PAHO 6

Approximately 50 meters below ground level. The underground passage, which must have once been a subway platform, was a completely different scene from the surface, which was filled with the lively scent of summer roses and various landscaping features. From the gaping underground tunnel, like the maw of a monster, emanated a stench that the word “musty” was insufficient to describe. The floor, so contaminated with cigarette butts and spit that its original color was unrecognizable, was sticky with every step.

Tents, patched together from Haejin military uniforms and aluminum mats, were clustered together like pit dwellings under each dim light. Occasionally, a tattered old North Korean flag was hung as a roof cover.

Judging by the people’s attire and the look in their eyes, the Nonhyeon Station underground seemed to be the hideout of a pack of stray dogs. Since there were stray dogs even in a small military unit like Mangmae, it was impossible that there would be none in Seoul. In fact, their forces were bound to be larger.

The stray dogs who had been fooling around near the tents glanced at Nam Gyeonhwa as he came out of the ticket gate. They seemed to be sizing him up, trying to figure out if he was a wandering tourist who had come here without knowing anything.

Knowing that dealing with them would only be tiring, Nam Gyeonhwa deliberately pulled his hat down low. He intended to pass by quickly without making eye contact.

“Hey, pretty boy, what brings you here?”

A thug who suddenly blocked Nam Gyeonhwa’s path grinned. His hair, styled straight up in the middle like a rooster’s comb, gave him a particularly fierce impression. Seeing how confident he was, he seemed to be high up in the hierarchy of the stray dog pack. Nam Gyeonhwa ignored his words and turned to the side.

“Whoa there, it’s dangerous for a pretty boy like you to be wandering around here alone. If you’re really curious, I’m willing to give you an amazing guided tour for free. How about it?”

“No, thank you.”

“Where are you trying to go? The game center? Pachinko? Or a one-night stand?”

At the blatant harassment, Nam Gyeonhwa frowned and pushed his arm away. At the firm refusal, the thug smirked slimily.

“Don’t be like that. All you have to do is buy me a drink at a bar an unnie I know runs. I’ll even set you up with a good motel and act as your chauffeur, you know?”

“I just told you I’m not interested.”

“Aha, geez, you’re playing hard to get. I guess our pretty boy doesn’t know anything since it’s his first time, but this place is full of guys who demand money just for breathing. If you keep acting all high and mighty and some lowlife thug picks a fight with you, what are you going to do if something happens to you in this cruel world?”

“I said, stop it.”

“And if I don’t? What happens then?”

The moment the thug flicked his tongue and grabbed his wrist, Nam Gyeonhwa twisted the thug’s arm, grabbed it, and kicked him hard in the groin with his knee.

“Ugh!”

The thug, screaming, staggered back, clutching his trousers and hopping around. Nam Gyeonhwa, after lightly rubbing his captured wrist, spun around without even a glance at the fallen thug.

Kim Hangyeol, what’s he doing? Said he was gonna reel in a pretty boy, but he just got his balls busted. The stray dogs nearby snickered.

“Fuck! Will you shut your mouths?”

Kim Hangyeol, who had shouted furiously, clutched his trousers and hesitantly straightened his back. He had thought the guy was an easy target because he looked pretty, but it seemed he had misjudged him. He was bursting with anger, but he couldn’t bring himself to charge in alone, afraid he would just embarrass himself further.

Fucker, he muttered under his breath. Just then, Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been walking away, suddenly turned back. He stared intently at Kim Hangyeol, who was glancing around with a flustered face, and then opened his mouth.

“Be my guide.”

“Uh, what?”

“You said you know a good motel. I’ll pay for the guide fee, so please show me the way.”

When Nam Gyeonhwa pulled a wad of bills from his inner pocket and casually handed it over, Kim Hangyeol’s buddies who had been watching whistled, whew. You did reel one in. You’re lucky to have caught a big spender. They made a fuss as if they were the ones who had received the money.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Yes?”

Blinking his eyes with a dumbfounded expression like a broken robot, Kim Hangyeol swallowed his complaints and followed Nam Gyeonhwa, who was walking ahead.

The place that Kim Hangyeol, a member of the Stray Dog Alliance, guided him to was a motel and bar with an atmosphere that seemed to come straight out of a 90s American foreign film. Its exterior, revealed through the gloomy darkness of the underground tunnel where no natural light entered, looked like a moth on fire because of the neon signs.

Even as the time was moving past dawn and toward morning, the pub was bustling with customers. At the tables partitioned by folding screens sat office workers in suits. It seemed they were segregated as a matter of policy to distinguish them from the people who lived underground.

“Beer is okay, right, hyung-nim?”

Kim Hangyeol, who had clung to him at the very beginning with crude advances, calling him pretty boy and whatnot, now called Nam Gyeonhwa “hyung-nim” as if that had never happened. Although hyung-nim wasn’t a very welcome title either, coming from a one-time acquaintance he didn’t even know, it was at least better than being called pretty boy like some cheap form of harassment.

Kim Hangyeol brought two bottles of beer and, as soon as he opened them, gulped the beer down like a man dying of thirst. Nam Gyeonhwa, on the other hand, only lightly touched his lips to the mouth of the bottle and didn’t take a single sip. Wiping the beer dripping down his chin with the back of his hand, Kim Hangyeol clicked his tongue.

“Ah, really! I didn’t drug it. You saw me open the bottle right in front of your eyes and you still don’t trust me.”

“It’s just that I don’t like alcohol.”

“Ah, then you should have told me sooner. We have non-alcoholic cocktails, too. If you want, I can get you apple juice instead, even now.”

“No, I don’t particularly like sweet things either, so I’ll pass.”

At the dry reply, Kim Hangyeol smacked his lips. A wooden statue would be softer than this. While he felt he had seriously misjudged the man, he was also curious about what had brought him down to the underground.

“Hyung-nim, so what brought you here? It’s not for alcohol, and, well, hmm, it doesn’t seem like you’re here for a bit of fun either. Or maybe gambling…?”

“I don’t do that.”

It was as he expected. Just looking at those eyes, it seemed he would look down on people who gambled, let alone gamble himself.

“Ah, yes. But usually, most of the people who come to the underground special district come to do things like that. If you don’t do any of those things, what are you here to do, hyung-nim?”

“I have to meet someone.”

“Who?”

At that moment, a loud noise was heard from the other side. Turning his head toward the source of the noise, a television screen came into view. The picture quality was grainy, perhaps because it was an old television, but he could tell what was happening from the sounds and movements. It was a fighting match.

Two men stood in the middle of a crowd so large it was impossible to count. One was a stereotypical Caucasian with blond hair, and the other was an Asian man with black hair.

The white man beat his chest like an angry gorilla and charged forward with a shout. Despite the tremendous rush, his opponent calmly dodged the attack and simultaneously swung a fist fitted with brass knuckles. The blood that burst from the man’s mouth and nose when he was struck unexpectedly on the jaw splattered not only on his clothes and face but also on the camera lens.

What followed was violence so one-sided it was embarrassing to even call it a fight. With his opponent already down and unable to get up, the man pinned him down and reveled in beating him at will, relentlessly throwing punches and kicks. Despite the brutal level of violence, no one stepped in to stop it; everyone just let out roars filled with frenzy.

“It’s a match from the Cage Fight Club, held every two months at Wiyeonggwan.”

Kim Hangyeol said. His utter distaste was palpable.

“They say the prize money is in the hundreds of millions if you just participate and make it into the rankings, but strictly speaking, it’s paid out as settlement money.”

“Settlement money?”

“It’s because the champion is practically already decided. That bastard on the screen right now.”

Kim Hangyeol, having wet his throat with beer, gestured toward the television with his eyes. The black-haired man was shown making an elegant exit, with thunderous cheers behind him.

“That guy is the champion and the owner of Wiyeonggwan, and he’s a crazy psycho. I’m a piece of trash myself, but I don’t beat people up for fun. That psycho enjoys beating people up. There’s even a rumor that the fighting ring itself was created to make an example out of the morons who got on his bad side. Most of Nakdo Real Estate is owned by that bastard.”

His dislike was so strong that profanities like “that bastard” and “psycho” never ceased at the end of his sentences. So Wiyeonggwan must be the name of the fighting ring. Nam Gyeonhwa, who had been listening silently, recalled one of the things he had said.

“Is this underground area called Nakdo?”

“Ah, you didn’t know? From AnbinNakdo, they just dropped the Anbin. Everyone calls it Nakdo here.”

On the screen, the match that had just ended was being replayed. Kim Hangyeol tossed a handful of peanuts into his mouth and spoke while crunching on them.

“Around here, you see, that guy is basically the king. There are rumors that he intentionally built up the underground commercial district with backing from a major corporation, expanding the drug and gambling scenes. Maybe that’s why all the gangs are busy trying to stay on his good side. They even say the mayor of Seoul grovels before that guy, Na Taebeom.”

Na Taebeom. That was probably the man’s name. Kim Hangyeol asked Nam Gyeonhwa, who was staring blankly at the television, with a hint of suspicion.

“By the way, hyung-nim, don’t tell me the person you have to meet is that bastard, right?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief. Hyung-nim, you should avoid getting involved with that side as much as possible, too. Seeing as you don’t seem to like troublesome situations, I assume you’ll be careful on your own, but I’m just giving you advice as your guide.”

Nam Gyeonhwa turned his head away indifferently without a word. In the first place, a person of that status wouldn’t be wandering around alone. If he went around causing that much trouble, there would be countless people who would rush at him, calling him an enemy at the slightest eye contact.

Still, now that he was in a specific area, there was no harm in knowing about a person to watch out for. It was just as Kim Hangyeol had said a moment ago. Nam Gyeonhwa did not want to get entangled in any troublesome matters under any circumstances. All he had to do was retrieve the requested item and return before the ten nights were up, just as he had promised Haejin.