I’m sorry, but we’re closed.

Han Jung Jihoo came out, pushing aside the partition stretched between the little jjokbang and the shop.

Only the light from the streetlamp outside the window and the bluish light from inside the showcase were dimly lighting the dark shop.

So for just a moment, seeing the outline of a large man standing in the darkness beyond the worktable, he thought it was Jung Jihoo.

J, Ji-

The voice he let out without thinking, in sudden delight, quickly died away.

It was too dark to make out the face, but looking again, his build and the atmosphere around him were completely different. More than anything, the sharp knife glowing blue in the man’s hand made it clear he was not Jung Jihoo.

Do you need something?

Han Jung Jihoo’s voice, asking the stranger, was calm.

He thought that if he did not show agitation, the other party would not get excited either.

If you need flowers, potted plants, or anything else.

Hand over the money.

The mouth that had been desperately speaking in hopes of buying time slowly closed.

Breathing harshly through his nose, the man took a step out of the darkness and slightly raised the knife.

Before I kill you, hurry up.

Han Jung Jihoo bit his lip tightly, troubled.

If he could, he wanted to take out the money, hand everything over to the robber, and ask him to leave quickly.

If only there had been money.

But these days, how many shops kept stacks of cash on hand and did business that way? Almost all transactions were by card or bank transfer.

On top of that, today happened to be the day the shop’s utilities and monthly rent were due, so he had already gathered up all the cash available and transferred it away. So even if they emptied the shop safe and Han Jung Jihoo’s wallet right now, it would only come to forty or fifty thousand won at most.

If the robber found that out, he would surely go berserk.

And sure enough.

Fuck, what is this! Are you kidding me?!

After checking the empty safe and the amount in the wallet he had been handed, the robber huffed and glared at Han Jung Jihoo.

Even if I wanted to give you more, that’s all there is. So please just take that and leave.

What, do you think I’m some beggar bastard or something!

It was not something a robber worse than a beggar should be saying, but thinking of the blade flashing in the light, Han Jung Jihoo kept his mouth shut obediently.

Give it to me when I’m telling you nicely. If you don’t want your belly stabbed!

That’s all I have right now. Shops as small as ours usually don’t keep much cash on hand.

Speaking as quietly as possible so as not to provoke him, he glanced at the phone on the table.

If he took the risk and reported it by phone, how long would it take the police to arrive?

Considering the police station near the shop, at best it would take about five minutes.

Could he deal with a large robber wielding a weapon alone until then?

Hey! What’s the password for this credit card?!

4321.

He blurted out a made-up password, but as expected, the other man did not seem to believe it.

Come over here. Come with me to the ATM in that alley. If you withdraw cash from there, I’ll let you go right away.

At those words, Han Jung Jihoo’s face truly stiffened this time.

The ATM the other man mentioned was in a sparsely populated alley.

Even if he withdrew money there, there was no guarantee the man who had already revealed his face under the bright streetlamp would let him go obediently. On the contrary, the moment he got the money, he would probably hurt him.

On top of that, given the difference in build, even if he found a gap outside, shoved him away, and ran, the odds of getting caught again were much higher.

So in the end, he had to somehow settle this here.

Wouldn’t it be better to grab the phone on the table, go into the jjokbang, lock the door, and immediately call the police?

Hey, why are you just standing there?! I told you to come over here right now!

The moment those words ended, Han Jung Jihoo swiftly grabbed the phone on the table and turned his body.

You fucking bastard!!

With a rough curse, the robber leaped over the table and charged straight at Han Jung Jihoo.

Even in the darkness, the sharp blade flashed keenly.

But Han Jung Jihoo’s body was already running toward the little jjokbang.

It was almost there. A little farther, and even if it was a crude room, a door would appear that could protect him.

He took a long stride, pushed off hard with one foot, and kicked the ground. But because he was too tense, he failed to notice a potted plant in the darkness, and his foot caught on it. His body swayed slightly at the unexpected situation, but he quickly regained his balance, grabbed the doorknob of the little jjokbang, and urgently flung the door open.

However, that brief wobble, that split second, was enough to give the large robber a chance to grab Han Jung Jihoo.

Where do you think you’re going, you bastard!

Khk!

Just before the door closed, an outstretched arm violently grabbed Han Jung Jihoo by the hair and yanked him back.

Hey, do you really think I can’t stab you?!

As the blade passed over the back of the hand gripping the doorknob, a sharp pain shot through it.

Ugh!

From the heavy body pressed tightly against his back came a foul reek of alcohol and cigarettes.

You could have just handed over the money, but you had to make it bloody before you’d listen. People like you need to get stabbed once before they come to their senses.

Along with a cackling laugh, the sharp blade pressed against Han Jung Jihoo’s back. The malice in the voice made the intent to injure plain.

The bastard holding Han Jung Jihoo by the back of the head roughly twisted his body and slammed him back against the wall.

Thud!

Ugh!

Because he had struck the hard wall clumsily, a dull pain spread through his head and back. Before he could even gather his senses from that pain, the man swung the knife toward Han Jung Jihoo’s abdomen.

Clang!

Haha, look at this bastard.

While frantically blocking the attack, Han Jung Jihoo had covered his stomach, and to his great luck the phone he was holding blocked the blade. But luck only came once. Because it struck the blade head-on, the phone flew away and rolled somewhere in the shop.

The little jjokbang and now the phone too, all the means that could protect Han Jung Jihoo had disappeared.

The robber seemed to realize that too, and with a cruel smile he grabbed Han Jung Jihoo’s thin neck tightly with one hand.

Kgh, let go of this.

While thrashing both hands to pry off the hand gripping his throat, when the blade touched his stomach he hurriedly grabbed the wrist holding the knife again. As a result, the blade brushed his palm several times, but he could not even think of letting go. Even then, the force around his throat remained unchanged, and his mind grew increasingly hazy.

He had thought he was not very attached to life, and there had even been times when he thought it would be better to quietly disappear from the world, but he had never wanted to die this ridiculous kind of death.

In this absurd and infuriating situation, even though he tried to hold on however he could, strength kept slipping from his body.

No, please, someone!

Then it happened.

KRAAAANG!

A huge crash loud enough to jolt him even through his dazed head rang out, and the large body attached to Han Jung Jihoo was suddenly torn away.

What, what is it, you, wha, aaagh!

It was like a fierce beast had charged at the robber in the darkness.

A beast taller and bigger than the muscular robber, with a cast on his left arm.

The robber, thrown away from Han Jung Jihoo and crashing to the floor like a rag, hurriedly tried to get back up, but a brutal foot came down first, stamping down as though it would crush the bastard’s heart.

Uooohk!

Stunned by the impact, the fierce beast that had landed on the bastard again began smashing him repeatedly with his uninjured right hand.

Thud, thud, thwack, smack!

Kk, kuhk. St, stop, kyaaagh!

Even as the bastard’s face burst open and blood splattered, and he screamed in desperate resistance with his teeth flying out, the man overflowing with a sharp blue murderous aura like a honed blade silently kept pounding the bastard’s face.

He looked like he truly had no intention of stopping until the bastard was dead.

The sight was so terrifying that Han Jung Jihoo could only stare blankly at the man in front of him with blurred eyes.

Was this really reality?

Was that person really the same person I knew?

What finally brought him fully to his senses was the shop lights suddenly turning bright and a voice full of shock.

W, what is this? Hey, Jung Jihoo! Stop, are you insane?!

The manager, who had come in at the uproar, was horrified by the scene in front of him and tried to pull Jung Jihoo away from the robber, who had already passed out.

Even so, he did not seem to have any intention of stopping.

With a face so chillingly expressionless it looked as though he meant to kill the other man, he kept smashing the unconscious man’s face, and the manager was only pushed back helplessly by that brutal strength.

What stopped him was Han Jung Jihoo’s trembling white hand, which had crawled over and grabbed Jung Jihoo’s arm.

Cough, cough, Jung Jihoo ssi. Stop, are you trying to kill someone, haah?

At that small sound, the fist glistening with blood hesitated.

The face, frozen ice-cold and blue, slowly moved, and his gaze shifted to the hand gripping his arm. Seeing the long, thin lines on the back of the hand and palm, torn up by the blade, his glass-cold eyes began to shake violently.

A crack finally appeared in his mad, beastlike face, and his tightly shut lips parted.

Call an ambulance, call an ambulance now.

Wait, wait, Jihoo, if we call people like this right now, your position.

Fuck my position and everything else!!

When the manager hesitated in trouble, Jung Jihoo shouted furiously, then met Han Jung Jihoo’s deathly pale eyes and quieted again. In his gaze as he looked at the pale face, there was a flicker of something like despair.

Jung Jihoo let out a long breath as though controlling his anger, then suddenly began slamming his left hand against the shop wall. The plaster cast from his hand to his wrist gave a cracking sound as it broke.

Hey, you crazy bastard! What do you think you’re doing?!

Before the shocked manager and Han Jung Jihoo could stop him, Jung Jihoo slammed his left hand against it once more and completely shattered the cast, then muttered in a hoarse voice.

Now it’s self-defense, all right? So call the ambulance first. Before I really lose my mind and start running wild.

**

The stinging smell of disinfectant brought him back to his senses.

With great effort, he lifted eyelids that felt glued shut and difficult to open, and a plain white ceiling came into view. Suddenly, on the tips of his dull fingers, a small, ticklish warmth was felt.

Slowly turning his head, he saw Jung Jihoo carefully fiddling with the fingertips of Han Jung Jihoo’s hand, which had been wrapped in bandages.