Double Junk - 156

Seokju’s hands trembled. What should he do now? How should he proceed? Where could Ajin be? His eyes fluttered, unable to find a destination. Deokjae approached and handed him something.

“Hyungnim, this was on top of the glasses case.”

It was a glasses case. An unexpected item. Neither Ajin nor Suncheol wore glasses. Seokju, breathing heavily with anxiety, opened the case.

Inside, there was,

“……”

Another finger. It was Ajin’s pinky finger. Seokju couldn’t bring himself to pick it up; he could only stare at it. It had already been cut off from Ajin’s body, and it looked too painful. He couldn’t touch it, fearing it would hurt even more.

Seokju swayed on his feet. Deokjae quickly supported him. Then, glancing at him, he peeled off a piece of paper stuck to the lid of the glasses case. It was a business card.

[Jungho Trading

President Park Ki-heon

Phone: (02) 712-0048]

As Seokju stared at the business card with Ki-heon’s name, he crumpled it up. But he noticed something scribbled on the back with a ballpoint pen. Seokju unfolded it again. The messy handwriting was revealed.

[Let’s keep it just between the three of us. If you come late, it might just be the two of us.]

After reading the short sentence twice in succession, Seokju threw the business card away. The words cozy, three, we, and two mentioned by Ki-heon were all disgusting to him.

He stomped on the discarded card. He hesitated about what to do with the glasses case but couldn’t bring himself to throw it away, carefully closing it and placing it in the inner pocket of his jacket.

Seokju strode toward the front gate without hesitation. Deokjae quickly ran to Myungjin and relayed the message written on the business card. In response, Myungjin hurriedly stepped in front of Seokju.

“Hyungnim, you can’t go alone, no matter what. Do you really think Ajin is by himself? Do you think there are only a few of them? Absolutely not.”

“Get out of the way.”

“How can you be sure that Ajin is there? Those bastards might have already done something to him. No, no, would they really kill Ajin that easily? From what I can tell, it seems like they’re using him as bait; they’ll keep him alive.”

“……”

“Since we’ve contacted the police, let them go and check. After that, we can go.”

“……”

“Going in like this is just asking to die!”

Seokju passed by Myungjin without answering. He had to hurry. The glasses case in his pocket felt like a heated iron skewer. It hurt deeply, melting into his skin and piercing through to his chest.

But what about Ajin, whose finger was actually cut off? How must he be feeling now? How scared and lonely must he be?

He hadn’t done anything wrong. From beginning to end, he had never been harmless for even a moment. He was the purest and most innocent being Seokju had ever seen. That beautiful child’s finger, his finger…

Having leaped over the gate, Seokju stood in front of the car. As he opened the driver’s door, Myungjin slammed it shut with his flat hand.

“Hyungnim! What are you doing? Consider our thoughts a little—”

“Myungjin.”

Seokju called Myungjin in a low voice. The unusual tone made Myungjin shut his mouth. Seokju gazed at him and murmured.

“I want to die right now.”

“……”

“I want to die, Myungjin.”

Tears welled up in Seokju’s dark eyes. His nose tingled, and his eyes felt warm. He was too scared to think at all. His rationality had long since sunk. What moved Seokju now was pure fear.

With trembling hands, Seokju took Myungjin’s hand and pulled it down.

“I don’t care if I die.”

“……”

“If it means I can save Ajin, if Ajin can live, I would die a hundred times, a thousand times.”

“……Hyungnim.”

“I’m sorry, Myungjin.”

“……”

“Please take care of the family.”

Seokju got into the driver’s seat. Then he slammed the accelerator down. The car surged forward with a loud roar of the engine. Myungjin’s hopeless figure reflected in the side mirror. Seokju averted his gaze with difficulty and pressed the accelerator even harder.

The destination was Jungho Trading. It was the place written on the business card. It was also where Seokju had once stormed in with a machine gun and methodically cut off Ki-heon’s right forearm starting from his fingers.

“Haah…”

Seokju let out a deep sigh and bit his lower lip hard. His mind was in chaos.

What was the reason for this happening? Was it all Ki-heon’s fault? Was it because he couldn’t kill Ki-heon properly back then that it had come to this? Or was it the fate predetermined by the gods that was supposed to be like this? Were they doomed to never be together?

But did he, unaware of his own situation, get excited? Did he, unaware of his own situation, try to be together? Did he try to defy the fate set by the gods? Was it because he had stubbornly ignored that fate that this situation arose?

If so, then it was indeed his fault.

It was his mistake for seeking out Ajin, wanting to see him, missing him, and dreaming of a future with him.

It was all his fault, so he would take the punishment. He should bear it all alone. It was wrong for Ajin to take the blame for his sins. Surely the gods wouldn’t make such a misjudgment. Surely the gods wouldn’t make such a mistake.

Surely, surely.

“Damn it…”

Seokju gripped the steering wheel as if to break it. However, the anger was short-lived. Soon, a larger wave of fear engulfed him. Seokju whispered with bloodshot eyes.

“Ajin, please…”

Please be alive. I will take the pain for you. I will die instead. I will never go against the will of God again. I won’t come to you. I won’t miss you. I won’t love you. I will do anything, anything. I will sever all ties with you.

To do that, I would be okay losing my eyes and limbs. I could sacrifice anything else. I would offer my bl00d, my heart, and I would even cut off my neck.

So…

Just live. Please.

The sign that read [Jung-ho Trading] was rusted. It hadn’t been that long since the incident, yet the building exuded a sense of desolation.

Seokju got out of the car and immediately pulled out his gun. Without hesitation, he opened the door and stepped inside. The interior was dark, and the characteristic stench of decaying bl00d filled the air, with furniture scattered haphazardly, riddled with bullet holes.

But neither Ajin nor Kiheon could be seen. Seokju lowered the gun he had been holding straight ahead.

It was obvious where they were. It must be the president’s office. Kiheon had a penchant for the dramatic, unlike typical gangsters.

Seokju climbed the stairs to the second floor, taking three steps at a time. While doing so, he pounded his temples with the heel of his hand.

Please think. Think. Be rational. Get your mind together. You have to save Ajin. You have to die instead of him. For Ajin, for Ajin, for Ajin…

In an instant, Seokju reached the office at the end of the hallway. A yellowish light from the lamp was seeping through the door crack.

After checking the bullets in his pistol magazine with his thumb, Seokju strode toward it. He had no intention of hiding the sound of his footsteps. He just wanted to see Ajin as quickly as possible. He needed to see Ajin alive.

No, it would be better if he weren’t here. If he wasn’t here at all. If it were all just a ridiculous scheme created by Kiheon. Even if I die meaninglessly here, I would rather you be in a safe place.

Seokju burst open the door.

And the moment he saw Ajin directly in front of him, the reason and hints he had collected along the way crumbled like a sandcastle swept away by waves.

“Ah… Ajin…”

Seokju called out to Ajin with a heart-wrenching voice. However, Ajin, with his head hung to the side, did not respond.

“……”

Ajin was leaning against the desk, or rather, sprawled on the floor.

He was holding a bundle of fabric, soaked in bl00d. It seemed like it was meant for applying pressure to stop the bleeding, but the fabric was filthy and so soaked that bl00d would pour out if twisted.

His vacant face was pale and empty. Dust was smeared across his face, revealing the tear tracks that crossed his cheeks too vividly. His eyelashes were weighed down with tears, drooping lifelessly.

Had he been hit? The area under his nose was covered in bl00d, and his lips and chin were also caked with it. His cheeks were bruised.

“Ah…”

Seokju inhaled sharply.

It wasn’t such a brutal scene. Seokju had fought in battlefields where corpses were scattered and had seen Ajin in such a state several times before. He had done this to him. He had hit him, made him cry, and trampled him.

But why was it so shocking? Why did it hurt so much, so painfully?

Seokju felt weak and nearly collapsed from the strain in his legs. He needed to gather his thoughts, but his mind was so overwhelmed that he couldn’t think at all. He just felt sadness and despair.

“Ajin…”

As he staggered toward Ajin,

Bang!

A heavy gunshot rang out. A bullet shot straight through Seokju’s left shoulder, making a sickening sound as it pierced his flesh. It felt like his skin was tearing and his muscles were melting.

Seokju shifted his gaze away from Ajin to look around. Only then did he notice the others. They were just minor characters, mere villains with no significance.

In the president’s office, there were five others aside from Ajin. Kiheon, still bulky, Changdu, and three others whose names he didn’t know. They seemed to be members of Jung-ho’s faction that Seokju hadn’t managed to kill, or perhaps the family members of those individuals.

Seokju stared at Kiheon. Kiheon looked battered. His complexion was dark, his beard uneven and scruffy, his lips pale, and he was missing one arm.

He wore a white dress shirt, but the sleeve hung limply. Changdu beside him looked the same. Both of them glared fiercely at Seokju, their revenge-fueled anger reaching its peak after losing an arm.