Kill Your X Chapter 41

“Aaaargh!”

“Ugh! Help, help me!”

The man began to brutally beat the two assailants. It was an act possible only when he didn’t see the other person as an equal human being. The men, who had been so threatening, quickly became bloody lumps of flesh in front of him.

Witnessing such a shocking scene for the first time in my life, I desperately closed my eyes. Even after time passed and the collapsed men no longer groaned, the violence continued.

Clang! The blood-stained metal pipe finally clattered to the floor. As I continued to keep my eyes tightly shut, he carefully removed the gag.

“You’re a lot of trouble, so annoying.”

Despite the cold murmur, I threw my arms around his neck. It was Si Yeonho. Startled, he pulled back for a moment, but then resignedly accepted my childish display of affection. Embraced in his strong arms, I realized just how much my body was trembling.

I didn’t think to ask how he knew where to find me. The only thing that mattered was that my ally was right next to me.

“Why, why did you take so long? I, hic, how, huuhhh….”

Lost for words, I poured out my resentment along with tears. The smell of blood was now stronger than the smell of cigarettes in the warehouse. The horrible things that had happened in the few hours since I left the academy had caused me to lose my senses.

“Song Gyujin.”

“Is, is this happening to me because of the ghost? Huh?”

I suddenly remembered the words Si Yeonho had spoken before, words that sounded more like a curse than a kindness. He surprisingly contemplated my rambling nonsense before giving me an answer.

“Well. It could be, or it could not be.”

After rummaging through the pockets of the assailants, who were either dead or unconscious, and pocketing their cell phones, Si Yeonho carried me out of the warehouse. My legs had given out, leaving him with no other choice.

“Just.”

After setting me down in the back seat of the car he’d brought, Si Yeonho pulled his black mask down to his chin and spoke.

“Maybe Sunbae was born with a shitty fate.”

That was the end of his answer to my question.

“Wipe the blood off your face.”

He handed me wet wipes after getting into the driver’s seat. While I sat there dazed, Si Yeonho roughly wiped the blood off his own clothes. The way he carefully packed his blood-soaked gloves into a separate bag and tied it tightly made it seem like this kind of cleanup was very natural for him.

“If you’re confident you can go home looking like that, then stay put.”

He urged me before starting the car. Only then did I check my reflection in the rearview mirror. My school uniform was wrinkled from rolling around on the cement floor, but apart from the small amount of blood on my face and hands, I was fine. I didn’t have a single broken bone.

Amidst the chaos, while following his instructions, a fundamental question popped into my head.

‘But, is it okay for a high school student to drive?’

Watching him skillfully handle the car, I mustered up the courage to ask.

“Where to?”

“I’ll take you home.”

“Not home, the police station, we need to go to the police station quickly.”

I had been kidnapped by assailants in the middle of the night and barely escaped. Going straight to the police station was the most obvious thing to do, in my opinion.

“If you’re going to the police station, go by yourself, Sunbae. And if you don’t want me to take you home either, I’ll just drop you off here.”

Clear annoyance showed in his monotonous tone. The way he took off his hat and roughly ran his hand through his hair gave me a similar feeling to the murderous intent I had felt from the assailants earlier. The atmosphere in the car was excessively chilling. I had a lot of questions, but I chose to keep my mouth shut. I had just escaped death, but instead of feeling relieved, my breath grew increasingly short.

I felt sick. Feeling like I was actually about to faint, I curled up with my head against the window. How much time had passed? The car suddenly stopped, and Si Yeonho went into a nearby convenience store. A short while later, he came out holding two bottles of honey water.

“Drink this and calm down.”

“Huh, huh?”

“I thought it would be better than coffee, which makes you more alert, but do you not like it?”

“No. Thank you. I like honey water.”

I held the hot drink, fresh from the warmer, preciously in both hands. As he said, the sweet drink seemed to calm me down a bit. The digital clock on the car dashboard showed the time past midnight. I reached into my pants pocket to find my phone and despaired. I was completely broke, having dropped my backpack somewhere while being kidnapped.

“Yeonho. I’m sorry, but could you lend me your phone for a second?”

He silently met my eyes through the rearview mirror.

“I need to contact my mother. She must be incredibly worried by now. She might have already called the police.”

“We’ll be home in five minutes.”

At Si Yeonho’s words, I looked out the window. The familiar roads I travelled every day came into view. As we got closer to home, the tension that had been building up in my throat gradually dissipated.

I still had a lot of questions for him, but judging by his current attitude, he didn’t seem likely to answer them openly. I was also completely exhausted, so I postponed satisfying my personal curiosity to the near future.

“We’re here.”

Click. The backseat door lock was released. Before getting out, I expressed my sincere gratitude.

“Yeonho, thank you so much for coming to rescue me. I don’t know how it all happened, but I would’ve been in serious trouble if it weren’t for you.”

“…….”

“I’ll tell my parents about this and make sure you’re properly thanked. And I want to be friends with you, can you give me your number?”

It was the first time in my life that I had begged someone three times for their number. Si Yeonho stared at me and let out a small sigh. When I didn’t get out and continued to wait, he opened the glove compartment and took out a pen.

“Give me your hand.”

When I held out my hand, he wrote his phone number on my palm with the pen. I couldn’t help but squirm slightly at the ticklish sensation.

“There’s no memo pad or anything in the car.”

“Ah, it’s okay. Thank you. I’ll definitely contact you when I get a new phone.”

“I change it often, so there’s a high chance that won’t be my number in a few months.”

He added, putting his hands back on the steering wheel.

“And Sunbae, even if you really go to the police station, don’t mention me. Just say an unknown person appeared and disappeared.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Get out now.”

He seemed ready to drive off, so I thanked him again and ran into the house. My mother was waiting for me in the brightly lit living room.

“Mother!”

I wondered why she hadn’t come to the front door to greet me as usual, but I soon understood. My mother turned around with a bright smile at my call. She was holding a wine glass in her hand.

“Our Gyujin is home? You worked so hard studying late. My admirable son.”

I rolled my eyes and checked the clock on the living room wall. It wasn’t just a little late. Even if my parents were obsessed with managing my grades, how could they be smiling when their underage son came home past midnight?

I briefly wondered if it was sarcasm, but thinking I shouldn’t delay any longer, I quickly spoke.

“Mother, today I was outside, well, just a while ago, something happened…”

“Yes, son. I actually spoke with your academy teacher earlier this evening. He said that if you just get a handle on math, you’ll be fine for the final exams.”

“That’s not the issue right now.”

“Hmm~ Hmmm.”

I was speechless at the sudden humming and the way she slumped on the sofa. I checked the wine bottle in front of her and saw that it was almost empty. My mother wasn’t much of a drinker, so why was she drinking alone at this hour?

“Why the wine?”

My mother’s eyes sparkled at my question. She smiled broadly again and chirped the good news like a singing bird.

“Oh, our son hasn’t heard yet? Your father was promoted to Superintendent at the police station today. He’s a proper police chief now. He must be busy being congratulated by his colleagues right now.”

I remembered what the assailants who kidnapped me had said. The absurd story that Song Jeonggun would soon be promoted, and that there was a gang behind it. It was truly preposterous, but what if it was true?

“Mother. Then, is it true that an organized crime group…”

“That’s right. He was recognized for his contribution to catching an entire organization a few months ago. I heard it was a new organization formed by aces from other organizations, and it would have been really dangerous if they hadn’t caught them early on.”

Isn’t that amazing? I’m curious to see how far your father will go, you know?

She was already drunk, and I couldn’t bring myself to speak again as I saw how genuinely happy she was. She believed that my father was a true guardian of justice, and I felt that bringing up the story I’d heard after being kidnapped would be pointless. There was no way to prove if it was true, either.

But shouldn’t I at least tell her that I was kidnapped and then released? This wasn’t a small incident. Since Si Yeonho told me not to mention him, if I took that into account….

As I tried to sort out the tangled thoughts in my head, my mother stood up and swayed greatly.

“Whoa, be careful.”

“Hmm. Thanks, son. My head hurts from drinking after so long. Can you take me to my bedroom?”

She smiled happily, saying she felt like she would finally get a good night’s sleep after a long time, as she had been constantly worried about my father, who never took care of himself at work.

In the end, I couldn’t tell my mother what I had experienced that night.

The next evening, another piece of good news was shared at a gathering with the whole family. My beaming mother, my older sister who had been called back from her university dormitory, and even I, all rejoiced as if hearing it for the first time. Any other reaction wasn’t permitted in that atmosphere.

“Organized crime is a clear social evil. As long as I work as a police officer, gangs will have no place in our country.”

The words my father habitually said sounded different that day.