Chapter 60: “I’ll Co To Your Office Myself”
“Hey, granny! Hurry up and open the door! Didn’t I say if you didn’t pay by today I’d wreck the whole place, or didn’t I!”
A heavy thud sounded as soone suddenly shouted outside and kicked the old shanty door.
The doctor stopped what he was doing and startled. He wasn’t very reliable, but right then I needed whatever help he could give.
“What, what is this!”
“Finish the treatnt first, please.”
I pushed myself up from my seat. At the sa ti, with a bang, the worn wooden door was thrown open as if it would splinter.
Three burly n tried to co inside but paused when they saw unfamiliar faces in the room. Then they put on ugly smiles.
“Wow, what do we have here. A visitor, even a doctor called? No money to pay debts but money for treatnt, huh, granny.”
The man standing up front sneered. Then he shifted his gaze to Aseong and his face soured.
“Wait. That kid — is he one of President Wang’s boys doing odd jobs in Chinatown?”
The n’s eyes flicked to Aseong, who stood beside . Aseong inhaled sharply, terrified.
“What? Are those Chinese bastards trying to stick a spoon in our bowl now?”
“No, no! I just—”
“Did that old Wang tell you to do this? This won’t do.”
Under the n’s fierce stares and harsh barking, Aseong trembled like a leaf.
I stepped quietly to stand in front of Aseong.
“And who are you again?”
“What do you think you’re doing barging into soone’s ho and causing trouble?”
“What did you say, you brat? Who do you think you are to butt in?”
“Calm down and go back. I’ll co to your office myself.”
“Ha. Who do you think you are telling us to go or stay? You lost your mind? You gonna pay this granny’s debt?”
“How much is it?”
My calm question made the thugs’ eyes widen.
“Oh, look at that. Must be loaded. Boss! This kid’s asking how much the debt is!”
The man who’d been watching with his arms folded, apparently their leader, shoved the other two aside with both hands and stepped forward.
“1,270,000 hwan. Can you pay it?”
For the present Kang-hyuk that was an impossible sum. But it was money I could do without.
I reached out my hand to Aseong. The quick kid handed the thick wallet I had given him back into my hand.
I took out all the money left after calling the doctor and held it out to them.
The n gawked, staring alternately at the wad of bills and my face.
“This is everything I have now. The rest I’ll pay at your office.”
“What the— Who are you? Who sent you? Where did you co from!”
Instead of answering his questions, I nodded toward the collapsed old woman.
“First you keep the person alive, right? We can talk about the rest at your office.”
The leader’s face twisted into a cruel expression.
“Bullshit. Why should we believe you and let you go? If you don’t hand over all the money here, be ready to bury this old woman today!”
He snarled and signaled one of his n. The thug started to go into the room where the old woman lay.
“That far.”
I declared in a voice as cold as ice.
“One more step in here and I’ll make sure all of you get buried.”
“This bastard’s bold to the end! Hey! Start with him!”
At his command, two subordinates charged into the room at once toward .
If I fought inside the cramped room, others could get hurt.
I grabbed each of their shoulders with both hands and shoved them with enormous force out into the yard.
“Aseong! Tell the doctor to keep treating her!”
I shouted to Aseong and pushed them all the way outside.
Even as one of them tumbled back and still managed to jab his elbow into my back, I didn’t flinch.
The two fallen n shook off the dust and looked at in disbelief.
“What the— This guy’s got strength. Look at him, thought he had nothing.”
“What are you doing, you idiots! Stop pussyfooting and finish him!”
At the leader’s roar, the n rushed again.
One threw a punch straight on, while the other moved to my flank.
I lightly palm-blocked the straight-on punch and twisted my body.
At the sa ti I ramd my elbow precisely into the gut of the man moving in from the side. He made a choking sound and crumpled, foaming at the mouth.
Seizing the mont, I spun and delivered a roundhouse kick to the first man’s temple.
With a dull thud he fell to the ground convulsing without a sound.
“You— you son of a bitch…!”
With his two n down in an instant, the leader who’d only been watching finally stepped forward.
He charged at with a beastlike roar. Rotten though he was, his punch carried far more weight and speed than his underlings’.
I dodged several fierce blows while probing his range. But in the narrow yard, facing a large man wasn’t easy.
Eventually his fist grazed my ribs.
A heavy pain shot through , but I didn’t waste the opening. I drove into his chest and ramd my elbow into his solar plexus.
He wheezed harshly. While he staggered, I seized the mont and slamd my fist up into his jaw.
With a dull crack the leader’s massive fra toppled backward.
I panted and looked down at him.
But he didn’t stay down. He staggered up, wiped the blood from his mouth, and glared at with the eyes of a furious animal.
“You son of a bitch… Today, you… are dead…!”
He looked around in rage and then hoisted a large earthenware jar with both arms. His forearms stood out with veins like snakes from how hard he strained.
“I’ll smash your skull with this today!”
As he raised the jar above his head and prepared to hurl it at , I hooked my toe around a rusty tal poker that lay on the ground and kicked it at his ankle.
The flying poker struck his ankle dead-on.
Losing his balance from the impact, he dropped the huge jar he’d been holding. It fell directly onto his instep.
With a sickening crack of breaking bone, a ripping scream tore from the leader.
“Uaaaah! My foot!”
I looked down coldly at the three n writhing in pain.
Then I threw the bundle of cash I had almost handed them earlier onto the leader’s bloody face.
A few bills fluttered down onto his bloodstained face.
“Use this toward hospital bills. And tell your boss, Seo Man-cheol, clearly: I’ll co to pay in person, so make sure you keep your IOUs safe.”
“You— you bastard… Do you know who we are, talking like that!”
Clutching his shattered foot, his face contorted in pain, the man still tried to threaten . Ridiculous as he looked, I had to admire his spirit.
I looked down at the ruined leader and spoke.
“It won’t matter who you are anymore. From now on, who I am will be what matters. Right?”
“On the streets of Busan… you go against our Yeongdo faction… do you think you’ll get away with it?”
“So what now? You gonna try more with that at of yours?”
At my words, the leader’s eyes wavered.
He couldn’t even stand because he’d crushed his own instep, one of the others was still out cold from my spinning kick.
The only one left sowhat intact had just co to and stood there awkwardly, unsure what to do, only watching.
I pointed at that last man with a nod.
“You. You there. Wake your friend on the ground, help him up, and get the hell out of here. Tell them I’ll co to your office myself by tomorrow at the latest, and pass that on.”
Then, with a voice cold as ice, I carved a final warning into their minds that wouldn’t be forgotten.
“And if you ever co back to this house to harass us again… it won’t end this nicely.”
At my chilling words, the groggy subordinate hurriedly roused his unconscious comrade, helped the groaning leader to his feet, and they staggered away.
From their receding backs ca the leader’s furious curse.
“Just you wait, you bastard…! I’ll co cut your head off for sure!”
I sneered at that hollow shout and turned quietly. So it had co to this after all.
I’d tried to handle things as quietly as possible, but apparently such calm wasn’t in my fate.
I opened the shut shanty door and went back inside.
“Ah, sir!”
Aseong called to with a pale face, his voice trembling.
“I sent them all away. It’s okay now.”
“B-but those people are from the Yeongdo faction…”
Before Aseong could say more, the doctor who had been cowering in the corner suddenly yelled.
“What are you doing now! Do you know who those bastards are to make it this big! Do you want to see soone’s funeral so badly? I can’t treat anymore! I can’t do it!”
Earlier he had at least kept so dignity as a doctor, but now his lack of manners made smile coldly.
“You’re afraid of those who got beaten and ran, but not of who knocked them down, huh, doctor.”
My icy words made the doctor’s face harden for a mont.
“……”
“Answer again. Can you treat the granny or not?”
The doctor glared at for a mont, then sighed resignedly. He gathered his house-call bag and said,
“There’s nothing I can do here besides ease her pain. The patient needs to go to a big hospital right away. To it looks like acute pneumonia — her lungs are filling with fluid so she’s barely able to breathe. If you leave it like this, she won’t last more than a few days.”
“Where in Busan is the most capable doctor located?”
“Why ask the obvious? Take her to the largest hospital in Busan. Take her to the Busan National University Hospital imdiately. They can do an X-ray there and give proper antibiotic treatnt — that’s the only chance, and even then it’s debatable. Of course… just getting across that hospital’s threshold won’t be easy.”
Leaving those last words, the doctor hurried out of the shanty. His retreating figure looked like he wanted to get away from this cursed place as fast as possible.
As I watched his back and drifted into thought for a mont, Aseong spoke urgently.
“Sir! I think it’d be better to take her to rinol Hospital rather than the national hospital.”
“rinol Hospital?”
“It’s much faster — we just cross the Yeongdo Bridge and you’re there. And it was founded by a sisterhood, so they don’t discriminate against people like us and will take good care of her. I heard the facilities are modern too.”
Aseong’s phrase “people like us” stabbed painfully.
rinol Hospital was an unfamiliar na to , but Aseong’s eyes held conviction.
Seeing that brightness standing out in the dark, I made up my mind.
“All right, let’s do that. From what the doctor said, getting her there as fast as possible is what matters. Aseong, you go down the hill right now and get a taxi ready. And when you get to the hospital, contact President Wang. Tell him I urgently need money — have him bring whatever he has to the hospital and tell him I’ll pay it all back later. And then go straight to the port and bring that friend we saw earlier to the hospital as well.”
“Yes.”
Aseong shot out like an arrow. I went back into the room and carefully lifted the unconscious old woman onto my back.
She was much lighter than I had expected.
I left the house and carefully descended the steep, maze-like slope.
When we reached the foot of the hillside, Aseong was already there, fidgeting, having flagged down a taxi and waiting for us.
We carefully placed the granny in the back seat and got in with Aseong.
“Taxi driver! Go!”
Perhaps because Aseong had already told him the destination, the driver started without asking and the taxi roared off.
We crossed the Yeongdo Bridge and shortly after a stately Western-style building of red brick ca into view. It was rinol Hospital.
As the cab stopped I lifted the old woman again and ran into the hospital ergency room.
“Patient! This is an ergency. Call a doctor, please!”
My urgent shout brought doctors and nurses in white coats rushing over in alarm.
They quickly brought a mobile bed, laid the granny down, and started checking her condition.
“Her blood pressure is way too low! Her oxygen saturation is at a dangerous level!”
“Get an oxygen mask on her and prepare IV antibiotics, now!”
The doctors shouted as they moved her into the ergency treatnt area. Everything happened in an instant.
Not long after, President Wang ca in through the hospital entrance with a thick envelope of cash in his hand.
“Mr. Baek! I heard and ca right away. I brought 50,000 hwan for now. Use this to—”
“Yes. We’ll return it when things settle down at Deokhwa-ru. Thank you.”
“But…”
President Wang began to say sothing then stopped. I anticipated his worry and cut him off.
“It’s because of the Yeongdo faction, isn’t it? Don’t worry. I’ll handle it.”
At my firm words President Wang looked at for a mont, then nodded.
“All right. I’ll head back for now. If you need any help, please contact through Aseong anyti.”
After President Wang left, not long after the hospital’s glass doors burst open as if to be shattered, and Kang-hyuk and Aseong ran in.
Kang-hyuk’s face was streaked with sweat and tears. He grabbed the nearest nurse and shouted like an animal.
“Granny! Where’s our granny! Tell ! Where is our granny!”
“Stop bothering the wrong people and co here, Kang-hyuk.”
I called his na to restrain him. My low voice rang through the noisy corridor.
At the sound of his na, Kang-hyuk slowly turned his head toward like a rusty machine.
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