PAHO 19

Using the IV stand as a cane, he walked straight down the right corridor as Yeo Eunjae had instructed, and a spacious entrance lobby came into view. Gil Useong, who had been leaning against the hospital room door as if guarding it, straightened up. He must have been waiting for quite a while, as there was a pile of cigarette butts below the lobby.

“How are you feeling?”

At the excessively formal inquiry, Nam Gyeonhwa stared silently at Gil Useong. He slightly furrowed his eyebrows at the unspoken expression that seemed to say, Can’t you tell by looking?, then nodded as if he understood.

“On second thought, that was an unnecessary question.”

“What brings you here.”

Even though he had been lying in a hospital bed for half a day, his body was in no condition to walk around leisurely. Moreover, his visitor, Gil Useong, was not a particularly welcome figure. When he thought about it, wasn’t it because that man had brought in the completely unrelated Nam Haejin that this whole mess had started?

“It’s not that I have business with you, but the Director asked to see you, so I’ve come in his stead.”

At the mention that Na Taebeom was looking for him, Nam Gyeonhwa couldn’t hide his displeased expression for a moment. He swallowed a sigh and replied.

“It’s a bit difficult for me to move around alone, leaving my brother behind.”

“Mr. Yeo will take good care of your brother. He was a pediatrics resident on the surface.”

“And I don’t particularly want to see your Director or whatever he is, either.”

“It would probably be more convenient for you to say that to his face.”

What kind of sophistry was it to tell him to deliver his refusal to see someone to their face? Nam Gyeonhwa tapped the IV stand he had been dragging with his left hand.

“Unfortunately, I have this, so it will be a bit difficult to accompany you. Besides, I’m wearing slippers…”

At that, Gil Useong abruptly grabbed the IV line inserted in his wrist and yanked it out. The surrounding area quickly became a mess with thin, bloody fluid and spilled IV solution.

“Will this do?”

His tone was polite, but his actions were not those of a sane person.

“I don’t think I can accept the slipper excuse. We won’t be walking.”

Gil Useong nonchalantly opened a door and gestured towards the entrance with his eyes. A black sedan was parked across the glass door.

He had wondered how far they were going to be driving, but the car stopped on the side of the road just a few minutes away.

At the gestured offer of assistance, Nam Gyeonhwa used his relatively intact left arm to grab the passenger seat and got out of the car by himself. Gil Useong shrugged and closed the car door for him.

The place they arrived at was a single-story building that, judging by its exterior, looked like a general office. Beyond the roof, where the flags of Seoul Metropolitan City and the Republic of Korea hung side by side, a massive arena building, wrapped in brilliant lights, stood like a backdrop.

“This is the Special Police Unit headquarters facility.”

Gil Useong, who added a simple explanation, walked inside. The special police unit members passing by in the middle would stop and quickly salute upon spotting Gil Useong. The sight gave him a strange feeling, as if he were seeing his old mercenary days.

When Gil Useong, who had stopped at the end of a dark corridor, opened a door, the room inside was sweltering, unlike the gloomy, damp hallway. Inside the room, which was presumed to be a meeting room, two special police unit members stood in a line with their hands behind their backs, facing the door. Behind them, Na Taebeom could be seen punching a sandbag.

“You’re here?”

He, who had spotted the two men entering the office, brightened. Tossing off his boxing gloves, Na Taebeom wiped the light sweat from his face and neck with a towel he had draped over a sofa.

Nam Gyeonhwa’s gaze went not to Na Taebeom, who was wiping his forehead, but to the sandbag hanging behind him. The training rooms in that vast arena were surely plentiful, yet the sight of him hitting a sandbag in a building called the Special Police Unit headquarters was quite peculiar.

“I was getting bored waiting while you were laid up in the medical center.”

At Na Taebeom’s chin gesture, two of the special police unit members approached the sandbag and abruptly unzipped the zipper at the bottom. The moment Nam Gyeonhwa saw something limp fall out from between the wildly swaying sandbag and collapse onto the floor with a splat, he frowned.

What poured out from inside was not some cloth-like filling, but a person tied up with ropes. A man in a half-dead state, at that, beaten so badly that it was hard to even recognize his face. The groaning man, after squirming, crawled on all fours and clung desperately to Na Taebeom’s foot.

“D-Director, sir, p-please, forgive, me, ugh, gasp.”

Blood-mixed saliva dribbled from his mouth, which he couldn’t close because his jaw was dislocated, and dripped onto his sneakers.

“Fuck, where are you getting your drool, you filthy thing.”

Na Taebeom, who frowned menacingly, kicked the man who was begging for forgiveness with his hands clasped together. Gil Useong, who was watching the man get pushed away limply, nodded, and soon two special police unit members grabbed the man’s arms and dragged him out of the office. Gil Useong also followed them out of the office, leaving just the two of them again.

“I just don’t get why they ask for forgiveness after hitting you hard from behind.”

Na Taebeom, who stretched by tilting his neck left and right, draped the towel around his neck and suddenly came right up to Nam Gyeonhwa’s face. For someone who had been sweating, a surprisingly faint spearmint scent wafted from his body.

“Did you rest well?”

He wondered how he could possibly ask if he’d rested well after beating him to a pulp. Na Taebeom, who was looking Nam Gyeonhwa up and down, snickered.

“Still, I guess you can walk around since you weren’t beaten that much. Then again, I did go pretty easy on you.”

“…”

“Mr. Yeo said you need to be hospitalized for at least three weeks, didn’t he?”

“I’m getting discharged tomorrow.”

Na Taebeom tilted his head at the unexpected notice.

“Why? Was the facility not to your liking? Hmm, it may not be on the level of Korea University Hospital up there, but I thought we had all the latest medical equipment.”

“There’s no reason to stay any longer, and if it’s a hospital, I can just go somewhere else.”

Na Taebeom wrinkled his brow at the blunt reply, as if he was quite displeased. Nam Gyeonhwa, who was staring at the dangling sandbag, took a deep breath.

“Don’t tell me your business is to ask me to get inside that sandbag.”

“Ha, come on now, even I don’t beat up patients.”

So it’s okay to beat someone until they become a patient? Nam Gyeonhwa swallowed a snort at the confident bullshit. What was the use of not beating up patients if you beat them until they became one?

“The bastard I just put in there was a gutsy one who messed with my office’s security system this time, of all things. I was wondering how an old man I’d never seen before managed to sneak into the office, and just as I expected, he had borrowed the master key for money. This is why it’s so hard to trust people easily.”

“…What are you trying to say.”

“Nothing in particular? I just told you because you seemed curious about why I stuffed a person in a sandbag.”

The grinning Na Taebeom heard an alarm and checked the digital watch on his wrist.

“It’s already six. Ah, I don’t know why time flies so fast these days.”

He, who stretched languidly, patted Nam Gyeonhwa’s left shoulder.

“I need to eat dinner, so you follow me too.”

“What?”

“What do you mean, what? I said I’m eating dinner.”

“It’s none of my business whether you eat dinner or not, but you told me to follow? I have to go back to that medical center or whatever it was.”

“Because of that kid?”

“Weren’t you the one who called me here in the first place, saying you had business? I don’t know what you’re trying to say by beating around the bush like this, but I don’t want to waste my time right now, so hurry up and state your business.”

“Waste time?”

Na Taebeom, his face contorted, retorted with a growl. He was in no mood to be reasoned with. Perhaps the answer was to have just stayed in the hospital bed as that kind-looking doctor had recommended. Swallowing a sigh, Nam Gyeonhwa pressed his throbbing temples and said.

“Haa, yes, you’re right, it’s because of the kid. He’s not feeling well, so I need to stay by his side.”

“What the fuck, is he made of glass or something that you need to watch him all the time? He’s not going to suddenly die just because you’re away for a bit.”

“Don’t speak, so carelessly.”

Nam Gyeonhwa, his expression instantly turning icy, shot back grimly. With a force that suggested he would have rushed at him immediately if only his right arm were healthy, Na Taebeom licked his lips.

“Then again, well, that’s not something to say to a sick kid.”

“…”

“Anyway, if anything happens to the kid, Mr. Yeo will call me, so stop whining about the kid and just follow me. I’m about to die of hunger.”

Na Taebeom, who waved his hand as if he couldn’t be bothered to talk anymore, took the lead. When he got to the door and there was still no sign of him following, he turned around with a jerk and gestured with his chin.

Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been standing there as if nailed to the spot, closed his eyes once and let out a deep sigh. He felt like he had been sighing a lot more than usual lately.

In the endlessly stretching dark tunnel, the only scenery that caught the eye was the orange lights on the ceiling. Nam Gyeonhwa was pressed tightly against the car door with his eyes closed. Getting into the car in an exhausted state, he felt a bit dizzy as if motion sickness was setting in. On top of that, his cooled body was shivering from the air conditioner.

“Uh, if you’re cold, shall I get you a blanket?”

The driver, who had been concentrating on driving, asked cautiously. At those words, Na Taebeom’s eyes turned to Nam Gyeonhwa, who was sitting in the seat next to him.

“Are you cold?”

Too tired to even answer, Nam Gyeonhwa quietly closed his eyes. There was a rustling sound, and then a piece of clothing was tossed over his body. It was the black sports jersey Na Taebeom had been wearing.

“Wear it. That.”

At the voice, which sounded as if granting a royal favor, Nam Gyeonhwa held it out back to Na Taebeom without even looking at it.

“Take it.”

“I said wear it.”

“I don’t need it, so take it.”

“Do you want me to strip you down completely?”

The responding voice was low and grim. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been leaning against the car window, pulled the clothing back towards himself with a sigh. The consideration was unsettling, but covering his body slightly with the clothing seemed to alleviate the chilling cold.

An announcement voice said they were approaching their destination, and shortly after, the car exited the tunnel entrance, and the dazzling lights of neon signs spread across the car window. It was the scenery of a glamorous downtown area.