Salt Society Chapter 74

Cho Yeonoh’s insensitive tone effectively blocked Kihyun’s body. It was the kind of voice the fellow only used when he was truly angry. Knowing that the fellow becoming completely expressionless rather than being sly and turning someone’s insides out meant he was at his angriest, Kihyun closed his eyes tightly at the goosebumps rising all over and then once again braced his heart.

It was then.

“Ha, haha… Ugh, ugh…. Haha…”

Cho Yeonsin started laughing out of nowhere. Revealing all of his blood-stained teeth, he laughed while clutching his ribcage as if his ribs hurt.

“Oh, fuck, you have just completely lost it, haven’t you?”

Cho Yeonoh grabbed Cho Yeonsin’s collar once more. Raising his large arm high, it seemed he intended to strike his cheek again. Cho Yeonsin coughed and sputtered. Every time he coughed, saliva and blood splattered down onto his shirt front and face.

“Haha… Yeonoh, I am only doing this because you are funny…”

Cho Yeonsin spoke in a voice so gentle it was impossible to believe he was the one being beaten just a moment ago. It was that very neat voice that had spoken to him on the beach in Namhae. Kihyun felt a chill.

Cho Yeonoh stared intently at Cho Yeonsin. As if to see how far he would go. Cho Yeonsin continued while giggling.

“Ugh, ha…. You, about that Omega, ugh…. You didn’t even know, cough… why his ankle became crippled?”

“…”

“Haha, ugh… No, I…. Ah, this is too funny. But since you were sitting there not even knowing why that leg-cripple injured his ankle, or that he became an Omega…”

Cho Yeonsin covered his face with one hand and now burst into a full-blown fit of laughter, his eyes even crinkling. Every time he laughed, the blood pooled in his mouth sprayed out. Laughing like someone who could not hold back a cough, the shirt sleeve of Cho Yeonoh, who was holding his collar, was stained red.

Turning his head to the side while held by the collar, Cho Yeonsin spat out foamy blood onto the ground, and then his shoulders shook as he burst into laughter again.

“Ahahaha! Then Yeonoh, even though you two stuck together so disgustingly as a Beta and an Alpha, you didn’t, haha, know anything about what that Omega was doing while wandering around? Ah, ha!”

The gap between the greenhouses built in succession was narrow enough to be fully occupied if two adults stood side-by-side. Cho Yeonsin’s laughter echoed loudly through that space. The light from the charcoal fire, which was almost extinguished, cast shadows over the face of the bizarrely laughing Cho Yeonsin.

“…”

Cho Yeonoh, who had been silent the whole time, finally moved. He then grabbed So Kihyun’s wrist. He jerked his chin toward the junior who was standing there blankly.

“Is it that bastard?”

“…What?”

In his tone of asking so casually, there was no inflection. Kihyun was so chilled by the question, which lacked any felt emotion, that he was on the verge of getting goosebumps. While Kihyun was unable to answer because he was blankly dwelling on the question, Cho Yeonoh was staring piercingly at the expression of the junior standing before them.

Then, he just dragged So Kihyun and walked past them.

“…Hey!”

Kihyun belatedly called out to Cho Yeonoh in surprise, but the fellow led Kihyun along without looking back. He opened the door to the greenhouse that served as the gambling den. Before Kihyun could even say anything in his surprise, Cho Yeonoh pushed Kihyun inside. Through the suddenly opened door, he saw the bank clerk sitting at the counter looking this way.

“You…”

He did not feel good even with the cool air inside the greenhouse that suddenly touched him. Kihyun called Cho Yeonoh again to say something, but the fellow looked around and, pushing the door with his booted foot, he pulled off a square timber that had been nailed there to reinforce the greenhouse entrance.

“Hey! I asked what you are doing!”

So Kihyun continued to try and stop Cho Yeonoh, but without even looking this way, he finally tore off the timber that was firmly nailed down. Because he had torn it off with pure physical strength, one of the nails embedded in both ends of the timber remained dangling on the door, while the other came out still attached to the timber. Cho Yeonoh gripped the end opposite the nail like a baseball bat.

He was still not looking back at So Kihyun. It was the moment Kihyun headed toward the entrance again to stop him. Cho Yeonoh grabbed the doorknob and said without even turning back.

“Try running away again. I will kill every single bastard here and get a stay of execution by claiming mental and physical weakness.”

“…What?”

It meant he would commit even murder and not serve time. Leaving Kihyun standing there blankly in shock, Cho Yeonoh went away, even closing the door tightly.

“Huh? What’s going on? Tell them we didn’t order delivery.”

Whether the alcohol had hit her while she slept, Yang Jisu, who was lying on the sofa, sat halfway up and spoke nonsense before lying back down to sleep again.

Kihyun let out a sigh and was about to ask Yang Jisu if she was the one who called the junior, but he shut his mouth. This was because it was impossible for Yang Jisu, who might seem easygoing but had a strictly upright side, to do such a thing to So Kihyun.

Besides, to think the one he was with was Cho Yeonsin. He should have sensed this situation when the face of the person inside the foreign car he ran into in town felt familiar… Kihyun’s mouth felt bitter. This was because it was his own mistake not to have known the face of Cho Yeonsin, even though he knew of his existence through Yeonoh.

From what he heard, he thought he liked gambling… Thinking that way, he thought it could be a coincidence that he came here with the junior. Because Yang Jisu’s greenhouse was said to be famous among gamblers despite its appearance.

The problem was Cho Yeonoh. He could not understand how on earth he had come all the way here. It was then. He heard a blunt scream—”Aargh!”

The reason it sounded distant was because the scream came from outside the greenhouse. Kihyun stood blankly before heading toward the wall where the sound was coming from. Since the inside was brighter than the outside, whatever was happening outside was not reflected in shadows, but the sound could be heard without ceasing. It was then. A palm shape appeared on the vinyl wall.

“Ack!”

The sound of surprise came from behind Kihyun’s back. Whether the bank clerk had fallen backward in surprise, unlike his usual self, the sound of a chair rolling was loud. However, Kihyun could not take his eyes off the vinyl wall. Someone was enduring one-sided violence and constantly bracing themselves by placing a hand against the vinyl wall.

“Wa, wait! Hyung, Yeonsin hyung! Please help me!”

It was then. A plea blocked by a single layer was heard. The one being beaten seemed to be the junior. It was unexpected, as he thought it would be Cho Yeonsin. Kihyun covered his mouth with his hand. He was troubled that Cho Yeonoh had found out the truth.

It was the moment he felt he should go outside and stop it. Because of the junior who was slowly crawling backward, the light from the streetlamp between the greenhouses reached them. Kihyun saw someone through the translucent wall raising a club and ran out in shock.

“Aargh! Ack!”

However, a loud scream was heard even before he could open the door. So Kihyun ran without even realizing his ankle, which felt frozen and didn’t move well. And he had no choice but to turn pale with shock at the sight he faced.

A square timber was stuck in the ankle of the junior, who was prone on the ground letting out groans of pain. To be precise, the nail that had been in the timber was embedded below the ankle bone.

“You…”

Kihyun called Cho Yeonoh but could not continue speaking. Without looking back at Kihyun, Cho Yeonoh approached the frozen Cho Yeonsin. Because Cho Yeonoh had his back turned to him, Kihyun could not see the fellow’s expression, but Cho Yeonsin was frozen while looking up at Yeonoh and opened his mouth stutteringly.

“Yeo, Yeonoh, you, I won’t tell grandfather about this for now, so…”

“Just tell him, you son of a bitch.”

Yeonoh, who grabbed Cho Yeonsin’s collar just like that, struck his cheek once more. This time, instead of a slapping sound, a thudding sound occurred. At the sound that was like a fist hitting a cheek, Cho Yeonsin only groaned, “Ugh, ugh,” and could not resist.

“S-Second Lieutenant, please, please save me, okay?”

Having crawled over at some point, the junior grabbed Kihyun’s ankle. It was the side that he still involuntarily limped on whenever something came to mind.

Kihyun’s face contorted as he stared at the square timber stuck in the same side ankle. Pulling his ankle away from the junior’s grasp, he strode toward Cho Yeonoh.

Cho Yeonoh, who was still beating Cho Yeonsin, seemed not to even realize that the opponent was on the verge of losing consciousness. Kihyun felt a deep dizziness and grabbed Cho Yeonoh’s shoulder.

“Stop it.”

“…”

Without a reply, Cho Yeonoh only continued to throw his hands. Because he had struck only the same spot, one side of Cho Yeonsin’s cheek was already swollen as if stung by a bee multiple times. At the very least, his jaw joint must be shattered. Cho Yeonoh’s grandfather cherished Cho Yeonoh the most, but he was fundamentally obsessed with bloodlines, so he would not leave his grandson alone. Kihyun stopped Yeonoh repeatedly.

“I told you to stop.”

“…”

“Cho Yeonoh!”

It was when he called his name as if warning the fellow who would not stop even after being told once more. Cho Yeonoh shook off Kihyun’s arm from his shoulder with a rough motion. He then stood up and looked back at So Kihyun.

Eyes filled with blood vessels were looking at Kihyun while containing extreme emotions.

The one who shut his mouth in surprise was Kihyun. Because the look in his eyes was something he was seeing for the first time since knowing the fellow. Cho Yeonoh, who was looking at the frozen Kihyun, laughed as if letting out a “Ha” of empty air. Everything was just fucking awful.