CH 165

Yongno had also seen the video clip. He gritted his teeth as he watched the high schoolers toy around with Leaf.

“They really lost their minds. Were they truly so proud of themselves that they posted it on the internet?”

If they had sexually assaulted or raped her, then perhaps there could have been some convoluted reasoning, but the group had been smacked around by Yongno before they could even do such a thing. As bullies, they should have been too embarrassed to post the full video, but they had heavily edited a clip before posting it, making it seem like they had the upper hand.

“If I knew this would happen, I would have crushed all their cell phones.”

However, Yongno didn’t expect this. It wasn’t that he never thought a photo or video would be posted; rather, he never anticipated that he’d be so emotionally invested in Leaf’s situation.

“I guess it was good that I covered my face back then.”

When the situation occurred, Yongno used his hoodie to hide his face. He recognized some of the students within the group and had seen them around his house before. And so, Yongno didn’t want them to realize who he was and make him confront them later on, and he was also avoiding having his face captured by their phones.

“This video clip is so misleading, though….”

Since the clip abruptly ended while the boys had their way with Leaf, what happened after was left to the viewer’s imagination. Furthermore, it didn’t make sense that boys willing to go this far would suddenly stop and let Leaf go. While the video clip hadn’t been released for more than a day, all sorts of theories and rumors were already circulating throughout the community. Of course, the vast amount of commentary was centered on how bad the perpetrators were, but regardless, any rumor or theory would negatively impact Leaf’s career.

Zing! Zing!

As he heard his cell phone vibrate on his desk, Yongno checked the caller’s number. It was Leaf.

“Open the door! Open this door right now!”

When Yongno answered, he heard someone banging on a door through his phone’s speaker. Leaf had run into her room and locked herself in, leading to the current situation where Byunghu was pounding on the door. Since Leaf had suddenly rebelled after always being mild-mannered in front of him, Byunghu was livid.

“Dang, sounds like quite the ruckus. Is that your uncle-in-law?”

“Yeah, right now, there’s-”

“You’re so lucky.”

“I-I’m lucky?”

At such unexpected words, Leaf stuttered, but Yongno just continued.

“Yeah, you’re lucky. You’re like a first-time fisher whose bait was swallowed whole by a massive fish. You sure got a live one on your line.”

Leaf couldn’t help but think that Yongno had nerves of steel. Obviously, Yongno wasn’t feeling as much pressure as the trapped Leaf, but he did hear the banging over the line. Yet, he kept calm and spoke with a sense of ease.

“A live one….”

Truthfully, Leaf should have gotten angry. Wasn’t Yongno making light of her situation? However, his laid-back manner, seemingly implying that her situation wasn’t anything too serious, made her chuckle instead.

In fact, she was terrified. She had always been intimidated by her uncle, and the robust man was yelling and banging on her door; it would be abnormal if nothing negative resulted from this situation. If Yongno had comforted her by saying, ‘Are you okay?’, she might have started crying.

However, instead, Yongno laughed and called her situation a great opportunity. Moreover, he spoke in a casual tone, which seemed to state she had nothing to worry about. In a sense, his attitude and words could be construed as irresponsible, as she could be beaten by her uncle-in-law at any moment, but Leaf felt her fears melt away. Perhaps, as Yongno mentioned, she was lucky. Since her acting wasn’t entirely natural, maybe this development was for the best.

‘It’s not like I’m going to die, right?’

Right, if she thought with this mindset, she didn’t have much to be concerned about. Yet, right then, she heard something unexpected through her cell phone.

/[Eleventh floor.]/

“Huh? Eleventh floor?”

While Leaf flinched after hearing the announcement through her line, Yongno pressed the doorbell.

“Ack!”

“It’s probably a reporter.”

Byunghu had been slamming his fist on Leaf’s room door like a madman when he suddenly felt his head cool. After Leaf gained fame long ago, he understood that he couldn’t curse and strike Leaf in public anymore, especially when the press was around.

When Byunghu and Misun settled down, the entire house fell into silence. A few reporters had already visited the house, and they only left because Byunghu chased them away. If Leaf had returned from outside the building rather than from Yongno’s apartment, she would have met the reporters before Byunghu.

Clunk!

“Huh? What? Didn’t you lock the front door?”

“It should have locked automatically.”

“You should have made sure!”

“Wait, why are you getting angry at me….”

Byunghu seemed to be taking out his anger on everything, so Misun was a bit taken aback. Yongno, unconcerned about their bickering, walked into the entrance area and said, “Let’s go.”

“Go? What is he talking about?”

Perplexed with what he was hearing, Byunghu made a confused expression, but then, he heard a click and saw Leaf leaving her room. Byunghu soon became furious. He couldn’t speak his mind because of Yongno’s presence. Instead, he violently grabbed Leaf’s hand.

“Kyak!”

“What do you think you’re doing-”

“Let go of her, dude.”

Yongno smiled. However, Byunghu and Misun’s bodies stiffened. Despite his smile, an unexplainable oppressive force was emanating from Yongno.

“Y-y-you… who are you?”

“Ugh….”

Modern humans rarely, if ever, faced situations where they had to withstand killing intent. Furthermore, they would never experience killing intent that was reinforced with spiritual power. Right now, Yongno’s killing intent wasn’t something that any typical human being could overcome.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh? Oh, okay.”

Yongno took Leaf’s hand and dragged her away. She wasn’t subject to his killing intent, so she was perplexed as to why her aunt and uncle were acting so weird. Byunghu and Misun were rooted in place until the front door slammed shut.

“Let’s take the stairs.”

“Huh? This is the eleventh floor, though.”

“I need to explain some things while we walk. Also, give me the bracelet and necklace.”

After Yongno spoke, Leaf took off the necklace and bracelet and handed them to Yongno, who promptly stopped the accessories’ functions.

“Do you think you got anything useful?”

“Not just useful. I have enough to bury my aunt and uncle-in-law, but that isn’t the main issue. On the internet-”

“I saw the clip as well. Don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry? That video will create a massive misunderstanding!”

“It’ll be alright. I have about five to six hours until I next connect to DIO, so I should be able to resolve things before then.”

Yongno suddenly stopped speaking.

‘I’ve changed.’

His expression became serious. Yes, he changed. He wasn’t the type of person to take the initiative regarding other people’s plights. No, he would turn a blind eye and run away even if his family, let alone his friends, faced trouble. Yet, an individual like him was now taking the initiative to help someone he barely knew.

“Don’t… please… don’t….”

Yongno recalled the image of a crying girl as she hunched over and held herself. In front of the trembling girl was a naked middle-aged man. The male anatomy between the man’s legs was fully functioning. 

“Don’t worry, Eunhye. This is just a fun playtime activity. You’re going to have fun with dad. Oh, so fun~.”

“No… no….”

“You’ll enjoy it soon. Soon.”

As Eunhye stood in a corner, she watched him approach as he seemed to lick her whole body with his glistening, lust-filled eyes. It was such a creepy feeling that it made Eunhye want to throw up. Honestly, Yongno felt that it would be advantageous to let things continue a bit longer, but he couldn’t bear to watch anymore.

Zing~!

“Huh? What’s that?”

“It’s a video recording, of course.”

Yongno stepped out from another corner of the room, and Eunhye’s crying visage soon changed between fear and surprise.

“Yongno? Wait, no, run away….”

“You little runt! Give me that!”

Eunhye’s father, human trash, angrily reached toward Yongno. Never mind a child, even an adult would have been struck by fear if they saw his crazed expression filled with killing intent. However, Yongno just smiled. He didn’t plan on quietly leaving in the first place.

“Uh… Yongno?”

“Dirty piece of trash. I’ll make sure you remember this day forever.”

Eunhye’s father would never forget that day because it was the day a part of his male anatomy wouldn’t function properly ever again.

“Mr. Yoon Yongno?”

It was around then when Eunhye started following him around everywhere. She would grab a handful of his shirt and accompany him wherever he went, constantly looking up to him. Yongno always fought to keep her safe from the disgusting adults around her, and consequently, his back was turned toward her, so he never really saw her expression. Yet, if he had, he would have seen Eunhye gazing up at him as if he was the shining sun in her life.

“Hey, Yoon Yongno! Are you alright?”

“Huh? Why?”

“What do you mean why? You blanked out just now… is something wrong?”

“No, nothing. It was only something that popped into my head.”

After stating this, the two continued down the stairs. Leaf took a couple of peeks upstairs before sighing.

“All those scenarios we practiced were for naught. I never thought things would turn out like this.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. Honestly, I was a bit concerned about your acting skills, so maybe this was the best outcome.”

“What?”

Leaf took exception to Yongno’s comment, and she raised her eyebrows at him, her eyes widening. However, Yongno didn’t seem to care.

“Don’t change careers to become an actor.”

“Hmph!”

In a fit of anger, Leaf balled up her hands into fists and started lightly hitting Yongno, but all he did was laugh in response. Feeling that the atmosphere had lightened, Yongno started explaining his plan.

“I’ll take care of the video clip, so you should head to your agency’s CEO. Is he trustworthy?”

“Of course! The CEO is-”

“If he’s trustworthy, then good. As soon as you meet with him, hold a press conference and state that the video is real, but nothing happened afterward.”

“But-”

“I said I’ll take care of it. Also, make sure to take the necessary measures to file a lawsuit against your aunt and uncle-in-law. State that they took all the money you’ve earned and have constantly physically abused you. I’ll send you the evidence shortly. Did you get any footage of them intimidating you in any way?”

Of course, Yongno already knew the answer, as he had seen Leaf’s red cheeks when she stepped out of her room. He was concerned that she’d feel ashamed, but surprisingly, she answered in a straightforward manner.

“More than intimidation. My uncle slapped me a few times.”

“Good.”

“Hey! How can that be a good thing?” Leaf yelled.

Yongno’s eyebrows twitched.

“Hey, why are you yelling at your savior? If I find out later that you wavered from this plan, I’m going to make it public that you peed in your underwear.”

Leaf was stunned.

“What! W-who would believe such a thing….”

“Ah! Now that I recall, I think I will put your pee-soaked underwear on an internet auction site. It’ll probably bring in a considerable amount of money….”

“Ack! Alright! I’ll follow your plan, so throw that away!”

“Good. I like that attitude.”

After saying this, Yongno removed his hooded jacket and covered Leaf’s head with the hood. It didn’t take long for them to exit the apartment building.

“Where would you two like to go?”

“Where’s your agency’s office?”

“Ah, take us to XXX!”

Though there were several reporters loitering in front of the building, Yongno recognized every single one of them, allowing him to go around them and get into a taxi safely. It didn’t seem like Leaf’s popularity had spread to the middle-aged demographic, as the taxi driver didn’t seem to recognize her.

“Head in carefully.”

“Okay.”

After seeing Leaf enter her agency’s office, Yongno turned around and started walking. He organized his thoughts.

“Luckily, those high schoolers live in my neighborhood.”

Yongno sifted through his memory. He had seen their faces before. Yongno had never spoken to any of them face-to-face, but as long as he’d seen them once before, he would realize who they were. Moreover, there were ten of them, so it was probable that he’d recognize at least one.

‘Let’s see.’

Yongno entered his mind palace. On one wall, all kinds of pictures were placed in frames and densely packed together. The frames were divided into five or six different colors, but as Yongno passed them, some of the frames popped out as if they were asking him to take a look.

‘Is it these?’

His mind palace of memories was a space made from his imagination. For Yongno, it was possible to remember every moment at any time in his life, but it was painful to remember every single thing, 24 hours a day. So, he created this virtual space to search for memories when necessary.

‘Found them.’

Yongno picked out five or six frames. The frames contained the faces of the high school students who molested Leaf the night before. Yongno had seen them in passing a few times while they were going to school.

‘Fortunately, they wore their school uniforms and name tags.’

Yongno confirmed their faces and names. Since he knew the school they attended, their names, and even their faces, Yongno possessed all the necessary personal information he needed to track them down.

‘I’m going to have to break into their homes. They uploaded an edited clip on the internet, but I’m sure they still have the original video.’ 

He murmured to himself as he entered a nearby alley. It was getting dark outside.