PAX 18

Ahn Yutan was busy painting blueprints all by himself.

I imagined telling Mom and Dad about all this. That Ahn Juik’s son is asking me to conspire to murder Ahn Juik in exchange for a merger between the Pachulso and the Guardians.

The decision Mom and Dad would make is obvious. Because it’s something related to Ahn Juik’s personal affairs, they would never do it.

And because of that refusal, no matter what happens in the future, they won’t withdraw their decision.

Perhaps, even if Ahn Yutan—who beat Yonghee and dumped him there to get a hold on me—were to beat me up like that this time and dump me in front of them.

Where would Mom and Dad head to, carrying a battered me in the backseat of their car? Is there any place where I could watch them leave me behind and drive off, just the two of them? What would Mom and Dad tell the rest of the family about my death once they returned to the Pachulso?

Perhaps… that might be better. To be the battered one, personally loaded into the car, and to check for myself what happens.

Would I die while being transferred to an emergency room, receiving treatment amidst Mom and Dad’s worry? If I were to die then, at least I would be free from the suspicions I had harbored alone.

Would I die after being transferred somewhere else and experiencing some bizarre ordeal? Even though I can’t imagine in the slightest where or what might happen to me, the conclusion would be death regardless. Since that would also be confirming that the suspicions I had harbored alone were true, one could see it as being free in the end….

“But you know what?”

Ahn Yutan’s voice yanked me out of my thoughts.

“That I’m not giving you a choice in this second summit.”

As Ahn Yutan swung the branch like a baseball bat, there was a whoosh of air, and with a snap, it struck the bark of a nearby tree.

Whoosh-snap, whoosh-snap, whoosh-snap. He did that about three times, and the branch was completely shattered. Ahn Yutan tossed the broken pieces and looked at me.

“If you feel like saying things like ‘I’ll think about it,’ ‘I don’t want to,’ ‘I’m not interested,’ or ‘Don’t talk bullshit,’ first hold your breath and clamp your mouth shut. Then, don’t breathe at all until I tell you to. On the other hand, if you can sincerely say things like ‘Yes, yes, I understand,’ ‘I will gladly follow,’ ‘The future of the Pachulso family looks bright,’ or ‘I will serve you faithfully from now on,’ then you may open your mouth.”

I looked at Ahn Yutan with my mouth shut, still breathing. I thought of Yonghee, who had looked like a smashed watermelon. And I thought of Ahn Yutan, who had attacked me without hesitation in a place where there was a rule that pigeons were not to be touched.

“How many people do you need at a minimum?”

I asked first.

Ahn Yutan grinned and started walking again.

“The more, the better. It’s even better if they’re kids who have used a gun at least once; if they have no experience, you teach them. And above all, the most important thing is that you have to make them follow you more than your mom and dad.”

I walked, picturing the faces of the family one by one.

“I know well that you hold quite a bit of trust within that place, so don’t back out, do it with confidence.”

We stopped simultaneously at the edge of the dense forest. On the other side, an old, rusted, and corroded signboard stood crookedly, with the word ‘Parking Lot’ faintly visible. The parking space, where sunlight hit directly, was covered in hardy grass that had grown nearly as tall as a person. It felt as though there might be a car deep inside.

Ahn Yutan must have seen the same thing, as he picked up a stone and threw it toward that direction. With a clack, the stone bounced off. Ahn Yutan picked up several more stones and started throwing them in succession. The stones hit the old car and vanished, making various sounds like clack, thud, clink, ping.

Listening to those sounds, I organized my thoughts.

“First, I have a question.”

“Ask.”

“Why do you want to become the director? Why now?”

“Because I’m more qualified than Ahn Juik.”

“Does that mean you want to change something that Director Ahn Juik has been doing until now?”

Ahn Yutan, who had thrown the last stone, brushed off his hands.

“I’m going to raise the security tax, and I’m going to introduce a summary judgment system. I’m also going to strengthen the law on insulting a Guardian, so I’ll round up all those people who are being petty, talking shit about the guards behind their backs. I’ll even give rewards if they bring me evidence. I’ll make them report on each other and tear each other apart, and we’ll build a bright society.”

“If you raise the security tax here even more, won’t people push back?”

Ahn Yutan chuckled and tapped me on the shoulder.

“Hey, you and the Pachulso family will soon be living off of that while splitting it, so why are you worrying about that?”

“Think about the revolutions that have happened in history until now.”

“A revolution is what I do, dammit. It’s cutting out an old fossil like Ahn Juik and having young blood transfused in. What revolution could be more amazing than clearing out an old man who’s going to eat everything all by himself up there for over 10 years? If people think carefully about how noble and groundbreaking that revolution is, paying a few more pennies in security tax will be nothing. But if they’re stingy about that and resist? Those people don’t deserve to live in a place like the Nagon district, so I’ll just kick them out to the outer regions.”

“What’s this about a summary judgment?”

“For example, let’s say someone committed a murder. Oh, come to think of it, someone who committed murder was right next to me recently. Let’s use you as an example. Let’s just pretend you’re a resident living in the Nagon district.”

A headache was coming on, little by little.

“For example, Lee Seongshin, who lives at Nagon District address 20, killed Kim Junik who lives at address 25. And did it in such a vile way, disguised as an accidental death. But since he was quite clumsy at handling the job, he got caught by us, the Guardians. All the circumstances point to Lee Seongshin. That Lee Seongshin is the murderer who killed Kim Junik.”

Is it because I’m with a guy who talks too much that I’m getting a headache? Or is it because I had a nosebleed a little while ago?

“What do they do in times like this? They say they take them, lock them up, and have some pathetic trial among themselves that lasts for hours. But think about it. Is that a neighborhood that deserves something like that? The Guardians are going through all kinds of shit maintaining public order to protect the residents, and these people don’t even know how to be grateful for that labor, and what the hell is with this murder? Why is Lee Seongshin breaking the peace of the local community?”

I wanted to go home now, so I pretended to be listening hard and turned my body away quietly.

“What is with a trial for such people, and why is there any need to show leniency or anything like that? You, the murderer, Lee Seongshin, were the one who broke the rules first. Right? Isn’t that so?”

Fortunately, Ahn Yutan started following me, spouting his rhetoric into the air.

“I’m saying I’m going to give each Guardian the discretion to deal with such things right on the spot. No need to go through the trouble of catching, locking up, and having trials, just right away, immediately. It means there’s no need to waste money, waste manpower, and waste time for vermin that aren’t even human. We will use the money, manpower, and time saved that way for the residents.”

He is worse than Ahn Juik. They say you reap what you sow, but what grew out of the land where the bean called Ahn Juik was planted doesn’t even seem like a bean. It’s something completely different, like a plum or a banana.

Or maybe it’s a strange bean that came out as a worsened version of the bean called Ahn Juik.

“From now on, I’m going to have a meeting with you every week.”

Lord. Such a thing popped into my head, though I have no religion.

“Report to me on how the Pachulso situation is going. Every single thing, without leaving out even the smallest detail. I’ll decide whether you’re doing well or not. If I say you’re doing well, you just keep pushing forward and expanding your side, and if I say you’re doing it like shit, you have to devise a way to do it well. When the next week comes, report on how you devised it, how you applied it, and what changes occurred. Whether that change is good or not, I will also decide that.”

We walked past the place where the debris of the branch Ahn Yutan had snapped earlier was scattered, and kept walking.

“During the fitness test, you’re planning to hide guns all over the place?”

My head was hurting, but it was hurting, so I asked because I had to grasp the situation for sure.

“Yeah.”

“And you’ll prepare those guns?”

“The person who’s going to use them should prepare them. And practice with them a bit, too.”

A sigh came out.

“Don’t you at least have to give me the money to buy the guns? You have to have some starting capital to move.”

“Don’t you have any money saved up?”