PA 69

“Shit, who the hell is that guy!”

“You guys go around back!”

As Sanghyeon moved forward, his back, which had been blocked by the rock, was now exposed. The thugs took that chance and moved to surround Sanghyeon in a circle. In that moment, Junhyuk ran behind the defenseless Sanghyeon.

“I’ll handle these guys, you take Yejun and run.”

“You’re the one who should be doing that.”

Yeongsik, who was watching the situation from inside the dark van, felt threatened by Junhyuk’s appearance and took a rifle out of the glove compartment. He opened the window slightly and aimed at the approaching Sanghyeon. He planned to take care of Sanghyeon, who was holding a gun, and then aim for Junhyuk.

Meanwhile, Yejun, upon seeing Junhyuk outside the car window, struggled, trying to undo his bindings somehow. But with his hands and mouth tied up securely, there was nothing Yejun could do.

What do I do?

It was that moment. Yejun’s eyes met with his father Hyungyu’s, who had barely opened his eyes. In his urgency, he extended his body toward Hyungyu, who was trembling in the corner, and gave him a pleading look to untie him. Hyungyu cowered several times as if scared and covered his head with both arms.

“Eu, mph!”

In his haste, Yejun managed to make a sound and urged Hyungyu on. Only then did Hyungyu remove the handkerchief shoved in Yejun’s mouth and untie the rope binding his hands. He looked at Yejun with an expression that said he had done all he could as a father, then went back to the corner and curled up into a ball.

Yejun no longer had the strength to resent Hyungyu. Leaving Hyungyu behind, he opened the car door and shouted loudly toward Junhyuk.

“Junhyuk! Don’t come here, there’s a gun here!”

Seeing Yejun shouting loudly with a desperate voice, Yeongsik let out a small laugh. Then, without a hint of hesitation, he pulled the trigger at Sanghyeon.

“Ugh!”

Sanghyeon, shot in the thigh, let out a groan and collapsed on the spot.

“Hey, now’s our chance. Get those bastards!”

The gang members, armed with sharp knives and baseball bats, immediately rushed at Junhyuk, who was behind Sanghyeon. Junhyuk took a half step back, dodged the fist of the first guy who charged at him, and then struck his wrist. The man screamed in pain, dropping the baseball bat to the ground.

Junhyuk immediately snatched the baseball bat that had fallen to the ground. He then swung it and struck the head of the guy who had fallen in front of him. The man collapsed on the spot, and behind him, other men rushed in with their blades raised.

Junhyuk twisted his opponent’s shoulder, breaking his arm, then lightly lifted the man and threw him to the ground. It didn’t take long for the thugs’ weapons to be in his hands.

“Come at me all at once.”

The gang of thugs, thoroughly provoked by Junhyuk, who spoke as if annoyed, all rushed him at once. However, Junhyuk was no easy opponent. The gang was struggling to hold their own against Junhyuk alone.

Behind the faltering thugs, an anxious Yeongsik got out of the car, walked a little closer, and aimed for Junhyuk’s head. The moment he was about to pull the trigger, Yejun jumped out of the van and slammed his whole body into Yeongsik.

“No!”

“Aack!”

Yejun ended up falling to the ground along with Yeongsik. It was a very simple matter to knock over Yeongsik, who could only balance on one foot. Yeongsik crawled on the ground, trying to pick up the gun that had fallen about two steps away. Yejun, too, quickly got up and ran, but he missed grabbing the gun by a hair’s breadth.

“Junhyuk, I told you not to come! There’s a gun here.”

Yeongsik remained prone on the ground and aimed the gun at Junhyuk again. A murderous resentment poured from his eyes.

“It’s because of that bastard that I ended up like this.”

Yeongsik had intended to use Yejun as bait to kill Junhyuk. Yejun rushed toward Yeongsik in a panic. But it seemed it was already too late. A loud, ear-piercing gunshot rang out high into the sky.

“Aack!”

However, the person who screamed was Yeongsik.

Fortunately, the person who shot first was not Yeongsik, but Sanghyeon. The bullet grazed Yeongsik’s left shoulder, and his shirt became soaked in crimson. Yeongsik’s whole body trembled in pain, but he did not let go of the gun in his right hand.

Sanghyeon quickly repositioned himself and aimed the gun at Yeongsik again. He then pulled the trigger, but it only clicked; there were no bullets left. The gang of thugs, noticing there were no bullets, began to close in and surround Junhyuk and Sanghyeon. Spotting this, Yejun cried out for Junhyuk in a panic.

“Junhyuk!”

In that moment, the remaining gang members rushed at Junhyuk simultaneously, and the security team, which had arrived late, formed a protective screen behind Junhyuk. Junhyuk and the gang of thugs began a life-or-death battle.

In a situation where it was impossible to distinguish friend from foe, Yeongsik couldn’t properly aim his gun at Junhyuk. He put the gun in his inner pocket and let out a small curse.

“Fuck…”

Yeongsik got up and took out a knife he had hidden in his clothes. He slowly approached Yejun from behind, who was worried that Junhyuk would get hurt in the violent struggle.

“You son of a bitch!”

Yeongsik swung the sharp knife at Yejun. Yejun took a step back and narrowly avoided Yeongsik’s knife. Even more enraged, Yeongsik swung the knife wildly and shouted.

“You die first, just die!”

Yejun took step after step backward, but soon he felt the cold metal of the van against his back. There was nowhere left to run. Just then, Junhyuk, who spotted Yejun being threatened by Yeongsik, shouted loudly.

“Yejun!”

However, Junhyuk, who was trying to run to Yejun, couldn’t move a single step from his spot due to the tremendous attack from the gang of thugs. Junhyuk and the bodyguards were surrounded by the large thugs, engaged in a fierce struggle for their lives. In that moment, there was no one who could save Yejun. To Junhyuk, the fleeting moment of Yeongsik swinging the knife felt like an eternity.

Ah… Yejun.

Sanghyeon gripped his leg, where the bullet had penetrated and blood was gushing out, tightly with his hand. Then, he put strength into his other leg and forced himself up.

“Ugh!”

Spotting Yejun in danger, Sanghyeon, despite the immense pain, managed to force his body to stand.

Fuck… this body is going to die and disappear anyway.

As Sanghyeon stood up, it felt as if someone was stabbing his leg repeatedly with an awl. But Sanghyeon began to run with superhuman strength.

“Lee Yejun!”

He saw the knife raised above Yejun’s head right before his eyes. That brief moment flowed slowly, as if in slow motion. In that instant, he felt no pain. Without a second thought, Sanghyeon wrapped himself around Yejun, blocking Yeongsik’s knife with his entire body.

“Aaaah!”

The person who screamed was not Sanghyeon, but Yejun.

With the knife embedded in his back, Sanghyeon placed both hands on Yejun’s shoulders and smiled sadly. Sanghyeon held Yejun in his embrace, blocking Yeongsik’s attack. Yejun’s whole body was trembling faintly, as if his soul had left him. In that moment, Yejun couldn’t see anything and couldn’t hear anything.

“Ah! Die, just die!”

Yeongsik pulled the knife out of Sanghyeon to attack Yejun again, and Sanghyeon coughed up a gush of blood.

“Ugh…”

“Ah… ah.”

Yeongsik pushed aside Sanghyeon, who was gradually losing consciousness. Then he took a step toward Yejun. Yeongsik, holding the knife drenched in crimson blood high, smiled bizarrely and grabbed Yejun’s slender neck.

“Die!”

It was then. The first police special forces team to be deployed shot at Yeongsik’s hand, which was holding the knife.

“Aaaack!”

Yeongsik, his right hand blown away, rolled on the ground in immense pain. At the same time, numerous lights from the mountain entrance lit up brightly, and a police unit could be seen running up to the mountain ridge. Just in time, the security team, having knocked down the gang of thugs, took out a flare and fired it up into the sky. With a ‘Bang’ sound, a bright light illuminated the sky.

“Yejun, Yejun!”

Junhyuk passed through the thugs lying on the ground as if dead and approached Yejun. Yejun was sitting on the ground, holding Sanghyeon, who was bleeding profusely.

“J-Junhyuk…”

Junhyuk knelt on one knee in front of Yejun and carefully laid Sanghyeon, whose face was buried in Yejun’s chest, straight. He then gently lifted his upper body.

“Father, if you just hold on for a moment, the ambulance will be here.”

“Cha Junhyuk.”

Sanghyeon continued to cough up crimson blood, and a copious amount of dark red blood flowed from the stab wound. Junhyuk couldn’t help but sense Sanghyeon’s death.

“Father.”

Junhyuk spoke to Sanghyeon, who kept closing his eyes.

“The police and paramedics are coming up now. Just hold on a little longer.”

“Uuugh…”

Sanghyeon, too, seemed to have a premonition of his own death. He barely opened his eyes and took in the sight of Yejun.

A special existence.

His had been a life like a racehorse, charging toward success without looking around. Love had never been a concern in his life. Sanghyeon had ultimately succeeded and was able to possess both wealth and honor. But then, he met Yejun late in life.

That was a fluttering feeling, and that was a stinging pain.

To Sanghyeon, Yejun was an existence that had made him realize emotions beyond that.

“Father!”

At Junhyuk’s voice, Sanghyeon’s gaze shifted to his son.

“…Even if I went back to that time, I would have done the same thing.”

“……”

“I don’t regret it, so you must never forgive me either.”

“Don’t say any more. In a little while…”

That is the path to your happiness….

Junhyuk couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence and let out a sigh. Sanghyeon gazed at Junhyuk and Yejun for a moment before slowly closing his eyes.

☂︎

Yejun could neither cry nor smile for Sanghyeon, who had died in his place, and just clutched his heavy heart. Junhyuk took off his jacket, covered Sanghyeon with it, and stood up.

“Yejun, are you hurt anywhere?”

“……”

Yejun couldn’t bring himself to look at Junhyuk and just nodded his head without a word. Junhyuk came over to Yejun, wrapped an arm around his faintly trembling shoulders, and said soothingly.

“Lee Yejun, none of this is your fault.”

“…How is it not my fault?”

Yejun pushed Junhyuk’s shoulder away and managed to ask back in a trembling voice.

“Lee Yejun.”

“In my place, in my place…”

Junhyuk hugged Yejun, who couldn’t continue speaking. Yejun lowered his head in Junhyuk’s embrace. Junhyuk, who had been still for a long while, spoke in a troubled voice.

“Father had terminal pancreatic cancer.”

“……?!”

This was the reason he had been rushing to bequeath everything to Junhyuk. Yejun recalled Sanghyeon’s appearance in the event hall waiting room, how he had looked thinner than before.

“Lee Yejun.”

“So, so…”

“Don’t feel even a shred of pity for my father.”

“What?”

“Whether he got pancreatic cancer or was stabbed by a knife. His fate was destined to end there.”

“But.”

“All you have to do now is erase his image from your mind.”

The image of Sanghyeon forcing himself on him and the image of him blocking the knife that flew at him overlapped. He was a person who had given him an indelible wound, but he was also the person who had made it possible for him to be by Junhyuk’s side. Yejun squeezed his eyes shut in his confusion, and before he knew it, the corners of his eyes began to sting. Junhyuk tightened his arm around the faintly trembling Yejun, as if he understood everything.