The New Groom Chapter 4

In that instant, Lee Jeongrok was struck by the phrase, “I crawled all the way home because my head got busted open.” He had to stop them. He had to stop them even if it meant clinging to their trouser legs.

He wasn’t worried about the out-of-his-mind resident who dared to throw an egg at Hwang Bosik. He was focused on the company stock price, which would plummet the moment Hwang Bosik committed an ignorant act. Before Lee Jeongrok could hurriedly rush into the tent, someone cut in front of him a step ahead.

“Stop this!”

Jin Juyeong, who had wrapped himself around the resident who threw the egg as if to protect him, shouted. It was a voice he had never heard before. The voice, which had always been gentle and calm, clearly sliced through the sound of the rain. Even though he looked like a mess, soaked through with rainwater, he didn’t look pathetic at all. The gaze he leveled directly at Hwang Bosik was incredibly dignified.

“If you continue, I will call the police. I have already captured video evidence of you, Mister, destroying property and obstructing a lawful assembly. If you keep doing this, we will also pursue legal action.”

“Legal action?”

Hwang Bosik, his eyes narrowed, laughed boisterously.

“Good, that’s great. I’m a person who likes the law, too. Did you record well that that bastard put his hands on my body first? Let’s go, yeah, do it by the law. Let’s go to court and finish this! I’ve got plenty of time.”

“Just a moment. Wait a minute, Mister, please calm down for now. Attorney Jin! What kind of way is that to speak to the President? It’s not like we’re here to fight in this situation.”

Lee Jeongrok, who had arrived a step late, managed to squeeze between the two. He purposely raised his voice, calling him “Attorney Jin” so that Hwang Bosik would hear. It meant that a lawyer was involved, so he shouldn’t act rashly. Fortunately, as if he understood the implication, Hwang Bosik backed off quietly. Lee had been worried that he would ignore it and kick over a chair or knock down the tent, but it seemed he had at least a modicum of awareness.

“Everyone is too agitated. For now, well, for now, please take a breath and calm down.”

The only people there who weren’t soaked yet were Lee Jeongrok and the Chief who was holding an umbrella for him. Everyone looked like a drowned rat, breathing hard and glaring at each other. Stretching his arms out wide between the two groups as if to mediate, Lee Jeongrok desperately attempted to persuade them.

“We didn’t come here to fight. Why are you all so hasty with talk of police and courts? Please calm down, let everyone’s emotions settle, and let’s talk rationally. If it’s like this, we’ll ruin even the problems that could be solved well. Now, let’s go into the city hall first to change out of your wet clothes and wipe off the rainwater. We’ll handle cleaning up the site, so hurry.”

“…”

“Attorney Jin, why are you standing there blankly? Hurry and take them inside. If you linger, the elders will catch a cold.”

In the end, Jin Juyeong was the first to take a step back.

“…Very well, please go in for now. We have a long way to go, so it would be a big problem if you caught a cold.”

In truth, ever since Hwang Bosik had acted bold by saying they should go to court, Jin Juyeong had been preparing to back out. Regardless of who was right or wrong, if Hwang Bosik truly hired a large law firm and dragged this issue to court, it would take forever, and the side that would end up at a disadvantage was none other than the opposition committee. Since public opinion was already bad due to the tent sit-in, it was necessary to back down at this point.

When it was the lawyer—and not just anyone else—who persuaded them, the protesters finally turned around. The residents, who were covered in muddy water and soaked to their underwear from being rained on the whole time, kept looking back several times while unable to shake their excitement. However, they did not return to the tent.

Only then was Lee Jeongrok able to catch his breath. As he walked slowly while chasing the opposition committee, someone suddenly draped an arm around his shoulder from behind.

It was Hwang Bosik.

The Chief, who had been sticking close to his side holding the umbrella, stepped a pace behind. Having caused a ruckus, Hwang Bosik was radiating intense heat from his entire body. He draped his heavy arm, sticky with sweat, over the back of Lee Jeongrok’s neck and whispered.

“Look.”

Lee Jeongrok, who was putting all his strength into controlling his expression against the disgusting breath warming his cheek, looked back involuntarily. Behind his back, the protest tent, which had lost one of its pillars, was barely standing, leaning miserably. The space under the tent was empty.

“This is how you get work done. Do you understand?”

“…Yes.”

The chaotic scene, which until just a moment ago had been a mess of thirty or forty people tangling in a fight and shouting, was eerily quiet. The security guards Hwang Bosik had brought were quickly dismantling the tent in the rain.

Lee Jeongrok could not hide his feeling of emptiness. It was a tent that had held firm like an impregnable fortress, no matter how much he tried, attaching words like “rule of law” and “democratic consensus.” Hwang Bosik had torn it down too easily with a single fit of destruction. The valid and common-sense processes like procedure or consensus had been cut short in the blink of an eye by a single act of violence. The bickering and arguing over whether it was antisocial or undemocratic felt infinitely empty.

Hwang Bosik, who had resolved a struggle that dozens had maintained for nearly a year by simply biting into an apple, smacked his lips like a satiated lion.

“Do you understand? There are two ways to solve a problem in this world.”

“…”

“One is to crush them with force. There is no one in this world who can hold out if you crush them with force. Imagine I made you carry a 100-kilo, 200-kilo piece of scrap metal on your shoulders. Can you hold out? Before you get crushed to death, you’d probably beg and plead that your hands would become your feet, begging to be saved. Even mouths that act tough, talking about doing things by the law, will inevitably let out a wail if they get hit. Because no one wants to die a dog’s death. Isn’t that right?”

“…What is the other one?”

“What is?”

“The way to solve problems. You said there were two.”

“Right, that’s true. Sometimes, there are guys who hold out even when you crush them with force. Sometimes there are such die-hards. No matter how much you beat those guys, it’s useless. You can’t persuade them with words, and you can’t solve it with money. So, what do you do then? What would you do if it were you?”

“…I’m not sure.”

“You just kill them.”

Hwang Bosik whispered, reeking of the disgusting fishy smell of eggs.

“Don’t they say that the dead have no words? Hahaha.”

Lee Jeongrok did not open his mouth again. He only looked back at the protest site just before entering the city hall. In less than five minutes, the tent had been cleanly removed. As if it had never been there in the first place.

Goosebumps rose all over his body.

“By the way, who is that lawyer from earlier? You looked like you knew each other.”

“Ah… yes. Jin Juyeong is my alumnus. His office is in Seoul, but…”

∞ ∞ ∞

Hwang Representative who rammed into the protest site like a bull… Suspicions of being a ‘gangster’ arise.

It was the top headline on page 1 of the Jeil Gyeonggi. A large photo of Hwang Bosik was printed, yelling like a yacha with raw egg dripping down his face. It was a shameful, undignified sight.

The day after he had forcibly dismantled the protest site. Hwang Bosik, who had gone out early in the morning to play screen golf, stormed into the company in a rage. Having lost face in front of his friends due to the newspaper available at the screen golf center, he immediately called Lee Jeongrok and shouted.

“Isn’t this the work of that lawyer who you said was your friend?”

“…”

The Jeil Gyeonggi was the second-largest newspaper in Gyeonggi Province. Lee Jeongrok, who received a newspaper clipping and summary through his secretary every morning, already knew the news. In front of his father-in-law, who was shouting like a thunderclap, he said calmly without blinking an eye.

“As soon as I checked it this morning, I contacted the newspaper, Father. I filed a formal complaint as well, so…”

“Again, again, you’re just all talk. Yesterday, you tried to solve it with words and couldn’t do a damn thing, getting hit so hard that I had to step in. And now that you’ve caused this mess, are you just sitting there flapping your mouth again just like yesterday? Have you lost your mind, huh? How the hell are you going to run a business acting like this, you stupid bastard!”

“…I am sorry, Father. I will go to the newspaper right now and…”

“Shut your mouth, shut up! Get out of here right now, you slow-witted bastard. I must be a complete idiot to have trusted someone like you. Damn it all. Hey! Secretary Kim!”