Chapter 101

A moment after, he lifted his head. When his vision blurred again, he wiped the wetness from the corner of his eyes. Unable to suppress his anger, tears kept flowing. They kept flowing, making him even more angry. He was utterly miserable.

But then.

Sang-Hoon was staring forwards, panting, when two sudden knocks on the car window made him turn his head. In the underground parking lot, outside the tainted dark window, he could barely discern someone standing there.

What the… Taken aback and before he could even swear, a rattling sound was heard and the driver’s door swung open.

“What the heck! This is someone else’s—”

Sang-Hoon froze, the rest stuck in his throat. It was because the mysterious man who had flung the door open bent his body inwards and revealed his face.

“Why‒ why are you here?”

“I’ve waited a long time for you, but it didn’t look like you were gonna get off anytime soon…”

“…..”

“I wondered if you’d died inside your car. I’m checking.”

“……”

The bastard from the disgusting scene he had just pictured was standing there, with a smiling face even more perfect than he had imagined it.

Sang-Hoon, who spaced out for a few minutes, forced down the spasming corners of his mouth to speak up.

“…What are you doing, coming to my house?!”

“You tell me. What did you do at Na-Yool’s house, again?”

The relaxed tone multiplied Sang-Hoon’s apprehension. Indeed, there was no reason for Si-Jin to have such a pleasant attitude towards him. Sang-Hoon sensed he was scheming something, but he could not figure out what his motive was for coming here.

With a devoted attorney on his side, what need was there for Si-Jin to show his valuable face in person?

“This is a proper question, by the way. I wasn’t told clearly about the incident, you see.”

“……”

“Seeing how you can’t answer, I guess you’ve done something unspeakable… Ah!” Si-Jin exclaimed, as if enlightened. “Was it that you tried to rape her but failed? And hit her a few times because it didn’t work out the way you wanted it to.”

He recited with a light tone, as if it was no big deal, seemingly back to a calmer mood. Sang-Hoon’s lips twitched as he sharply looked at Si-Jin.

“Am I correct?”

“……”

“It is quite a shitty question, right? Mr. Shithead Lee Sang-Hoon.”

“…What do you want?”

No sooner had the question fallen out of Sang-Hoon’s lips than Si-Jin sniggered in a low laugh, repeating his words.

“What do I want, you say…”

Although his smile remained, his expression was ambiguously menacing. Nothing good would result from dealing with him any longer. Sang-Hoon wearily shook his head in dismissal.

“To begin with, I have nothing to say to you. After all, this is between Kim Na-Yool and me, just the two of us. You’re in no position to interfere in this matter, and neither do I have any obligation to discuss with y—”

“For once, we are on the same page.”

“What…!”

Sang-Hoon barely uttered a word when a hand suddenly reached into the car and grabbed him by the collar. Before he could even resist, he got dragged out and thrown onto the ground.

“Because to begin with, I, also have nothing to say to you.”

“—You fucker!”

“Already speaking casually? We’re not that close, though. Well, fine. How nice, getting familiar so soon.”

“What are you doing?!? Showing up without warning, damn it…!”

Getting over his surprise, Sang-Hoon arduously got up as he staggered, when Si-Jin kicked his shoulder to the floor.

He fell down along with a sharp gasp. Clutching his shoulder, he backed off and spewed out, “Fucking bastard! Who do you think you are—”

“Me? I’m no one.”

“huff…!”

“Who am I to meddle in the matter between you two, hm? I can’t get involved, can I.”

“pant, pant…”

“That’s why I’m not discussing but beating you like this instead.”

Bam—!

With a heavy swing, the tip of a shoe flew straight into Sang-Hoon’s stomach. Sang-Hoon shuddered and tried to get up, but each time, Si-jin’s foot swiftly kicked him down.

“Crazy…bas, tard…!”

“A fine lunatic, yet you sure are an amazing sight. Looking so fucking good-natured, but what a waste. You’re so rotten inside, it makes you look so freaking ugly.”

“You, fuck…!”

“You did it because of love, you say? And blissfully thought it would work, no less! This sex offender bastard. You don’t even know your place.”

“You, damn it, you think I’m scared, cough—!”

One straight kick. Sang-Hoon clutched his stomach and groaned while crawling on the ground. He would counterattack if he could, but to engage in a fight with this madman would be a mistake. Sang-Hoon endured and endured again, holding onto the single thought that he could not afford to get reported for being involved in another incident. There were security cameras, and the more he got hit, the higher the chances that the other party would get into trouble – not him.

However, under such a rational and desperate judgment, he could not ignore his total incapacity to even stand, his limbs shaking. So in fact, Sang-Hoon was not enduring – he just had no other choice but to put up with it while cursing at Si-Jin in mad desperation.

Si-Jin looked down at Sang-Hoon with a gleeful smile, as if seeing through his thoughts.

“Report it. I beat you up to have you report it.”

“I’ll call, cough, the police! You, you’re fucked…!”

“Well, could I get more fucked than you?”

“You think I won’t…?! Fuck, aren’t you that company’s President? But you dare beat people like this…”

“—By the way, you don’t have as much money as I thought.”

“What?”

At the abrupt change of subject, Sang-Hoon’s boiling anger momentarily fizzled out in perplexity.

“Don’t you want to settle? And so long as Kim Na-Yool is willing to, you will give as much as she asks for.” Si-Jin replied with a slight shrug.

“Why is that—”

“But you don’t really have money, do you.”

“……”

“Cars, bikes, surfing, some stocks dropping down for the past few years… You sure invested hard just to show off, afraid to look like a loser. And now you’re left with nothing. You’ve got a good job so you pretend to be upright, but it turns out you have a close to 100 million won loan.”

“……”

“Ah, did you have some fun with bitcoins?”

“Fuck, you even do a background check?!”

“You’re only saying that now? This is your house, Lee Sang-Hoon. Get a grip.”

It was the tone of one looking down on the other. Thinly coated with contempt and mocking disappointment about how Sang-Hoon had only just realized the fact despite the obvious clue that Si-Jin’s presence here was.

“You could never give anything Kim Na-Yool asks for. Never.”

“…What are a few hundreds—”

“—Not with your money. If it’s paying back the loan, it might be easy. I believe in your abilities, too. I’m just saying I know you have little leeway in your pockets.”

“What the hell does it have to do with you, damn it!”

“It does, because I’m helping you right now.”

Bam! Another kick to the stomach echoed in the parking lot. At 7 pm on a Saturday evening, when at least one car might pass by, the strange and cruel reality was that there were none in sight.

“The fuck! What help, is that…!”

How did this happen? Sang-Hoon ground his teeth as karma ironically hit him just as he did to Na-Yool one and a half days ago in the hallway of her apartment complex.

He thought someone would suddenly appear to report Si-Jin, but there was no sign of it happening and he felt helpless. Cellphone, where is my cellphone… Sang-hoon finally remembered that he had put it in his jacket pocket after calling the lawyer earlier.

But as soon as he pulled it out, Si-Jin’s foot kicked his hand. Not satisfied with just that, Si-Jin crushed the phone that was a couple of steps away with his heel, and only then kicked it back to Sang-Hoon.

Sang-Hoon seized it and gulped.

“After all, you’re a fucking bum who can’t even pay the settlement money by himself. Not to mention the penalty fee, obviously.”

“huff….!”

“So I want to give it to you instead.” [T/N: lol Si-Jin is basically telling Sang-Hoon to let him beat him and then he (SH) can get money from reporting him (SJ). Then use it to compensate for our FL xD That’s what he means by ‘help’. Si-Jin is such a weirdo, I swear!]

“You crazy‒ what the fuck, crazy bastard…”

“In terms of craziness, I still can’t catch up to you though… Isn’t it a bit too generous coming from you?” Si-Jin asked in false modesty, as if he had heard a great compliment, and squatted down in front of Sang-Hoon’s trembling body.

“How much do you think the penalty will be? You must have an estimate in mind, right? The detective was openly on your side, so he probably hinted to you to prepare in advance. Minimum, maximum.”

“…Shut, up…”