“You can drop me off around here.”

“Are you sure? There’s nothing out here.”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

As he takes out his wallet from his pocket to get some cash, the taxi driver turns on the light and looks at him with concern. He probably thinks it’s strange that Soo-hyun has come to a deserted hillside so late at night. Perhaps worried he might be contemplating something drastic, he hands him change along with a vitamin drink.

“You’re not thinking of doing anything bad, are you?”

“Haha, of course not.”

“Good. Don’t lose your courage. These days, a man becoming a woman isn’t anything to be ashamed of.”

Soo-hyun smiled awkwardly.

“Right…”

“Young man. I mean, young lady. Keep your spirits up and live well. Fighting!”

Thank you. He pockets the change, slings his backpack over his shoulder, and grabs his duffel bag. When he steps out of the car, the snow crunches beneath his feet. Watching the taxi drive away, Soo-hyun lets out a deep sigh.

As he looks around, headlights turn on in the distance, and someone gets out of a vehicle. As he approaches, the man tilts his head and furrows his brow.

“Baek Soo-hyun?”

Soo-hyun pulls down the scarf covering his face to confirm his identity. The man laughs incredulously.

“What the hell? Did you get surgery or something?”

Soo-hyun runs his hand through his long hair and deliberately smiles coyly. The women’s wig he found while cleaning had proven useful for his escape, but the misunderstanding was unavoidable. The fortunate thing was that the wig suited him without looking out of place. Well, with this face, anything would look good.

Soo-hyun takes off the wig and ruffles his real hair that had been pressed down.

“I just wore it to escape.”

“Sh*t. You scared me.”

Soo-hyun laughed at the strong reaction.

“Have you been well?”

“Me? Same as always.”

“Jae-sun hyung said you’re doing really well these days.”

“Doing well? I’m just scraping by. Anyway, you never contacted me after getting out of prison, and now you call for something like this. I thought you were living honestly.”

“I’m planning to live honestly from now on. That’s why I need your help.”

“You always had a silver tongue.”

The man who laughed heartily was Kim Young-taek, someone Soo-hyun had met while in juvenile detention. Thanks to his handsome face, Soo-hyun had immediately become a target for troublemakers when he entered, and it was Kim Young-taek who stepped up to help him. 

There were rumors that Young-taek had been a low-level member of a drug trafficking organization and had taken the fall for his superiors.

Even back then, his large build and rough appearance made him look nothing like a teenager, which kept peers from bothering him. While reminiscing about old memories, Young-taek gestures toward the car, and someone else gets out. A man with a shaved head approaches with a black clutch bag and hands it to Kim Young-taek.

“Check it.”

Kim Young-taek holds out the bag. Soo-hyun takes it and unzips it. The first thing that catches his eye is a forged passport. Opening it, he sees the photo he had taken and sent from the lodging.

Would Kim Tae-shin have prepared a passport too? If I had met Kim Tae-shin tonight, that passport might have been used for my journey to the afterlife. Soo-hyun puts the passport back and takes out car keys. When he presses the button, lights flash nearby with a beep. Kim Young-taek continues his explanation.

“I put spare license plates in the trunk,”

There’s also an old flip phone inside. Both the car and the phone were likely untraceable.

“The ship leaves from Busan on the 8th of next month. We’ll contact you beforehand, so stay put. Don’t call around saying goodbye to people.”

“Isn’t there anything leaving sooner?”

“No. Inspections are strict these days. This is the earliest one.”

“I see…”

“The down payment?”

Soo-hyun reaches inside his jacket and pulls out bonds from his chest. These were bearer bonds he had received from Yang Ho-beom as 10% of his ransom in advance. He hands over ten bonds worth ten million won each, and Kim Young-taek passes them to his subordinate, who returns to the car.

The interior light comes on, and Soo-hyun notices someone else in the vehicle. Seeing his puzzled look, Kim Young-taek explains.

“I brought someone. We need to verify too.”

Ah, Soo-hyun tensed slightly. Surely Yang Ho-beom wouldn’t have given him counterfeit bonds. While work proceeded inside the car, Kim Young-taek asked how Soo-hyun had been living and what he had done to resort to illegal immigration.

Instead of a detailed explanation, Soo-hyun made up a story about his father causing a major incident. If he knew the opponent was Chairman Yang from Jongno, Kim Young-taek might back out.

Shortly after, his subordinate emerges from the car.

“Boss. They’re genuine.”

Feeling relieved inside, Soo-hyun watches as Kim Young-taek takes out his wallet and gives him a note.

“Stay here until you go to Busan.”

The address written on the paper was in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. Belatedly, Soo-hyun remembers why Kim Young-taek had looked after him—they were from the same hometown as his father.

“It’s a good place to lie low. Surrounded by forests, easy to escape if necessary.”

Soo-hyun handed it back. Kim Young-taek was certainly a reliable person. If nothing else, having observed him in prison for three years, he had his own code of loyalty and wasn’t one to go back on his word. But…

“I’m sorry. I’ll find my own place to stay.”

Kim Young-taek laughs.

“You don’t trust me?”

“It’s not that… People can change depending on the situation.”

“You’ve grown up, Baek Soo-hyun. I thought you were just a crybaby.”

Soo-hyun smiled bitterly at those words.

“It’s been ten years. I’m almost thirty.”

“Alright, man. Let’s part ways here. No point in dragging this out. Send a text when you arrive.”

“I will.”

“Ah, it probably won’t happen, but if things go wrong, I’ll cut contact. In that case, there’s a place called Suyang Fish Restaurant at Busan Port. Go there and ask for Manager Park. Mention my name, and he’ll help you.”

“Thank you, hyung-nim.”

He got into his car, and the black vehicle left without hesitation. Darkness fell all around. Soo-hyun took the car keys and moved to the old sedan nearby, starting the engine. When he opened the trunk to load his luggage, he found several spare license plates, just as Kim Young-taek had said.

After putting his bag in the trunk, he went to the driver’s seat and entered the address he had memorized into the navigation system. It would take nearly three hours to reach the destination. If all went well, he might arrive before tomorrow morning.

Before departing, he put a cigarette in his mouth. As he lit it, something moved in the darkness. Looking closely, it was a water deer. The creature stood motionless, staring at the light.

For a moment, he thought of Yang Ho-beom. According to the original plan, he would arrive in Korea tomorrow morning. Had he heard the news already? Had he come early?

If he had, what expression would he have made when meeting Kim Tae-shin? Should I have written the letter in a milder tone? Then he laughed. No way. Why would he fly all the way from Hong Kong for someone like me? What an absurd thought.

[I’ll tell you when we meet. I have a gift for you too.]

Suddenly I’m curious. What was the gift? Soo-hyun leaned his head against the seat and stared straight ahead. The water deer was still standing in the same spot. How stupid. Run away quickly.

Baaang—he sounded the horn long and loud, startling the deer, which finally came to its senses and fled into the forest.

Soo-hyun let out a long sigh.

Let’s stop thinking about it. No more.

Erasing the tangled thoughts in his mind, he hurriedly started the car.

***

Ho-beom didn’t particularly dislike Kim Tae-shin. If he had, he would have killed him already. The man had clawed his way up from the bottom, would use any means necessary to achieve his goals, and sometimes pursued things with the tenacity of a mad dog. That’s why Ho-beom didn’t dislike him, but today, for the first time, he regretted keeping him alive.

Perhaps sensing the gravity of the situation, more of Kim Tae-shin’s subordinates appeared from behind. Even during this standoff, Kim Tae-shin smiled like someone who was excited.

“Yang Ho-beom. How does it feel to be backstabbed? Must sting. For me, I can just pretend nothing happened.”

“Nothing happened? Who decides that?”

“What else can we do? Want to fight it out here? Sounds good, damn it. It’s even snowing.”

Instead of answering, Ho-beom took out his phone and made a call. Soon, fluent Japanese flowed from his mouth. Kim Tae-shin, who had been listening with a smirk, stiffened, and Ho-beom held out the phone to him.

“She wants to talk to you. Your wife.”

With a disbelieving expression, Kim Tae-shin snatched the phone, and his face turned grim. A woman’s crying could be heard along with someone’s shouts. The call abruptly ended, and Kim Tae-shin suddenly pulled out a fish knife from his waist. This bastard.

His subordinates simultaneously drew their knives, but Ho-beom didn’t even blink. Kim Tae-shin, filled with rage, breathed heavily while gripping both the knife and the phone.

“You… How did you know?”

“Know what? That you have a Japanese wife and son?”

“Shut up, you son of a b*tch!”

Kim Tae-shin swung his knife through the air with frightening intensity, and Ho-beom casually dodged the blade. Then he stepped right up to Kim Tae-shin’s face and looked down at him threateningly, like a predator eyeing its prey. Despite his even tone, his eyes were like those of a man-eating demon.

“So, Tae-shin. Why do you make people show their worst sides? Hmm? Did you think I’ve left you alone all this time because I didn’t know about your wife and kid?”

Kim Tae-shin’s lips trembled as he sneered.

“Why are you doing this? Acting so high and mighty—did you really hook up with that homo?”

Instead of responding, Ho-beom checked the time with an indifferent expression.

“I’ll give you five minutes. Soon, the Yakuza will bury your son and wife alive.”

Kim Tae-shin screamed in fury.

“Then you’ll die!”

“We’ll see who dies.”

Kim Tae-shin trembled while gripping the knife but couldn’t act recklessly anymore. As a tense battle of wills unfolded between the two men, the snow gradually began to stop. Ho-beom took out a cigarette, and Park Tae-jun, standing beside him, approached to light it.

Hoo, Ho-beom blew cigarette smoke directly into Kim Tae-shin’s face.

“Time’s running out. What will you do?”

After stubbornly holding out, Kim Tae-shin finally spoke.

“So. What do you want?”

“Bring me Baek Soo-hyun.”

Kim Tae-shin asked incredulously.

“What?”

“I’ll give you three days.”

“That’s ridiculous! How am I supposed to find someone who’s deliberately run away?”

“Search the mountains, dive into the sea, use whatever means necessary and find him.”

“Damn it!”

“One minute left.”

Kim Tae-shin closed his eyes tightly, then opened them and sighed, laughing dejectedly. After hiding the knife back in its original position, he returned the phone to Ho-beom.

“Tell them. Tell them to release the kid and the woman.”

When he made the call, a sobbing woman’s voice could be heard from the receiver. Ho-beom handed it to Kim Tae-shin. Kim Tae-shin took the call and turned away. Are you okay? No. Nothing happened. Take the kid and go home. Ho-beom was amazed at how different he looked from his usual self. Destroying other people’s love lives while caring for his own family—what a sight.

Ho-beom instructed his contact in Japan to release the mother and child for now but keep them under surveillance. Understanding the message, a murderous glint appeared in Kim Tae-shin’s eyes.

After ending the call, Ho-beom tapped his watch with his fingertip.

“What are you waiting for? You need to get moving. Time is running out.”

Kim Tae-shin roughly ran his hand through his hair and cursed in frustration. Ho-beom flicked away his cigarette and warned Kim Tae-shin with a resolute look.

“Bring him gently. If you hurt him, you’ll pay.”

After finishing his words, he turned toward the car, while Kim Tae-shin and his subordinates drove out of the harbor aggressively, seemingly venting their anger. Park Tae-jun started the engine, and Ho-beom shook the snow from his hair before unwrapping his scarf and tossing it onto the back seat.

“Tae-jun.”

“Yes, boss.”

“Block all routes out of the country and circulate Baek Soo-hyun’s information to the brokers. He couldn’t have fled immediately.”

“Understood.”

Inside the car, Ho-beom glared at the discarded scarf. The anger he had barely suppressed began to boil again. Was this why he gave me a gift? Damn it, this person has all sorts of ways to deceive people. Hoo, feeling stifled, he unbuttoned the top of his shirt and called out to Tae-jun.

“You said Baek Soo-hyun was imprisoned in Gimcheon, right?”

“Yes.”

“Find everyone he was close with there, anyone he might contact, and squeeze them. If he received help, he’s more likely to have gone through those connections than ordinary people.”