision was already starting to darken.
# # #
The coordinates given by Jeong Bora led to quite an elaborate and vintage-looking building.
Gangs had taken over a public institution previously used as a government building and remodeled it recklessly.
There was a large flag planted at the entrance, and the words ‘Delinquent Society Headquarters’ were fluttering in a grand fashion.
The cawing crows perched on the roof and the spray-painted murals on the walls were disorienting.
Despite that, what caught my attention the most was the people.
At the entrance, there were girls wearing school uniforms, so short that they looked like they were going to burst out of them, frowning or making uncomfortable faces while clutching cigarettes.
For us to enter the building, those girls needed to move aside.
But they showed no signs of doing so.
“That jerk really did that? So annoying─. Should I just drop out?”
“Not a chance. They say you need a high school diploma to be active as a gang in Makcheon City.”
Everyone’s eyes were sharp like snakes hunting for prey, and due to old memories, I felt a pang in my pocket where my wallet was.
“Um… excuse me…”
At that moment, I saw a male student timidly approaching the intimidating female students like a snake.
“C-Can I have my phone back? I got the latest model as a gift from my mom… I haven’t had it for three days already… She bought it with money she worked hard for during overtime…”
The girls frowned heavily and shouted, “You crazy bastard. Did you follow me all the way here? Are you my stalker? I’ll lend it to you for a bit and then return it! Who wants it?”
From what I could tell, those girls had been borrowing the male student’s phone without his permission for three days and weren’t returning it.
It was dreadfully cruel.
“Ah, these weirdos are really pissing me off today. Fine, I don’t need it anymore, so just take it.”
“R-Really?”
“Yeah, but instead─.”
She casually unbuttoned one of the buttons on her school uniform and shoved the phone between her chest!
“Here, take it. But if you touch even a hair on my body, I’ll kill you.”
How was I supposed to take the phone from between her chest without touching her at all? This was a brutally violent act and utterly unreasonable.
“How…”
“Damn it, do I really have to explain everything? Don’t touch it. Hey, you smart kid, you study well, right? Is it that hard to take your phone without using your hands?”
The male student’s forehead began to bead with sweat as he was cornered unfairly. I recalled the nightmare of when my cultural gift certificates were taken.
Those days filled with humiliation, watching my friends use cash items.
I had to say something.
As an adult here, I had a duty to guide these kids in the right direction.
“Hey, don’t do that and get along with your friend. And we’re trying to enter that building, so could you let us through?”
I lightly opened my mouth.
Then the girls looked at me and grimaced.
“What are you? So funny. Are you my homeroom teacher? My dad? Why are you suddenly showing up telling me what to do?”
“Juhui, I think I could make you call me dad…? Hehe.”
“What the hell are you talking about, you crazy girl!”
I didn’t know what was happening, but I could feel the girls ignoring me and giggling.
At that moment, Lee Jin-A, who was watching this scene, frowned.
“Why are you all stealing your friend’s stuff and bullying him? Do you want to die? Why are you acting like that with someone else’s phone?”
Lee Jin-A reached into the girl’s chest and pulled out the phone.
It was a bold move.
“AH! Who are you! Are you crazy!”
“Hey, hold this and run.”
She handed the phone to the male student, who was even more flustered as he received it. He couldn’t hide his embarrassment as he looked back and forth between Jin-A and the delinquent girl.
It was like he was wondering if it was okay to go.
“Hey! Where do you think you’re going! You’re really going to die at school tomorrow! And you! Who the hell are you to shove your hand in someone’s chest and make a fuss!”
“Fuss? There’s nothing I can’t say in front of an adult. You little brat, pinch your cheeks!”
Pop!
Lee Jin-A expertly pinched the delinquent girl’s cheeks.
The girl’s cheeks instantly puffed up like rice cakes as she stood on her tiptoes.
“AHHH! What the hell! What is this! LET GO-! Hey! Lim Joo-hyun! What are you doing! Help me! Beat her up!”
“…I want to, but I saw this person on TV! This is Lee Jin-A! Sun-A’s younger sister! I saw her on the show!”
“What? Sun-A’s younger sister?”
The formerly defiant and rebellious girls quickly changed their attitudes to obedient ones.
For rebellious students, the fear that was instilled wasn’t from institutional law or adults, but from a strong older sister.
It was quite a thought-provoking situation.
“So you’re Sun-A’s younger sister?”
“That’s right! You really look alike!”
“It’s true-. I saw you on TV. You were on the A Rank Survival show…!”
At that moment, people from various places began to approach us.
More and more people gathered, and Seo Ye-rim, who had been quiet for a while, poked me in the side and whispered quietly.
“Just what is it about Sun-A that everyone is making such a fuss about calling her Sun-A’s younger sister? I know you played together for a bit, but what did you do during that time?”
I didn’t know.
And I didn’t really want to know.
However, the words Jeong Bora had said about ‘not causing a scene’ ultimately went unheeded in less than an hour.
Ding dong ding dong.
A noisy bell rang from inside the building.
It sounded similar to the bell that indicated the end of recess back in school.
Soon, a man with golden hands appeared from inside.
He looked to be in his early thirties.
What stood out the most was his golden mechanical arm, clearly visible next to his sleeveless shirt.
That shiny golden arm reminded me of Kang Cheol-Min.
“Hello. I’m Golden Hand, the seventh president of the Delinquent Society. You must be Lee Jin-A. And beside you are Seo Ye-rim and Yu Ara. We have been waiting for you. Please, come inside.”
