THM Ch 3

While he briefly put out his cigarette, the giant who had been pressing both palms against the bonnet had disappeared. Frowning even more, he annoyedly swept up his cascading bangs. From the front, Kang Sanggoo let him know the giant’s whereabouts, saying he seemed to have gone into the green gate directly to the left.

“I’ll go and bring him.”

“I’ll go.”

It was the moment Nando, having said that, flung the door open. Suddenly, with a loud roaring sound, the green iron gate was ripped out entirely, scratched the front part of the vehicle, and landed with a thud on the ground. Without even a moment to look, the next thing happened. Crossing the alleyway, a man was hurled down onto the fallen gate like a sack of rice being unloaded. The one who made the gate and the man like that was the giant in short sleeves who had just stopped Nando’s car.

Sanggoo quickly followed behind Nando as he got out of the car and headed toward the writhing man. Nando’s foot nudged the head of the man who had collapsed with foam at his mouth. He knew very well what kind of situation this was, but Nando’s current feeling was: why on earth are these bastards making this kind of fuss after stopping someone else’s car that was going just fine?

A shallow sneer burst from the corners of his mouth as he turned his head to look beyond the gate. The situation unfolding before his eyes was a sight to behold. Four or five strapping fellows holding wooden clubs were surrounding the giant man, and in one corner of the yard piled with all sorts of junk, two women who appeared to be mother and daughter were trembling in terror. They were likely the giant’s mother and younger sister. Judging by the debt collection bag rolling around on the ground, this household was also suffering from debt.

“Hyung-nim.”

Nando raised his hand abruptly to block Sanggoo’s mouth, who was about to continue speaking. Triggered by the newly unfolding event just now, the sneer that had hovered at the corners of Nando’s mouth vanished without a trace in an instant. His pupils, fixed on the giant, flashed strangely for a moment. Starting with someone striking the giant’s back with a wooden club as a signal, the indiscriminate violence of the four or five fellows began, but what made Nando’s gaze flash was none other than the giant’s attitude.

The fellow, who seemed to be of Nando’s age or a year or two younger, did not blink an eye amidst the continuous beatings inflicted upon him. He didn’t hunch his shoulders, raise his hands to block the attacks, or even stumble. Standing as firmly as a thick tree trunk rooted deep into the ground, he endured the beating without letting out a single groan.

“…”

From the fellow’s nape and forearms exposed in the midwinter cold, a hot heat was radiating that was only seen in horses that had just finished mating. Above all, his expressionless face, as if he felt no pain, was truly impressive. Toward such a fellow, he was moving his steps without even realizing it.

However, he wasn’t just standing erect and continuing to take the hits. When one of them turned their footsteps toward his family, the fellow seemed to think he couldn’t bear it anymore and swung his two heavy, rebar-like arms that were attached to his body. It looked like he had been doing sports for a long time. The posture of lifting and moving his arms was similar to Kang Sanggoo, who had boxed for a long time. Uniquely, however, the fellow used only his palms instead of fists to respond, and it seemed obvious that he was doing so on purpose. Unless several people had been crippled by those fists in the meantime, such a thing couldn’t be.

Nando’s gaze scanning the fellow moving here and there became even more persistent. He particularly scrutinized the fellow’s face nakedly. Rather than the fact that he was handsome, the expression—unwavering in the slightest, as if cast from a mold—made it impossible to take his eyes off him for even a second.

He’s solid, like looking at something very solid made of iron, he thought quietly while watching the rampaging man. Probably that fellow’s jawbone was stronger than wood that had absorbed water and grown tough. Even if beaten down incessantly, it would stubbornly maintain its original shape. The skeletal framework would be like steel, and the muscles wrapping around that skeletal framework weren’t made from a day or two of exercise either. Just how tall would he be? Since he seemed about half a span shorter than himself, who was 187cm, he was at least 2m.

When he thought up to that point, his palms suddenly itched. He repeatedly clenched and uncoherently opened his fists. For some reason, his heart raced and his breathing quickened. It felt as if the anger he couldn’t subdue even with alcohol, drugs, and assault was gradually subsiding. The giant now had only his last opponent left.

“B-borrowed money, s-so you should p-pay it back…!”

“I’m saying I’ll give it. I’m saying I’ll give it by the anniversary.”

“Isn’t that why you came because you’re obviously not going to give it, you fucking bastard! O-o-don’t come! Don’t come, you son of a bitch!”

Not long after a brief conversation, even that fellow was hurled down onto the ground. Thinking no matter how much they put up a fight with this headcount, it wouldn’t work out, the punks threw away their wooden clubs and all of them slipped away. By that time, Nando was smoking a cigarette with a leisurely appearance, as if watching a movie. The chest of the giant, checking outside the main gate where the debt collectors had slipped away, was rising and falling evenly. Since he hadn’t used one hundred percent of his strength, it was only natural that his breath was exhaled steadily. Soon, his gaze and the fellow’s became entangled in mid-air.

“…”

“…”

As soon as he spotted Nando, the giant flinched his body. He even blinked his eyes and took a hesitant step backward, and the impression of the fellow—who had seemed devoid of blood or tears due to his insensibility—looked quite different then. Bewilderment, as if asking, ‘Who is this person again?’, was sprouting in the giant’s eyes. Perhaps because he was wrapped in high-end suits from head to toe, the fellow didn’t seem to view Nando as the same gang as the bunch from just a moment ago.

The face of him looking at his mother out of bewilderment before he knew it looked like looking at a pure country youth who didn’t know a thing about the world. Given that he didn’t immediately ask what kind of bastard he was doing, the fellow’s personality must actually be gentle. Seeing that, Nando thought with satisfaction, He’ll be worth raising. Probably, his patience to endure suffering was also filled to a level beyond what was required.

“W-who might you…”

The fellow’s mother, who had been holding her daughter in her arms, straightened her knees and asked Nando. Instead of answering, Nando only stared intently at the fellow. Then, this time, the fellow asked directly.

“…What are you.”

The moment he heard the low-pitched, heavy, breaking voice, a sudden impulse struck him. I want to rush in and slap his cheek hard. Instead, putting his hand into the inside pocket of his jacket, Nando strode up to the giant. Kang Sanggoo tried to follow, but Nando put a leash on him by stating firmly, “Stay.”

What was handed to the fellow, who had taken a defensive posture wondering if he might even pull out a knife, was a wad of cashier’s checks and Nando’s business card.

“Pay.”

Because he was biting the cigarette with his teeth, his pronunciation was slightly slurred, but the fellow surely would have understood. The fellow only looked across with shaking eyes and didn’t think to take it. Nando opened his mouth once more so that he would understand better.

“The owner of the car outside.”

“…”

“In case you got hurt.”

“…”

Go to the hospital or something.

Even so, as the fellow just stayed still, he had no choice but to forcibly shove the money into the fellow’s pocket. At that, the fellow pulled his body back sharply as if burned by fire. Because of that, the bundle of cashier’s checks scattered all over the dirt floor.

Nando did not look down. That was the same for the fellow. In order to grasp the opponent even more, their gazes kept colliding straight on. Suddenly a wind blew, and Nando’s hair scattered. The hair strands, fluttering because of the close distance, brushed against the fellow’s cheek. Pulling out his cigarette, he grinned, and the fellow flinched, avoiding his gaze and turning his head to the opposite side.

Looking at the opponent’s eye rims turning softly reddish, Nando turned around. Knowing just the right amount of shyness made him ideal to use as a bastard. Bastards with that kind of gaze, even if they had a somewhat frustrating side, didn’t know how to rebel or act impudently.

As soon as he got into the car, he gave instructions to Kang Sanggoo to find out about the fellow. He secretly hoped in his heart, passing by the ‘bastard’ staring intently into the dark car window where he was, that their family was floundering in a present life more terrifying than hell, that they were swallowed up by the mud and in a situation where only their necks were barely sticking out. After all, there was nothing quite like ‘salvation’ to boss around and work to death according to one’s whim.

Only after the long-haired man—simultaneously exuding a luxurious yet decadent vibe—had completely departed did Goo Taegyuk look down at his feet. Money amounting to several million won was rolling around on the dirt floor. However, what he—bending down at the waist—picked up was not the checks, but the man’s business card.

[Junan Future Information & Communications / Joo Nando]

“…Joo Nando.”