The first to return was Executive Director Kim and his men, bloody from head to toe. The face he was waiting for wasn’t among them.
He thought that as he expected, that bastard must have died.
He stood up and stepped out of the office building, thinking that although it was unfortunate, it was only natural. The dry autumn breeze blew. The moment he took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, something flew towards his ankle. He stepped on it reflexively, and it was a human hand. When he turned his head, he saw a familiar bloodied face that had fallen to the ground, panting.
The handsome face with which he had stepped out of the office was covered with blood. Above all, what stood out was the hand that grabbed his stomach. The hand that was pressing on the wound was stained with blood. Considering the location and the fact that he came all the way here, it didn’t seem like a bigger wound than he thought, but still, it couldn’t be left unattended.
It didn’t seem that he could come up to the 2nd floor because of this wound. Of course, the members would have ignored Woo-hyun and come up, since he told them not to help him.
“… Keep… your promise.”
Woo-hyun said as his hand trembled. Then, he held the crumpled memorandum with his other hand. As if he wanted to protect what was written in his handwriting.
He accepted the paper.
“What do you want me to do, proudly bringing this in front of me? If I rip this apart and throw it away, there will be no promise…”
He stopped talking as he checked the paper, admiring it. It was a photocopy. He was a bastard who had tenacity, was courageous, and thoughtful, which he was seeing for the first time in a while.
People would normally run away after getting stabbed once because of the pain. A weak mentality leads to insanity. However, he was bargaining for his life even though he was bleeding. Besides, he knew how to use his head and get a copy.
Someone greedy, for the first time in a while.
He took Woo-hyun with a satisfied expression. He sent him to the hospital for treatment right away. He went to see him when he heard that his consciousness had returned, and Woo-hyun was looking out the window with an unchanged face.
“I want to be discharged.”
Woo-hyun said as soon as he saw his face, skipping the greetings. He sat on the couch deliberately slowly and twisted his legs.
“Did you forget how to greet people after getting stabbed?”
At his words, Woo-hyun reluctantly bowed his head and announced his intention to be discharged once again.
“I want to be discharged now. So please get rid of them.”
Woo-hyun said, pointing with his chin at the men standing in front of the single-person room.
“I think you haven’t fully recovered yet. Why? Are you worried about your family? You’re scared I didn’t keep my promise?”
“No. Because this is also a debt.”
He looked silently at Woo-hyun, who was speaking clearly with bright eyes, and then laughed out loud. He knew that the smart Sin Woo-hyun in front of him had figured out his strategy in an instant. Although he pretended to be his guardian, admitted Woo-hyun to a single-person room, and didn’t let him leave as he pleased so that he could keep an eye on him, it was also to make him indebted to him.
“You know it well, so I won’t take long. You have to come back to pay your debt, right? The cost of treatment, the cost of surgery, the cost of the hospital room.”
“…”
“I’ll deduct the hospital expenses if you get stabbed one more time. What do you think?”
“If I get stabbed one more time and survive, will you leave me alone?”
“No. Even if you get stabbed once more, you’ll still have to pay for the treatment then.”
“Don’t treat me then.”
“What answer do you think I will give?”
“…”
“You know well that I can’t do that, right?”
He laughed. A slight emotion surged on Woo-hyun’s face at his words, and soon faded. It was a face that said he knew he was trapped already.
He looked at Woo-hyun with an amused expression.
It was already a miracle that someone who had never learned anything had survived being stabbed, but even his mental strength was intact. Between those who had already given up on being human beings and those who had more ambition than that, Woo-hyun belonged to the former.
He killed his humanity on his own and became apathetic. On top of that, he had tremendous resilience, to the point he instantly recovered after being stabbed.
“You sold your life for a cheap price anyway, so keep giving it to me. I’ll raise the price for you.”
“…”
He rose to a high position running businesses within the organization, but his men were the problem. There were a lot of guys with good strength and conduct, but there was no one who could stay level-headed and had good wits. He had a strong feeling that Woo-hyun could do it if he did well in that part. In a situation in which his feelings were usually correct, Woo-hyun was a card that he did not want to let go of.