Double Junk - 110

Seokju stood firm. The left side of his pelvis heated up suddenly. The blade, deeply embedded between his organs, felt painfully sharp as it cut through his skin, muscles, and organs.

“This devilish bastard!”

“…”

“In the end… You… You… You devoured Ajin.”

The owner of the blade was Flower Lady, her cheeks hollowed. She wore a new hospital gown with only one sleeve on her wrist. While ranting angrily, she swayed from side to side, unable to stand properly, and her bare feet tapped the floor as if dancing.

“…”

Seeing her trembling and shaking, turning pale with rage, Seokju lowered his head. He spotted a large piece of glass. From the looks of it, it seemed like it wasn’t a mirror or a window that was shattered.

Blood poured down in torrents. Most of it was Seokju’s, with occasional spots of Flower Lady’s blood mixed in. His palm was deeply indented from gripping the glass so tightly.

Seokju looked at Flower Lady again. She seemed to have heard about Ajin, despite trying to hide it. Maybe she knew the truth with her mysterious ability.

He swallowed dry saliva. Through the glass embedded deep in his abdomen, her trembling and anger seeped through.

The organization members, belatedly realizing the situation because of Seokju’s large stature, roughly pulled Flower Lady away. She was pushed aside, leaving only the glass shard embedded in Seokju’s stomach.

“What’s wrong with you, lady! Are you crazy?”

“Has this bitch lost her mind? Wants to die?”

“Who did she attack with the knife!”

One of the organization members raised his hand as if to strike Flower Lady. “Don’t.” Seokju pulled him back by his collar. Despite grumbling, the members obeyed his command.

“Ugh…”

Flower Lady couldn’t stand on her own and leaned against the wall. Unable to hold on, she slowly slumped down. She stretched out her limbs like a child, then started glaring at Seokju, cursing.

“What did Ajin do wrong? Huh? What did Ajin do! You idiot! You’ll get what’s coming to you! You’ll get what you deserve, you jerk!”

“…”

“That wasn’t supposed to happen… I should have sent him away earlier… I shouldn’t have left him alone there… I… I shouldn’t have… He shouldn’t have been hurt. Ajin should have been by my side. I should have known a little sooner. I shouldn’t have just watched him smile…”

Flower Lady pounded her chest with her fist. It seemed like she wanted to reopen her wounds, despite having undergone surgery hours ago. Seokju bent one knee and sat in front of her. Then, he firmly gripped her wrist.

“Let go, you bastard! Let go!”

Flower Lady twisted her hand, but Seokju didn’t flinch. She began to shake her upper body back and forth like having a seizure. However, Seokju stubbornly held onto her wrist. Then, he pulled her forcefully towards him and spoke in his low voice.

“You didn’t do anything wrong, lady.”

“…”

“It’s all my fault.”

Flower Lady widened her eyes. Those sharp, amber eyes seemed to say, “It’s your fault. It’s all your fault.” Seokju didn’t dodge her blame, but instead confronted her.

“Ajin didn’t die. He won’t die. I will definitely save him.”

“…”

“So, you’re alive too, lady. Without you, Ajin will be alone in this world.”

“…”

“That’s what Ajin is most afraid of. Being alone. So, shouldn’t you be by Ajin’s side?”

“…”

“Self-blame is inevitable, but self-harm is not allowed. Not for your sake, but for Ajin’s sake.”

At those words, Flower Lady’s movements abruptly halted. Seokju looked at her for a moment, then slowly released her wrist. Flower Lady let her wrist drop weakly. It seemed like she wouldn’t reopen her wounds again.

Seokju slowly got up. It wasn’t a big movement, but the glass embedded in his side wriggled, as if trying to inflict a greater wound on Seokju.

Seokju took a deep breath through his nose and grabbed it. He had been stabbed countless times with knives, scalpels, or even nails, but being stabbed by glass was a first. The rough shards grasping onto his skin felt uncomfortably new.

“…”

Seokju extracted the glass without uttering a single groan. With a click, the skin stuck to the glass peeled away, and blood poured out onto the hospital’s white, clean floor.

Clang!

Seokju threw the glass at Flower Lady’s feet. The glass, soaked in Seokju’s hot blood, splashed onto Flower Lady’s foot. She glanced at it, surprised.

“I understand that you want to kill me, but it’s not the time yet. I have things to take care of.”

“…”

“When everything is settled, and when you and Ajin can be at peace, then you can stab me again. I’ll let you stab me as viciously as you want.”

“…”

“Not now.”

I have a tragedy to clean up after.

Seokju pressed his side tightly. Blood gushed out. Perhaps because it was an attack filled with anger and resentment. Somehow, it seemed like more blood was flowing.

“Hyungnim. There’s a lot of blood. You should get medical treatment.”

“I’ll call the doctor.”

“Fine.”

Seokju casually dismissed the organization members’ concerns. He, who had futilely covered his wounds with his hand, began to walk down the corridor. The blood flowing down his fingers made an unpleasant trail. There was a towel stained with Ajin’s blood in his pocket, but he didn’t dare to use it for hemostasis. He just let it flow.

The organization members, including Deokjae, followed him with worried faces. Seokju addressed Deokjae.

“Take Flower Lady to her mother’s room and get her hand treated. Put ten kids in each room for Myungjin and Ajin.”

“Yes.”

“And a gun.”

“A gun?”

“Prepare a gun.”

I might as well slit Park Ki-hun’s throat.

Conflict [A dispute in which each side tears at each other and vies for their own desires]*

[Central Trade Company]

Late at night. Dozens of black cars stopped in a dark alley. Across the street, a building with a sign saying “Central Trade Company” was visible. It was the company of the Jung Ho faction.

The Jung Ho faction manages a large number of companies and businesses. There are drug manufacturing factories, factories with names like steel companies, cabarets, bars, brothels, and countless others.

If you were to choose a representative, it would be this Central Trade Company, where Ki-hun resides. It was where all the money related to the Jung Ho faction gathered, flowed out again, and gathered again. The power and the people were like that too. Everything gathered around this trading company and spread out from there.

Seokju bypassed all the big and small businesses and came straight here. The time for skirting around and staring each other down was over. What Ki-hun wanted was for Seokju to ‘visit’ first, and now Seokju. He came here to accommodate that request.

“What’s up?”

The man guarding the door, with dozens of henchmen fluttering black robes, took a step back. Then, a beat later, he reached into his pocket to pull out a gun or a knife, but…

Snap.

Seokju stabbed the man’s neck horizontally with a thick bandage-wrapped knife handle. Then, he pushed it straight to the left. With the forceful push, the man’s neck was partially severed. He collapsed, writhing in pain, blood gushing out like a waterfall, until he opened his eyes and died.

Deokjae searched through his pockets. A gun came out.

“It’s a gun, boss.”

“…Okay.”

Jung-ho-pa didn’t use guns often. But the fact that the gatekeeper had a gun meant someone was prepared for Seokju’s arrival. In other words, Kiheon knew Seokju was coming.

Seokju roughly wiped the blood splattered on his cheek with his palm. Then, he personally opened the doors on both sides with signs indicating the end of business hours.

With a heavy sound, the solid doors opened. The paper hanging on the door rattled noisily.

Bright golden light poured in. Despite the business hours being over, the fluorescent lights hanging from the ceiling were brightly shining. There were many people, all men, sitting at desks or on sofas, leaning against the walls. They held knives and guns proudly in their hands, eagerly awaiting visitors.

Although everyone remained silent, their busy eyeballs made the atmosphere restless.

Seokju walked in with a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. His black coat with wavy patterns fluttered heavily.

He carefully surveyed the inside. He was looking for Kiheon.

Finding him wasn’t difficult. He was leaning against the railing on the second-floor corridor. He waved his arms wildly without a sense of propriety.

“Hey, the day has finally come when Gang CEO visits me first. Huh?”

Despite having a lisp due to the cigar, his demeanor strangely suited Kiheon well. Seokju smirked, pulling the corners of his mouth coldly.

“Yes. I apologize for keeping you waiting. I was ignorant and had much to learn. That’s why I’m a bit late.”

“Nah, it’s okay. You’re here now. That’s all that matters, right? I thought you’d come around today anyway, so I called a bunch of my folks to welcome you.”

Kiheon waved his arms widely, introducing the company. Seokju followed his gesture and scrutinized his family members.

There were some familiar faces. Those with relatively high positions in Jung-ho-pa, those known for their strength, or those recognized for their intelligence, among others.

Seokju smiled satisfactorily. It was truly gratifying to be welcomed and appreciated by everyone gathered here. There was no need to strain to catch and kill the remaining rats.

None of those present here would survive. If the backbone of Jung-ho-pa were all gone, the organization would naturally fall apart.

Seokju tightly gripped the gun and the knife.

Tonight, in this short yet long night, before the sunrise, he would end everything.

Thus, he would remove all obstacles, pull out protruding nails, clean up the dirty water, and remove the stench. With a devout heart, he was prepared to accept the punishment Ajin would bring down upon him.

Reference Document

* “Ah-gwi-da-tum,” Standard Korean Dictionary, National Institute of Korean Language