My Bloody Valentine - 66

Passing through the middle lobby on the basement floor, you will find Taseda’s entrance, elegantly decorated with subdued lighting.

As I entered through the glass door, Jina, who was sitting at the counter, was surprised and stood up from her seat.

“What, can you just come down here like this without notice?”

Even though he didn’t run, his heart raced. It felt like his heart was about to jump out of his chest. Han lowered his chest with one hand and talked about his business.

“I came because I have something I want to ask the manager.”

“You want to ask me?”

Sensing that Han’s matter was unusual from his nodding expression, Jina came out from behind the counter. Then she led Han into the corridor.

“Let’s go to a more secluded place first. There was an incident like this not long ago, and it’s risky to do this here.”

They soon arrived at the internal office where Taseda’s accounting work is done. It was a fairly spacious area with three office desks where Nam Junho mainly works, and a sofa and table suitable for talking with guests.

Jina sat Han on the sofa and naturally took a cigarette and lighter from Junho’s desk drawer, lit it, and asked, “What do you want to ask?”

Looking at Jina lighting the cigarette, Han’s voice trembled.

“Jang Taeshin?”

“Yes.”

“Did he… have surgery?”

“On his head? Yes.”

It was quite a calm answer as if it wasn’t a secret.

“How old was he?”

“That kid was fifteen, no, he had the surgery when he was fourteen, right? Why do you ask?”

“Then, do you really… not remember what happened before that?”

Jina’s eyes dimmed as if questioning why she was asking such a thing.

Although the events of his early adolescence, which had passed more than ten years ago, would not be a big weakness for Taeshin now, the sudden visit and questioning made her curious about the reason behind it.

“Well, why are you asking that? What does that have to do with you…”

Sensing something unclear, Jina suddenly stopped speaking.

“By any chance… have you met Taeshin before?”

“…?”

“When? Maybe when you were young? No, wait.”

Jina swallowed a forced smile as if it didn’t make sense even to herself. Then, as if considering a possibility, she furrowed her brow slightly.

“Han-ah. Were you by any chance… in an orphanage when you were young?”

Although he was convinced that it couldn’t be true, Han’s pupils shook greatly as he looked at Jina in response to her cautious question.

How much she had run around in a hurry, her breath was up to her chin.

As Jina hid her body in a corner of the empty building, she fiercely glared at the small child who had grabbed Junho’s hand up to her chest.

“Hey! Nam Junho! Are you crazy?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Who were you trying to catch?”

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry, sister…”

“Why are you like this these days?”

Jina was almost angry.

It took several people to pickpocket. In addition to the ‘machine’ that directly steals items, there are ‘lookouts’ who search for targets, ‘pickpockets’ who distract the victim’s attention, and ‘antennas’ who assess the surrounding situation.

However, except for Jina, who was the ‘machine,’ the rest were too young, and the scene of children of various genders and ages running around could create a more suspicious scene.

Today, Jina brought Junho to the subway station as an ‘antenna,’ who usually followed her well. However, Junho didn’t give any signal to Jina even though the security guards in black vests at the subway station were approaching. It was a huge mistake.

Fortunately, they weren’t caught, but when a man realized he had lost his wallet from behind, he started causing a commotion, and Jina grabbed Junho’s wrist and hurriedly left the subway station.

“Why did you do that? Why didn’t you give a signal?”

As Jina continued to scold him, Junho burst into tears. The little child shed large tears and said, “I’m sorry, sister… I didn’t see it… I didn’t see it well…”

…!

Only then did Jina remember that Junho had been sticking close to the TV watching cartoons recently, and she couldn’t say anything more.

Jina counted the money in her wallet and the money she had with her, then took Junho straight to a nearby eyeglass store.

The middle-aged optician at the eyeglass store, who was busy with his parents, said Jina brought her brother instead and warmly fitted Junho with suitable glasses.

Wearing glasses, Junho read the signs on the street with wonder all the way home. It was noisy, but Jina just left Junho alone.

When they arrived near the lodging, Junho fidgeted with his glasses nervously.

“Sister… but what should I do if I spent all the money because of me?”

“You can say you didn’t do anything.”

But there was no frog who would easily believe that. It would be good if it ended with a few slaps.

Once a frog who used to be a member of the organization called Yongdu Party, as he grew older, he gradually faded from the front lines and became a despicable guy like a toad, making a living by making young children beg and pickpocket.

He had a bold name, Byun Hong-sik, but the kids called him the Toad.

With his bumpy skin, swollen pockets under his eyes, and a bulging belly, it was hard to come up with a nickname worse than a toad.

Not only the kids but also the people who had been in the organization with him in the past called him the Toad. People’s perceptions were pretty much the same.

He liked to boast about his glorious past like a hero’s tale. But once he realized the reality, he often vented his frustration on the kids out of a sense of deprivation.

Getting slapped was the least of it. On days when the Toad was in a bad mood, if someone made a mistake, they might get kicked or thrown by his nasty, thick hands, and there was even a kid whose face got burned by the cigarette he was smoking.

Taking Junho with him, he cautiously entered a small, shabby three-story building.

The building, with a faded banner saying ‘Store for Rent’ on the front, used to be an office of a wealthy company, but they moved to a bigger place, leaving it vacant.

Eight kids living here arranged the partitions and desks left by the former company employees to create their own spaces and lived there.

Fortunately, the Toad was not in the cautiously entered lodging, and Junho quickly ran to the corner near the window where he carefully took off his glasses, put them in a precious pouch, and hid them under the folded blanket.

It wasn’t until late at night that the Toad showed up.

He had a very satisfied expression and was accompanied by a boy who looked about ten years old. Gathering the kids together, he said, “Say hello. Jang Taeshin will be our new family from today.”

A faint sigh escaped from Junho’s lips. The arrival of a new kid meant more work for Junho.

As the oldest among the kids in the lodging, Junho naturally had to take care of the newcomers and help them adapt to the unfamiliar environment.

He knew that by bathing, feeding, and putting them to sleep, he would eventually grow attached to this kid, who would become another hostage preventing his escape.

Knowing this, Junho couldn’t easily break free from this entanglement.

“Junho, make sure to teach him well. He seems like a good kid,” the Toad said without revealing the boy’s age or where he came from, then glanced at his phone and left in a hurry. It seemed like an urgent call.

Junho quietly felt relieved that nothing happened that day. Junho, who was thinking the same, was also wiping his chest from a distance, watching cautiously from afar.

As the Toad left, the new boy was left alone.

There was no desire to welcome him here. Rather, he might need comforting. Considering the dark future awaiting this child.

Junho asked casually while tidying up the scattered things, “What’s your name? Jang…”

“Jang Taeshin.”

When a clear answer came, Junho was surprised, straightened his bent body, and looked at the boy the Toad had brought.

The boy, who was quite tall, almost at Junho’s chin level, looked directly at Junho with a steady gaze.

“You…”

The Toad’s way of bringing in the kids was always the same. He would adopt them from poorly managed orphanages using the name of his well-established younger brother.

The kids with no background had no one to look for them, and it wouldn’t be a problem if they quietly disappeared.

The kids brought in the Toad’s luxury sedan, thinking they were going to a wealthy family for adoption, and upon arriving here, they almost always showed the same reaction, crying to be sent back to the orphanage.

He had gone through this process of crying for days, then despairing and resigning several times already.

But the boy in front of him was different.

“Do you know why you’re here?”

The boy quietly lowered his head instead of answering Junho’s question. But Junho could tell from the boy’s eyes.

The boy already knew where he was. He seemed to have chosen this place as if he had chosen his own place.

“What should I do?”

The boy asked as he put down his few belongings. Junho, at a loss for words, watched Taeshin unpack with a slightly heavy heart.

“Why is this kid so determined…”

Why is this kid so resolute?With a determined look on his face, the boy seemed like a soldier drafted to the battlefield on behalf of his whole family.