Winter Season Chapter 16

A screeching, sharp sound echoed out. The old fluorescent lights on the ceiling flickered precariously due to the vibration of the walls. Amidst the flashing light, the first thing Yihyeon discovered was the silhouette of someone crouching in the middle.

“Hyung-nim, I brought him.”

At the sound of the voice, Seunghyeok raised his head. Radiators positioned here and there cast a bright red light over his rugged face. Yihyeon, who had been clenching his fists tightly in tension, reflexively swallowed hard upon facing Seunghyeok’s countenance.

Thud.

Seunghyeok released the strength in the hand gripping the other’s collar and slowly stood up. A weary gaze, devoid of excitement, anger, or any emotion, slowly swept over Yihyeon from head to toe. Yihyeon clenched his fists tighter.

“Cough, cough, …ugh!”

The sound of someone’s pained coughing broke the uneven silence. Yihyeon lowered his gaze, avoiding the eyes he had been locked with until then. Only then did he notice the man who had been held by the collar by Gu Seunghyeok just moments ago.

The person covered in blood and trailing transparent froth was a young part-timer Yihyeon knew well. Scratching at the floor where cement dust swirled with his mangled fingers, he raised eyes that had lost all focus to look up at Yihyeon.

“Ugh, gack, kgh…”

“Kim Jinseok?”

Whenever he saw Jinseok—who said he started this job to save up business capital after dropping out of a university he’d entered based on his grades—Yihyeon would occasionally be reminded of his own early twenties. Because that weighed on his mind, he had often looked out for him by bringing him leftover fruit from the kitchen.

“Kim Jinseok? What… what happened? Kim Jinseok!”

Startled, Yihyeon forgot that the person in the room was watching him and quickly approached Jinseok to kneel beside him. Watching that scene blankly, Seunghyeok took a cigarette out of his inner jacket pocket and put it in his mouth.

“We see each other often.”

The steady voice without any inflection resonated, but it didn’t quite reach Yihyeon’s ears. Yihyeon tapped Jinseok’s face and hurriedly continued speaking.

“Hey, snap out of it…! Are you okay? Can you see me?”

“Ugh…”

Jinseok’s pupils kept rolling upward, and he continued to drool frothy saliva. Sensing the situation was more serious than expected, Yihyeon stabilized Jinseok’s head with trembling hands, but the limp face kept lolling to the side.

Right then, a low laugh was heard from behind. The organization members standing against the wall caught a glimpse of Seunghyeok’s expression and quietly shut their mouths.

“A person gives a greeting and gets no reaction.”

The sarcastic tone made it clear it wasn’t just a monologue. To avoid falling for the provocation, Yihyeon bit his lower lip hard once and then pulled up Jinseok’s slumped body.

The limp body of an adult male was heavier than expected. As Yihyeon barely managed to hook his arms under the man’s and stand as if carrying him, Seunghyeok stood in Yihyeon’s way with a crooked smile. Yihyeon glared at him with piercing eyes.

“Move.”

“Our conversation with him isn’t over yet. Sorry, but you’ll have to put him back down.”

“How can you say something like that so nonchalantly after turning a person into this state?”

“It would be even funnier if we made him this way and then started whining about it.”

Jinseok’s body, draped over Yihyeon’s shoulder, began to convulse intermittently. Yihyeon grew worried that something might happen to Jinseok while they were standing here. He could feel the tremors of Jinseok’s body directly against his own stiffened shoulders.

Yihyeon became desperate. In contrast, Seunghyeok was relaxed. He was continuously smirking as if he had witnessed something entertaining. Yihyeon’s mind turned cold at the attitude that seemed to be toying with people.

“This looks like a scene I’ve seen somewhere before, doesn’t it?”

Click-clack, click-clack. Seunghyeok spoke mockingly while toying with his lighter. Yihyeon also had a memory from the distant past surface, but he tried to ignore it and spoke in a low voice.

“…Is this situation funny to you right now?”

“Wouldn’t it be funny to you? Seeing a bastard who can’t even take care of himself worrying about others?”

The jawline below Yihyeon’s ear tensed and relaxed. He didn’t want to exchange words with Gu Seunghyeok while standing face-to-face, nor did he have the time.

Yihyeon turned his gaze away from Seunghyeok without regret and supported Jinseok. As he moved toward the door, he saw the thugs standing in front grow extremely alert.

“Ah… you’re acting really entertaining.”

“…….”

The corners of Seunghyeok’s mouth, which had been turned up in a sneer at the completely dismissive attitude, slowly lowered and then hardened into a straight line.

After exhaling a long trail of cigarette smoke he’d been holding in his mouth, he languidly closed his eyes and wiped his hand over his mouth.

“Hey, where are you going?”

His lips felt bone-dry at the terrifyingly subsided voice, but Yihyeon did not stop walking. Soon, he was in front of the hulking figures blocking the door.

“Please move out of the way.”

They were looking over Yihyeon’s shoulder. They weren’t knight statues in some old medieval hallway, yet they held their positions firmly with their hands behind their backs.

“I asked you to move—”

“Kwon Yihyeon. Do you think I called you here just so you could take that one guy and leave?”

Then, with a thud, something hit Yihyeon’s calf and dropped. The sound of footsteps behind him seemed to move away, followed by the creaking of an old steel chair.

Yihyeon slowly lowered his head toward his feet. A familiar-looking wallet was lying on the floor.

“I heard a little rat was messing around in the CEO’s office without any fear. And this wallet is what came out of there?”

“…….”

“But it’s strange. When the trap was actually set, he’s the one who got caught.”

Yihyeon swallowed and slowly turned his head. It seemed that what Seunghyeok was saying now was no longer a joke.

“One of the two is the real one and the other is a decoy. Which one do you think is the real one?”

“…….”

“Actually, which one do you think I’m going to make the real one?”

He couldn’t understand why the wallet he’d lost was found in the CEO’s office, but now was not the time to be thinking about that. It seemed he shouldn’t be worrying about whether Jinseok was okay, but rather hoping that he himself wouldn’t end up in that state.

Seeing Yihyeon staring blankly at the wallet, Seunghyeok pulled the corner of his mouth up crookedly.

“Do you feel like talking now?”

When Yihyeon couldn’t say anything and only bit his lip, the hulking men standing behind him grabbed and pulled Jinseok’s body. Unlike Yihyeon, who had been struggling with the weight, it was a light movement for them.

This time, Yihyeon also released the strength in his hands without resistance. As Jinseok’s wrist fell away and Yihyeon grit his teeth.

“We’ll take our time figuring out what happened with him…”

Seunghyeok continued as he slowly crossed his legs.

“What should we do with you.”

“…….”

“It’s a bit tiring to use my fists again.”

Yihyeon’s guard intensified at the action of massaging his wrist as if joking. The gazes of the others in the room now began to feel like a threat. Seunghyeok looked at Yihyeon and spoke in a nonchalant tone.

“Do you want to grab the hem of my pants and soak them with your tears? Who knows? Maybe I’ll feel bad for you and look the other way.”

The mockery was clear. When Yihyeon remained silent, only biting his lip with his eyes downcast, Seunghyeok continued in a derisive voice.

“If you don’t like that either, how about you give my boys a good show.”

“…….”

“You like that kind of thing, don’t you?”

Yihyeon swallowed at the words of unclear meaning. Seunghyeok snorted at Yihyeon’s trembling eyelids and leaned back.

“Hey, guys. Have you ever seen gay bastards actually sleeping together?”

Yihyeon’s eyes snapped up at the words spat out. Seunghyeok was leaning his head against the chair, tapping his foot.

The organization members were surprised by the fact that Seunghyeok, who usually felt disgusted by even the mention of anything related to homosexuals, was the first to say such a thing. Just as they were exchanging glances, wondering how to respond, someone quickly spoke up in a playful tone.

“Egh, hyung-nim. Just the thought makes me want to vomit. What are you saying all of a sudden, haha.”

Once one person opened the floodgates, the other organization members awkwardly laughed and joined in to lighten the mood. Seunghyeok watched them and added more.

“They say humans or animals have sex to leave behind their genes or whatever. I may not have a high school diploma, but I know at least that much.”

“…….”