A Scorching Day Chapter 59

The sound of dull, mechanical footsteps echoed. A massive figure, wearing a neatly fitted suit with an in-ear piece, crossed the corridor with a straight gait.

The man’s expressionless face was cold. His elongated eyes, sharp jawline, and firmly pressed lips created an impressively handsome impression. The faintly youthful look was skillfully masked by his imposing build and cold expression that bordered on arrogant.

Ki Joon, having arrived at the room where a disturbance had been reported, roughly flung the door open. It was an uncharacteristic move for the manager of ‘Cheonghwa,’ which only handled VIPs, but in this case, it was an exception.

“Take it off and shake it if you’re told to, you fucking arrogant bitch, you damn cunt. Hey. You think you’re a teacher or a professor? Huh? You fucking—”

A brutish, toad-like man was holding one of the girls, raising his fist. The other girls were trembling, but unable to leave the sides of the men who had chosen them, they could only hold their breath and watch the scene.

It was the manager of the Dumyeong faction and his ragtag bunch—troublemakers who caused headaches every time they came. ‘Cheonghwa’ wasn’t a place anyone could enter just because they had a lot of cash, but having the right connections changed things.

It had started a year ago when the representative of Dumyeong Construction and Ki Woohyun had struck up a connection at a golf meeting. Since then, these low-quality ragtags had begun to crawl in.

“Sir.”

Ki Joon called out to the man with annoyance, grabbing his wrist.

“That’s enough. How can you act like this in front of people from the same industry?”

“What, you fucking—”

“Min Yeorim, come here.”

Ki Joon gestured with his chin toward the woman and twisted the toad-like man’s wrist. With a yelp of “Ow!” the man released the woman’s arm. Min Yeorim, her hostess dress torn and her body exposed as she trembled, wept and hid behind Ki Joon.

“You fucking pimp bastard, how dare you—”

The toad, enraged to the tips of his hair, grabbed a beer bottle from the table. Then, with a savage ferocity, he swung the bottle at Ki Joon.

“Kyaaah!”

The women’s screams pierced the room sharply. Ki Joon easily dodged the bottle and grabbed the toad’s collar, lifting him up. His expression as he looked at the toad with contemptuous eyes was almost one of weary disgust.

“Sir. You’ve thrown the first punch.”

A swift fist cut through the air. With a thud and the sound of a jaw crunching, the toad screamed.

“Ow! Ugh, ah!”

“As stated in the contract, as of today, you are banned from our club.”

Thud, thud. With mechanical explanations, his fists struck repeatedly. After three blows, the toad collapsed, unable to even scream, melting into the spot. The men beside him all stood up at once.

“You bastard!”

“All of you, get out.”

After issuing the concise order to the girls, Ki Joon loosened his tie and leaped onto the table. The women scattered in panic, running toward the open doorway.

Ki Joon, standing on the table, directed his foot at the head of the first man who lunged. With a thud! the man’s head was kicked like a soccer ball, his eyes rolling back as he lost consciousness.

“Die, you fuck!”

One of the group drew a blade that glinted under the lights. The knife, aimed at Ki Joon’s calf, was soon kicked away by his dress shoe, flying off and embedding itself in a plush sofa.

Another bastard tried to grab Ki Joon’s leg as he braced on the table, attempting to bring him down, but instead ended up being dragged up by his collar. Thud, thud, Ki Joon mercilessly pounded his fists. Blood spurted, and shattered teeth scattered across the table.

Soon, Cheonghyeon’s guards rushed in. The men tangled together in a brawl. Ki Joon, jumping down from the table, subdued one of them who was trying to draw a knife and slammed him to the floor. Since the fight was already easily in their favor, the commotion soon ceased.

“Oh, what the fuck. What’s all this?”

Ahn Seongjoon, arriving late, widened his eyes at the sight of the room. Ki Joon spoke with a look of utter boredom.

“Report the current situation to the President. Call the support office and tell them to cancel those bastards’ contracts too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“You all go back to the waiting room. Min Yeorim, take the day off.”

After saying that to the trembling girls lined up outside the room, Ki Joon turned away without a backward glance. Just then, a sprout-like hand gently wrapped around Ki Joon’s wrist.

“…”

For an instant, what flickered in Ki Joon’s eyes was clear annoyance. But having grown accustomed to suppressing his emotions, he slowly turned his head.

“What is it.”

“Manager, are you alright…? I’m sorry. Because of me…”

Min Yeorim mumbled in a small voice. Tears welling in her large eyes trickled down her cheeks. Ki Joon stared at her expressionlessly. Seeing her chest and bare skin clearly exposed through the torn shreds of her clothes, a deep sigh escaped him.

“It’s not because of you. Go rest.”

Ki Joon took off his jacket and tossed it to Min Yeorim. Even for someone in this line of work, having to show such a humiliating sight in front of her coworkers couldn’t have been easy.

“Thank… you.”

Min Yeorim bowed her head, dropping tears like droplets, and expressed her thanks. Then, covering her body with the jacket, she headed toward the waiting room with the other girls.

As he saw someone else superimposed over her limping back, a corner of his heart ached as if stabbed. He suddenly wanted to bang his head against the wall. He couldn’t bear the fiery emotions boiling inside him.

“Get me some alcohol.”

“Understood.”

After instructing a passing server, he entered an empty room. Soon, a bottle of whiskey was placed on the table.

Ice, fruit snacks, and other accompaniments were laid out beside it, but Ki Joon didn’t touch any of them. He poured the liquor straight and downed it in succession. The familiar warmth he had built up steadily over the years burned hotly inside him.

“Hey, hey, you’re drinking hard liquor again. You’ll ruin your stomach. You haven’t eaten a thing all day because you were on the boat… at least eat some snacks first.”

Ahn Seongjoon, who had followed him in, grumbled and slumped down across from him. Having been on the boat together all day, a faint scent of the sea clung to him.

They had searched and searched again through every remote mountain and isolated region across the country. Knowing that even in closed-off areas, entertainment establishments existed, just in different forms, they had checked every single one, no matter how remote. From small gathering spots in mountainous islands, massage parlors, to the dazzling high-end clubs in Seoul’s busy districts. For three years, they had meticulously combed through every entertainment establishment in Korea.

At the same time, he didn’t let go of the other hope he was clinging to. With a desperate wish, he continued to search for Yoon Gawon not in the underworld, but in normal society.

If only I were chasing an absurdly wrong lead, Gawon-ah. If you were living the ordinary life you so wished for. If you were found as a normal student laughing happily with your classmates near your university… I would have no regrets, even if I died right now.

“Ah, fuck…. Why is it so hard to find him? How many years has it been? What the hell is this?”

“…”

Ahn Seongjoon poured a glass of liquor and grumbled with a sour face.

“I mean, it’s true. We’re combing the entire country. Unless he’s dead…”

Ahn Seongjoon, realizing his slip, shut his mouth. Ki Joon’s murderous gaze turned toward him.

“Hyung.”

“…Yeah.”

“If you’re going to say shit like that, just get out. It ruins the taste of the liquor.”

“…”

At the somberly sharpened voice, Ahn Seongjoon scratched the back of his head.

“No, I mean, what I’m saying is, there’s no rule that he has to be in a brothel.”

“…”

“…Drink in moderation. You have… a call with the President tomorrow.”

The hand that had pressed firmly on his shoulder withdrew. As soon as Ahn Seongjoon closed the door and left, Ki Joon hurled the crystal glass on the table toward the opposite wall. Crash! With a loud noise, the shattered fragments scattered messily across the floor.

Even then, the unquelled anger raged vividly in his chest. Unable to contain the surging fury, he struck the table several times with his fist. Grabbing an ashtray, he slammed it down on the table, smashing it and sending sharp fragments flying in all directions.

Thick, clotted blood trickled down, soaking his palms. Ki Joon watched the whole process with dull eyes. As if observing someone else’s actions from afar.

It wasn’t just Ahn Seongjoon. A single word from anyone who knew Ki Joon’s situation could so easily shake him.

A faint glimmer of hope that had risen just yesterday transformed into despair before a single day had passed, mocking Ki Joon. Meanwhile, a light that flickered as if about to go out in the midst of terrible agony would flare up again at a single false clue. In the end, every time, it turned out to be nothing but an empty shell.

It had been exactly three years. The period spent searching for Yoon Gawon. As time passed, anxiety gnawed away at Ki Joon’s body and mind.

I don’t have time to be sitting around drinking like this. I don’t have time to be cleaning up after these inhuman bastards and playing pimp…

“Fuck…”

Ki Joon raised his hand and rubbed one side of his face. Over Min Yeorim’s face, as she shed her tears drop by drop, he saw that kid superimposed.

I’m sorry for overlaying such vile imaginings onto you. But I can’t shake off these wicked thoughts. What if you’re being treated like this somewhere, crying? What if you’re living such a miserable life too? It truly drives me insane…

“Gawon-ah. Yoon Gawon. Gawon-ah…”

A name that yields no answer even when called hundreds and thousands of times—he calls it out again today. Ki Joon collapsed limply, face down on the table. The clear liquor mixes with the thick blood falling drop by drop, swirling into a chaotic pattern.

Disliking the thought of the black tattoo shaped like a rosary bracelet being stained with blood, he rubbed it several times with his fingers. But the constantly flowing dark red blood mercilessly covered the rosary tattoo.

If only I could write a letter with this blood and have it reach you, and if only even a single trace of your voice could return to me… I would gladly sear my own flesh with a blade until not a single drop of blood remained in my body.

How long had he lain there like that? Ki Joon staggered to his feet. Perhaps because of his blood-stained shirt, the staff members passing by widened their eyes.

Entering the room he used alone under the guise of a manager’s office, he stripped off his shirt and threw it away. On Ki Joon’s back, as he wrapped bandages around his hand with emotionless gestures, a dazzling blue flower was in full bloom.