Chapter 19

The sun, having fulfilled its day’s duty, sank away, leaving behind a crimson trail. Two shadows walked side by side into the dusk.

Power lines sagged from utility poles, and birds flew in flocks overhead. To the left of the narrow paved road, green rice plants swayed like a sea. To the right, fruit trees of similar height stood in neat rows.

For now, they bore no fruit, only clusters of fluffy white blossoms. But when the time came, they would yield apples or pears. A gift for those who waited.

“So that’s your strategy? An insurrection?”

Scuff, scuff. A sulky voice rose above the sound of slippers dragging along the road.

“Wow. Even the name is perfect.”

Kim Ju-shin’s sneakers moved slowly, matching her pace.

“Ha Yun-sang and insurrection.”

Get it? The kid added brightly, then snickered.

As if I’d ever admit that. A derisive snort escaped her, but soon even her vivid red lips broke into a quiet laugh.

Apparently, he’d treated the rose like trash and acted like a jerk as part of some grand strategy. It was supposed to make Yun-sang jealous, but from where she stood, it seemed to have provoked nothing but anger.

“Still, don’t go picking fights with him. What’s the point of getting on your superior’s bad side?”

“Will I get fired?”

“Well… no, but.”

“Are you sure? If I get fired, will you take responsibility, Officer Jung?”

Kim Ju-shin nudged her shoulder with his elbow and lowered his head, narrowing his eyes. Her small head nodded solemnly, as if promising she absolutely would. Perhaps he found that amusing, because he chuckled softly.

Even the gentle breeze was perfect along this orchard road beyond the village. A picture-perfect landscape, a man sculpted like a statue, and Jung Woojung.

He’d snickered that her leopard-print underpants and zebra-print T-shirt looked like the food chain on an African savanna. Perhaps he was embarrassed to be seen with her, because the ridiculously handsome Seoul guy had insisted on lending her his sweatshirt. Now he wore a plain black short-sleeved T-shirt.

Woojung had accepted it with feigned reluctance, then kept sneaking glances at him.

No wonder his shirts had fit him so well. Even from a quick peek, the bulging biceps filling his sleeves and the solid outline of his chest looked magnificent. It wasn’t the kind of muscle that was simply thick and bulky. It was more like his physique had been carefully put together according to some perfect formula.

She couldn’t help smiling as she walked beside someone like him. In all her twenty-eight years of life, she could say without a doubt that he was the most impressive person she’d ever known.

Despite the barrier his looks presented, Kim Ju-shin smiled often. He got along easily with people from other departments and mingled with his team members, too. Though rather than genuine sociability, it sometimes felt like he was following a textbook he’d studied on how to behave in society. That was where he differed so clearly from Ha Yun-sang, a natural extrovert.

Lately, though, Ju-shin had become much more casual around her. He teased her and fooled around so often that she’d grown comfortable with him, too. If things continued like this, maybe they could stay friends even after their mentoring program ended. They could meet up now and then, grab a meal, have a drink, and open up to each other.

Woojung flapped the long sleeves, which extended well past her fingertips, like a pair of wings. Her innocent face turned this way and that as she searched for unfamiliar wildflowers. His dark eyes watched her silently.

‘…Was it you?’

The expectation and suspicion he’d heard through the phone. The confusion so clearly visible in those eyes.

He’d done it out of spite. That was why he’d called her out of the blue. Watching her chatting cozily with Ha Yun-sang, practically glued to his side, had twisted something inside him.

Whatever the circumstances, it was infuriating that she’d already told him. He planned to let things play out a little longer before revealing anything himself. But when he recalled the desperate expression on her face at the station, he thought perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to let her remain in the dark forever. There was something rather appealing about remaining a figure she missed, one whose memory no longer came with a sense of guilt.

As the sun disappeared completely, a pale moon emerged. They were nearing the end of the winding orchard road.

“Hey, hey, look over there.”

Woojung slowed down and tugged at the end of Ju-shin’s sleeve.

“Isn’t that Department Head Go’s niece?”

His gaze lingered on her hand for a moment before following her pointing finger into the distance.

“That’s her! Those little bastards!”

Behind an abandoned bus stop with peeling paint, a group had gathered between a large tree and a wall. Their school uniforms looked familiar. They were the same as the one Department Head Go’s niece had been wearing. The problem was that Jeon Ju-yeon, surrounded by them, didn’t look particularly happy.

The righteous chihuahua, sensing injustice, bared her fangs. She seemed determined to march over and punish those little bastards once and for all. With great enthusiasm, she rolled her sleeves up to just above her elbows, only for the loose fabric to slide back down again and again.

“Wait here.”

He watched her stride away, his head tilting slightly to one side. His long, narrow eyes blinked a couple of times, and the hand he’d pulled from his pocket slowly rubbed the rim of his ear.

Sigh.

“That was going so well.”

Those damn nuisances had to ruin everything. Was their dream in life to become Ha Yun-sang or something?

Even Kim Ju-shin, who couldn’t care less about other people’s misfortunes, stepped into the realm of darkness. His arrival caused the group to stir. Then, as if trying to establish dominance, they unleashed a barrage of profanity.

The youthful group, boys and girls mixed together, sported designer shirts and sneakers. Some had electronic cigarettes between their lips, others traditional cigarettes.

Jung Woojung put Jeon Ju-yeon, who was battered and covered in blood and dirt, behind her. Whether she’d been beaten up or had taken a tumble, she looked a mess. Woojung glared fiercely and even tried to protect Ju-shin. Wearing leopard-print pants didn’t exactly turn someone into a tiger, though.

One of the male students, a hefty boy, spat through his teeth as he looked Ju-shin up and down, seemingly trying to figure out why a man with no apparent aggression had bothered showing up.

The others clicked their teeth, complaining that the place reeked of an old geezer, or staggered around using tree branches as walking sticks.

“Who are you?”

Ju-shin didn’t even look at the one who’d asked. He merely nodded toward Woojung.

“She’s the boss’s daughter.”

Woojung looked up at him, her face asking, Huh? He silently mouthed, “A food company?” and flashed her a sweet smile before turning forward again, his expression going blank.

“And I’m the secretary.”

A strange silence settled over them. Then a noisy wave of ridicule and mockery broke out. Even the village chief’s daughter wore designer clothes, they said, so the supposed boss’s daughter looked fucking unbelievable.

One of the kids who’d been cackling at Woojung’s three-stripe slippers and underpants seemed to recognize the brand of her borrowed sweatshirt despite all the commotion. Just as they reached out, asking if it was a knockoff—

“AAH! Ow!”

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Ju-shin reacted instantly. The wrist he’d seized twisted painfully before the student’s hand could even get near Woojung.

Woojung quickly scanned the faces contorted with pain and the others who jerked forward as if ready to attack, spitting curses. Then she grabbed Ju-shin’s arm with both hands.

And instead of calling him by his name, what came out was—

“M-Mr. Kim!”

She’d panicked at the thought of him hurting minors, and she’d figured there was no reason to give these kids his real name.

“……”

But now that she’d said it, the back of her neck grew hot.

I shouldn’t have done that……

A bright, refreshing laugh burst out.

Kim Ju-shin released the student’s wrist and doubled over laughing. Ah, what was he supposed to do with Jung Woojung?

Feeling a little embarrassed, Woojung scratched her head with a sour expression, then soon joined in laughing without a care in the world.

A deserted, shadowy place. Darkness closing in. A delinquent group. An injured student. And two grown-ups cheerfully laughing together.

It was a truly bizarre sight.

After finally getting his laughter under control, Ju-shin turned Woojung around, gently steering her away.

“Miss. Would you mind stepping aside?”

His whisper was laced with deep amusement as he gave her slender back a light push.

Woojung went along without protest. She figured it would be better to watch from a distance and call the police if things took a turn for the worse.

Jeon Ju-yeon seemed to have hurt her leg and limped as she walked. Once Woojung had helped her far enough away, a brazen taunt cut through the heavy atmosphere.

“Your mom up in heaven must be bawling her eyes out! ‘My poor little crippled daughter!’ Bawling!”

Ju-shin’s gaze found the speaker.

“You shouldn’t say things like that. You’ll make the dead sad.”

His voice was relaxed, even gentle, as if he were offering a mild reprimand. But the atmosphere around him was anything but warm.

Soon, the students began mimicking his tone, laughing mockingly. Their swagger showed no sign of fading. All except the one whose wrist he’d grabbed.

“Whoa, what are you, some old geezer?”

“Dude doesn’t even have a mom.”

“……”

It was as if someone had thrown cold water over them. The commotion died down a little.

The large man standing with the streetlight behind him was shrouded in darkness, making his expression difficult to read. But they could tell the chilling aura clinging to their skin was coming from him.

Silence stretched for a while.

Ju-shin casually scratched the back of his neck, then pulled the arm of the student closest to him around his own shoulders. The kid flinched and stiffened.

“Kids.”

A low, weary sigh followed.

“If you’re going to do something bad, you should’ve hidden yourselves properly. Why let yourselves get caught halfway? Now you’ve made things a pain for everyone.”

His irritated voice pointed out the one thing they’d gotten wrong.

Ju-shin glanced at Woojung, who was standing some distance away, watching them closely. He took the wrist of the stiff student tucked under his arm and waved it toward her, back and forth, cheerfully and kindly, as if to tell her everything was fine.

Then he released the boy, who’d been forced to wave hello against his will, and spoke as casually as ever.

“If you mess with her, my big brother will come teach you a lesson.”

He added that his brother might not give him any pocket money, but he was pretty generous when it came to settlement money. So anyone interested in making a fortune was welcome to give it a try.

He smiled brightly as he said it.

The students, now enveloped in silence, exchanged glances. Then, one by one, they began to move their feet.

“Hey, let’s go.”

Even those fools had instinctively realized it by now.

“Leaving?”

They were dealing with something no ordinary punk could ever hope to approach—

“Then I’ll wait?”

Pure, unadulterated, genuine madness.