In addition to another dizzying scream, a dull thud—like something exploding—flicked away. The still-sleepy Yi-an rolled his eyes to look in the direction of the sound. However, unless he moved, his vision was filled only with the large body of a man.
“I-I think something’s happening to that person…….”
Nodding, the man lightly gestured with his chin, and the spine-chilling screams stopped in an instant.
“That? It’s nothing. I’m just taking care of a rat, so don’t be scared.”
At the same time, a shiver ran down Yi-an’s neck. Dark red liquid was splattered haphazardly on one wall that the large man’s body had been concealing. As if his shoulder were stiff, the man tilted his thick neck once with a crack, and these were the things that could be glimpsed through the gap created by that movement.
The broken scream seemed to have come from beyond the partition wall covering half the space. Yi-an couldn’t help but tremble so hard his teeth chattered, as the sound, silenced by the man’s indifferent gesture, still seemed to ring vividly in his ears.
“First off… I’ve told you the kid said it several times, so he’s not on the same page as you bastard, is he? That’s right.”
“Aaaargh! Ah! P-P-Please! I did something wrong……! Aaaah!”
At the low voice tossed out like a monologue, the scream coming from across the way grew even more desperate. Then came snap, crack, and creak! A series of loud noises followed, sounding as if something heavy was being artificially broken and worn away.
“Hmph…….”
The man watched with interest as Yi-an recoiled in terror whenever loud noises and screams mingled. The cigarettes he used to intermittently crush on the floor had, at some point, been flattened beyond recognition. To Yi-an, it felt exactly like his future.
“Hah, haaaah…”
It was just as the man, who had been staring at Yi-an for a long time, straightened his crouched legs and stood up. Suddenly, all the noise ceased. It was a silence reminiscent of the aftermath of a typhoon.
“He’s completely passed out. What should we do?”
““Heuk…”
At the sudden sound coming from above his head, Yi-an flinched and lifted his head with a jerk. Another man who had appeared from behind the wall was rubbing his protruding brow bone with a hand reeking of blood.
Because the skin was dark, the red liquid that splattered in dots between the eyebrows had distinct boundaries. There was no way he wouldn’t know. That was… someone’s blood. It was certainly not the speaker’s.
“Uhhhhh… Uh, uh…”
Imagining something and actually seeing it with one’s own eyes were quite different. As his hunch became reality, Yi-an shook his head and recoiled. He struggled with all his might to get away from them, unable to even lift his bottom off the floor.
The person who locked eyes with Yi-an, who was causing a commotion, was one of the group that had been chasing him at dawn. In other words, the man in front of him, who was wearing a picturesque smile… was very likely part of their gang. No, not just part of the gang…
“……If you give me the order, I will handle it, Hyung-nim.”
As the man remained silent, watching Yi-an, the one presumed to be his subordinate cautiously broke the ice once again. With every movement of his muscle-bound face, the scar twitching fiercely across his temple and the bridge of his nose writhed. It was as if he were telling him not to waste time with pointless chatter, and that it was Yi-an’s turn next.
“Baby. Did I hit you or something? When did you get there?”
“Heumph. No, no…….”
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