Vol 3 Ch 24

The entire ride up to the mountain, I was overwhelmed with anxiety. Even as I stared at the silent road shrouded in darkness, my heart pounded painfully, relentlessly hammering against my chest. I bit down hard on my lower lip and repeatedly wiped my cold, clammy palms.

Before I knew it, the car had already stopped in front of the mountain I had visited once before. The employee who had been driving took the lead with a lantern in hand. Relying solely on that light, I followed behind CEO Jang up the path.

Just before stepping into the house, my feet hesitated, refusing to move. After a brief pause, I barely managed to reach out and grab the man’s sleeve.

“Are you afraid?”

CEO Jang’s quiet voice cut through the dense forest.

“…No.”

If I answered truthfully, he’d probably tell me to stay outside because it was too much trouble. His gaze lingered on my trembling lips for a moment, lost in thought, before settling into certainty.

“Alright, then.”

CEO Jang disappeared into the house, and after taking a deep breath, I followed him inside. The stench was even worse than before. At the far end, locked in a cage, I saw my uncle. My steps toward him felt impossibly heavy, as if weighted down by sandbags. I wanted to turn around and bolt outside immediately, but I forced myself to keep walking.

“…….”

Up close, my uncle was the very image of a wretched animal. His mouth was covered in foamy white residue, as if he’d been frothing at the mouth. CEO Jang adjusted his pant legs and knelt before the cage. The employee beside him suddenly kicked the cage with force. My uncle trembled violently before his eyelids sluggishly opened.

“President Im.”

“Khh….”

With his grime-covered nails, overgrown and filthy, my uncle clutched at the iron bars. He began shaking them wildly, and I felt a sudden worry—what if they came loose again? I quickly checked the legs of the cage. The nails that had once fallen out had now been completely reinforced with cement.

“I’m giving you one last chance.”

My uncle’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. One last chance? What did he mean by that? Confused, I looked at the man’s back, but since I couldn’t see his expression, it was even harder to understand his intentions. My uncle scrambled forward on his knees, clinging to the bars.

“…Guh.”

It had been so long since he had attempted to speak like a human. His voice came out as a guttural, terrible sound.

“…Is it true?”

“What should I do with you?”

CEO Jang tilted his head as if contemplating. But it was obvious—he had already mapped out everything in his mind. My uncle, who had lost all means of resistance, could only plead with him. Tears, thick and murky, streamed down from his grotesquely wide-open eyes, trickling down his sunken, grimy cheeks.

“Please… I’m begging you. Anything. Just give me another chance.”

As my uncle grovelled, CEO Jang lit a cigarette. The closer the flame crept up the length of the white stick, the more my uncle’s desperation burned. The man smoked through two cigarettes in a row before finally exhaling a low murmur, as if a thought had just struck him.

“Ah, since gambling is what ruined your life…”

He smiled faintly.

“Then gambling it is.”

“G-Gambling?”

The color drained from my uncle’s perpetually reddish face, a result of years spent drowning in alcohol. CEO Jang asked in a casual tone,

“Why? You don’t like it?”

“N-No! I’ll do it! I misspoke!”

Fearing that CEO Jang would retract his offer, my uncle hurriedly took back his words. The man glanced at his employee, who then pulled out a jacket and a pen from his inner pocket.

“Alright, Mr. Im Suncheol.”

The employee spread a clean sheet of paper on the floor and tossed the pen in front of my uncle.

“Write here.”

Still kneeling in submission, my uncle picked up the pen and looked up at the employee.

“Because life is a living hell due to my gambling debts….”

Though he had no idea what they were making him write, he moved his hand anyway. If he won the game, he would be spared—that was all that mattered. But his hand, unfamiliar with holding a pen after so long, pressed too hard, puncturing and tearing the paper in several places. Each time, the employee kicked him mercilessly and handed him a fresh sheet.

After countless attempts, my uncle finally completed the sentence.

Because life is a living hell due to my gambling debts….

The employee finished it for him.

“I’m going first.”

At the same time, I sucked in a sharp breath.

“N-No!”

My uncle’s entire face contorted in terror as he violently shook his head. Clinging to the employee’s thigh with both arms, he begged desperately.

“Ah, fuck. Look at this old bastard throwing a tantrum.”

Thud! Thud! The employee kicked him hard in the stomach. My uncle doubled over, clutching his abdomen in agony.

“Mr. Im, your deadline was up ages ago. Our CEO is generously offering you one last chance, yet you’re not cooperating?”

Unable to withstand the abuse, my uncle finally surrendered. The employee ground his heel into my uncle’s ankle, pressing down as he urged him to complete the final sentence. My uncle gave in and scrawled the words.

‘I’m going first.’

Only after he had even added a period at the end did his arm, trapped beneath the boot, regain its freedom.

“Set up the table.”

At CEO Jang’s command, the employee brought over a round table that had been leaning against the wall. CEO Jang sat down first in the center seat, and the employee forced my uncle into the chair on his left. Still unable to grasp the situation, I stood there, staring at the table. CEO Jang gestured toward the empty seat across from my uncle.

“Sit.”

“…….”

“Since Im Suncheol has debts to pay, it’s only fair that you get a chance for revenge, Yeowon.”

A card game.

I had barely played before, and the few times I had, I had never won. Except once—when CEO Jang had switched my cards.

I had no idea if I could win this game. But there was no turning back now. Slowly, I approached and sat down in the empty chair.

“Yeowon will be the one playing.”

At CEO Jang’s words, my uncle’s eyes shifted to me, flickering with a faint glimmer of hope. He must have thought it was much better to face me than CEO Jang. And he was right.

He looked at me with pleading eyes. Though his gaze was fixed on me, his pupils were so unfocused that they seemed to waver in emptiness. Eyes that had lost all reason—more beast than human. Silently, they begged.

‘Please, Yeowon… save your uncle….’

The marks on my neck hadn’t even fully healed yet.

I ignored his gaze and lowered my eyes to the table. My stomach churned, as if I had swallowed a mouthful of sand.

CEO Jang scanned the room for something to use as chips, then flipped over two packs of cigarettes. He tapped the bottom, causing the cigarettes to spill onto the table.

“We’ll use these as chips. I’ll shuffle the cards.”

A flicker of unease crossed my uncle’s face. His employee handed CEO Jang a deck of white cards.

“You never mentioned that.”

CEO Jang skillfully shuffled the deck, smirking.

“Why? Don’t you trust me?”

“N-No, that’s not it….”

“In exactly ten minutes, it’ll be five o’clock sharp. If the game isn’t decided by then, you lose by default.”

The rules were simple. They each received twenty cigarettes, and whoever took all the opponent’s chips first won. CEO Jang dealt the first card to my uncle. My uncle checked his hand with a wary glance before hurriedly setting it down.

I waited for my two cards before flipping them over.

A seven and a king. Not bad.

“Call.”

My uncle pushed forward five cigarettes. Sweat poured down his face, and his neck was stiff with tension. His hand probably wasn’t great.

Now it was my turn.

All four eyes in the room were fixed on me—CEO Jang and my uncle, each with vastly different expectations, waiting for my move.

“Two more.”

Since it was the first round, the stakes weren’t very high. A few bets were exchanged, and three cards were laid out on the table. The cards were an ‘A,’ a ‘3,’ and lastly, a ‘K.’ If I had a K-pair, betting would have given me a decent chance of winning, but…

“…Fold.”

I declared my surrender. My uncle’s lips, which had been twisted strangely with tension, curled up into a wide grin. It seemed things were going just as he had expected. His dirty, grime-covered fingernails dragged the cigarette he had just won in front of him.

As the game progressed, the stakes continued to rise. My uncle was overwhelmingly in control of the game. Even though I held good hands multiple times, I would only raise the stakes slightly before declaring a fold.

I pulled in a new hand and checked my cards. A ‘10’ and a ‘Q.’ The table revealed an A, K, and J. There were still two cards left to be revealed, but my hand was already complete. I had never seen such a hand, even when CEO Jang and the women played. I turned my eyes toward CEO Jang, who smirked as if he already knew what kind of hand I had.

“……”

Slowly, I shifted my gaze to my uncle. He deliberately pulled down the corners of his eyes, his expression soaked in feigned misery. It was easy to see through his act. He must have had a strong hand as well.

“……”

I tossed just two cigarettes into the center of the table. My uncle’s face lit up oddly at the absurdly low bet. He hastily assumed I had a weak hand and raised the stakes.

“…Alright then.”

He pushed five cigarettes forward. I curled my hand inward on my thigh. My palm was drenched in sweat. The tension in the air was suffocating.

For some reason, I felt like this would be the last game.

I grabbed six cigarettes and threw them onto the table.

“……”

After a few more rounds of betting, another card was revealed. That’s when my uncle made his move—he shoved all his cigarettes toward me. All-in.

He must have been confident in his hand, assuming I would fold again as I had done until now. Sweat was pouring down his face—it was a game with lives on the line.

“Fo—”

Just as I was about to declare another fold, an exaggerated sigh escaped from CEO Jang.

“…Ahh.”

The long, drawn-out sound made me shrink. The word “ld” got caught in my throat, leaving me frozen like ice.

“What’s the fun in this?”

CEO Jang leaned in close to the table, nodding toward my cards.

“Show them.”

“……”

I turned my head to meet his gaze. His eyes made his intentions crystal clear. No matter what choice I made, he would harm my uncle for one reason or another. He was simply giving me the illusion of choice.

…Would I take revenge or not?

If I revealed my hand, there was a very high chance I would win this game. Because of the cards CEO Jang had slipped me and my uncle’s reckless assumptions, the game had veered in a direction completely opposite to my intentions.

I had been playing with the hope that my uncle would win. My wavering gaze dropped to the table. My vision blurred. What should I do? How do I handle this?

“You’re not going to show?”

“……”

When I didn’t respond, CEO Jang clicked his tongue.

Tick, tock.

The sound of the second hand ticking on his wristwatch filled the air. I glanced at it through my unsteady vision. The five o’clock deadline he had set was almost up.

“…Fold.”

I yielded under the pressure of time.

A sharp laugh burst from CEO Jang. His thick, muscular arm stretched across the table, and his impatient hand pushed my remaining cigarettes into the center.

“All-in.”

Before I could even process what was happening, CEO Jang flipped over my uncle’s cards first. A ‘2’ and a ‘3’—a straight flush.

Then, he revealed mine.

My uncle, who had been sweating profusely, turned pale with shock.

A royal straight flush—the highest-ranking hand in the game.

“Mr. Im, you’ve lost.”

CEO Jang didn’t even glance at the cards as he spoke, as if he had known all along what my uncle’s hand was. My uncle turned ghostly white and let out a strangled sound.

“…B-but he folded, didn’t he?!”

Since I hadn’t raised the stakes before folding, he was now completely disregarding the rules. But CEO Jang’s decision was absolute.

“He was my puppet from the beginning, so I get the final say.”

I shut my eyes tightly and bit down hard enough on my lower lip to break the skin.

A staff member struck the back of my uncle’s neck.

“AAAAAGH!”

My uncle thrashed violently, flipping the table over. He crawled on all fours toward CEO Jang, clinging to him desperately.

“CEO Jang, please, please…! I’ll pay it back no matter what!”

He started licking CEO Jang’s shoe, completely ignoring the cigarette butts scattered around him as he slobbered over the floor.

CEO Jang, however, paid no attention to the mess below. He was only watching me. And I, too, was looking straight at him.

“The kid is out here doing everything just to make a living, and you can’t even keep yourself together, wasting away on gambling. This is where it gets you.”

A wire saw appeared from somewhere. Two of his men pinned my uncle down while CEO Jang pressed the terrifying blade against my uncle’s finger.

“AAAAAAAAGH!”

A shriek so horrifying it felt like it would split my skull rang out.

“…Ugh, ugh.”

Trembling with sheer terror, I saw my uncle’s outstretched fingers reaching toward me.

“S-save me… please…!”

In my fear-stricken vision, I saw his face twisted in horror, bile spilling from his mouth.

“You killed your own father, and now you’re going to let your only uncle die too?!”

A phrase from my past came crashing through my mind like a blade. My legs locked in place, my face drained of all color.

The saw was raised high.

That’s when I snapped out of it.

“…Aaaah!”

I sprinted toward CEO Jang and clung to him. Wrapping my arms tightly around his broad torso, I buried my face into his wide back. My breaths came in short, desperate bursts.

“C-CEO… Please, don’t do this.”

Pressing my trembling body against his, I nearly sobbed.

“He’s not worth it.”

For less than ten million won, my uncle had deceived my mother. My fury had long since boiled over, replacing all feelings toward him with pure, seething hatred. Just thinking about his revolting face made my teeth grind.

But losing his life over gambling debt? This wasn’t right. This was never supposed to happen.

The only reason CEO Jang was getting involved was because I was entangled in this mess. A man like him wouldn’t bother over three thousand unless it directly affected him.

He wanted me to be solely his, and because my uncle had dared to lay a hand on me, he was ready to punish him.

I couldn’t let that happen.

“…I’ll pay the thirty million.”

CEO Jang’s eyes bore into me, swirling with emotions I couldn’t decipher.

I tightened my grip on his jacket. A foul stench rose from my uncle’s soaked pants—he had pissed himself in fear.

“…I’m scared.”

With trembling hands, I hugged the arm holding the saw.

The fabric crumpled under my grip.

Then—

Clang.

The blade slipped from CEO Jang’s hand and clattered to the ground.

“…Kh… kuh.”

A geyser of blood erupted from my uncle’s gaping wound.

I watched, unable to take it anymore, and—

I vomited.

“…Ugh… urk.”

My legs buckled.

CEO Jang walked toward me and slung me over his shoulder like a sack.

My limbs dangled as he carried me down the mountain path.

The sky blurred before my eyes.

A flock of crows cawed eerily as they circled before vanishing into the night.

My vision faded to black.

I lost consciousness.