Formless Chapter 68

As time passed, and the more various methods Heewoon thought of. He became more despairing. There was no sharp object visible to cut the tape on his hands and feet, two men were monitoring him inside the operating room, and the rest of the men were outside the operating room. His mother and hyung had not yet regained consciousness. His hyung would not even be able to wake up for a while. The men surrounding his hyung had squabbled among themselves and anesthetized him.

Someone who was not a professional had administered the anesthesia. Heewoon took in his hyung’s masked face. His hyung was not dead yet, but he kept feeling as if he was witnessing his hyung’s death.

Heewoon’s gaze turned to his mother, lying in the corner of the operating room, which was about ten pyeong. The men stepped over her as if she were a nuisance. He felt it might be a blessing that his mother had not regained consciousness.

“Hey. Call again.”

“Yes.”

At the man’s words, the man standing next to him picked up his phone. The operating room was quiet, so the ringing tone was clearly audible. The ringing tone just continued without cutting off.

The one thing to hope for was that the doctor had not yet arrived.

Watching the man curse, Heewoon thought. If the doctor continued not to come, how many hours would they spend in this operating room, or would they be moved somewhere else? In either situation, a better opportunity would come than now.

And his mother’s outer jacket pocket would have a phone. If they left, he could somehow move and try to take out the phone, or if his mother regained consciousness in the meantime, they could act together.

He gripped his fists so hard that his fingernails dug into his palms. He felt no sensation. His breath became increasingly constricted.

“He’s not answering the phone, hyung-nim. Could Doctor Choi really have had an accident?”

“Ugh, damn it.”

The man roughly ran his hands through his hair and looked at Heehyeon, who was wearing a mask. Annoyance was clearly visible. Heewoon realized that his hyung had gained a few more hours of life.

He took a deep breath. Perhaps because he had been consciously breathing continuously, he felt as if the tape covering his mouth had become a little loose with moisture. If he remained trapped in this operating room, and if the hospital started its operating hours, and if they showed a momentary lapse. Could he not scream and call someone?

Three lives were at stake, but the only thing to rely on was a remote possibility. The pressure of the reality that two lives depended on him, loneliness, immense fear, death. Everything suffocated Heewoon.

It was then. The operating room door slowly opened.

The man, noticing someone’s presence, grumbled and turned his head. Assuming it would be the doctor.

“Why are you just coming now—Who are you people?”

The man’s expression hardened as he turned around. The other men were also the same. Heewoon was in the very corner of the wall where the operating room door was. Because his body was tied, turning his head was difficult, so he couldn’t tell who was standing outside the operating room. He only saw the tension on the men’s faces.

“What the hell, you damn bastards.”

The man scowled fiercely and pulled a weapon from his pocket. The long blade glinted in the light. The air inside the operating room instantly became sharply honed. The fine hairs on his body stood on end. Something was beginning.

Whatever it was, he had to use it. Heewoon struggled to move his tied legs. In his hurried movement, his balance shifted, and Heewoon’s body fell forward. With a thud, Heewoon, who had hit his forehead hard on the floor, let out a faint groan but immediately supported himself with his forehead on the floor and rotated his legs.

At the same time Heewoon’s cheek touched the cold floor, a person was hurled with a whoosh into the operating room.

“Ugh…”

It was quite close, so Heewoon almost screamed. The middle-aged man’s face was covered in blood. He seemed to have been severely assaulted and could barely move from that spot.

“Doctor Choi?”

A hoarse voice spoke. This must be the doctor. If there’s no doctor for surgery right now, what will happen to us? Perhaps, will the people outside help us?

“What kind of bastard! Hey. Call the guys outside.”

“Yes, hyung-nim.”

His vision was low because his upper body was leaning forward. It was when he was struggling to lift his upper body.

“Noisy.”

A low, soft-toned voice passed through the sharp air and clearly embedded itself in Heewoon’s ears. Heewoon flinched. He froze. No, it couldn’t be. It was impossible.

“It feels too cramped, so go outside.”

“Yes.”

Someone’s shoed foot entered the operating room. One step, one step. The steps felt somehow familiar.

His heart became impatient. It was the moment he finally managed to raise his body and lift his head.

His mind, which had been intricately working to survive, to save them, went blank. His entire body froze, only his eyes moving.

A firm body in a dark gray suit, a smooth jawline, lips pressed into a straight line, a high nose bridge, eyes calmly cast down.

Heewoon’s trembling eyelashes rose higher and higher. Unable to believe what he saw, he stared wide-eyed.

The subtle tremor of his hair, the mouth line firmer than usual, the tension between his brows when he blinked. Detailed images entered his empty mind.

It was Seo Gangwoo.

It might be a dream. He bit the inside of his cheek, but the sensation was dull. He couldn’t hear sounds well either. As if all other senses had disappeared to focus on one person.

“Opening a stomach in a place like this will cause an infection.”

Behind Gangwoo, who was slowly looking around the operating room, the door slowly closed. He was composed even though two people were pointing knives at him.

“You’re asking to die, you bastard.”

The man, his face flushed with anger, took a step closer. For him, it was an incredibly absurd situation. The doctor he had been waiting for was beaten and lying down, and since no one else was coming, it seemed like all the guys outside had also been taken care of. Yet, this fresh-faced, handsome young man had come in alone and didn’t seem nervous at all.

“Wait… you…”

The man furrowed his brow at the unfamiliar face. This was the junior of Woo Heewoon.

Then. A deafening phone ringtone sounded.

Everyone’s gaze moved to find the ringtone, but Heewoon remained unfazed, staring only at Gangwoo. Gangwoo, without even a glance at Heewoon, spoke.

“Answer it. It must be your boss.”

“What are you talking about, you damn bastard…”

The man’s expression faltered slightly as he checked the phone screen. Gangwoo merely watched the man with an unexpressive face. The man, who hesitated for a moment, looking between Gangwoo and the phone, put the phone to his ear. The man standing next to him stepped forward as if to protect him, brandishing his weapon.

Gangwoo watched the scene without any emotion.

“Yes, Boss. I’m busy right now… Yes?”

The man glanced at Gangwoo.

“Yes. I just arrived… He’s Chairman Yoon’s grandson? You mean that Chairman Yoon?”

—Yes, you idiot!

The voice from beyond the receiver was loud enough to be heard nearby.

“With Chairman Yoon… the surname is different…”

—Stop talking nonsense and do everything that bastard says!

As the call dragged on, Gangwoo fiddled with his eyebrow. Then he turned to the side. It was in Heewoon’s direction.

Heewoon, who had been paying attention to even trivial things with the thought of escaping this place, only half-listened to the phone conversation. The other faint sounds that had been heard were now completely gone. Only the regular sound of footsteps and the subtle rustling of the cloth wrapped around his body could be heard.

Gangwoo stopped in front of Heewoon. He looked down intently at Heewoon’s face, who was trembling slightly and looking up at him.

His hair was wet, perhaps from cold sweat, and his cheekbones were bruised. His face was pale. His round eyes had not left Gangwoo since he entered this place.

Tears quickly welled up in his bloodshot eyes. Enough to fall in drops, even without blinking.

Tears beaded up on the blue tape covering his mouth, then formed streams and flowed down his chin. Gangwoo frowned, seeing this.

“You weren’t crying until now, but you’re crying after seeing me?”

“Ugh… uh…”

Heewoon seemed to be trying to say something, but he was blocked by the tape wrapped around his mouth, covering half of his small face. Gangwoo clicked his tongue and reached out his hand.

“They wrapped it so crudely.”

The tip of Gangwoo’s fingernail caught the tape and touched Heewoon’s cheek.

It was that small sensation. It unblocked his breath, which no amount of breathing had helped, and made blood quickly circulate through his entire numb body.

“Ah. Just stay like this for a moment.”

Gangwoo withdrew his hand and straightened his bent waist. The two men, who had finished their call, glanced at Gangwoo and awkwardly put down their weapons. No one who deals in black money hasn’t heard of Chairman Yoon. However, low-level subordinates who only collect loan money would not know Chairman Yoon’s grandson, and it was also a problem that they had initially concluded that Gangwoo and Heewoon were senior and junior. Disappointment was written on their rough faces.

However, Gangwoo had no interest in the men. He only thought that Heewoon, who had stretched his tied legs out to the side and barely sat up, looked especially small. His gaze shifted slightly sideways. He saw ankles wearing dirty sneakers.

“Sunbae.”

Heewoon looked up at Gangwoo. Meeting those desperate eyes, Gangwoo brought his shoed foot down hard on Heewoon’s ankle.

Snap, at the sound of bone breaking, Heewoon’s eyes widened.

“Uuuuuugh—!”

The scream, unable to escape his taped mouth, seemed to explode inside his throat.

The men looked at Gangwoo’s back with dumbfounded expressions. This was a completely unexpected action. Wasn’t he here to save them? Heewoon was just as confused. The only calm person there was Gangwoo, who quietly watched Heewoon writhe in pain.

“Uuuuuugh…! Haa…”

His pale face turned bright red from the pain, and veins stood out on his forehead. Heewoon looked down at his leg. It was hard to see due to his pants, but it must have been a terrible sight. The sound was too loud. Perhaps his leg bone had been crushed.

When Heewoon’s scream subsided, Gangwoo spoke.

“Why did you come all the way here without saying anything?”