A Forest flowing with Milk and Honey - Chapter 4.2

Taeo couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the irony. There was no way out of this. Jin-tae wasn’t someone you could say no to, and Taeo had no power to refuse.

The child of a prostitute becomes a prostitute. The child of a gangster becomes a gangster. It’s like they always say—what you plant is what you get. A rat born in the sewers belongs in the filth. The harder you try to escape, the deeper you sink.

And yet, Taeo couldn’t help but wonder why he still resisted, why he couldn’t just accept his fate.

Kim Jin-tae ran a loan shark business. The surprising part was that he didn’t throw Taeo straight into the dirty work. Instead, he gave Taeo a chance to “learn.” According to Jin-tae, this was the era where even gangsters needed to use their brains.

Taeo understood that Jin-tae was trying to raise him like a dog. A good trainer doesn’t use just the whip—he knows when to offer the carrot as well, to make the dog obedient.
Taeo’s life was divided into two distinct parts: during the day, he attended a regular high school, trying to blend in with normalcy; at night, he was trained in the underworld.

Despite Jin-tae’s manipulations, Taeo refused to fully submit. Just as he had once dreamed of escaping his father, he now waited for the day when he could sever ties with Jin-tae.
But he hadn’t expected to screw up during his second year of high school.

It was Jin-tae who screwed up first. His business was already teetering after a conflict with a rival cartel, and when his operations started falling apart, Jin-tae decided to go for one last big score before fleeing the country. Taeo saw it as an opportunity. Finally, Jin-tae was going to leave, and Taeo could be free.
For days, Taeo kept his head low, biding his time. If he could just hold out for a little longer, everything would fall into place, and he could walk away cleanly.

But those few days stretched into disaster when Jin-tae kidnapped a fourth-grader—Baek Urim. The girl had been caught in the middle of Jin-tae’s scheme to pressure her wealthy grandfather. She was pale with fear, trembling uncontrollably, and clearly traumatized from the ordeal.

“Hey, kid. Tell your grandpa to save you, and this will all be over soon,” Jin-tae sneered.
Taeo hadn’t expected to see Urim. He had only returned to Jin-tae’s office to retrieve his house keys, but instead, he witnessed the kidnapping unfold.

Taeo recognized her immediately. It was the same girl he had noticed once before, only briefly. Despite how much Jin-tae’s actions disgusted him, Taeo didn’t have any reason to risk his life by getting involved.

But those terrified eyes… they wouldn’t leave his mind.

Damn it.

Taeo sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face, conflicted.

“Sh1t… The kid saw their faces. They’re not going to let her live…”

His options were limited, and he knew that leaving things as they were wouldn’t end well.
Taeo picked up the phone and called the police.
Recently, Kim Jin-tae had become completely unhinged. There was no telling what reckless actions he might take if the police suddenly stormed in. Taeo knew he had to separate the girl from Jin-tae before things escalated.

Taeo had a plan. He would approach Jin-tae casually, pretending to retrieve the keys he had left behind. If Jin-tae was caught off guard, Taeo would strike, using the element of surprise to overpower him. Taeo, like his father, had a natural talent for violence, and Jin-tae wasn’t the type to handle physical fights well.
Carefully, Taeo crept toward the office, intending to assess the situation first.

“Are you going to talk or not?”

Jin-tae was aggressively shaking the terrified girl, a recorder in his hand as he demanded something from her. Urim was frozen in fear, her face drained of color, looking as though she might pass out at any moment. Her lips trembled as if she had forgotten how to speak. Growing impatient, Jin-tae raised his hand to strike.
Taeo knew if he waited any longer, the girl’s face would end up battered. Swearing internally, he swung the door open.

“Taeo…?”

Jin-tae, startled, turned to face him, but before he could react, Taeo lunged forward, driving his knee into Jin-tae’s gut.

“Ugh!”

As Jin-tae doubled over, gasping, Taeo delivered a barrage of punches to his back and kicked him repeatedly once he hit the floor. Despite the beating, Jin-tae’s toughness, like a thug’s, kept him from going down easily. Taeo, focused on the task of beating him senseless, caught a glimpse of Urim’s wide-eyed stare.

“Close your eyes.”

He ordered her to look away, but instead, her already large eyes grew even wider, fixed on him. Just as Taeo had recognized Urim, she had recognized him too. He was still in his school uniform, the same one from before, with the name “Sa Taeo” clearly printed on his navy blue nametag.

Taeo didn’t say anything more to her. This wasn’t a hero story. He wasn’t saving Urim out of the goodness of his heart—he was no better than Jin-tae, just another piece of human garbage. Helping her was an act of convenience, not kindness.
After delivering another brutal strike to Jin-tae’s bloated body, Taeo scanned the room for something to tie him up with. His eyes landed on a set of cable ties. Grabbing Jin-tae by the hair, he dragged him across the floor toward them.

“You psycho! You think you’re gonna get away with this?!” Jin-tae, who had seemed unconscious, suddenly spat out bl00d and reached for something, jabbing it toward Taeo’s stomach.
Taeo froze, realizing what was happening. Not a knife—a gun.

This wasn’t something Taeo had anticipated, and his expression twisted in frustration. Nothing ever came easy. His gut feeling that things were going wrong had been right after all.

Click. The gun cocked, and the next second, it fired.

Bam! The impact was brutal, like his insides were being torn apart. Taeo’s grip faltered, but he knew that letting go now meant the end. He had faced death too many times before to misread the signs. This time, it was closer than ever.
Gritting his teeth, Taeo swung Jin-tae by the hair, slamming his head into the edge of the desk. Jin-tae screamed in pain, but Taeo didn’t stop until his nose and face were completely shattered, and there were no more sounds coming from him.

With trembling hands, Taeo tied Jin-tae up and then collapsed onto the floor, his body shaking uncontrollably.

“… Hic… Hic…”

The pain was overwhelming, and Taeo wanted nothing more than to slip into unconsciousness, but the girl’s uncontrollable sobbing kept jolting him back to reality. Despite the gunshot wound, he kept moving, bl00d streaming from his side.

“Trust me… I’m not going to hurt you,” he whispered, his voice strained and breathless as dizziness washed over him.

“Please… stop crying. I’ve already called the police… just close your eyes and wait.”

Though still hiccuping with sobs, Urim cautiously inched closer, her small hands gripping the fabric of his shirt as if searching for comfort. Taeo, despite everything, found himself at a loss—stunned by how such a fragile, trusting presence could persist even in a moment like this.
The sound of sirens echoed in the distance, signaling that help was near. The situation should have felt resolved. Yet, as Taeo glanced at the weeping child beside him, a lingering thought gnawed at him: Why did it still feel like everything was going wrong? At the time, he didn’t understand why.