My Bloody Valentine - 84

“D-Don’t come any closer!”

Han pressed himself tightly against the wall, trying to avoid the woman approaching him, dragging her feet.

“I’ll do what you ask… just give me one more shot… please…?”

Before he knew it, the woman had grabbed his sleeve desperately as she stood right in front of him.

“…!”

Only then did Han get a good look at her close-up.

Her ghostly thin hand was trembling, and her dark, gloomy eyes darted around without making contact with his. Furthermore, the inside of her wrist, thrust out as she begged for a shot, was riddled with marks that could only be thought of as injection sites.

The woman was suffering from severe withdrawal symptoms. It was unclear whether by her own choice or not, but she was addicted to drugs and confined in a place that looked like a brothel.

“I-I’m sorry. I don’t have any.”

As Han stammered, the woman, looking as if she had lost all hope, returned to the spot where she had originally been sitting.

“Ugh, the bugs… the bugs are back…”

After sitting still for a moment, the woman began slapping her arms and legs, scratching her body as if she were worried her skin would come off. Then she asked Han if he could see the bugs crawling on the ceiling, before bursting into sorrowful tears.

It was Han who wanted to cry. Watching her strange figure, flailing her bony arms in the air as if fighting something invisible, he pressed his back against the wall opposite her and rested his forehead on his knees.

“Taeshin…”

The name slipped out of Han’s mouth before he even realized it, shocking him as if he had been doused in ice water.

What? Why am I…

Han covered his mouth with both hands as if trying to gather the words he had just let slip. The face that flashed in his mind along with that name was not the Taeshin from his childhood who had vowed to protect him, but the present-day Taeshin, the man who had caused him so much pain.

But why would he think of the man who hurt him so deeply…

“That’s ridiculous…”

Upon reflection, the first thought that had come to mind on the day Yujung was attacked had also been Taeshin.

Could it be that I…

No way, a thought crossed Han’s mind, making his eyes widen. What he had dismissed as a small possibility began to solidify into a conviction the more he mulled it over. Unbeknownst to him, Taeshin had gradually begun to invade not just his body, but his heart as well.

Recognizing that fact, his hazy consciousness, like walking through fog, started to clear up a little.

Han tried again to think about the situation he was in. The person who had brought him here intended to use his existence to obtain something from Taeshin. After getting what they wanted, they would probably try to kill him.

“…I can’t let that happen.”

If things continued like this, he would only end up hurting Taeshin again.

Han no longer wanted to remain a powerless being. He could no longer bear the thought of someone else suffering because of him. So he had to escape. He needed to leave this place and contact Taeshin to tell him not to come.

With that determination, Han raised his head. The woman in front of him seemed to have intensified her withdrawal symptoms in a short time, grabbing at her hair.

“Ugh… the bugs… the bugs are eating my scalp…”

Such self-destructive behavior was also one of the characteristics of a drug addict. As a result of her actions, her scalp had patches that were bald and many wounds. Perhaps that was why an old wig she might have used to entertain guests lay on the shabby dressing table.

Han cast a brief glance at the wig and suddenly stood up. He recalled how he had escaped from Taeshin.

He had successfully escaped even from the well-secured Tacenda. Han already knew the secret to evading even the sharp-eyed manager, Jo Kyung-chul.

“Ugh… it’s so cold… so very cold…”

As the woman suddenly stopped pulling at her hair and began to tremble, Han carefully draped a blanket over her. Then he went to sit in front of the dressing table.

Trying to remember what Yujung had done for him, Han began to apply makeup. He darkened his eyes to hide his real face and put on the wig.

Thinking that should be enough, he stood up and turned around when the woman, now draped in the blanket like a cloak, stood right in front of him again.

“Ah!”

“Sis… do you have any drugs…?”

It was unclear how she had ended up here, but this woman, who seemed to be struggling alone in the mire, made Han feel a deep sense of pity.

“I’m sorry… I don’t have any…”

For a moment, he questioned whether he had reached a point where he could feel sympathy for someone. But he quickly dismissed that thought. First and foremost, he needed to get out of here.

Han picked up a dress from the woman’s wardrobe that seemed to fit him. It was a shirt-style dress, tied at the waist with a string.

“Can I borrow this dress for a bit?”

The woman raised her dejected face and nodded at the dress Han had picked up. Han turned his back, changing into the clothes.

“I’ll return everything later. And… I’ll help you get out of here for sure.”

After changing, Han pressed his ear against the door to confirm that it was quiet outside, then cautiously grasped the doorknob. Just then, the woman grabbed his sleeve from behind again.

“Sis… we have to go to the laundry room…”

“…!”

She seemed to know a way to escape, pointing with her trembling finger to the left.

“There… there’s a wet wipe fridge… next to the laundry room… there’s a washing machine there…”

After a moment’s hesitation, Han asked her, “Why don’t we go together instead?”

“I can’t go… I need to get my drugs…”

“Still, it’s better to go together…”

“I’ll come back anyway… I need to get my drugs…”

It was clear from her words and expression. In the past, she had undoubtedly succeeded in escaping. But she had returned of her own accord. She simply couldn’t quit.

Han stared quietly at her greatly dilated pupils before resolutely turning his head away.

Han gripped the cold doorknob for a moment, then pulled the door open with all his strength. He could hear the woman’s quiet words of encouragement from behind him.

“Good luck, sis…”

❖ ❖ ❖

“I need your help.”

Wusshin’s eyes widened at Taeshin’s words. It was something a person in his position would never say. Didn’t they always say that gangsters live and die by their pride? He felt a strange sense of relief at the words that had been said with humility.

“Yeah, Director Jang, good thinking! Telling you to come alone. Seriously, it’s not like we’re shooting a movie from the 80s… I’ll contact the main office right now! If our people strike…”

“No.”

“Huh?”

“You have to go in alone.”

“What? Are you serious? No, why? Why would you take that statement literally?”

“Han is there.”

“…!”

Taeshin wasn’t thinking about anything else. He was just worried that Han might get hurt, even a little.

“If the police barge in and the panicking guys do something…”

“…”

“You know. When a person is cornered, they can do something crazy.”

That was true. But there was a flaw in Taeshin’s words.

“If you don’t want the police to crash the party, why did you ask me for help in the first place?”

“If I can’t get out, then you go in and save her. The other cops don’t have the flexibility to wait for me.”

“…”

Woosin looked at Taeshin with a blank expression. Taeshin continued.

“O Seong-jin moves for money.”

“…”

“He wants something from me. And until he gets it, Han will be safe. But…”

“But?”

When a war breaks out among the gang members, it doesn’t end until someone is dead, but if law enforcement gets involved, the situation changes a bit.

Unless there’s an antenna infiltrating their organization, the members have an unspoken rule not to touch the police. They don’t want to draw the authorities’ ire and risk political retaliation for minor issues.

The fall of the Yongdu gang was a prime example. At one point, a member of the Yongdu gang recklessly clashed with the police and was seriously injured.

Immediately after that incident, high-ranking members of the Yongdu gang were arrested multiple times, from tax evasion to minor traffic violations. The businesses that funded them were also repeatedly cracked down on for illegal activities, including prostitution, leading to a series of suspensions and eventually their downfall.

That’s why Taeshin sought Woosin. He needed someone reliable to protect Han in case something happened to him. Woosin was a kind of insurance.

“I need you to prepare for the worst-case scenario.”

“…Worst-case scenario?”

“Yeah.”

A world where the weak get eaten. In a world where survival is the first commandment and law, the greatest value is to stay alive. To survive and gain more benefits.

Having lived in such a world, Taeshin had never fought to protect someone until he met Han.

Looking into Taeshin’s deeply troubled eyes, Woosin finally realized that the worst-case scenario Taeshin was talking about meant his own death. He was even considering death to save Han.

“Within 30 minutes, we’ll wrap things up one way or another. No, I’ll make it happen. I’ll say I’ll give them what they want and let Han go. If she still hasn’t come out after 30 minutes, that’s when you go in.”

“…”

Woosin quietly stared at Taeshin and let out a hollow sigh.

“Ha, so it was real.”

“What?”

“You love her.”

Taeshin’s expression tilted in confusion, as if he had heard a completely unfamiliar word. Woosin continued.

“The waiters were saying. Director Jang is crazy about a guy to the point of losing her mind.”

“…”

“I didn’t really believe it at first. I thought it was nonsense.”

“…”

“But… it was real.”

Taeshin questioned himself. Was it really the case?

He had never once thought of himself as a decent human being and believed he lacked feelings like affection or love. What he felt for Han was not something so bright.

A desire to grip tightly, not letting go, so that he wouldn’t be able to go anywhere even if he struggled to breathe. A desire to sever all ties with those around him and make only her laugh and cry in front of him. And even if he died, he wished it would be beside him.

Could he dare to label such twisted, ugly, and filthy feelings with such a clean and noble name?

If the kind of irrational feelings that could make someone lose their sense and willingly sacrifice their life were called love…

If that’s truly what love is…

Perhaps I might be passionately in love with you.